《The Villainess and I, her Zombie》 Chapter 1: Prologue: I get to be killed twice?!

Chapter 1: Prologue: I get to be killed twice?!

It was a sunny day, even though the summer break ended a bit ago the weather was still amazing. I was walking back home from school, minding my own business, like always, wondering how will the story unfold in the new game I started the day before. And then it hit me! An unmanned flying motorbike just appeared above me and dropped right on top of me! Its back wheel hit me right in the head and my gray matter sttered on the sidewalk. Why do I know what happened, since I''ve clearly died then and there? Well, that''s because... "Yamahako...! Why is there another human here....? I ordered only one...?" The creature talking right now was an unidentifiable being of light. In the unknown space made out of... something... Needless to say, that creature was very much as confused as I was. But besides the eerily translucent me and that peculiar existence there was someone else, and the light being was talking to them. "His head just went crunch and there were blood and brains everywhere...! I-I''m so soorryyy...!" It was the bike... It was the god-damned bike that killed me! And it was talking in a high-pitched girly voice! It was crying too! "It was so hard to catch the human that would meet your requirements and...! And...! And when I finally nabbed her, I dropped my guard and just blinked away... right on top of this guy..." The bike exined in a trembling voice. "...Yamahako..." The being of light let out a heavy sigh even though it was hard to tell if it actually had lungs. "I''m so sorry...! Your majesty, God, could you do something with this soul...?" The bike started begging. "...the soul transfer is not an easy feat, you know..." The pleading was seemingly causing a headache for the being of light, even though it was unclear whether it had a head or not... "I... I''m willing to let go of the bonus payment for the unusually difficult target..." "Oh, if that''s the case!" The bike muttered and the being of light instantly brightened up, even though it was already bright, being made out of light and all... "You, human! What do you want?" The being turned to me, even though it... Wait! It turned to me! "I...! I want to return to my world! Could you put me back in my body?!" It turned out that I could talk even without flesh. "Umm... no. Sorry. I can''t reverse time... and your body right now is..." The being sucked in the air awkwardly and looked to the side awkwardly... or did it? "All the bloooood...! The... the brain pieeceeeeees....!" The bike wailed. "Just shut up already!" The being of light snapped and red at the bike. "Anyway, your old world is a no-go, a soul cannot be reborn twice in a row into the same world. You know, rules andws and whatnots..." I... I think this creature is glossing over some super important stuff... "Anyway, you are like the girl I''ve sent to a different world just now, right? Your kind likes those otome games, right?" "Whoa, hold up, um, sir... madam...? Anyway, you are making a whole lot of assumptions here...!" I tried to stop it, I really did...! "So, I''ll send you to a world that''s just like one of those games!" "Ah! Your majesty God is so benevolent!" The being of light ignored me and the bike just hopped on board for that ridiculous idea! "Hold up! Please! I-I never even yed an otome game! I''m an RPG kind of guy!" I panicked. "Don''t worry, I will leave your memories intact so you could use your knowledge to get a head start!" "I''m telling you I have no knowledge about otome games...!" "Now now, just enjoy your new life! Have fun!" "Bye-bye!" Those twopletely ignored me! Completely!!! "You guys suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...!" I cried as my field of vision got flooded with blinding light. ... ... "Uuuuuuueueueueue...! Ugue...?" I tried to finish cursing the bike and the being of light but my voice came out as nothing but a high-pitched cry. Like, what babies sound like... Everything was blurry, I just hope that those bastards didn''t ruin my eyesight... "What a healthy cry! Congrattions madam! It''s a beautiful baby boy!" ...what...? I was hearing voices. And someone was carrying me around without my permission. "Ah! He''s so much bigger than his sister was!" "That''s why you had such a hard time, Nectar! But him being big is a good thing, it means that he will be healthy! Isn''t that right, sir healer?" ... I... I got reborn... ...damn it... I wanted to finish my game... And if that bastard was serious back then, then this is some otome game and I have no clue about! What''s its plot?! Setting?! Anything?! I got screwed over...! ... ... ... Seven years passed from the time I was reborn into this world. I still have no idea what game exactly I got thrown into, but everything looks like I must be a background character of some sort. This world is very much like a medieval Europe with the difference of real magic existing and being highly admired and sought after. Particrly in the kingdom I live in, Fruit Sd, Mages, even the weak ones, are always wealthy and renowned. And my new life? My family is a perfect example of a middle ss, we aren''t super-wealthy like the nobles but we are far wealthier than many othermoners. My father, Pear, is a merchant dealing with magic stones, and my mother, Nectarine, is his ountant. I have one sibling, a sister named Caramel, three years older than me. She awakened to magic a year before and was sent to a special school for the gifted youth of our kingdom, so her future is bright... But I miss her a lot... Also... The memories from my old world aren''t of much use here. I mean it''s nice to know how to calcte things, but I still have trouble memorizing letters and numbers of this world! They sound the same, why are they written differently!? Sigh... Anyway, I have a suspicion that my sister may be involved in the story somehow... How did Ie to such a conclusion? Well, that''s because her name is slightly different than all the others. In the nation of Fruit Sd people are usually named after, well, fruits, but only after the not processed stuff. And there she is. Caramel. Suspicious, isn''t it? "Kiwi! Grandpa Apple and Granny Orange sent us too many vegetables, could you take those to the old Apricot?" My mother caught me loafing around beneath the tree behind our house and found something for me to do right away... Sigh... As soon as I gotfy... "Yes!" I got up and ran to her. My mother handed me a bag full of various vegetables and patted my head. "Kiwi, be a good boy and ask old Apricot if she needs something, her husband passed away a month ago and I''m a little worried about her." She asked caressing my hair. "You can count on me, mom!" I took the bag, heavy bag, and assured her with a smile. "That''s my boy! Now go. I''m already preparing your favorite fried chicken for dinner~!" There was no need to encourage me like that of course, but I would lie if I said that my stomach didn''t grumble at the mention of a freshly fried chicken! And I went on my way. Olddy Apricot was a kind granny that lived on the opposite side of the vige than us, so it was quite a long walk for my short seven-year-old legs. I wonder if our vige even has a name, it must have, right? I mean, there''s a two-carriages-wide properly maintained paved road going through the middle of it, and we have three inns, not to mention the shop with magic stones that my father runs! Such thoughts were passing through my mind as I was crossing the road, of course after carefully checking both sides before. And right when I was around the middle... *Riiiip!* The bottom of the bag ripped open and the vegetables spilled out and rolled in every direction. "..." Annoying...! I chewed on the bad words I wanted to say and started picking them up one by one. "...the way...!" Just when I grabbed the green bell pepper I felt the earth trembling underneath my feet. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, KID!" I lifted my head and saw an approaching expensive-looking carriage pulled by four ck horses... That was going right at me! The coachman was shouting and waving his arm at me while trying to steer the horses away. B-but the vegies...! ... THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE WORRIED ABOUT SOME VEGETABLES! I jumped to the side and rolled away from the hooves and wheels! *Bump!* "Huh...?" Or at least I''ve tried to...! Instead, I crashed into the thin air! /Unable to leave the area A short message shed before my eyes! "EH!? WHAT THE...?!" I shouted. The carriage was right in front of me! I tried to jump away once again! *Bump!* /Unable to leave the area The same words shed in front of my eyes. "KID! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET AWAY!" The coachman''s face was pale as a sheet. *Bump!* /Unable to leave the area "I... I can''t run..." Even after I tried a different spot, the same words appeared as the invisible walls blocked me off. My whole body was shaking, I raised my head and saw heavy hooves with shining horseshoes falling right at my face. "What a shitty game." I whispered and got trampled to death. /You are dead ... /Soul transfer impossible ... /Story event in progress ...? /Please wait Wait... what...? Chapter 2: Enter the Cranberry

Chapter 2: Enter the Cranberry

"What the hell just happened?!" A tall handsome bespectacled man busted out of the carriage. "Lord ckberry...! The horses...! I lost control over the horses...! I-I couldn''t do anything...!" The coachman was trembling. His eyes were glued to the trail of blood left behind the carriage but he adamantly refused to look towards the wheels of the carriage itself. "We ran over something, right? What was it, a dog? A loose pig or something? You were screaming at someone, right? Was it the owner, where are they now?" Lord ckberry asked in a tired voice, his hand was already going into his pocket to pull out a purse and properly paid of the loss. "I warned him...! I shouted for that boy to get out of the way...! Bu-but he just...!" A sudden spasm shook the coachman''s body and he hid his face in his hands and started crying. "What are you...?" Lord ckberry raised his brow in confusion, he already took out the purse and was weighing it in his hand. "Then, you''re saying we ran over the boy''s dog, right? It''s horrible, but if you really lost control over horses then I''m d that you managed to stop the carriage even if the animal''s life was lost. If the carriage was toppled something could have happened to us." The nobleman was reassuring the coachman, but the horrified man only shook his head in denial. "Your lordship...! It wasn''t a dog we ran over...!" He managed to squeeze out through his clenched throat. "Then a cat? Or a pig?" Lord ckberry clenched his teeth, it seemed like he already knew the truth but was holding on to the slim chance that the life that was lost belonged to an animal. "..." The coachman shook his head in denial. For a split second his eyes darted towards the wheels of the carriages, and the sight was enough to make the man''s knees give out. Likewise, Lord ckberry himself slowly turned to look at the wheels. There, tangled between the spokes and dripping with blood was the... "Urgh...!" The nobleman dropped the purse and the coins loudly jingled as the man covered his mouth with his hands trying to hold back the bile that was forcing its way back out of his stomach. "Daddy...! What''s taking so long?!" A child''s voice came from inside the carriage. "Cra-Cranberry! Stop! No! Don''te out!" /Adjusting the story event Lord ckberry regained control over his body and rushed towards the carriage''s door to block it, but he was too slow. A little girl with long wavy red hair, tied up in a high ponytail with a ck ribbon, jumped outside and her red and ck dress fluttered. *St!* And she stepped right into a red gooey mess... "Eww... what is this...?" She frowned and lifted her foot. Something red and meaty was stuck to her shoe... A crushed tomato. "Yuck...!" Cranberry stuck out her tongue and looked away - right at the mangled corpse of Kiwi. "...?" She tilted her head. "No! Cranberry! Don''t look at it!" Lord ckberry reached towards his daughter, but she dodged him and walked towards the corpse with spring in her steps. "Gross!" She groaned and pinched her nose with two fingers. "Youngdy! Get away from there, right now!" It looked like her father was losing his cool, but even so, he didn''t approach the dead body. "Nah, I feel like I should touch it!" Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and reached towards what was left of Kiwi''s face. "Y-you most certainly should not!" The nobleman stomped his foot in anger and it looked like he was actually going to walk over to his daughter and pull her away. But he was interrupted. "My lord! The...! The youngdy is...!" The coachman grabbed onto his sleeve and was shaking his arm. "I can see her and I will stop her from touching the corpse!" Lord ckberry furrowed his brow but the coachman shook his head again. "My lord! Mana is gathering around the youngdy! Your daughter is going to awaken to magic!" The coachman gasped and that made the nobleman stop the attempts to free himself. "What...?!" His eyes bulged out from shock. "Dear heavens! You''re right!" He shouted after confirming that the swirling particles of mana were indeed gathering and enveloping his daughter. "Is it healing?! Will she awaken to healing magic and cure the boy?!" The nobleman jumped from joy thinking about such future. "M-my lord... there''s no way she can heal the dead... if she''s reacting to a dead body, it means that she will be...!" Two men looked at each other in shock. "Corpse puppeteer...!" Lord ckberry gasped. "B-but, all living recorded corpse puppeteers are incredibly powerful, they are leading their own armies of dead soldiers!" Lord ckberry grabbed his head, his lips were twisting into a smile. Such strength! Such power! Such wealth that awaits his beloved daughter! "Alright, sweetie! Touch that boy and make him your first corpse puppet!" The nobleman clenched his fists and shouted encouragingly. "Corpse puppet...?" Cranberry said in an absent-minded voice and her finger made contact with the exposed lifeless flesh. /Initiating magic awakening Type: Necromancy The translucent mana swirling around her became murky red and started pulsating. "Necromancy...? Corpse puppet...?" Cranberry mumbled. "Yes! Sweetie! You will be leading legions of dead marites onto a battlefield! You will be unstoppable!" Lord ckberry encouraged her. "Legions...? So... I will be surrounded by things like that?!" It sounded like the reason returned to the youngdy as she started sounding extremely grossed out. "Sweetie, calm down! It''s nothing bad, really! On the contrary, it will make you very happy!" Her father tried to calm her down but it was toote. "Eww! Noo! I don''t want to! Gross! Gross! GROSS! I don''t wanna be a Necromancer! I refuse! I want to be a fire magician or at least a healer!" Cranberry started to freak out. She pulled away and fell on her butt and started thrashing around. /Error /Rejection of the magic type detected Uninstalling the rejected magic /Error /Story event in progress /Error /Changing the magic type Type: Pyromancy /Error /Attempt to change the vital story element detected /Story event in progress /Changing the magic type Type: Healing /Error /Attempt to change the vital story element detected /Story event in progress The murky red light was pulsating around the girl and the corpse. /Error /The story event cannot progress without the essential character Re-trying to awaken the magic Type: Necromancy /Error /Attempt failed Unable to reinstall the rejected magic type /Error /Story event in progress /Error /The story event cannot continue without the essential character Please wait /Calcting /Calcting... /Thank you for waiting /Adjusting the story event /Original magic created Type: Eternal Servant "Eternal servant...?" Cranberry stopped iling her arms and tilted her head. "What did she said?" Lord ckberry tilted his head exactly as his daughter and looked at the coachman. /Adjusting the story event "It must be original magic! The youngdy is so amazing! She is going to awaken magic that''spletely unique just to her!" The coachman said in an awestruck voice. "Unique?!" Lord ckberry gasped. "Only for me...? Fine! I''ll agree then!" Cranberry stood up and nodded vigorously. The magic surrounding her stopped pulsating and seemed to condense around the girl and the mangled corpse of the boy like a chrysalis. /Awakeningplete Please select the essential character as the designated servant "Eh?! Do I have to pick him?! But he is so gross!" Cranberryined and stomped her foot. /Request denied Story event cannot continue without the essential character Please select the essential character as the designated servant "Ugh...! No...!" /Please select the essential character as the designated servant "Jeez! Fine! I''m picking this guy over there to be my servant, but you better make him look better! /Initiationplete Eternal servant selected Name: Kiwi "Ha! As if! For that thing, Zombie would be a far better name!" Cranberry scoffed and waved her hand dismissively. /Request approved Name changed sessfully Eternal servant Name: Zombie "Pffft...! Ahahaha! Hey! You are now Zombie?! Aren''t you d?" The girlughed. "Graough...! (Of course I''m not!)" Zombie answered angrily. "Graough...?! (Huh?! I came back to life?!)" The weak groan came from his chrysalis. "How long will it take...?" "M-my lord, I have no idea...!" Lord ckberry turned to the coachman but the man only took a step back and raised his hands defensively. The nobleman didn''t have much time to worry anyway. No longer than three minutester the red chrysalis fell off and disappeared leaving two children facing each other. The first one was the youngdy Cranberry, with her long wavy red hair and piercing green eyes, with freckles on her face and shoulders, dressed in an expensive red and ck dress and red sandals. The other one was Kiwi... No. The other one was Zombie. He changed a lot and not only because he was in one piece again. His short hair becamepletely ck just as his eyes that lost their sharpness. His skin became blue like an old corpse. Even his lips changed color and were now dark purple. In contrast to the extravagantly dressed Cranberry, he was wearing a torn linen shirt and rugged trousers, on top of that, he was barefoot. Yet the biggest change must have been how stiff he had be, he moved as if his joints weren''t working properly, not to mention that he lost the ability to articte words and could only groan. "Graough... (I should go tell my family what happened to me...)" Zombie groaned. "Cranberry! We need to go to the healer to check up on you! And while we''re at it we should get the appraiser to look into your magic and this puppet!" Lord ckberry approached his daughter excitedly. "Graough...! (I''m not a puppet!)" Zombieined, but no one paid any mind to the sounds that he was making. "Fine, let''s put him in the luggage and be on our way, daddy." Cranberry sighed and shuffled back to the carriage. "What? No! He is your first puppet! Of course, he should travel in the carriage with us!" Once again Lord ckberry proved to be more excited than his daughter. "Geez, fine! But he is sitting with you, daddy!" Cranberry clicked her tongue but didn''t try to talk back any more than that. "Graough...?! (What about my family...?!)" Zombieined but was picked up by the waist by Lord ckberry and carried inside the carriage. "Graough...! (H-hey! You can''t do this! Let go of me...!)" He growled in a futile attempt to struggle. "Ugh! How annoying! Just shut up for a moment!" Cranberry scoffed at him and Zombie closed his mouth. "Sweetie, don''t be mean to him, he''s already died once." Her father asked. Well, he was almost correct there... "Yeah, exactly, he is already dead, why should I care about his feelings?" The girl shrugged her shoulders and started staring out the window clearly showing that she was done talking. /Story eventplete Chapter 3: Humble beginings

Chapter 3: Humble beginings

Name: Zombie Race: Eternal Servant (?) Level: 1 HP: - MP: 12 ATK: 8 DEF: 2 MAT: 2 MDF: 2 HIT: 2 EVA: 0 AGI: 1 LUC: 15 Skills: Undead body ([max]) Bite (level 1) Corpse venom (level 1) Title: Rotten brain Eternal servant Cranberry was squatting in a very udylike manner by the shed in the back of her family''s mansion and staring at a piece of paper. Her face was twisted in a sour expression. The healer and the appraiser both agreed that her magic is unique, but precisely because of that neither of them could tell whether it will be strong or not. For the time being she was only told that she is a level one Master of the eternal servant and her only new skill is the eternal servant. ...and that when once selected, the choice of the said servant became permanent. "Haa... This sucks." Cranberry sighed and hung her head. "And by that, I mean that you suck, Zombie! Why are you so weak?! What''s with that ridiculous title?! Are you mocking me?!" She lifted her head and started ring at the person by her side. "Graough... (What can I do about it?! I''m just a child!) Which, of course, turned out to be the blue-skinned Zombie. "Graough...! (It''s your own fault for choosing me!)" Heined. "Oh, don''t you dare to groan back at me! Look at those stats! Look at them!" The girl stood up angrily and shoved the piece of paper in his face. "Your attack is barely passable for a level one creature but what the hell is this 0 in evasion?! How can anything that moves have ZERO evasion?! Exin yourself, now!" Cranberry was fuming. "Graough... (Th-that''s probably because after turning into this form my muscles and joints became so stiff I can barely move!)" Zombie tried to take a quick step back but instead, he just wobbled back slowly and Cranberry simply followed him, still angry. "Your luck is good enough for such a low level, but then again, why isn''t your health even listed, huh?! Is it because you are already dead?! Exin!" She demanded with fire in her eyes. "Graough...? (I-I don''t know...! And about those stats, why there''s no experience value?)" Zombie slowly raised his hands protectively and asked. "Tsk...! Graough this and graough that! All you can say is gibberish!" Cranberry clicked her tongue while shaking her head and turned her back on him. "...graough... (...of course you can''t understand me...)" Zombie sighed. "That''s it. I cannot allow my servant to be so weak! It would be too shameful" The girl suddenly perked up and nodded her head as if she came to a conclusion. She opened the door to the shed and disappeared inside. "Graough...? (What are you doing...?) Graugh...?! (Wh-what are you doing...?!)" Zombie groaned and gasped as the youngdy emerged from the shed with two wooden training swords. "Although I never dabbled in fencing, ady like myself is clearly talented in everything so I''ll be the perfect teacher!" She proudly puffed out her chest. The conclusion she came to was rather simple. Since her servant is weak she just needs to train him. She thinks his attack value is too small? She will multiply it by arming him with a weapon! "Catch!" She eximed enthusiastically and threw him one of the swords... The weapon followed a gentle lob and smacked Zombie in the face and fell on the ground. "Graough... (Oh, that was surprising. I didn''t hurt a bit!)" He groaned in shock. "What are you doing?! If your master is throwing something at you, you, a servant, are obliged to catch it!" Cranberry frowned and stomped her foot. "Pick it up! Now!" She pointed at the sword beneath Zombie''s feet with her own sword. "Graough... (Ah! R-right! Sorry!)" He apologized and reached for the weapon. Slowly... "...this is ridiculous...!" Cranberry growled through her teeth and clenched the handle of the sword so hard that her knuckles turned white. "I changed my mind, it''s too early for you to learn fighting with a weapon!" She walked over to the boy and kicked away the sword right before he could grab it. "Instead we will focus on trying to raise your evasion and defense while we''re at it!" She dered and raised her wooden sword. "Practice makes perfect! Try to dodge this!" "Graough...! (What?! No! Wait a moment!)" Zombie wasn''t ready at all, still bent over from trying to pick up the sword that was now a good few feet away, but a flurry of attacks assaulted his back and sides regardless. "Come on! I did say that we will try to raise your defense too but at least ATTEMPT to dodge it!" Cranberry roared while swinging. One thing was sure, the youngdy was being honest when she said that she never learned fencing before. Her attacks were crude andck any finesse, she was using the wooden sword as nothing more than a stick or a thin bat. "Come on! Come on! Dodge it!" She also didn''t lie when she said that she was talented. It only took her a few minutes and she already got better with her technique. Her batting technique that is. "Graough... (It doesn''t hurt a bit, but it''s so annoying!)" Zombie groaned while holding his arms high to protect his face. "Don''t you dare talk back to me and focus on dodging!" Cranberry scoffed at him and took a step back for a full swing. The sword ripping through the air made a clear threatening sound and mmed against Zombie''s unguarded stomach and even though the boy couldn''t perceive pain, the force of the hit was strong enough to send him flying. /Proficiency level reached Master receives a skill Blunt weapons proficiency (level 1) Base status points increased /Servant receives a skill Blunt damage resistance (level 1) Base status points increased "Graough...? (What?! You really can train like this?!)" Zombie gasped in shock. But, truth to be told, he didn''t feel any different. "Stop just taking it and dodge!" /Proficiency level reached Master receives a skill Charge (level 1) Cranberry''s body started glowing faintly and in the next moment she was already by Zombie and her eyes were scary. When her next swing connected with Zombie, a bad sound came from his right arm. "Graough...! Graough! (H-hey...! It doesn''t hurt but...! Isn''t my arm broken?! We should stop for today!)" "Come! On! It! Will! End! When! You! Dodge!" The pleading groans didn''t even reach Cranberry''s ears, her body stopped glowing but her attacks became even fiercer. She kept hitting and hitting him relentlessly, Zombie was simply too slow and stiff to properly dodge even a single strike so he had to try and move his body so that the nobledy won''t break any more of his bones. And honestly? He was getting quite good at it! /Proficiency level reached Servant receives a skill Toughness (level 1) Base status points increased "Graough... (Maybe this isn''t so bad...? Just like in games, the skills have to be useful, right?)" Even in such a situation, Zombie managed to find a silver lining. And, well, he couldn''t feel any pain and all... But just as he was calming down... /Proficiency level reached Master receives a skill Bash (level 1) "Gr... Graough... (Oh.. oh no...)" A sweep from below sent him flying. "Graugh...! (Graugh...!)" Sometimes a groan is just a groan, the short-tempered girl must have used her new skill right away. As Zombie was spinning in the air he noticed his master taking a stance. Cranberry''s eyes shone and Zombie already knew she''s activating Bash again. If she gets him like that... (Even as an undead... won''t I still be paralyzed if she''ll break my spine?!) Cranberry''s weapon was already in full swing. *Swoosh!* Sensing the danger and taking advantage of already spinning he managed to throw himself off just enough for the deadly-sounding wooden sword to miss him! "Graough..! (Safe!)" Zombie eximed overjoyed! /Servant overcame a disadvantage Skill unlocked Emergency dodge (level 1) *THUNK!* "Graough...! Graough...? (Awesome! That''s a great skill! But, what was that sound...?)" /Warning Servant became severely damaged Servant has insufficient mana to recover Permission to use Master''s mana required "Grao...? (Huh...?)" Chapter 4: Training

Chapter 4: Training

Zombie groaned and tried to stand up, but as he was trying to support himself with the broken arm, he simply fell on his face. "Argh! Seriously?! You almost had it! Why did you il your useless arm around?!" Cranberry kicked the ground and started messing her hair in anger. "Grao... Graough...?! (What the... AH! My arm! My whole forearm is missing?!" Zombie groaned in disbelief as he was staring at his arm. From the shoulder down to the elbow, it was there. The rest was missing... The wound had rugged edges and the bone and blue flesh were clearly visible, but there was no blood spilling at all. Actually, Zombie didn''t even feel that much different. If not for the system message clearly stating that the wound was serious, he would just shrug it off and go search around for the missing part. "Tsk...! If this is going to drain my whole mana I''m going to kick your ass!" Cranberry clicked her tongue and scoffed at him. "System, just heal him!" She added while shaking her head. /Request granted Recovery mode disengaged Commencing healing... Cranberry''s body released murky a red light that gravitated towards Zombie and got absorbed into his blue flesh. /Healingplete "Graough... (Umm...? My arm is still missing...)" The only change that urred was that the edges of the wound became smooth. "..." Cranberry raised her brows and blinked a few times, this clearly wasn''t the oue she expected. "Graough... (M-master...?)" Zombie groaned quietly. "...Ekhm...! System, I want my servant to recover!" The girl managed to shake off the initial confusion and demanded after clearing her throat. /Recovery impossible No damage detected "..." "..." The master-servant duo looked at each other in silence. "What do you mean, no damage detected?! His arm is missing! Recover it!" Cranberry growled and smacked the ground with the sword. /Recovery impossible No damage detected The same announcement shed before their eyes. "Oh,e on...!" The wooden sword smacked the ground once more. "Gra-graough...? (Eh...? Now that I look at it, she holds the sword by the de?) Graugh...! (Oh! So that''s why she got the blunt weapon proficiency and not the sword proficiency!)" Now that he had the time, Zombie looked carefully at his master and noticed her mistake. Cranberry, who up until then was looking around with a cloudy expression, flinched. And since she couldn''t understand him, Zombie went ahead and started groaning about it. "Graough... (Heh... Way to go, my talented master! Seriously, what a clumsy girl...)" Cranberry sighed, or rather slowly breathed out and raised the wooden sword, still holding it by the de. "Graough... (M-maybe if we find my missing arm and put it back it will reattach...?) Graough... (Master, I''ll go search for it, okay?)" Zombie stepped to the side, reached his left hand towards the direction where he thought that his arm flew, and groaned hopefully. "Who told you that the training is over...?" Cranberry''s low voice sent chills down Zombie''s spine even though he shouldn''t be even able to feel cold. The girl tightened her grip on the de and her whole body started faintly glowing. "Graough...! (M-master...?!)" Zombie took a step back and groaned in shock. "I told you that the training will end if you dodge my attack. You rotten brain! Since when getting your arm blown off is considered dodging?! Are you trying to disobey me?!" She growled furiously while showing teeth when her face twisted from anger. "Graough...! (I...! I would never...! I-I swear...!)" "Shut up." The mere suspicion of insubordination was enough to bring out the ire of the young nobledy. Zombie could only try his best now. Cranberry''s body was already glowing, but when her eyes started glowing too, Zombie started getting cold feet. (T-two skills at once...?!) He clenched his teeth while feeling truly grateful that he doesn''t have to blink. He was terrified, but now he had a chance! He had the skill! Cranberry lunched ahead and thanks to the charge skill she closed the distance between them in an instant. The sword ripped through the air! And only the air! Right before it could connect with the blue boy, his body shone dimly and Zombie ducked out of the way! "Tsk!" Instead of being satisfied with her servantpleting the task she gave him, Cranberry clicked her tongue and frowned. The force of her skill threw her off bnce, but instead of falling down she dug in her heels and spun around her axis... And ended up in a perfect position for another strike! Her eyes started glowing and she delivered a devastating blow! ...and Zombie managed to dodge this one too with the help of the skill! Cranberry didn''t even make a sound this time, she twisted her body and, while her eyes started glowing again, put all her strength into her arms and turned the downward smash into an upward one aimed right at Zombie''s head! "Graough! (Screw you!)" Zombie growled and used the emergency dodge to save himself again and flung his body to the side. And Cranberry took that personally. "You dare to growl at your master?!" She growled on her own and took a step forward to keep her bnce and her eyes glowed as she performed a swing that would ce her amongst the professional baseball yers in Zombie''s previous world. Zombie shone and his body bent backward as the sword flew by his face close enough to shave off a bit of the skin off of his nose. The boy managed to stand up straight just in time to see Cranberry''s glowing eyes for the fifth time. "Graough! (Bring it on!)" He groaned and activated his skill the moment that Cranberry started swinging. /Insufficient mana A simple message shed before his eyes and his skill didn''t activate and his body didn''t move. But Cranberry''s sword certainly did, and it hit the boy square in the stomach. Zombie''s body momentarily took shape of the letter V and then he crashed hard against the ground. If he was actually using his lungs, this hit would certainly force all the air out of them. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required /Proficiency level reached Servant''s skill upgrade Toughness (level 2) /Proficiency level reached Master receives a skill Thrash (level 1) Three messages popped up one after the other as Zombie was trying to stand up but with each move, he felt something sloshing freely inside him. The sound of footsteps rmed him about the approaching Cranberry. He raised his head and saw a broken wooden sword pointing at his face. "Never groan back at me." Cranberry''s low voice was far more threatening than it had any right to. "Understood?" She asked and pressed the splintered end of the sword against Zombie''s forehead. "Graough... (Y-yes, master!)" Zombie wasn''t stupid so he quickly agreed and nodded his head to make sure he won''t be misunderstood. "Good. Permission granted." She nodded and then looked back at the sky. /Permission received Commencing healing... Healingplete A red murky glow left Cranberry''s body and got enveloped and absorbed by Zombie, and the boy felt his insides rearranging and returning to their correct position. Cranberry red coldly at her servant. "You can go search for your stupid arm, but whether you find it or not, you have to return to the mansion before dusk." She dered and frowned. "If you don''t and daddy will scold me for not properly taking care of you, I won''t allow healing after tomorrow''s training." She said while turning her back on Zombie and walking away. "Graough?! (Tomorrow''s training? Don''t tell me...?! You mean the same thing as just now?!) Graough?! (We''re repeating this?!)" Cranberry stopped and red back at him. "Should I take that growl as you trying to argue with your master...?" She asked coldly. "Graough...! (N-no! Of course not!)" Zombie shook his head from side to side as fast as he could. "Graough...! (I will definitely be back before it gets dark!)" He groaned hoping that his promise wille through. "Good." Cranberry nodded. "While you''re at it, throw this away, and put back the other one in the shed." She added and dropped the broken sword. Chapter 5: Servant VS Rabbit

Chapter 5: Servant VS Rabbit

"Graough...! (Master...!)" Zombie was following Cranberry and groaning in a tearful voice. "Graooough...! (Maaasteeer...!)" Cranberry was walking slowly and gracefully, just as a young nobledy should while returning to her room after dinner. "Graough...! (Master...!) Graough...! (It''s been three weeks already!) Graough...? (Please, could you please help me search for my arm?)" Zombie groaned and groaned and was making all the maids and butlers that passed them look at the master and servant duo with weird eyes. But Cranberry didn''t react whatsoever, it seemed as if she wasn''t even acknowledging Zombie''s existence. At least until they''ve reached her room. Once Cranberry stepped inside, she turned back and faced Zombie. "WILL YOU EVER SHUT UP?!" Her mask of calmness shattered and she shouted her lungs off. "NOTHING BUT GROANING AND GROANING WITH YOU! YOU WANT TO GET YOUR ARM BACK, RIGHT?! THEN GO AND SEARCH FOR IT YOURSELF, ROTTEN BRAIN!" *SLAM* She screamed and shut the door right in his face. "Graough...! (B-but I can''t find it!) Graough...! (I''ve been searching for it every day and nothing! It''s like it disappeared!)" Zombie groaned at the door but no answer came. "..." He kept looking at the door for a few minutes but gave up in the end and walked away slouching. "...remember, we are training today too. If you''rete, no healing...!" The door to Cranberry''s room opened long enough for her to remind Zombie about their routine and then got shut again. "Graough... (This sucks... you are my master, why don''t you help me a little...)" The sulking Zombie walked out of the mansion''s backdoor just like he did everyday past those few weeks and went to search for his missing arm. "Graough... (She just had to score a home-run, didn''t she...)" The boy groaned limping by the shed. This time he decided to go even farther than before. Up until this point, the farthest he went was to the well-trimmed hedge marking the boundaries of the rose garden that was the apple of the eye of Cranberry''s mother,dy Raspberry. Although the pale sickly noblewoman who rarely could gather enough strength to walk to the dining room for a meal never specifically told him to stay away from her garden, Zombie has already noticed her tall silhouette a few times, standing in the window of her room, looking at him whenever he got close to the hedge. At least he thought it was her, his eyesight wasn''t that great when he was alive and it certainly didn''t get any better now. Zombie looked over his shoulder and checked the mansion''s windows, he already had overheard the maids talking that thedy Raspberry felt particrly bad since the morning so, of course, she wouldn''t be checking up on her garden, but there was no harm in making sure. Thankfully her window was empty, so Zombie put a bit more pep in his step. Although he was still much slower than the average human, the everyday training sessions with his master were paying off and, even though still very stiff, Zombie could achieve a satisfactory speed. After giving his best to be both fast and sneaky, Zombie finally entered the blooming rose garden. It was a beautiful sight to behold, red, white, yellow, even blue, purple, and ck... hundreds of most beautiful flowers were growing here, tastefully arranged by thedy Raspberry herself. But Zombie didn''t sneak inside just to enjoy the view, he lowered himself to the ground in an attempt to attract as little attention as possible and started examining the parameter. He was crawling around checking every inch and cranny in search of even the smallest evidence that his armnded there. But, the grass around the roses was neatly trimmed and not even a single leaf or petal was out of ce. Yet the boy wasn''t giving up. After he searched the whole garden once, he started again, and even though once he ended the second search it was almost time for the training session with his master, Zombie decided that even if he can''t search it all again he will at least check around the hedge for the third time. So he got on all four... well, on all three, and with his cheek brushing against the grass, he started crawling. When he was at the north-eastern corner of the garden the sun''s position clearly indicated that his time was almost up. If he wouldn''t leave the garden immediately, he would arrive near the shed after Cranberry. Which she will, of course, consider as him beingte. So with a heavy heart Zombie started standing up... *nibble nibble nibble* "Graough...? (Huh...?)" He hadn''t seen anything, but he definitely heard something! *nibble nibble nibble* /Proficiency level reached Servant''s skill upgrade Toughness (level 4) "Graough?! (What the hell?!)" Zombie growled shocked. He checked his body but nothing was abnormal, he clearly wasn''t getting attacked... Then why did his skill level grew? This past three weeks Zombie learned that the message ''proficiency level reached'' wasn''t just empty words, one had to work very hard! Especially for the Toughness skill! Up until that point, whenever he wasn''t able to dodge Cranberry''s attacks, he would be beaten up mercilessly every day, until the message about severe damage would pop up, and toughness still wouldn''t get past level three. But just now it simply...! *nibble nibble nibble* "Graough...? (It''s that sound again!)" Zombie growled and focused all his attention on locating its source. And there it was! Meticulously covered with twigs and grass, a hole right under the hedge... Well, more of a burrow. If there was no sound leading him, he would have certainly missed it, like he already did twice before. *nibble nibble nibble* There was no doubt, those noises wereing from there. Zombie carefully removed the twigs and grass hiding the entrance and looked inside. As soon as he did that, the nibbling stopped. The burrow itself wasn''t deep at all. The first thing that the boy saw was the white bone surrounded by the blue flesh just a few inches from the entrance... "Graough! (My arm!)" He growled and reached for it right away. ..pletely missing a pair of glowing eyes... But Zombie just grabbed his arm and pulled on it. When he felt resistance, he just dug in his heels and pulled as hard as he could. "SKWEEEEE!" What he pulled out, biting into the hand with long front fangs, was a rabbit-like creature the size of a small dog. The monster released Zombie''s ripped arm, let out a furious cry and its body started glowing. "Graough?! (What the...?!)" The boy gasped in surprise, but training with his master wasn''t for nothing. He instantly recognized the charge skill and his own body shone dimly as he activated his skill. In the next moment, the rabbit-like monster bit into the ground with his massive front fangs, exactly where Zombie was just a second ago! The blue boy was already standing up and ring at the rabbit. "Graough...! (Scram! Go away!)" He started stomping his feet and iling his arms trying to scare the monster away. "..." The rabbit monster slowly raised its head and spat the ground and grass that get into its jaws. It didn''t look intimidated at all. It was pissed off. "Graough! (Shoo!)" Zombie was waving his ripped arm like a baton and stepped closer to the monster. "SKWEE!" "...!" But he instantly stepped back as the monster didn''t retreat and instead hissed at him. "Gra-graough...! (G-go away...!)" Zombie hesitated, and his shaky voice betrayed his nervousness. Up until now Zombie NEVER attacked anyone. Since he became Cranberry''s eternal servant, he was always on the defense, and suddenly faced with a battle, he didn''t know what to do. "Graough...! Graough! (I''m not going to give you my arm, so just scram! O-okay...?! It''s not your chewing toy!)" Eternal servant or not, he was just a seven-year-old with the memories of a high schooler from another world. Fighting monsters in real life wasn''t one of his skills. But the rabbit didn''t care about his feelings, its body started glowing and it charged once more! Zombie dodged this attack too, but halfway there the rabbit''s body glowed again and it changed the direction mid-flight! (It has a high-level charge...!) Zombie gritted his teeth and used emergency dodge again. He was prepared to run but then something struck him in the back and he felt jaws closing on his neck. "Graough?! (This bastard''s charge is higher level than master''s?!)" He gasped as the force of the rabbit''s third charge threw him between the thorny roses. The monster was viciously biting into the boy''s neck. "Graough...! (Let me go...!)" The boy cried but the monster just bit him again. "Graough! (Let go of me!) Even though Zombie couldn''t feel pain the panic has settled in. "GRAOUGH! (LET GO!)" He roared. Chapter 6: Fears and plans

Chapter 6: Fears and ns

"What is that rotten brain doing..." Cranberry massaged her forehead as she walked towards the garden, holding the wooden sword against her shoulder. She was still holding it by the de as if that was the propped way. There was still some time until the training session but Cranberry decided to check up on her servant since he suddenly leveled up his skill. Truth to be told, she didn''t care what Zombie was doing when she wasn''t around, but if something happened to him, her mother would scold her again. She already had to suffer through punishment afterdy Raspberry saw that Zombie is missing an arm, she didn''t want to risk a repeat. "Well... it''s not so bad if that rotten brain is training on his o..." She sighed to herself and entered the rose garden. And her jaw dropped. Between the roses that her mother grew herself, the blue-skinned boy was trembling. ...while pressing a rabbit monster to the ground by the neck with his one hand and biting into its back. From the monster''s wounded back blood and some translucent fluid were sshing around as the beast tried to free itself but it was only making the wound worse. "Gfaoff...! (Master! I won!) Gfaoff...! (It wanted to kill me but my corpse venom will finish it instead!)" As Zombie boasted, blood and venom spew from his mouth. The whole scene made a for a grotesque sight. "..." All color left Cranberry''s face and she clenched her fist around the wooden sword''s de so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Gfaoff... (Just wait a bit, I think that it''s almost dead.)" "...skwee..." Zombie dered proudly while pumping the twitching rabbit full of venom. "Are you..." Cranberry''s low voice sent chills down Zombie''s spine. Her body started glowing faintly and in the next moment, the sword''s handle smashed against the boy''s forehead sending him rolling back into the white roses. "FUCKING WITH ME?!" She growled with a face twisted like a demon. "Skwee..!" The freed rabbit suddenly regained some of his energy and dashed away as fast it could, leaving behind a bloody trail. "Graough...?! (Wh-what...?! Why did you do that?!)" Zombie crawled back andined. "You useless moron!" Cranberry''s eyes started glowing and she delivered a crushing blow to Zombie''s back. "Graough...! (Guagh...!)" Zombie gasped as he felt his bones shatter. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required The message shed in front of their eyes but furious Cranberry didn''t care at all. "You cretin! Rotten brain! Useless idiot!" With each curse, her eyes glowed and a destructive skill was unleashed onto the powerless servant. /Insufficient mana He couldn''t dodge because he used up all of his avable mana on producing the corpse venom. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required The popping-up messages were blocking their view yet Cranberry didn''t have enough. Her body released a faint smoke as she activated the thrashing. Several blows fell on Zombie''s body at once turning most of his bones into splinters. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required "Did you know that there is a tradition amongst the nobility, where once a year the children from the distinguished families who are ten years old will gather at a grand party and will kill their first monster in front of everyone?" Cranberry asked but Zombie could only twitch in response and look at her with confusion. "Did you know that each family that sends the child there prepares the best monster they can? And that shows their power and prestige amongst the others?" /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required The girl continued while ignoring the messages. "Did you know that this tradition requires the children to be at level one?! Hence the monster they will finish off will be their first kill?!" Cranberry crouched by Zombie and lifted his head by pulling his hair. His jaws were hanging loose and the rabbit''s blood and the remnants of corpse venom were dripping down like saliva. Cranberry tilted her head and stared daggers into him. "Did you know that whatever you kill, I, as your master, will receive a portion of your experience points?!" She asked and smashed his face into the ground. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required "DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY MOTHER WILL DO TO ME IF I BRING SUCH SHAME TO OUR FAMILY?!" She growled. "If you killed that trashy monster and I would level up because of it, mother would...!" She trembled, stood up, and swung at him again. /Proficiency level reached Servant''s skill upgrade Blunt damage resistance (level 3) /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required "...Tsk...! Heal him!" Cranberry clicked her tongue and turned away /Permission received Commencing healing... /Healingplete "Graough...! (I-I''m sorry... I had no idea...)" After the murky red light healed him, Zombie slowly got up and wiped his face, his right hand didn''t connect to the rest of his arm even though he made sure to stick it to its rightful ce when the healing started, so now he was just clenching it close to his body. "Shut up. I don''t want to hear your groans." Cranberry barked and started walking. "Haa...!" But suddenly she stopped and sighed aggressively. Zombie flinched. "I never exined it to you, so I guess that a part of it is my fault... That''s why I healed you just now." She turned her head his way but didn''t look directly at him. "From now on your free-roaming around the mansion ends. You will apany me while I study, so such blunder won''t happen ever again." That deration left Zombie stunned. His master, that was always so ruthless... Was she showing consideration towards him?! "From now on you are absolutely forbidden to use your bite and corpse venom skills... Oh, and better start praying that your venom doesn''t actually kill that trashy monster, or I will keep hitting you until my bash will reach max level." Cranberry nced at him, and if the looks could kill then Zombie would drop dead then and there. The girl was clenching her fists so tight her knuckles turned white. "Haa..." She suddenly sighed and all the tension got released from her body. "Just... Try to be more patient, like me." She said lightly and when the blue boy tilted his head in confusion she shrugged her shoulders. "Three more years. We just have to endure three more years and after that joke of a party will be over, we will be able to start leveling up. You''ll get hour fill of killing then, and so will I." Cranberry smiled with pure joy. Zombie never before witnessed a child who could invoke such terror with a simple smile. "You know, my rotten brain Zombie? I have big ns." She looked up and reached her hand to the sky. She clenched her fists and her smile turned into a chilling grin. "Really big ns." Chapter 7: Three years later

Chapter 7: Three yearster

It was one of the rare asions that the mansion''s hallways were empty. The maids and butlers were busy with cleaning after the meal so no one passed by the youngdy Cranberry walking leisurely with a slight smile. Throughout the whole day, she was wearing horse riding clothes and was quite pleased with how they felt. So pleased, in fact, that she even didn''t change into a dress during the meal with her parents. No one even scolded her for it! The opposite, actually! Her mother praised her for being interested in an outdoor activity! One that didn''t involve violently swinging a stick around... ...Anyway, it was nice to hear warm words from her mother once in a while... Well, Cranberry did ride on a pony in the morning, but she hadn''t even gained a skill or anything, so she hadn''t particrly cared about it. The young girl carried on and checked inside every room she passed. "I wonder where did Zombie go...?" She wondered and continued the search. The longer she searched the clouded her expression became. But, surprisingly enough, it wasn''t because she was getting angry at her servant. After a while, when she finally found him, sitting by the table in the study room and writing something, there was no trace of being happy about her mother''s praise left on her face. "Haa..." Cranberry entered the study and sighed loudly announcing her presence. "Gaough...! (AH! Master! Wh-what brings you here?!)" The blue boy flinched and hastily covered the paper he was scribbling on with his arms. He was holding a crayon in his left hand even though he was originally a right-handed person. The thing was, right now his right arm was stitched together with red string, and he couldn''t use his fingers at all - they werepletely stiff, frozen in one position. His erratic movement betrayed that he was doing something suspicious earlier, but it didn''t bother his master at all. Cranberry sighed again and sat on the chair opposite to Zombie. "Ugh... my tenth birthday ising soon..." Sheined and started massaging her forehead with an annoyed expression. "Graough... (Y-yes, it is...)" The boy twitched and tightened his arm around the paper so that the girl wouldn''t notice what was on it. "That means that this year is the year where I''ll get my first kill during the party at the capital...!" She groaned and leaned heavily on the backrest and started staring at the ceiling. "Graough...? (A-aren''t you happy about it? We will be allowed to level up an all...)" Zombie growled questioningly and tilted his head. "..." Cranberry kept staring at the ceiling deep in thoughts. "Haa..." Then she sighed, leaned forward, and hid her face in her hands. "What will I do about my weapon...? If I''ll go there and show up holding a wooden sword by the de, I''ll end up as aughing stock and mother will get furious." The youngdyined and shook her head. "Graough?! (HUH?! So you knew that you were holding it the wrong way this whole time?!" The shocked Zombie shook his head in disbelief. Cranberry''s body got stiff all of a sudden, and she slowly raised her head just so that she could re coldly at her servant. "That tone... Are you making fun of me...?" "G-graough! Graough...! (N-no...! I would never dare to!)" Zombie waved his arms and shook his head trying his best to show that he didn''t mean anything bad. "Hmph!" She scoffed at him and slumped back down. "I tried to convince my parents to let me use a mace or a club, but mother said that those weapons are not fit for thedy. Even daddy agreed with that." Cranberry started talking about all the things that bothered her. "They don''t believe when I told them that all my skills are based on blunt weapons, and when I asked them to let me show them, daddy said he''s too busy and mother said she doesn''t feel well and has to rest...!" The girl put down her hands and Zombie could see her emotionless face. "When I told them to call the appraiser, mother just shrugged me off saying that the two of us will be appraised during the party at the capital." The girl sitting in front of the blue boy didn''t seem like a ten-year-old child at all. There''s no way that her talk could be described as a temper tantrum, she was too calm and collected, everyint she delivered with only a hint of annoyance. "In the worst-case scenario, during the party at the capital, I will have to borrow your loose hand and use it as a baton." Cranberry smirked and rested her chin on her hand. "Graough... (Well... why not...? It barely stays in ce because it''s sewn on anyway.) Zombie sighed and waved his useless hand around. "Ha ha!" And he gotpletely taken by surprise when Cranberryughed. He has never seen herugh before. Just two short bursts filled with genuine happiness. Zombie hadn''t even thought that Cranberry could sound like that. "Ekhm... forget about that. Mother always says that myughter sounds disgusting, so I usually hold back." The girl raised her hand and looked away. "Graough. (Your mother has a bad taste then.)" Zombie shrugged his shoulder. /Proficiency level reached Servant''s skill upgrade Corpse venom (level 2) "...?!" "Graough?! (What the hell?!)" They looked at each other. "You get the same message, right?! Nothing about gaining experience or leveling up?!" Cranberry stood up, pale as a sheet, and asked. "Graough...! (No! Nothing! Just the upgrade of my corpse venom!" "After three years?! Howe that your venom is still poisoning that rabbit?! It should have either killed it already or stop working!" "Graough! (I know! I don''t understand it either!) Graough... (Anyway, since that rabbit is still alive, it had to get the poison resistance.) Graough... (And that means that it shouldn''t die from the poison alone.) Graough! (So calm down. It took three years for my venom to level up once, there is no way that the rabbit will die before the party!) Graough! (Both of us will definitely still be level one until then!)" Zombie kept growling and growling, and Cranberry looked as if she calmed down. "True. You have a point." She agreed and sighed heavily. "Gra...ough...? (Wait... Could it be...? Do you understand what I''m...)" "...!" Cranberry shut her mouth tight and started looking around the room, dodging making the eye-contact. Chapter 8: Three years later part 2

Chapter 8: Three yearster part 2

Zombie became confused because of his master''s response and was going to ask her about a lot of things, but then Cranberry lowered her gaze and focused on the paper that the boy was trying to hide up until now. And quickly snatched it! "Hee...? What do we have here?" "Graough...! (Master! No! Don''t look, it''s embarrassing...!)" Zombie,pletely forgetting about his own question, cried and tried to jump across the table to take back the paper, but he was stopped by Cranberry. "Ha...! Try again after you grow a little, pipsqueak!" The girl held him back simply by holding his head at her arm''s reach. The truth was that while Cranberry got taller, Zombie hadn''t changed even a bit from when he was seven. Though that was normal, considering that he was an undead. "Graough...! (Master, seriously, don''t look! It''s not finished...!)" Zombie was groaning in embarrassment the but Cranberry wasn''t going to step. "Whoa, it must be something incredibly shameful if you''re struggling that much! Let''s see..." She giggled triumphantly and raised the paper up to read it. "..." Cranberry froze and Zombie stopped struggling and instead covered his head with his arms. It was a drawing. No, it was a hand-drawn birthday card. It had crudely written ''Happy 10th Birthday, master!'' on top and a drawing below. The drawing was presenting a scene where two stick figures, one with red hair holding a bat and the otherpletely blue, were both standing on top of a giant lizard-like monster that had tworge X''s for eyes. The stick figure with red hair was raising their weapon triumphantly while the blue one was cheering. "Graough...! (It''s not finished! And you know that I can''t draw with my left hand...!)" Zombie groaned in shame. "Graough...! (Master, give it back! I''ll make you a better one!)" The boy tried to take back the card. He pulled himself up with eyes full of conviction...! And noticed that he is being petted on the head. It took him a second to realize that it was his master, Cranberry, that was giving him the pats. "I own you." She said in a t voice. "There''s no need for you to give me anything, you know?" "Graough... (This and that have nothing to do with each other.)" He responded while looking away. "That said, you didn''t really improve much fromst year." Cranberry lips twitched a little as she said that, and Zombie flinched and hung his head down. The girl continued patting his head. "I guess the monster looks a lot better than the one you drew a year before. At least I know that this is a monster and not a weird mountain." "Graough... (Have mercy...! I will get better, I promise! I will make you praise my drawings!)" She pointed out in the same voice, and Zombie grumbled in response. "But... say. What is that weapon I''m supposed to be holding? It looks a bit different than the club, and it''s not a mace either..." Cranberry frowned a little and turned the paper around. "...oh...?" She raised her brow. "Oh...!" Her eyes widened and she let go of Zombie''s head and grabbed the page with both hands. On the other side of the birthday card was another drawing. A close-up of the weapon that the stick figure with red hair was holding. It was something that wasn''t known in this world but was quite popr in Zombie''s previous world. A baseball bat. Its exact dimensions were listed too, together with a fewments. "This is..." Cranberry started grinning as she read thements. -More refined shape thanmonly used clubs, easier to use than a mace.- -If an artisan would carve some intricate designs into it, making it look more like an essory,dy Raspberry should stopining about the crudeness and blunt weapons being udylike.- -Put a bandage, tape, or a ribbon around the grip so it will be impossible to mistake from which side it should be held.- "Ha...?" Up until two firstments, the girl looked overjoyed. But thest one made her eyes turn cold. "You are mocking me...!" She breathed out slowly, trying to hold back anger. At first, Zombie wanted to deny, or try to turn it into a joke, or at least apologize, but then he thought that since it was a perfect asion, he should test out whether his master could understand what he was saying, or just had a great intuition. So he sat upright, cleared his throat to make sure his voice won''t shake, and groaned. "Graough. (Of course, I did, my clumsy master.)" He delivered the line in the ttest voice he could and made sure that his face and eyes were as expressionless as possible. /Proficiency level reached Servant receives a skill Taunt (level 1) "...!" But he got instantly betrayed by the message shing in front of their eyes. "...taunt...?" Cranberry read it and Zombie felt as if the temperature in the study dropped a few degrees. "I see. So that groan just now... You were provoking me..." "Graough! (No, I didn''t!)" She nodded and ignored Zombie''s desperate denial signals. "And since the skill doesn''t form just from doing something once, it does mean that up until now, whenever you groaned like that, you really were mocking me, just as I thought!" "Graough! (No, it doesn''t!)" The girl clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white. "Haa..." But then she suddenly breathed out and rxed. "You know, getting a new skill, a good skill like that, is a good opportunity. We should try it out and maybe even attempt to upgrade it today during the training. High-level taunt will definitely turn out to be incredibly useful, you know?" She said and smiled coldly. "I bet that under your taunt''s effect I will be able to raise the levels of all of my offensive skills... between this and your venom leveling up, I guess that a good training session will make for an appropriate lesson." "GRAOUGH...! (Argh...! Why do you bring up my venom again?! Master, please, have some mercy!)" Zombie cried and got on his knees and started bowing. "Don''t make such a fuss, I do appreciate your gift after all." Cranberry waved her birthday card and her smile became a little less threatening. "Graough...! (Ah! Master...!)" The boy lifted his head with eyes full of admiration. "...so I will heal you after we''re done." "Garough...! (Oh,e on...!)" Chapter 9: The first kill party and the comfortable footwear

Chapter 9: The first kill party and thefortable footwear

Every noble in Fruit Sd that meant something gathered at the kingdom''s capital, Salmagundi, to witness the children of the high ss fully enter the system during the first-kill party. It was an old tradition, older than the kingdom itself, in fact, it was closely connected to the most widespread religion of the world, known simply as ''the System''. ording to the System''sws, when a human became ten years old, they could be a so-called ''yer character''. It was a bit peculiar phrase, considering that everyone could technically start leveling up from the moment of their birth, but truth to be told, not many people put much thought into it. Bing a yer character was an initiation, a ceremony, that put the young children on the path of the System. What kind of religion the System was in the first ce? The System was everywhere, it was inside of everyone and dictated their way of life. It granted skills, magic power, and titles, to those who worked hard. With its personalized messages showing to each individual, it would lead confused, lost people back on the right path with something called the story events and their impassable boundaries. The System was showing everyone their life purpose. Not all at once, but slowly, as they leveled up and progressed through their stories. The way of the System could be practiced anywhere, there was no need for temples, the System was already there, within the hearts of the people. They just needed to ept it. And once they went through the ceremony, they would start receiving quests from the System. A quest was simr to the messages that showed up when someone gained a skill, the difference was there was a certain activity or condition that had to be fulfilled toplete it. A quest could be failed. But if someonepleted it, they would receive a great reward. The experience points necessary to level up. The invaluable skills that would aid them immensely. And the titles that would boost the power they already had and helped them cultivate it to a higher level. Even if someone didn''t initiate and be a yer character, they could gain skills and level up, the story events would show up too, but there would be no quests showing up for them to ept andplete. And since after the initiation the quests would start arriving even if the yer was level 1, and they would stay active until they werepleted, or the specified time ran out, - even after the yer leveled up and new quests showed up - it would be irrational to level up before bing a yer character and forsake the easy toplete early quests. Because, for example, level 1 quests wouldn''t show up for someone who initiated to a yer character at level 2. The part about the initiation for young nobles being an important social event where their families could show off their wealth and power, was something that the royal family came up with and wasn''t a real part of the System. ... ... Cranberry was in a terrible mood. She was standing amongst the other children her age, and although most of them were showing excitation or anxiety, the only red-haired girl there was frowning clearly displeased, and tapping her finger on her crossed arms in annoyance. Although everyone present was apprised before they entered, the level of the appraisal used was low and only revealed their level. Without any surprise or exception, everyone was level one. Cranberry was pissed off because she thought that she will be able to show the results to her mother, and make her stop forcing her to use unsuitable weapons. But no such luck... Then the door to the room opened and everyone looked that way. It wasn''t the big door through which they all were supposed to enter the stage for the initiation, but the small door through which they all entered before. The one who entered was short enough to not show up above a bunch of ten-years-old. "Eww...! What is this?!" "Ah! A monster! A monster escaped!" "Don''t be ridiculous! Look at its clothes, that''s clearly someone''s familiar." Kids were talking amongst themselves as the one who entered limped between them. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and some of the tension left her body, she even put her arms down. "Graough! (Mydy, I did it!)" And soon a seven-year-old looking blue boy approached her and groaned. "Did you do what I asked? We''re good?" Cranberry asked in a cold voice. "Graough... (Yes, I did...)" Zombie groaned and this time remembered to nod his head in affirmation. "Graough... (I still don''t think it''s a good idea though...)" Zombie sulked and fidgeted. Cranberry nced at him and rolled her eyes. "Calm down, if we did something wrong, the system warning would pop up, right? But it didn''t, so it''s fine." She shrugged her shoulders. "More importantly, you didn''t lose that, right?" She squinted her eyes and asked. "Graough! (Wha...?! Of course not!)" Zombie waved around his right, disabled arm, and turned around, showing a long thin package safely hanging across his back. "Good. It''s already bad enough that mother forced us both to wear those ridiculous outfits..." Cranberryined and pulled on a big ribbon on the lower back of her dress. Said dress looked a bit off, the red and ck colors suited the girl but even Zombie knew they weren''t her favorites, it had puffy sleeves that always annoyed her, not to mention the skirt part that wasn''t suited for running, and even worse for using Cranberry''s favorite skill - charge. Even her shoes... No. Especially her shoes were bad for running around! They were red sandals with thin straps! Only her hairstyle, a high ponytail, was somewhat optimal for her style ofbat. She also had a purple scaly whip at her hip but she was intentionally ignoring it. As for Zombie... From top to bottom he was dressed like a miniature butler. White shirt, ck pants, ck west, ck bowtie, and ck shiny loafers. "Why do you havefortable shoes? We leveled up your Toughness skill so much...! You could run around barefoot and be just fine!" Cranberryined, jealously eyeing Zombie''s feet. "Graough...? (Do... Do you want to try them on...?)" Zombie took off the shoes and carefully pushed them toward his master. "...haa..." The girl nced between the boy and the loafers, and the sigh she let out sounded almost as if she was sulking. "I''m not only taller than you, my footwear size is bigger too." She groaned and looked at the ceiling. "Graough! (Oh, that''s even better!)" Instead of being disappointed, Zombie perked up and proceeded to remove what looked like two folded handkerchiefs from inside the shoes. "Graough. (No one really paid attention to my attire and the shoes ended up too big, so I had to improvise.)" He exined. "Pfft...! Ha ha...! Ekhm...!" Cranberry''s shortugh sounded more like dog''s barks, so she quickly cleared her throat and coldly stared at anyone who looked her way. "Anyway. If it''s like that, well, why not?" She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her foot to remove the red sandal. "Don''t just crouch there like that! Help me!" The girl scoffed at the blue boy and reached her foot towards him. She also grabbed his lowered head to keep the bnce. "..." Zombie sighed deeply but stayed silent. "What...? Do you have anything to say?" "Graough! (Nope!)" Cranberry asked aggressively but Zombie shook his head a bit and groaned in denial. "Hmph! That''s what I thought." With one of the loafers on, Cranberry walked a few steps, lifted her leg a bit, and tapped the floor with her toes a few times. "Ha... it fits... This is much easier to move around in. But how does it look?" She wondered. "Graough... (It seems a little bit off...) Graough. (But they''re ck, your dress has ck ents... It works out fine.) Graough! (I would even dare to say that such style suits you!)" Zombie was nodding to himself and groaning, again and again, it made Cranberry look at him with an annoyed expression. "Make it short. Do I look good enough to not be aughing stock?" She asked. "Graough! (Definitely good enough!)" Zombie nodded vigorously. "Good. Then give me the other one, quick. It''s almost time." She returned to him and after supporting herself on his shoulder changed the other shoe. Now Cranberry was wearing the shiny loafer and Zombie ended up barefoot, holding a pair of red sandals in his left hand. As if someone timed it, the big door opened wide and all the gathered children started walking outside towards the area where the initiation ceremony would take ce. Chapter 10: The first kill party and the Initiaton

Chapter 10: The first kill party and the Initiaton

All the children were standing together in an arena especially prepared for the ceremony. The high priest in the fancy ceremonial robes and a funny hat was chanting some sort of prayer that was supposed to start the initiation. Zombie was curiously looking around. After all, this world was the world of an otome game, one of the capture targets, or maybe the viiness, or even the young heroine could be present! After some thought, Zombie came to a conclusion that the capture targets or important characters would have unusual names, so they shouldn''t be too difficult to spot. Well, unusual or at least names that would differentiate them from the side characters. His master name was Cranberry, his old name was Kiwi, and so on, so that alone would make them just a part of the background mob. For some unknown reason, he decided that his current name, Zombie, wouldn''t count. But as for the actually important characters, the blue boy was pretty sure that the names would have to be at least as different from everyone else, as his older sister''s name was. Caramel. Even so, there really wasn''t anyone noteworthy among the gathered children, at least based on the looks alone. There were two or three that stood out, like a trembling brown-haired girl in rather in robe-like clothes, clenching a long staff with red crystal as if it was herst lifeline. Or a blond boy with an oversized sword on his back, who was trying to look particrly distinguished. The blond boy''s staged serious expression almost made Zombieugh out loud. (Does he think that''s how a prideful person looks? Pathetic.) The blue boy smirked as he ridiculed the blond boy in his head. (That''s how pride incarnate looks like!) Zombie turned towards his master. She had that unapproachable aura, as if there was no one that could stand by her side as equal. And, as far as Zombie could tell just by looking at how the other kids were acting, there really was no one that coulde even close. The blue boy nced back at the blond boy. The difference was just too much for him to keep quiet. "Graough... (Weakling.)" He growled and his eyes shone momentarily. Suddenly, the blond boy flinched and red back at him while making a furious face. "Ha ha-Ekhem...!" The one who busted intoughter was none other than Cranberry, she barely managed to hide it by faking a cough and lightly pped Zombie''s arm. "Ha...! Stop messing with a random pushover, Zombie! We''re in the middle of a ceremony! You''re using your taunt you know...? Ha ha...! Ekhem, ekhem!" Cranberry was supposedly scolding her servant, but her expression full of joy and happy voicepletely ruined the intended purpose. "Graough...? (I am? My apologies, master!)" Zombie focused on stopping the skill that he identally used and acted all serious when bowing his head towards the girl shaking fromughter. "As long as you acknowledge your mistake." She nodded benevolently to her servant, and then turned away and looked down on the blond boy. Said boy was taller than Zombie but shorter than Cranberry. The girl smirked at him mockingly and then looked back at the high priest who was about to wrap things up. The blond boy got red from shame and turned away then began staring at his feet. "Do you ept the System?" After a few more minutes of praying and casting blessing, the high priest spread his arms open and asked the children. "We do!" Said almost everyone. "I ept." Confirmed Cranberry and poked Zombie''s side to hasten him. "Graough...! (I ept...!)" The blue boy groaned. At that moment a bright light filled the area. And at the same message showed up in front of every young human that agreed. /Initiationplete /Wee, new yer! Yes, every human. "Tsk...! I thought that it would work." Cranberry clicked her tongue as soon as she noticed only one message. "Graough... (I''m already your servant and an undead too, master.) Graough. (It was worth a try, at least.)" Zombie shrugged his shoulders. But then... /Master of the eternal servant became a yer /Bond meter unlocked Affection meter unlocked /Bond level reached the maximum amount possible in the current stage of the story Eternal servant magic (level 2): Unlocked Master can share their power with the servant /Affection level reached the maximum amount possible in the current stage of the story Form adjustment initiated... Messages started popping up one after the other, and after the one about the form adjustment showed up, Zombie started glowing and... *Riiiiiiip!* His body, although still blue, suddenly grew, causing the clothes he was wearing to get torn apart almostpletely. His pants became shorts, the shirt disappeared, the vest lost all of its buttons and was hanging loosely from his shoulders, and the bowtie fell underneath his feet. /Adjustmentplete "Graough...? (What just happened...?) Zombie groaned in shock and looked at his master. And he looked her straight in the eyes! They were now exactly the same height! "Oh! That''s convenient!" Cranberry tilted her head and looked at Zombie from top to bottom. "I was getting worried what will people say if I would bring an undead pipsqueak everywhere, but it looks like as long as that affection meter will reach a certain value, your body will change... It''s probably safe to assume that it will match my age at the time. Pretty convenient." She nodded to herself. "Graough...! (Whew...! This is amazing!) Graough! (I was afraid that I will stay a seven-years-old forever!)" The half-naked boy growled in relief. "Graough...? (And my arm?!)" He gasped and raised his right hand. It also grew to match his new size but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t move his fingers or the wrist at all. "Graough... (That sucks...)" The blue boy sighed and brushed his fringe to the side. "Even your hair grew longer." Cranberry pointed out. "Let''s just return to the waiting room, there''s no need for us to be the center of attention." She added and left without waiting for him. /Master receives a quest (level 1) Upgrade any skill to level 2 Reward: Master +1 free status point /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one maxed out skill Special reward granted Title: Hardworker /Master receives a quest (level 1) Gain at least one physical offense skill Reward: Master +1 ATK /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one maxed out physical offense skill Special reward granted Master +10 ATK /Master receives a quest (level 1) Use any skill 10 times Reward: Master +1 free status point /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one skill used over 10000 times Special reward granted Free skill /Does the Master want to select a skill now? "Ha! Something interesting popped up. Show me the avable skills I can choose from." Cranberry murmured so that other children won''t hear her. Getting even one special reward at level one was considered amazing. Getting to choose a skill as a reward would cause a hugemotion... IF someone else would hear about that. Certainly, ifdy Raspberry would learn about it, she would definitely try to choose a skill for Cranberry without listening or even asking for her opinion. The young girl was simply saving herself the hassle by keeping a low profile. "Hey, Zombie, I want to try something, but first... which one would you like better, an offensive skill or a defensive one?" She nced at her servant. "Graough? (Which one I would like?)" He groaned and pointed at himself to be sure. "Yes. You." Cranberry nodded and lifted her index finger. "Would you prefer an offensive skill?" She asked. "Or a defensive one?" She added and lifted her middle finger. "Graough! (An offensive one!)". Zombie growled in high spirits and lifted his index finger. "Graough! (I already have some defensive skills but since you forbade me from using bite and corpse venom, Ipletelyck any means of attack!)" "So we think alike. I select the skill number four." /Skill selected /Master receives a skill Strong kick (level 1) /Master receives a quest (level 1) Defeat your first monster Reward: Master +5 HP /Master receives a story quest (level 1) Gain a follower (Eternal servant does not count towards the total number of followers) Reward: Master +10 MP /Master receives a ss quest (level 1) Upgrade eternal servant magic to level 2 Reward: Servant +5% permanent EXP boost /ss questpleted Reward granted /Master receives a ss quest (level one) Upgrade any Servant''s skill to level 2 Reward: Servant +1 DEF, +1MDF, +1 AGI /ss questpleted Reward granted /System detected that the Servant has at least one maxed out skill Special reward granted Servant +5 DEF, +5 MDF, +5 AGI "Graough...! (That was a lot!)" Zombie let out a shocked groan. "Graough? (But, master, why did you chose a strong kick as a skill?) Graough...? (Wasn''t there anything better?)" He tilted his head. "Haa..." Cranberry nced at her servant and sighed a bit disappointed. "Hey, System, I want to share a skill with my servant." She dered, minding her voice so that others won''t hear her. /Calcting... /Eternal servant magic level 2 detected Request granted Master can select a skill to share with the Servant The message popped up. "Graough...! (Ooooh! I see!)" "Share, strong kick." Cranberry said ignoring Zombie''s groans. /Request granted Please choose for how long to share the skill "Permanently." There was no hesitation at all. /Calcting... /Request granted Master''s permanently shares a skill/ /Servant receives a shared skill Strong kick (level 1) "Graough! (Ah! Thank you! Master, I love you!)" "...hmph... it''s nothing..." Zombie jumped up from the excitement but Cranberry quickly looked away and shrugged her shoulders. /Warning Third party interference with the story detected /Calcting... /Error /Master''s level too low Servant''s level too low Eternal servant magic level too low /Critical danger to the story detected /Calcting... /Adjusting the story event... /Master receives an emergency quest Survive your first fight Reward: Master +300 HP, +150 MP, title: Survivor "...!" "Graough?! (The hell is this?!)" Chapter 11: The first kill party and the crying girl

Chapter 11: The first kill party and the crying girl

The unexpected message left the Master-Servant duo petrified. "..." "Graough?! (Critical danger to the story?!) Graough! (Master, doesn''t that mean that you can die?!)" Cranberry was silent while Zombie started panicking. "Graough?! (This is terrible! Master is it because of what I did?!) Graough! (But I only sneaked in some healing herbs to our monster''s pen, as you''ve asked me!) Graough...! (I''ve even stayed behind to check if it eats it and gets better...!) Graough?! (So why have the message showed up only now?!)" The blue boy was so loud that other children in the room, that up until now were either talking to each other excitedly or fidgeting with anticipation, started to stare at him. "Graough! (Master! This is terrible, master!) Graough! (Have you seen the rewards?! It''s so much better than even the special reward you got!) Graough! (Something is so wrong, I can''t even describe it!)" Zombie kept groaning and growling while pacing back and forth. "Uuugh...! Ghuuugh..! Uuuu... Ghuh...! Uuu..." The blue boy was the loudest, but he certainly wasn''t the only loud one in the room. Just as Zombie was continuously growling on Cranberry''s right side, there was someone else on her left side crying very obnoxiously and very loudly. "Ughy...! Uuu...! G-g-ghuu...!" It was the brown-haired girl with a staff, that piqued Zombie''s attention earlier. Well, she didn''t have a staff anymore... Instead, she was holding on to some broken wood that had shards of red crystal stuck in few ces. "Graough! (Master! We have to do something!) Graough? (Can we ask someone for help?) Graough...? (Or... or maybe to stop the ceremony...?)" "Uuu... Gh...! Ghuuuu..." "CAN''T BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP?!" It didn''t take long for Cranberry to blow up. "...!" "I-I''m s-so-sorry... uuu... ghuh!" Zombie instantly shut his mouth but the crying girl didn''t have his experience, and thought that she should apologize. Cranberry closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Haa..." She breathed out and turned to her servant. "Your groans aren''t helping my concatenation, understand?" She exined in a low voice. Zombie quickly nodded in silence. "Uuugh...! I-I''m sorry... ghuu! I-I''ll stop... uuu..." Meanwhile, the crying girl was bad at reading the warning signs and started bowing to Cranberry. "..." Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...graough... (...master,dy Raspberry will scold us if we start a fight here...) Zombie delicately tugged on his master''s sleeve and let out a tiny growl. She nced at him and... "Haa..." Rxed her hands and breathed out. "...ughuu... uuu..." At least the brown-haired girl was trying to keep it down. She was unsessful, but at least she was trying and was so focused on that that she hadn''t even noticed that the blond boy, with an oversized sword on his back, was sneaking nces at her until finally he gathered his courage and started walking towards her. The blond boy approached the crying girl and shyly reached his hand towards her. He nced at the growling undead and the scary girl, but they seemed to be busy, so he gulped down his saliva and opened his mouth to call out to the sad girl. "You! Why are you wailing like this? Do you know how irritating you are?!" Cranberry suddenly turned to the sobbing girl and pointed at her face. She was almost touching the brown-haired girl''s nose with her index finger. "Ughee...?" "...!" The crying girl gasped and took a step back and the blond boy got startled and hurriedly turned away to avoid the confrontation with the scary girl. "Well?" Cranberry asked while staring down at the other girl. "Ah... um... gh! Um... m-my staff b-broooookeee...! Uweeeeee...!" The girl broke into a full-on sorrowful cry halfway through the exnation and made Cranberry look to the side and sigh. "So what happened? Were you attac- oh, I get it..." "Uegh?!" Cranberry asked but suddenly pped her hands in realization which surprised the other girl enough to make her shut up for a moment. "During the initiation, you unlocked a ss, right? And it turned out to be something that has a ban on the equipment like a magic staff, so yours broke?" Cranberry asked with a confident smirk. "Ah... um... yes... exactly as you''ve said..." The brown-haired girl nodded. "Graough! (Wow! That can happen?!)" Zombie raised his brows and groaned. "But normally, the banned weapon would just get ejected from your hands... How strongly were you holding on to it?" Cranberry nced at her servant and asked the girl. "Graough... (Oh, yeah, she seemed to be holding on to it for her dear life before.)" "Ughuu... I... it was a-a gift from my father..." The brown-haired girl''s shoulders shook. "Father took me in because I awakened to magic when I was little... And... and he gave me this staff as a good luck... gh...! As a good luck charm...! H-he have said he was using it during his own initiation...! And...! And I broookee iiiiiiitt...!" She almost managed to hold back the tears this time. Almost. "Graough. (That''s tough.)" Zombie tilted his head and made a sad expression. Cranberry nced at him and furrowed her brows a bit. "Ah, I see, so you''re sad because you don''t have a weapon and they should be almost done with preparations for the fights, right?" She suddenly smiled brightly and leaned her body to the side. "Graough... (Master... I don''t think that''s her reason...)" Zombie sighed. "E-eh...? B-but my father''s..." The brown-haired girl looked at her with confusion. "Riiiight?" Cranberry''s smile suddenly changed into a cold re and made the other girl flinch. "Y-yes! I-I don''t have a weapow... a weapon now...! A-and that''s bad!" The terrified girl agreed so quickly that she bit her tongue. "I knew I was right!" Pleased Cranberry, smiling as if she never red at the other girl, nodded at her servant. "Graough. (I can''t believe how amazing you are.)" Zombie shook his head and groaned sarcastically. "Then? What''s your ss?" Cranberry turned back to the other girl. "Eh?!" Who got startled even more than before. "Your ss. What is it?" Cranberry''s voice dropped a whole octave as she stared her down. "!!! Ah! A-a tamer! I''m a tamer! I''m sorry!" The brown-haired girl started bowing repeatedly and apologized to Cranberry. The blond boy, who still was around for some reason, flinched but didn''t join in the conversation. "A tamer you say..." Cranberry touched the whip by her waist and smiled with satisfaction. "...!" Zombie''s eyes widened and he looked at the whip, then at his master''s face, at the whip again, and back at his master''s face. "Gaough?! (Don''t tell me all of that was just so you can get rid of the whip your mother forced on you?!)" Zombie growled utterly shocked. "Graough! (I was wondering since when did you start acting so nice toplete strangers!)" He shook his head in disbelief. "What a coincidence! I just so happen to have a side weapon that I could give to you!" Cranberry took off the purple whip and offered it to the other girl. "I! I don''t know what to say...! Thank...!" The brown-haired girl tried to take the whip from Cranberry''s hand but the red-haired girl didn''t release her grip. "...you...?" The brown-haired tilted her head in confusion and looked at Cranberry''s face. "I do have one request though." Cranberry smiled friendly. "You see, I really hate your obnoxious crying, I''m giving you this weapon, so could you just..." She got extremely close to the brown-haired girl, Cranberry was a whole head taller than the other girl, so she was now looking straight down at the brown-haired girl that stared fidgeting from the unease. Suddenly the friendly smile disappeared and Cranberry opened her eyes. Their icy starepletely froze the brown-haired girl. "...shut the fuck up?" Cranberry finished her sentence, let go of the whip, and stepped away from the other girl. "...!" The brown-haired girl started shaking uncontrobly as she held on to the whip. "!!!" The blond boy listening in on them flinched and started cowering. "Graough. (Ah, so that''s what it really was about.)" Zombie nodded with a relieved expression. ... ... The big door opened again signaling that it was time for the children to re-enter the prepared area that was turned into the arena. "You calmed down?" Cranberry asked Zombie all of a sudden. "Graough? (Um... Y-yes, somehow...)" The confused blue boy nodded. "The emergency quest or not, nothing changes. We need to show off as much as possible so that my mother will have to ept my choice of weapon. And who knows? Since the fight is so much more dangerous that it caused an emergency quest to appear, maybe it''s exactly what we need for that?" She smiled and started walking with all the other children. Chapter 12: The first kill party and a discovery

Chapter 12: The first kill party and a discovery

The young participants exited the room and took a seat at the specially prepared chairs, the fights would be one on one, but the families would be watching them from their seats and other children would watch from theirs. After all, what would be the point of showing off if no one could see it? "Young lord Melon Bread!" The high priest, who was also the master of the ceremony for the fights, called out the child from the family of the lowest standing amongst the participants and a short chubby boy stood up and walked to the center of the area holding a spear. "Graough! (Huh? Could it be that the surnames in this world are just as ridiculous as the names?)" Impressed Zombie growled to himself. "Graough...? (I wonder what is Cranberry''s family name? It must be something fancy, like Pana Cota or Creme Brule...?) Graough?! (Ah! What if it''s something like a Wedding-cake?!) Graough...! (It would be amazing, in its own way...!)" He giggled and nced at his master. That was staring right back at him! "Graough?! (Master?! C-could it be that you understand me?!)" Zombie gasped terrified. "Hey, Zombie, the strong kick skill works better if you have shoes on. You should wear those." In spite of Zombie''s worries, Cranberry didn''t say anything about hisments on the surnames but instead pointed at the red sandals that he was holding on to for her. "Graough...? (You... you''re kidding, right, Master?)" He asked turning the sandals over. "Graough... (Those barely count as shoes, they''re mostly strings...) Graough! (And they have bigger heels than I''m used to!) Graough. (Not like high hills, but still.)" The blue boyined. "Zombie, I''m not asking." Cranberry raised her brow and started tapping her finger on her hip. "Graough...! (But...! They are probably too small for me since I got bigger and all...!)" "Try. Them. On." "..." They''ve looked at each other for a solid minute. "...graough... (...fine... but if they don''t fit...)" Zombie was the first one to break the eye contact, he grumbled in a sulky voice and squatted behind Cranberry''s seat. "Graough, graough...! (Oh! Hey, these look surprisingly good one me! Ha! Red on blue doesn''t look, like, amazing, but it works somehow...!)" Zombie groaned, pleasantly surprised. "Graough. (They''re not bad to walk in either.) Graough? (But that''s probably because I have the Toughness skill, right?)" He wondered after walking around a bit. Meanwhile, the boy with the spear took down a small shaking green dog with broken legs. Much less than a fight, it was simply a mercy kill. "Lesser frenzied dog... Breads'' really didn''t care this year." The blond boy with the big sword shook his head andined quite loudly. "My father''s territory borders with theirs, apparently they''ve spent a lot of money to hire a high-level adventurer to catch something good for them, but he never returned from the forest." Some girl behind him leaned forward and exined. "Oh... Sucks for them, I guess. That''s why my mother always says to never pay for anything in advance!" The boy shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. "Tsk!" "Who just...?!" Someone clicked their tongue and the blond boy frowned and looked for the source. "...!" What he found was an icy re of the green eyes full of disgust. Cranberry was looking at him as if he was a piece of filth by the roadside. The blond boy''s face became ghastly pale and he turned back as fast as he could. "Young lord Orange Tart." The high priest called and a tall, thin boy with a spiked mace stood up and passed the returning Bread''s boy on his way. He faced a striped ck and brown m the size of a big treasure chest. "Ooh!" Almost everyone present let out a shocked gasp. "That''s! That''s...!" The blond boy gasped. "Graough...? (Master, what''s going on?)" Zombie leaned toward his master and groaned in a low voice. "Haa... I don''t remember its name, but apparently, that''s some rare monster that sometimes can have a pearl that can raise status points inside..." Cranberry red at him but still ended up answering, though her expression turned grim the moment that the tall boy raised his mace and his body started glowing. The fight went down rather boring, the boy just used his bash skill over and over again until the shell of the m got shattered. "Ah! It''s there!" Someone couldn''t keep their voice down and shouted. There was a pearl, big as an adult''s fist, between the pieces of the blue shell. The boy that just defeated the m, imed his reward and rushed back to the seats. But he didn''t return to his own seat, instead, he beelined it right towards a totally unassuming child. With their perfectly androgynous features, it was impossible to determine their gender at a nce, and the robe-like clothes that they were wearing certainly didn''t help to clear the confusion. Zombie raised his brows looking at the young Tart standing in front of the androgynous child. Orange Tart blushed and extended his hands, offering the pearl to the in child. That child looked at the pearl and then at the bowing boy. "For me...?" Even their voice was androgynous. "Y-yes!" The bowing boy hurriedly confirmed. "I''m giving my heartfelt thanks to you on behalf of the whole Tart family, lord ymore!" He added. "Graough! (Ah!)" Zombie clenched his fists and gasped, which made Cranberry nce at him with disapproval. But that didn''t even register in Zombie''s brain. Because there it was, a unique name that stood out amongst the background characters. That child had to be a part of the main storyline of the game! And to think that the first person with a unique name that Zombie met, aside from his sister, was someone that didn''t stand out from the crowd unless pointed out. Zombie shook his head, with a name like ymore it was entirely possible that that child would grow up to be a weapon dealer or something... At least that what he thought until ymore responded to Orange. "Thank you, lord Orange, I''m so happy that my family has an ally in the Tart family." ymore took the pearl and put it in hisp, and bowed back at the Orange. And then he smiled. "Oooooh...!" Almost everyone let out a gasp of awe. When ymore smiled, his face turned from the inest face one could imagine into the stunning beauty that made one''s heart skip a beat no matter the gender. But there was one heart that was already long cold and dead. "Graough. (He''s definitely one of the capture targets.)" Zombie grit his teeth and sighed. Just like that, his hope that the main story of the game he doesn''t know would pass without him being near crashed and lit itself on fire. "Haa... What''s with the dy? The high priest should just call for the next person." There was another person with an equally cold, if not even colder, heart. Cranberry was leaning back on her seat and making an annoyed face. "!" The high priest overheard thatment and flinched. "Ekhem...! Youngdy Plum Cream." He cleared his throat and called out. ymore stopped smiling, returning to his in-faced self, and released everyone else from his charms. He turned towards Cranberry and lowered his head apologetically. And winked at her. Cranberry raised her brow and stared at him. Under her re, the androgynous child trembled and hurriedly faced towards the center of the area. "Graough! (Ha! Know your ce, capture target! Way to go, master!)" Zombie growled triumphantly. Chapter 13: The first kill party, Hope, Lust, and Pride

Chapter 13: The first kill party, Hope, Lust, and Pride

The next couple of fights went on smoothly, all the monsters were properly weakened so even the more feeble and unskilled kids could manage to finish them off without any trouble. Zombie couldn''t help but re at the androgynous capture target from time to time and Cranberry was getting more and more restless as the time went on. "Youngdy Mary Hope." "GRAOUGH?! (WHAT?!)" The next name had Zombie shouting in shock. "Oh, so that''s her name." Cranberry casually shrugged her shoulders as she observed the brown-haired girl, the same one she gave the whip to, standing up and walking towards the center of the area. Her fight caused an even biggermotion than ymore''s smile. First of all, she barely used her whip, like, almost at all. Second, she suddenly started talking to therge wolf monster that she was facing. Third, she tamed it! A taming skill is exclusive for a tamer ss and, in normal circumstances, level 1 yers don''t have a ss assigned. Though despite Maty''s feat, a first kill party isn''t organized for taming but for killing, so after a quick break and a consultation with Mary''s family, the wolf monster was allowed to stay with her. It got healed, and another monster was brought up for the killing. That one was clearly much weaker but actually, it was already a huge stroke of luck that there was even a single spare monster just waiting half-dead for them to put out. Anyway, the new monster was ripped apart by the tamed one almost instantly and Mary could return to her seat. Zombie was quite convinced that she was the heroine. He observed her with a serious expression. Mary sat down and the wolf instantly rested its head on herp and she started patting it. Zombie nced at the monster, and the monster nced back at him. For a second they had this weird moment between them when the monster nodded its head up in a very human-like friendly greeting and Zombie nodded back at it and smiled. The wolf closed its eyes looking pleased. On the other hand, Mary fidgeted, turned her body a bit, and shyly peeked at Zombie then she widened her eyes and looked back at the wolf then back at Zombie. "Graough...? (Um... Something weird is going on... Master...?)" Zombie felt ufortable so he hid behind his master and let out a low growl. Cranberry frowned and straightened her back, blocking Mary''s view. "...what?" "...!" The red-haired girl mouthed the question silently which caused the brown-haired to quickly bow apologetically and turn away. "Haa... I didn''t take you for someone who would get scared by some low-level kid and her dog." Cranberry sighed while the next child was called. "Graough...! (I-I''m not scared of her! I-It''s just that I have a bad feeling! That''s all...!)" Zombie groaned defensively. Finally, only three children were still waiting for their turn. The androgynous boy, ymore, the blond boy with a greatsword, and the red-haired Cranberry. Zombie fidgeted, he was getting worried, impatient, and anxious, all at the same time as the looming danger of the emergency quest his master received was getting closer. Yet, even so, he couldn''t help but wonder how high is the position of Cranberry''s family. Up until that point, aside from the exotic m monster that Orange Tart fought, the rarity of the monster''s that the children faced was steadily getting higher and higher, so that meant that the power and wealth of the families responsible for preparing them were shown off exactly as everyone assumed it would go. Zombie tilted his head looking between the three young nobles, trying to determine by the looks and aura alone what is their rank in the hierarchy. "The head of the Lust house, lord ymore Lust." "Whoa...!" It seemed that Zombie wasn''t the only one who wasn''t aware of the androgynous child''s status, because more than a few gasps raised from the audience. Though in most cases it wasn''t caused by the name alone, but rather the title. ymore was the only participant that got introduced with proper respect, everyone else was called youngdy or young lord to create at least a guise of equality. But not him. "Ha... So even though he''s so young, he''s already the avatar of sin? That''s impressive..." Cranberry nodded watching the in boy walk. "Graough...? (The avatar of sin...? Master...? What is going on?) Graough? (How do you know this? None of your teachers mentioned it while we studied together!) Graough! (Please, tell me you are making it up, that actually sounds scary!)" Zombie grabbed the backrest of Cranberry''s seat and shook it while groaning pleadingly. "Oh, right, I keep forgetting that you were a peasant from the boonies." Cranberry leaned back and looked up at the worried servant. "We will be learning about it in details in the future, but for now you should know that in Fruit Sd there are seven main noble families" The girl exined while at the center of the arena ymore stood up against a ck and green scorpion monster the size of arge carriage. "The head of each of those families inherits a title called the avatar of sin, and gains powerful skills unique to the sins they represent." The scorpion monster didn''t look weakened at all and charged at ymore as soon as the magic binding on its carapace faded, snapping its pincers and preparing its massive tail for a strike. "As for the avatar of lust, their main skill should be..." Cranberry pointed at ymore. The androgynous boy raised his hand towards the charging monster and smiled, and as he did that, blue strands of light shoot out from his palm, wrapped around the scorpion, and got absorbed by it. The effect was instantaneous, the monster buried its pincers into the ground stopping itself mere inches before trampling the boy. Instead of attacking, it just waited, staring at the smiling ymore with its many eyes. "The bindings of lust. The strongest charm type skill there is, some people even dare to say that if something has a pulse, the high-level avatar of lust will conquer it." Cranberry''s expression turned sour. "Although I''ve heard that the people from other main families have at least some resistance against it." She added. Meanwhile, ymore leaned towards the scorpion. "Such a big, strong monster... I bet you are worth a lot of experience points..." His smile became even more beautiful and he started petting the beast. The scorpion trembled expectantly and leaned in to be touched more. "Hey, could you do something for me?" ymore asked and the scorpion snipped its pincers excitedly. "Could you go ahead and be my experience points? Please...? Die for me." And as ymore''s smile became the most beautiful, the monster stung itself in the back. It''s sharp as a rapier stinger broke through its carapace all the way through. "Thank you~" ymore hummed happily as the monster let out its final screech and keeled over. "Graough...! (That''s some heavy stuff for a nation that''s named after a dessert...!)" Zombie groaned. As the androgynous boy was returning to his seat, he stopped smiling and his face became in again. When he was sitting down he identally nced at Cranberry. The girl looked back at him and nodded her head with approval, which made the boy''s eyes widen in shock. His in face didn''t be overwhelmingly beautiful, but his expression certainly did change into a content one. "Garough... (Wait... Master...)" Zombie furrowed his brows and looked at Cranberry. "Graough...? (If he was called earlier than you, then it means that his position is lower than yours, right...?) He growled with realization. Cranberry looked at him calmly and slightly tilted her head. "Graough... (But then that means that you''re also from one of the...)" He was in the middle of the sentence when he was interrupted by the high priest calling out the next participant. "Youngdy Cranberry Pride." Chapter 14: The first kill party and the emergency event start!

Chapter 14: The first kill party and the emergency event start!

Cranberry Pride. ording to what she had said herself, that surname meant that she was a member of the seven main noble families in the kingdom. "Ha...? Don''t tell me you actually didn''t know my family name? Anyway, you better focus, I don''t n on failing my quest just because you''re surprised by something like that." She said and stood up. "Let''s go." She beckoned him and started walking. Well, Zombie indeed did hear the word pride a lot while staying with his master, but he always assumed that it was just a pride, and not Pride as a surname! The blue boy wasgging behind when suddenly something started pushing him forward against his will! "Graough?! (What the...?!)" He growled confused and turned his head around but... there was no one behind him! /Master entered the story mission area Servant''s presence required /Please enter the story mission area A system message showed up and Zombie''s confusion dissipated. Since the system can create invisible walls to trap someone, it can obviously also use them to push people around. "Graough! (Alright! I''m going!) Zombie growled and started limping forward faster than the invisible wall could push him. "That took you long enough." Cranberry sighed and reached her hand expectantly. "Garough! (Ah! Right!)" Zombie flinched, put down the long thin package he was carrying on his back and unwrapped it carefully. It was a masterfully crafted baseball bat with a floral pattern etched into the wood, and blue velvet wrapping around the handle. Zombie offered the bat to Cranberry, the girl took it and smirked. "I feel much better now." Sheughed and rested the bat on her shoulder. "Now, let''s see what happened with our monster." She grinned and her eyes shone coldly. "Graough? (Maybe that quest is just a misunderstanding?)" Zombie crossed his fingers. The monster they would be facing was brought up. "A lizardfolk!" The blond boy with the oversized sword eximed impressed. Indeed, that what the monster looked like. A tall green humanoid lizard with robust muscles and a massive tail, looking around cautiously with its reptilian eyes. The lizardfolk was bound with magic restraints, like every other monster before it, and was mostly naked, wearing only a loincloth made out of unprocessed animal skin. Its kind was a tribal society with properly developed craftsmanship and was just a step away from getting acknowledged as a major species, so it was obvious that this one was stripped from its equipment to look less intelligent. The people walking it to the center, left a thick long bone, presumably a rib of somerge monster, by the bound lizardfolk''s feet. Cranberry and Zombie waited for the magic restraints toe undone, and when their light faded, the lizardfolk slowly stretched its limbs and looked at the pair of children. "Khhhhgh...!" It opened its jaws and let out a weird shrill. "Graough... (I don''t like that they cut off his tongue, it''s creepy.) Zombie groaned while keenly watching the monster pick up the rib and weigh it in its hands. "Lizardfolk. Your kind is known to be very proud, I''ll give you the honor of turning into our first experience points." Cranberry ignored her servant and instead pointed her bat at the monster. "Even if you defeat us, you won''t be getting out of here alive, but still, give it your all. I need this to be shy." She smirked coldly. "Khhhhhghhgk...!" The lizardfolk shrilled and its tail furiously smashed against the ground. "Zombie, go." Cranberry lightly nodded her head pointing the blue boy towards the angered monster. "Graough...?! (Hey! Master! I thought that taunting was my job...?!)" Zombie groaned aint and started limping at their opponent. "That weird child is an undead puppet, so is youngdy Pride a corpse puppeteer? Why isn''t she conjuring more of them?" Some of the spectators started talking. "I''ve heard that during the awakening she refused the magic and it partially failed. It''s quite possible that it''s the best she can do." Someone whispered with a barely hidden smirk. "It looks really weak, will it even do something?" Another person askedughing at the limping blue boy. Indeed, Zombie''s peace was quite slow, he was dragging one leg behind in a ssic old-school zombie-like fashion, and certainly, what he was wearing now were essential rags and red strapped sandals, so suchment wasn''t out of ce at all. "Khh!" Even the lizardfolk snorted at him and shook its head in annoyance. "Graough...! (Hey! I''ll get there when I''ll get there, alright...!)" Zombie scoffed back at everyone and continued at his own peace. When he finally got in front of the monster, the lizardfolk nced at him with disgust and just swatted his weapon. At that moment Zombie''s body shone and he bent his body right under the weapon, at the same time his leg started glowing and he used his own movement to deliver a terrifying kick at the monster''s groins. He dug in his heel and twisted it for the greater effect. "KHHHGHGH!" The monster''s eyes bulged out and it screamed in pain, bending in half and almost dropping its weapon. "Uuuh...!" Everyone with male parts flinched, momentarily connecting with the lizardfolk on a spiritual level. As soon as the monster showed an opening, Cranberry''s body glowed and sheunched a charge right at it. Her eyes shone and she swung her baseball bat, smashing it into the monster''s jaws, forcing the beast''s back straight. Zombie also wasn''t just standing by idly. Without a shred of mercy, his leg shone, and he kicked the lizardfolk''s groins again, which send it bending forward again, only for Cranberry to bash it for the second time. Zombie was going to repeat that cycle once more but at thest second, he noticed that the lizardfolk''s muscles harden under its scaly skin. "Graough! (He will counter!)" Zombie shouted and threw himself back, pushing Cranberry right out of the way of the rib, that just appeared in their vision, swung by the seemingly incapacitated monster. The rib hit the blue boy square in the side of the stomach and sent him flying while the monster already took another swing and attacked Cranberry. The girl''s eyes shone and she met the attack with her own skill. Two weapons mmed against each other and both opponents were sent back a few steps, the much lighter Cranberry was sent further back. While those two were busy, Zombie''s body shone just before he hit the ground and he twisted into an upright position. The boy gritted his teeth, both of his legs shone and instead ofnding he kicked the ground and flew right back at the monster duking it out with his master. /Proficiency level reached /Servant receives a skill Acrobatics (level 1) A message popped up but neither the master nor servant had the time to care about it. Cranberry was countering the hits of the increasingly furious lizardfolk, one after the other. /Proficiency level reached /Master receives a skill Counter (level 1) When that messaged showed up, Cranberry''s face twisted in a wicked smile and her bat started shining mid-swing. *BANG!* This time when the weapons connected they made a loud sound and only the lizardfolk was sent back and even tripped, losing its bnce. But it was just a fain, instead of falling over, the lizardfolk turned around and swiped at Cranberry with its tail. That was the moment when Zombie came back, while above the monster''s head, his legs shone and he dug the very same sandal''s heels that heined about, into the lizardfolk''s head, mming the beast into the ground and throwing off its tail-swipepletely. /Servant''s hidden affinity unlocked Leg Power (level 1) Cranberry was already by the fallen lizardfolk and her eyes were shining. "Graough! (Uh-oh!)" Zombie growled and hastily stepped off the monster''s head so that his master could deliver the unrelenting thrashing on the monster. "Graough? (Master, is that me or is this guy actually weak?) Graough. (So that''s how it looks like from the third-person perspective. Brutal.)" The blue boy squatted by the lizardfolk and calmly watched as a barrage of blows was falling onto the monster desperately trying to protect itself. "Stop groaning and help me finish it!" Cranberry shouted ferociously and red at Zombie. "Garough! (O-on it!)" Zombie hurriedly stood up and joined in with his strong kick. "It doesn''t feel right, this one is using some skill to block most of the damage from my skills!" The girl clicked her tongue. "Hmph... The show is over, then, I guess?" A deep voiceing from below the pair asked. "...?!" "Graough?! (What the hell?!)" The children gasped and tried to back away from the lizardfolk who crawled back up to all fours. "As if I''ll let you!" The monster shouted and its back shone with murky brown light and not even a split secondter, two giant wings smashed into the children, sending them crashing against the invisible walls. /Unable to leave the area /Unable to leave the area The same message showed up twice as the master and the servant hit the invisible walls at different times. Zombie tried to stand back up but he instantly fell over. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required "Graough...? (What is..?) Graough... (Oh...)" The spreading wing got him in the legs and now they were bending in two more ces than they were supposed to... "Th-that''s not a lizardfolk! It''s a dragonewt! Quick! Somebody help them!" People from the audience raised amotion but as soon as they tried to approach the center of the arena, they got blocked by the system''s invisible walls. "Graough! (Master!)" Zombie growled panicked when he realized that his master was hit by the same kind of attack as him, but she didn''t have his DEF. "You are persistent, little human... I almost feel it would be a shame to kill someone with such potential." The dragonewt stood up and red at Cranberry. The girl was crouching, supporting her battered body with the steaming baseball bat. She managed to counter the wing but she still got thrown very far and crashed into the invisible wall. "Ha...! Almost, you say..." She let out a mockingugh and her expression turned into an angry grimace. "Yes... Almost." The monster confirmed and opened its mouth. His throat shone bright and a wide cone of fire erupted from his jaws and swallowed Cranberry whole. Chapter 15: The first kill party and the emergency quest end. And...

Chapter 15: The first kill party and the emergency quest end. And...

"GRAOUGH! (MASTER!)" Zombie growled and started crawling his way towards the dragonewt. "GRAOUGH! (YOU FUCKING BASTARD! LEAVE MY MASTER ALONE!)" He roared with glowing eyes. /Skill failed A message popped up. "GRAOUGH! (YOU SHIT-FACED, MAGGOT EATING, SON OF A BITCH! ATTACK ME!)" Zombie roared again and this time his taunt worked. "Oh...? You have guts for such an annoying corpse puppet." The dragonewt closed its jaws, deactivating the fire breath skill, and turned towards the small undead. "Those disgraceful cheap-shots younded on me hurt quite a bit, you know? My draconian skin level is low so it doesn''t protect ces without scales... let me properly return the favor...!" The monster opened its jaws and its throat started shining again. "So that was it? The draconian skin skill? System, heal my Zombie." An annoyed voice called the monster out from the side. /Permission received Healing in progress... /Healingplete "...?!" The dragonewt opened its eyes wide in shock and tried to turn towards the girl he assumed roasted in his mes. "Graough?! (What are you looking at, you dragon-shit?!)" Zombie, already back on his healed feet, growled and delivered a ruthless roundhouse kick right into the monster''s groins with his brightly shining leg. "GHRAAAOOUUGHH!" The dragonewt growled in pain and the fire breath skill it was preparing activated but got wasted on the ground below its feet where there was already no trace of Zombie. Mostly because Zombie was right by the dragonewt''s side, his leg already shining again, and he shut the monster''s jaws with a devastating kick, which caused the fire breath skill to backfire, causing some sizable damage to the beast. "You bashtard...! Thish ish notshing!" With burnt tongue and a few teeth missing, the dragonewt became a bit less articted. "Graough! (Ha! You idiot! I''m just a support!)" Zombie ridiculed his opponent and jumped away. "Hwat...?" The dragonewt shook its head, trying to get rid of the dizziness caused by its own skill failure when it suddenly shuddered from dread. Relying on sheer instinct the monster protected its head with its wings. "Tsk...!" An annoyed click of the tongue came from above and was followed by a cmitous strike that tore right through the wings and ripped off its lower jaw. "Ghghughu...!" The dragonewt staggered and raised its hands towards what was left of its mouth, but the only thing that it felt was the blood gushing out of the horrible wound. The monster''s eyes shook after it managed to focus them on the little human in front of it. Cranberry was ring at it with an ice-cold smile. "Say, dragonewt, what kind of idiot reveals his triumph card''s weakness?" She asked and clenched her fists around the bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "A low-level draconian skin doesn''t protect against the magic damage, idiot!" She said as her eyes started glowing and condensed mana began coiling around the bat. "Also, you tried to burn someone from the Pride family! You absolute moron, all of us have fire immunity since birth!" She roared fiercely and swung at the dragonewt. And when the mana-enhance bat connected, it tore right through the dragonewt''s muscr body, tearing it in half vertically. /Emergency questpleted Reward granted /Master and servant gain EXP /Master levels up! Level1 ?? Level 10 All skills level up Base status points increased /Title received Dragonewt yer Master receives 57 new quests (For quest details use the show questsmand) /29 questspleted Rewards granted /Master reached level 10 /ss unlocked ss automatically assigned Master of the Eternal Servant /Calcting... /Special exception granted Master receives a subss Berserk /Master receives the ss-exclusive skills Enraged (level 1) Empower (level 1) /Servant''s bond increased /Error /Unable to increase the bond over the current level due to the current stage of the story /Servant''s affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story /Servant levels up! Level 1? ? Level 10 All skills level up Base status points increased /Title received Dragonewt yer The messages started popping up the moment the two halves of the dead dragonewt hit the ground. Cranberry nced at them and made a refreshed smile but Zombie ended up sulking. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and rested the bloodied baseball bat on her shoulder. "The system keeps screwing you over, huh? Don''t worry, I got you." She bumped her fist on Zombie''s shoulder. "System, I want to share enraged and empower with my Zombie, permanently. Cranberry dered. /Request received Calcting... /Request granted /Servant receives shared skills Enraged (level 1) Empower (level 1) "How about now?" Cranberry grinned at her servant. The blue boy shook his head and got up close to the red-haired girl and grabbed her free hand. "Zombie? What''s going on?" She tilted her head confused. "Graough...! (Master...! I was scared...!) Graough!? (Why didn''t you tell me about your fire immunity before?!) Graough! (I really thought that that lizard got you! I was worried to death!)" Zombie was very upset and started crying. "Ah...! Um... Sorry, you see, I guess that I just forgo..." Cranberry fidgeted awkwardly while Zombie was wiping the cold tears with his left hand. "Incredible! Simply incredible!" "Pride family is as strong as ever!" "Youngdy! Please marry my grandson!" Suddenly deafening cheers erupted from the audience causing both children to flinch. The adults approached them and Cranberry was healed with a strong spell before returning to her seat together with her servant. Zomnie was still sulking so the master continued to hold hands with him. The monster corpse was removed and the area was cleared. The high priest cleared his throat and called out the final participant. "The first prince of our beloved kingdom, young lord Roan Greed." The blond boy with a greatsword stood up and rushed towards the center of the arena, it was clear that witnessing a fight like the one Cranberry and Zombie had, made him pumped up and ready to show off just as much, if not more. But for that, he would need an even greater foe than the dragonewt that the red-haired girl and her blue undead defeated. "Ah...!" "N-no way...!" The audience let out gasps of shock and awe when the monster was brought out from its den. "Graough...! (Whoa...!)" Zombie gasped. "Haa... a young dragon. As expected of the royal family." Cranberry slowly breathed out and leaned backfortably in her chair. "But, wouldn''t killing it just like that be a waste?" She asked and nced to the side. She met the serious gaze of the androgynous boy, ymore, and they both nodded to each other and looked at Mary, the girl who already had the tamer ss. The young dragon that was brought looked like it was on the verge of death. Its eyes were bloodshot and the dark red scales were peeling off from its joints. The dragon didn''t even try to attack when the magic bindings wore off, it just slumped on the ground and growled pitifully. Simrly, the blond prince hadn''t even taken out his greatsword, but whether it was because he decided it was better not to do that, or that he was unable to because the weapon was attached in a ridiculous ce, was up to debate. He approached the weak red dragon and raised his bare hands showing that he doesn''t have any ill will. The dragon looked at him with eyes full of pain and growled questioningly. "Dragon, I have a proposition for you." Prince Roan kneeled by the dragon and looked into the monster''s eyes. "I''ve learned from my teachers that all dragons are very intelligent and powerful and you definitely would give me lots of experience..." He said and the dragon groaned and closed its eyes, prepared for the finishing strike that would release it from the pain. "But I won''t do that." After hearing those words the dragon opened one eye and red at the blond boy with resentment, it clearly dreaded every moment of his tormented existence. As it moved, more of the dark-red scales peeled off of its body. "Right now I''m only level 1 and ssless, but I can assure you that I will level up in no time." Roan exined at which dragon growled at him to hurry up and get to the point. "I know that when a dragon makes a promise, only its own death will force it to break it. That''s why I have a proposition for you." Roan smiled friendly, as if all this talk up until that point wasn''t carefully prepared by his teachers, and extended his hand towards the dragon. Dragon didn''t even growl at him this time, in its state even breathing was painful so it just continued to re at the prince in silence. "I can promise you that once I''ll get to level 10, I will unlock a tamer ss. And in turn, I want you to promise me that once I''ll achive that, you will be my tamed monster. If you do that, my family will heal you." The prince recited and looked at the dragon expectantly. The dragon growled and tried to get up, but it was too weak and slumped right back down causing arge number of red scales to fall off. "...you are very impudent and greedy, little human..." The dragon blinked and his voice was transmitted telepathically to everyone present, it sounded oddly simr to Roan''s voice. "...but if there''s a chance that I will be able to fly again..." It tried to move its wings but they only shook and limply hung down on both sides of its body. "...I agree to your proposition, little human. I will be your tamed monster, now heal...!" It suddenly stopped talking. /Proficiency level reached /Servant''s skill upgrade Corpse venom (level 3) Cranberry and Zombie looked at each other inplete shock. The weak red dragon''s body started shaking and foam started bubbling up from its mouth. Suddenly that white foam got dyed red and the monster''s reptile''s eyes rolled back as the intelligent and powerful young red dragon keeled over and died on the spot. /Dragon ss monster defeated Master and servant gain EXP Chapter 16: The first kill party - crushed!

Chapter 16: The first kill party - crushed!

/Master levels up Level 10 ?? Level 14 All skills level up Base status points increased /Title received Dragonyer /Shared skills upgrade Enraged (level 3) ?? Dragon rage (level 1) Empower (level 3) ?? Dragon power (level 1) /Master receives a skill Stack (level 1) /Master receives 28 new quests (56 active quests in total) (For quest details use the show questsmand) /4 questspleted Rewards granted /Servant''s bond increased /Error /Unable to increase the bond over the current level due to the current stage of the story /Servant''s affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story /Servant levels up Level 10 ?? Level 14 All skills level up Base status points increased /Title received Dragonyer /Servant''s skill upgrade Corpse venom (level 3) ?? Dragon corpse venom (level 1) /Servant''s affinity upgrade Leg Power (level 2) If someone dropped a pin in the area, a noise it would make by hitting the ground would sound like an explosion. That''s how silent everyone in the audience had be. "It... died..." The blond prince muttered under his breath and fell on his butt, his face frozen in utter shock. "The handlers must have overdone it while weakening it..." Someone sighed and few people nodded. "Ah! The dragon must have been poisoned with corpse venom!" "What?!" "Corpse venom?!" "Ah! You''re right! That bloody foam looks exactly as the one caused by corpse venom!" After someone loudly shouted their suspicion, it instantly got picked up and in the blink of an eye, everyone was talking about the dragon being poisoned. "Whatever happens, act like a dumb corpse, I''ll handle everything." Cranberry squeezed Zombie''s hand and made an indifferent expression. "Corpse venom...? So, a corpse puppeteer?!" Young prince Roan stood up and he turned right towards Cranberry. "You! It''s all your fault, isn''t it?!" He shouted pointing at the red-haired girl. Cranberry looked at him with cold eyes and raised her brow. "Haa...? And where did you get that idea?" She asked in a bored voice which made Roan''s face turn bright red. "Don''t mess with me! You are the only corpse puppeteer here, aren''t you?! So it had to be you!" He shouted. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed deeply and looked down on the prince with a hint of pity in her eyes. "Prince, whoever told you that I''m a corpse puppeteer, is an idiot and you should fire them." She waved her hand dismissively. "Stop lying! You have a corpse puppet right there!" Roan pointed at Zombie. The blue boy was staring nkly into the distance, giving his best into looking like a dumb corpse. "Prince, use me of lying one more time and I will challenge you to a duel." Cranberry picked up her bloodied baseball bat and dered, her voice chilled the hearts of many onlookers. "This one here is my eternal servant, and it just so happens that the eternal servant magic is a name of the unique magic I''ve awakened to." She exined. "Unique or not, if that puppet of yours can use corpse venom then it means that you are guilty!" Roan eximed and stomped his foot. "...Say, prince, how long ago had your family obtained that dragon?" Cranberry tilted her head. "Wh-wha...? Why does that even matter?!" The prince suddenly became very defensive. "Let me guess, some of your people stumbled upon a weak, poisoned dragon around... let me think... three years ago...?" "Huh?! How did you...!" The girl asked but the prince''s reaction was the best answer. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed deeply. "You know, prince, there''s a huge difference between greed and idiocy, you know?" She spoke and continued talking without waiting for the offended prince to even respond. "You all just assumed that the dragon ate something poisonous and then you used magic to preserve it in that weakened state... But since you didn''t bother to check or ask around, you never realized that the very poison that was affecting it was actually a skill of a living, well, an undead, person!" "What are you eve...! Oh...! oh..." Even though Roan tried to undermine Cranberry''s statement, he realized his mistake and his voice became quiet. "Hadn''t it raised even a hint of suspicion when a few months ago the poison affecting your dragon suddenly got more powerful? That''s when my Zombie''s venom leveled up, and I was worried sick, wondering how did that happen!" She shook her head. "Three years ago I left this rotten brain alone for a few minutes and he ended up almost killing a wild rabid rabbit by pumping it full of his corpse venom." Cranberry dropped her bat and covered her eyes letting out a tired sigh while pointing at the blue boy by her side. "Graough... (Graough...)" Zombie let out a dumb-sounding groan. "For the past three years I have lived in constant fear that the venom would kill that monster and I will level up because of it...!" Cranberry''s shoulders started to shake and her voice broke. Zombie also started to shake, but in his case, it was from holding back theughter once he realized what his master was up to. "How will youpensate me for all I''ve been through?!" Cranberry screamed in a heartbroken voice. "...!" The people around started murmuring amongst themselves. "Copensate...? Wait! Me?! To you?! But...! Even if my dragon ate that rabbit, you just basically admitted that you got the EXP for killing it!" Roan started pulling on his hair in a fit of anger. "Haa?! Do you think that some half-dead dragon is worth the three years of constant fear and despair?! Is that how little a royal prince thinks about his subjects?!" Cranberry turned around and, hiding her face from everyone, started sobbing. "I think that''s as far as we should allow our ten-year-old to deal with this situation." A calm voice called and Cranberry''s father, lord ckberry, walked over to his daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "My little sweetie, I''m so sorry that I didn''t notice what you''ve been going through." He said in a pained voice. "...graough...! (No way... he joined in...!) The excited Zombie grunted under his breath. "But everything''s fine now, your father won''t let them wrong you anymore, I promise." Lord ckberry lowered his head. "Daddy...!" Cranberry trembled and grabbed onto his clothes. "Wh-what are you even...?!" Roan was getting more animated, realizing what the Prides'' were going for, but he also felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked up he saw a woman with long blond hair wearing a splendid expensive robe, with a golden crown on top of her head. "Ah! Mother?!" Roan gasped. "Your majesty." Everyone present bowed. Well everyone except Zombie, not that he wanted to disrespect the queen or anything, but when he was about to bend the knee, he just so happened to catch his master''s face. "Dumb corpse!" She mouthed silently while ring at him, so Zombie stopped himself and resumed staring nkly into the distance like Cranberry instructed him. "What happened here today was the most unfortunate and we assure everyone here that the situation will be thoroughly investigated so that no one will end up getting wronged." The queen dered with a benevolent expression, but her eyes were staring daggers into lord ckberry. "But...! But mother! That girl killed my dragon...!" Roan stomped his foot and cried angrily. "As I''ve said, everything will be investigated thoroughly, Roan, I ask you to drop the subject." The queen nced at her son and the blond boy flinched. "Lord ckberry, would you assist me with finding out how this whole situation came to be?" The queen looked back at Cranberry''s father. "Of course, your majesty, it will be a pleasure." Lord ckberry bowed deeply, so deeply in fact that both Cranberry and Zombie could see his face while it was hidden from everyone else. "Good job." Lord ckberry mouthed silently and smirked in an especially evil way. When the man straightened his back, his face returned to being perfectlyposed. "Ladies and gentlemen, excuse me for the dy, another monster will be prepared immediately for my son''s first kill. As an apology for all the children who had to wait even though I''m sure they are keen to return to their territories and startpleting their quests, I will cover the costs of the high-level appriser to write down their current status as amemoration and for the future reference." The queen announced and the crowd cheered. "Graough...? (Did everything went as you wanted?)" Zombie groaned into Cranberry''s ear while looking around trying to convey his question the best he could. "Even better. I crushed it!" Cranberry smiled proudly in response. Chapter 17: The puppy and the audacity

Chapter 17: The puppy and the audacity

Cranberry and Zombie were waiting for their turn to be appraised. Just as with the battles, the queue went from the lowest position to the highest, and it was moving along rather fast. But truth to be told it was mainly because the appraiser didn''t have much to write with kids that were level 2, 3, or 5 at most, and with barely any low-level skills. It was a standard considering that most people preferred to at least check their first quests'' rewards before deciding in which direction to go with their training. Cranberry was slumped on her chair, she stretched her legs and was bumping her loafers together with a bored expression. Zombie was standing by her side, but his head was constantly darting to the side towards the brown-haired girl, Mary, and her wolf monster. "Graough...? (Master, master, do you think that she will let me pet the wolf...?)" The blue boy groaned timidly. With each passing year, the memories of his past life seemed more and more like a dream, but even so, one particr memory was stirring him up at the moment. His family dog, arge gentle female Saint Bernard named Lori. Although Lori and that wolf monster looked very different, they still looked simr enough for Zombie. Cranberry raised her brow and turned towards the queue. Mary and her wolf were being apprised right at that time. "What, do you want to go greet a fellow pet?" She asked with a cheeky smile. "Graough! (Master! I''m not a pet!)" Zombie puffed out his cheeks. "Ha ha! Now now, good boy, good boy." Cranberryughed happily and reached towards the blue boy''s head and started patting him. "Graough! (Hey! Master!)" Zombie flinched but didn''t escape her hand. "You''re such a good boy, you did a good job acting like a dimwit there, should I give you a treat?" Cranberry was using a baby voice as if she was talking to a dog. "Graough...! (Master, don''t be like that...!)" Zombie fidgeted. "System, I request to share stack with Zombie, permanently." "Graough...! (Oh, so that''s what you meant...!) Zombie groaned after his master''s request was approved without an issue and he gained a new skill. "Oh, and if you really want to, you can go greet that mutt, just don''t sniff its but or anything." Cranberry leaned back in her chair and benevolently shooed Zombie off. "Graough?! (Really?! I can go?!)" The blue boy was so excited that he didn''t pay attention to the meanment. He turned around and... "Graough...? (Oh? And where did that girl go?)" Zombie tilted his head and grumbled. "...?" Cranberry nced that way and her eyes widened. The wolf monster was anxiously paced back and forth, sat for a moment, but then got up and started pacing again. Mary was nowhere around. Cranberry looked around and squinted her eyes as if she spotted something. "Zombie, go and y with that mutt or something until his tamer returns, I''ll be right back." "Graough! (Alright!)" After receiving permission, Zombie went straight to the wolf monster without looking back. "You idiot! I told you to hold on to the staff so that you will unlock a special ss! Who told you to break it?!" A light brown-haired thirteen-year-old girl was scolding Mary in an empty hallway away from the eyes of the crowd. Both girls were wearing simr robes. "I''m sorry senior...! I was holdings onto the staff too strong and when I received a tamer ss, it just broke apart...! Fa-father gave it to me but... gh! Uuu...!" Mary trembled and started crying again. "What? Oh, that..." The older girl frowned and waved her hand dismissively. "It was just some cheap trash from the store. As if Master Hope would pay attention to a weakling like you! I simply made that up that story so your bird-brain wouldn''t lose it or something." She scoffed at her. "Uug... uuu... E-eh...?!" Mary blinked a few times shocked to the core. "More importantly, that! Give me that!" The older girl grabbed the purple whip and ripped it from Mary''s hands. "Ah...! That''s...!" Mary reached for the whip but the older girl raised it too high for her to grab. "That''s Cranberry''s whip! Why do you even have it?! I told you before to keep away from the Pride family, you moron!" The older girl scolded her relentlessly. "Really, I should have known better than to leave a stupid person like you alone even for a second, without my guidance you''re nothing!" "I recognize your voice." "Oh, you better be re...! AH!" It took a second for the older girl to realize that it wasn''t Mary that had said that. She turned around and stood face to face with Cranberry. The annoyed Cranberry, one of the worst Cranberries that she could face. "Youngdy Pride! It''s such an honor to meet you!" The older girl did an instant one-eighty with her behavior and had a servile smile stered on her face. Cranberry didn''t respond to her greeting and instead nced at the sniveling Mary. "I gifted you that whip, why does she have it now? Did you gave it away?" She asked indifferently, ignoring the older girl. "Ah! N-no... I didn''t..." Mary shook her head with a pitiful expression. "Youngdy Pride, our Mary is incredibly grateful for lending her this whip, but..." The girl tried to join in the conversation anyway. "I didn''t lend her anything. It''s a gift." Cranberry had a very useful talent of looking down on people even when she had to raise her head to lock eyes with them. "I beg to differ. Our Mary is not allowed to receive such expensive gifts. You have to take it back." The older girl tried to force Cranberry to take the whip off of her hands. But Cranberry was unable to anyway, she was holding her bloodied baseball bat after all. "Do whatever you want, but that''s not a proper stance if you really want to beg." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders. "That''s not what I...!" "Say, are you amoner?" The older girl was getting indignant but was interrupted by Cranberry''s unexpected question. "Wha...? Oh, indeed, I might be amoner but my magic abili-GHUAH...!" The older girl was responding proudly but was cut off by Cranberry''s baseball bat hitting her square in the stomach. "...!" Mary flinched and shut her mouth remembering that Cranberry got annoyed because of her crying before. But the red-haired girl wasn''t aiming at her next. "AAAAAH!" The older girl screamed as the bat struck her left knee. Truth to be told Cranberry only wanted to make her kneel, but instead, the older girl straight up fell on her face. "Now, that''s an enthusiasm you need to beg for something. But the answer is still no." Cranberry stepped on the older girl''s head, an unpleasant crack as if nasal cartge broke resounded in the hallway, and only then she picked up the purple whip that the older girl dropped and offered it back to Mary. "Here, don''t lose it next time." Cranberry smiled when Mary instinctively grabbed the whip. "Now. Since her majesty was the one to fund the appraisal, it''s actually a bit rude not to be present until everyone is finished, let''s head back." The red-haired girl started walking and beckoned the brown-haired one. "..." Mary nced at her senior twitching on the floor in pain. "You''re rightdy Pride!" She said and stepped over the crawling girl. "I left my Zombie with your dog. I hope he won''t get too excited and bite someone." Cranberry smirked. "Oh, there''s nothing to worry about, Arion is a gentle boy!" Mary hurriedly assured her. "Haa...?" Cranberry tilted her head, taken aback. "I wasn''t talking about your dog." Chapter 18: The apprisal results

Chapter 18: The apprisal results

When Cranberry and Mary returned to the area where the apprising took ce they''ve met with a rather unexpected sight. "Graough? (Who''s a good boy? Who?)" Zombie was petting the wolf monster. The blue boy was scratching behind the wolf''s ears and along hisrge body and the monster was wagging his tail so fast that it was causing a small cloud of dust to rise from the ground. "Graough! (You are! Oh, yes you are!) Graough! (Shake!)" Zombie offered his left hand and the wolf monster put his paw on it. "Graough! (Ah! You are such a smart boy!)" Zombie was on cloud nine. "Graough. (Alright, now, give it back.)" The blue boy put his left hand under the monster''s jaws and the beast gently dropped the boy''s right arm on it. "Oh my God, Arion what have you done tody Pride''s familiar?!" Mary started freaking out and wanted to run to her tamed monster. "Ah, don''t worry about it." But Cranberry blocked her with her hand. "Zombie''s right hand just isn''t properly attached, it''s nothing. I expected them to go at each other''s throat and that my Zombie would end up obliterating your mutt, so this is better, I guess..." She exined. "Eh...? Umm... aren''t you a bit overconfident in your undead? My Arion isn''t just any wolf, you know?" Mary responded a bit hurt, and pulled out a piece of paper with all of their stats and skills listed. "See? His attack and health points are in three digits already and he''s only level two! And look at those skills!" The brown-haired girl suddenly became very animated, fueled by the sudden burst ofpetitiveness. "Ha ha! Good one. " Cranberryughed and shook her head. "No, but seriously, just wait until the two of us will get appraised. I don''t really want to put you down, but your dog stands no chance." "Hey! Arion isn''t a dog! He''s a wolf!" Mary frowned and puffed out her chest. "Graough! (Good boy! Now fetch!)" Zombie picked that exact moment to throw his right hand, and the so-called wolf ran after it and fetched it back, and returned it to him like a good boy, all while wagging his tail all excited. "..." "..." The two girls looked at each other awkwardly. "Ah... um... at least they''re not fighting...?" Mary tried to smile but was too embarrassed. "Haa... this is so much worse..." Cranberry sighed and started massaging her forehead. Zombie was petting Arion again and the wolf rolled onto its back showing his white stomach, so Zombie could start scratching it too, in a show ofplete submission. "...oh, dear heavens, you''re right..." Mary covered her eyes. "Excuse me,dy Pride, I need to have a talk with my wolf." She bowed to Cranberry and briskly walked towards the ying familiars. "Zombie! That''s enough! It''s almost our turn to get apprised!" "Graough! (Ah! That''s right!)" Cranberry loudly called out and Zombie instantly stood up and rushed towards her. "Graough...! (Bye, doggy...!)" He turned around and waved at the wolf. Arion raised his head confused, his tail stopped wagging and it was slowly getting lower and lower the farther Zombie went. "Arion! What happened to your pride as a wolf?!" Mary furrowed her brows and asked her tamed monster. But Arion just looked at her with his big sad eyes, turned his head towards Zombie, then back at Mary, and whimpered. "No, you can''t go after him! He and his master need to be appraised by the mage over there so you shouldn''t bother them!" Mary shook her head. At which Arion responded by putting his head on the ground and whimpering, longingly looking after Zombie. Mary looked at him with a sour expression but ended up sighing and shaking her head again. "Fine, after they''ll be done I''ll ask her if we coulde over sometime, alright?" She said and Arion instantly perked up and started wagging his tail. "Graough! (I''m back!)" Zombie reported to his master groaning happily. Cranberry looked at him critically from top to bottom. "Haa..." She breathed out, raised her hand, and poked him in the forehead. "You should always be mindful of how you act in public, rotten brain, you''re my servant, remember?" She said in a dissatisfied voice. "...!" Zombie took a step back and became sad. "...graough... (...I-I''m sorry...)" He lowered his head and apologized. "As long as you understand." Cranberry shrugged and went towards the appraiser with Zombie obediently following behind her. "Lord Lust, I must say that your status looks amazing for someone at level 9." The appraiser was finished with writing down the androgynous boy''s stats. "I dare say that you''re the one who put the most effort into training amongst all of your peers. Even with the status modifiers of the avatar of lust title, you must have worked really hard." It seemed that the appraiser was the one who was putting in the hard work, of buttering up to the young head of the Lust house that is. "Ah, why, thank you for such kind words." ymore smiled weakly, but even barely lifting the corner of his mouth changed his face into an icon of beauty. The boy took the paper off the appraiser''s hands and turned around. When he noticed Cranberry, his smile became much more friendly and the boy discreetly pointed at the appraiser and rolled his eyes. Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smiled back. "Youngdy Pride and her corpse puppet! Perfect timing!" The appraiser managed to tear his eyes away from ymore and noticed the waiting pair. "Please, stand here. Perfect! Now, it might feel a bit strange but please bear with it." He instructed while readying the writing utensils. Then his eyes started glowing and he focused on the pair and... "WHAT THE HELL?!" The appraiser jumped out of his chair and fell on his back, causing quite themotion. "Ah! No, no, I''m fine, sorry for the trouble..." The appraiser refused the help of people that saw him fall and apologized. "I-it''s just, well... I''ve never seen anything like that, it''s insane..." The appraiser stood up and got back to his chair. "Lady Pride... What kind of hellish training have you and your servant been through to get to this level?" He asked in a shaken voice. "Haa...? What do you mean? Both of us were measured to be level one by you before the ceremony." Cranberry raised her brow, getting slightly annoyed. "I-I don''t mean just your literal level! Your status points! And skills! And titles! Here, look for yourself!" The appraiser''s eyes started glowing again and he started furiously writing something while staring at Cranberry and Zombie without blinking. "Here!" He got up and walked over to hand Cranberry both notes. Name: Zombie Race: Eternal Servant (?) Level: 14 HP: - MP: 212 ATK: 203 DEF: 467 MAT: 324 MDF: 398 HIT: 199 EVA: 144 AGI: 189 LUC: 166 Skills: Undead body ([max]) Bite (level 6) Dragon corpse venom (level 1) Blunt damage resistance (level 10[max]) Toughness (level 14) Emergency dodge (level 5[max]) Strong kick (level 7) Acrobatics (level 4) Dragon rage (level 1) Dragon power (level 1) Stack (level 1) Unlocked Affinities Leg Power (level 2) Title: Eternal servant Rotten brain Dragonewt yer Dragonyer Name: Cranberry Pride Race: Human Level: 14 ss: Master of the eternal servant Subss: Berserk HP: 627 MP: 472 ATK: 459 DEF: 167 MAT: 401 MDF: 156 HIT: 183 EVA: 164 AGI: 192 LUC: 212 Skills: Fire immunity ([max]) Blunt weapon proficiency (level 9) Charge (level 8) Bash (level 10[max]) Thrash (level 3[max]) Magic bash (level 7) Strong kick (level 7) Dragon rage (level 1) Dragon power (level 1) Stack (level 1) Title: Child of pride Master of the eternal servant Hardworker Dragonewt yer Dragonyer "Hmph. I thought I would be stronger than that." Cranberry frowned and crossed her arms. "Lady Pride... I think that you don''t understand, those are not the stats and skill''s that a child should have. Even considering that the dragonewt yer title grants +20 to every stat and the dragonyer title gets you +100, your attack and your servant''s defense puts you in the same power level as early mid-level adventurers!" The appraiser''s eyes bulged out at Cranberry''sment and he started exining hurriedly. "Oh?" Cranberry smiled and turned to Mary. "Hey, did you hear that? I guess that means my Zombie is stronger than your puppy." She smiled, waving her appraisal results. The has ceremony finished and everyone was getting ready to leave. On her way to the carriage, Cranberry spotted the brown-haired girl and her wolf monster so she walked over to them. "Lady Pride! What can I help you with?" Mary asked, ncing fearfully at the group beside her. "Your family?" Cranberry didn''t even spare a nce for the people who started hurriedly bowing to her. "Anyway, listen, once my mother will allow me to have guestse over, I want you to visit me, and we can train that puppy of yours." Cranberry offered with a cheeky smile. "I mean, only if you don''t want to let it stay weak and cute. Your choice." She shrugged her shoulders mockingly. "...! Why you...!" Mary furrowed her brows but ended up sighing and rxed. "It will be an honor,dy Pride... In truth, I was about to go look for you to ask if Arion and I cane to visit sometimes." The brown-haired girl curtsied and ended up smiling back. /Follower gained /Questpleted Reward granted "It''s okay, just call me Cranberry." Cranberry grinned and left. Chapter 19: The Dandelions

Chapter 19: The Dandelions

"Rotte, are you insane?! Why haven''t you told us earlier that multiple griffins have been spotted in the area?!" A short rat-faced man was furiously waving his arms around while keeping his voice as low as he could. "And to think that I''ve praised you for scooping up a well-paid yet rtively safe quest! That''s it! That''s the final straw! I vote to change our leader! Lairs should be our leader, she''s a mage so she''s clearly smarter than that muscle brain AND she never tried to get us all killed!" The rat-faced man pointed at the tall woman in a thick gray robe. They were a five-person adventurer group called the Dandelions consisting of a tank, a warrior, a thief, a mage, and a healer. They took such a name for a very simple reason, they all wanted to stay alive even in the harshest environment just like the stubborn weed. Neither of them was strong but they all shared the same desire to keep their lives and, if possible, to earn enough money to retire as early as possible. The rat-faced thief has had enough with Rotte, the team''s warrior and leader at the same time. "First of all, let''s get out of here." The team''s tank, an eight-foot-tall burly woman with arge shield sheathed her sword and started packing up the camp that they''ve set up, and others followed. "But... We''re already here and all, we just need to get some herbs. We''ll watch out for the griffins and be quick about it, and we''ll get enough money tost us for a month." Rotte, the tall warrior d in barbarian armor tried to convince hisrades but no one paid attention to him, too busy with packing. "You do know that you sound exactly like Pitaya and her Tiger Lilies? Must I remind you that they''ve all got massacred by the chimera they were supposed to watch out for?" The party''s healer red at Rotte. "In''re, don''t make it sound like that... Uresha has leveled up recently and her defenses breached the two hundred points threshold, she could tank a griffin, and the rest of us is around level forty. We''re already not taking missions that require fighting with monsters that should be in our rank, if we drop the mission just because of the risk of running into a somewhat strong monster, the Dandelions will be aughing stock!" "...I would be able to tank a griffin if I had the propped equipment." Uresha the tank straightened her back and red down at Rotte. "...Like the new armor and shield that I''vemissioned from Prunes''s forge when I and Shanks went on a da... shoppingst time." Uresha blushed a little and nced at the rat-faced man that was roughly half her size. "...The equipment I have now was good for early mid-levels, but it''s not good enough for hunting the mid-level monsters. A griffin''s ws would tear right through it and I don''t want to risk being gutted out." She said what she wanted and return to packing up. "..." Rotte clenched his fists and started staring at his feet. "Don''t forget that we didn''t create the Dandelions for glory, but for survival. It seems that you lost sight of that simple fact and became reckless, you fucking dumbass." The hooded mage, Lairs, finished with her side and started talking to Rotte after putting on the backpack. "I haven''t forgotten! It''s just that...!" Rotte flinched and looked to the side. "I think that we were too cautious and lost a few good chances to get stronger..." He walked a few steps and kicked a fallen branch. "Ah, fuck... I see how it is now." Lairs sighed and nervously rubbed her thigh. "It''s about those rookies climbing the ranks, the Brave Swords, right? Did you get jealous or something? Or do you want to impress their leader? For fuck''s sake, I''ve heard he''s a cutie, but don''t waste your time. Reckless fools like them will end up on a troll''s spit-roast sooner orter." The hooded woman walked over and patted the warrior''s shoulder. "It''s not like that, Lairs! I just feel that we could''ve been better if only we weren''t so scared of the danger. Like, we could have..." "Shut up!" Rotte''s exnation was cut off by the rat-faced Shanks. "Hey, don''t be that rough on..." "I''ve said shut up!" Laris frowned but she also was cut off. "What the fuck are you... Ah...!" The party looked at their thief and they all froze. Shanks''s eyes and ears were emitting a dim light and his face was stiff from focus. "Everyone hide! Now!" His eyes suddenly widened and he shouted, grabbed Uresha''s hand, and pulled her in the bushes between the thickest trees around. Everyone else followed suit and dived into cover without bothering with how that looked. After a few seconds, it showed up. A beast with a massive body of a lion, the head, wings, and front ws of a gigantic eagle. The griffin was flying low, almost brushing the treetops with its wings. It didn''t spot the Dandelions and just continued flying. "...That was close..." Uresha breathed out in relief. "Keep your head down!" Shanks scolded her and wrapped his arms around her. "It''s circling around...!" His eyes and ears were still glowing and his expression remained extremely serious. "...O-okay..." Which couldn''t be said about Uresha, who started blushing so hard that her face started looking like a ripe tomato. The thief wasn''t mistaken, the griffin showed up again after a short while. "Damn it...! That bastard is hunting! I swear, if we survive this I''m going to kick Rotte''s ass for taking that stupid mission...!" Shanks cursed in a small voice. "...i-it''s not that bad..." Uresha mumbled bashfully while essentially being hugged. "Huh...?" The rat-faced man frowned. "...! N-no...! I didn''t mean it in a...! "Shhh!" Uresha flinched tried to exin herself but Shanks shook his head and closed her mouth with his hand. He wasn''t looking at either Uresha or the griffin. His eyes were focused on a path they''ve alle from. Something showed up there. A rapidly approaching silhouette. It was either a very short adult or a child, their legs were glowing as it ran incredibly fast, kicking up the ground and des of grass. "What is that idiot kid doing?! The griffin will be all over them!" Shanks clicked his tongue observing the approaching person. "...Maybe they don''t know about the griffins in the area...? We didn''t, at least not until Rotte let it slip..." "...!" Uresha said and Shanks flinched. The running person was getting closer and Shanks''s skills let him sense that the griffin would show up again at any time and spot the child. Shanks gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. And when the child was close... "...Shanks?!" Uresha gasped. "Kid! There''s a griffin hunting in this area! Hide! Or at least turn back!" Shanks jumped from their hiding spot right onto the path and started waving at the running person, giving his best to warn them. But the running person didn''t stop and was charging right at the rat-faced man. "What are you doing! I''m serious! There''s a griffin flying around...! Here..." Shanks shouted, pointing at the clearance in the trees, and ended up pointing right at the monster that showed up again. "SCREEEEEE!" The griffin roared. "...I fucked up..." Shanks felt all strength leaving him, just a moment before he was getting angry at Rotte for epting a dangerous mission, and now he himself was actingpletely reckless and ended up attracting the monster''s attention. "Graough!" The running person''s body started glowing, and they dodged Rotte at thest possible second. They also let out a groan and pushed the rat-faced man off of the road and dashed towards the griffin that stopped circling around and instead was now pping its wings to observe the path. "...Are you alright?" Asked Uresha who caught Shanks and pulled him back into cover. "...what the hell...?" The thief shook his head. "What is that idiot thinking?!" He struggled to get back up and get a clear view. And what a view it was! The small person charged straight at the monster. With their glowing legs, it kicked off the ground and lunched straight at the beast! The griffin dodged them, but then, that reckless person''s body started glowing and they spun in the air and ended up kicking the monster''s wing. "What is that idiot trying...! HUH?!" *CRACK* Shanks was shivering from terror, watching the reckless person throwing a pointless attack at the strong beast when a loud unpleasant crack sounded the moment that the kick connected. "SCREEE!" The griffin cried as its wing got nearly snapped in two and the monster dropped to the ground like a rock. "Am... am I going crazy...? Yeah, that must be it, I could swear that this guy just downed a griffin with a kick.." Shanks shook his head in confusion. Chapter 20: A fight with a griffin

Chapter 20: A fight with a griffin

"This can''t be real...!" In''re the healer popped out of her hiding spot, clenching a vibrating medallion in her hand. "That tiny guy! He''s an undead!" She eximed excitedly and started running after the undead who just downed a griffin from the sky with one kick. "Stop that necrophiliac bitch before she''ll get herself killed!" Lairs jumped out from the bushes after the speeding healer. "In-in! Come back, you dumb slut!" The mage shouted. "My innate skill! Subdue undead! I can use it! That little guy is so strong! I''ll tame him and finally show everyone!" "In-in, you are going to fucking die!" The only two spellcasters have left shouting to each other without stopping. "..." Uresha, Shanks, and Rotte left the cover too. The tank and the warrior were looking dumbfounded at the thief. "W-we can''t just leave them! After them!" The rat-faced man shouted and dashed after the two women and the other two followed after him. In''re arrived first, with her chest rising up and down with her heavy breaths she hid behind a tree and observed. "What the fuck do you think you''re doing, In-in, you moron?!" After arriving, Lairs grabbed her by the hood of her priest robe and started pulling her back. "No! Leave me alone! This is my chance!" The healer struggled to shake the mage off. "This medallion is finally useful! This guy is a strong undead!" She growled while struggling for air since the cor of her robe was tightening around her neck the more Lairs was pulling on it. "Why are you two even doing?! We have to get out of here!" Shanks and the rest of the party arrived and joined Lairs in pulling the healer away. "Noo! You don''t understand! This is my chance!" In''re wailed, she was holding on to a tree so strongly, that she was ripping the bark off of it. "A chance for what?! An early dea...?" *WHOOOOSH* "SCREEE!" Something suddenly flew past the Dandelions like a cannonball and the griffin screech pierced the air. The adventurers shut up and hurriedly hide. In the clearance between the trees, the massive griffin with a broken wing was limping around. Its other wing was fully stretched and the beast was looking in the direction of the hidden Dandelions. There was no sign of the small undead anywhere. "H-hey, do you think that this thing that flew by was the undead? it must have been hit by the griffin''s wing- Ah! It must be wounded! A perfect chance!" In''re started fidgeting and tried to sneak away but got instantly grabbed by everyone else. "Shut your whore mouth! The griffin will tear us to fucking shreds if it''ll spot us!" Lairs ended up sitting on In''re''s back. "Shh! Both of you, shut up! Something''sing!" Shanks silenced both of them, his eyes and ears were glowing and he wasn''t looking towards where the undead was flung to, but behind the griffin. "SCREE!" Even the monster flinched and turned its head. "Crack* Even the rest of the Dandelions, that didn''t have skills that could enhance their senses, heard the footsteps of someoneing. That person either didn''t know that they were walking towards an injured griffin, or simply didn''t care about the danger. "SCREEE!" The griffin screeched as if it was trying to scare off the neer, but there was no change in the peace of the footsteps. And what came from between the trees was... "Haa... Finally." A tall, red-haired girl looking as if she was preparing to go for a horse ride. She patted her raiding pants and frowned at the griffin as if she just noticed it. "SCREE!" The monster roared at her but she didn''t even flinch. Instead, she smirked and rested her weapon on her shoulder. It looked like a thin mace but had intricate carvings all over. "Who is that bitch...?" Lairs frowned and her eyes darted towards Shanks. "She doesn''t look like any adventurer I know, and I would''ve heard some rumors about someone using a weird weapon like that" The rat-faced man shook his head. "So what? She''s just some random bitch that doesn''t fucking know what''s good for her? Let''s just let herself get fucking killed and get away while the griffin is ripping her to fucking shreds." The mage shrugged her shoulders. "No! What about the undead?!" In''re cried while struggling to break free. "..." Lairs and Shanks looked at each other. "That is a good question... the undead isn''t returning... Maybe it''s not with the girl...?" Shanks wondered. "She doesn''t look like a corpse puppeteer, that''s for fucking sure." Lairs shrugged again. While the Dandelions were busy talking, the red-haired girl casually walked over towards the monster. "SCREE!" The griffin backed of and its talons ripped through the air in front of the girl as a warning. The girl''s eyes turned cold. She put one hand forward, readied the bat in the other, and started circling around the monster while keeping a constant eye-contact. "Scree..." Griffin let out a low screech and started turning after her cautiously. They looked like they were dancing albeit very slowly. Their careful movement showed that both the monster and the girl, despite her age since she looked to be fourteen at most, showed experience in their movement. Both were looking for a chance to strike, for the opponent to show the weakness. The Dandelions watching from their hiding spots didn''t even dare to breathe, and the notion ofing out and helping the girl hadn''t even crossed their minds. The tension-filled calmness finally broke when the griffin ended up blinking first. In an instant, the girl''s eyes and body started glowing and she lunged at the monster. "NO! THAT''S A FAINT!" Shanks couldn''t stop himself and shouted, trying to warn the girl. And indeed, the beast climbed on its hind legs, the girl''s weapon ripped through the empty air, and the griffin''s talons shone and dropped right at the girl''s unguarded head. *CLANG!* "!!!" The bat in the girl''s hand shed and without even changing the ufortable stance she struck at the talons, countering them with such force that the griffin lost its bnce and started falling backward. The beast tried to keep itself steady using the one working wing but that wasn''t something that its opponent would let it do. The girl''s whole body and even her weapon started glowing. Not only that, a purple light started coiling around the bat as she gripped it so hard that her knuckles turned white. The next attack sent chills down the spine of every Dandelion. The girlunched at the griffin, dodged the wildly swinging talons, and delivered a horrifying swing that cleaved the griffin''s eagle head clean off in a single strike. The girlnded safely on the ground at the same time as the monster''s head. "Watch out!" Shanks shouted again. Even though it should be dead, the decapitated body of the beast, spurting blood from its neck, stepped forward wailing its talons. "GRAOUGH!" With a deafening growl a small undead, with its body glowing brightly, dashed past the Dandelions hiding spot andnded between the monster and the girl. Talons thick as a human arm fell at the small figure and mercilessly ripped into it. "Zombie, what took you so long?" The slightly annoyed girl asked calmly watching her protector take on attack after attack. "Garough..." The undead groaned aint and raised its left foot. The shoe he was wearing, which was a high boot with a high heel, was actually missing the heel. "Haa... I see. Don''t worry, I''ll buy you another pair." The girl sighed and waved her hand dismissively. "Now, how long will you get that headless chicken to ruin your clothes? Get rid of it." "Graough!" Shemanded and the small undead growled in affirmation. While it was taking the hits, its body was still glowing, and when the chance arrived, he struck the body of the griffin with a wide roundhouse kick that sent it crashing into a tree on the opposite side of the clearance. "Haa... Now since that''s dealt with..." The red-haired girl breathed out and raised her bat, pointing it exactly where the five Dandelions were hiding. "Come out." She ordered in an ice-cold voice. Chapter 21: Know your place

Chapter 21: Know your ce

"Graough. (Master, they look weak, are they some rookie adventurers?)" Zombie growled when five people stepped forward from behind the trees. They all look rather in, and as Zombie groaned, none of them had a particrly strong presence. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and rested the baseball bat on her shoulder. "You bunch... just get out of this area before you get yourself killed." She shooed them away with a tired wave. The Dandelions looked at each other dumbfounded. "Um... ah... First of all, I''d like to thank you, miss, you really saved our backsides there!" Rotte decided it wouldn''t be fair to just leave without a word. "...!" Shanks, who has already turned his back away from the pair and was walking away looked at the warrior in shock. "...Miss...?" "Graough. (He''s either blind or stupid if he dares to be so casual with a high-born noblewoman.)" Cranberry frowned and red at the warrior, while Zombie shook his head. "As the leader of the Dandelions I would like to thank you for dealing with the griffin, now we can safely finish our mission. I''m Rotte, a warrior, by the way." Not realizing his rudeness, Rotte confined talking instead of walking away. "The scrawny guy ower there is Shanks, a thief, the big girl is Uresha, a tank, Lairs is our mage with a nasty case of constantly cursing, and thest one is In''re, a healer." He even started introducing the rest of his group as if this was some sort of social event at the local tavern. But as he did, Zombie flinched and started ring at them even more fiercely than Cranberry. "Graough! (Those names! All of them have unique names!) Graough? (But that means that they''re all rted to the story?) Graough. (We shouldn''t get acquainted with them, master.)" The blue boy got closer to the red-haired girl and started tugging on her shirt while growling in low voice. "Graough... (And that healer woman is looking at me with creepy eyes...)" Zombie added hiding behind his master. Cranberry was tall for a fourteen-year-old, so her servant who stayed the same since the first-kill party could easily disappear behind her. "That little guy is surprisingly shy for someone so strong. What are your names? Are you a neer from some strong group? This guy is a corpse puppet, right? So do you have a corpse puppeteer in your party or is he a stray undead that someone subdued?" Rotte smiled friendly and took a step forward, only a step because he was stopped by Shanks. "What the hell are you doing?! That YOUNG LADY told us to leave!" The rat-faced man quickly nced between Cranberry and Rotte, putting a huge emphasis on the words ''youngdy''. "Oi, Shanks, you''re too stiff, adventurers should stick together even if their ranks are different! We should get to know each other!" But Rottepletely missed the thief''s point. "No! No we should not! Can''t you see that you''re annoying this youngdy and herpanion?!" Shanks was desperately trying to pull Rotte away, but with the difference in weight, height, and the distribution of status points, it was futile. In the middle of that little internal struggle, In''re came forward with a somewhat uneasy expression. Shanks instantly got a bad feeling. "Please, give me that little undead!" In''re closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and said in a shaking voice. "...!" "Oh, shit...!" The red-haired girl froze and Shanks cursed. Even though she didn''t even blink, Shanks felt a wave of pure aggressioning from the girl and crushing against them. "You''re with a group with a corpse puppeteer, right? You''re all probably very strong, right? So they surely have lots of corpse puppets like him! Please, just give him to me! I have a skill that can make him mine! You won''t even notice the difference whether he''s there or not!" The healer''s face became flushed as she spoke. "We can go meet your group if you can''t make that decision by yourself." Added the warrior. It was a disaster... The rat-faced man instantly realized that Rotte and In''re made a grave mistake, he had a gut feeling that those two in front of them weren''t a part of any group, and the small undead wasn''t just some pawn, but rather someone extremely important to the girl. Then, the small blue boy came out from behind the red-haired girl and approached the healer. "Ah! So you want to join me on your own?!" In''re gasped excitedly and her eyes shone. /A subtype of charm skill detected /Warning The skill level is higher than the magic defense status of the Servant /Calcting... /Rotten brain title is active Charm skill: Failed "Ah! It failed! Wait a moment, I''ll try again!" The healer yelped after a message popped in front of Cranberry and Zombie''s eyes. "What the hell do you think you''re doing?!" Shanks shouted at In''re and blinked. Before he closed his eyes, In''re was standing in front of the serious blue boy. After he opened his eyes, In''re was crawling on the grass, her face a bloody mess, and the blue boy was putting down his leg. "Graough. (How dare you.)" Zombie groaned coldly staring at the healer spitting up her broken teeth at his feet. "You fucker!" Lairs shouted and her hand started glowing, a fireball formed in front of her and shot out at the blue boy. When it connected, the undead instantly became a torch - the fire was the greatest weakness of the undead aside from the holy magic. "Shit!" Rotte cursed while drawing his sword and charging at the red-haired girl. "NO! YOU CRETINS! STOP!" Shouted Shanks, throwing himself at Uresha and grabbing onto her head blocking her vision before she could jump into action too. The next moment both Lairs and Rotte flew past them and crashed into trees. Lairs crashed into the tree and fell on the ground beneath, but Rotte smashed into the tree, broke it with his back, and tumbled deeper into the woods while his sword, broken in half, got lodged into the ground a few steps from Uresha and Shanks. "...the audacity..." Cranberry shook her head with disgust and rested the bat back on her shoulder. "Graough. (It looks like they were actually just some thugs.) Zombie patted down his clothes, charred here and there, and put down his leg. "You, a thief making out with the tank, you seem to have a working brain." Cranberry turned towards Shanks. "Uresha, no matter what, don''t attack them!" Shanks whispered into the blushing woman''s ear before jumping down and facing the angered girl and her servant. "I beg for your forgiveness, youngdy!" He fell to his knees and started to kowtow. "Nice apology..." Cranberry nodded her head. "But do you think that an apology is enough after attacking a member of the Pride family and her servant?" She added and her ice-cold voice made Shanks''s heart sink. "The P-Pride fa-fa-family...?!" He stuttered and started trembling. He heard approaching footsteps and felt that something touched the back of his head and started pressing his forehead into the ground. "How are you going topensate for disrespecting me?" Cranberry asked stepping on Shanks. Chapter 22: Keeping ones word

Chapter 22: Keeping one''s word

"One of yours tried to steal my servant using her skill." Cranberry said offhandedly while grinding her foot on Shanks''s head. "If my family name was Greed I would, maybe, even find that endearing." She tilted her head and nced at Zombie, the blue boy positioned himself between her and the big woman and the rest of the fallen Dandelions, which caused Cranberry to smirk with satisfaction. "We didn''t know, I beg of you,dy Pride, show us mercy." Shanks managed to speak even though his face was almostpletely buried in the forest soil by that point. "Mercy? But you attacked me first? I''m only protecting myself, you know? Self-defense. It''s a legitimate self-defense." Shanks wanted to curse but he managed to stop himself and Cranberry continued mockingly. "And we even took care of this pesky birdie that would gobble you up otherwise. Not only greedy, but ungrateful too..." Her voice became a lot colder, and the rat-faced man could swear that he feels her re stabbing into him. "A cowardly bunch that can''t even take on a lousy griffin, I doubt that you own anything that couldpensate for showing me such disrespect... I guess that I could turn you into experience points... But I''ve read that humans don''t give much of it at all." Cranberry frowned when she felt Shanks flinch. "...why aren''t you saying anything? Was I mistaken when I said that you have some brains in you...?" "Ugh...!" The girl put just a tiny bit of force into her foot and Shanks''s head already felt like splitting in half. But that pain cleared his mind. Why did that girl waited and talked to him instead of just killing them all as she said she should? She wanted something. She was already strong so there was a good chance she wouldn''t want the Dandelions to work for her as hired muscles... That left a resonably clear answer. She was a young nobledy that wouldn''t lower herself to do some menial tasks. She could easily kill a griffin, but did she even want to bother with taking it apart and clearing the mess? Monster corpses attract more monsters. The stronger the corpse the stronger the lured monster, eventually the whole area would be flooded with dangerous beasts and thend would be uninhabitable. They currently were in close proximity to the Pride''s familynds. "I-in exchange for our lives we will help with dismantling and transporting the monster carcasses!" Shanks eximed hurriedly, praying that his hunch was correct. The pressure on his head disappeared and the rat-faced man was even able to stand up. He dared to look at the red-haired girl and as she noticed that, she nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, and you will be selling them too. I''m feeling generous so you will be able to keep one-fifth of the profits." Cranberry smiled towards Zombie, and the blue boy smiled back and nodded. "Thank you! You are very generous,dy Pride!" Shanks bowed deeply but Cranberry hadn''t even looked at him anymore. Instead, she just pointed in a seemingly random direction. "Somewhere around there, if you go that way, you will find a few more dead griffins." "Graough. (Seven.)" While Cranberry was exining, Zombie raised seven fingers to illustrate how many monsters have already fallen. "Th-that many?!" Shanks gasped and Uresha flinched but they were mostly ignored. "Graough. (Master''s follower isn''t allowed toe over unless the area''s safe.) Graough. (So we''re wiping off monsters that are causing a disturbance.)" Zombie groaned the exnation, but others couldn''t understand him at all. Cranberry, on the other hand, started looking around without much interest in anything that the rest was doing. Shanks and Uresha looked at each other unsure whether they''re allowed to go help the rest of their group but, when even the blue boy stopped paying attention to them and went over to his master, they finally risked it and moved. They weren''t stopped at all so they quickly carried the unconscious warrior and mage and helped the wounded priest to get up. The Dandelions always had some medicine on hand in case In''re would run out of mana, but now those were used on In''re since she was not only missing a few teeth and bleeding profusely from the broken nose but also seemed to have a concussion and couldn''t focus enough to use her magic. Even with the precious potions used it took her about half an hour toe to herself and only after hearing what happened from Shanks, began healing the other two. "Fuck me... An undead that doesn''t fucking burn? What kind of bullshit is this...?" After waking up, Lairs sat on the grass andined while massaging her stomach. "You want to hear something worse? That girl hadn''t even used a skill when she hit me. What kind of strength is that? Her level must be insane! Damn it, what we got ourselves into..." Groaned Rotte from the ground, still partially paralyzed. "Oh, so now you start thinking?!" Shanks scolded them and hurriedly nced back at the red-haired girl and her blue servant. "We''ve seen them took a griffin in less than five minutes but your dumb assess still thought it was fine to attack them?!" He continued, getting agitated but speaking in a hushed voice not to annoy the nobledy. "And you! In''re! Couldn''t you even wait a few seconds before using your skill?! Rotte is a moron and we''re all responsible for keeping him as the leader, but what you did was simply idiotic!" "..." In''re didn''t respond and just looked away, while the green light was pouring from the palms of her hands into Rotte''s body. After a few more minutes, when Rotte was already back on his feet, Cranberry approached them with a sour face. The Dandelions all stiffened. "We are going ahead, take care of any corpses you find in the area, send the money from selling the parts to my house. Don''t try to cheat me for your own good. I know the market prices." The red-haired girl said offhandedly, without paying much attention to the tense atmosphere. "If you try to pull of something stupid like before, there will be no mercy." She added and walked away. "Graough. (You better take that to your hearts, because my master isn''t joking.)" Zombie growled at the Dandelions and followed after Cranberry. "That''s one problem taken care of." The red-haired girl hummed. "Oh, hey, Zombie, don''t you think that Mary is too weak? She wrote that she''s level fourteen now, isn''t that way too low?" She asked. "Graough... (That depends...)" Zombie tilted his head from side to side, unsure how to properly answer. "I think it''s because she only has that pup as her tamed monster, she should have at least five at the minimum..." Cranberry squinted her eyes and scratched her chin. "There were some broken shells in one of the nests, right? Adult griffins are hard to tame, or so I''ve read, but a chick should be easy." A sinister smile bloomed on her face. "I guess I need to help my follower get stronger, Zombie, new n, we''ll find the griffin chick and catch it for Mary." Cranberry dered while stretching her back. "Graough! (Good idea! If she''ll have a flying beast, she and Arion will be able toe over a lot more!)" The blue boy growled excitedly which made Cranberryugh. "Ha ha! I bet you''re just happy to see that mutt." Cranberry poked Zombie''s side. "Graough! (Master, don''t be mean to Arion! He''s such a good boy!)" The master-servant pair was already disappearing between the trees in good moods when it happened. /A subtype of charm skill detected /Warning The skill level is higher than the magic defense status of the Servant /Calcting... /Rotten brain title is active Charm skill: Failed "..." "GRAOUGH?! (IS THAT HEALER SERIOUS?!)" Cranberry froze in ce while Zombie roared furiously. The blue boy turned back and was about to rush at the adventurers that were seemingly busy, aside from In''re looking in their direction with shining eyes, visible even from the distance, but he stopped. He felt a crushing pressureing from his right, where his master was. When he looked at her, he flinched and backed away a few steps. Cranberry was beyond furious. Her rage became almost corporeal. Her whole body was shining so bright that even Zombie couldn''t tell how many skills she stacked on top of each other. He nced at her hand, she was gripping the bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...didn''t want the carrot, then get more of the stick..." Cranberry muttered and disappeared while the ground where she was just standing on, exploded in a fountain of soil, grass, and leaves. "In''re, don''t think about anything stupid, and let''s just go." Shanks stayed behind the others to call for the woman that wasgging behind. "I understand that you want the undead, but this one is absolutely off li..." *CRUSH* He turned back just in time to see how In''re''s head explodes from being hit by Cranberry who materialized in front of her out of the thin air. "...!" He couldn''t even start screaming in time, In''re''s headless body fell forward while a fountain of blood erupted from her neck. /Early mid-level yer defeated Master and servant gain EXP /Error /One of the characters essential for the story was killed /Calcting... /Adjusting the story /Error /The story did not progress enough Unable to adjust the story at the current stage /Calcting... /Master receives a penalty Title received Ruthless "I don''t need those who can''t listen." Cranberry shook the blood off of her bat and red coldly at the rest of the Dandelions that became petrified with terror. Chapter 23: Baby griffin

Chapter 23: Baby griffin

"...skweee... skweeee...!" A little yellow griffin, norger than a big dog, was crying pitifully. Its wings were bound with a blue ribbon so it couldn''t even p them and his front legs with sharp talons were held securely by the blue boy. "Graough. (Shhh, don''t cry baby, once we get out of the forest I will untie you.) Graough. (If you keep pping your wings near all those trees and bushes you will hurt yourself.)" "...skwee..." Zombie, who was piggybacking the young monster, growled gently, and as if in response, the baby griffin rested its beak on his head and screeched only a bit pitifully. "Graough! (Master, look! Our griffin doesn''t try to peck me anymore!)" Zombie groaned excitedly. Cranberry stopped and turned back to look at her servant and the monster that he was carrying. "Oh, it doesn''t try to peck you anymore, huh... must have realized that it hurts itself more than you." She shrugged her shoulders and smirked. "I think that it was making a different noise earlier, more like ''scree'' and not this ''skwee'', I''m pretty sure it messed up its beak while attacking you." Cranberry frowned and crossed her arms. Seeing her move the bat around the griffin chick flinched and began struggling to break free. "Also, don''t get too attached to it, we''re giving it to Mary, remember?" She shook her head and went ahead, as soon as she did that, the little griffin calmed down. "Graough. (Don''t mind her, I''m sure that even she thinks you''re cute." "...skwee..." Zombie groaned to the griffin, and the griffin screeched back audibly scared. "Oh, and don''t even think about naming it." Cranberry nced over her shoulder and squinted her eyes. "Though, while we''re at it, maybe we should train it a bit..." She looked at the little griffin and Zombie felt how the little monster shuddered. "Graough! (Whoa! Master! There''s no way that a baby like this could endure it!)" Zombie stopped in his track and shook his head. The red-haired girl raised his brow at him. "I hope you don''t think I meant for this chick to join OUR training. You like it, right? So you can y with it, if it''ll run a lot its stamina will increase, and so on." She exined. "I guess that it''s really scared of all the griffin blood that I got soaked with, after a bath we should be able to raise its stats together." Cranberry nced at the little griffin and quickly turned to the side. Even with how she normally acted, a sight of a griffin chick still covered in yellow baby feathers could melt anyone''s heart. "Skwee...?!" The little griffin screeched sensing danger and hid behind Zombie''s head. "...cute..." Cranberry murmured and looked away. After some time they managed to get out of the woods, and just as he had promised, Zombie put down the little griffin and untied the blue ribbon. "Skwee!" The chick spread its wings and screeched happily, but it didn''t try to run away. Instead, it was staying close to the blue boy while cautiously watching Cranberry. "Graough. (You don''t have to worry, little one.) Graough (Since my master decided to give you to her follower, she won''t do anything bad to you.)" Zombie started petting the baby griffin and the monster closed its eyes from pleasure. "Skwee..." It screeched and nuzzled against Zombie''s leg. "Graough? (We will be ying a lot until your new master arrives, alright?) Graough! (I can''t wait!)" "Skwee!" "When I look at you two it''s almost as if you can understand each other." Cranberry rested the baseball bat on her shoulder and smiled. "Actually, even if we''re not naming it, we should at least check its gender, shouldn''t we...? Calling it ''it'' feels a bit weird since it''s alive." Cranberry tilted her head. "I''ve read that griffins hateying on their backs, so go on and pick it up." She added and waved her hand so Zombie would hurry up. "Graough! (Alright!)" Zombie agreed and grabbed the griffin at once. "Skwee? Skwee!" Surprised chick screeched but when Zombie raised it above his head, it spread its wings and started rapidly pping them. "Graough! (Whoa! Calm down, little one, I''m not trying to teach you how to fly yet!)" "Skwee...?" The monster tilted its head and folded its wings as if it fully understood Zombie''s groans. Cranberry used the confusion and walked closer and took a closer look at the baby griffin. "I see, just like in the books." She nodded to herself and nced at her servant. "She''s a girl griffin." "Skwee! Skwee!" Cranberry exined and hurriedly walked away because the monster noticed how close she was and started panicking. "Graough. (Now, now, calm down, be a good girl.)" Zombie put the baby griffin down and started patting her head and stroking her back between her wings. "...skwee..." The little monster screeched and nuzzled against Zombie''s legs. Not long after, a carriage arrived for them, as Cranberry arranged beforehand. The coachman was intensely against allowing the young griffin to get inside but a few more coins solved the problem. "Skwee!" The griffin chick was screeching excitedly, watching the scenery change through the window as the carriage was taking them back to the Pride''s mansion. If you put aside the baby griffin''s fear of Cranberry, the little beast was behaving surprisingly docile, after the initial panic and attempted escape it seemed to get veryfortable with Zombie''s affection and was following after him even after they get out of the carriage. "I''ll check in the books for what baby griffins eat and be right back, you can y with her in the gardens, but make sure she won''t destroy anything." Cranberry instructed the blue boy and hurried inside the mansion. "Graough? (Do you want to go hunt the frenzy rabbits in the garden?)" "Skwee?!" Zombie asked and the baby griffin instantly perked up all excited. "Graough...? (Wait, do you actually understand me...?)" Zombie asked and looked the griffin in the eyes. "Graough. (Alright, let''s try this.) Graough. (If you understand me, skweek three times." He groaned and raised three fingers. "Skwee! Skwee! Skwee!" The griffin screeched happily. "Graough! (Ah! That''s amazing!)" "Skwee!" The griffin jumped around just as excited as Zombie. "Graough! (So, let''s go hunt some rabbits!) Graough? (Do you like them?)" "Skwee!" The griffin frolicked excitedly and even climbed on its hind legs and danced around. "Graough! (Wow, that much? They must be delicious!)" "Skwee!" The blue boy and the yellow baby griffin had a whole conversation that was totally iprehensible for anyone trying to listen in on them, and right at the end the griffin started impatiently hoofing with her front legs. "Graough! (Perfect! You wouldn''t believe how many of them made their burrows near the rose-garden!) Graough! (Let''s go!)" "Skwee!" Chapter 24: A sleepover

Chapter 24: A sleepover

It was a warm evening, Cranberry, Zombie, and the griffin chick, all sat under the shade cast by the shed in the back of the Pride''s mansion. "Graough? (That was fun, wasn''t it, little one?)" Zombie groaned while patting the griffin''s head nested on hisp. "Skwee...!" The little griffin screeched, tired but very satisfied, and she closed her eyes enjoying the pats. "Graough. (We can''t check it, but I''m sure your stats have grown a lot over those three weeks. You''ve worked hard.)" Zombie praised her and started stroking the griffin''s back as shezily spread her wings to the sides. "Haa... these few weeks were surprisingly fun." Suddenly, Cranberry breathed out, leaned forward, and turned to the other two with a soft smile. "Little chick, your new master arrives tomorrow morning, you know?" "Skwee!" She asked and the baby griffin folded her wings and straightened her posture, screeching with confidence. "Good girl." Cranberryughed and reached towards the griffin''s beak. The chick lowered her head and leaned forward to get patted, it showed no fear that it harbored when they first met. "Remember, don''t fight with Mary''s skill, the two of us brought you here especially for her after all." Cranberry was continuing patting the monster and instructed her. "You will be representing the Prides'' so I expect you to behave properly, you know?" "Skwee!" Cranberry exined and the griffin screeched and proudly raised her head. "Haa... it''s really a shame, if either Zombie or I received a taming skill I would keep you." The red-haired girl smiled weakly. "Graough? (Master?)" Zombie fidgeted and tugged on Cranberry''s sleeve. "...skwee..." Even the baby griffin screeched pitifully and rested her head back on Zombie''sp, her eyes clearly showed sadness. "Well, we can''t really influence what talents we have, so there''s no need to be brooding over it. I''ll make sure that Mary will take great care of you." "...!" Cranberry''s voice became a lot colder as she promised that which made the little griffin flinch. "Graough. (Don''t worry, little one, master is just nervous.) Graough (She did tell her follower that she has a surprise for her, Mary doesn''t know she''ll receive you.) Graough. (Master doesn''t know how Mary will react upon seeing you, but I''m sure everything will work out fine.) Graough! (My master is simply that amazing!)" "Skwee! Zombie growled reassuringly and the little griffin instantly perked up. "...just as I thought, you really are the cutest when you y with her like that..." Zombie heard a silent whisper and felt that someone is touching his head. He turned around surprised just in time to see happily smiling Cranberry with her hand outstretched in the middle of patting him. "...!" Cranberry opened her eyes and she met Zombie''s surprised gaze and she started blushing. "I-I''m going back to the mansion!" The red-haired girl hurriedly stood up and marched towards the house, she already had her hand on the door handle when she stopped and turned slightly towards the confused Zombie and the griffin chick. "Since it''s thest day, I''ll allow her to sleep in my bed, I''ll leave the window open, so bring her in, Zombie." She dered and quickly went inside. But she wasn''t fast enough to hide that even her ears became red. "Graough? (You''ve heard that?) Graough! (We need to get you prepared!)" "Skwee!" Zombie growled happily and the griffin jumped from the excitement. Two hourster Zombie arrived under Cranberry''s window with the pristinely clean, thoroughly brushed, baby griffin riding on his back. Just as Cranberry said, the window on the second floor was open so the blue boy simply jumped in. "...skwee...!" Even though the little griffin knew she shouldn''t make a noise, she ended up letting out a small surprised screech when the blue boy suddenly lunched up without any preparation. "Haa... took you long enough." Cranberry, wearing a baggy pajama, closed the book she was reading and sighed at them from the bed. "Graough. (Sorry master, the little one wanted to look her best, so it longer than usual.)" Zombie smiled and groaned apologetically. "Skwee!" The little griffin spread her wings to show off and screeched proudly. "Ha ha! I see, you''re indeed very cute. Now,e." Cranberryughed and patted the bed beside her. "Skwee!" The baby griffin screeched and jumped on the mattress. "Graough! (Ah! Watch the talons!)" Zombie warned her hurriedly. "Zombie, rx, she''s a clever girl, right?" Cranberry waved her hand dismissively and smiled at the little griffin offering her a pillow. The chick happily nested herself in the middle of the bed and put her head on the offered pillow. "Skwee..." She screeched with satisfaction and carefully folded her wings. Cranberryid beside it and started gently patting her head. Zombie watched them for a few seconds with a satisfied smile then turned around and put his foot on the windowsill. "Skwee?!" But before he could jump out, he was stopped by a shocked screeching. "Zombie, what are you doing...?" Surprised Cranberry asked while holding down the struggling griffin that tried to go after the blue boy. "G-graough...? (Um... I''m trying to leave, so you two can rest...?)" Zombie groaned awkwardly. "Skwee...!" Baby griffin screeched at him with usation. "Haa... you rotten brain..." Cranberry sighed deeply and started stroking the griffin''s back. "It''s this girl''sst night here and you don''t want to stay with her?" "Skwee!" The red-haired girl asked raising her brow and the griffin followed her question with a screech. "Grao... (Um...) Graough...? (I''m sorry...?)" Zombie pulled down his leg and closed the window. Under the keen eyes of his master and the little monster, he walked towards the bed and sat on the floor beside it. "...skwee...?" "...?" Cranberry and baby griffin looked at each other with confusion. "Zombie, get on the bed." Cranberry shook her head with disbelief. "Graough! (There''s no need to, master, I don''t sleep anyway!)" Zombie growled the exnation and started waving his arms in denial. "...skwee..." The baby griffin cried and got all sad. "Rotten brain, I get it, I know that you don''t sleep." Cranberry rolled her eyes and once again the blue boy was shocked by her intuition. "Since you don''t sleep you can pat her until she falls asleep instead. You. Bed. Now!" "Skree!" Cranberrymanded and the little griffin agreed with her. "..." Zombie hesitated for a moment before taking off his high boots but eventually, he ended up on the mattress beside the baby griffin. "See? Was it that hard?" Cranberry smirked at him from the other side of the bed. "G-graough... (N-no, it wasn''t...)" Zombie murmured bashfully and stared patting the baby griffin. "Skwee!" She screeched happily and rested her head back on the pillow. Chapter 25: Marys visit - the arrival

Chapter 25: Mary''s visit - the arrival

"Nnn... hot..." Cranberry murmured and opened her sleepy eyes. The room was dark but outside the window, the sky was slowly brightening indicating that the sunrise was near. The girl rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked around. "Oh." She soon found the reason for the unusually high temperature she was experiencing. The baby griffin sleeping peacefully beside her was spreading her wing and covering her with it like with a nket. "Graough? (Oh! Master, are you awake now?)" Zombie raised his head and groaned at her from the other side of the baby griffin. "Wha-aa-at time it is...?" Cranberry yawned. "Graough. (We still have over two hours until breakfast.) Graough. (Your follower should arrive around the same time too.)" Zombie exined raising two fingers. "Ah... I see, goodnight." Cranberry nodded, closed her eyes, and got back to sleep without a moment of hesitation. "Graough?! (Master?!)" Zombie growled and got up, but when she saw the peaceful face of his master clinging to the baby griffin like a pillow, he decided to not disturb her. And like that, right before the scheduled breakfast, a simple carriage, with the crest of the Hope family painted on the door, arrived in front of the Pride''s mansion. Of course, Cranberry was already there, looking at it expectantly while Zombie was away with the baby griffin. Those two were supposed to show up after breakfast to surprise Mary. The carriage door opened and a girl came out. She was tall and her long light-brown hair reached all the way to her thighs. She had a pretty face and gentle almond-shaped eyes. And looked around seventeen or eighteen years old. "Youngdy Pride, it''s such a pleasure to..." She curtsied and greeted Cranberry in a friendly voice. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out heavily and looked up at the sky. "...meet you. We''ve met before but I didn''t have the chance to introduce myself. My name is..." The tall girl continued unperturbed, with the same friendly smile stered on her face. "I didn''t want to know your name then and I still don''t want to know now. Where is Mary?" Cranberry interrupted her and leaned to the side looking inside the carriage. And indeed, Mary and her wolf monster, Arion, were there, blocked by the tall girl. "It''s been a long time since we saw each other." "Lady Cranberry!" Cranberry waved towards Mary and the brown-haired girl that hadn''t really grown much taller since she was ten, aside from her chest that is, started hurriedly bowing from behind the tall girl. "Youngdy Pride, I am Mary''s guardian during this visit. Wouldn''t it be more convenient to know my name?" The self-proimed guardian smiled and moved so that she''d block Cranberry''s vision. "..." Cranberry looked at her with disgust. "There''s no need for a guard, there are no dangerous monsters in the fifty-mile radius. Unless you brought some with you." She scoffed at her. "Move aside." She demanded in an ice-cold voice. "Eh?! But what about the griffin...?!" Mary yelped shocked which caused both Cranberry and the tall girl to look at each other in surprise. "Um... Mary, the adventurers took down all of them down already, remember...?" The tall girl tilted her head and asked confused. "I''m so sorry for her, youngdy Pride, this girl says some strange things from time to time. Please bear with her." The tall girl hurriedly apologized, making Mary blush from the embarrassment. "Since you already know that it''s safe around here, you can stay in the carriage and wait for Mary there." Cranberry shrugged, not really concerned about Mary''s oddment, and pointed back at the carriage. "Ah! B-but, youngdy Pride, isn''t Mary supposed to stay here for a whole week...?" The tall girl was taken aback. "She is weed to stay here, you''re not. Do you want me to break your nose again?" Cranberry''s sharp words and the evil re made the tall girl cower and back off. "Mary, mutt, let''s go, the breakfast should be ready, I have to apologize but my mother isn''t feeling well today and my father is by her side so they, most likely, won''t be joining us today." Cranberry said with an extremely satisfied voice not fit for the things she was saying. "I-is that so...?" Mary jumped out of the carriage and Arion followed her. As soon as his paws touched the ground he started sniffing and looking around, his tail was wagging like crazy. "Zombie will join us after breakfast, he doesn''t eat so I let him do whatever he wants during the meals." "You let him do whatever he wants?!" For some reason, Cranberry''sment caused Mary to blush like a tomato and grab her burning cheeks with her arms. "...Were you always this weird or...?" Cranberry sighed and massaged her forehead. "Raor, raor..." The wolf monster growled and shook his head as if heined over his master''s behavior. "I get the feeling that you''re trying to talk bad about me, Arion..." Mary squinted her eyes at the wolf, but the monster conveniently looked away. "If you don''t want to eat, be my guest, but won''t you need lots of energy for the training? You want us to make you stronger, right?" "Raor!" "Ah! We''reing!" Cranberry called to them from inside the mansion and both Mary and Arion flinched and followed after her, leaving the tall girl behind. As soon as they went inside Cranberry shut the door behind them, making both the girl and her wolf jump. "Say, that annoying girl..." Cranberry red at Mary. "Oh, she''s a nice person, actually. She sometimes acts rough but she always wants the best for m..." "Can I kill her?" "RAOR?!" "EH?!" Cranberry''s cold voice sent chills down the spines of the other two. "I can''t stand people who treat me like an idiot." She growled in a low voice, looking really pissed off, her hand was subconsciously searching for her baseball bat even though she didn''t have it with her. "N-no, I swear that she doesn''t think that!" Mary hurriedly waved her hands and started exining. "She''s putting all her focus on the magic studies, and hasn''t properly learned the etiquette ormon sense!" Cranberry raised her brow at Mary. "Really now..." The red-haired girl looked mockingly to the side. "She insulted me, was let off easy, and she now pretends that everything''s fine?" She spat out words and seemed to be getting even angrier than before. "B-but...!" Mary reached towards her, but she backed off as soon as she saw Cranberry''s eyes. "If you think that I''ll simply forget the insults, without a propped apology, then you can just go straight back to the carriage and get the hell out of my house." "...raor... roaor...!" The wolf monster growled in a hushed voice and looked up at his master. Mary looked at him and nodded. "I''m aware of how much pride Pride family has and I want to sincerely apologize on behalf of my father''s best student." Mary clenched her hands and lowered her head towards Cranberry. "Could you please don''t punish her? She''s a crucial character in my story...!" She pleaded without straightening her back. "...how do you know she''s so important...?" "..." Cranberry asked but the only answer was Mary flinching at the question. "Haa... you are really putting me in a bad mood, you know...?" "..." Cranberry sighed andined, but once again Mary didn''t answer and kept lowering her head. "..." "..." "...fine, I won''t harm her as long as she won''t step inside the mansion." Cranberry folded in, although she got extremely annoyed because of that. "Thank you,dy Cranberry! I''ll go warn her right away!" Mary eximed happily and rushed to the door. Cranberry red after her while frowning. "Your master used up all my patience and hospitality for some trash. She better not overstep her line as my follower again." Her voice alone made Arion shiver and start whimpering, the wolf monster didn''t even dare to look her in the eyes. Chapter 26: Marys visit - a change of heart?

Chapter 26: Mary''s visit - a change of heart?

After the breakfast eaten in cold silence, Cranberry took Mary and Arion to the back of the mansion. "Ruff! Raor...?" Once they''ve approached the shed, Arion perked up and started sniffing around and making dog-like noises. "Zombie, it''s alright, juste out." Cranberry rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Graough...? (Huh? Did something happened, master...?)" The blue boy''s head popped from behind the shed. "Don''t groan at me, just bring her here." Cranberry sighed, clearly in a terrible mood. "...graugh... (...as you wish...)" Zombie red at Mary and moved back behind the shed. "...raor..." Arion hung his head down and his tail fell between his hind legs. "Graough! (I hear you, doggy, just wait a bit and we''ll y!)" Zombie groaned loudly, making the wolf monster''s tail start wagging instantly, and appeared again, this time with apany. "AH!" "Raor?!" He was leading baby griffin with him, which caused quite the reaction from Mary and Arion, who both almost fell over at the sight. "Hey, baby girl, you''re ready?" Cranberry walked past the two guests and approached the griffin, she reached towards her and started patting her head. "Skwee...!" Baby griffin closed her eyes and nuzzled against Cranberry''s hip. "Ldy Cranberry...! Tha-that''s...!" Mary raised her shaking hand pointing at the young monster. "She''s your new party member. Being a tamer and having only one monster is idiotic." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders without looking Mary''s way,pletely absorbed in petting the baby griffin. "...! Th-thank you so much,dy Cranberry...! I... I don''t know what to say! It must have been really difficult to capture her and...!" Mary gasped and starteding closer. "It wasn''t." Cranberry cut her short. "E-eh...?" Mary stopped dead in her tracks. "It wasn''t difficult. Zombie and I are not like you and Arion, we simply left her alive." Cranberry exined in a matter-of-fact voice to the shocked girl. "If you have focused on training during those four years, you could have reached a simr level, or at least get close." She shrugged again and smiled at the baby griffin. Zombie remained silent, cautiously watching both his master and her follower. "I...! Arion and I have put a lot of effort into getting stronger, you know! We''re both level 15 now! We''re much better than most people our age...!" Mary tried to defend herself, but her opponent in this discussion was Cranberry. "15...? Is that supposed to be good for our age category?" The red-haired girl asked mockingly. "I''m level 39, my Zombie is level 41. I havepleted all of my normal quests and a few special ones that popped up while we were training. Across both of us, even our lowest stats are still above the two hundred mark. Where does that put us amongst the people our age?" "A...! A...!" Cranberry stared down Mary, who looked like she was about to throw up from the shock. "And we''re still too weak, those numbers barely ce us amongst the middle-rank adventurers. Saying things like ''we''re much better than'' is utterly stupid. There''s always someone stronger, the only reasonable thing to do is to always strive to get stronger each day." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders. "Hearing you spout such self-satisfaction nonsense is making my blood boil." She turned away from Mary and grabbed the baby griffin''s head with both hands. "Skwee...?" The baby griffin screeched in confusion. "I no longer think that you deserve this girl. I''d rather just kill her than let her waste away by your side." Cranberry said in an indifferent voice looking into the baby griffin''s eyes. "Graough...! (Master, don''t...!)" Zombie cried out and fell to his knees, hugging the baby griffin''s torso. "Y-you''re joking, right?!" Mary took a step back. "You just said that you were going to give her to me...!" "And I''ve also just said that I''ve changed my mind, haven''t I?" Cranberry shrugged continuing to look into the griffin''s eyes. "...!" Mary froze. She blinked a few times in disbelief, her eyes shook and it seemed that she was reading something. She was most definitely reading a sudden pop-up message that showed up for her, most likely an emergency quest. Cranberry nced at her and smirked. "I had a hunch..." She giggled mockingly. "When you were so shocked when you''ve learned that there are no griffins left, you reacted like that because one of your story quests requires you to tame a griffin, isn''t that so?" "...?!" Cranberry grinned seeing Mary shiver. "And just now you''ve received an emergency quest to save this girl?" "!!!" Her next words made Mary took another step back as she grabbed her stomach making a miserable expression. "You need to read more, you know? The System leads everyone through their predetermined paths, but it can''t force you to follow yours. It wants you to follow your story, that''s why it gives us quests and in some rare cases, the emergency quests, but if you fail, it will simply adjust to your actions. No one is a truly essential character for anyone''s story." She calmly exined what was already well known amongst the people who initiated into yer characters. The hardcore believers of the System church blindly followed the stories set for them, believing it would lead them to their ideal life, but there weren''t many who shared that conviction. "T-truly essential...? Wait...! Are you still holding a grudge about me defending my senior?! Is that it?!" Mary gasped and trembled from anger. "Yes." Cranberry simply nodded admitting it without a moment of hesitation. "You... you can''t be serious! Are you that shallow?! I apologized in her ce! And first of all, you beat her up right after she insulted you! Shouldn''t that be enough?!" Mary shouted, clearly panicking, but that wasn''t nearly enough to faze Cranberry. "Yeah. Letting go just doesn''t sit right with me. I guess I''m that kind of a horrible human being." Cranberry''s mouth formed a mocking smile. "Ha ha! Let''s check how your story will change if you fail the quest to save this griffin, shall we?" Cranberryughed and readied herself to crush the baby griffin''s head. "NOOO! Stop! I beg of you!" Mary cried and fell to her knees. "Th-there must be something I can do to make you change your mind!" She pleaded in a terrified voice. "I don''t think so. I don''t need anything from a weakling like you... I simply don''t think you''re worthy of her." Cranberry stopped and shrugged her shoulders. "There must be something I can do to prove to you that I am worthy! Please! I''m begging you,dy Pride...!" "R-raor...!" Mary was pleading so fervently that she hit her head against the ground and even her wolf started mimicking her. With their heads down they were unable to see that Cranberry made a very satisfied smile and kissed the baby griffin''s beak and the baby griffin leaned towards her without a trace of fear. "I guess since you''re my follower, you deserve at least that." The red-haired girl nodded benevolently. "You will spar with my Zombie, if I decide you put up a good fight, it will be your win." She decided. "Wha...?! B-but you said he''s level 41?! Both Arion and I are level 15!" Mary cried, but her tears had absolutely no effect whatsoever. "Oh, but Mary, you and he are so much better than ''other people our age'', you surely will be able to show off your skills." Cranberry mocked her relentlessly. "And besides, you do have a chance, after all, my Zombie''s lowest stat is his evasion, so you should be able toy a hit on him. Or rather... you better be." Cranberry''s voice became cold as ice as she put her hands around the silent baby griffin''s neck. Chapter 27: Marys visit - and the Hope fights on

Chapter 27: Mary''s visit - and the Hope fights on

Cranberry was sitting underneath the tree near the shed and the baby griffin wasying beside her with her head on herp. "Skwee..." The baby griffin let out a pleased screeched as Cranberry was stroking her neck. The atmosphere wasn''t quite as rxed just a few steps away. Over there, at the open space between the shed and the rose garden, Zombie was facing Mary and her wolf Arion. All three of them were incredibly tense. "Graorgh...! (You idiots! Why did you made my master so mad?! Fools...!) Graough! (You better impress her or else!)" The furious blue boy growled threateningly and took a battle stance. Mary trembled and clenched her shining purple whip a bit stronger. Arion shivered and whimpered. Even though they couldn''t really understand his groans, the overwhelming pressure was weighing down on them as if Zombie was already using some sort of skill. "I... never thought I will be scared of a ten-year-old looking boy with blue skin wearing boots with high hills..." Mary forced a smile and nced at Cranberry. "...you think that making fun of my Zombie will make the situation any better...?" Cranberry''s hand stopped exactly on the baby griffin''s head and her body started glowing. "...!" Marry flinched and clenched her fists. "Graough! (Stop making everything worse!)" Zombie growled furiously and stomped his foot. *BOOM* The force of that simple action caused the creation of a small crater. And Zombie hadn''t even used all of his skill that could enhance his strength. "Those high heels that you pointed out, are his weapons, you know? And he actually likes them quite a lot." Cranberry leaned against the tree and exined in an indifferent voice. "His hidden affinity raises the strength of his legs as well as strengthens all damage he deals with his legs. Better be careful or this fight will end without you making a single move." She shrugged her shoulders and rxed. "Zombie, do whatever you want as long as you don''t kill them." She sighed and continued patting the baby griffin. "Garough. (That means she wants me to beat you up.) Graough. (For your own good, you better show your worth.)" Zombie growled andunched at the trembling pair. "Ah!" Mary gasped and tried to attack him with the whip. Keyword: Tried. Because before she could even properly raise her hand, Zombie was already on her other side and kicked her. *crunch* When his leg connected with Mary''s arm, it made an unpleasant noise and the girl was sent flying like a ragdoll. "Graough...? (That''s it...?)" Zombie gasped in shock seeing Mary roll on the ground with her left hand bent in a weird way. Thankfully, that wasn''t all she had in store. While Zombie was expressing his discontent with Mary''s poor performance, Arion silently got behind and jumped at him with his jaws and ws shining from skills, and managed to bite at Zombie''s necks while furiously wing at his back. "Graough! (That''s more like it!)" Zombieughed and did a backflip. Or at least a partial one, because he stopped the rotation right when the wolf on his back was exactly beneath him, and then he let the gravity do its thing. "Rarf...!" Arion yelped in pain and let go of Zombie''s neck. "Graough. (That was a nice sneak attack.) Graough. (If you didn''t ck off with your training, that could have even left a mark.)" Zombie pulled on the cor of his shirt, showing off the unharmed blue skin. Simrly, only his clothes were damaged by Arion''s ws. "Graough! (Come! Attack me again!)" Zombie growled, spreading his arms open as an invitation. "Y-you broke my arm...!" Mary tried to stand up. She held on to her left arm and was gritting her teeth trying to endure the pain. "..." Zombie didn''t even nce her way, still facing Arion. "...! You...! Aaaah...!" Mary''s face twisted in pain as she failed to stand up and ended up falling on her broken arm. "Raor!" Arion barked and tried to run towards her but Zombie stood in his way with a grim smile. "Graough. (No. She''s useless anyway, but you have the potential.) Graough! (You''re the only hope for that baby griffin, so attack me!)" Zombie growled and his eyes shone. "!!!" In an instant, Arion''s fur bristled and he bared his fangs at the blue boy. "Graough! (Yes! Like that! Show off to my master!) Graough! (Prove that both of you are worthy to have our griffin as apanion!)" Zombie hit his chest with his hand and grinned. This time Arion''s whole body started shining and he rushed at Zombie in a mad charge. "Graough...? (That''s it...?)" Zombie growled angrily and dodged him. But Arion instantly changed the direction of his attack without losing any speed and attacked Zombie''s neck. "Gaough! (Good! But you still need to be better!)" Zombie growled while bending his body in a perfect dodge. Yet even then Arion wasn''t done, he changed his direction again in mid-air and bit at Zombie''s exposed throat. "Arf...?!" But in the next second, it was the wolf monster that was pinned to the ground by the neck. "Graough. (You have the spirit, but your attacks show stiffness andck the proper ferociousness.) Graough?! (Don''t tell me... Did she trained you on practice targets and not inbat?!)" Zombie growled in shock and turned towards the suffering Mary. "Graough! (You useless idiot!) Graough?! (Did you two reached level fifteen throughpleting the quests without actually killing any monsters?!)" He roared at the girl and his furious voice made everyone except Cranberry flinch. "Graough?! (Howe anyone could be this stupid?) Graough! (The two of you would get torn into shreds by level ten frenzy wolf!) Graough! (Both of you are useless!)" "...arf...!" Arion yelped weakly, but he couldn''t find a way to free himself. Cranberry smirked and started scratching the baby griffin around the beak making her spread her wings from happiness. "...shut up..." "Graough...? (Haa...?)" A silent trembling voice caused Zombie to raise his brow and re at Mary. "...useless, useless... Is that the only thing you can say?!" Mary got back on her feet, supporting her shaking legs with her healthy arm. "Graough... (Oh, it seems that you can understand me...)" Zombie tilted his head. "Graough... (It doesn''t change the fact that your best option is to surrender and beg my master to spare the baby griffin, but still...)" He smirked. "I told you to shut up!" Mary shouted baring her teeth just like her wolf. "Mend!" She suddenly shouted and her left arm shone with a bright light and her muscles and bones were forcibly put into ce making Mary grimace in pain. "Do you think that I will tolerate such disgrace?! Who do you think I am?! I''m from the Hope family! None of us even knows what surrender means!" She clenched her fists and her body started glowing. "Now... LET GO OF MY WOLF!" She roared and charged at the blue boy. Chapter 28: Marys visit - fight and embarrassment

Chapter 28: Mary''s visit - fight and embarrassment

Mary struck with her whip at Zombie''s neck, but her attack was easily blocked by the blue boy''s right hand, stitched to the rest of the arm with the red strings. "..." Without wasting groans on her, Zombie simply pulled on the whip. Instead of trying to match his strength, Mary used it andunched at him aiming her knee at his face. *crunch* "Aa...! Argh...!" Zombie didn''t even dodge, he simply let Mary break her knee on his face and crash on the ground behind him. "...I feel like I should have informed you that my Zombie''s highest stat is his physical defense." Cranberry called from her spot with an indifferent voice. "...Screw you...!" Mary spat the curse while holding on to her mangled leg with one hand and wing at the ground with the other. "Mend...! ARGH!" She shouted and screamed in pain as soon as the light covered her leg and forcibly put it together. "Graough. (You''re not used to this weapon.)" Zombie raised his right hand that still had the purple whip wrapped around it. "Graough. (It still looks brand new.) Graough...? (Did you found a better one or...?)" "Shut up!" Mary shouted, interrupting Zombie''s growls and attacked him unarmed. Her body started glowing and... She bit him. As far as Zombie could tell, her jaws had roughly the same strength as Arion''s. "Graough? (So you can use the skills of your tamed monster?) Graough. (Funny, it''s exactly opposite to us.)" Heughed thinking about how Cranberry could share her skills with him. "Hahk ohh...!" Mary still biting into his shoulder cursed him and started kicking and scratching at him with her glowing fingernails. "Graough... (This is beyond pathetic...)" "Arf...!" "Ugh!" Zombie sighed and hit Mary with her wolf monster, sending them both flying. The next thing they knew, Zombie was already above them, ready to stomp them down. They''ve rolled in two opposite directions, barely dodging in time. Without saying a word or even looking at each other, Mary and Arion''s bodies started shining and they jumped at the blue boy at the same time! ...and they were stopped in mid-air. "Eh?!" "Arf?!" Mary and Arion yelped in shock when Zombie spun around and then threw them both high in the air. "Zombie, enough. Catch them." Suddenly Cranberry waved her hand to get Zombie''s attention. "Graough. (Okay.)" Zombie nodded and simply extended his hands. He caught the wolf monster with his left hand, but when he tried to do the same thing with Mary using his right hand, the stitches keeping it together loosened and the girl ended up hitting the ground without losing any speed. "Ughah...!" She gasped "Graough... (I-I swear it wasn''t on purpose...)" Wide-eyed Zombie was staring at his right arm, hanging loosely from his elbow still connected only by a piece of red string. "..." Cranberry looked down and started massaging her forehead. "I...! I''m not done yet...! Mend...! ARGH!" Mary, crawling on the ground, gasped and screamed in pain when her spell forcibly mended all her injuries which seemed even more painful than the injuries themselves. "I can still fight...! I''m not giving up on that little gri...!" "It''s enough already." Mary was about to start a heroic monologue but she was interrupted by Cranberry. "Say, do you think this girl is stupid...?" The red-haired girl asked while massaging the griffin''s neck which made the baby monster raise her head and close her eyes from pleasure. "E-eh...? N-no, of course not, griffins are known to be incredibly smar..." "Yeah, they are." Once again Cranberry interrupted Mary. "Do you think that she would stay so calm around me if I really intended to kill her? She''s quite apt at reading the emotions too, you know?" As if to illustrate, Cranberry hugged and cuddled the baby griffin and the baby griffin nuzzled back against her. "Ah...!" Mary gasped and finally dropped her guard. When the tension left her body she slumped on the ground and hid her face behind her arms. "You''re such a meanie,dy Cranberry." She sighed in a shaky voice, as if she was holding back tears of relief. "Hey, youe to my house and bring a girl that insulted me before together with you." Cranberry stood up and walking towards the brown-haired girl. "You have an aura of someone who never actually fought and your whip looks brand new, and you brag about your level. You even imitate the manner of speech that girl is using too." "Skwee...?" Cranberry continued the exnation and the baby griffin started following her curiously. "Wait! S-so the threats of killing the baby griffin weren''t real but what you said about my senior...?!" Mary jerked her head up, staring at Cranberry in shock. "Yes, well, this and that arepletely separate matters after all. I will kill that senior of yours if she''ll take a single step inside my home." Cranberry nodded. She nced towards the mansion, then at the unconscious wolf monster that Zombie carefully ced on hisp and was gently patting with his left hand. "And the most annoying thing of all..." Cranberry arrived at Mary''s side and was looking at her from above. "Why are you calling medy Cranberry when I clearly told you to just use my name without any honorifics, Mary?" She asked in an annoyed voice and offered her hand to Mary. "...?! Th-that''s what was bugging you the most?! But then, you''repletely different than...! Ah!" Mary gasped but quickly blocked her own mouth as if she said too much. "Well, I really hate people who don''t listen, you know?" Cranberry''s face darkened from a grim smile that she made. "Anyway. Get up. Blueberry won''t agree to be tamed if you''re like that." Cranberryughed and her smile brightened while Mary grabbed her hand and stood up. "Skwee?!" "Graough?! (Huh?!)" Zombie and baby griffin eximed loudly and started staring at Cranberry. "...!" And it looked like it was the red-haired girl''s turn to cover her own mouth as if she said too much. "Oh! So that''s your name then? Hello, Blueberry, nice to meet you." Mary smiled friendly and bowed towards the baby griffin. "Skwee? Skwee?!" Meanwhile, the baby griffin herself was hoofing with her front legs and screeched confused, and raised her head staring at Cranberry. The red-haired girl was looking away, refusing to confront the baby griffin. "No. This girl doesn''t have a name. We didn''t name her because we caught her only to give her to you." Cranberry said calmly but absolutely refused to make an eye-contact with anyone else present, even her own servant. "But... Cranberry, you just referred to her as Blueberry, didn''t you?" Mary tilted her head and asked. "No, I didn''t." Cranberry shook her head but it was clear that her face turned pink from embarrassment. "Graough! (Ahaha! Master! You''re so cute!) Graough! (Even after all that you''ve said, you ended up thinking up a name for her!) Graough! (That''s adorable!)" Zombie started growling happily. "Sh-shut up...! Your groans sound like you''re making fun of me!" Cranberry frowned and tried to re coldly at her servant, but her blushing face and a slightly higher than usual voicepletely ruined the intended result. "Don''t worry, he wasn''t mocking you, he just said that he loves you." Mary exined casually. "Skwee?!" The most shocked person there turned out to be the baby griffin. "N-no he didn''t! Shut up!" Cranberry became red as a tomato and she took a step back. "Graough! (I do, I do! Master is the best!)" Zombie groaned joyfully following up. "Sh-shut up!" Cranberry looked away embarrassed out of her mind. "Blueberry is a really pretty name. You like it, right, Blueberry?" "Skwee!" Mary asked the baby griffin and she jumped up and danced at her hind legs. "See? She loves it!" "Whatever, I don''t care." Cranberry was really trying her best to not look happy at the sight of the overjoyed baby griffin, but she couldn''t stop herself from ncing at her again and again. "Wow... you really are different than in the game..." Mary muttered under her breath and smiled gently. Chapter 29: Marys visit - training plan

Chapter 29: Mary''s visit - training n

Arion the wolf monster, woke up when Mary used her mend skill on him. "...raor... raor..." He was moping around andining, looking at Zombie with a grudge. "Graough... (Arion, I''m sorry. We only wanted to awaken your fighting spirit...) Graough! (I didn''t mean the things I''ve said!)" Zombie was crouching by his side and scratching and patting the wolf''s sides. "Graough...? (Will you forgive me...?)" "...raor..." Arion turned his head away from the blue boy, but when Zombie started scratching him at the good spot on his back, his hind leg started shaking and kicking against his will. "Graough. (Please? If you''re angry that you''ve lost, then we will train you.)" "Raor..." After another minute of apologizing and patting, Arion gave up and forgave Zombie, and the two of them started ying just as they were during their first meeting. After all, Zombie''s right hand was already basically detached so it was easy to use it for ying fetch. "Skwee!" Blueberry screeched impatiently looking at them, clearly wanting to join in, but she was held back by Cranberry. "No, wait. First, Mary will use her taming skill on you, only then you can go y with them." "...skwee..." The baby griffin was brooding and started digging in the ground with the talons of her front left leg. "It will be just a moment, Blueberry." Mary promised and her eyes started shining. The baby griffin flinched and shook her head. "Skwee...?" She screeched and red at the brown-haired girl. "Yes, yes, that''s it. Now we''re connected, you can join the boys now." "Skwee!" Mary patted Blueberry''s head and made way for her, so that she could gallop towards the blue boy and the wolf monster. "Skwee!" Bluenerry''s next screech made Mary flinch. "What is it?" Cranberry tilted her head and looked at Mary since the baby griffin was looking at her. "She''s... she was confirming whether or not she can go." Mary answered slowly. "Ha ha! She''s such a well-behaved girl!" Cranberryughed, watching how the three started ying together. "Our bond is only level 1 so I can''t understand her that good yet, but..." Mary scratched her cheek awkwardly. "But...?" Cranberry raised her brow. "Well, I get the feeling that Blueberry thinks about the two of you as her parents..." Mary fidgeted and nced at Cranberry to judge her reaction. "Haa...? What a weird chick. We killed her parents before we caught her, you know? In front of her." The red-haired girl smiled gently and stared back at Mary. "Maybe she had the same thoughts as I at some point..." She added sounding a bit mncholic. "...! Wh-what do you mean by that...?" Mary gulped down her saliva and trembled. Instead of answering with her words, Cranberry''s smile became wider and she looked towards the three pets. The atmosphere around the two girls became a bit stuffy, Mary didn''t know whether she should pick up some random subject or straight up go and join her tamed beasts and Zombie. "I made a schedule for your training." But in the end, it was Cranberry who broke the silence while handing a piece of paper to Mary. "I wrote it under the assumption that you have no titles connected with defeating monsters so that''s what it focuses on." She exined. "Even something as easy as killing one hundred frenzied rabbits will give you a rabbit yer title. Although it sounds funny it adds +2 to every stat, so it''s worth getting as soon as possible." Cranberry pointed out the first line of text on the paper. "It''s a shame that you''re already level 15, no matter how small, a title grants modifiers that boost the status points gained during a level up." "Y-you know a lot, are you perhaps...?" Mary blinked a few times and asked shyly. "Haa...? I guess I read a lot. Around one hundred and fifty years ago Redcurrant Gluttony wrote an excellent book about the hidden benefits of the titles, I''ll ask my mother if I can lend it to you." Cranberry shrugged and pointed at the paper again. "If we help you to gather enough rabbits at once we''ll be done with it rtively quickly and we''ll be able to focus on getting you a wolf yer title, this one is a bit harder to get since it requires you to kill two hundred and fifty frenzied wolves so that will take us at least one or two days but..." "Whoa! Cranberry, wait! That tempo is too extreme! And are there even enough monsters in the area?" Mary interrupted her with a frightened face, stuttering but Cranberry just raised her brow in slight confusion. "Of course there are, frenzy rabbits are breeding so much that Blueberry should be getting a rabbit bane title any day now. One hundred shouldn''t be a problem." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively. "Though wolves are a different case. Still, we left them alone so their numbers should be just enough. After that..." "Wait! I''m only allowed to stay for one week! A hundred rabbits and two hundred fifty wolves are already too much!" Mary shook her head and made a cross with her arms. "No, I take that back! Killing so many monsters is way too much to be aplished within a week!" She dered, but it only made Cranberry look at her as if she heard a good joke. "What? Nah, no way that''s it! I used the Dandelions to scout the area for me and found out a bunch of useful ces where we can get titles!" Cranberryughed off her concerns. "But I''ll tell you a secret, if you''ll manage to aplish this n, we''ll let you tag along on a real hunt." She added with a mysterious smile. "I... That sound''s scary, what do you mean by a real hunt? A quarter of a thousand wolves is already a war!" "Ha ha! Good one!" Mary tried to reason with Cranberry but the red-haired girl busted out in a loudugh and patted her shoulder. "A war... I swear, you would defecate while standing if you had to deal with goblins... haa... a pack of wolves a war, I swear..." After a goodugh, Cranberry straightened her back and shook her head to clear her mind. "Alright, Zombie! We''re going!" She raised her voice turning everyone''s attention to her. "Graough! (You''ve heard my master! It''s time to start the training session!)" Zombie groaned energetically and grabbed both Blueberry and Arion as if they were sacks of flour. "Like... like now?! We''re going now?!" Mary gasped panicked. "Yeah." Cranberry simply nodded. Chapter 30: Marys visit - a meal

Chapter 30: Mary''s visit - a meal

"Uuuugh... I don''t want to see another gutted rabbit monster in my entire life...!" The deted Mary was leaning back in a chair by the dining table. She was so tired that she didn''t even have any appetite, especially after the gore-fest that she had partaken in. "Skwee!" "Raor!" Completely opposite to their master, the baby griffin Blueberry and the wolf monster Arion were wolfing down their food like there was no tomorrow. Even though in the morning they wereplete strangers, now two monsters were eating side by side as if they were the best of friends. "If you got over the disgust it would end much sooner, we''re behind the schedule now... We''ll need to make rounds to monster dens even before breakfast or you won''t make it in time." Cranberry tapped the note with the index finger of her left hand while she was busy stuffing her face with food using her right hand. "But even so, we ended up getting super lucky and a champion frenzy rabbit showed up. We all got a special title just for killing that one. Good job!" Cranberry grinned at Mary who sighed and faced the ceiling. "...uugh... I thought I was going to die... Killer rabbit is such a dumb title to risk my life for..." She groaned. "...thank you Zombie, if it weren''t for your help, I would have been chomped in half like a carrot..." "Graough. (You''re wee.)" Zombie waved at her from his seat. "Graough. (Master, you should chew your food properly.)" The blue boy groaned at Cranberry. "Zombie is worried that you don''t chew your food enough, Cranberry." Mary turned her head towards the red-haired girl. "If you have so much free time that you can watch me eat then maybe you should practice drawing instead." Cranberry scoffed at Zombie, but she ended up correcting her posture and started carefully chew every bite. "Drawing?" Mary perked up and look curiously between the two. "Graough. (An inside joke, don''t mind it.)" Zombie waved his hand dismissively, then his eyes lighted up yfully. "Graough. (Oh, you can tell my master that I like watching her because she''s just the cutest when she''s eating.)" "EGHUH!" Just as Zombie was groaning, Cranberry suddenly choked on her food and ended up coughing violently, which made her facepletely red. "GRAOUGH! (MASTER!)" Zombie was by her side in the blink of an eye and started rubbing her back and offered her a ss of juice. "Graough... (After all, maybe don''t tell her that...) Graough. (I don''t want to make her think I''m making fun of her.)" Zombie smiled gently, looking at his struggling master, and groaned apologetically towards Mary. For some reason, the brown-haired girl became almost as red as Cranberry. "A-anyway..." Cranberry managed to clear her throat and attempted to return to the cold persona. "Tomorrow we will focus on crushing a few dens, just remember to leave one or two survivors from each of them, and the next day we should have a wolf king of the area gather as many underlings as possible. It should be enough to get you three a title." She said, ncing at Zombie from time to time. "I-isn''t it too dangerous? My father said that wolf kings are usually around level 60, usually even higher than that. And they are in a totally different league than frenzied wolves!" Mary sounded terrified at the mere thought. "Oh, that shouldn''t be the case." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders. "The new king should be around level 35... Maybe even lower." She exined. "That''s still a lot higher tha...!" Mary cut in withint but then her eyes widened when she realized what Cranberry had said. "Wait, new king...?" She asked cautiously. "Yeah. The old one died so there should be a new one already." Cranberry exined the obvious. "I''ve read that normally the wolf king lives to five or six hundred years, and a new one is born only when the system senses that the old one is nearing his end. The situation is a bit different when a strong king is unexpectedly killed. In such case, the system selects a pup from the youngest generation and forcibly upgrades it to a new king." "O-okay... but how do you know that the old king died sudden..." "Graough! (Oh! I see, those pups back then were barely level 2!) Graough. (Yes, that makes sense.)" Zombie nodded and Mary slumped back on her chair. "You know what, I won''t even bother thinking about it. New wolf king won''t be stronger than level 35. I''ll just take your word for it." She gave up and waved her hand. "Just out of curiosity... how strong was the old king...?" Mary nced at Cranberry. Even Arion and Blueberry stopped eating and looked towards the red-haired girl. "It''s hard to say..." Cranberry frowned. "Graough... (Yeah...)" Zombie made a troubled face. "Eh? What''s with that reaction? I thought that you definitely read somewhere how to tell the level of a monster based on the looks." Mary asked surprised and sat up properly. "Well... I did... but we kind of..." Cranberry fidgeted and nce at Zombie. "Graough... (We kind of took him by surprise...)" Zombie awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "We went all out on it and killed it in one shot, but then the rest of the king''s pack jumped at us and..." "Graough... (When we were done, it was basically impossible to differentiate what was what...)" "In our defense, we encountered the king and his pack by pure coincidence, and we kind of overreacted." "Graough. (That''s right, it was a spur of a moment thing.)" It was kind of amazing how Cranberry and Zombie could coordinate telling a story like that. "Are you even sure it was a king?" Mary asked nervously. "Yes, both of us got a kingyer title. A message popped up and all." "Graough. (Yes, we did.) Cranberry assured her and Zombie confirmed with a growl. "..." Mary hid her face in her hands. "...I can''t even with you two..." She sighed heavily. Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and get back to eating and Zombie continued watching her going at it. After a while, Mary calmed herself enough to start feeling hungry so she pulled her chair closer to the table and helped herself to the food. For a while, everyone, except Zombie, was too busy with filling their stomachs to talk. *knock* *knock* Suddenly someone knocked on the dining room''s door and an older maid came inside. "Miss, thedy is requesting your presence." The maid bowed and said. In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to fell below freezing. Zombie stiffened and made a furious expression. *cling* Cranberry dropped her fork and it hit the floor with an ominous sound. "Umm... did something happened...?" Mary asked frightfully. "..." Cranberry just shook her head and stood up from the table. "Cran..." "Graough. (Don''t. It''s their private business.)" Mary tried to inquire but was stopped by an extremely serious Zombie. "Don''t wait for me. Mary, tomorrow will be having an early day so you should go to sleep after you''re finished. Zombie will take you to your room." Cranberry''s voice was cold and straight to the point. Without waiting for the answer she turned to the maid and nodded. "Let''s go." Then she left together with the maid leaving others in the dining room. "Zombie... is Cranberry in trouble because she invited me...?" Mary fidgeted in her seat and leaned towards the blue boy. "Graough. (It''s nothing. Just do what my master asked you to.)" Zombie dodged the question just as he dodged looking into Mary''s eyes. "What is happening...?" Mary wasn''t giving up. "Graough. (Nothing.) Graough. (Tell me when you''ll be finished and we''ll go to your room.)" But Zombie was even more stubborn. Chapter 31: Marys visit - a night like any other

Chapter 31: Mary''s visit - a night like any other

Mary woke up in the middle of the night covered in sweat. No matter what, sleeping between arge wolf and a baby griffin would end up like that. "..." For a moment she hesitated whether she should just open the window or go outside and embark on a short walk. In the end, she opted for the walk. She snuck out of the room and went to the front door. But before she reached it, she almost crashed into someoneing from the kitchen. "Ah! Sorry! My night vision skill is just level one!" She backed away a few steps and started apologizing without checking who she almost walked into. "Graough. (Don''t worry, nothing happened.)" The calm groans were a dead giveaway about who the other person was. "Graough? (Why are you trying to sneak out of the mansion at this hour?)" Zombie asked tilting his head, but, funnily enough, there wasn''t much curiosity in his voice. "Oh, I just wanted to get some fresh air without waking up my monsters... It gets pretty hot with two furballs in the same bed... oh, and I want to check up on my senior..." Mary fidgeted and looked to the side awkwardly. "Graough? (The one that angered my master?) Graough. (Go ahead.)" Zombie shrugged his shoulders, it was clear that he wasn''t in a mood for ate-night talk. "What about you...? Why are you walking around and not sleeping?" Mary fidgeted and asked curiously, it wasn''t so obvious in the darkness but she blushed a bit. "Graough. (I don''t sleep. I''m an undead.)" Zombie shrugged again. Even though he still looked as if he was ten years old he was way taller than the fourteen years old Mary. "Ah...! Sorry, I forgot..." Mary twitched and looked away embarrassed. "Do you wear your high hills boots even in the house at night...?" Mary couldn''t help herself and pointed out the reason for the height difference. "Graough. (I do. I can''t feel pain so I don''t get sore and I don''t sweat so just routine cleaning is enough to keep everything nice and clean.) Graough. (Also, they are really pretty, my master helped me picked them.)" Zombie brightened up while talking and started sounding a lot happier. "Ehehe, I see. Even though I haven''t seen any other boy wear shoes like that, they do look good on you." Mary giggled and leaned to the side. "Say, did someone told you before that your blue skin is really pretty...?" She asked shyly. "Graough. (Yes. My master did.) Graough. (Blue is actually Cranberry''s favorite color.)" Zombie answered smoothly causing Mary to flinch. "O-oh, is that so...?" She mumbled awkwardly. "Whew, it is really hot in here, I should definitely go get that fresh air...!" Mary fidgeted and tried to get out of the conversation she walked herself into. "Graough. (Wait.)" "Y-yes?!" Zombie groaned and Mary instantly stopped and straightened her back. The blue boy then put down the jug he was carrying - Mary noticed that he was carrying something only then - and approached the brown-haired girl. "Stay still for a moment..." He said and leaned towards her. "Eh?! A-already?! I-I mean, yes! Go ahead!" Mary fidgeted, closed her eyes, and pushed up her lips. The next thing she knew something pleasantly cold was touching her forehead. "Graough. (Sorry, I can''t really tell the temperature at all.)" Zombie growled apologetically. "Graough. (But I think that maybe you have a slight fever from exerting yourself too much.)" Mary opened her eyes and realized that the cold thing on her forehead was Zombie''s left hand. "...!" The next thing she noticed was Zombie''s face, close to her own. Close but within the appropriate distance. "Graough... (Please, watch your health...) Graough. (You are my master''s follower after all.) Graough. (Don''t make her worry about you.)" The blue boy groaned gently and the corner of his lips raised a little bit. "...o-okay..." Dazed Mary nodded, looking into Zombie''s eyes without blinking. "S-say... w-would you be w-w-worried about m-my health too...?" She lowered her head and asked bashfully. "Graough. (I would.) Graough. (It would affect my master, so of course, it would make me worry.) Zombie nodded and pulled his hand away. "Graough. (Now, I need to get this to my master.)" He picked up the jug and motioned towards the inside of the mansion with his chin. "A-ah! Of course! I''m sorry that I''ve been a bother!" Mary hurriedly apologized and started bowing. "Graough. (No, not at all.) Graough. (There''s no way that my master''s follower could be a bother to me.)" "...!" Zombie showed Mary a gentle smile that made her legs weak. "O-oh...! Th-thank you..." Mary lowered her head, even more, to hide how much she was blushing. "Hmm...?" But thanks to that she noticed that something was off. "Hey, Zombie... where''s your right hand...?" She asked carefully. "Ah! Don''t tell me that Arion took it and buried it somewhere?!" She instantly jumped to a conclusion and started panicking. "Graough...? (What...?) Graough. (No, it wasn''t like that at all.)" Zombie tilted his head in confusion and waved his stump dismissively. "Graough. (I can''t move my right arm too well so I usually detach it at night.) Graough! (If I have it on in the darkness I keep bumping it into everything!)" Heughed it off. "Ah! I see! Thank god..." Mary breathed out in relief. "A-anyway, I guess that I just return to my room just in case...!" She added and started leaving. "Graough... (If you want I could bring you some water too...)" Zombie growled after her. "You would?! Please do!" Mary jumped as if it was some amazing news and hurriedly nodded. "Graough. (Alright. See youter then.)" Zombie nodded at Mary and left towards the Cranberry room. Mary on the other hand, simply plopped on the floor right when she was standing and grabbed her burning cheeks with her hands. "He''s so good! He''s different, but he''s so good! I can''t wait...!" She whispered trembling from the excitement. Zombie approached the door to Cranberry''s room and gently knocked at it with his elbow. The muffled sounds of cryinging from the inside stopped and only silence responded to him. "Graough. (Master, it''s me.)" Zombie growled. "...whatever..." It was a rather weak response but it was definitely Cranberry''s voice so Zombie opened the door and went inside. The red-haired girl was in her bed wearing a pajama and hugging a pillow. Her back was turned towards Zombie and she didn''t make any movements to face him. "...go away..." A weak murmur that was more akin to a sob was the only sound the girl made. "Graough. (I got you some water with lemon.)" Zombie put the jug on the nightstand by the bed. "...shut up, I don''t care..." Cranberry hugged her pillow tighter. "Graough. (No matter what, I am Your eternal servant, Cranberry.) Graough. (I won''t betray you.)" "..." "Graough. (Goodnight, master.)" Zombie groaned, but after getting no response he left the room. Only after the door closed and the sound of the footsteps went away Cranberry rolled onto her other side, put aside the blue hand, and reached for the jug. She poured the cold water into a ss and slowly raised it to her lips. "...I don''t believe you... no one is on my side... Not in this house." She whispered, looking at the door with eyes red from crying. Chapter 32: Marys visit - the new wolves

Chapter 32: Mary''s visit - the new wolves

Deep into the forest, there was a small cave where a couple of weaker wolves resided taking refuge from the other monsters. The cave was well hidden and all the wolves inside knew how to hide their trail so the stronger ones from other dens wouldn''t find and bully them. But at the moment the strong wolves were thest thing the weak wolves gathered inside had to worry about. "Haa... Good thing we came here first. To think that the wolf king would send the scouts here..." Cranberry breathed out in relief and wiped the blood off of her baseball bat. "Those...! Those were just the scouts...?!" Mary beside her bent in half gasping for air. She wiped the blood off of her face with her shaking hand but only smudged it even more. "Graough. (You know, Mary, you should really use your whip more instead of your teeth.)" Zombie took out a handkerchief and started polishing his boots with great attention. As for the rest, Arion was sitting on attention staring right at the hidden entrance to the cave, and Blueberry was curiously poking a carcass of arge gray wolf with her talon. "Say, what level is your job?" Cranberry turned to Mary and asked. "Oh, um, f-four, level 4, I guess...?" The brown-haired girl responded with a bit of a stutter, surprised by the question. "Ha. So you can have up to four tamed monsters at the same time..." Cranberry nodded to herself and squinted her eyes looking at the hidden entrance. "Well, yes, but... I would really prefer to keep the spots open for what''s toe... I-I mean you never know what kind of monster I could encounter in the future...!" Mary flinched and quickly lowered her head so that no one would be able to notice how her eyes darted towards Zombie. "Yes, yes. Of course, that''s a correct decision." Cranberry nodded without paying Mary much attention. Instead, she turned towards Arion. "You, mutt, do you poses a skill called leadership?" She asked in a cold voice. "Raor...? Raor!" At first, the tamed wolf monster flinched and yelped but after a moment of hesitation, and only when Mary nodded towards him, he let out a decisive confirming bark. "It''s only level one though." Mary quickly added. "Ha! If we''ll y it right it will level up quickly." Cranberry smirked and pointed at the hidden entrance with her chin. "The wolves in there may be the weakest of their respective packs, but they were smart enough to run away and even learned how to erase their trail. ording to what Tomato Gluttony wrote in her book, the wolves like that have the highest chance to rank up and evolve into shadow fangs, the rarest subspecies of wolf monsters." She exined. "Garough? (Wait, Tomato?) Graough? (Tomato''s a fruit?)" Zombie growled confused and looked at Mary. "Um, apparently..." Mary shrugged her shoulders making an apologetic face. "...Anyway..." Cranberry frowned and red at the two. "Although her research is often doubted, she was a tamer that was confirmed to have a whole pack of shadow fangs at hermand." Cranberry continued talking after others stopped interrupting her. "That''s why I think the mutt should be the leader of the mutts hiding in there." She dered. "Or we should kill them all as soon as possible, I don''t mind either way." She added with a shrug. "Be a leader...?" Mary''s eyes widened. "Right. Wolf monsters are convenient like that, if you tamed the leader you get the whole pack." Cranberry grinned and her eyes shone dangerously. "And because those weaklings are smart, they should realize what''s good for them and surrender in no time, willingly. It will work even if Arion''s leadership level is low." "But what about Arion''s low... oh... um... I see." Mary wanted to interrupt Cranberry''s exnation, but Cranberry cleared the doubts before Mary could even voice them out loud. There was really nothing to lose in this situation. If the n would work, Mary would get herself a whole pack of wolves. If it failed, the wolves would be her experience points and a stepping stone towards earning a title. "Mutt, prepare. Look imposing, it doesn''t matter if they''ll see through youter." Cranberry smirked at Arion. "Raor?!" "Hey! What was that supposed to mean?!" Both the tamer and her monster became agitated but it only earned them more mocking smirks. "My Zombie will destroy the entrance, the rest is up to Arion. If the wolves inside will attack, just kill them." Cranberrymanded and pointed at the cave. "Go." In the next moment, Zombie''s whole body was shining with a powerful light. When he kicked off the ground, even Mary felt the earth trembling. *BOOOM* Zombie''s kick didn''t just uncover the hidden entrance but straight up blew off half of the cave, sending a massive amount of debris everywhere around. "Mutt! Go! Simple but powerful!" "R-raor!" Cranberry ordered and Arion jumped into action. "...d-don''t order around my monster..." Mary pouted and looked to the side. A lot of panicked yelps and pained whimpers came from the inside but every one of them when silent when Arion showed up on the biggest pile of rocks. "Raor! Raor!" He barked threateningly. "What did he said?" Cranberry nced at Mary. "Be my underlings or die." Mary murmured still pouting. "Too dramatic, but to the point." The red-haired girl nodded benevolently. "Ra-raou...?" "Raor! Raor! Raor!" "R-raou..." After a short exchange of barks, it seemed that the wolves came to a mutual understanding and six small dark-gray wolves left the cave. "It worked...! I can see their status and all!" Mary''s eyes widened and she gasped. "D-does that mean that if I tame a wolf king...!" She trembled from the excitement. "You can try. If you want to be tamed by him, that is." "...!" Cranberry shrugged making Mary flinch. "Any monster that has a title of a king and above ispletely impossible to tame. The benefit of the title. They are natural enemies of tamers like you." "..." "The only exception for that would be if you had the title of the avatar of sin. It''s not officially confirmed but there are some legends about someone from my family taming a monster with the title of a god a couple of hundreds of years ago." Cranberry was talking while critically looking at the scared weak brown wolves that started trembling when she approached them. "Lady Pride and the me god...?" For a moment Mary forgot all about her excitement and her eyes were glued to Cranberry. "That''s the story." The red-haired girl nodded. "Apparently that''s the reason all Prides are immune to fire." She shrugged her shoulders. "Haa... Anyway." Cranberry pped her hands making everyone flinch. "Mary, how their status looks?" She asked. "Oh! Umm... as you''ve said, they have some unusual skills for frenzy wolves, like dig, and hide presence, but aside from that their status points don''t look good. They''re level four to seven and they''re really weak. Like REALLY weak. Good MP though." Mary reported looking a bit disheartened. "No titles?" "Everyone has the outcast title." Cranberry squinted her eyes at the wolves and then turned to her servant. "Zombie, you will take those mutts and go hunt frenzy rabbits. Make sure they''ll all survive." "Graough! (As you wish!)" The blue boy jumped down from the top of the pile of rocks that once was the cave and approached the trembling wolves. "Graough. (You''ve heard my master, we''re going hunting.)" Even though Zombie looked like an eleven years old boy wearing a simple white shirt, short pants, and knee-high boots on high heels, the wolves instantly recognized the aura surrounding him and obediently started following his lead. Even without looking at their new leader, Arion. Although Arion himself didn''t look as if he was bothered. Even more, he was the first one to start walking behind Zombie! And Blueberry joined them too! "H-hey...!" Mary protested weakly seeing her tamed beast walk away without her permission. "Zombie, take only the new wolves." It was Cranberry to stop the pilgrimage. "Skwee?!" "Raor!" Blueberry and Arion protested loudly but they went silent with one re from Cranberry. "Make sure that they''ll be stealthy while hunting. The title and level-ups are secondary objectives, they must upgrade their skills to stealth and gain the assassination skill so start training them in that direction." She instructed him. "Oh, and..." Cranberry put out her hand expectantly. "Graough. (Here you are.)" Zombie smiled and untied his right hand, detached his forearm, and gave it to Cranberry. "Have fun." "Graough! (You too, master!)" They said their farewells and Zombie left with the weak wolves. "Cranberry... what would you need his hand for...?" Mary couldn''t help herself and ask with a little bit of suspicion mixed in her voice. "If I use it instead of my bat, Zombie will still get a portion of the experience." Cranberry waved Zombie''s stiff arm. "If he kills something I automatically get a share, but in his case, we have to do stuff like this." She exined grabbing Zombie''s detached hand quite intimately. Chapter 33: Marys visit - affinity unlocked

Chapter 33: Mary''s visit - affinity unlocked

/Servant''s hidden affinity unlocked Beast master (level 1) "...eh...?" Cranberry flinched when an unexpected message popped up in front of her eyes. It threw off her aim and she tore a white wolf the size of a semi-truck in half instead of just breaking its legs. "Whoops..." She sucked in some air and shook off the blood from Zombie''s arm. She took a quick nce at the rest of her group. Blueberry was wing at a big gray wolf, Arion was entangled in a vicious dogfight with arge brown wolf, and Mary was swarmed by four dog-sized brown wolves and was trying her best to keep them away with her whip. They all were too busy with their respective fights to pay attention to Cranberry''s mishap. So using that as her chance, Cranberry delivered a powerful kick at the giant corpse and send it flying deep into the forest. "Wh-what was that?! Cranberry?! Where''s the white one?!" Themotion that she made Mary look in her direction. "I hurt its legs and it retreated! I went too easy on it!" Cranberry shouted back while making sure that twenty more big gray and brown wolves won''t jump at herpanions. "Damn it! I knew we shouldn''t have left the rabbit corpses yesterday! Those bastards must have eaten their fill and are at full strength!" Mary cursed and her left hand started glowing. She cracked her whip and blinded one of the wolves surrounding her, jumped at it, and shed open its throat. "I see the bond with Blueberry leveled up?" Cranberry casually grabbed the tail of the gray wolf that tried to jump past her and threw him back away from herpanions. "Yeah! It feels so good to not have to bite my opponents!" Maryughed and shed at another wolf while keeping the other two away with her whip. "Umm...?" Suddenly she flinched and the wolf managed to jump away at thest moment. "What is it? Did any of the new wolves died?" Cranberry asked while catching and throwing back another two wolves. "N-no...! All of them just got stealth skill!" Mary responded soundingpletely shocked. "And all of a sudden they got a lot more status points from a level up! Like, umm, four times more than before!" "Wha...?! But it hasn''t even been an hour yet!" Cranberry swung Zombie''s hand threateningly and therge wolves backed off a step. "I kno... AH! One got a new skill! Huh?! sh?! But it''s a wolf! They can scratch and dig with their ws at most!" Mary got taken aback by another message. sh skill was given only to monsters with strong sharp ws and talons, or to humans specializing in using shing weapons. But wolf''s ws were too short to fulfill the criteria, so Mary''s bewilderment was understandable. "Another got a skill! Crunch...?! Upgraded bite?! Already?! What is going on?! Even Arion doesn''t have it yet!" Even though Mary seemed to be losing her cool, she managed to nab one of the wolves she was fighting with and finish it with a beast skill. "Ha..." Cranberry frowned and tried to remember what she knew about the affinity that Zombie unlocked. Beast master. "Oooh...!" As she charged in front of therge wolves trying to push past her and attack the others, she remembered. Beast master was the highest skill that a tamer could receive from the system. Even at level 1 it granted +500% EXP to the friendly monsters in the party and made the proficiency level required to gain a skill drop 7 times, it influenced the growth rate and possible evolution of the monsters too. It was basically every tamer''s dream to gain the beast master skill. And Zombie had it as a hidden affinity. It meant that just as with leg power, it was his inborntent talent that got unlocked after a specific condition was fulfilled. Cranberry clenched her teeth and the next wolf that tried its luck passing her got its head blown off and its body twitched on the ground while spraying blood on the surrounding leaves. "Another level up! Ah! They unlocked pack hunter affinity!" Mary was unaware of Cranberry''s bad mood. And before she could even finish off another monster... "Again! Another level up! What are they even fighting with?!" And as if to answer her question another message popped up for her. "Now they''ve all gained the assassination skill! And their speed stat is through the roof!" "Haa... It''s going to be a long day." Cranberry frowned and started massaging her forehead. By the time they were finished with the den, the new wolves gained 4 more levels and gained a plethora of skills. At one point they got the rabbit yer title, which solved the riddle of what they were fighting but ended up confusing Mary even more since Cranberry hadn''t told her about Zombie''s unlocked affinity. "Mary, send Arion and Blueberry to Zombie." While walking to another den, Cranberry seemed to have decided on something and asked the brown-haired girl. "D-don''t you think that they''ll be more useful to us?" Mary answered nervously. "I''m more than enough to keep you safe, and your two monsters would be way better off with my Zombie. I''ll write him a note or something so that they''ll stop wasting time with rabbits and go for the wolves." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively. "Are... are you saying that whatever is happening to make those new wolves grow so much have something to do with Zombie...?" Mary picked up on the hint and liven up. "In that case, maybe all of us should join him...?" She proposed shyly. "Nope. It won''t work unless you''re a monster." Cranberry shot her down instantly. "...tsk..." Mary clicked her tongue and looked away. "Or you can try bing Zombie''s pet." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders trying to lighten the mood she dampened herself. "Well..." Mary blushed and looked away. "...!" Cranberry clenched her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Joking! I''m just joking! I swear!" Mary quicklyughed and waved her hands in denial. "Zombie is only yours!" "Haa..." She assured her and indeed, Cranberry breathed out and rx a bit. Then she tore off the head of one of the dead wolves and handed it to Blueberry. "Make sure he''ll understand." Cranberry said patting the baby griffin. "Shfee!" Blueberry screeched with her beak full. "Raor...?" Arion barked questioningly ncing at Mary, but his master simply nodded so he joined Blueberry and they both ran in the opposite direction than Cranberry and Mary were going in. "...I thought that you''ve said you will write him a note...?" Mary tilted her head. "I did, but did you took a pen and paper with you? Because I didn''t." Cranberry red at her coldly. "You managed to fight off four small brown wolves, you should be able to defeat two gray ones, or even a white one." Her voice sent chills down Mary''s spine. "Cranberry! Don''t be like that! I''m going to die!" She cried holding the whip close to her body. "Ah...! Their skills leveled up again..." Mary raised her brows surprised. Chapter 34: Marys visit - Beast master

Chapter 34: Mary''s visit - Beast master

Zombie was looking into the silent cave with a worried expression. He was standing there for over fifteen minutes, but there was no sign of seven wolves and a baby griffin, and it was already getting dark, a dead giveaway that they should be returning to Cranberry and Mary. "Graough...? (Don''t tell me something went wrong...?)" Zombie groaned worried started stomping his foot nervously. He was getting worried that he overestimated the tamed monsters. Even if they all rapidly got stronger in those few short hours he watched over them it didn''t mean they could clear out a monster den by themselves... "Graough...?! (Seriously, what was I thinking...?!) Graough! (And I even let Blueberry go with them!) Graough?! (What if I there was a white wolf after all?!)" Zombie started walking back and forth growling to himself. Suddenly he stopped and his expression changed to a serious one. "Graough. (That''s it. I''m going to look for them.)" He decided and started walking towards the cave. "...!" But just as he approached the entrance, something wasing out so he stopped. Arge ck wolf was slowly casually walking out, holding a weak-looking whimpering wolf in its unusual short jaws, but the part that was standing out the most about it was its massive front ws that looked like long daggers. Completely different from normal frenzy wolves. Right by it, there was another wolf, this one''s fur had an orange glint to it. It had a massive body and jaws, it was also holding a brown wolf in them. Zombie squinted his eyes and tilted his head. And the next monster that showed up was... A baby griffin happily carrying arge gray wolf in her beak. After them, there were five morerge ck wolves, but none of those was carrying anything. As for their looks, they each had their slight differences but nothing as defining as the first two wolves. "Graough... (Geez, you guys, I was so worried...)" Zombie sighed and shook his head. "Skwee... (We''re sorry, dad...)" Blueberry dropped the gray wolf and screeched apologetically. "Raor. (Oi, Blueberry, your wolf is almost dead.) Raor? (How do you reckon it will run off and warn the new wolf king?)" The muscr blue wolf gently released the trembling brown wolf from his jaws and barked at the baby griffin. "Skree! (Sh-shut up, Arion!) Skree! (I''m stronger and have a harder time controlling myself, unlike you!)" Blueberry screeched defensively and turned her beak away from the orangish wolf. "Raa. (Sister Blueberry, brother Arion, don''t fight in front of big brother.) Raa. (It''s embarrassing.)" The short-jawed ck wolf also released the brown wolf it was carrying and scoffed at the other two. Then it put its massive ws on the trembling brown wolf and lowered its head to Zombie. "Raa. (Big brother, we''re sorry to be a bother, we''re back.)" It barked politely. Hearing them be so lively made Zombie breathe out in relief. "Graough? (Did anyone got hurt?)" The blue boy asked looking towards the back, at the ck wolf with a greenish underbelly. "Rarar! (No one, big brother!)" The wolf responded. "Ruff! (Clean victory!)" Added another one by its side. "Graough! (Good job, everyone!)" Zombie groped happily and started batting every tamed monster. "Skree! (Dad! Dad!)" Blueberry jumped from the excitement. "Skree! (There was a sleeping white wolf inside!) Skree! (But the sister with the long ws and I killed it in one shot!) Skree! (Cut off its head like, shing!)" Blueberry was so excited that she actually swung with her talons and cut the gray wolf at her feet in half. "Skree...! (Ah...!)" She gasped. "Raor... (Clumsy birdbrain...)" Arion groaned and shook his head. "Skree...! (Dad! I''m sorry...! I didn''t mean to...!)" Blueberry started hoofing with her front legs and lowered her head apologetically. "Raa. (Don''t worry, sister Blueberry, it was already dying anyway.)" The wolf with long ws assured her and brushed her nose against Blueberry''s feathers. "Graough. (She''s right. It''s nothing.)" Zombie added went back to the baby griffin after paying every wolf, and started scratching her affectionately around the beak. "Skree... (I''ll be careful next time, I promise...)" Blueberry rubbed her head against Zombie''s chest. "Graough. (it''s okay, it''s okay.)" Zombie smiled brushing her feathers. "Graough. (Tomorrow we''ll all be fighting together against the wolf king and his army.) Graough (You won''t have to worry about sparing any opponent then.)" He assured her. "Graough! (But you all must remember to not underestimate your opponents!) Graough! (Arion and Blueberry have a lot of health and good defense stats, but the rest of you can die with one bite from a white wolf!) Graough! (You have to be careful!)" All the new wolves lowered their heads and their tails dropped. "Graough. (Don''t get discouraged.) Graough! (This is only the beginning of your training!) Graough! (I believe in you!)" Zombie growled and the wolves perked up, some even started wagging their tails. "Graough? (That''s why, don''t die, alright?)" Zombie added and started patting the wolf with the long ws. "Graough. (Especially you.) Graough. (You tend to jump into the fight even if you clearly see it''s too dangerous.)" "Raa! (But I want to be strong like you, big brother!)" "Raor! (Hey! Watch it!)" Her tail was wagging super fast and kept hitting Arion, who scoffed at her and moved away. "Graough. (I''m not strong, at all.)" Zombie exined calmly. "Graough. (As my master says, there is always someone stronger.) Graough. (Don''t forget that, and if the fight is too difficult, just run away.) Graough! (And that''s advice for everyone, even for myself!) Graough... (I don''t even want to think how my master would feel if I was gone...)" Zombie looked away with a cloudy expression. "Skwee... (Mom gets sad really easily, dad...) Skwee! (You can''t leave her alone, ever!)" Worried Blueberry screeched and wed at the ground with her talons. "Raor...? (Oi, you''re going to eat that or can I...?)" Suddenly Arion barked, staring hungrily at the bisected corpse of the gray wolf. The somber atmosphere disappeared and everyone else just let out a sigh. "Raa... (Seriously, what a glutton...)" The wolf with the long ws shook her head. "Raor?! (What do you want from me?!) Roar! (I leveled up a lot and got tons of skills now!) Raor! (Anyone would get hungry!)" Arion growled defensively. "Skree... (Sigh, whatever, here.)" Blueberry rolled her eyes and kicked the two pieces of the corpse towards Arion. The muscr wolf released the brown wolf and jumped at the corpse as if he was starved for days, while the brown wolf escaped as soon as it noticed its chance. "Raa... (No self-control...)" The one with the long ws shook her head again and also released her brown wolf that started escaping in such panic that it was tripping and falling over everything it could. "Raa? (Anyway, big brother, why don''t you give us all names?)" The one with the long ws asked carefully. "Graough. (No, that''s something your master should do.) Zombie declined without missing a beat. "Raa... (But Blueberry wasn''t named by her master...)" The wolf with the long wsined and other wolves agreed. "Skree! (I was named by my mom!) Skree! (We have simr names!)" Blueberry dered proudly spreading her wings. "Graough. (That''s a special case.)" Zombie shook his head. "Graough. (Masters always give names to their monsters, just ask Arion.) The blue boy pointed at the blue wolf. "R-raor... (Oh, but, um... my master didn''t name me either...)" Arion looked at Zombie apologetically with his mouth full of meat. "Graough?! (What? Seriously?!)" "Raor. (Well, yeah. My name was always Arion.) Raor. (I just introduced myself to Mary and she epted it without question.)" Arion responded lightheartedly while munching on the corpse. He was already done with one half, he ate everything, bones, fur, and all. "Graough...! (A-anyway, no means no! Mary will name you and that''s final!)" Zombie decided and waved his left hand in amanding way. "Graough! (Now! We''re returning to the mansion!)" He ordered and started walking. Everyone followed him, even Arion who almost choked on the head of the gray wolf but managed to gulp it down anyway. Chapter 35: Marys visit - misunderstanding

Chapter 35: Mary''s visit - misunderstanding

It was already the final day of Mary''s stay in the Pride''s mansion. Or rather thest night. Everyone from their training group was in the dining room, Cranberry, Mary, Arion, Blueberry, and the six wolves, were eating their evening meal while Zombie was watching them as usual. Of course, now all the new wolves had their own names. The green-bellied one was now called Avocado, then was Cherry, Melon, Fig, Plum, and the long-wed Cinnamon. No one would be able to guess that all thoserge ck wolves were simple weak brown frenzy wolves just a few days ago. Blueberry was still the same but in her case, since she was a baby griffin, her outer appearance would change only after she would get a bit older. Although, the one who changed the most was Arion. Even though he was almost constantly eating, he lost most of the muscle mass he gained right at the beginning and was looking straight up skinny while consuming ridiculous amounts of the prepared food. Talk about wolf''s appetite... Mary would leave together with her monster the next morning, right after the sunrise so they wouldn''t be able to eat breakfast together. The atmosphere was rather heavy, but not because of the sadness over the departure. The one who was the most anxious was Cranberry. Over these few days she was put on a strict diet by her mother, who decided that she was gaining too much weight, so there were no signs of her stuffing her face like she did the first day. Even before she started the dietetic meal she looked a bit sick, and even when she was eating she was jumping in her seat over the smallest sound. Everyone else knew what she was listening in for. Every day during the supper a maid woulde to tell Cranberry that her mother is calling for her, and the red-haired girl would leave the dining room and show up only in the morning. Even Mary picked up that whatever Cranberry was talking about with her mother wasn''t anything nice. But just as Cranberry was looking anxious, Zombie was looking more and more furious. With the hosts acting like that none of the guests dared to make a noise, not to mention a conversation. Sadly, the more someone dreads the inevitable, the sooner ites. And just like that, all the wolves'' ears perked up at the sound of footsteps. *knock* *knock* A polite knocking preceded the door opening, and a fragment of the maid''s dress already showed up making Cranberry clench her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Young mi..." *WHAM* "KYAH!" Before the maid could even properly enter the dining room, Zombie rushed at her from his seat and shut the door with a kick pushing the maid back and making her scream in a high-pitched voice. "GRAOUGH! (FUCK OFF! SHE''S NOT GOING ANYWHERE!)" The blue boy roared at the door so loud that all the tamed monsters flinched and cowered in fear. "Zombie?! What are you doing?!" Cranberry stood up and mmed her hands against the table. "Graough! (Master! Don''t go!) Graough! (Say that you''re sick or something!)" The blue boy turned to her and begged her. "Graough...! (I don''t know what that woman is doing to you, but you can''t let her...!)" "WHAT MY MOTHER IS TALKING ABOUT TO ME IS MY PRIVATE BUSINESS! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO STICK YOU NOSE INTO IT, YOU ROTTEN BRAIN!" Cranberry went crimson red from anger and shattered the whole dining table into splinters and sent the food flying all over the room with a single punch. Mary and her monsters hurriedly hid in the corner. "Graough...! (I-I''m your servant..!) Graough! (Your eternal servant!)" Zombie growled while backing off. "Shut up with your dumb groans! I know full well that you hate me since my carriage killed you back then!" Cranberry almost busted into tears and stormed out of the room. "Gra-graough?! (Wh-what...? I hate her?!)" Zombie''s almost fell over after hearing that sentence. "Raa... (Big brother...)" Cinnamon walked over to him and rubbed her head against Zombie''s leg. Mary furrowed her brows deep in thoughts, she tilted her head as if she was considering something. "Zombie, what was she talking about...?" In the end, she stood up and asked. "Graough?! (How am I supposed to know?! Why would she think I hate her?!)" Zombie growled angrily and red at Mary. "No, no, not about the hating part." Mary quickly cleared the misunderstanding. "Cranberry killed you?" Zombie straightened his back and gave the brown-haired girl an ice-cold stare. "Graough. (The system killed me.)" He said after Mary didn''t back down. "Graough. (I died in a scripted story event. There''s no reason for me to me my master.)" Zombie sighed and started rubbing Cinnamon behind her ears. "Graough. (I was just a random viger.) Graough... (I wanted to be just a random viger.)" Zombie slumped down. Blueberry and all the other wolves approached him and started rubbing against himfortingly. "Skree. (Dad, don''t be sad.)" The baby griffin screeched. "Graough? (Say, Mary, have you heard about something called a global story event?)" Zombie smiled and looked at the girl from over all the pets he was caressing. "I... I do, actually..." Mary nodded, weighing her words with hesitation. "Apparently it happened a few times in the past. Every human was assigned a role and had their stories adjusted to fit the event. Each time a global event urred, it changed the course of history rather dramatically." She answered with an answer straight out of the history book. "Graough. (During my ident, the system called me an essential character.) Graough. (And, as you probably already know, the essential characters exist only for the global events.)" Zombie smiled while patting Blueberry. "Graough. (After I learned that, any sort of negative feelings towards my master disappeared.)" He shrugged his shoulders. "Graough? (Why is she bringing that up now?)" "My only guess is that her mother told her something." Mary answered honestly. Truth to be told that was a quite obvious answer, and it made Zombie flinch and sigh. "Graough... (I need to exin it to her.) Graough. (I''m going to the study. Guess I''ll be writing a lot.)" He stood up and walked over the tamed monsters and exited the room. "...would be best if you didn''t attach yourself to a side character..." Mary breathed out and murmured after him. "...even if she is a part of your backstory..." Chapter 36: Mothers room

Chapter 36: Mother''s room

"Useless girl, you couldn''t even awaken to pyromancy or healing." As per usual,dy Raspberry got out from her bed and was standing imposingly in front of her daughter. "I''m sorry, mother." Cranberry apologized with her head down. "All you can do is swing that barbaric stick around like an ape. I''m ashamed of you." "I''m sorry, mother." "You even selfishly rejected the necromancy that''s why you ended up with some ridiculous magic! Do you know how much shame this family had to suffer through because of you?!" "I''m sorry, mother." Even though Cranberry called it a talk when she exining the reason why her mother was calling for her every evening, it was just the mother scolding and berating her apologizing child. "The only good part about you is that boy! But you even ruined that! You ruined his future! If you didn''t stubbornly ask my husband to take you with him that time, the boy would be alive, and be a yer character like the others! But because of you, he is stuck as an undead! How could my daughter do something like that?!" Raspberry shouted. "I-I''m sorry..." Cranberry''s shoulders trembled and she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Stop doing that, you stupid girl, you''re going to ruin your nails even more." Her mother scoffed at her and Cranberry instantly opened her hands. "I can''t believe I sacrificed my health to give birth to such a worthless girl." Lady Raspberry shook her head and put her hand against her forehead. "Year after year you turn out to be even more of a failure. You refuse to learn how to use a proper weapon. You have no manners and eat like a pig in front of your own low-ss guests. You''re gaining useless fat on your body. Is that how someone from the Pride family should act." The tall, sickly woman counted on her fingers exining Cranberry''s faults. "You fight too much, you read too much, you''re not interested in learning how to be a good wife. Even after my husband somehow salvaged the whole catastrophe during your first-kill party, you were so tall unappealing that the king chose Fillia Envy to be the fiance of his son instead of you! How is it even possible to be such a failure?" "..." Lady Raspberry sighed and started massaging her forehead while Cranberry was just standing there with her head down, staring at her feet. "I''m looking through the list of suitors for your hand, better prepare, as soon as I pick someone good you will leave the mansion." "..." Lady Raspberry dered but Cranberry didn''t react whatsoever. "I can only hope that being a wife will clear your head even a little bit. "..." Even after ament like that Cranberry stayed still. "If you somehow won''t ruin your chances for a marriage, I decided that you will give Zombie to me." "...!" That caused a reaction. Cranberry flinched and started slowly raising her head. "...he belongs to me..." She whispered. "What?" Lady Raspberry raised her brow andughed. "Naive girl! I''ve told you before that he hates you. As soon as I allow him to, he''lle running. Who would want to stay with you?" Lady Raspberry mocked her daughter. "Zombie would never...!" *SLAP* "...eh...?" Cranberry clenched her fists and looked her mother straight in the eye. But before she could even finish her sentence, her mother swung her hand at her. She pped her face. Cranberry didn''t even felt the pain, her mother''s strength stat was far too low to even register to Cranberry. But the p itself was what shook the red-haired girl to the core. Cranberry slowly raised her hand and touched her cheek. I the spot that her mother hit started to tingle, then scratch, and finally it was burning. Cranberry didn''t suffer any damage, but it was burning. She pressed her hand against her cheek and lowered her head to hide that her eyes were tearing up. "How dare you speak to me like that, you ungrateful brat!" Lady Raspberry shouted while holding her numb hand. "Everything I''m doing, I''m doing out of my love for you! And that''s how you repay me?!" *SLAP* And even though the first p hurt her palm, she pped her daughter''s face again. "..." Cranberry started shaking but stayed silent while her mother started to rage. "An ungrateful girl like you should have never been born! When Zombie brought home a griffin I thought it was a gift for me so I could level up and get better but you said it was for your friend who was a tamer. But you haven''t told me that this friend was a low-born Hope''s brat! That''s not how your life is supposed to be! That''s not how I nned it for you! How dare you be such a disappointment?!" *SLAP* Lady Raspberry ended her outburst with yet another hit. At that point, Cranberry was barely holding back her tears. Yet she didn''t cry. She is didn''t shed any tears in front of her mother. She was only standing in front of her, in a dress that her mother chose for her, trembling. "Get out of my sight, I feel like I have enough of your ungratefulness for a month." Lady Raspberry shooed her daughter away, and Cranberry turned away without a word and walked to the door. "I''ll call you again if I hear about any other disgraceful act." Lady Raspberry called after her before she managed to close the door. Cranberry was a strong-willed person. She didn''t let her tears flow while she walked the silent hallways. She would never allow a chance that anyone would see her tears. Along the way to her room she passed a few maids that looked at her with fear, Cranberry said nothing to them. Her shoulders were trembling more and more, but her room was almost there, few more steps and she''ll be able to bury herself in the pillow and... "Graough. (Master.)" Chapter 37: Letter

Chapter 37: Letter

The blue boy was standing in front of the door to her room. "Go away." She demanded a lot weaker than she wanted, but if she raised her voice even a bit, she would burst into tears on the spot. "Graough. (First of all, here.) Zombie already untied his right arm now he was offering it to Cranberry. "..." She looked at it, then back at Zombie. At first, she didn''t seem to want to take it, far from it. Her face twisted into an angry grimace and she was about to smack it away... "...Graough... (...master...) The little blue undead growled with a worried expression. "Haa... fine." Cranberry breathed out and grabbed the hand. "...are you done now...?" She not sparing him even a single nce. "Showing up right after I got chewed out by my mother, seriously, can you get any more obvious?" Cranberry shook her head in annoyance. "You''re acting suspicious, to say the least, and expect me to just ept that as your goodwill? Seriously? Well, maybe if you didn''t have the rotten brain skill I would believe that you''ve noticed anything that''s going on, but with how you are now, that''s very unlikely." She smirked mockingly. "Graough. (Please, read this and decide on your own.)" But Zombie didn''t let such cold reception affect him. He knew best what he felt and was going to follow through with the n he came up with after the talk with Mary. And so, the second thing he offered to his master, was a stack of neatly written papers. Cranberry looked at it and raised her brow. "What is this supposed to be? A letter of resignation? You don''t want to stay with someone like me even though we are bound by my magic?" Sheughed mockingly at her self-deprecating joke. "Graough. (Master, you know that it''s not like that.)" Zombie bowed deeply, pushing the papers at his master. "...I can''t trust you..." Cranberry clenched her fists refusing to take the papers from the blue undead. "Graough! (You can! I am your eternal servant!)" Zombie pleaded. "...even if I did trust you..." Cranberry trembled. "She''ll just take you away... just like always... just like everything I liked..." "Graough...? (Master...?)" Zombie gasped and started raising his head. He knew that his master was crying in her room every night after she returned from the talk with her mother, but he has never before actually seen her tears. "...fine, I''ll read it, now fuck off...!" And he still wouldn''t be able to see them. Cranberry took the papers from his hands, hurriedly passed him, and disappeared into her room. "...graough...? (...what can I do to help you...?)" Zombie groaned silently. "Graough...? (I want to help you...!) Graough! (I am your eternal servant!)" He unintentionally activated all of his skill and the light that his body started emitting engulfed the whole corridor. Inside her room, Cranberry threw the papers and the hand that Zombie gave her in the trash and crawled inside her bed. She wrapped herself in the cowers, fully intending to just go to sleep without a care in the world... ...as if that was possible... The tears she didn''t need to hold back any longer were already streaming down her face, soaking into the pillowcase. "...I''m just trying my best...!" She sobbed while burrowing her head into the pillow. /Servant''s affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story A message popped up in front of her eyes making her jump from shock and disbelief. "...eh...?" /Servant''s affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story The same message popped up again. and she could only stare at it dumbfoundedly. Even now after all this time she wasn''t sure how the affection and bond meters actually worked because there simply wasn''t any information on it avable in any of the books that were avable in the Prides'' estate. /Servant''s affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story Then the same message showed up. /Servant''s affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story And again. "...that rotten brain..." Cranberry smiled through the tears and get up from the bed. No matter how harsh her words were, they were only a part of the barrier that Cranberry had built around her heart to protect herself from her mother. Even though she said that she can''t trust her eternal servant it didn''t mean that she didn''t WANT to trust him. He was her only support in this unfriendly ce she had to call home. ...well, there was one more person, someone whom which she exchanged letters regrly and who also was slowly bing something of a friend, but all the letters written by Cranberry were read bydy Raspberry before they were sent, and simrly, all the letters that came in had to firste thoughdy Raspberry too... Still, at the moment, Zombie was all that the red-haired girl could think about She pulled the blue hand and the papers from the trash and returned to bed. "Haa..." She slowly put the cold blue hand to her face, once it touched the burning spots that her mother hit, a pleasantly cold sensation caused Cranberry to sigh with relief. Then she lighted up a candle on the nightstand and started reading them while wiping her tears. After she finished she opened the small drawer and put the papers next to many handmade birthday cards and neatly written letters that were already stacked there. Cranberry looked at all the birthday cards and smiled. /Affection increased /Error /Unable to increase the affection over the current level due to the current stage of the story "A-ah...! W-wait! No! It''s not like that...!" Cranberry, knowing that Zombie can see the same messages as she did, started blushing and panicked. Chapter 38: Gorut

Chapter 38: Gorut

Around a month has passed since Mary''s visit. She kept writing letters to Cranberry reporting on her progress and how her monsterin that their growth is so much slower when Zombie''s not around. As for Cranberry and Zombie, the two of them were using every possible excuse to get out of the mansion and then sneak out toplete the adventurer missions using the Dandelions as a cover. ... "Fuck... I''m telling you guys, if we keep onpleting every impossible request like that, someone will fucking notice something''s off...!" Lairs the mage grumbled while hiding behind a bush. "Shut up! Do you want that thing to notice us?!" The rat-faced thief, Shanks, hushed her from behind a tree. "It doesn''t sit well with me, to just, you know, hide when there''s a fight." "Are you insane?! You know what that thing could do to you?!" Rotte the warriorined but was fiercely scolded by Shanks. "That''s why you''re not the leader anymore...! We wouldn''t be in this position if not for your dumb decisions!" Shanks scoffed at Rotte and finally looked like he had said everything he wanted. "I-it''s not so bad..." Uresha, the tank hiding behind the tree together with Shanks, murmured bashfully while fidgeting. For a while, the forest waspletely silent, not even an insect buzz disturbed it. It was a rather stark difference from the terrible rumble that was happening just a few minutes before. "...You think that they defeated it...?" Rotte couldn''t hold back and asked. "Fuck if I know, and fuck if I care." Lairs shrugged her shoulders and pulled the hood over her face. "As long as we''ll get out of here alive, that crazy bitch can get torn to fucking shreds." "Haha! Yeah, I think the same." Rotte agreed with her. "Graough. (And I think that if you don''t move your asses I''m going to get angry.)" Zombie showed up out of nowhere and groaned at the adventurers with disgust. "Shit! Fuck! Bastard!" Lairs got so scared of the sudden arrival that she slipped on the leaves and barely kept her bnce while spouting profanities. "...do you think that he heard us talking smack...?" Rotte covered his mouth and asked stealthily. Zombie sighed and approached him and... ...kicked him in the stomach... "Ghueh!" The bile and the previous meal that Rotte ate, suddenly decided they want to see the light of day again and sttered on the ground as the warrior threw up magnificently. Before anyone could react, Zombie was already by Lairs and kicked her in the stomach just as he did with Rotte. The effect was exactly the same. "Fahing bashtard...!" Lairs cursed between the spasms of vomiting. "We can safely assume that he did hear both of you." Shanks sighed disappointed and bowed to the blue boy. "I''m terribly sorry for my ungratefulpanions'' act." He apologized profusely but Zombie was already walking away. "Graough. (Come. You should do your part.)" He growled and beckoned them to follow him. The Dandelions followed after managing to get the incapacitated half of the group to stand up. "...ugh... he''s just like his master, no sense of humor..." Rotte burped and grumbled. "Graough. (If I''ll even catch you cursing at my master again, I will kill you.) Graough. (That''s a final warning.)" Zombie nced at the Dandelions and groaned with a shrug. "Huh? Do anyone knows what he might have said?" Rotte looked at hispanions with confusion. "If I had to guess he was threatening us, so would you kindly shut the fuck up already?!" Shanks looked like he had enough and snapped at the ex-leader. After a few minutes of fast marching, they arrived at the clearing. Not a natural one though. It became a clearing only because the tall trees in seventy feet radius got toppled. And at the center a tall red-haired girl in a hunter''s clothes was standing calmly, holding a baseball bat dripping with blood. In front of her, a corpse of arge monster was sprawled on the ground. The beast looked weird, to say the least. It was mostly a giant red head with the face of a t-faced dog, big yellow teeth sticking out of its mouth with long white hair, short arms growing from where the ears would be in a human head, and stumpy legs from where the neck should be. Though right now the giant head was split in half and beady ck eyes were looking in two different directions while the blood and brain matter was spilling from the crushed skull. "What in the world is this thing?!" Uresha gasped looking at the dead monster that was at least one twice her height. "It''s something that shouldn''t be here." Cranberry clicked her tongue and wiped the blood off of her weapon against the nearby bush. "Gorut, a beast that leaves near volcanoes all the way from the northern to the southernnds. It''s said to bring fortune and eat children." She exined. "That doesn''t sound like a good fortune..." Uresha shrunk back, looking both disturbed and sad. "That''s just a superstition, it''s just a monster that eats the unaware travelers. The thing is, there are no active volcanoes in Fruit Basket. Someone must have brought it here. Illegally, may I add." Cranberry frowned and started massaging her forehead. "You said that who exactly put up the mission to hunt this thing?" She turned to Shanks and tilted her head. "The exact name wasn''t reviled, but it was supposedly some wealthy noble. But once the promising newbie party, the Lucky Star, was wiped out, the guild changed the mission listing from the middle-tier to emergency." Shanks exined with a bitter expression. "They allowed a bunch of newbies to take on a middle-tier mission...?" Cranberry frowned hearing something so preposterous. "They were newbie adventurers, but experienced yers. Apparently, their leader was a level 51 brawler." "Level 51! As if! Even an average level 51 would be able to hold this one back. It doesn''t make sense..." Cranberry rejected Shanks''s exnation and poked the monster''s clouded eyeball with the bat. "It doesn''t make sense that they couldn''t kill it... So they must have not tried to kill it..." She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Damn it...! What are you waiting for?! Dismantle this thing and return to the guild to report it!" Cranberry got angry all of a sudden and shouted at the Dandelions. "...!" The adventurers hurriedly jumped into action using the new skill they all got in their short time together with the Master-Servant duo. "Graough...? (Master, did you figure out something...?)" Zombie tugged on Cranberry''s sleeve and groaned curiously. "Haa... I could bet you my honor that this beast was a secret gift to the Greeds and it somehow got away during the transport." Cranberry breathed out and started exining to him in a hushed voice. "Whoever was organizing it, created a make-shift adventurer party and ordered them to capture the beast alive, but they all failed and got eaten." She shrugged her shoulders dismissively but her eyes were deadly serious. "What worries me is that those so-called promising rookies were killed even though they were supposed to be strong. They were either insanely greedy, scared, or loyal. Either one of those implies the involvement of the main families." Cranberry bit her lips and red at the Corpse that was already half-skinned. "Graugh... (That means we shouldn''t get involved...)" Zombie growled cautiously. "That means we definitely shouldn''t get involved." Cranberry dered strongly and looked Zombie in the eyes. "Whether it''s something that could be used or not, we cannot give my mother any more power. I refuse to do her biddings and certainly won''t give her any information that would grant her political advantage over anyone. Next thing we know, she''ll try to marry me into one of the other main families to take control over it!" The red-haired girl shuddered with disgust. "Graough! (Understood! No marriage!)" Zombie straightened his back and saluted. "Ha ha! That''s the spirit!" Cranberry was beaming and patted Zombie on the shoulder. Chapter 39: Surprise!

Chapter 39: Surprise!

"You''re getting married." "Haa...?!" During one of the rare meals whendy Raspberry was feeling well enough to eat in the dining room, she just went ahead and said that to her daughter. Of course, Cranberry wasn''t happy, at first she got so shocked by the revtion that she crushed the silver goblet she was drinking from into a mush. "Mother, could... could you please repeat that...?" Cranberry asked putting the useless clump of silver away. "Does the constant running around like amoner caused you to lose hearing? I said that you are getting married." Lady Raspberry looked at her daughter coldly and took a sip from her goblet. "Your husband is from the branch of the Greed family and has quite interesting magic that might turn beneficial for my health. You will test it. Even if it won''t be the case, a connection with a branch of the Greedss family will turn beneficial for us in the long run." The woman smirked and leaned back on her seat. "Like hell it will! I''m not marrying anyone! Dad, tell her something!" Cranberry shouted and stood up so fast that her chair fell over. "Cranberry, don''t talk like that to your mother." Lord ckberry frowned and scolded her coldly. "She only wants the best for the family." "What family?! She literally said that it''s for her own benefit!" Cranberry pointed her finger at her mother with usation. "Where are your manners, you stupid girl. I am the avatar of pride, my wellbeing is the wellbeing of the Pride family." Lady Raspberry dered proudly. "Bullshit! You just married into the family! You don''t have an ounce of real pride in you!" The red-haired girl shouted. "Cranberry! How dare you speak like that to your own mother?!" Lord ckberry was utterly shocked. "But it''s true! And you are even worse than her dad! You were the true avatar of pride! If you didn''t renounce it and transfer it to mother to keep her alive...!" Cranberry''s face twisted into a fierce expression. "If not for that she would be long dead! As she should! Instead, you shamed our whole bloodline for her, and now the title gets wasted on an outsider!" "Shut your ungrateful mouth! You are MY daughter!" Lady Raspberry shouted. "I am the daughter of the Pride family!" Furious Cranberry shouted back. In response,dy Raspberry flicked her hand and spilled her drink on Cranberry''s face. "Maybe that will cool you down. If you''re that invested in the family, so be it. Let''s have it your way." She said and her eyes started glowing. "Cranberry, this is a directmand from the avatar of pride. You will meet with Durian Greed and learn whether or not his magic will help me, is that clear?" Lady Raspberry ordered and Cranberry started trembling. She clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white and she gritted her teeth, but the power that the avatar of sin had over their family members was too powerful even for her. "Cranberry, sir Durian possess a unique attribute just like you. He can grant people under hismand enormous benefits like an increased experience gain, easier skill acquisition, and so on. It is extremely useful, although ites with the cost for the subordinate." Lord ckberry started exining the groom''s to be strength. "ve crest, that''s his magic''s name." Lady Raspberry said in a rxed manner. "Usually it would be unthinkable for one of the Pride''s to ever lower themselves to be someone''s ve and listen to their everymand. But you will dly do that for your beloved mother, won''t you, Cranberry?" She said in a sweet voice and lord ckberry nodded vigorously, clearly showing that he fully supports his wife''s decision. "I... I will do as you wish... mother...!" In the end, Cranberry growled through her teeth. "Very well. Oh, and as a sign of my goodwill, I''ll allow you to take Zombie with you this time. But after the marriage ceremony, you will no longer need him, so he''ll be staying with me." Lady Raspberry smiled. "N-no...!" Cranberry trembled and shook her head. "That''s not a question, it''s another order!" The woman''s eyes shone again. Cranberry hunched over, no matter what she didn''t want to agree, the pressure of her mother''s skill was weighing down on her so much she thought she would copse, she clenched her fists so hard that her fingernails pierced the skin and dug into her palms causing blood to gush out and stain the floor. /Proficiency level reached Master''s title upgrade Child of Pride ?? The beloved child of Pride /Master receives a skill Iron will (level 1) /Charm sub-type skill detected Iron will activate /Calcting... /Master''s MDF and LUC are higher than the opponent''s MAT and LUC Iron activated sessfully The pressure lightened but Cranberry didn''t show it. "If that is your wish... mother...!" She groaned as if she finally broke and her mother''s eyes stopped glowing. "I really don''t want to use this skill on my own daughter, but you are forcing my hand. I''m doing it out of love." Lady Raspberry rxed and smiled gently at the young girl. "...I understand..." Cranberry lowered her head, dodging the eye-contact. She knew that no matter what she can''t show her mother that the control skill hadn''t worked properly. "Good. You can return to your room, you already ate enough..." Lady Raspberry frowned looking at Cranberry''s chest. "Go, and ask one of the maids to fetch you a healing potion, we can''t have you go to your husband with such ugly hands, can we?" She added with a hint of mockery ncing at her daughter''s fingers dripping with blood. "Yes, mother. Thank you." Cranberry bowed and left the dining room. "Haa... Well, this sucks..." Cranberry breathed out outside the door and wiped the bloody hands against the crimson dress her mother made her wear, possibly ruining it for good. "Maybe I shouldn''t have asked Zombie to stay in his room, it would be fun to watch him blow mother''s head off with a kick..." The corners of her lips lifted forming a pretty smile. "Iron will, huh..." She raised her hands and started staring at the open wounds. "The meeting with my husband could turn out to be quite fun~" She hummed happily and went to her room with an unusual pep in her step. Chapter 40: On the way

Chapter 40: On the way

The carriage was raiding on the road leading through the open field, anything taller than an asional bush by the roadside was far away on the horizon. The Dandelions were hired to escort an important person, it was supposed to be an easy, well-paid mission from a wealthy client that was asking for the best service, so they didn''t bother notifying Cranberry about it. After all, she and her undead were only interested in the monster subjugation kind of missions and didn''t want to stand out. Uresha was the coachperson, holding the reins of four scaly horses, and Rotte was squeezed beside her, making a rather unhappy face while doing his best not to fall off. Shanks was sitting on top of the carriage, using his skill to scan the area for any possible danger while Lairs was sitting at the back with a frown. "We''re fucking cursed, I swear..." Laris growled stared daggers at the carriage. "How can we be so unlucky, to met them on our day off...?!" She clicked her tongue and kicked at the air in pointless anger. "I... I guess our stories must be connected somehow..." Shanks didn''t look much more content with their current situation than Lairs was. "And I''m actually d it''s them, at least we don''t have to worry about failing our mission." Uresha smiled holding the carriage steady and waving to the people working in the fields. "That''s because you''re too kindhearted." Shanksid on the carriage''s roof and patted Uresha''s shoulder. "He means that you''re too soft, and could you please scoot over to the side a bit? I''m really going to fall off!" Rotteined holding onto his seat, barely able to bnce himself. "I am soft." Uresha blushed. Before their journey started she removed a part of her new chestte, and now she tugged on her undershirt while bashfully ncing at Shanks to check if he''s watching. "...heeey, Ure-ure... when are we going to reach the next inn...? I''m getting sick from all this bobbing and jumping already..." Lairs moaned and sprawled on the roof, taking the advantage of Shanks moving away. "Still a few hours away, but we should get there before dusk, we won''t have to camp outside." Uresha hummed back at her, Shanks couldn''t help himself and kept stealing from nces at therge woman, which caused her to be in an excellent mood. "I like well-paid jobs like this one." Shanks was doing his best not to be too obvious but his eyes seemed to have mind on their own. "Shan-shan, you''re perving on Ure-ure..." Lairs mood seemed to lighten once she learned that they won''t have to spend the cold night outside, and she yfully poked the rat-faced man''s side. "N-no I''m not!" Shanks''s face turnedpletely red from shame and he hurriedly sat up straight to prove his point. "Shan-shan, it''s okay, Ure-ure wants you to do that, gather your courage and confess already." Lairs got up on all fours and whispered to Shanks after sneaking up to him. "...re-really...?" The rat-faced man fidgeted and nced shyly at therge woman. "Fuck yeah, even I can see that, go for it!" Lairs grinned and... "Whoa! Damn it, Uresha! Move your ugly fat ass! I''m falling!" Rotte shouted, basically hanging off from the driver''s bench with one asscheek. "Ah! I''m sorry!" Uresha flinched and quickly scooted over. "Shut the fuck up, Rotte!" "Yeah! Shut the fuck up, Rotte, you empty-headed donkey!" But instead of getting back on the carriage, Rotte was kicked off of it by the angry mage and thief. "Ugh! What was that for?! Hey! Wait up!" Rotte got up and dusted himself off but then he noticed that the carriage wasn''t slowing down at all. "As if! Walking a bit will be good for you, youzy fuck barrel! Lairs stood up and shouted at him while making a pantomime of someone having a giant stomach. "Alright. Shan-shan, go and sit with Ure-ure." After she finished mocking the ex-leader, Lairs turned around and gave Shanks a little push. "B-but I need to survey the surroundings...!" Shanks became even more bashful and tried to protest. "For fuck''s sake, just go! I''ll do the scouting." She rolled her eyes and basically shoved him at Uresha. "Seriously..." Lairs smirked watching her embarrassedpanions and their awkward attempts at flirting. She sat upright and pulled back her hood slightly. Two long pointed ears popped out and started glowing. "Everything''s clear." Lairs reported and closed her eyes, focusing only on her hearing. "...nnn...? What''s going on? Are we at the in yet...?" Cranberry yawned and stretched waking up from a nap. She moved around and shimmied a bit and ended up on her back, looking right at Zombie''s face. "Graough. (Sorry, master, not yet.)" Zombie growled apologetically and shook his head while pointing out at the window. It was still bright outside. "Ah... Right, we''re supposed to arrive at the next inn by dusk, right?" Cranberry rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Oh well, wake me up if there will be something to kill." She shrugged and smiled happily. Then she rolled on her side and nuzzled against Zombie''s thighs. "Graough... (They could be a bit more silent... they''re acting like a bunch of rowdy kids...)" Zombie shook his head a bit irked off and red at the roof. He was getting annoyed that someone dared to interrupt his master''s sleep. "Don''t mind them, don''t mind them~" Cranberry who was in a shockingly good mood waved her hand dismissively, rxing with her head on Zombie''sp. "You''re so nice and cool... I could travel like this forever~" She purred like a happy cat and went back to sleep. "..." Zombie blinked a few times not knowing how to react. The two of them were on their way to the manor owned by the man that Cranberry''s mother ordered her to marry. The blue boy was a nervous undead wreck, constantly thinking about how they could get Cranberry out of this mess. The system wasn''t sending them any warning messages so it seemed like they weren''t doing anything against the script, but it only made everything worse for Zombie. For some time he was convinced that his master was the viiness, but after discovering the existence of Fillia Envy, a fiance of the blond prince, Roan Greed, he realized that, in fact, his master wasn''t anyone important. She was just another background character, sharing a name with a fruit. But he himself was the so-called essential character. That was also the most likely exnation why their affection and bond couldn''t grow any further than level 2. Why would an essential character be allowed to grow attached to the npc? Not in a game. Not in an otome game. Zombie clenched his fists. Did that mean that the system will force him away from his master? Is this voyage together with Cranberry theirst time together?! His heart was cold and dead but while looking at Cranberry''s happy sleeping face he felt a piercing pain at the thought of being separated. "Graough... (I also would want to stay like this forever...)" He growled quietly and his lips formed a sad smile. Chapter 41: Robbers ambush

Chapter 41: Robbers ambush

It was yet another day of the travel, the only difference was that this time the weather was horrible. The amount of rain that was pouring from the skies wasparable only to a waterfall. It didn''t bother Zombie in the least... Cranberry was having an easier time falling asleep thanks to the sound of rain crashing against the carriage... But those two were on the inside of the carriage. The Dandelions, a team of four adventurers that was hired to safely escort them to the destination point was getting soaked to the bone been with all the preventing measures they prepared. The coats, the oils, even Lairs''s magic, nothing could withstand the three hours of the constant relentless downpour of mother nature. Or was it mother nature? "So... That''s why the local fields have no irrigation system, huh...?" Uresha tried to crack a joke but even she herself didn''t sound joyful or interested in the matter. "I fucking swear if I ever meet the fucking mages who agreed on such a stupid fucking deal, I''m going to personally fucking fireball them in the assess! Ha-kchia! Fuck!" Lairs sneezed adorably and then cursed rudely which was the best summary of how she normally acted. "...level the mages alone, the problem is with thendlord who came up with such a ridiculous idea as paying multiple mages to irrigate the fields with spell-created rain..." Shanks shook his head and handed the mage the handkerchief that was just as wet as everything else on top of the carriage. "...if you ask me, the problem lies with or current employer who refused to wait until the scheduled rainstorm will pass..." Rotte grumbled. The other dandelions looked at each other and nodded with a sigh in sync. All four of them were huddled together like drenched birds looking for warmth. "At least the main road is paved. Imagine how impossible would it be to travel in the mud!" "No, fuck no, it would be fucking easier for us if we went slower actually." "What do you mean?" "This fucking spell is not a fuckingrge circr area of effect spell. This is a fucking wall of rain that only moves forward in one fucking direction, we are fucking literally traveling together with..." "Do you think she knew that and ordered the departure on purpose...?" "I fucking bet!" Their voices were mixing together in the rain. The rain wall finally left them alone when they entered the area with more orchards and even some wild woods here and there. Even the sun came out was shining brightly. "Fuck me, that was something else. Let''s never fucking repeat that." Lairs sighed, pulling her robe over her head and wriggling the water out of her hood, and pulling the robe back without ever taking it off. "Yeah, I second that..." Rotte agreed, pouring the water out of his boots while making a sour expression. "Hey, Lairs, why don''t you do that thing with the fireball for us?" Uresha livened up and asked while still keeping her eyes on the road'' "The thing...? Ure-ure, what are you fucking... Oh! You want me to stack the fucking fireballs?" At first, the mage couldn''t understand what her friend mean but then she realized her intentions. "Fuck me, why not. Shan-shan is keeping an eye on the surroundings so I guess I won''t be needing the fucking mana anyway. How long to the next fucking inn?" She shrugged and asked. "Ugh... a good few more hours..." "...!" Rotte answer, while Shanks flinched and hurriedly activated the skills hepletely forgot about. Their carriage just so happened to enter the shade of the trees when Shanks''s detection skill activated and his eyes and ears started shining. "It''s an ambush!" In an instant, he became pale as a sheet, grabbed the dagger sheathed on his belt behind his back, and jumped out the carriage into the bushes. "Fucking hell!" Lairs shouted andid down on the carriage roof preparing the offensive and defensive skills while Uresha and Rotte shielded up. "They''ve noticed us! Screw it, attack!" A shout from the shrubs reached them and a bunch of men with various equipment and weapons walked out on the road. Obviously, not every one of the bandits came out, the ones with bows must have been still in hiding, not to mention the backup. "An adventurers, huh? You must know the drill, right?" The bandit with the best-looking equipment standing in the back spoke up with a nasty smile. "Drop your weapons, get the wealthy clients out of the carriage and let us take everything of value, and we won''t kill you. A failed mission is better than death, right?" The banditughed and hisrades smirked at each other. It was rather obvious that if the Dandelions did submit, they wouldn''t be left alive at all. "..." Lairs chewed on the curse words that were forcing their way past her lips. Although she never experienced it herself, she heard a lot of stories about what happens to the people of her race when they get captured by the bandits, so she just pulled the hood over her eyes and focused on preparing the strongest offensive spell she could muster. "What, do you guys need time to think? The short guy that ran first had the right idea. Just follow his example." The banditughed mockingly. "..." Uresha frowned and clenched her fist behind her giant shield. "Hey, friend! Why all the backhanded threats? Who told you we aren''t reasonable?" Funnily enough, it was Rotte who was the most cold-headed in this heated situation. "Oh? Then what is your proposition?" The bandit snorted and asked. "All of us will simply back off while holding on to our weapons and leave the carriage and the ones inside for you to deal with. If you think that our equipment is worth enough to risk your life, be my guest, but I reckon that myrades and I will take out at least a few of you before dying. Why take the risk?" Rotte asked casually and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh? We have more than enough archers in the trees to deal with you all without a problem." The banditughed back. "And we have a mage with the stack skill that will turn this whole forest into a zing inferno. Hey, brother, how many fireballs did you stack already?" The warrior asked looking down at Lairs while being clever enough to refer to her as a male to put as little attention to her as possible. "Nine! A few more and all those fuckers will be dust in the fucking wind!" Lairs shouted while making her voice sound as low and deep as she could. "Tsk...! Of course, you have a mage..." The bandit clicked his tongue. The other bandits started murmuring amongst each other. Mages rarely became ouws since magic was sought after almost everywhere, so it was obvious that the bandits didn''t have a counter to the spellcaster amongst their ranks and they didn''t look wealthy enough to possess the anit-magic charms. Some of them could have a high MDF but that wasn''t the point. "Well?" Rotte asked with a wide smile. "...fi-" "Boss! Wait up!" Right as the bandit leader was going to agree to leave the adventurers to go free, someone shouted from behind the trees. Chapter 42: Deadly exercise

Chapter 42: Deadly exercise

"...?" Everyone''s eyes turned in the direction that the voice came from. A tall slim man jumped on the road while holding the struggling tied-up Shanks over his shoulder. "Guess who came up at me from behind? A little thief who thought he could sneak up on a rogue!" The slim manughed and threw Shanks on the pavement. "Fuck...!" Rotte''s face twisted in anger while Uresha''s body was already shining from the skills showing that she was about to jump in the center of the bandit group to take back the rat-faced man. "Ghuh...! Screw you...! I managed to steal your money while you weren''t looking, you piss-poor rogue...! GUH!" Shanks grinned back at his captor but was silenced with a kick to the stomach. "Shanks!" Uresha shouted and was about to jump down but got stopped by Lairs and Rotte holding back her shoulders. "Then? How does it look to you now? Drop your equipment or your preciouspanion will die." The leader of the bandits regained his nasty smile andughed. To back his words up, the slim rogue pulled out a dagger and put it to Shanks''s throat. If it was another group of adventurers, they might just forsake their team members and barrage them with spells together with the bandits, but Dandelions were a bit different than most. Even when their main purpose was to survive and thrive the connection they all shared was stronger than many family bonds. Even Rotte who kept the calm act up until then could no longer hide his true emotions, not to mention the Uresha who was literally shaking from anger, and Lairs who stopped casting her spells as soon as she saw Shanks between the bandits. "Haa...! You guys are really insistent on not earning your keep, are you?" Suddenly the carriage''s door opened and a young red-haired girl jumped out while holding a piece of wood that was too thin to be called a mace. "Graough... (They wanted to leave us too...)" A small blue boy in extravagant clothes followed her and the high heels of his boots cked against the pavement. "Ha! Ahahahaha! Look, boys! A big fish is jumping in our hands all on her own!" The bandit leader busted into heartyughter. "Haa? A handful of anchovy is dreaming of devouring a shark? Good one." Cranberry''s words suggested a yful message but her tone was icy enough to chill the air around her and make all the Dandelions flinch. "Proud speeches won''t help you, little miss, you''d better..." "Little miss? Filthymoner, who the hell do you think you''re speaking to?" The bandit leader was making a tough speech but waspletely ignored by the red-haired girl. "Graough. (They don''t seem too strong, just about the average white frenzy wolf level.) Graough. (Though the leader and the rouge are stronger than the Dandelions.)" Zombie growled ring at the bandits with glowing eyes. He was so focused that he missed Cranberry nodding her head slightly as if acknowledging what he said, even though she was supposed to not understand him. "Those poor plebians probably never had proper guidance in their lives... Zombie, don''t you agree that as a noblewoman, it''s my duty to help those in need?" "Graough...? (Um... I-I guess...?)" Zombie growled awkwardly unsure what his master is talking about. "Since they are so weak, we should let them join our training session..." Cranberry exined. "Oh-ho! So we have a noble on our hands!" The bandit leaderughed and made a mocking bow. "Well, then, let me just apologize for the rudeness... noble brat." He raised his head, showing off his nasty smile in full. "...grough... (...I want to kill him...)" Zombie let out a low angry growl. "How about we let them join our training session?" The red-haired girl asked with a benevolent smile while her body began glowing. "Graough! (Ah! I understand! As you wish!)" Zombie grunted jumping up with joy. "Hey boys, look at this! This brat thinks she''s some sort of a hero..." *CRUSH* Before the bandit leader finished talking one of his men got crushed into a pulp in a single attack that came out of nowhere. "Excercise number one, dodging training." Cranberry, who just a second ago was still standing by the carriage, smiled eerily while raising her bloodied bat from the steaming pile of gore that was still a living human mere heartbeat before. Before anyone was able to shake off the shock, Cranberry took a step forward and her body shone brightly. Four more bandits around her exploded into fountains of meat, blood, and serpentines of intestines. The closest bandits followed their most primal instincts and backed off, but one of them wasn''t fast enough. Cranberry swung at the man turning his back on her as if she was swatting a fly and tore him in half sttering his blood all over the roadside. While the brains of the bandits tried toprehend what was happening, the red-haired girl took another step forward. "Aaahhh! AAAAHHHH!" One of the bandits couldn''t handle the tension and rushed at her, shing with his chipped sword in a frenzied attack. Cranberry''s baseball bat started glowing and... *ng* A clean sound resounded amongst the trees as the de was countered and ricochetted right into the bandit''s head, splitting his face in half. The girl leaned to the left to dodge the falling body and took another step. "Haa... This nobledy is doing her best to educate you, why are you all dying so easily?" Cranberry sighed and shook her head at a loss. "Archers! Take her out!" The bandit leader shouted with a voice lined with fear. ... But nothing happened. The confused bandits looked at each other, too afraid of doing anything. "Wh-what are you all waiting for?! GET HER!" The bandit leader took out his sword and roared at his underlings. Having a clear order shouted at them helped their panicked brains take action. All bandits charged at the single girl. Well, they might as well be a bunch of sheep charging into the gates of hell. The difference in power was far too great. Cranberry wasn''t only smashing around with her weapon. What she couldn''t hit, she grabbed and tore off, what she couldn''t grab, she kicked - breaking bones and ripping flesh apart. "Damn it...! DAMN IT! ARCHERS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! SHOOT HER!" The bandit leader shouted in a panic-fuelled fury. "Graough! (But they''re all dead!)" What responded to him was a growling from the treetops where his best archer was supposed to be stationed. "Wha...?! Where''s the blue kid?!" The bandit leader realized far toote that only the red-haired girl wasing his way while the blue undead disappearedpletely. "Ha ha! I guess those archers also didn''t dodge fast enough." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and stretched her neck. Every single bandit that attacked her was littering the road with ripped pieces of their corpse. The handful of survivors that turned back seeing the faith of theirrades was backing off to join their leader and the rogue, after figuring out that they''ll be safer with the hostage. And Cranberry took another step forward while smiling wider and wider. "D-don''te any closer, or he dies!" The slim rogue shouted, pressing the de into Shanks''s throat and nicking his skin. "R-right! If you take another step he will...!" The bandit leader joined in the threats. "Then kill him." Cranberry, still smiling, shrugged her shoulders dismissively and took another step. "Huh?!" The bandits looked like they were about to cry. "Those guys are the adventurers hired to protect me. Why should I bother with them if they cant take care of themselves?" Everyone, even Shanks and the other three Dandelions who were still on the carriage not even trying to help Cranberry, flinched and shuddered. "Now... let''s continue the first exercise, shall we?" Cranberry giggled and her eyes and body started shining. Chapter 43: Petty bullying is a bad idea

Chapter 43: Petty bullying is a bad idea

A group of travelers entered the tavern during the busy evening. They were a rather odd bunch, they even had an undead child with them, and said child was wearing knee-high boots on high hills even though it was a male. Simrly, the freckled young girl with blood-red hair wearing a crimson dress and shining ck loafers that didn''t suit the dress''s style, and a purse, was standing out rather considerably, taking into ount that she was holding a bloodied piece of wood. Every patron''s attention was focused on the new faces, especially the young ones. Yet as soon as the tall woman in the back of the group pulled down her hood, that attention shifted solely to her. The jet-ck hair cascaded down her body all the way to her waist, she had an almost perfect, somehow unearthly beautiful face with somehow sharp but gentle features, although her most prominent part was her long pointy ears, twitching slightly. Everyone became instantly enamored as the whole tavern momentarily became some mystical magical forest. "Fuck me, this ce looks actually fucking nice!" But all that charm disappeared as soon as the beauty opened her mouth and spoke. "The fuck are you all looking at?" She frowned and raised her hand. At the top of her shining palm, the air ignited suddenly and became a crackling fireball. "Adventurer''s business, fuck off." She scoffed and everyone looked away in panic. "That should make things easier. Thanks, Lairs." The rat-faced man that seemed to be the group''s spokesperson gave the foul-mouthed beauty a thumbs up and in response she smirked and closed her palm, making the fireball disappear. "You''re fucking wee, Shan-shan." The group approached the tavern''s counter and after a talk with the owner, a table was prepared just for them. Cranberry put her baseball bat against her chair and stretched in a very udylike fashion. "Must be annoying, making everyone scared so that they won''t approach you. Elves have it tough, huh?" She asked looking at Lairs sitting as far away from her as possible. "..." But the mage wasn''t keen on engaging in a conversation with her and turned her face towards the wall. "Y-young miss, I apologize for her, she''s still a bit angry for you know what..." Shanks bowed before Cranberry and apologized. "What...? Oh! You mean she has a problem that I killed that audacious healer of yours? Why? They didn''t seem close." Cranberry leaned back in her chair and tilted her head curiously. *WHAM* "And when the fuck did you learned so much about her, huh?! Before or after you blew her fucking head off?!" Lairs mmed her fist against the table and shouted at Cranberry. "Oh? Did I touch a sore spot? You had a crush on her or something?" Cranberryughed cheerfully which caused Lairs to stare at her with murderous intent. ...which caused Zombie to activate his skills and re at Lairs... "Listen, she wanted to steal my Zombie using some weird skill. What was I supposed to do? Not kill her and let her try to take him away from me? Are you serious? You know what my family name is, right?" Cranberry raised her brow and asked. "...fuck you..." Lairs murmured without sparing her a single nce. "That said... How are you all faring without a healer in your group?" Cranberry wondered and turned to other Dandelions. "Well, since we can''t really trust anyone except the ones here, we couldn''t hire a helper or recruit a new person." Shanks sighed heavily and waved his hand. "Oh, yeah, you gained a lot of fame for iming our subjugations as your own." Cranberry nodded absentmindedly and started rummaging through her purse. "And I wouldn''t say we don''t have a healer either..." Shanks rubbed his neck and looked at Lairs who stopped staring at the wall and instead was stealing sneaky nces at the busty blond waitress tending to the patrons. "True, true, elves are supposed to have a certain advantage with learning magic." Cranberry shrugged and ended up pulling out a worn-out book with a corny title ''A good wife'' and opened it on the bookmarked page. "So all well that ends well, I guess..." She mumbled and started reading without a shred of hesitation. "Zombie, you order for me." She added while flipping the page. "Graough! (You can leave it to me!)" The blue boy puffed out his chest proudly and saluted, which caused a bit of concern to the Dandelions. "...how will he order anything with groans...?" Rotte put a hand to his mouth and whispered at others. "Fuck if I care." "Maybe they think this tavern has a menu like some high-ss restaurant...?" Lairs scoffed, but Uresha had her own idea. "...I kind of want to see how he''ll manage if the waitress won''t suggest anything, it was quite fun to watch him struggle in the previous tavern..." Even Shanks seemed curious. All four of them exchanged nces and nodded at the same time. "I think we''re due for some petty payback... Uresha, don''t break and help him this time." The rat-faced man rubbed his neck, the wound he got when taken as a hostage got healed by Lairs, but the cold words of the red-haired girl were still fresh in his mind. "I''ll try..." Uresha fidgeted and murmured bashfully. After the course of action was decided the Dandelions leaned back on their seats and waited patiently. Although it was a busy evening, the waitress approached them almost immediately. "Hello, what''s your order? Today we''re re..." "We''re taking it. And beer, for all of us adults, that is." Rotte interrupted her in the middle of the sentence and put an order for all his party members. "Don''t be a rude fucking pig, Rotte, at least ask us what we want to drink!" Lairs scoffed and red at him. "Then, what do you want to drink?" Rotte''s brows shoot up and he looked at her with bewilderment. "Ah...! Um... well... b-beer..." The mage flinched and blushed a little. "But it wouldn''t fucking kill you to ask...! A-and be nicer to the pretty miss, will you?!" It seemed that her true motive leaked out a bit. "Alright, so, four specials with beer and for... um...?" The waitress nodded but got quite stumped with how she should address the young girl and the blue-skinned child. "Right, right, go on, tell the miss what you two want." Rotte happily encouraged the boy. "...!" Zombie flinched and became troubled, while three out of four Dandelions were already trembling from holding back theughter. But then Zombie smirked and pulled out a stack of neatly written notes. "Oh, you fucking...!" Lairs frowned and cursed under her breath. Meanwhile, Zombie shuffled through the notes, and after finding one he was looking for, he stood up and handed it to the waitress. The disappointed Dandelions sighed simultaneously. The blond girl looked at it confused for a few seconds and then blushed. "I''m terribly sorry, I-I''m not that good with reading...!" The girl bowed and apologized. "Pffft...! Ahahaha! Isn''t that perfect!" "Oh, no! What will you do now...? Your master will have to go hungry!" Rotte and Lairs busted intoughter while Shanks was discreetly chuckling and Uresha fidgeted looking upset. "I-I''m terribly sorry!" The embarrassed waitress apologized again. "Ah! No, no! Don''t mind that! It''s his own fucking ipetence..." *CRUSH* "KYAH!" "!!!" As soon as the insult left Lairs''s mouth, the table that they were all sitting by got smashed into pieces, and the waitress screamed and fell on her butt in the rain of splinters. "You. Are you the only staff member here? Someone here has to know how to read right? Just give the note to them. And get us a new table." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders without looking up from her book and put her baseball bat back down while everyone else, except Zombie, gulped down their saliva in dead silence. Chapter 44: Meeting on the road.

Chapter 44: Meeting on the road.

The morning air was cold and refreshing, perfect weather to help get over a hangover. Uresha was the only member of the Dandelions that wasn''t needing that and that''s why she was driving the carriage. As for the rest of the Dandelions... "Ure-ure... ugh... fuck... Ure-ure... could you drive a bit slower...? The bumping is making me... Ughueeh...!" Comining Lairs managed to roll on the roof and lean her head over the edge at thest possible second before throwing up. "...here..." Rotte, who was sitting with his head between his knees, offered the elven mage a canteen with water. "Oooh! Thank you...!" Lairs was so grateful that she even forgot to curse, took it from the man, pulled down her hood, and sshed at least half of its content on her head. "Why do I always end up keeping you twopany while drinking after you get rejected...?" Shanks,ying on his back and staring at the clear morning sky, sighed and reached towards the canteen in Lairs''s hand. "Because you love us and can''t bear to watch us suffer alone..." Lairs shrugged her shoulders and handed him the water. "...I should really stop being so considerate..." Shanks groaned after taking a sip. "I don''t think there''s anything wrong with you though..." Uresha nced over her shoulder and murmured. "Ure-ure is so kind...! Fuck! Why can''t I find a girl who''s like that...!" Lairsined andid on her side, putting one leg over Rotte''s shoulder. "And you need to start actually talking to the guys you find atractive." She added tapping her foot on the warrior''s head. "The ones I like are always already taken anyway..." Rotte pouted and fell on his side right by Lairs. "Now-now, baby Rotte... Just... ugh, fuck... I''m going to throw up again... just start a fucking conversation with - are you married? - That''s just as good opening line as any other." The elf affectionately patted the warrior''s head. "Howe you don''t ever ask that any of the barmaidens?" Rotter twisted his head and looked at her with doubt. "He he! It''s my special fucking skill! I can always sense whether the girl is in a rtionship or not! The single ones have a different aura!" Lairs dered proudly. "A shame that this ability doesn''t let you sense whether they are into other women or not." Shanks rolled his eyes and waved his hand mockingly. "...! Sh-shut the fuck up, Shan-shan!" Lairs gotpletely red and cried. "Hey, guys, try to at least a bit sober. We''ll be passing some adventurers in a minute, don''t throw up on them." Uresha turned around and warned them. "Uuuueegh...! Fuck...! C-can''t promise you that, Ure-ure... Is it okay for me to throw up from this side...?" Lairs pulled back from over the right side of the carriage and pointed at it with her finger. "...But only if you really won''t be able to hold it back..." Therge woman sighed and nodded. "Same to you two!" She pointed at Shanks and Rotte. "Okay..." "I''ll do my best..." They both answered in dead tired voices. After a few minutes, just as Uresha had warned the others, their carriage was passing by a group of five adventurers walking in the same direction as they were driving. "Good morning!" The leader of the group, a young man with a cheerful smile greeted them. He was dressed like a light-ss warrior, he had a small shield around his left arm and a heated sword on his waist. The rest of his team, three girls and another man, followed their leader and nodded their heads as a greeting. "Well hello! It''s nice to meet fellow adventurers on the trail." Uresha smiled cheerfully and slowed down a bit so that their speed would match. "Forgive me asking, but are you perhaps Uresha, from the Dandelions?" The young man asked curiously. "Indeed, I am! Our team is currently doing an escort mission, forgive the rest of my teammates for not greeting you, but they were up all night guarding our clients so they''re getting some rest while they can." Uresha responded without even a second of hesitation and made up an excuse that wouldn''t show her team in a negative light to work colleagues. "Ah! That''s not a problem at all! It''s so nice to meet our seniors in a ce like that! I''m Cherry from the Brave Swords, and those are my teammates. Lychee, Avocado, and the twins, Lemon and Lime." Cherry introduced everyone in his group and Every Dandelion flinched. The Brave Swords were the group of young adventurers quickly rising in ranks at an astounding rate. "...Rotte... Pssst... Rotte...! Isn''t that the fucking cutie who you wanted to impress...? Get up and talk to him...!" Lairs whispered conspicuously towards the warrior by her side, but the man only shook his head panicky, while furiously blushing. "There''s no way I can do that! What if I throw up in front of him or something?!" Rotte spread t on the carriage''s roof so that he definitely wouldn''t be seen. "Hee... Now I fucking want to check how he looks..." Lairs smirked mischievously and crawled over Rotte to peek over the edge of the carriage. "Fuck me...! So you''re into the cheerful guys, huh...? Oh? Whoa, the girl who dresses like a rogue is cute! Those twins are not fucking bad either!" She reported back in a hushed voice. "But thest fucker seems sketchy... Like, he doesn''t look half bad for a dude but... Fuck...! Ugh...!" Lairs almost threw up at the Brave Swords from above but managed to keep her mouth shut and then gulped back down the escaping stomach content. "Oh, fuck...! That''s so fucking disgusting...! Ughueeghueee!" She shuddered and threw herself at the other side of the carriage and began throwing up so hard she almost fainted. "Ah... I think we shouldn''t hold you back..." Cherry flinched and stepped back awkwardly. There was no way he hasn''t heard the sound of vomit sshing against the road on the other side of the carriage and definitely figured out what the truth was about the other Dandelions not showing their faces. "Well then... Good luck on your mission!" Uresha forced herself to smile and hastened the monsters pulling the carriage. The carriage shooted out instantly and in under a minute the distance between the two groups was enough so neither could hear each other anymore. "...well, that''s that for a first expression..." Uresha shook her head and sighed. "Ure-ure... Slow down, I''m fucking begging you...!" Lairs cried but was ignored. Chapter 45: Ruthless

Chapter 45: Ruthless

"HA HA! HA HA! HA HA~!" Cranberry was trashing around the horde of goblins. No other sane person would just throw themselves at a foe that had such immense numerical advantage, but the red-haired girl seemed topletely lose it. The best example of that would be that she was openlyughing in her own ugly way that sounded more like dog barks than a human voice. "...this request was for a joint operation between every avable middle-rank party..." Shanks was looking at the one-sided massacre that frenzied Cranberry was dishing out. The scene ying in front of his very eyes was already too much for his nerves to handle. The sea of short green monsters with various equipment couldn''t handle a single girl swinging half of a blue arm aroumd... and was retreating. A horde of goblins was retreating...! "...have... have we really cked off with our training that much...?" Lairs asked, too shocked to even curse. She was sitting on top of the carriage and watching ten and hundreds of small monsters get torn apart with each consecutive charge. "..." Rotte didn''t have the energy to even respond, he was simply sitting on the grass, and his heated sword was next to him, right when he dropped it after Cranberryunched at the monsters without any warning or exnation. "Now, now, it''s okay..." Uresha was calming down the monsters pulling their carriage since the beasts got startled by the intense stench of death and blood in the air, and didn''t really pay attention to the goblins'' doom. The other three Dandelions all turned to the blue boy watching the red-girl with a soft smile. The little undead was missing his right arm but it didn''t seem to bother him at all either. He was too busy drawing in a big sketchbook that had to be expensive considering the scarcity of quality paper. "Umm... hey, blue guy...?" "Graough...? (What is it...?) Shanks asked awkwardly and Zombie groaned at him without even sparing him a nce. "What does that mean? Is it okay to ask him...?" Unable to understand the meaning, the rat-faced man became dispirited and asked hispanions. "Graough? (What is it?)" Zombie rolled his eyes, put away the sketchbook, and red at the adventurers. "Oh? I think he wants to know what you want." Rotte poked Shanks''s side. "Really...?" "How the fuck are we supposed to know?" Lairs joined the conversation from above. "..." Zombie''s re became slightly angrier and he gritted his teeth audibly. "Whoa! And now he''s pissed...!" Shanks took a step back. "Because you''re not telling him what you want!" "Oh, for fuck''s sake..." "...graough... (... a bunch of living idiots...)" Zombie shook his head in annoyance. He himself wasn''t too bright, to begin with, but that didn''t stop him from disliking the living and their shorings. For a moment, the blue boy considered writing to the Dandelions in the dirt by the roadside, but he rejected the idea. He came to the conclusion that the Dandelions would not pay enough attention again and just write it off as him doing weird undead stuff. So with a heavy heart, he opened his sketchbook and turned it around, to write on the reverse side of a failed driving. [What is it?] "Hey, look, he''s writing to us." "Could have done that from the fucking beginning..." Zombie ignored theirments, frowned, and tapped the words on the page. "Do you know what got into your master...? We were asked to simply scout the horde''s size since we were going to pass by anyway, not to annihte them...!" Shanks asked in a slightly higher pitch than usual. [Master said that she needs to let out some steam or she won''t be able toplete her n.] Zombie wrote the answer and show it to the adventurers with an indifferent expression. "What n?" [She hadn''t told me.] "Hold, the fuck, up!" Lairs jumped down from the carriage and squatted by the small undead. Zombie raised his brow and tapped the first question he wrote with his finger. "She needs to let out some steam? What the fuck?! She''s fucking risking our... Well, she''s not risking shit from the looks of it, but fuck it... She''s fucking throwing herself at a goblin horde counting at least three thousand heads for that?!" The elven mage askedpletely baffled. [My master also likes killing. You and other living should be grateful that she mainly goes for the monsters.] "..." "..." "...holy fuck..." The Dandelions read the sentence and looked at each other. That certainly wasn''t the answer that they were expecting. [And if you are worried about the numbers of goblins - don''t. We both already have the bane of goblins title, and the champion and kingyer titles too. Unless a goblin god will show up, there''s nothing to worry about.] "...fuck me... is he serio... fuck, he is serious..." Lairs asked and interrupted herself with the answer within the same sentence. Zombie straightened his back to check up on his maser down in the valley that was getting filled with more goblin corpses each second. [Master is having fun.] He wrote and smiled happily. "Will her staminast? Aren''t you worried about her?" It seemed that Uresha was interested after all, since she came over and asked the blue boy. "Graoug...! (Pffft... Good one...!)" Zombie snorted and waved his hand dismissively. [Master and I once fell into a goblins nest and had to fight through the whole night to get out. Right now she''s having fun.] He wrote and showed it to therge woman. "I... I see..." Uresha made a worried expression and stepped closer to Shanks looking forfort, but the short thief was just as shaken as she was. "HA HA! HA HA! HA HA! ZOMBIE! COME JOIN ME! LET''S KILL THEM ALL BEFORE LUNCH! HA HA!" Suddenly, Cranberry''s voice got carried over to the carriage and everyone near it heard it. "!!!" Zombie jumped o his feet instantly and threw the sketchbook inside the carriage without even looking at it. "GRAOUGH! (I THOUGHT YOU''LL NEVER CALL FOR ME!)" He roared back, his body started glowing, and in the second arge tremor ensued and only a small crater was left in the ce where Zombie was standing until then. "...Now that I think about it... he did write that the girl ALSO likes killing..." Shanks trembled and gulped down his saliva. "..." The other Dandelions all turned away from the battlefield where the 1500:1 odds were horribly unfair for the more numerous side... Chapter 46: Durians manor - the arrival

Chapter 46: Durian''s manor - the arrival

Cranberry and Zombie, escorted by the Dandelions, arrived at their destination. Durian Greed''s estate. The mansion itself, as well as the surrounding gardens, looked surprisingly humble considering that their owner was a part of the royal family, even if he was just from a branch that has fallen out of grace. "Young miss, we haven''t been told to wait for your return..." Shanks rubbed his hands nervously and hunched down apologetically in front of Cranberry. "Yes, that was very much expected of my mother to do." Cranberry nodded indifferently while carefully observing the surroundings. Their group arrived much earlier than expected and that clearly surprised the servants of the household, who started running around everywhere attempting to finish the preparations. "Is that so...? In that case, then, we''ll bid you adieu, young miss." Shanks bowed and jumped back up on the carriage without further pleasantries. "Oh? Aren''t you going to warn me about the rumors surrounding this ce?" Cranberry grinned nastily and turned her head to the shocked Shanks. "And I thought that we''re such goodrades..." She made it sound as if she was pouting, although she obviously wasn''t, which caused the rat-faced man to tremble. "I... simply assumed that you already know more than I do, young miss. I''m a thief, not an information broker." He exchanged quick nces with the rest of the Dandelions who were unloading the baggage from the carriage and carefully weighed his words. "You sell yourself too short, my books no matter how extensive won''t cover rumors and gossips one can gather in a tavern after few drinks." Cranberry twirled and smiled cheerfully. Seeing her act in such a stereotypical girly manner sent a chill down Shanks''s spine. And the rm in his head has gone off. She must have been eitherpletely pissed off or nning something. Neither of those options was to Shanks''s liking. "Young miss have seen right through me..." He bowed his head and apologized. "Truth to be told, I wanted to be a bit dramatic, and as we would be leaving, I would turn my head slightly towards you and warn you about the ve crest of lord Durian..." Shanks leaned down and whispered conspicuously. "It is said that although he can use his magic on an unwilling target to dominate them, if the target is WILLING to receive it, the benefits it would grant would be far greater." He whispered and nced meaningfully towards the servants around the mansion. Cranberry stopped smiling and straightened her back. She put her hand to her chin and stroke her lips with the index finger. "Graough...? (So we''re going to walk in not only into a mansion full of his ves, but his loyal ves...?) Graough... (That sucks...)" Zombie, who up until now was checking on whether all of Cranberry''s luggage was properly unloaded, came over and groaned making a concerned expression. Cranberry raised her hand and put it on the blue boy''s head. "Are you worried?" She smirked. "Graough. (Yes. A lot.)" Zombie admitted without hesitation. "Thanks for the advice." Cranberry turned back to Shanks, but although her words seemed warm and she was smiling, her ice-cold eyes were piercing through him like daggers. "You wanted to warn me in a dramatic way, huh... If you will touch my belongings again without my permission, I will rip your arms off." "...!" She said in a friendly manner that made Shanks shudder. He flinched and cursed himself for stupidly reciting a scene from the only novel amongst Cranberry''s books that he borrowed without her knowledge during the travel while she wasn''t looking. "Please forgive my impudence." He hurriedly bowed as low as he could and apologized. "Did you at least finished reading it?" "Huh...?" But Cranberry''s next question threw him offpletely. "Did you at least finished reading the novel you filched?" She repeated while rummaging through her purse. "N-no, I-I''m a slow reader, but it seemed interesting...!" He hurriedly exined. "Here." Cranberry wasn''t even listening to him anymore, she pulled out a book from her purse, walked over to the carriage, and offered it to the rat-faced man. "It is a nice read, although a bit predictable, but a good time nheless. Return it to me after you''re done." Since Shanks was so stunned that he wasn''t able to lift a finger, Cranberry simply put the book on hisp and walked back to her servant. "Next time just ask. I don''t mind borrowing my books to those who like reading." She shrugged her shoulders and red at the mansion. "That should do it, I don''t see him anymore, Zombie, we''re going." Cranberry said something rather strange while making a serious expression. "Graough. (Understood.)" But either way, Zombie simply nodded grabbing the luggage intending to follow her. But right as he was taking a step forward... "Yo, little blue. Come over here for a bit." Of all the people that could call out to the blue boy, it was Lairs. She looked like he was unsure whether or not she was doing the right thing, but in the end, she beckoned at Zombie to approach her. "Graough...? (Eh? Why should I...?)" He tilted his head and groaned. "His name is Zombie." Cranberry frowned and squinted her eyes at the hooded mage. "Who the fuck cares! Just make hime here for a fucking second!" Lairs scoffed and punched the carriage angrily. "Graough...? (Master...?)" Unsure Zombie groped and looked at his master. "Just go see what she wants." Cranberry shrugged and shooed him away. So the blue boy hesitantly approached the elven mage. "..." Zombie crossed his arms and red at Lairs expectantly. The woman checked the sides making sure that no one from outside their group is near and leaned down. "That whole Gorut monster or whatever, Envys gave it to that fucker Durian, in exchange for some kind of favor..." "GRAOU...?! (WAIT, WHA...?!)" "Shut up, you fucking blockhead!" Zombie growled shocked but Lairs blocked his mouth with her hands, which caused Cranberry to clench her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "I don''t know much about it, but..." Lairs quickly nced towards the mansion, therge door opened and an equallyrge man showed up. "It seems that Envies are nning to stir some shit up with Prides. I don''t give a fuck about you and I fucking hate your master, but let''s just say that the whole Envy family bothers me even more." She seemed so serious that Zombie couldn''t even groan doubtfully to ask about the source of her information. "So, I don''t fucking know, better be careful around that stinking boulder fuck." Lairs patted Zombie''s shoulder and jumped into the carriage. "Ah! Now that''s what I''m fucking talking about!" Sheughed sprawling on the cushioned seat. "Ure-ure, get in! Shan-shan too! Rotte, you''re driving." She decided on the roles for the way back and proceeded to ignore the confused blue boy. "Zombie, don''t stand there like that, it seems that my husband ising to greet us personally. And remember to keep up the dumb corpse act, the Greeds might still hold a grudge against us for the dragon incident." Cranberry called him and motioned at the approaching giant with her chin. "Graough...! (Ah! Yes, I''m sorry...!)" Zombie hurriedly ran over to her and picked the baggage back up. Then... /Warning Unable to progress the story due to insufficient data /Calcting... /Master receives a story quest Resist Durian''s allure for 4 hours Sess: the story will follow route a Reward: Servant''s MDF +25 Failure: the story will follow route b Reward: Master will receive the unique title: Durian''s Toy (+20000 HP, -1000ATK, -1000MAT, -1000DEF, -1000MDF, -1000EVA) "Gra-graough...! (Wha-what the hell is this?!)" Zombie''s eyes almost bulged out of his eyesockets seeing the preposterous message that popped up. "Haa... so that''s how the system wants to y, huh..." Cranberry smirked and stretched her back. "It isn''t even subtle with which route should we aim for, seriously... Zombie, if by any chance I fail this mission..." Her smirk changed into a beautiful smile. "...then kill me. That''s an order." She said in a rxed manner as if she just stated something obvious, and left Zombie both speechless and utterly panicked. Chapter 47: Weak little girl

Chapter 47: Weak little girl

To call Durian arge man, was an understatement, although not fat, he wasrge and wide, his head was shaved bald and he was wearing clothes that made him look like more of a thug than a member of one of the main families should ever be allowed to. He looked like he was in thetter half of his thirties and with a body like that it was clear that he was in his prime. He wasn''t bad looking either, although his eyes were a bit shifty, making him look as if he was nning something sinister all the time. Whether or not it was the case, at that moment Durian bowed elegantly to Cranberry. "Youngdy, you are just as beautiful as I expected." His calm confident baritone was pleasant for the ears of anyone listening. "Even though such wordse from a gentleman like yourself, they don''t mean much if you were expecting an ugly duckling." Cranberry curtsied and responded with a pleasant smile. "Hahaha! I beg your pardon, mydy, I should have made myself more clear." Durian bowed again, even deeper than before. "I didn''t want to hurt your pride. What I meant was, that as you know, I''m one of the Greed family, and as such, I always yearn for more. More valuables, more strength, and more beauty. Hence I asked your mother for a painting of you, just to be sure, and she gave me a masterpiece. I''m happy to say the artist caught your charms perfectly." Durian said smoothly. "Haa... Is that so..." Cranberry lowered her head, seemingly bashful, but in truth, she was hiding the furious expression. "Indeed. That said, I would like to invite you for a meal where we will discuss our marriage. I''ve been told that you could be rather hesitant but I assure you, I''m far better than any other living man." Durian raised and proudly hit his fist against his chest which created a surprisingly loud sound. "If you say so." Cranberry smiled gently, looked up at him, and then lowered her head bashfully again. "May I know what level my soon-to-be husband is?" "...!" Her next question made Zombie almost cough from shock even though he wasn''t breathing or producing saliva for that matter, thankfully he stopped himself and could keep up the act of the dumb corpse. Durian''s brows furrowed for a moment. "You... seem a bit more agreeable than what your mother led me to believe..." He took a better look at the young girl in front of him. "Of course, I know about the power that the avatars of sin have over their own family members, but still... fascinating..." Durian seemed pleasantly surprised. "I''m sorry, this little girl is very inexperienced, would my future husband liked it better if this little girl acted a bit more daring...?" Cranberry was so meek and soft-spoken that Zombie could barely recognize her. The blue boy didn''t even have to concentrate on acting like a dumb corpse, he literally became dumbfounded and could only stare at his master with the half-opened mouth. "Is that so...? But I''ve heard that you yourself are level 40 despite your age. Calling yourself inexperienced or little doesn''t quite cut it now, does it?" Durian crossed his arms and stared at her with suspicion. "Ah...! B-but how else a little girl like myself can keep herself safe. The world is big and scary..." Cranberry''s shoulders trembled. "As a Pride, this little girl has to upkeep her honor, so she trains diligently. But... with a strong gentle person, as her husband..." She bashfully stepped towards therge man, grabbed onto his shirt, and looked up at his face shyly. "If a dependable person like that would show up and took her in his strong arms, she could use this diligence for something else..." (Who the hell is that lovestruck girl?! What happened?! Did my master got hit by a charm spell?! What is going on?! Why is she talking in third person?!) Zombie was in a state of total confusion and actually looked back at the Dandelions'' carriage disappearing in the distance, thinking that he would maybe spot the real Cranberryughing at him from the window. "This little girl always loved reading books..." The red-haired girl shyly traced circles on Durian''s shirt. "That I''ve heard..." He nodded. "She always dreamed about someone like that... so... the level...?" Cranberry mostly kept up the sweet voice, although she showed a hint of impatience in her voice and her real personality right at the end. "I''m level 68- hmm... wait no. Level 75." Durian responded but it seemed that he changed his mind halfway and gave a bigger number. "Level 75...! You are so strong!" Cranberry''s eyes shone and she grabbed onto his shirt with both hands and climbed on her tiptoes while praising him. "A... well, yes, I am." Though at first surprised, Durian smiled having his ego stroked like that. Feeling confident, he slid his arm around her waist. "Then, the meal. I think it will be much more pleasant than I have ever hoped for even in my greediest dreams." Heughed, andpletely missed the murderous re that Cranberry gave him when he touched her. "...graough... (...I will rip off that hand...)" Unluckily, Zombie has missed the evil re, mainly because he himself was giving Durian a simr murderous look. His silent groan reminded therge man about the boy''s presence. "Right, your corpse puppet... he''s a bit... I don''t want to sound rude... underwhelming..." Durian sneered at Zombie''s appearance and was unaware of how Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "He''s just..." She looked at her servant and smirked. "...a dumb corpse that listens to mymands. By your side, I won''t be needing him anymore." She turned back to Durian and bashfully grabbed his hand. "I want to listen to you a lot more, could we get inside already, please?" She fidgeted and asked in a small voice. "Of course, of course." Durian smiled benevolently and nodded. "You, leave the baggage here, my ves will take care of it." He spared a single re at Zombie and focused back on Cranberry. "Then, shall we go?" He asked and started leading her without even waiting for an answer. "..." Cranberry breathed out through her nose and held back the words that came to her mind, and Zombie followed them while staring daggers at Durian''s back. As soon the three of them stepped inside the mansion, Zombie was approached by two butlers. "I hope you don''t mind that I use some precautions with your corpse puppet? The corpse venom can be a pain." He nodded at the butlers and they pulled out a muzzle and something looking like a leather straight jacket. "You don''t mind, right?" Durian observed Cranberry carefully, but she only tilted her head like a puppy. "If that is my future husband''s will, why would I mind it?" She asked innocently. "Good, good." His eyes shone and he nodded with content. "You two, what are you waiting for? Tie him up and take him away, my wife and I are going to have a meal together!" He shouted at the butlers and pulled Cranberry close. Zombie didn''t resist, since Cranberry herself allowed for it, and he was muzzled by the servants, they didn''t even care about the long tube he was carrying on his back and simply tied the straight jacket over it. The blue boy was only focused on the hand that Durian was touching Cranberry with. His heart wasn''t beating for a long time already, but right now he felt as if his blood was boiling. When the butlers tried to pull him away they found themselves unable to even make him budge. "What the...?" One of them even used a skill, his arms shone and he pulled so hard that a vein popped up on his neck, but there was no effect whatsoever. "Are you two serious? I said, take him away!" Durian frowned and shouted at the servants that flinched and started cowering. "Zombie, go with them." Cranberry said and put her hand on top of Durian''s hand. "...graough...! (...I''ll rip it off...!)" Zombie growled furiously, but obediently let himself be taken away. "..." Cranberry looked away from Durian and frowned. (Should... should I have told Zombie about my objective for today...?) She thought to herself, suddenly concerned about her servant''s behavior. Chapter 48: Peaceful meal

Chapter 48: Peaceful meal

Durian led Cranberry to the dining room where a table full of exquisite food was already prepared and three maids in frilly outfits waited in silence by the wall. He pulled out the chair for her, and when she sat down he sat right next to her. "First to show mymitment to the conversation well be having..." Durian smirked and straightened his back. "System. Disable the messages for four hours." He dered loudly. "Yes." He confirmed a message that must have showed up for him and turned to Cranberry. "Let me get this out of the way. I''ll send my ve with best healing powers to see your mother as soon as you''ll receive my ve crest." Durian said as if everything was already set into stone, but Cranberry only raised her brow slightly. "I have no reason to doubt you, my future husband, but my mother ordered me to ask you many questions first..." She bowed her head apologetically and waited for Durian''s response. "I understand, ask. I want to be over with trivialities." He nodded benevolently and gave his permission. "My mother wants to know how would your ve be better than all the renown healers that attempted to heal her in the past?" Cranberry said it as if she was diligently reciting something that she learned by heart and not came up with it on the spot. Durian leaned back in his seat and grinned, his stance oozing with confidence. "Ha! As if any of those so-called healers could hold a candle to my ves!" Heughed mockingly. "I understand." Cranberry nodded smiling with satisfaction but then, she made a bitter expression as if she remembered something. "...I believe you, but my mother is asking for you to give her a more detailed exnation. Is that ve simply that talented or...?" She asked looking bashfully to the side as if embarrassed that she has to ask such a rude and silly question. "As if!" Durian snorted with a smile. "He might have had a bit of inborn talent, but it started shining only because he epted my ve crest." He raised his index finger and leaned towards Cranberry, his sudden arm movement made all three maids flinch. "You should already know that, but my magic has two options." He waved his finger to illustrate. "The first one is a forceful one. I can force a ve crest on the unwilling target and bend them to my will. It will grant them some tiny benefits like bonus experience or easier skill acquisition. But the second option..." Durian extended his middle finger. "Is the most amazing thing. Without the need to break through the defenses of the mind, my magic can remove the level caps of skills, and boost the efficiencies of the titles. You understand what I mean...?" He leaned back on his chair excluding so much pride that even Cranberry had to be impressed. At least she made it look like she was... "Those healers your mother was talking about could have some special talents, or max out their healing skill, but so what? The max level on those could be like what? 10? 15? If they were some insane prodigy it could be even 20... but so what?" Durian shrugged his shoulders. "My ve''s healing skill is at level 55 and he''s gaining more and more proficiency in it every day. If I ordered him, he could heal a mutted decapitated torso, and made it a whole living human again." He boasted as if it was his own power. "Your mother''s little illness is as good as cured." He flicked his hand dismissively, and again, the maids standing by the wall flinched, fearfully observing his arms. "Is that so...?" Cranberry stroked her chin deep in thoughts. "Ahahaha! Exactly, amazing, isn''t it? From all the Greeds my magic is the closest one to the avatar of greed''s conquest ability!" Durianughed. "Isn''t yours just like the overlevel skill, but it forces the target to submit to the caster...? Haa... pathetic..." Cranberry sighed with disappointment. "Wh-wha...?" Durian flinched and blinked a few times. "Haa... nothing, dear husband, just a slip of the tongue, I have another question." Cranberry quickly recovered and smiled meekly, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Does that mean that your ves are actually stronger than you...?" She asked unsure, looking up at him with trembling eyes. "As if! I have perfect control over any of them! That''s my magic''s strength!" He scoffed and crossed his arms. "But there are some who are higher level than you...?" Cranberry asked innocently. "There''s no way that would be possible. The strongest one is barely level 60! And...!" "But... with the level cap of the skills removed, doesn''t that mean...?" Cranberry leaned forwards and asked conspicuously without waiting for Durian to finish. "Pffft! Ha! As if I would overlook something like that! Look!" He became agitated and raised his shirt. Underneath it, there was an intricate circr symbol tattooed on his muscr stomach. "I''m my own ve! My attack skills are so high that my ves don''t even dare to think about rebelling!" He raised his fists and the maids by the wall instinctively flinched and protected their faces with their hands. "...haa..." Cranberry breathed out and started massaging her forehead. Suddenly, Durian put his hand on her knee. "Let''s skip the questions for now." He said with a nasty smile and his eyes started shining. /Control sub-type skill detected Master''s MDF is lower than the skill level /Iron will activated /Calcting... /Master''s MDF and LUC is lower than the opponent''s MAT and LUC Iron will''s efficiency lowered /Calcting... /Iron will activated sessfully Cranberry almost had a heart attack, the quest failure and route b were hanging over her head like an executioner''s axe. "Oh...? Weird... I thought you were willing to receive my ve crest...?" Durian raised his brow. Cranberry was silent. For a moment she was weighing the risks of continuing this idiotic act in an attempt to gain a charm type skill like she read in one of her books, or drop the charade altogether and fight it off with therge man and every ve in the mansion. (If I activate dragon power, my stats will be boosted, so my MDF and LUC should be enough... I need the charm skill...!) Cranberry clenched her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white, and she took a deep breath. "My mother made me learn a skill that blocks mental damage, I think it is interrupting your skill..." She lowered her head and apologized. "I would never oppose my future husband, I''ll try using my other skill that raises my attack and lowers my defense to counter that...!" She offered and closed her eyes concentrating. /Control sub-type skill detected /Master''s MDF is lower than the skill level /Iron will activated /Calcting... /Master''s MDF and LUC is lower than the opponent''s MAT and LUC Iron will''s efficiency lowered /Calcting... /Iron will activated sessfully (...even with dragon power activated...? How strong is his MAT?! Wait...! How lucky I was that iron will even worked the first time?!) Cranberry started sweating buckets. "It''s still the same... should I just use the forceful option...?" Durian squinted his eyes in suspicion. Nothing was going as the red-haired girl nned. Zombie was taken away. He had her bat with him so she waspletely unarmed therefore most of her skills were useless. And now it turned out that the bastard had some incredible stats to back his confidence. The situation wasn''t looking good. And it hasn''t even been twenty minutes since the arrival. If she was going to fail the quest and be someone''s toy, she might as well ignore the quest altogether and simply go for the kill. "Haa... give me a minute..." She breathed out preparing to activate all viable skills and... /Proficiency level reached Servant receives a skill Jealous rage (level 1) /Servant''s skill upgrade Jealous rage (level 1) + (shared)Dragon rage (level 3) ?? Dragon Madness (level 1) /Error /Story element unlocked before the main story reached the corresponding stage /Error /Calcting... /Dragon Madness skill detected Servant''s affection level unlocked Servant''s affection maxed out /Form adjustment initiated... /Form adjustmentplete /All status points, skills, and affinities levels, raised /Servant receives a revenge quest Kill all of Durian''s ves 0/73 Reward: Servant''s monster rank upgrade "...haa...?" Cranberry''s mouth opened from utter confusion. /Quest progress update / 1/73 / 2/73 *RUMBLE* "Kyah!" The next moment an explosion shook the whole mansion and the maids fell over and strayed screaming. "What the hell?! Who dares to attack my home?!" Durian stood up, red from fury, and rushed to the window. Cranberry didn''t react. She was too busy watching the messages that kept on popping up. / 3/73 / 4/73 / 7/73 / 11/73 "Ha ha! Well then..." A wide grin appeared on her face as she grabbed the chair that Durian was sitting on before. "I guess that my cute little Zombie had the exact same thought..." *crunch* She broke off the chair''s sturdy leg and weighed the makeshift mace in her hand. Chapter 49: New skill

Chapter 49: New skill

Zombie was being dragged away from Cranberry. Literally. The more distance there was between them the more restless he grew. When he was taken to the basement and lost sight of herpletely, his cold dead heart was pierced with inexplicable pain. "...ghaogh...! (...master...!)" He groaned through the muzzle but didn''t attempt to break free. After all, she ordered him to go with the two butlers, who just so happened to have a conversation. "Pineapple, howe you weren''t able to make some mere corpse puppet move?" The shorter one mocked the taller one. "Oi, you weren''t able to either!" The taller one named Pineapple groaned defensively. "Well, yeah, but I''m not a physical attacker, and you even used a skill... Seems to me like someone is cking on leveling his skills~" The shorter one hummed while searching for a key in his pockets with one hand. "How dare you?! What, do you want to spar with me to check out exactly how strong my skills are?!" Pineapple got angry and his face reddened while waiting for hispanion to unlock the door to the deeper level of the basement where the cells for the unwilling ves to be were. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...! Pineapple, my friend, why would you want to fight me when we have such a nice punching bag right here?" The shorter one smirked and nodded at the blue boy. "He''s just some dumb corpse anyway, what will he do if we use some skills on him? Tell on us?" He smiled nastily. "It''s been so boring recently, I''ve been aching for some fun~" Heughed. Pineapple looked at him and smirked back. "I''ve been wondering what were you going for, you idiot. Were you listening when Durian said that this guy has to be returned to the Prides?" He shook his head. "As if I''m going to listen to what our portable skill enhancer is saying! I''m a normal person and just read through the system messages." The shorter one shrugged as they went straight for the closest cell. "If you ask me you''re ying way too much into the ve role, are you sure he used the willing option on you...? You''re listening to him way too much." He giggled mockingly. "As if! I''m telling you now, Grape, watch your mouth or I''ll show you what my over-leveled punch is worth!" Pineapple frowned while pushing Zombie into the cell. "Do it, but show me on that corpse puppet." Grape encouraged him with a smug grin. "Idiot, even the message said that we have to return him to the...! "It only said to return him, it hasn''t said anything about the state he''s supposed to be in." Pineapple opposed but Grape shrugged it off. "Come on, I want to see you send him flying! Show me what level 40 brawler can do!" Grape was taunting hispanion. "Holy shit, fine! One punch, alright?! But if we get in trouble I''m going to put all the me on you!" Pineapple ended up bending under the pressure and concede. "Ha! Are you a kid or something? Fine, just punch away." Grape nodded and pointed at the blue boy standing still in the middle of the cell. "I never really fought the undead before... as long I don''t crush the head he''ll be fine, right...?" Pineapple took a stance and his hand started shining with bright light. "Yeah, go for the torso." "Ha, this dumbass doesn''t even realize what''s going to happen to him! Grape, make sure to put that shackle on his neck once he hits the wall, alright?" "Sure. Now punch him already!" The two butlers nodded to each other, and Pineappleunched the attack. He was so focused that he barely realized that the blue boy''s body started glowing right before his punch connected. *CRUNCH* "GHAAAAAAAA!" In the next moment, Pineapple was clenching his mangled hand and screaming while Zombie was still simply standing in the same spot. "MY HAND! MY FUCKING HAND!" "Idiot! Stop waving it around and just show me!" Shocked Grape got to Pineapple and grabbed his injured arm. "What the...?!" Even he was taken aback. Pineapple''s hand was looking more like a bloodied meaty mace with shattered bones sticking out like spikes. "DON''Y JUST STARE, YOU RETARD, HEAL ME!" Pineapple shouted gritting his teeth in pain. Grape nodded and closed his eyes. His palms started glowing and warm light enveloped Pineapple''s injured arm, mending every bone and muscle back in its ce and healing itpletely. "Whew, I''m not quite on Luke''s level, but I''m not half bad~" Grape hummed but then his expression became clouded as he nervously nced at the motionless blue boy staring at the ceiling. "What the hell is his defense stat...?" He mumbled. "Fuck...! I don''t even know how to describe it, I never punched anything so hard before...!" Even though the pain was gone, Pineapple was still clenching his arm. They looked at each other nervously and nodded. Just like before, they grabbed Zombie and pulled him with them. He didn''t oppose since Cranberry ordered him to be taken away. And so he was put under the wall and a sturdy metal shackle chained to the wall was put around his neck. "Let''s just guard the door like we were told to." Pineapple murmured anxiously and walked out of the cell. "Yeah, let''s... huh...?" Grape nodded and was about to join hispanion when he spotted something on the stone floor. "What the...? Oi, Pineapple, was this always here?" He pointed at the number 56 carved into one of the stones. "I... don''t remember...?" Pineapple looked back inside and gulped down his saliva. He slowly looked at the blue boy who was continuing to stare at the ceiling with glowing eyes. "You... do you think he can understand us...?" He asked nervously. "Even if, so what?" Grape frowned and shrugged. "Maybe... what if he heard you say that I''m level 40, so he wrote his own level or something...?" Pale Pineapple asked. "Don''t be ridiculous, he would have to write it with his..." Grape shook his head, pointing at Zombie''s legs. And then the word got stuck in his throat when he realized that the diameter of the thin high heels of the blue boy''s boots perfectly matched the thickness of the lines of the numbers. Grape himself became pale as a ghost and ran out of the cell shutting the door and locking it up with shaking hands. "Grape, don''t you think we should put him in a cell with leg shackles, just in case...?" Pineapple asked anxiously. "Fuck that! I''m not going into the same room as a monster! I''m just a healer!" Grape shook his head, changing his act in a sh and refusing the idea. "Hey, don''t be such a wuss now, Grape. His master will be Durian''s ve so everything will be alright." Pineapple smiled nervously. "...ghaugh... (...master is...)" A muffled groan came from inside the cell. "What the... don''t tell me a corpse puppet seriously understands..." "GRAOUGH! (MASTER IS MINE!)" /Proficiency level reached Servant receives a skill Jealous rage (level 1) /Servant''s skill upgrade Jealous rage (level 1) + (shared)Dragon rage (level 3) ?? Dragon Madness (level 1) /Error /Story element unlocked before the main story reached the corresponding stage /Error /Calcting... /Dragon Madness skill detected Servant''s affection level unlocked Servant''s affection maxed out /Form adjustment initiated... *RIP* *CLING* *CLANG* "WHAT THE HELL...?!" /Form adjustmentplete /All status points, skills, and affinities levels, raised /Servant receives a revenge quest Kill all of Durian''s ves 0/73 Reward: Servant''s monster rank upgrade Chapter 50: Dragon madness

Chapter 50: Dragon madness

Pineapple and Grape didn''t even have time to properly react. Before any of them could either ran away or even try to look inside the cell, the door exploded and a blue leg crushed Pineapple''s head and without stopping, it swiped at Grape''s legs, and broker them like dry twigs. /Quest progression / 1/73 "GHAHAH!" Grape shouted almost biting off his tongue in the process. From the dust that raised from the inside of the cell, a blue monster walked out. What the two butlers locked inside was a small tied-up undead blue boy looking like a ten-year-old, wearing fancy clothes and knee-high boots on high hills. What came out was an unbound 6''2 half-naked undead, with dark blue skin and muscles so well defined that one could grate a wheel of cheese on his abs; with ck hair extending to his shoulder des and ck eyes glowing with horrifying dark red light. "W-wait...! I-I-I''m just a ve it''s all Durian''s fault! I was just...!" Grape was trying to crawl away, he extended his hand and was attempting to talk to the undead beast. But the beast did not bother to listen. The massive undead simply stomped his foot on Grape''s body and the butler''s head popped off like a bottle cap. / 2/73 The blue monster frowned and walked to the door leading back upstairs. /ess denied /Revenge quest in progress Kill all the enemies in your current location in order to progress But as he reached for it, one of the system''s invisible walls blocked his way. "Graough...! (How dare you stop me from returning to my master...!)" He roared and with his body glowing from all kinds of skills he delivered a devastating blow at the invisible wall. *CRACK* The invisible wall remained intact, but the same couldn''t be said about the actual walls of the basement. With a loud noise, they all started crumbling and the ceiling caved in. "Nooo!" "Why...?!" "AAAAAAGH...!" / 3/73 / 4/73 / 7/73 / 11/73 As the upper floors were being leveled with the basement, the dying cries of the weakest ves pierced through the rumble. The blue undead shrugged off the dust and tried to open the door again, but the invisible wall remained in ce. "U-ugh...!" "Ow... ow... What happened...?" The debris behind his back moved and few people stood up looking shocked and confused. *CRUNCH* In the next moment, the chest of one of them caved in under the undead''s foot. "Graough?! (Why is this a revenge quest?!) GRAOUGH?! (WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY MASTER?!)" Zombie roared and started obliterating the confused survivors. Of course, themotion that he caused only brought more opponents towards him, so when he finally got out of the basement the quest counter was at / 34/73 and he and his master leveled up more than once. It''s worth adding that the invisible wall blocking the door upstairs didn''t disappear and instead pointed him to the mansion''s courtyard. There, a single opponent was waiting for him. A tall man in fancy ceramic-like armor wielding a katana. "My name is Persimmon Kabuto! Foolish undead who attempts to harm my master, I swear on my honor that I will defeat you here!" He shouted preparing to unsheathed his weapon. Zombie didn''t even spare him a single nce, he was too busy staring at the mansion with glowing eyes. "I''ve fought countless undead before and I''ve mastered how to y your kind! Yet killing you isn''t my master''s wish! I''ll give you one chance! Retreat, or die!" Persimmon shouted and his body started shining threateningly, then a ring of purple fire appeared underneath his feet and crackled demonically. Yet even despite that disy, the blue undead hadn''t acknowledged the warrior''s presence. Which greatly irked the man. Zombie continued walking towards him while staring at the mansion as if he was carefully examining the walls. *SHING* The de had sung and Persimmon''s katana''s guard clicked against the sheath. After a single heartbeat of dy half of Zombie''s right arm fell on the grass, cut off exactly at the elbow alongside the red stitches. "If you dare to take another step, your head will be ne...!" Persimmon threatened but Zombie did take another step even before the man finished his sentence. "...so be it...!" Persimmon gritted his teeth and attacked with lightning speed. *SHI-ng!* The katana stopped at Zombie''s neck unable to even prate into the blue skin. Instead, it was the de that got damaged and chipped. "Th-that''s impossi...!" *ssh* Persimmon gasped but once again, his sentence got interrupted. This time with the sound of his own guts hitting the ground once Zombie''s foot destroyed his armor and made his stomach explode. /Mid-level yer defeated Master and servant gain EXP / 35/73 Zombie flinched, he finally found what he was looking for. There it was, a life signature that matched his master''s on the second floor. It looked like there were three other living beings in the same room as her. One of them was strong. "GRAOUGH! (MASTER!)" His roar pierced the air and he lunged forward with enough power to create arge crater in the middle of the courtyard. *CRASH* Yet he was intercepted mid-flight and got mmed back into the ground. "Tsk, that undead shit got Persimmon pretty bad, Luke, will you be able to heal him...?" A tall dark-skinned woman let go of her mace and straightened her back atop Zombie''s body, without removing the heavy weapon from his head. She was looking back at the short, scrawny-looking teenager with overconfident eyes. "No such luck, Mia, for whatever reason, the system is blocking both the revive and my heal skills on anyone killed by that undead." The teenager named Luke frowned and spat to the side. "The system must have given this fucker some weird quest..." He scoffed and shrugged. "...bastard...!" Mia cursed and reached for her weapon to pick it up and deliver another strike. "MIA! RUN!" The teenager shouted a panicked warning but was toote. As soon as Mia''s grip closed on the handle, Zombie''s body, which never stopped shining, bent like a scorpion''s tail, and before the woman could react, the half of her skull was already blown off by blue feet. / 36/73 /Upper-Mid level yer defeated Master and servant gain EXP /Level up /Error /One of the characters essential for the story was killed /Calcting... /Adjusting the story /Error /The story did not progress to the corresponding stage Unable to adjust the story at the current stage /Calcting... /Servant receives a penalty Title received Ruthless (level 1) "MIA! HEAL!" The teenager shouted and his hands shone with green light. *SPLAT* ...or rather they were supposed to, but at that moment they''ve turned into mincemeat on the ground. Without even growling at him, Zombie delivered another mortifying kick, this time on Luke''s head, erasing it from existence. Zombie turned back not waiting for the corpse to hit the ground and... "..." He stopped, realizing that no message popped up for that kill. "I cannot be killed off like that!" He looked back just in time to witness thepletely intact teenager reach towards him with glowing hands. "Eat holy magic and die, bastard! For Mia!" Luke shouted and touched Zombie''s back with his palms. A pir of light engulfed the undead and shoot up piercing the sky. Chapter 51: VS Durian

Chapter 51: VS Durian

"Master! Watch out!" One of the maids shouted and pushed Durian away. The next moment her body got torn in half by a devastating swing. "KYAAH!" The two other maids fell to their knees and covered their heads. "...!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and pulled the chair''s leg out of the floor and threw herself at Durian. "You little bitch!" Therge man cursed and his body started glowing. Cranberry swung at him and he responded with a punch. The chair leg lost the contest of sturdiness and shattered in Cranberry''s hands, but even so, Durian''s arm wasn''t intact either. With his right hand hanging limply to his side Durian backed off and bared his teeth in a furious expression. "You! You were tricking me!" He roared and his eyes started shining. Yet Cranberry wasn''t just standing idly waiting for him to activate his skill. As soon as her makeshift weapon broke, she jumped towards the bottom half of the bisected maid and ripped off her leg, creating a new, way more gruesome mace that she could use, andunched right back at her opponent. "How dare you?!" Durian flinched and chose to protect his head instead of trying to force a ve crest on Cranberry. And he was correct to do so. The strike with a gory mace broke his already injured arm and send him against the wall. While one of the remaining maids was puking in the corner, Cranberry swung again, spraying blood and gore everywhere. / 17/73 /Master level up /Level 41 ?? Level 42 /Master''s skill upgrade Iron will (level 2) Base status points increased /Master receives 17 new quests (34 active quests in total) (For quest details use the show questsmand) /3 questspleted Rewards granted /Servant level up! Level 57 ? ? Level 58 /Servant''s skill upgrade Dragon corpse venom (level 10[max]) Base status points increased /Secret achievement unlocked /Title received Venomancer (level 1) The experience gained from killing humans wasn''t nearly as good as killing beasts of the same level. It was the system''s way of preventing people from mindlessly killing each other in the pursuit of power, therefore the level-ups from Zombie''s rampage were rather slowpared to what Cranberry was used to while hunting. Still... She had more pressing matters to worry about. Durian was ring right at her with glowing eyes and a disgusting triumphant smile. "OBEY!" He shouted. /Control sub-type skill detected Master''s MDF is lower than the skill level Iron will activated /Calcting... /Master''s MDF and LUC (+10%) is higher than the opponent''s MAT and LUC Iron will activated sessfully "Pffft...! Ha ha!" Cranberry couldn''t stop herself andughed out loud. "What''s so funny, you little whore...?" Durian grumbled and stood up on wobbly legs. He red at Cranberry and his eyes shone again. /Control sub-type skill detected Master''s MDF is lower than the skill level Iron will activated /Calcting... /Master''s MDF and LUC (+10%) is higher than the opponent''s MAT and LUC Iron will activated sessfully But the effect was exactly the same. "Ha ha! Go on. Try again, dear future husband." The red-haired girl mocked him while getting a better grip on her fleshy weapon. "Did anyone told you that you have a disgustingugh?" Durian frowned but then smiled seeing the mocking expression disappearing from Cranberry''s face. "Your mother warned me about you, but I guess she didn''t care enough about you to warn you about me, huh...?" It was his turn tough and he put his left hand on his chest, while pale Cranberry was clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, and the bones of her mace cracked. "I can use the skills of all of my ves! I am unstoppable! Heal!" The green light shone from his palm and all of his wounds disappeared without a trace. "If I can''t have you as my ve, I will just get rid of you, just as your mother have told me!" Seeing her react so strongly at the mentions of her mother, Durian taunted Cranberry, before his body started shining and he rushed at her. "..." He was right in front of her and his fist was already in full swing when she raised her head and looked him in the eyes... ...and Durian realized, that taunting her was a mistake... Before his fist even touched her, his body was assaulted by a barrage of swings from what felt like every direction. His legs broke and bend in ways they were never meant to, his spine snapped like a twig, the broken ribs pierced his lungs and his skull caved in. With the hand still extended for a hit, what was left of Durian fell over like a sack of liquefied meat. /Mid-level yer defeated Master and servant gain EXP / 29/73 /Master level up /Level 42 ?? Level 43 /Master''s skills upgrade Blunt weapons mastery +6 [max] ?? Blunt weapon mastery +7 [max] Thrash (level 27[max]) ?? Thrash (level 28[max]) Overlevel (level 4) ?? Overlevel (level 5) Base status points increased /Master receives 18 new quests (49 active quests in total) (For quest details use the show questsmand) /2 questspleted Rewards granted /Servant levels up! Level 58 ? ? Level 59 /Servant''s (shared) skill upgrade Strong kick (level 67[max]) ?? Strong kick (level 68[max]) Base status points increased Cranberry threw aside the mangled leg that could no longer be used and grabbed the one that was left in the pool of coagting blood. She straightened her back and red coldly at the two maids cowering in the corner of the dining room. "Haa... Guess I''ll help my Zombie with his quest..." She sighed and took a step towards the horrified maids. "...I wonder how he looks like now... I can''t wait to~ GAH!" She was humming happily when a punch from the back sent her flying. Her body hit the ceiling, mmed against the wall, and crashed on the floor by the door. "...what the... How...!?" She spews out blood and groaned confused. The two maids were still at their ce, crying and hugging each other in fear, but there was still one more person that was supposed to be dead... Durian was standing in the middle of the room, showing all of his teeth in a shark-like grin. His glowing hand was enough of proof that he was the one who swiped Cranberry off her feet. "Fuck... level 68... is an early high-level yer..." Cranberry cursed at herself for misunderstanding the message about defeating a yer. "Weren''t you supposed to be smarter than that? I''ve said that I can use all of my ves'' skills, that includes the healer prodigy''s powers too." Therge man moved his head and a cracking sound was heard. "Now... I''ve changed my mind. I won''t kill you. It will be far more entertaining if I break you and make you my toy." Durianughed and approached the girl. "...convenient ability... I want a power like that..." Cranberry groaned while trying to get up. None of her bones were broken but multiple sprains and severe blunt trauma were rendering her almost immobile. "...if I could use my Zombie''s blunt damage immunity right now, it would be quite nice..." She yelped while supporting herself on the ripped leg of the dead maid, although the slick blood that was getting squeezed out from it wasn''t helping her get up at all. / 35/73 "GRAOUGH! (MASTER!)" A horrifying roaring from the outside caused the windows to tremble. "What the...?!" Shocked Durian put his eyes away from Cranberry and looked outside. Two consecutive rumbles caused the whole building to tremble and that momentary distraction was enough to allow Cranberry to stand up. "...is that your corpse puppet...? Are you trying to tell me my ves have trouble dealing with one measly corpse puppet?!" Durian shouted. / 36/73 /Upper-mid level yer defeated /Master and servant gain EXP /Master level up /Level 43 ?? Level 44 /Master''s skills upgrade Base status points increased /Master receives 19 new quests (66 active quests in total) (For quest details use the show questsmand) /1 questpleted Rewards granted /Servant level up! /Level 59 ? ? Level 60 /Servant''s affinity upgrade Leg power (level 7) ?? Leg power (level 8) Base status points increased /Error /One of the characters essential for the story was killed /Calcting... /Adjusting the story /Error /The story did not progress to the corresponding stage Unable to adjust the story at the current stage /Calcting... /Servant receives a penalty Title received Ruthless (level 1) "Ha ha- Oww...!" Cranberry couldn''t help herself andughed but then pain sharp pain pierced through her whole body. "Seriously, what are those idiots even doing..." Durian shook his head, but right at that moment a pir of white light erupted from the ground and pierced the heavens. /Warning /Servant became severely damaged /Servant have insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required A message popped up in front of Cranberry''s eyes. "Would you look at that! Holly magic in full swing! I guess that means that your little corpse puppet went puff~" Durianughed loudly and grinned at the red-haired girl expecting her to fall to her knees with the face twisted with despair. "...huh...?" But what he saw instead, was a wild triumphant smile and body glowing with skills. "System... Heal my Zombie!" Cranberry roared before charging forward. /Permission received /Healing in progress... /Healingplete Chapter 52: The fight at the mansion - end

Chapter 52: The fight at the mansion - end

Luke was ring at the pir of light like a vengeful ghost. "Shit! I shouldn''t have finished him so fast...! Mia...!" He clenched his fists and kneeled by the body of the dark-skinned woman. He gently held her hand and... "Heal..." He closed his eyes and begged in a low voice. A gentle green light enveloped the woman, but the missing part of her head didn''t regenerate at all. /Unable to use the skill on this target As if to add insult to injury, the system message that popped up seemed to be mocking him. "...revive..." Luke whispered, and a white ball of light appeared above Mia''s body, and a warmforting light shined on her. /Unable to use the skill on this tartget The system message popped up. It was the same message that Luke has seen thirty-five times already. Up until that day none of his skill ever failed, the shock was almost too much. Especially that one of the victims of the rampaging undead was his beloved. "...no... Mia... not like this... Heal...!" Luke cried and used his spell again. /Unable to use the skill on this target With the exact same effect as before. "...! Revive! Heal! Revive! WORK! GOD DAMN IT! HEA...!" *st* His head burst like a watermelon when blue foot dropped on it from above. The teenager''s body leaned forward and fell on the dead woman. Another kick crushed his chest into Mia''s corpse, turning his organs into a paste. Luke''s mangled body twitched and started shining. In basically an instant, a new head grew out of his neck and his ttened torso reinted. "You...!" The healer''s regenerated face twisted in pure fury. *st* Just to be blown away again. "Basta...!" *st* And again. "Give it a re...!" *st* And again. "IT...!" *st* "WON''T...!" *st* "WORK...!" *st* Each time Luke regenerated, his head was blown off in one kick without a miss. "You crazy monster! It won''t work! I''ll regenerate each ti- huh...?" Luke shouted after his head regrew one more time. Only then he realized that he wasn''t kicked. "Aha! You''ve finally realized that it''s futile to fight with..." *crunch* Strong jaws ripped through his clothes and dug deep into his shoulder. The healer could feel that he was being injected with something, and he shook his head in annoyance. "A beast will always be a beast... just so you know, I have pain nullification and poison immunity, with how much work I''ve put into all my skills I am basically invin..." /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Poison immunity ?? Venom resistance (level 1) "...cible...?" It seemed like it just wasn''t Luke''s day. So many unpredicted dangers... "H-heal...!" He shouted hurriedly and his body started glowing. /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Venom resistance (level 2) "S-so fast...?!" Luke gasped feeling overwhelming weakness spilling all through his body. Not only the venom was so potent that his resistance was raising at an exorbitant rate but it also clearly wasn''t properly disposed off by his overleveled heal skill. /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Venom resistance (level 3) "Heal...!" /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Venom resistance (level 4) "Heal!" /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Venom resistance (level 5) "HEAL!" A message after a message was popping up in front of Luke''s eyes and each time he would use his skill to heal himself just to get afflicted again after he was pumped full of venom. At the same time... Cranberry was pushing Durian into a corner. He was continuing to heal himself but each time he attacked he was countered and hit at least one or two times. /Proficiency level reached Servant''s skill upgrade Dragon corpse venom (level 14[max]) The message showed up for Cranberry, and she gritted her teeth. Whoever Zombie was fighting was giving him a lot of trouble, which was extremely worrisome. She wanted to finish Durian and go help her servant already, but no matter how many times she blew off Durian''s head or ripped his body apart, he always regenerated like it was just a scratch. "How are you able to use so many skills at the same time...? It should be impossible to use more than three of the same type!" Durian asked her that as soon as his head reappeared. Instead of answering, Cranberry smashed open his torso with a cmitous overhead strike. /Proficiency level reached Master''s skills upgrade Magic bash (level 31[max]) Bash (level 51[max]) Dragon rage (level 4) The system announced to her, but even with that, after a sh of light enveloping the split torso, Durian waspletely healed in the next second. "Doesn''t matter. I''m going to learn everything after we''ll be done here." Durian smiled mockingly just to have his head ripped off of his neck. "As long as my healer prodigy ve is alive, all of your attacks are pointless!" Durianughed mockingly. /Proficiency level reached Servant''s title upgrade Venomancer (level 2) /Secret achievement unlocked Reward granted /Servant''s skill upgrade Dragon corpse venom (level 14[max]) ?? Soul devouring venom Cranberry flinched and didn''t attack again, her eyes wide open, staring at the message. Secret achievements were even a bigger deal than hidden affinities. What did her servant do to aplish that...? "Oh, I see you''re starting to use your head. Finally." Durian misunderstood Cranberry''s motives andughed even harder. / 37/73 /Upper-Mid level yer defeated /Master and servant gain EXP /Skill upgrade Soul devouring venom +1[max] /Error /One of the characters essential for the story was killed /Calcting... /Adjusting the story /Error /The story did not progress to the corresponding stage Unable to adjust the story at the current stage /Calcting... /Servant receives a penalty Title upgrade Ruthless (level 2) /Master receives a penalty Title upgrade Ruthless (level 2) "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out to calm down. Zombie simply killed another one of Durian''s ves, it didn''t mean that it was the prodigious healer... "...after we''re done, I''ll make him give me anotherp pillow..." She let her inner thoughts slip together with the sigh. "Huh? Are you perhaps giving in to my allure?" Durian smiled triumphantly, proudly straightening his back. Suddenly... / 59/79 /Level up *thunk* *thunk* *st* *thunk* *st* "KYAAAH!" "Ugeeeeegh!" A message popped up for Cranberry just before a wave of blood and gore hit against the mansion''s windows, causing one of the maids inside to scream in a high pitch voice and making the other one start vomiting again in the corner. "WHAT THE?!" Durian took a step back staring at the chunks of meat and various intestines slide down the ss with his eyes widened with fear. *CRUSH* "Huh...?" A horrible sound right by Durian''s ear made him flinch. When he looked for the source, he realized that he is missing his whole left arm and the blood was gushing out from his shoulder like a geyser. "You actually never learn, do you?" He smirked mockingly and touched his wound. "Heal." He said. ... "He-oww..." He frowned when nothing happened, and when he tried to activate the healing skill again, he suddenly felt a sharp stinging pain. "Oww... Oww...! Ugh! A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The stinging changed into an unbelievable torment and made Durian fell to his knees clenching the profusely bleeding wound with his hand. "Ha. So he did kill the healer." Cranberry nodded smiling with satisfaction and gripped the ripped leg she was using as a weapon a little harder. "That makes it way easier~" She hummed happily and charged at Durian with a big smile on her face. "N-no! Wai...!" *CRUNCH* Durian cried and raise his arm to protect his head, but the attack wasn''t something someone like him could stop. With her whole body and weapon shining brightly from every avable skill she had, Cranberry ripped through Durian''s arm, crushed his head, split open his torso all the way through, crashed into the floor, and made the rest of the building copse in a grand explosion causing a huge amount of dust and smoke to be sent into the sky and form a giant mushroom-shaped cloud visible from tens of miles away. / 73/73 /Revenge questpleted Reward granted /Servant''s monster rank upgrade /Error /The eternal servant is the highest rank of the undead in the game, unable to raise the rank any further /Calcting... /Quest reward changed /Reward granted Master and Servant hidden affinity unlocked Skillbination (level 1) Chapter 53: Charm skill

Chapter 53: Charm skill

Calcting... "Graough?! (Master?!) Graough! (Master!)" Before the dust even settled, Zombie was already searching through the debris. He didn''t need oxygen so no amount of inhaled pollution could prevent him from growling loudly, calling for his master. "I''m... I''m here...!" A muffled voice responded to him and the sound of unsure footsteps on the unstable debris followed. "Zombie? Can you hear me? Come here, I can''t see anything!" Cranberry, still sounding muffled called out and Zombie rushed towards her voice forgetting to even respond. Unable to see anything in the falling dust, he used the skill allowing him to detect life essence, and found someone wandering around blindly, so he approached without hesitation. Cranberry was covering her face with the fabric of her dress with one hand and trying to feel her way around with the other. She was hearing the fast-approaching footsteps but since Zombie never answered her she couldn''t be sure it was him, so she activated her skills preparing to attack when suddenly she touched something pleasantly cold and hard with her palm. "Graough. (Master, I''m here.)" Zombie groaned with a shaking voice. "Haa...? It''s you? Aren''t you a bit too big?" Confused Cranberry asked, moving her hand up along the cold bumpy surface. "Gra-graough...! (Master! I was so worried!)" Suddenly Zombie cried and leaned down embracing his master. "Z-zombie...?! What are you...?!" Cranberry panicked when she suddenly got hugged by a muchrger person than she expected. She was tall for her age, but now she found herself feeling rather small. "...graough... (...master...) Graough... (Please, don''t ask me to leave you ever again...)" Zombie sobbed golding Cranberry close. "..." Cranberry herself didn''t respond smushed against Zombie''s bare torso. The dust started settling and she was finally able to see properly. "...!" Her eyes widened seeing the wall of blue, she subconsciously put her hand back on Zombie''s stomach. "...whoa..." She murmured before she could regain herposure. "S-so... That''s how you look now, huh?" She cleared her throat and looked up at Zombie''s face. "Graough... (I guess...)" Zombie nodded and let go of the girl reluctantly. Funnily enough, Cranberry didn''t remove her hand from his stomach. "Haa... We''ve caused a bit of a mess, haven''t we?" Cranberry sighed looking at the debris. The scenery changedpletely within less than an hour from their arrival. "Haa... should we just ran away from the kingdom...?" Cranberry tilted her head and made a concerned expression. "G-graough... (M-master...)" Zombie groaned. "Ha ha! I know, I know. I''m joking. But we need toe up with some actual n, I guess.." Cranberryughed and tapped Zombie''s stomach. "Graough... (No, it''s not about that...) Graough... (I feel kinda...)" Zombie shook his head and slouched. /Dragon Madness wears off /Warning /The bacsh of the skill will cause the multiple organs failure "Zombie?!" Cranberry shouted staring at the message. "Graough... (Master... I think that I overdid it a bit this time...) Graough... (I can''t really move anymore...)" The blue undead groaned sadly and closed his eyes. "N-no! You can''t!" Cranberry panicked and wrapped her arms around Zombie''s waist. "I forbid you to leave me! This is an order! You are my property, you must listen to me!" She cried rubbing her head into his chest. "...graough... (...master... I''m sorry...)" Zombie whispered and stopped moving... /Warning /Servant became severely damaged Servant have insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required A system message popped up in front of their eyes. "..." "..." Master and servant froze in ce. The silence weighed heavily between them. Cranberry backed off awkwardly and looked away, red from embarrassment. "Ha ha... r-right... w-well... system, heal him..." She was covering her face with one hand doing her best not to lock eyes with Zombie, who was just as embarrassed as she was. /Permission received Healing in progress... /Healingplete "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and straightened her back, although still a bit red, she looked like she got over her slightly shameful act. "Still, it''s kind of annoying, you know?" She massaged her hands, numb from the attack that leveled the whole mansion and gardens. She sounded disappointed. "Can you believe that I did everything that was written in that book and still hadn''t received the charm skill?! And I almost died from shame! That guy clearly had no taste!" Cranberry frowned and crossed her arms. She rubbed her cheek, smudging dirt and blood all over her face, and shook her head. "Because just look at me! I''m cute, aren''t I?" She faced Zombie and spread her arms wide. "Graough! (You''re the cutest!)" Zombie sat down and cheered. "...!" Cranberry flinched and turned away, hiding her face. "I take that back. I still must be in a role or something...!" She fidgeted trying to excuse herself somehow. /Proficiency level reached Master receives a skill Charm (level 1) "Ha...?!" Cranberry flinched and gasped in absolute bewilderment. "Wha...? Who...?" She blinked confused, looking around. /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 2) "?!?!" Cranberry took a step back took a defensive stance. "Zombie! Something weird is going...!" She warned her servant but stopped talking as soon as she nced at him. The blue undead was looking at her with sparkling eyes. "...no way..." She whispered. After a moment of hesitation, she struck a semi-feminine pose, and winked at him, pouting her lips making a kissy face. "!!!" /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 3) Zombie bashfully lowered his head making Cranberry go wide-eyed. "B-but you''re undead! And you have the rotten brain title!" Cranberry tilted her head, utterly confused. "How can you be charmed? No, wait I''m not using it, am I...? How can a skill level up without even being used?" It truly was an unprecedented urrence. "Could it be that because of the form adjustment you went through? Did something weird happen? Did it changed your rotten brain title?" Cranberry crossed her arms and fell deep into thoughts. "Graough... (I... don''t know...)" Zombie apologized. "Graough? (Master, can I go look for my hand?)" He added, waving his stump. "Haa... so even after you''ve grown so much, your hand still hadn''t reconnected..." The red-haired girl sighed and approached her sitting servant. She reached towards his head and run her fingers through his long ck hair. "I like how you look now~" /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 4) /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 5) Before she could even finish, not one, but two messages popped up back to back, rendering her speechless. She withdrew her hand and, with apletely red face, she started looking around the debris. "W-we should find your arm. Come one, get up." She beckoned him and kicked arge pile of stones that revealed the bodies of the two remaining maids that were in the dining room during the fight. "Ha. Not here I guess." Cranberry shrugged and moved to another suspicious-looking mound. Zombie hurriedly stood up and joined the search. After around an hour, something happened. They didn''t found Zombie''s hand but instead, they''ve spotted someone who could help. Someone who they honestly didn''t expect. "WHAT IN THE FUCKING FLYING FUCK HAS FUCKING HAPPENED HERE, FOR FUCKS SAKE?!" Lairs, sticking half of her body out of the carriage''s window shouted in disbelief, after witnessing the destruction. The Dandelions heard the explosion and after noticing the mushroom cloud, they turned the carriage around to check it out. "Ha ha! Well, isn''t that convenient?" Cranberry straightened her back, put one hand on her hip, andughed cheerfully. /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 6) "W-would you stop that already?!" Cranberry blushed and covered her chest with both arms. /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 7) Chapter 54: Lets hope for the best!

Chapter 54: Let''s hope for the best!

The mess that Cranberry and Zombie caused this time wasn''t something that could be easily ignored. Durian Greed was, after all, a part of the royal family,. He was from a branch, but a branch rted closely enough to share the surname. Cranberry was changing her clothes inside the carriage, cursing herself for not leaving the crime scene immediately, while Zombie was guarding the door while the Dandelions were searching through the debris. After finding Cranberry''s luggage in all the mess, the whole group came up with a rather simple but hopefully effective n. To simply y dumb, and act as if they arrived AFTER the explosion and had nothing to do with it. But for that to be truly effective, Zombie''s hand had to be found before anyone else would arrive at the scene... "...why does she always make me wear such tight...!" Cranberry was getting annoyed about an I''ll fitting piece of cloth and was getting angry enough to voice her thoughts. "Graough, gra...ough... (I think your mother is extremely jealous about your... development...)" Zombie heard her and murmured a response that wasn''t meant to be heard. Since they were going to act as if they barely arrived themselves, it was obvious that Cranberry and Zombie shouldn''t look like they rolled around in the blood mixed with dirt and dust. Well, at least that kind of look would be suspicious for Cranberry, Zombie was looking like an actual undead for once. Though he was using the chance and cleaning himself off with the damp cloth provided by the Dandelions. "Fuck...! Why are there so many dismembered corpses here?!" Lairs shouted furiously throwing away a loose leg towards the sector that she had already searched. "Graough...! (Ah! Sorry! That''s on me...!)" Zombie hurriedly apologized and bowed towards the elven mage. "Graough... (About twenty or so jumped at me from the roof so I...) Graough! (Anyway, I''m sorry!)" Zombie groaned lowering his head in guilt and smiled awkwardly. "..." Lairs looked at him and squinted her eyes. "Is it just my fucking imagination or is this overly sexy undead trying to fucking hit on me?" She backed off and mouthed a question, leaning towards Shanks. "...wha...?" Shanks slowly turned his head towards her and blinked, looking as if he was absolutely done with her behavior. "This is my Zombie." The door opened and Cranberry descended from the carriage with her arms crossed. "You had him all this time but still used the small one? Why?" Lairs shook her head in disbelief. "...Zombie is my ONLY undead." Cranberry tapped Zombie''s shoulder with one hand and crossed her arms again. Now she had the attention of every Dandelion but she wasn''t going to exin anything further, so in turn, adventurers started ogling Zombie. "Graough...? (Umm... shouldn''t we continue searching...?)" The blue undead groaned slightly ticked-off, not used to being the center of the attention, and inched towards his master. On the other hand, Cranberry frowned and walked in front of him, partially shielding him from the keen eyes of others. "What are you all staring at?" She raised her head proudly and looked down on the adventurers. "You. Do you have some clean spare clothes?" She suddenly pointed at Rotte the warrior and asked. "Wha...? Uhh... I guess I do?" He answered surprised by the question and dropped the boulder that he was lifting, almost crushing his own foot. Then he continued to stand in ce. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and massaged her forehead. "Well, then go get some for my Zombie, would you?" She sighed as if Rotte was a particrly dimwitted servant. And funnily enough, Rotte flinched and scuttled away as if he indeed was a servant that was caught red-handed on cking off, and hurriedly brought a set of clothes. Cranberry took them and carefully inspected every piece. "Didn''t I tell you to get clean ones? Those reek." "Pffft...!" Cranberry clicked her tongue with disgust and Lairs barely held back herughter. "Fucking told ya." Lairs, all red from holding back theughter, shrugged her shoulders and looked away. "...! I-it''s not like that! Youngdy, those are clean clothes that I always bring with me for the official guild meetings!" Rotte became red and started exining, while Cranberry was looking at him doubtfully. "But the thing is I usually transport it below the sack with spare chainmail... What you''re smelling is from that, the oil and metallic smell, nothing more!" He was trying to desperately convince everyone that it wasn''t his body odor. "Everyone who wears chainmail or te can tell you the same! Uresha, your clothes smell like rust too, right?" Rotte turned to the bulky woman, looking for help. "I-I don''t stink!" But instead of giving him the support he was looking for, Uresha hid her face in her hands and shook her head crying pitifully. "Oi! Why are you bullying Uresha?!" Shanks instantly got angry and red at Rotte. "Uwah, you''re the fucking worst, aren''t you?" Lairs red at Rotte with mischievous eyes. "Oh well, better this than letting others ogle you whenever they want." Cranberry, unperturbed by theedy routine of the Dandelions, shrugged her shoulders and spread the shirt for Zombie to wear. "Graough! (Thank you, master!)" Zombie smiled, slid into it, and starting to button it up. The shirt was too wide but the sleeves were too short. "Get in the carriage." Cranberry said while holding up the ck pants. Zombie tilted his head at first but then he nodded and obediently did what she told him. And Cranberry followed him inside. But before she closed the door, she leaned out just enough so that her face would be visible and... "Hmph!" She smirked mockingly at Lairs. "...? What the fuck was that about?" The elf raised her brow and asked but herpanions shrugged with confused faces. There was no need for them to wait for the master and servant to be done dressing up so they get back to searching. "Is it me or none of those corpses have heads? Is that their fetish or something? Crushing heads?" Rotte nudged another headless corpse with his foot and asked. "Those three still had theirs." Uresha pointed at the corpses of three young maids. "...yeah, but most of them don''t..." Rotte rolled his eyes and waved his hand towards the rabble. "Young miss uses a blunt weapon, Zombie uses his legs... Maybe going for the head is the most efficient option?" Shanks spoke while looking under arge chunk of wall that Uresha lifted for him. "They aim to kill, and even if the attack aimed at the head won''t kill their opponents outright, it will cause a concussion and allow the next hit to finish them. They are both strong and fast enough to pull that off... Nothing here, you can put it down." He added and shook his head looking at Uresha. "Kinda fucked up, if you ask me. Intelligent races give shitty experience anyway." Lairs shrugged, crouching by the pond and inspecting the water. "I can''t agree with judging those two that harshly. Their enemy had a numerical advantage... If I had to fight my way out of the enemy territory, I would also go for the most efficient killing method." "Shan-shan... Fuck it... You''re right, but only if they were the victims and not the fucking aggressors..." Lairs snorted with contempt at the thief''s words, clearly showing what she thought. "Right..." Shanks nodded reluctantly while putting his hand in the crevice between the debris. "Oh...? Tsk!" His eyes glimmered when he felt something and pulled it out. At first, the object showed some resistance but it eventually gave up and he got it out. It was a half-melted arm, it wasn''t blue but instead weirdly ck and green. And very very gooey. /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Venom resistance (level 7) "What the hell?!" Shanks screamed, hurriedly dropped the arm, and jumped away. "Graough! (No! Don''t touch that!)" Zombie jumped out of the carriage, reached the rat-faced man in a few steps, and pulled him away from the arm. "Graough! (Even if my hand is here, don''t search this ce!) Graough! (No one else should get near here either!)" He was shaking his head and drawing a big x with his left hand in the air in front of his chest to let them know what he meant. "What is going on? What the hell is that thing?" Shanks trembled, looking at the poisoned arm that was slowly melting into a bubbling puddle. "Oh, right..." Grumpy-looking Cranberry also get out of the carriage and sighed. "My Zombie leveled up his venom skill on someone here, probably that guy. Better watch out." She groaned in a bored tone. After that, she approached her servant and rolled up his sleeves. "Haa... At least now it looks intentional." She nodded to herself looking at thepleted outfit. "Wh-what do you mean level up?! To what?! I gained a level in venom resistance just by holding it for a few seconds!" Shanks stood up and waved his hands in agitation. Cranberry made a sour face and scratched her neck. "It just leveled up. I guess it was something along the lines of..." Zombie nced at her, confused. His master had an excellent memory and no matter how serious the danger she was in, she could always memorize most of the information she saw. But now she was acting as if she didn''t remember something? She was stalling. Zombie had no idea why would she was doing that, but she didn''t seem too keen on sharing the information with the Dandelions. "Soul devouring venom." "FUCKING WHAT?!" But when she finally said the skill''s name, Shanks looked confused, but the one utterly terrified was Lairs. Which she of course signaled by clenching her fists that were elbows-deep into the muddy pond for some reason, standing up, and cursing loudly. "Ah! You found it!" The situation got even more confusing when Uresha pped her hands happily and pointed at Lairs''s hands. While Lairs was standing up, she grabbed something that was underwater and pulled it out - that something turned out to be Zombie''s right hand. "What the fuck do you mean by saying that this fucker unlocked the fucking soul devouring venom?!" Lairs didn''t seem to notice that she ended their search and instead was focused solely on Cranberry. "...and is that me or did your tits shrunk...?" The elf added confused, ncing at Cranberry''s bust. Chapter 55: Suprising skill and unexpected spectator

Chapter 55: Suprising skill and unexpected spectator

Cranberry raised her brow and didn''t answer, instead she patted Zombie''s back and nudged him to go for his arm. "Hey! Answer me for fuck''s sake! Did you seriously said that he unlocked the soul devouring ve...nom..." Laris stepped back pulling the arm away from Zombie''s reach. Well, that would work if he was in his previous form, now, he was slightly taller than the elven mage and when she pulled back, he leaned forward and reached out for his hand. Lairs didn''t want to surrender so she leaned back more but that only made Zombie lean forward even further. Those actions resulted in the two of them in a rather awkward situation where Lairs was bending backward and Zombie was basically on top of her and their faces were almost touching. "Graough. (Give me back my hand, please.)" Zombie groaned with a rather displeased expression. "...I feel ufortable, could you move away a bit...?" Lairs said in a slightly higher pitch than usual while a drop of sweat appeared on her forehead and her legs and back trembled from the strain. "Graough. (You made my master ufortable, so no.) Graough (Please, return my hand. Now.)" Zombie responded calmly. "Wh-what did he said...?" Shanks nervously asked Cranberry who slouched a bit to hide her chest. "Zombie, she wants to know if your venom is the soul devouring venom. Bite her so she''ll learn." The red-haired girl''s response was ice-cold and made all the adventurers flinch. "Graough. (Fair enough.)" Zombie nodded and opened his mouth. His eyes started glowing and he lowered his head aiming for Lairs''s neck. "What the fuck?! No! Stop!" Lairs screamed and lost her bnce, ending up falling on the debris. Zombie casually took his hand out of her hands and returned to his master''s side without actually biting the female elf. "Graough? (Master, can we go back already?) Graough... (Let''s just leave the clean up to them, as always...)" Zombie tugged on Cranberry''s dress and growled like a sad puppy. His master looked at him and sighed, but the trained displeased look got ruined because she couldn''t help but smile at him. "Ha ha! Seems like only the appearance has changed." Sheughed and grabbed Zombie''s hand. "Let''s go back. We''ve spent enough time here already, you can just report that you found no survivors and that the cause of the incident is unknown." Cranberry''s face changed into an indifferent mask as soon as she looked away from her servant and faced the Dandelions. "Or just make up some story. Something like, probably one of his ves went berserk and destroyed everything, or something. Your choice." She shrugged and lead the sulking Zombie to the carriage without waiting for a response from the adventurers. Uresha and Rotte helped Lairs get up, though they still had to support her because her legs refused to cooperate after the scare. "Say, that whole devouring venom, I never heard about such skill. Is it that dangerous?" Shanks picked up a bag of loot they collected by chance while searching for the arm and carried it to the carriage. "If that fucking bitch isn''t lying and it is a soul devouring venom, then we better cut off our ties with them." Lairs, pale as a sheet, lowered her head and nervously checked if the Master-Servant duo isn''t listening. "Humans shouldn''t know much about it since it''s an elven legend." She took a deep breath and said. "Once during one of the global events, a young elven tyrant received a title Venomancer and leveling it up, he gained a horrible skill called soul devouring venom." Even though her words suggested that she was recalling an old fairytale, her face was showing that she believed it. "Once that venom entered the body of a living creature, it would destroy their soul, leaving only an empty rotting carcass behind." "Shit! I touched that arm!" Shanks jumped in panic, took out a bottle of the purplish antidote, and started pouring it on his palm. "Fucking hell, Shan-shan, rx. Even if it really is the venomancer''s venom, it''s not a fucking disease, just fucking touching the poisoned body part shouldn''t be that fucking dangerous..." Lairs waved her hand dismissively. "It''s easy for you to talk! I gained a level in venom resistance just by holding it!" Shanks didn''t seem to calm down at all. "Anyway, though the whole fucking Venomancer event happened a good few thousands of years ago, the fucking fear that the sound devouring venom skill name brings us elves remains the fucking same." Lairs finished the exnation. "But the venomancer was your ruler, right? Why would elves...?" "He was a fucking tyrant. The first ones to suffer under his skill were his very own people." Uresha asked confused but got interrupted very quickly by frowning Lairs. "Ah...! I''m sorry..." Uresha hurriedly apologized and went over to help the panicking Shanks. "Sounds really rough. But why would an undead like that get such a scary skill?" Rotte scratched his chin and looked at Lairs. "Fuck if I know... my only guess is that another global event ising soon but..." Lairs shrugged but then she suddenly stopped talking feeling a sudden chill. She frowned and looked around, she even used her skill, but there was no one alive there aside from their group. "...there''s no fucking way that such a big deal would simply start out of the blue..." She finished her thought, feeling as if she jinxed something really dangerous. "We should get going." Rotte looked like he also sensed something off and grabbed Lairs''s arm, pulling her towards the carriage. "Y-yeah..." The mage seemed so disturbed that she didn''t even protest about being half dragged - her legs still felt a bit wobbly after all. The whole group was ready to go in less than five minutes after that and Uresha shook the reins to make the beasts move. "Huh...? The quest waspleted...?" Suddenly Cranberry called out confused. "So it''ll be route a... but what does that mean...?" She sat back beside Zombie and fell deep in thoughts. After that brief interruption, the group left without looking back, leaving the ruins behind. ... But the ce wasn''t as lifeless as they all assumed. One of the corpses began moving. It was the shorter one of the two maids that Cranberry uncovered first, the young maid who threw up seeing the third maid get torn in half. Her corpse, that was under the body of the older-looking maid, suddenly twitched and opened its eyes. The eyes glowing with skill. She blinked a few times and loudly breathed out before the light of the skill went out. Her face suddenly started looking as if it was melting off and molding into apletely different shape. Not only her face, her whole body too! After a while, what crawled from under the other corpse wasn''t a short, well-endowed young woman, but a skinny and rather sickly looking girl who had the maid''s clothes hanging on her like on a scarecrow. She could be around the same age as Cranberry and Zombie, but she seemed older than the pair by at least a year or two. The mysterious girl trembled and flinched, ncing at all the uncovered corpses left behind after the previous group left, and held back another barf. "...that undead is even better than what Roan has told me..." She gulped down whatever was forcing its way up her throat and murmured excitedly. "The elf didn''t seem to tell them anything of importance but I should warn father about her..." The girl frowned and pulled up the sleeve that was sliding off of her shoulder. "...and I should definitely ask father to hasten his n... I simply must have her power...!" She smiled wickedly whilebing her thin reddish hair with her fingers which made her look a bit insane. Chapter 56: On the way back

Chapter 56: On the way back

Cranberry was leaning on Zombie''s shoulder and dozing off while the carriage was jumping on the uneven pavement. As she was falling asleep her hand was subconsciously wandering in search of Zombie''s right hand, so the servant offered it to her with a gentle smile. "Mmm..." Feeling the familiar coolness Cranberry made a funny sound and rxedpletely. The blue undead, careful to note wake his master up, moved slightly so that his master could take a bit morefortable position, and nodded with satisfaction. At least for a few more days, Cranberry will be able to enjoy freedom away from her mother. "..." Zombie clenched his teeth ring out the window at the innocent horizon. A night before, right before going to bed, Cranberry let her inner thought slip and she confessed that she was worried about her mother''s reaction. Even though the local branch of the adventurers guild bought their made-up story without even a sliver of doubt, the same oue will be impossible withdy Raspberry. In Zombie''s opinion that woman wasn''t acting like a head of the family, but rather as a selfish dictator that used everyone else as she wanted, and if anything went against her wishes she would punish the nearest person whether they were involved or not. Though that was more of a fact than an opinion... So even if Cranberry would be proven innocent, she would still get to be punished by her mother. Maybe it was his title''s influence, but Zombie felt that killingdy Raspberry would be an absolutely reasonable oue. ...but Cranberry was strongly against that. No matter how harshly her mother treated her, or how much she tried to control every aspect of her life, Cranberry loved her mother and wanted to win her approval. It might had something to do with the enormous amount of pride that Cranberry had, but still, Zombie caught himself wondering what''s so good about a parent like that. In his old world, a dangerous thought like that would never even appear in his mind, but now as both the undead and the eternal servant - so a monster - he couldn''t find any remorse stopping him from ending the lives of others. An undead monster, even if it was a human before, usually had a hatred for all living creatures after all. In Zombie''s case, the only lives that he usually directed that hate towards, were those of who tried to take him away from his master. "Nnn...!" Cranberry moaned in her sleep and Zombie hurriedly checked what was wrong. Thankfully it was only a strand of her red hair tickling her nose, so he carefully brushed it aside so she could rest without interruption. Zombie observed his master for a while with great interest. Truth to be told, he already forgot how it felt to be asleep. Even when he was straining his memory and trying to remember details about his past life, every time he reminiscent about sleep, it seemed very odd to him. Cranberry fidgeted and clenched his right hand tightly. That made Zombie smile. The first time that Cranberry slept with Zombie''s right hand was when she was eight and had a high fever. Zombie was by her side, unable to help her in any other way, so he just undid the stitches and used his otherwise useless hand as a cooling pad. And it seemed like from that point Cranberry took a liking to theforting coldness of Zombie''s undead body, using him as a recement for the ac whenever she was feeling too hot. Each time she did that, Zombie felt happy. Considering how strong and studious Cranberry was, she rarely needed help, but Zombie wanted to be of use. "Graough... (Now that I think of it, I kind of act simr towards her as she acts towards her mother...)" The blue undead sighed looking at the blue sky outside the window. "...no, not simr at all... I actually care about you..." "Graough?! (M-master?!)" Cranberry''s sleep-talking made Zombie flinch and gasp in shock. But Cranberry didn''t say anything else and she also didn''t wake up. With her cheek squished against Zombie''s shoulder, she continued sleeping peacefully, unaware of how much she surprised her servant. "Graough...? (Weird, does she understand my groans or not...?)" Zombie groaned confused looking at the carriage''s roof. After few moments he gave up on figuring her out and instead focused on the bag with books that Cranberry took with her on the journey. Of course, he got permission to read whatever he wanted beforehand from the girl herself. He opened the bag and started checking out the content. The book titled ''A good wife'' made him frown, but he still checked the few first pages. It was really something else... Content of that book would have definitely caused the author to be canceled online by the masses. The blue undead closed the book with a bitter expression, wishing he could just throw it away. But, good or not, it was his master''s property, so no matter what was written inside, he would never destroy it. So he put it away and grabbed another one. ''Art of seduction'', another title that raised Zombie''s brow. But that one turned out to be a proper guidebook for acquiring many different charm-type skills. It even had words of encouragement for the yers to bear with the urge to punch their targets in the face while trying to appeal to them in the right way. "Graough...! (Ooh! That exins a lot...!)" Zombie''s eyes widened when he realized that was the reason for Cranberry''s odd behavior toward Durian. "Graough... (Still... even if I''m undead, it wouldn''t kill you to at least try it on me first...) Graough? (Training with you is one of my privileges, you know?)" He said poking his master''s squishy cheek. "...nnn...!" Cranberry frowned and fidgeted in her sleep. /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 9) "..." Zombie saw the message pop up and quickly looked away. "Graough... (Though it is weird that it levels up without her activating it...) Graough...? (Could it be a passive skill...?)" He wondered. Then he suddenly frowned. "Graough...! (Wait...!) Graough...? (Why does she even need a charm skill for...?)" Zombie tilted his head even more confused than before. "Graough... (I wish she would trust me enough to let me in on her ns...)" He sighed putting away the guidebook and taking out another book. ''Elven folklore''. This one seemed even more detached from Cranberry''s usual taste than the other two books. She normally preferred hard books delving deep into history or the properties of the system and how to use it for her own gain. Folk tales usually didn''t interest her at all. Suddenly Cranberry slid down from his shoulder and ended up with her head on Zombie''sp. The blue undead smiled and put away the book without even checking the contents. "Graough. (Master, it''s your fault that I''m not that smart.)" Heined and leaned back onto the cushioned seat. "Graough. (Instead of reading I''m watching you all the time.) Graough... (Seriously, you don''t have the right toin that I ended up as a dumbass...)" He groaned and started observing his master''s peaceful face with a peaceful expression. Chapter 57: The pain is gone, and so is love...

Chapter 57: The pain is gone, and so is love...

*p* The loud sound interrupted Cranberry''s exnation. Zombie standing outside ofdy Raspberry''s room clenched his fist. /Dragon Madness activated A pop-up message appeared and the world around Zombie turned blue and red. With his vision like this, he could easily spot the living even through the walls. He stopped leaning against the wall and turned towards the room itself. There he saw it. Right by the familiar life signature of his master, stood another one, it was very faint one that was pulsating in a weak but stubborn rhythm. No doubtdy Raspberry. Since both life signatures were so close to each other, no genius was needed to figure out the origin of the sound. Zombie opened the door and entered the room. "...re to go against mymand?! Who do you thi... Eh?! Who told you toe in here?! Get out!" Lady Raspberry, who was holding her swollen hand close to her stomach, looked at the blue undead and shouted. Cranberry had her head down and was clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. She knew that Zombie entered even though she told him to stay outside before, but instead of shouting, she simply shook her head without even looking at him. But her obedient posture only fueled the fires of the dragon madness skill even more. "Did you go deaf while on the trip with that failure of a daughter of mine or something?" Lady Raspberry furrowed her brows and asked in a cold voice. "And what''s with that tasteless outfit? Did she pick it up for you? Truly a failure..." The tall woman shook her head and sighed. Of course, Zombie had changed out of the clothes that got borrowed from Rotte and gotpletely new ones that he and his master have picked together along the way back from the destroyed mansion of Durian Greed. That outfit consisted of a white cropped shirt that showed most of Zombie''s stomach, ck suspenders attached to the tight, ck pants, and the shiny ck knee-high boots on high heels that elevated his height to over 6''7. All of that waspleted by a simple silver ring that kept his ck hair in a neat low ponytail. Zombie slowly walked over to the mother and daughter and stared down atdy Raspberry. "I said, did you went deaf? Get out!" She demanded. Although she was a very tall woman, with how Zombie was now she had to raise her head to look at his face. His angered face with eyes glowing with an eerie reddish light. "As the head of the family, Imand you to get out of this room!" Lady Raspberry''s eyes started glowing as shemanded, but Zombie didn''t budge and not even one system message showed up for him or Cranberry. "...Mother, Zombie isn''t a part of our family..." Cranberry exined in a low voice, still staring at her own feet. "That...!" The usually paledy Raspberry somehow became even paler and took a step back. "You...!" When she realized what she did, she became red from anger and her eyes shone much stronger than before. "I am the avatar of pride! Get out!" She demanded and an overwhelming pressure had filled the room. /The unique skill of the avatar of sin detected Pride''s overpower /Calcting... /Rotten brain [max] detected Overpower breaks through /Dragon madness skill is active /Servant''s title upgrade Rotten Brain +1[max] /Calcting... "Zombie, it''s alright. Wait for me outside." Cranberry stepped up and pulled Zombie back by his left hand. She activated her own skills and even with the enhancement of the dragon madness, Zombie couldn''t resist her strength. "Graough...! (But, master...!)" Zombieined loudly. In response, Cranberry just shook her head. "Go." "Graough. (Yes, master.)" She ordered and Zombie instantly gave up and left. "It seems he''s not nearly as good as I thought. What a letdown. Just like you." Since the blue undead left, Lady Raspberry deactivated her skill without waiting for the system to properly calcte the oue. "He is mine, and he''s not a letdown in any aspect." Cranberry frowned and red at her mother. "You dare to talk to me like that?!" Lady Raspberry raised her hand again but it seemed that she still felt the pain from the previous hit, because she stopped herself and put her hand down. "You foolish girl, I am the head of the family, everything that belongs to Prides is my property, that includes you and your servant!" Cranberry lowered her head but didn''t answer. "And Durian was such a good candidate for a husband for you!" Lady Raspberry sighed and shook her head. "No matter. I''ll make sure to find you a husband. After you give birth to a child you surely settle down and see thing the right way!" She scoffed while Cranberry remained silent. "..." Lady Raspberry frowned and squinted her eyes. "I had enough of you, return to your room now. I''ll call for youter!" She clicked her tongue and shooed Cranberry away. The girl bowed her head slightly and left without a word. /Warning /Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required "...?" Cranberry raised her brow and looked at her servant standingpletely still by the wall. "Graough... (I tried deactivating the dragon madness on my own and this happened...)" Zombie growled pitifully unable to move at all. "System, heal my idiot." Cranberry sighed andmanded. /Permission received Healing in progress... /Healingplete "Graough! (Thank you, master!) Graough. (Here.)" As soon as he could move again, Zombie detached his right hand and offered it to Cranberry. "Thanks, though you don''t have to worry today. It doesn''t hurt at all." The red-haired girl still took the hand, but this time she actually smiled lightheartedly while taking it. "Haa... I''m never going to have children. Ever." She suddenly dered. "Graough. (Alright, if that''s what you''ve decided.)" Zombie tilted his head, confused by the sudden change of subject, but still ended up nodding and epting everything his master has said. "I''ll ask you one thing. Are you on my side?" Cranberry smirked and looked up at him with confidence. Or at least she tried really hard to make it look that way. "Graough! (Always!)" Zombie nodded without hesitation and growled confidently. "...we''ll see about that..." Cranberry slowly nodded and turned away. "Oh, and just in case that Greeds somehow learn about our involvement in the whole Durian situation and will try something... be on your guard, alright?" She asked and nced over her shoulder back at her blue undead. "Graough...! (Of course!)" Zombie nodded and hit his chest with his left hand. "Then... Goodnight..." Cranberry raised the blue hand she was holding and waved it towards Zombie. "Graough. (Sleep well, master.)" Zombie smiled and waved back innocently, making Cranberry smile. Chapter 58: Unexpected guest

Chapter 58: Unexpected guest

It was just another day, Cranberry and Zombie finished their morning training and were returning to the mansion. "It''s getting harder and harder to find monsters in our territory, I think we might have overhunted them a bit..." Cranberry groaned while raising her arms and stretching her back. "Graough... (True, we haven''t encountered anything stronger than a passing griffin in a while...)" Zombie crossed his arms and nodded with a solemn expression. Suddenly a grumble came out of Cranberry''s stomach making her snort. "Pfft...! Haa... I see, better to go get breakfast." She sighed patting herself on the stomach. "Must be nice, never to feel hungry." She added poking Zombie''s side. "Graough. (Yeah, I can''tin.) Graough. (I sometimes miss it though, but watching you eat always makes me satisfied.)" Zombie skillfully dodged her finger and groaned yfully in response. "Graough, graough... (Though it would be much better if you could eat your fill in peace, without your mother butting in and forcing you on some idiotic diet...)" He suddenly frowned and grumbled in a low voice. "Haa... I guess you are groaning about my mother decreasing my food portions, right?" Cranberry rolled her eyes and sighed. "Even after I trained myself to this point, that woman has the guts to tell me I''m too fat... Could she be any more obvious...?" Cranberry once again patted herself on the muscr stomach and made a sour expression. "Tsk... With jealousy that obvious, you would think that she was originally from the Envy family or something." She clicked her tongue andined. "Speaking of parents... I never asked you that before, but..." Suddenly she stopped and hesitated for a bit, her expression clouded. "...do you want to go see your parents or something? I do remember where my carriage had... you know..." She spoke slowly as if she actually didn''t want to know the answer. "Graough. (No. I don''t care.)" Zombie shook his head and dismissed the proposition without even a second of hesitation. "Haa? You don''t? Why? Were your parents simr to mine...?" Confused Cranberry raised her brow doubtfully. "Graough! (Oh, no, nothing like that!) Graough. (They both were great people and loved my sister and me a lot.)" Zombie exined with a slight smile. "Graough. (But as I am now, I have no interest in most living beings.) Graough. (The only one I care about is you, master.)" He pointed at her although he was unsure whether he can properly convey what he means with groans and gestures. Though a slight blush and barely noticeable fidgetting were rather good indicators that indeed Cranberry got most of it right. "Graough. (Besides, they surely think that I died years ago.) Graough. (Going to them now, looking like this would be kind of cruel.)" He added. "I see..." Cranberry nodded lightly and started walking again. The two of them were closing on the walls epassing the mansion''s grounds, as always, they wouldn''t use the main gate and simply jump over them and reenter from the gardens. But this time it was a bit different. There was amotion in front of the main gate. "Looks like some unexpected guests..." Cranberry leaned to the side and squinted her eyes. "Haa? I think that''s the crest of the Lust family on that carriage... weird... We''re not in the best rtionship with them... Wait! No way!" She tapped her chin with her thumb.and then suddenly she gasped in a realization. "Graough...? (Master, should we go see what''s this all about?)" Zombie growled curiously. Cranberry looked at him and then at herself. They both were wearing rather simple hunting clothes,pletely unsuited for weing guests. "Graough...?! (Wait! Master, do you think that your mother started arranging your marriage with someone from the Lust family?!)" All of a sudden Zombie gasped and grabbed onto Cranberry''s shirt. "N-no I don''t think so... Or maybe after all...!" From how pale she became, it seemed that his master thought about something else at first but then she had second thoughts. "...if this is a delegation sent to seal the marriage deal..." She once again checked her attire. "...say Zombie, as long as my attitude is correct, my pride shouldn''t suffer no matter what I''m wearing, right...?" A nasty smile bloomed on Cranberry''s face. "Graough! (Of course! Only a blind idiot would ignore your charm because of some in clothing!)" Zombie growled with approval. *smack* Cranberry blushed embarrassed and lightly pped Zombie''s shoulder. "Groaugh...? (Umm... Master...?)" Zombie tilted his head like a puppy. "It''s nothing. I''m going to reject every proposal anyway so it doesn''t matter what I''m wearing anyway!" The red-haired girl scoffed and rushed towards the main gate. Of course, Zombie followed her. And there they witnessed a rather peculiar scene y out. "Sir, as I said before, no one is allowed to enter unless they are invited." The guard by the gate was shaking his head at the tall, handsome man wearing a stylish three-piece suit, sitting on the carriage. "And I''m telling you that my master came to visit the head of the Pride family!" The man clicked his tongue andined. "Can''t you see the crest on the doors? I''m here with the head of the Lust family! We were summoned by your master, just let us in!" He groaned furrowing his brows. "Sir. Whoever wants to enter Prides'' territory, has to do so on Prides'' rules. And no outsider can enter the mansion without being invited. Not even the queen. And no notice was sent to the guard post either, so that means you''re making it up." The guard looked even more annoyed than the handsome man. "Oh, please..." The handsome man rolled his eyes. Suddenly those very same eyes started glowing. "You''re such a dutiful man... I''ll have you know that I''m a guard as well. Why don''t we...pare our qualifications after you allow my master in..." His voice turned seductive. For a moment the guard looked as if he was hit over the head with a blunt object. His eyes became cloudy and his stiff expression mellowed. But then the ring on his middle finger started glowing, and he shook his head. His eyes cleared out and he red at the handsome man. "...I''ll give you one chance to turn around and leave, as a sign of respect to the Lust family." The guard clenched his fist on the short spear. "If you''ll try using a seduction skill against me again, I will consider you a trespasser and used force to remove you. Permanently." "..." The handsome man looked away concerned. "Maser ymore, I don''t think he''s joking..." He called looking at the carriage. "That sucks." A charming voice responded to him from the inside. "Are you sure that we were invited here...?" The handsome man asked nervously ncing at the angry guard. "...the letter might have said to write back, but talking in person would be much better anyway, right...?" The charming voice hesitated and asked innocently. "...!" The handsome man flinched and slowly turned back towards the furious guard. "...well... by any chance could you send someone to your master to tell her that the head of the Lust family, ymore Lust has arrived to talk about taking youngdy Cranberry''s hand in marriage, just as she wrote before...?" The handsome man smiled awkwardly. Cranberry and Zombie, listening in from a distance looked at each other with grave expressions. Cranberry shook her head and approached the carriage with confident steps. *WHAM* "HEAVENS...!" She mmed her fist into the side of the carriage making it sway terribly - almost throwing off the handsome man who cried out loudly in fear. "ymore, is that really you in there?" *WHAM* Cranberry called, smacking the carriage again for the good measure. "If you came to visit as lord ymore, turn back, I''m not allowed to have guests of the opposite sex." She said tly. "And if you seriously want to ask for my hand, just go away. I''m not interested, and I wrote you that before!" "Y-youngdy...!" It took him a while to react, but eventually, the shocked guard straighten his back and saluted the red-haired girl. "Youngdy? Her?!" The handsome man gasped in shock staring at her with disbelief. "Cranberry... you''re a meanie..." A charming voice, now rather sulky, came from the inside of the carriage apanied by the sound of someone getting up from the floor. "This is what you meant in your previous letter? If trying to marry me is that surprise you had for me, I don''t want it. Go away." Cranberry moved a step forward and leaned against the door, blocking anyone from exiting. "Graough...? (Master, you were a pen-friend with ymore Lust...?)" Zombie growled surprised. He knew that his master often exchanged letters with someone but never asked about it, since it was a private matter. "..." Cranberry frowned and looked away. Chapter 59: Claymore is here!

Chapter 59: ymore is here!

"Cranberry, please, don''t be like that...! I''m just using it as an excuse for a visit...! You know how my family is! And you''ve promised me that the three of us will train together...!" ymore cried and knocked on the blocked door. "Graough...? (Three of us...?)" The blue undead groaned confused. "Zombie? I can hear you there! I''m the kid from the first kill party that fought against the ck scorpion! Please tell your master to let me out...!" ymore called very politely. *WHAM* "Kyaah!" "Don''t involve my Zombie, stupid! I clearly wrote that I''m not allowed to have male guestse over! And I didn''t promise you anything! You were moping around after I wrote you that I helped Mary with her training, so I simply said that I could write a training n for you. There was nothing about youing over!" Cranberry hit the carriage for the third time and scoffed at the person inside. "B-but isn''t it better to meet in person...?" ymore sulked and knocked on the door from the inside. "Please...? I promise that I''ll behave!" ymore sounded so innocent that even Zombie started feeling a bit sorry for him. "Because you advised me to get a charm skill I made a fool out of myself! I still hadn''t forgiven you." Cranberry looked to the side, away from Zombie''s concerned eyes, and dered. "Eh? Even with the book I sent you? But the ''Art of seduction'' really is the easiest to understand... oh, I see! You justck any appeal~" *WHAM* *CRUSH* "AAAAHHHH!" "KYAAA!" Another hit not only made the carriage sway but straight up toppled it, destroying the wheels on one side, throwing off the handsome man, and making ymore tumble inside like a ragdoll. Though, truth to be told, it wasn''t really a hit. It was a kick. "GRAOUGH!? (HOW DARE YOU BADMOUTH MY MASTER?!)" Zombie''s roar surprised even Cranberry. The undead servant put his leg down and grounded the earth underneath his boot. "Haa... Zombie... you broke their wheels, now they can''t even leave..." Cranberry breathed out heavily while massaging her forehead. "Graough...! (Ah...!)" Zombie gasped realizing his mistake. But what was done was done. "What the hell do you think you''re doing?! Attacking the head of the Lust family?!" The handsome man jumped up and started shouting furiously. "Passionfruit, it''s okay, I''m fine!" ymore called sounding a bit shaky, but otherwise fine. "No! It''s not okay, master! That corpse puppet could have...!" "I said it''s okay, Passionfruit!" It sounded like ymore stomped his foot, and the handsome man closed his mouth instantly. "How many times I have to tell you this? I can''t have guests of the opposite sex, it''s my mother''s order. Even if you get in and have that pointless marriage talk, after you''ll be finished, she will send you away." Cranberry exined and even that clearly was pushing the limits of her patience already. "Oh! Don''t worry, I thought about that too! Ta-dam!" But for whatever reason ymore didn''t sound discouraged at all. The door to the carriage opened, though considering the position of the carriage was now, it was more like a hatch at the ceiling getting opened, and a pair of pale hands and a tuff of brown hair appeared from the inside. "...?" Cranberry raised her brow. "Graough...? (What is he doing exactly...?)" Zombie tilted his head in confusion. "..." The hands were still spread out but the tuff of hair flinched in distress. "Ugh... I didn''t realize that this carriage is so wide... Passionfruit, a little help, please!" ymore called and waved his arms to get the attention of the handsome man that was dusting off his clothes. "At once!" Passionfruit responded and hurriedly jumped on top of the toppled carriage. "Master, on three. One... two..." He grabbed the pale hands and started counting. "And three!" "Ta-dam!" Passionfruit pulled out ymore from the carriage in one swift motion. "Graough...?! (Huh...?!)" Zombie expected to see a fifteen years old boy to show up. He remembered ymore as a in-faced, unassuming boy that didn''t stand out at all unless he was smiling. Because when he was smiling, everyone around him would lose their heads for his beauty. So of course the blue undead expected just a slightly older version of that. Well... The person who got pulled up could be only described as a refreshingly beautiful young girl, with big brown eyes, and cute short hair, with an adorable strand of hair standing up like an antenna, wearing a tasteful green one-piece dress and sandals. "Since no boys are allowed to visit you I came as a girl!" ymore dered with a bright smile that made both the guard and the Passionfruit feel weak in the knees. "Graough...? (Wait! Wasn''t he a boy before...?)" Zombie groaned confused and turned to his master. And Cranberry herself was massaging her forehead with an annoyed expression. "Haa... So that''s what you came up with? Considering how your body is... Fine by me." She sighed and give up. "Graough... (Is it really okay though? Your mother is... you know...)" Zombie fidgeted nervously, ncing towards the mansion. "But the one who will decide whether you can stay or not is still my mother." Cranberry finished her sentence and red at ymore. "Yes...?" ymore leaned forward, showing off a very modest bust, and smiled adorably. *flop* Everyone looked back and saw the guard on his knees staring at ymore with pure adoration. "...sorry for that..." ymore bowed and hurriedly stopped smiling which made his face turn in. "Haa... You look very nice, I hope that my mother will at least let us have a talk." Cranberry sighed and even ended up smiling a bit. "Yay! Thank you! You look like a cool adventurer!" ymore pped happily andplimented Cranberry back. "Ah, right. Zombie, this is my pen-friend, ymore Lust. ymore decides her gender depending on her mood. As she said herself, today she''s a girl. Address her ordingly." "Graough. (As you wish, master.)" Cranberry remembered to introduce her friend and Zombie nodded. "Yay! Nice to finally meet you, Zombie! Directly I mean. Cranberry wrote me all about you!" ymore smiled and struck a cute pose. "Graough. (Likewise,dy ymore.) Graough. (A friend of my master is my friend.)" Zombie returned the smile and bowed politely. "Te-he, you were right Cranberry, his groans are really cute!" ymore giggled and nce at the red-haired girl. Which earned her a re and a sigh. "Haa... you actually sound like that in person, huh... I was sure it was just your quirky writing style." Cranberry rolled her eyes and turned to the guard. "Let them in this time." She said in a t tone. "...ah... y-yes..." The guard had trouble focusing his attention, continuously sneaking nces at ymore, but eventually, he managed to stand up and open the gate properly. "When you''ll be talking with my mother... watch out, alright? Avatar of pride is mostly immune to the powers of other avatars and on top of that, there is the overpower skill..." Cranberry warned the other girl while making a sour expression. "I know, I know. Wish me luck!" ymoreughed and walked through the gate with confidence. "Do you even know where should you go first...?" Cranberry''s question made her flinch and stop. "No, actually..." more turned around and blushed, the tuft of hair on her head twitched from embarrassment. "Zombie, show her the way. Mother wouldn''t want to see me like that anyway..." Cranberry asked her servant while inspecting her attire. Zombie nodded and approached the current head of the Lust family. "Uwah...! So cool!" As soon as the blue undead did that, ymore gasped looking at him with glittery eyes, and wrapped her hands around his right arm. That action earned her an ice-cold re from Cranberry, but ymore didn''t back off. "I''ll be in your care, Zombie~" ymore said coquettishly resting her head around his elbow since she wasn''t tall enough to do that to his shoulder. "Graough. (Likewise.)" Unsuspecting undead simply grunted in response and started walking, adjusting his speed to the short-legged guest. "Haa... you have less freedom than I do, so consider this a gift." Cranberry mumbled looking at the two of them going to the mansion. Chapter 60: Dont be too rough...

Chapter 60: Don''t be too rough...

ymore closed the door behind her and let out a deep sigh. "Graough? (How did the talk go?)" Zombie, who was waiting for her outside thedy Raspberry''s room, groaned at her questioningly. "...Cranberry has to deal with that every day...?" ymore crossed her arms and slouched defensively. "Graough...? (Was it that bad?) Graough? (Can you at least go talk with my master for a bit, or must you leave after all?)" Zombie continued growling questions, managing to pick ymore''s attention. "Ah? What? Sorry, I forgot you were here." She flinched and smiled awkwardly, even such small action made her face changedpletely, it was really something else. "Anyway, the marriage talk was a bust, I shouldn''t have arrived here as a girl after all... but at least I was allowed to spend some time with the two of you! Until the evening meal that is..." ymore perked up and leaned forward, giving Zombie an upwards look, then she smirked cheekily. "So let''s not make Cranberry wait any longer!" She suddenly jumped at the blue undead and wrapped herself around his right arm. "Geez~ you don''t have to be so cold! ymore winked at Zombie, rubbing on to his arm. "...graough...? (...you know that I''m an undead, right...?) Graough (That is my normal temperature.)" He grunted confused, tilting his head trying to figure out the reason behind ymore''s actions. "Hey, don''t be like that! I''m often said that my charms are enough to bewitch even the dead... I bet that you will be all over me right about... Now!" She dered and then made the most beautiful smile. And her eyes started shining. /Charm type skill detected /Rotten brain +1 active Charm type skill repelled A message popped up in front of Zombie''s eyes. "...weird..." ymore frowned and tilted her head. "Graough. (Miss, please refrain from using skills on me.) Graough. (I get anxious.)" Zombie groaned and shook his head. "...but I''m sure that I unlocked that perk already..." But it was obvious that ymore wasn''t listening. While firmly holding on to Zombie''s right hand she once again raised her head, staring at Zombie''s face - although this time she was making a serious expression - and her eyes started glowing with blue light. /The unique skill of the avatar of sin detected Binding of lust /Calcting... /Rotten brain +1[max] detected /Calcting... /Binding of lust repelled "Eeeehh?!" ymore started pulling on Zombie''s arm and stomped her feet. "Why isn''t it working? Hey, hey...! Why isn''t it working?" She started throwing a hissy-fit right in front ofdy Raspberry''s room. Needless to say, that couldn''t be a good idea, and Zombie was at least smart enough to realize that. Without wasting time trying tomunicate with the clingy guest, he simply loosened the stitches connecting his right arm and hastily retreated from the dangerous spot, leaving ymore and her tantrum together with his right hand. "A... eh...? Wha...?" Of course, such a reaction threw the girl offpletely, leaving her speechlessly looking between the disappearing undead and his arm still firmly in her grasp. "Hey! Don''t just leave me like that!" ymore cried and ran after Zombie. It couldn''t be called a chase, Zombie was gone in a mere blink of an eye. "Noo! Wait up! Don''t leave me!" ymore was clinging to the abandoned arm as if it was her lifeline while looking around for any clue where she should go next. "I''m sorry I used my skills on you, okay? Pleasee back!" She cried, spinning around in circles and confusing herself even more. "Graough..? (Here! And could be quiet for a moment...?)" "Kyaa!" Suddenly Zombie''s hand appeared from behind the corner and pulled back the scared girl. Just as that happened the door tody Raspberry''s room opened and the tall, sickly pale woman looked outside with eyes shining with threatening light. But as there was no one to be seen she frowned and returned inside, closing the door. "Graough. (I swear, you were exchanging letters with my master.) Graough...? (Did she not warn you about her mother...?)" Zombie peeked around the corner making sure the coast was clear and sighed. "Shoo ma shhill whorkhh...!" ymore, pressed against Zombie''s stomach mumbled looking up at Zombie. "Graough... (Seriously, you''re an odd one...) Graough...?! (Wait! Are those hearts in your eyes?! What ability is this...?!)" Zombie''s eyes widened and he released the girl. "Te-he...! My skill worked~" ymore fidgeted and giggled happily. "Ah! Here!" She perked up and offered Zombie his hand back. Zombie raised his brow, slightly annoyed. He was the eternal servant of Cranberry Pride, it was inevitable that he had a lot of pride on his own. After all, the system message clearly stated that he sessfully repelled both skills that ymore used on him. So the lighthearted cheer suggesting otherwise irked him more than just a little bit. Therefore when the girl put her hands up, holding his right arm, he reached for it, but then he changed the direction and firmly grabbed the tuft of hair sticking out on her head. And tugged on it. Pretty hard. "Kyaah! NooOoo...! Whyyy...?!" ymore instantly teared up and yelped. "Graough. (I''m my master''s servant.) Graough (Mypetence will not be put into question, by anyone.)" He groaned coldly. "Ow, ow, ow! Nooo! You''re going to rip it off! I''m sorry! I submit! I submit!" ymore dropped Zombie''s right arm and instead grabbed onto his left one that was mercilessly pulling on her hair. She even had to climb on her tiptoes because Zombie wasn''t backing off at all. "I was joking! I know that you blocked my skills! Please, let me go...!" "Graough...! (Ah! Sorry! I haven''t realized...!)" She finally cried and Zombie flinched and released her. "Graough! (I apologize!) Graough! (I just feel really anxious whenever I can''t see my master!)" Zombie started bowing repeatedly while groaning apologetically. "Geez, what a brute..." ymoreined holding on to her precious tuft of hair. "Seriously, what do you think would happen if your rough y got me in the mood?! You would have to take the responsibility!" She scoffed usatory at the blue undead. "Graough. (Anyway, since you''re allowed to, let''s go back to my master.)" Zombie picked up his hand and groaned while attaching it back. "...bully~..." ymore murmured looking away from him. "..." Zombie sighed and approached the petite guest. "Graough. (Once again, I''m sorry.) Graough. (You''re cute enough without using skills, but I''m undead, charms won''t work on me.) Graough? (Okay?)" He reached to her head again but this time he started patting it instead. "Hmph...! At least you know a little about the after-care..." ymore grumbled ring at Zombie with eyes from which the little hearts were slowly fading. "Graough. (I have no idea of what you mean, but let''s go already.)" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and grabbed ymore''s hand. With their size difference, it looked as if an adult was leading a sulking child. Chapter 61: Troublesome circumstances

Chapter 61: Troublesome circumstances

Back in her room, Cranberry, wearing a dress that she tolerated the most, was leaning back in the chair and flipping through the pages of one of her many books. But her eyes weren''t following the text at all. Instead, she was focused on listening in for the approaching footsteps. Of course, she wasn''t sure whether or not her mother would allow ymore to stay for a bit, but still, the red-haired girl couldn''t help but feel anticipation thinking about the possibility of having a conversation with the person she was exchanging letters since she was eleven. The whole thing with letters started rather simply. One day after the first kill party, a polite letter arrived at the Pride''s mansion, asking about Cranberry''s health. It was written by ymore Lust and therefore couldn''t be ignored sody Raspberry made Cranberry respond. But after she did, another letter arrived just a few dayster. She responded to it too, but then again another letter came after mere days. ymore was either too thick-headed or too starved for interaction with someone who wasn''t confessing their love after few first words, that she or he - depending on ymore''s mood - was adamant on keeping the rtionship alive. Soon Cranberry took a liking to this exchange and would write to ymore without waiting for the response. And now ymore arrived at her home. She could have of course pick a better timing. She could have, preferably, warned Cranberry about the visit. But in the end, she was there. "...she won''t try anything stupid with my Zombie, right..?" Suddenly Cranberry looked up from above her book and frowned at the door. /Charm type skill detected /Rotten brain +1[max] active /Charm type skill repelled Just as she finished voicing her concerns, a system message popped up in front of her eyes confirming it. "...I knew I shouldn''t have left those two alone..." She closed the book and started massaging her forehead. /The unique skill of the avatar of sin detected Binding of lust /Calcting... /Rotten brain +1[max] detected /Calcting... /Binding of lust repelled "Ha!" She cheered triumphantly seeing another message. "No. Wait... Stop! ymore, you dumbass, what are you trying to do to my Zombie?!" After the initial reaction Cranberry realized that there was nothing to be happy about in that sutuation. She clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white and stood up, but then froze in mid-air. Zombie managed to repel the skills both times, so the wasn''t really anything to worry about, while, if she went to look for them, she risked meeting her mother. "Haa... Zombie knows that ymore is my friend so he won''t harm her... yeah... I''ll just wait..." She breathed out and sat back down. Then she started tapping her fingers on her arm. Something was off... ymore using seduction skills on others, even though ''others'' meant an undead, was... odd... Completely out of her character even. At least if what she wrote in her letters was the truth. "Haa..." The red-haired girl sighed, frowned, and picked up the book she previously put down, without opening it. Then she started ncing at the door while fidgeting. Honestly, now that no new messages were popping up, Cranberry started feeling anxious. ymore was cute. And no matter whether she acted like a boy or a girl, her personality was cute too. "Haa..." But the person that Cranberry was exchanging letters didn''t like all the excessive attention. But now she was actively looking for it...? Cranberry breathed out again trying to calm down. On the other hand, it was easy for her to fall in love. As a member of the Lust family, ymore''s strike zone was extremely wide, basically epassing anything and everything that had a free will and wouldn''t kill her - which actually was the exact phrase she wrote to Cranberry in one of her letters... And then sent at least twenty letters back to back, taking all of that back, and apologizing, and exining her unique circumstances. The only reason that ymore would try to seduce Zombie would be if one of her problematic skills activate on its own. But that would mean... "...!" Cranberry stormed towards the door pushing aside any furniture in her way, but at thest moment, right before she grabbed the doorknob, the door opened... "Cranberry...!" Crying ymore threw herself at Cranberry''s neck without a moment of hesitation. "Your course puppet was bullying meee...!" ymore sobbed pitifully, hanging off of Cranberry''s neck and looking up at her with tearful eyes. "You have to lend him to me now so..." It sounded like the little guest had some naughty ns on her own. Well... "Graough...?! (Lend me to you...?!) Graough?! (And where did that came from?!)" Zombie entered the room right after ymore, and after hearing the petite guest state such an outrageous demand, he reached towards her head and mercilessly grabbed the tuft of hair that was sticking out, and pulled on it. "Ow, ow, ow! I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I was joking! A joke! It was a joke...!" To protect her precious antenna, ymore had to let go of the frozen Cranberry and grabbed onto Zombie''s arm because the blue undead had literally lifted her up. Because of the size difference, it left ymore pitifully kicking her legs in the air while desperately clinging to Zombie''s outstretched arm. Seeing that interaction made Cranberry tense up and start sweating. "Zombie, enough. Let her go...!" She forced a smile and nodded at her servant. "Graough. (If you say so.)" Zombie nodded back releasing his grip without any dy. "Kyaah! Uuu...!" Cried ymore falling on her but and holding onto her hair tuft. "I see you two are getting along nicely." Cranberry gave her best to act calmly and returned to her desk, picked up the chair she knocked off, and sat on it as if she wasn''t trying to run out of the room just a moment ago. "Graough... (She''s the one having a st at least...)" Zombie grunted with a bitter expression. "Uuu... Nnnngh...! You... you meanie...!" ymore moaned and fidgeted on the floor, she was clenching her legs together and biting her lips looking up at Zombie with moist eyes filled with little ligh-blue hearts. "Graough?! (What the... Again with that?!)" Zombie frowned and it looked like he was going to pull ymore back on her feet. "Don''t touch her now!" The next moment Cranberry was in between the two of them, blocking Zombie''s hand and ymore''s view. "Graough...? (Master...?)" Zombie grunted but Cranberry just nced at him and shook her head. "ymore. ymore, look at me." Her voice was calm andposed, she made sure that the heart-filled eyes were focusing on her. "Cran...! I want him...! I want hiiim...!" It looked like the petite girl was in some kind of trance, with a flushed bright red face, each of her breaths was appearing as steam, and she was continuing to rub her legs together. "ymore. Focus. You came here today so we can write you a training program like you wanted, remember?" Cranberry exined slowly. "Ooohhh, I wille alright...! As long as he will be training me...!" A lustful smile bloomed on ymore''s face, and it made her look so insanely captivating that it could only bepared to an actual physical attack. /Warning /Dominion of Lust activated Iron will (level 2) active /Calcting... /Master resisted the effects of the dominion /Rotten brain +1[max] active /Calcting... /Servant resisted the effects of the dominion Actually, messages that popped up straight-up confirmed that it really was an attack...! Chapter 62: Dominion of lust

Chapter 62: Dominion of lust

"Graough?! (How can it be?!) Graough?! (Wait... so those hearts are like a special animation for her or something?!)" Zombie growled, peeking at ymore from behind Cranberry''s shoulder. "Don''t look at her! You''re the reason for this so just stay away for a moment, you rotten brain!" Cranberry''s face twisted in fury and she snapped at her servant. "Did she said anything about getting in the mood?!" She clicked her lips and focused back on the girl that was slowly releasing light-blue steam. "Graough...? (Mood...?) Graough?! (So that''s what she meant?!)" /Warning /Dominion of Lust is expanding Iron will (level 2) active /Calcting... /Master resisted the effects of the dominion /Rotten brain +1[max] active /Calcting... /Servant resisted the effects of the dominion The air was filling up with overwhelming pressure. "I told you to shut up!" Cranberry red back at her servant which caused him to promptly close his mouth and back off a step. With that, Cranberry turned back to the heavily breathing ymore and firmly grabbed her head. "ymore. If you let loose now, I will never talk or write to you again." She spoke clearly in an ice-cold voice. "...!" That seemed to work. "Yo-you''re joking... You''ve said that you''re my friend, right...? Friends can lend each other a man, right?" ymore flinched and her eyes widened. "We''ve been exchanging letters for so long and you still dare to say something like that...?" The temperature in the room seemed to drop by more than a few degrees, as Cranberry expression matched her voice. "B-but you''ve said that you don''t mind lending your books...! What''s the difference...?!" ymore twitched and tried to argue back while constantly sending lustful nces at the blue undead hunched behind Cranberry, making an annoyed expression. "Graough! (Master!) Graough! (I don''t want to go anywhere without you!) Graough! (I refuse to be lent to anyone!)" Zombie grunted angrily and turned away from the fussy girl. "Books are my property and Zombie is also my property." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and said indifferently. "Then...!" "I''m willing to lend the books, but Zombie is only mine, and only for me. Both are my property and therefore it''s up to me to decide what I want to do with either. So don''t you even dare to tell me what should I do." Cranberry spoke over ymore and exined giving off enough pressure to make the room feel stuffy. "Graough! (That''s right!) Graough! (I''m more important for her than some books!)" Zombie scoffed at ymore and from his position he was unable to notice that Cranberry''s ears got a little bit red. "Cheapskate! You wrote me that you''re not using him anyway, so why won''t you just lend him to me?! I''m not asking you to give him to me forever! And I''m not going to break him either! If anything, he will be doing the breaking instead!" ymore shouted and the amount of blue steam that she was releasing doubled in an instant as she began stomping her feet like a spoiled brat. "Graough? (What is that supposed to mean?) Graough? (I will be doing the breaking?) Graough? (So, what?) Graough? (Does she want me to help her defeat some monsters or something?)" Zombie tilted his head and growled in confusion. It was the straw that broke the camel''s back, and ymore''s behavior seemed to be too much to take even for Cranberry. Without another word, she picked up her baseball bat and swung it a mere inch in front of ymore''s face. The air pressure of the swing alone was so strong that the girl tumbled back like a tumbleweed and stopped against the wall next to the doors. "Uhyy!" more loudly sucked in some air inplete shock. /Warning /Dominion of Lust is expanding Iron will (level 2) active /Calcting... /Master resisted the effects of the dominion /Rotten brain +1[max] active /Calcting... /Servant resisted the effects of the dominion The light-blue mist might have been blown away but the pressure from ymore''s skill increased even more instead. "You...! You just...!" ymore was breathing heavily, but her eyes cleared out a bit, and specks of sanity could be seen in between the sparkling light-blue hearts. Cranberry threw away her bat and crouched in front of the fuming ymore. "ymore. I''m serious. I will never talk or write to you again.." She said looking straight into her eyes. "You won''t...?" ymore''s eyes widened and her chin trembled. The pressure started dissipating and the pale-blue hearts began fading from her big brown eyes. "Ever." Cranberry confirmed with a dead-serious expression. "B-but, we friends, right...? You have written that yourself before... right...?" ymore blinked and smiled awkwardly, but panic in her voice was crystal clear. "Well, I''ll just break our friendship then." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "N-nooo!" ymore''s eyes returned to normal and she threw herself at Cranberry. "No! Cranberry! Don''t say that! Don''t!" The petite girl cried pitifully with steams of tears running down her face as she clung to Cranberry with all her might. /Dominion of lust deactivated "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out with relief and started patting ymore''s head. "Now, now. It''s okay already." She said gently. "Cran... Don''t hate me...! Don''t stop being my frieeeend...!" ymore was bawling her eyes pitifully, there were no traces of the unique skill left. "You stopped yourself so there''s no reason for me to do that, isn''t that right?" Cranberry smiled and gently pulled ymore away. "I''m sorry for threatening you like that, but I was following exactly what you have written to me. I had to stop you." Cranberry apologized and patted ymore''s head one more time. "Y-yeah... Thank y-you.." The petite girl sobbed and nodded. "..." Zombie was standing by the door and looking at the two of them with utter confusion. "Haa... well... I guess I should exin to you what just happened..." Cranberry sighed ncing at her servant. "So that you won''t do stupid shit like that to ymore ever again...!" "...!" She frowned making Zombie frown and look away.. "Because that situation just now was one hundred percent your fault, and it could have caused a huge trouble for all of us!" "..." "Haa... Rotten brain..." After not receiving even one remorseful grunt Cranberry shook her head in annoyance. Chapter 63: Nice to meet you

Chapter 63: Nice to meet you

ymore was prudently sitting on the bed with an apologetic look on her face. Cranberry was sitting on the chair by the desk, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. She was staring daggers at Zombie who was attempting to act like a dumb corpse and continued to stubbornly stare into the distance. "First of all, now that it''s safe, apologize to her." Cranberry demanded coldly and Zombie flinched. "...graough...? (...and why should I...?)" The blue undead turned his head to the side and raised his shoulders defensively. "Don''t you dare groan back at me like that!" Cranberry scoffed at him and crossed her arms. "Cranberry... Don''t be too harsh on him... It was all on me anywa..." ymore joined the conversion with a weak voice. "No. You are my friend and my guest, this rotten brain had no reason to get all touchy with you in the first ce!" Cranberry interrupted her and shook her head in anger. "He''s my servant, and he should know better than that! Haa! To even try to...uching another woman!" It seemed like in her irritation she bit her tongue and stuttered. "...Cranberry... are you jealous...?" Though it seemed that ymore had a different idea about that, and asked curiously. "Ng...!" Cranberry''s whole body jolted and her face became a bit pink. "N-no! Don''t be ridiculous. It''s not my business that my Zombie is helping you level up your charm or seduction skills or whatever...!" Cranberry straightened her back and raised her head proudly attempting to make her voice sound as indifferent as possible. "Graough...? (Help her level up her skills...?)" "Help me level up my skills?" Both the avatar of lust and the eternal servant asked confused at the same time looking at Cranberry as if she blurted out something that didn''t make any sense. Which was exactly what she did. Under their surprised looks Cranberry fidgeted nervously and made an awkward expression. "What? You mean that none of your lust-base skills leveled up...? Even with all that flir... ying around?" Cranberry''s head bobbed from ymore to Zombie as if she thought that they were just messing with her. "Graough? (Master, what do you mean?) Graough. (That girl and her silly hair were just getting on my nerves.) Graough! (You getting angry at me for that just isn''t fair!) Graough, graough! (You know I get anxious and act rashly when you''re not around for too long!)" "Umm... apologies epted...?" Zombie strayed sulking but somehow his growls were misinterpreted by ymore as an apology. "Haa... ymore, don''t be that easy to fool, my Zombie is not sorry at all." Cranberry shook her head with a sour expression and frowned at her servant. "I told you to apologize." She started tapping her fingers on her forearm. "..." Zombie looked away once again, and send one angry re at ymore. "Ah! Handsome~!" But that only caused her to shiver with rather suspicious intentions. "Hey! What do you think you''re doing?!" Cranberry stood up and walked right up to Zombie and poked at his chest with her index finger. "You have some guts ring at my friend like that!" She grabbed the cor of his shirt and pulled him down with enough force to level a small house. Thankfully, both the structural integrity of the mansion and Zombie''s body survived that with thetter only bending his back and ending up on the same eye level as his master. "...graough... (...master, this really isn''t my fau...)" He started groaning grumpily but was interrupted almost immediately. "Zombie, shut up and listen. ymore has a special condition, she is the third person in her entire bloodline with an ideal body for the avatar of lust." Cranberry leaned in even closer and started whispering to Zombie''s ear. "When something excites her, she unintentionally unleashes her inborn skills, and all of them are based around the sin of lust. She still can''t control that, and always feels really shitty for causing trouble for others, at least that''s what she wrote me." Cranberry paused and nced at the girl on the bed. ymore was staring at them wide-eyed, she wasn''t sitting properly anymore either, instead, she pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs which wasn''t the most sensible way of sitting while wearing a dress. "Right now she seems to be infatuated with how rough you were with her, so if you start acting all apologetically, she should return to normal." Cranberry exined. "Graough...? (But master, she''s already acting normal, no...?)" Zombie groaned in a hushed voice. "...Zombie, you don''t know how she normally acts at all... I only realized it after you two left to see my mother, but ymore got excited the moment you kicked her carriage." Cranberry pulled away and looked Zombie in the eyes. "No matter what she said, she was already in the mood from then on." She said slowly, making sure that Zombie will understand her. "And she will not return to her usual state unless you turn her off. You started it, you have to end it." She let go of his shirt and patted his chest. "So go ahead and act like a wuss for a while, okay?" She smiled a little and turned away. "Apologize!" Cranberry turned back and demanded making an angry face. "Graough! (Yes, master!)" Zombie growled and walked over to the bed where ymore was sitting and fell on his knees. "Graough...! (I''m sorry...!) Graough...! (I''m so sorry...!) Graough! (Please forgive, kind miss!) Graough! (I am a pathetic corpse! Please forgive me!)" He started growling and crying pitifully repeatedly bowing his head. "...eh...?" ymore opened her eyes in shock and stared at the scene, she looked at Cranberry for any exnation but the red-haired girl was conveniently looking the other way. "...you just give in like that...?" ymore asked with such crushing disappointment that even Zombie felt bad for her for a moment. "So... do you ept his apologies...?" Cranberry asked innocently. "...yeah..." ymore nodded disheartened. With that answer, Zombie stood up and walked back to his master''s side and they both carefully watched ymore. The petite girl pulled her legs down from the bed and straightened her dress. She was furrowing her brows while staring at the floor as if something was bothering her. The tuft of hair standing up on top of her head wavered and fell t,pletely assimting with her hairstyle. Then she raised one hand and covered her eyes. Then she raised the other one, leaned forward, and burrowed her face in both hands. "I guess this is our proper meeting then...?" Cranberry asked cautiously. "...I really didn''t want to show you that side of me during our first meeting, Cranberry..." ymore''s muffled voice was full of intense shame and regret. "Sorry for not noticing sooner." Cranberry approached her and patted her shoulder. "...Maybe it''s better that you have seen me like that right from the getgo..." ymore put her hands down and lowered her head to Cranberry. When she straightened her back after that, she had a neutral expression, which in turn made her look very in. "This is so embarrassing. After so much trouble of getting permission to leave my house, I end up like that. Once again, I''m really sorry for the trouble." ymore in her base state was a polite and serious person. Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smiled reassuringly. "With that out of the way, should we start creating your training regime? You have to tell me your current stats and skills first though." She pulled out few sheets of paper and a pencil and sat down beside ymore. "Thank you. I really, really appreciate that. So, I''m level..." Chapter 64: The roles had been selected

Chapter 64: The roles had been selected

"Graough... (That avatar of sin thing must be a huge annoyance...)" Even though ymore left two whole days ago, Zombie was still bothered by the side effects of her powers. "What is it...?" Cranberry put down the knife and fork and nced at her servant curiously. The two of them were in the dining room alone and, as always, Cranberry was having a meal and Zombie was observing her. "Graough. (Ah, no, it''s nothing, sorry for bothering you.)" The blue undead waved his hand dismissively and grunted an apology. "Graough. (I was just thinking that life must sucks for those with the avatar title.) Graough? (Maybe even your mother is how she is because of some side effects?)" He added tilting his head and furrowing his brows which indicated great focus. "..." Cranberry gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. "Haa... Let''s see..." She then breathed out and everything seemed like she was going to directly answer the question that she shouldn''t be able to even understand when... /Global event begins /Calcting... /Preparationplete /Servant receives a role The proudest corpse/capture target /Master receives a role Backstory character With no fanfares or even any reason whatsoever, a short series of messages popped up. "Graough?! (Huh?!)" "...!" The master and servant both stared at them in disbelief. The writing itself looked a lot fancier than the usual one, but aside from that, there was nothing special about them. Well, aside from their meaning... *crunch* "...?" At the sound of something getting crushed Zombie turned towards his master and saw her slowly putting down two halves of the table that she just broke in half. "Graough... (Master, this...)" Zombie stood up and stepped towards her. His groan obviously was referring to the messages about the global events... "Backstory character...? Backstory character... So I''m not even supposed to partake in the global event...? Me...? Me?!" Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, and was shaking with fury. She suddenly turned towards Zombie and stared at him as if she wanted him to deny what she said. "Graough... (Master...)" Zombie murmured sadly. This was exactly what he expected. After all, that world was the world of some unknown, at least to Zombie, otome game with a rather obvious quirk that even the undead with a rotten brain title could realize. The important characters all had names that didn''t follow themon rule. All of the unimportant characters had names that followed that rule. Yes. Unimportant characters in the nation of Fruit Basket were named after fruits. Cranberry was obviously one of them. Though until now Zombie was hoping that he would also be counted amongst the unimportant ones. But even the dread of being the capture target in a game he had no idea about couldn''tpare to how worried he was about Cranberry at that moment. Unimportant in the game or not, Cranberry was an actual living person in that world. A person with the amount of pride several magnitudes higher than other people. The chance of her calmly epting such a derogatory role as a random background character was even less than zero. "Grao... (Mas...)" "Global event! An event happening once every few hundred years that changes the fate of the world! A thing like that wants to push me away from my rightful spot?!" Cranberry shouted over Zombie''s attempts to calm her down. She seemed ready to blow up at any moment. But instead, she reached up to Zombie, grabbed his left arm, and stormed out of the dining room pulling him along. "Graough?! (What are you doing, master?!)" Zombie growled in confusion. "Shut up! We''re going to the library! I''m going to find a solution to this shitshow before it gets toote!" Cranberry growled furiously not looking back. "G-graough...? (O-of course I''ll help you but...?)" "No! Shut up! You''reing with me! I will not allow you to be captured by anyone, ever! You are mine and mine alone! Forever!" Once again she shouted over him. Before Zombie could open his mouth again they were already in the mansion''s library and Cranberry locked the door behind them. Then she pulled Zombie between the shelves and started pointing at the books. "From here to here, you grab all of those, I''m taking those." She slid her hand across multiple books and then started picking up many others by herself. She did all of that while using only one hand since she was using the other one to hold on to Zombie''s left arm. "Graough... (Um... master, I would love to grab those, but...)" The blue undead growled awkwardly and raised his right arm presenting the totally stiff hand and immobile fingers. Cranberry red at him as if he spit in her face. "Haa?! What, am I supposed to let go of you and let you get captured?!" She basically barked and stuck to him even harder. "Graough...? (Then, maybe at least you will hold this hand...?)" Zombie growled apologetically and shook his right hand a little. "Don''t be stupid!" Cranberry scoffed at him and returned to pick up any book of which the title suggested any connection with the global events of the past. "If someone will barge in and grab you, the stupid stitches can give out and I''ll be left with your dumb right hand! No! No way! I''m not letting you go unless I find the answer I want!" She shook her head like a stubborn child and desperately clung to Zombie with all her might. Thankfully she wasn''t using any skills or else even Zombie''s insane defense stats wouldn''t save him, since he didn''t even consider activating any skills himself. "Besides, you don''t need to actually be grabbing anything. Just put your arm forward and I''ll stack the books on top." It seemed that having as much physical contact as possible was reassuring enough for the red-haired girl to ease her nerves a bit so she came to a sensible solution for that particr problem. After a few minutes, they got to the desk with a tall stack of hopefully relevant books. "Here, let me know if you''ll find something." Cranberry went ahead and opened one of the books for Zombie and then quickly started reading through a different one herself. She was flipping the page before Zombie even started reading his first one. At least now that they were sitting, Cranberry settled with linking arms so Zombie could use his left hand. Unfortunately, the book that he had didn''t go into much detail about any system events, but it delved quite deep into skills and titles. Surprisingly, Zombie found a description of the one title that Cranberry was often using as an insult against him. Rotten brain - one of the high-grade titles, boosting MDF and providing immunity to most charm and control type skills up to the high-level ones. It isn''t rmended since ites with major demerits of lowering the intelligence of the bearer, and also lowering their MAT. Mostmonly obtained by high-level corpse puppets but it is possible for a living human to received it or be born with it. In such cases it was recognized that the skill dulls themon sense and intuition of the bearer, making them unable to recognize sarcasm, jokes, and romantic interest of others towards them. "Nothing in this... one...!" Cranberry put away her book and reached for another one, while doing so she rubbed against Zombie. Her face became slightly pink and she sneaked a peek at him. "Did you found something...?" She asked carefully gauging his reaction. "Graough...! (No. Just some baseless usations...!)" He shook his head shutting the covers. "Graough! (Hmph! The only joke here is this book!)" He frowned and pushed the book away. "Okay...?" Cranberry raised her eyebrow, but since Zombie didn''t look like he was going to growl anymore she cuddled up to him, rested her head against his shoulder, and opened another book. Chapter 65: Research

Chapter 65: Research

Although Cranberry did say that she wasn''t going to let him go until she finds the solution, Zombie didn''t expect her to mean it in a literal sense. But she actually was... "Graough...! (Master, I really think that I should stay outside...!)" He growled, doing his best to not be pulled through the door to the toilet. "I am not going to let you get captured while I''m doing my business...!" Cranberry was like apact heavy-duty truck, and even though Zombie used most of his skills, he ended up getting forced inside. "Don''t stare..." Cranberry furrowed her brows and grumbled lowering her head to hide the red face. "EH...?!" *crash* As they were walking out of there they encountered one of the maids returning fromdy Raspberry room carrying a tea set on a tray. The woman stared between the Master-Servant pair and then at the room they came out of together, let out a baffled scream, and dropped the tray which resulted in loud noise of tea set breaking. Cranberry red at her with ice-cold eyes. "What is your role?" She asked in a voice brimming with usation, grabbed her baseball bat that Zombie was always carrying on his back, and pointed it at the maid. "A-ah...! I-I''m a maid! I''m just a maid! I swear I won''t tell anyone! I haven''t seen anything!" The woman panicked and hurriedly dropped on her knees and started picking up the pieces of the broken porcin. "..." Cranberry gritted her teeth, and her eyes and arm started glowing. "Graough. (Living, my master didn''t mean your job.)" Zombie felt obliged to exin so he groaned at the maid. The woman flinched and looked up, just to see the end of the bat less than an inch away from her head. "I asked... what is your role... in the global event...!" Cranberry growled through her teeth, shaking from anger, ready to blow up at any moment. "Ah...! B-background character...! Background character! Please don''t hurt me, young miss...!" The maid trembled and raised her arms to protect her head. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out with relief and lowered her weapon. "Zombie, we''re going back to the library." She leaned on Zombie''s shoulder and looked up at him with tired eyes. "Graough... (Master, you should go eat something first...)? Graough! (We''ve been searching for the answers for a whole day!) Graough! (I''m worried about you!)" Zombie groaned making a worried expression and tugging on Cranberry''s clothes, trying to convey what he meant the best he could. Cranberry frowned and looked away, breaking eye contact. "Graough... (Cranberry, please...) Graough. (It''s definitely okay for you to eat something.)" Zombie nudged her side. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and straightened her back. "You." She turned to the terrified maid. "Y-yes...?!" The woman flinched and yelped. "Bring me something that''s light and easy to eat to the library." "O-of course! Right away, youngdy!" The maid bowed her head repeatedly, picked up all the broken pieces on the tray, and ran away as fast as she could. "Are you happy now...?" Cranberry grumbled hiding her face behind Zombie''s shoulder. "Graough! (Yes!) Graough! (It''s important that you''ll take care of yourself, master!)" Zombie groaned and nodded with satisfaction. The two of them returned to the library to bury themselves in books. Cranberry took only a short break when the scared maid delivered her meal, and although Zombie as an undead didn''t need any breaks, he still put down the book to watched Cranberry eat. Soon enough the daylight shining through the windows dimmed and the night came. That didn''t mean much for Cranberry, she merely lighted a candle and continued her searched. As for Zombie, he didn''t even need a candle since one of the properties of his undead body skill was the ability to see in the dark. The hours passed and another day arrived with no leads found. "Graough... (Master, you should go to sleep...)" Zombie gently nudged Cranberry''s side and groaned in a voice brimming with worry. "..." The red-haired girl raised her head from above the book and red at him coldly but didn''t say a thing and went back to reading almost immidiately. "Graough, graough... (Master, please, you''ve barely eaten anything, you don''t want to rest, I''m worried about you...)" Zombie growled and started tugging on her sleeve. "..." Cranberry frowned and red at him again. "Don''t bother me now. I think I''ve found something." She exined shortly and looked back down. "Graough?! (Really?!) Graough! (Let me see it too!)" Zombie growled happily and leaned towards Cranberry to have a peek at the information. "No!" *m* Cranberry shut the book on the table and shook her head in a rather suspicious disy. "Graough...? (Umm, master...?)" Zombie tilted his head in confusion. "I-it doesn''t say anything about capture targets and all, just some random information about the previous global event! There''s no need for you to read that! J-just search the other books for different information!" It was unusual for Cranberry to lose her cool like that so it only made Zombie more worried. "Graough... (Master, you must be so tired...)" Zombie''s expression turned really sad and he reached his hand towards Cranberry''s head. She didn''t pull away and instead leaned forward. "Nnn... haa..." When the cold hand touched her forehead she let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes. "It''s alright, Zombie, if I''ll feel really tired I''ll go rest." She promised and even smiled a little. "Graough. (Don''t push yourself too hard.)" Zombie smiled back and pulled back his hand. After that, the only sound in the library was the sound of pages being flipped. Suddenly Cranberry opened her eyes and jolted up in panic. The candle she was using for the light source was already nearly burnt out even though she clearly remembered changing it out to a fresh one. "Zombie?! ZOMBIE?!" No matter where she looked she couldn''t see her servant anywhere. "Graough. (Master, calm down.)" But her servant was there the whole time. Only that instead of him sitting next to her, she was sitting on hisp while he wrapped his right arm around her waist and was using his left one to flip through the pages of another book. "Ah...! Eh...? What happened...?" Cranberry fidgeted in confusion, raised her head, and looked up at Zombie. "Graough. (Master, even though you promised, you totally fell asleep.)" He groaned with a hint of usation resounding in his voice. "Graough. (You fell asleep and almost knocked over the candle.) Graough... (You kept rolling around in your sleep, which is dangerous...) Graough... (So I had to keep you in check...) Graough! (Oh, you stopped iling your arms as soon as I hugged you!) Graough! (You really are the cutest!)" Zombie growled all of that without even an inkling of embarrassment and left Cranberrypletely speechless. "Haa... fine, whatever..." She quickly turned around and breathed out after shrugging her shoulders, doing her best to stay calm. Without changing her position, she picked up a book that she had fallen asleep on and found thest sentence she remembered. "Graough...? (Master, shouldn''t you go to bed...?) Graough...? (See, your nape is really red, maybe you have a fever...?)" Worried Zombie groaned and gently touched the back of Cranberry''s neck. "?!!!!?!?!????!!!" *THUNK* Cranberry jumped up as if she was sshed with a bucket of ice-cold water, and instantly afternding back on Zombie''sp she nted her forehead firmly on the desk. "Graough...? (Master...?)" Zombie tilted his head, unaware of what he did wrong. "...you... rotten brain..." Cranberry, hidden between the curtain of her red hair, did her best to control her voice but even with all that willpower, she ended up sounding very bashful. Chapter 66: A capture target is...

Chapter 66: A capture target is...

With the dawn of the third day of the research, Zombie finally realized something. Cranberry clearly didn''t know what a capture target role really was, and she took its name extremely literally. She thought it meant that Zombie''s role was to be the opposite of hot potato - that everyone involved would want to physically abduct him to gain some unknown advantages during the global event. That''s why she was so worried, didn''t want to let go of him even for a second, and was prepared to fight for him at any given moment. And all of that was very clearly taking a toll on her. Never seen before dark bags appeared under her eyes and she was snapping at others way more than she usually did. It seemed that the only way for her to return to normal was to find a method to keep her servant safe... ...or to let her know what the capture target role actually was... If only there was someone close to her, who, by some divine chance, was a reincarnated person from another world, and even though he didn''t know exactly what was going on, he at least knew the meaning of some of the words that the system used... ... Yeah... Mainly because of the side-effects of the rotten brain title, it took Zombie three whole days to realize that he could simply write what a capture target was on a sheet of paper and slid in in one of the books she hadn''t read yet. And eventually, that was the n he came up with. Though he kind of forgot that Cranberry was right next to him ALL THE TIME. "Oh, are you drawing something? Can I have a look?" Curious Cranberry nced over her book at the paper that Zombie took prepared and already started scribbling on. "Graough... (N-nothing...)" Zombie tried to cover it with his right hand, but he didn''t do it properly, leaving quite a bit of already written text for Cranberry to read since he couldn''t move his fingers. "...capture target is a character..." Cranberry slowly read the words and her expression turned cold and extremely suspicious. "What is this? Are you trying to make fun of me?!" She clicked her head and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Graough...! (N-no! It''s just that I actually know what it is...!)" Zombie hurriedly shook his head and denied such an usation with all his might. "...show it to me..." Cranberry reached out her hand and waited, ring at her servant. At that point, the blue undead could only sigh and hand her what he wrote. "Capture target is a character that the heroine will have to raise her affection with if she chooses to end up with him..." Cranberry read out loud and started massaging her forehead with a tired expression. "Haa... Zombie, I know you are really worried about me, but making up some nonsense won''t really help." She sighed and smiled apologetically at her servant. "Graough! (No, master, it''s not like that!) Graough...! (Wait, no, I am really worried about you...!)" Zombie got confused for a moment, causing Cranberry to raise her brows in suspicion. "Graough! (What I mean is, I actually know what a capture target is! And it''s this!)" Zombie was giving his best to show that he is serious and pointed at the note he wrote. "..." Cranberry made a sour expression and looked back at the note. Her eyes traced the writing and she sighed again. "I really can''t imagine this being true..." She shook her head. "Zombie, all the previous global events had something to do with war, conquest, and so on. This..." Cranberry tapped the note. "This suggests that the current global event will be some sort of marriage interview for that whole heroine. Haa..." She kept on sighing and slowly shaking her head from side to side. "It''s not like I think you are lying to cause me harm, but I..." All of a sudden Cranberry stopped talking. At first, Zombie thought that she was thinking about a good word to use, but then he realized that his master was staring at the baseball bat by the chair. "...no way..." Cranberry muttered and turned her eyes to Zombie. "Could it be... is it the same as with that weapon...?" She asked cautiously. The blue undead looked between the baseball bat and his master in shock. For a second he had no idea what she meant but then something in his brain clicked and he realized his chance. "Graough! (Yes! It is exactly like that!)" Zombie nodded vigorously. "Graough! (I don''t know why do I know that, but I know it!) Graough! (It''s definitely the truth!)" Once before Zombie used his knowledge from another world to help Cranberry. As a child, he''d drawn a blueprint for the first baseball bat she ever used. And even if it wasn''t some groundbreaking discovery or creation, no one could exin howe an undead like Zombie coulde up with it. Back then, he simply wrote that one day he just had that knowledge in his head, and everyone took it as something connected with Cranberry''s unique skill. Now was the chance to use the same trick again. Cranberry was reading the note for the third time, but this time, she was way more focused. "This heroine. Who is she supposed to be?" Cranberry put the note on the table and pointed at the word of interest. Zombie hurriedly apologized, took another sheet, and started writing. "Heroine is the lead or main character, she is the center of all the events happening during a story..." Cranberry was reading his words as soon as he wrote them. "So... like a heroine in a romance novel...?" She asked for a confirmation. "Graough. (Exactly.)" Zombie nodded with a solemn expression. "It''s still a bit strange... Anyway, the capture target role. Do you know if you are the only one?" Cranberry asked with a frown and looked at his hand expectantly. "Most definitely no, there should be multiple ones. Two is a bare minimum, but the maximum depends on the scope of the story... haa... I see, so considering that this is a part of a global event, you might not be in quite as much of a danger as I thought." She breathed out in relief and this time for the first time in three days she actually looked rxed. "Thank goodness...!" She leaned on Zombie''s shoulder detingpletely. "...say... that whole heroine... do you think she will have something like the affection and bond levels like we do...?" Cranberry sat back up straight and asked concerned. "Graough. (Yes, she definitely should... at least the affection one.)" Zombie groaned but also wrote it down just in case. "...that makes me wonder... the maid said she''s a background character, but I''m a backstory character. Doesn''t that sound like I have no ce in the actual event? Like, am I supposed to be killed off or something?" Cranberry sighed and shook her head. "Ha ha! As if!" She let out a shortugh and grinned. "...!" Cranberry might have been joking, but Zombie certainly didn''t share her sense of humor. Instead, he feared her words to be dreadfully urate... Chapter 67: Always knew...

Chapter 67: Always knew...

Zombie was sitting on the floor right next to Cranberry''s bed, and he was in a foul mood. "Are you seriously still brooding over my little joke...?" Cranberry''s head popped up from beneath the covers and she asked in disbelief. "Graough! (No, I''m not!)" Zombie growled not looking back at her and started tracing circles on the floor with his finger. "I can see you can''t get over it." Cranberry, nested on the bed, murmured to Zombie''s back. "Graough. (It wasn''t funny at all.)" Zombie responded all sulky. "Graough! (And as far as we know the story might actually go that way!)" He really couldn''t let go of that. That''s why he was in Cranberry''s room in the first ce, even though she calmed down and didn''t refuse to let go of him. Now he wanted to stick around her just in case something would happen. "Are you angry at me...?" After a few minutes of silence, Cranberry asked in a careful voice and pulled her hand out from the covers, reaching for Zombie. "Graough... (I''m not, I know you can protect yourself...)" He grumbled and offered his left hand without even looking as if he knew exactly what his master wanted. "Ha ha~!" Cranberry giggled happily and intertwined their fingers. She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out with relief and closed her eyes. "You know? It''s not like I''m invincible." She said suddenly, making Zombie flinch and turn towards her. "Please, don''t hate me for what I''m about to say..." Her tone changedpletely, making Zombie had a bad feeling. "Even after what all we''ve been through together until now, I cannot get myself to fully trust you." She said without opening her eyes. "Graough?! (Huh?!)" Zombie growled. "Don''t get me wrong... I do believe what you say, I can see that you are giving your best, and only wish to help me but..." Her voice shook and she squeezed Zombie''s hand a bit harder. "I can''t understand why." She said heavily. "I treated you so badly when we first met. During our training sessions I was beating you mercilessly for any mistake I thought you made." Cranberry hid her head under the covers. "...I... Because of how I feared my mother, I treated you exactly how she treated me..." "...graough... (...master...)" Zombie growled in a pained voice. "But despite all that, you always treated me with absolute obedience, just like I did my mother. I could never understand why... was it because of my magic that made you my eternal servant? Or was it because we really are simr and you are also nning to..." Cranberry stopped talking and took a deep breath. She gently caressed Zombie''s hand with her thumb. "Graough! (Master! It''s not like that at all!) Graough! (I know what you''ve been through!) Graough! (I understand you even though we can''tmunicate that well!)" Zombie got up on his knees and leaned against Cranberry''s bed. "..." Cranberry was silent. "Graough...! (Master, don''t be so hard on yourself...!) Graough... (No matter what you did during our training sessions, I never once thought you did that out of malice...) Graough, graough... (You just tried your best to cope with everything, and having a rotten brain like me around must have caused you even more worries...) Graough...! (I know that you can''t really understand me, I will go write it down and...!)" Before Zombie''s growls reached their climax, Cranberry slowly poked her face from beneath the covers and looked at him with extreme anxiety. "Zombie..." She started and her servant closed his mouth instantly. "This is the reason I asked you not to hate me..." Cranberry sighed heavily and took a deep breath as if she was readying herself for a leap of faith. "I already know all of that." She said. "Graough...? (Huh...?) Graough...! (Oh, because I wrote to you about it before...!)" Zombie groaned in realization and nodded. "No." Cranberry shook her head and opened her eyes. "I know all of that because I can understand your growls." She confessed. "I understand what you''re saying when you groan. I always did. I just... acted as if I didn''t... because I didn''t trust you..." "...!" Zombie stared at her, baffled out of his mind. "Graough...? (Are you serious...?)" He groaned and Cranberry nodded in response. "Graough...? (You understand me...?)" He asked. "Yes, I do." She confirmed. "Graough...? (And, you always did...?)" "Yes. From the very beginning." "..." Zombie took back his hand, and Cranberry didn''t try to stop him. Her chin started shaking as if she was about to cry and she hid behind the covers again. "Graough! (That''s so embarrassing!)" Zombie growled and hid his face in his hands. "Eh...?!" Cranberry popped her head back up and stared at her blue undead in confusion. "Graough! (Noo! I said all those embarrassing stuff thinking you can''t understand!)" Zombie cried pitifully, curling into a ball next to Cranberry''s bed. "Graough...? (So even when I said that...?) Graough...?! (And even that...?!) Graough?! (You knew what I was saying?!)" He shook his head to the sides trembling from shame. "Y-you''re not mad at me...." Cranberry stuttered, secretly wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Graough! (I am mad!)" Zombie raised his head and showed his embarrassed face. "Graough! (Master you''re so mean!) Graough! (And I always thought you just had that good of an intuition!) Graough! (I made such a fool out of myself!)" He cried. "Graough...! (Noo...! I''m going to die from shame...!)" "There''s no way you could die from that, you dummy." Cranberry managed to smile a little. "Graough! (I definitely can!) Graough...! (Ugh! This must be why you always called me rotten brain...!) Graough! (You understood what I was saying, but I never realized!) Graough! (I am so dumb!)" Zombie fell on his side and rolled under the bed. "Z-Zombie?!" Cranberry gasped and hurriedly shuffled on the mattress and leaned over to peek at him. "Graough...! (Just let me rot in here...!)" The blue undead cried pitifully. "Haa... Zombie, get out of there..." Cranberry sighed and reached towards him. As soon as she grabbed the piece of his shirt, she pulled him out effortlessly. "Ugh...! Why are you so dusty?! Did maid''s never cleaned under there or something...?" Cranberry leaned away taken aback. "Graough... (Master, since you''ve told me the truth does that mean that you trust me now...?)" Zombie uncurled and nced at the girl from between his fingers. "...well..." Cranberry sighed and crawled back on the mattress and buried herself in the covers. "...let''s just say that..." She seemed to be carefully choosing her words. "...if I''m a backstory character that is supposed to die anyway, I wouldn''t mind getting killed by you as a part of your backstory..." She confessed and turned away before Zombie could even respond. Chapter 68: The course of action is set!

Chapter 68: The course of action is set!

"Haa..." Cranberry woke up and sighed. She was buried under the covers, but in apletely different position than how she fell asleep in. Without getting out, she stretched carefully, testing the mobility of all of her limbs. "..." Nothing felt wrong, but honestly, that was exactly what was making her confused. In the end, Cranberry couldn''t just stay hidden forever, so she took a deep breath and pulled the covers off. There it was, her room. "You actually didn''t kill me." She spoke, staring at the familiar ceiling, and turned towards the blue undead casually sitting on the floor beside her bed, as if that was the ce he belonged. "Graough? (Did you really thought I''d do that?)" Zombie tilted his head in confusion. "Well... Yes." Cranberry''s eyes darted to the left. "Graough?! (Master, how could you even think that?!)" Zombie gasped deeply offended. "Graough... (I could understand you having a fear like that if I was a stranger...) Graough? (But we''ve been together for how long already?) Graough...?! (I would think I deserve at least some trust, right...?!)" "..." Cranberry didn''t pay much mind to her fuming servant, instead, she looked back up at the ceiling, thinking deeply over something. "Graough! (Please, don''t ignore me like that!) Graough... (Now that I know that you do understand me, a treatment like that really hurts...)" Zombie lowered his head pitifully. "...cute..." "?!?!" Cranberry muttered and Zombie looked up at her in shock. The red-haired girl in a blue pajama was looking at him with an absentminded smie. "Graough...? (Who? Me...?)" The undead servant asked, tilting his head in confusion and pointing at his own face. "Say, Zombie..." But instead of answering that, Cranberry spoke as if she actually hadn''t understood his growls. "Does that means that you really are on my side?" The tension in her voice betrayed how important this information was for her. "Graough! (Of course, I am!) Graough! (Always was, always will be!)" Zombie shook off the sadness and heartily confirmed his allegiance without any hesitation. "And you swear that you will never betray me?" Cranberry still partially hidden under the covers tensed up, clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Graough! (I do!)" Once again, Zombie''s confirmation came without a second thought. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and got out of the bed. She reached for the nightstand, opened a drawer, and pulled out a simple ss goblet that she had to have prepared beforehand. "Here." She offered the empty goblet to her servant. "Graough...? (If you want me to bring you something to drink, wouldn''t it be better if I take...?) Graough! (Hey, the jug is still half full!)" Zombie groaned and pointing at the jug with water ced on the nightstand next to a ss. "...haa..." Cranberry lowered her head with a heavy sigh. "You know? Since you got that +1 added to your rotten brain title, it seems that you have be even less sharp than ever." She said shaking her hand in an attempt to make Zombie take the goblet. "Are you on my side or not?!" Cranberry burst out angrily. "Graough! (I am!)" Zombie nodded decisively but didn''t make any other movement. "Then take the damn goblet!" Cranberry shook from fury and stomped her foot. /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 19[max]) A sudden system message popped up for both of them. "...!" Zombie flinched but didn''tment. "Ha...?" Cranberry frowned, ring at the message. "HA?!" She shouted when she read through what it said. Her face becamepletely red and her shoulders trembled. "Y-you dare to tease me?!" Her voice rose a few octaves and she showed quite an astounding amount of control by not breaking the fragile ss in her hand. "Graough? (No, why would I?)" And Zombie showed a great amount of denseness by asking in such an innocent tone. "Then how do you exin my charm skill going up?!" The red-haired girl trembled and furrowed her brows doing her best to hide her embarrassment. "And since when was it that high anyway?! I clearly remember it being level 15 not too long ago!" She scoffed shaking her head. "..." Now it was Zombie''s turn to look away. "...haa... what did you do...?" Cranberry sighed, momentarily forgetting about the goblet, and trying to not get her hopes up while keeping the excited fidgeting to a bare minimum. "...graough... (...nothing...)" Her blue undead stubbornly refused to give a proper answer. But that only added to the girl''s expectations. "Haa? It looks like someone was doing something more than just watching over his master while she slept~" The red-haired girl hummed happily. "...graough... (...It''s not my fault, okay...?)" "Eh...?" Zombie grumbled, causing Cranberry to blink repeatably in confusion. "What do you mean by ''not your fault''? What happened?" She asked feeling a cold sweat dripping down her back. ...could... could it be that she did something outrageous...? "Graough... (Master, when you have bad dreams you...) Graough... (Make really cute noises and get clingy.) Graough. (Very clingy.)" The blue undead gave up and confessed with a hint of embarrassment. "...!" Cranberry straightened her back and started looking around the room, unable to figure out a good response to that. "...graough... (...you were crying about your mother again...)" Zombie added, in a much more serious voice. "..." At the mere mention of the word ''mother'' Cranberry''s fluffy mood disappeared without a trace and her eyes turned ice-cold as if a switch inside of her was flipped. "Take it." The red-haired girl demanded, pushing the ss into the blue undead''s face. And that time Zombie took it and looked at it questioningly. "Fill it." Cranberry instructed in an indifferent voice. "Graough...? (With what...?)" Since Zombie couldn''t feel pain, he never truly learned to fear Cranberry, and even after witnessing theplete change in the atmosphere, he still didn''t know any better. "Haa... venom, you rotten brain. Fill it with your soul devouring venom." Cranberry breathed out and exined surprisingly patiently. "Graough... (Master, before I do that, you must promise me that you won''t drink it...)" Zombie looked between the goblet and his master and his face became deadly serious. "..." Cranberry took a long deep breath, raised her leg, and ced her foot on Zombie''s forehead. "Graough....? (Umm, master...?)" The servant asked in confusion. "I can''t even imagine how youe up with such ideas... No, Zombie, I am not my own target." She said rubbing her foot against his head. "Unless you are acting like this because you want to betray me..." Both her re and voice turned even colder in an instant, and she pulled back her leg. "..." Zombie made a sour expression and raised the goblet to his face. "Graough. (Just don''t look too closely, it will be kinda gross.)" He warned her, remembering how she first acted when he used that skill. Then he opened his mouth. His eyes started glowing and within the same time frame, a translucent liquid began dripping from his bared teeth. After a second, the amount increased to an equivalent of a small stream gushing out from the source. Of course, Zombie skillfully caught every single drop to the goblet and stopped producing the venom as soon as it reached the brim. "...that really was nasty..." Cranberry flinched and her body trembled. "Graough. (Yeah, told you.)" Zombie shrugged and licked his teeth clean. Then he carefully ced the goblet on the nightstand. Cranberry watched him and nodded with satisfaction. "Two days ago I found out something interesting." She said without looking away from the translucent venom that managed to kill the overpowered healer not that long ago. "The global event had begun and the system assigned everyone a specific role... but do you know that in the early stage a role can be stolen?" Cranberry smiled, observing the liquid with much interest. "Let''s say that one person kills another person - what would happen to their roles? Obviously, the system would have no choice but to assign the role that was lost to someone else." Her smile became wider. "Apparently, if the character doing the killing originally had an unimportant role and the one getting killed was supposed to be someone special, the special role of the victim would get assigned to the killer. It''s simr to getting a unique title for killing a rare monster." Her wide smile changed into an even wider grin. "You follow me on that?" She asked and after getting a nod of confirmation, she continued. "I just need to find someone with a special role and take it for myself~" Cranberry giggled maliciously. "Though it would be suspicious if I walked to every single person and asked what''s their role is... But thankfully I found out that no matter what, every time there was a global event in the past, some of the most important roles were always given to the avatars of pride. Without any exceptions. That''s actually one of the reasons my family has such a high position." The red-haired girl turned to her blue undead and started humming. "Doesn''t the scenario write itself~?" She stood up and walked to the wardrobe and started pulling out various clothes. "We''re going to kill two birds with one stone~ It really couldn''t get any better~" Her steps were light as a feather, and honestly, Zombie couldn''t remember how many times did he seen his master so ted. "Graough... (Master... don''t tell me...)" He groaned cautiously. "Ah? Even you picked up on it?" Cranberryughed and twirled around holding a simple blue blouse - one of the many clothes that her mother never allowed her to wear because she thought that it doesn''t suit her. "I''m going to assure my spot in the global event and..." She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned at her own reflection. "Get rid of my mother!" Chapter 69: Night of the hungry wolves - start

Chapter 69: Night of the hungry wolves - start

Zombie was standing motionless in the corner of the library, staring at the wall absentmindedly like some dumb corpse, while the setting sun was peeking at him from the window. In recent times he found himself doing that whenever he was deep in thought. And, truth to be told, he was quite bothered at the moment, so he had a lot to think about. Mostly about his master. About the events of the game that was surely starting too... but mostly about his master. She really decided to kill her own mother, and with poison - his corpse devouring venom - off all the avable methods! In the past, Zombie considered many times to attackdy Raspberry for what she did to Cranberry. Yet he never acted on those impulses. After all, no matter what,dy Raspberry was Cranberry''s mother. In the past, no matter how badly she was treated, no matter how muchdy Raspberry was trying to control her life - what skills she trained, what food she ate, what clothes she wore, - Cranberry was always giving her best, trying to win her mother''s approval. But it seemed that the master of the eternal servant finally be fed up with all of that. Funnily enough, Zombie had no trouble epting Cranberry''s decision at all. What he was worried about was whether she couldplete her n without getting caught or not. Even if they were mother and daughter, their rtionship wasn''t good enough for Cranberry to suddenly arrive ondy Raspberry''s doorstep and offer her a nice ss of chilled beverage without raising any suspicion. And since even Zombie knew that then everyone else in the mansion knew it too. She had so many other assassination methods to chose from. Well, not necessarily assassination ones either. With how strong she was, Cranberry could always simply ripdy Raspberry''s head off after the daily scolding too. "...graough... (...she still doubts me...)" Zombie sulked. He figured out that the method his master had chosen was a major test of his loyalty. Why else would she want to do it in such a roundabout way? Of course, Zombie had offered even more direct help but Cranberry refused him instantly without even a word of exnation... *click* The door to the room opened and the red-haired girl entered. "Graough...! (Master...!)" Zombie growled in a voice full of worry nervously and grabbed the wrist of his right hand. "Haa... done." Cranberry smiled triumphantly. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows and red at her. "Wh-what...?" She leaned back, unsure of his intentions. "Graough. (Here.)" The blue undead pulled off his right hand and put it against Cranberry''s face, or more urately, her right cheek. "...does it even show...?" Cranberry smirked sadly and pressed the offered hand to the spot where her mother hit her. "Haa... it doesn''t matter anymore, today was thest time after all." She looked up at her Zombie and her face brightened. "Graough? (How did you do it in the first ce?) Graough? (Won''t someone notice?) Graough? (Won''t your mother notice?) Graough...? (What if she has poison immunity, or venom immunity and the message will pop up...?)" Zombie barraged her with questions. "Everything will be fine. I managed to mix your venom with my mother''s sleeping medicine. It''s an expensive concoction that supposedly nourishes her during sleep so no one else even dares to touch it." Cranberry passed Zombie and patted his chest reassuringly. "And as for the messages that will show up for her after she takes the poison?" She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "The medicine takes her out in less than ten seconds, with how her body normally is, she won''t react in time no matter what. And as for her resistances...? There''s no need to bother about that." Cranberry breathed out with relief. "Graough...? (How can you be so sure...?) Graough? (What if my venom doesn''t work that well when it''s drunk by someone?)" Still, worried Zombie grabbed onto Cranberry''s clothes and growled in a hushed voice. "Oh, it works. Your would soul devouring venom will definitely work..." Cranberry smiled, walking towards the shelves and tapping one of the books with her index finger. "Graough? (Elven history?)" Zombie read the title and tilted his head. "You might not realize it but the skills and titles that you possess, make you quite a big deal." Cranberry said calmly, checking him out from the side. "The venom you produce is up there with the most dangerous poisons. Although it truly shines when it mixes with blood, it''s plenty dangerous when it simply sshes on any living tissue." She exined, joyfully sharing her knowledge. "Fun fact: if you spit your venom at a tree growing out in the field, it will start rooting immediately, but if you spill your venom on the dried-up wood, nothing will happen to it." She revealed excitedly and pointed at the baseball bat that Zombie was carrying in the case on his back. "That''s why ourbination skill works~!" Her eyes were sparkling as she said that. "Haa... honestly, aren''t you an amazing guy?" Cranberryughed and climbed on her tiptoes to pat Zombie''s head. Zombie lowered his head so that his master had easier ess. "Who knows, maybe someone will write a book about you someday?" She said with a hint of mncholy in her voice. "Graough! (About us!)" Zombie corrected her, making a grumpy face. "Graough! (Master, don''t make it sound as if you were about to leave me behind at some point!)" "Pffft...! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!" Cranberry couldn''t hold herself back and startedughing. Thatugh was certainly something unique to Cranberry. It actually sounded more like dog barks than anything else, but somehow, it was a very Cranberry-like sound. She never before allowed herself tough so loud like that inside the mansion since her mother hated it and all. "Haa... Yes, Zombie, about us." She breathed out and confirmed, wiping out a single tear from the corner of her eye. "Still, there should still be some time before she''ll drink it, so I''ve been thinking that maybe..." Cranberry''s face turned slightly pink as she furrowed her brows trying to not look too obvious, and started fidgeting. She even looked away, dodging making any further eye contact unable to find the right words. "...?" Zombie tilted his head and blinked curiously, waiting for her to continue talking. "You know... I think that you should stay in my room again tonight... Just in case the n would end up in a failure and we would have to escape... or something...!" She exined hurriedly, doing her best to sound calm andposed. "Graough? (Escape?) Graough, graough? (But if your mother activated her domain and used the overpower skill, both of us would be stopped immediately anyway?)" Zombie asked, showing a surprising amount of foresight. "...haa... why can''t you be dumb when it would benefit me..." Cranberry muttered under her breath in defeat. "...how am I supposed to say it without sounding likeplete lunatic...?" She sighed looking away in distress. "This may sound awful, but I want to be awake when the system will notify us about her death." She confessed looking down, as if ashamed of what she had just said. Zombie approached her and gently touched her face with his left hand. "?!?!?!??" Cranberry jolted up inplete shock, but before she could say anything Zombie spoke first. "Graough. (It''s not awful at all. Not after what you''ve been through.) He shook his head with a serious expression and smiled. "Graough. (If you fall asleep, I''ll wake you up so you could see it for yourself.)" He added reassuringly and straightened his back. "Graough. (I always end up restless when I can''t see you anyway, so this is perfect.)" He smiled innocently and walked towards the door. "Graough? (Are we going already?) Graough? (Do you want me to bring you dinner to bed?)" The blue undead sounded so genuinely happy that Cranberry started feeling a little bad. "Well... yes. I would love that." But only a tiny bit. ... ... It was already dark outside. Zombie was sitting on the floor by Cranberry''s bed and was holding her hand. Cranberry herself waspletely buried under the covers, and only her hand grabbing onto Zombie was poking out. The calm silence was disturbed only by Cranberry''s peaceful breaths. "Graough? (Are you awake?)" Zombie asked gently. "...yes..." Embarrassed Cranberry responded in a muffled voice. "Grao... (Say, don''t you think that it''s taking too...) /Servant''s skill upgrade Soul devouring venom ( +1[max]) "...ugh... (long...)" The message interrupted Zombie''s groan. "So it has begun~" Cranberry hummed happily waiting for another message to announcedy Raspberry''s death and the system granting her a new role. Another message did show up right after... ...but its content wasn''t anything that Cranberry or Zombie ever expected. /Story event - start /Night of the hungry wolves /Servant receives a global story entry quest Hide until the daybreak Reward: New skill: Sneak /Master receives a global story entry quest Get your powers stolen and die Reward: --- "GROUGH...! (YOU MUST BE...!) Zombie roared furiously. "FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Cranberry jumped out of her bed and finished Zombie''s sentence - her eyes burning with pure aggression. Chapter 70: Night of the hungry wolves - The packs entrance

Chapter 70: Night of the hungry wolves - The pack''s entrance

Pear kes, a maid working in the Pride''s mansion was shimming through the darkness towards the wall behind the rose garden. She was sneaking out to meet with the stable boy, Loquat. Yes, the maid was having an affair during work. It might have been night already but Pear was supposed to be doing the dishwashing duty in the kitchen since she lost the bet she made with the rest of the staff. "...!" She cautiously checked her surroundings and almost had a heart attack when she saw that the light was still on indy Raspberry''s room but quickly sighed with relief realizing that no silhouette was standing there. She was still safe. Pear smirked to herself and hurried behind the hedge. The luck must have been on her side, the full moon showed up from behind the clouds and illuminated her way. The young woman could barely stop herself from humming - everything looked like their secret meeting would be a sess...! She trembled in anticipation thinking about Loquat''s strong arms that were going to embrace her in just a few short minutes...! After a little bit more walking, Pear arrived at the meeting spot. But right then and there, her luck must have run out. The moon hid behind the thick clouds and the maid had to walk inplete darkness. She didn''t have any light source with her since that could bring the attention of someone from the mansion, and the two of them getting discovered was uneptable after all? - Pear was older than Loquat, and not to mention that the stable boy was already married. So Pear was carefully taking one step after the other, using the cold bumpy surface of the wall as her guideline. *bump* "Kyah...!" It was going well until she suddenly tripped over something big and fell down. "What the...?" She groaned feeling around with her hands. She touched somethingrge, warm, and... "Wet and sticky...?" She murmured bringing her hand to her nose to smell whatever she touched. The substance had this odd metallic smell... *groooowl* "Eh...?" Hearing the grumbling, Pear grabbed her belly, embarrassed by a mere thought that Loquat might have heard her stomach making such embarrassing sounds. "No, wait... but I already had supper...?" Pear realized furrowing her brows. *drip* Suddenly something wet glopped on the grass right next to her arm. "Huh?!" She looked up and... "What in the...?!" Pear gasped, staring befuddled at many pairs of glowing eyes peering at her from the top of the walls. The clouds cleared once more and the moonlight illuminated the area. The grass, wet with blood... ...the bottom half of a human body lying limply beneath the wall... ...the shocked maid kneeling in steaming intestines... The whole pack of humanoid wolves d in various mixed and matched armors was perched on the walls, salivating and staring hungrily at the maid. "We-werewolves...?" Pear muttered. "Why.... House of Gluttto...?" *CHOMP* Before the maid could finish, one of the werewolves opened their mouth, their jaws started shining, and a ck mass spilled from it, engulfing the woman beneath and ripping off her head in one go, only to be sucked back into the monster''s mouth. *crunch* *crunch* The werewolf slowly chewed the head. *gulp* And swallowed it with an almostical sound. "Good staff..." The werewolf wiped their lips and smiled at the pun they''ve made. "Ladies and gentlemen, if the rest of those bastards is on a simr level, I think we got ourselves a feast tonight!" The werewolf that bit off Pear''s head, clearly the leader,ughed and stood up to look over the hedges of the rose garden. "The two weakest ones should stay here and finish these leftovers, the rest of us will proceed with the n." Theymanded. Every monster growled with approval. "Whatever happens, remember our true objective..." The leader growled at the rest of their pack. "...if only we would have learned that information sooner... So many years wasted ... I wish thatdy Goji could havee with us, but the search is just as important..." The leader werewolf shook their head with mncholy. "Leader, hey, leader!" One of the werewolves wagged their tail excitedly, unable to read the mood. "Those flowers smell so good, can I eat them?" The monster was staring at the garden in front of them and producing a lot more saliva than anyone around. "No. Your level of devour is still low, you will upset your stomach with the thorns." The leader shook their head, dismissing the idea. "Then I would only eat the..." "Enough." The flower-hungry werewolf was interrupted and shushed. The leader bared their teeth in a terrifying grin and waved their wed front paw. "Attack. Devour to your hand content. Just keep howling to a bare minimum." They said and the whole pack nodded and soundly jumped down the wall and charged towards the mansion. The two youngest ones, a gray one and a hazelnut-brown one, stayed behind by the corpses and started eating them using the devour skill. A ck mass would emerge from their mouths allowing them to bite off a lot more than they should physically be able to. The hazelnut one suddenly started shaking, his body shrunk, or maybe that just how it looked without all the excess fur, and a young man showed up. "Lemon, others warned us to not recall the transformation on the enemy grounds..." The gray one shook their head before downing a whole leg. "I know...! It''s just..." The man that showed up got embarrassed and looked away, chewing on the torso and clothes of the victims. "I hate eating with wolf''s mouth, no cheeks..." He mumbled with his mouth full. "Lemon..." The gray werewolf sighed. "H-hey, do you know anything about the head''s search?" Lemon seemed desperate to change the subject. "Only that she really regrets her previous decision." The gray one shrugged, munching on the ribcage. "Who told her to get rid of the weakest kid? We''re not wild animals." Lemon grumbled while snacking on the fingers of the dead maid. "He he! Right? And now that we have all those information on Envys, she is losing her mind! Maybe I should challenge her for the domination fight next time?" *st* "What do you think?" The gray werewolfughed and turned to hispanion. What they saw was the headless corpse of Lemon being ttened to the ground by arge blue-skinned undead in an extravagant outfit, shining with all kinds of active skills. "H-hu...?!" *THUNK* *st* The next second the gray werewolf''s head got obliterated by a baseball bat. /Middle-level yer character defeated Master and servant receive the EXP "Haa... We can''t escape." Cranberry sighed and pulled on her weapon that got embedded into the wall together with what remained of the monster''s head. "Graough...? (Are you sure...?)" Zombie stood up and wiped the soles of his boots on the grass. Cranberry made a sour expression and threw her bat over the wall. *thunk* /Unable to leave the area Story event in progress The bloodied weapon hit the invisible wall and fell back inside, causing a message to pop up. "...graough... (...I really hate those system barriers...)" Zombie grunted spitefully. Chapter 71: Night of the hungry wolves - devour

Chapter 71: Night of the hungry wolves - devour

Master and Servant were standing between the wall and the hedge sharing simr annoyed expressions. "Graough. (Master, I thought that Prides and Gluttonys were in a good rtion.) Graough...? (Why would they attack us...?)" Zombie groaned trying to understand the situation. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and looked up at the starry sky. "The house of Gluttony, or rather their head, Lady Goji, was the one who helped my father transfer the title of the avatar of pride to my mother." She exined. "It wasn''t a task that you would simply give to some random passerby on the street. Our families were close friends from generations." Cranberry smirked. "I even heard that originally, Lady Goji was supposed to marry my father instead of my mother, but when she was the one to receive the title of the avatar of gluttony, that promise was called off." She stopped talking for a moment and properly buttoned up the shirt that she put on hurriedly before escaping the mansion. "This betrayal is by far the most shocking thing that could happen. And there can only be one reason I can think of, that exins it." Cranberry turned to Zombie. "The global event is changing everything, just like the previous ones did in the past." "Graough! (Damn it!)" Zombie cursed and kicked one of the corpses turning it into a bloody pulp. "Graough? (We can''t run, but we still can hide, right?) Graough.? (Maybe we could follow my quest?)" The blue undead raised his head and asked hopefully. "We could try, but there is another option." Cranberry''s voice turned ice-cold and she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, her body started shining with bright light and mana started swirling around her baseball bat. "An old method of interruption that was proven to force the system to change the story''s course." She started grinning and her eyes shone brightly. "After all, we can''t really allow anyone else to harm my mother before your venom kills her, right?" Cranberry giggled turning away from the wall and facing back towards the mansion "Graough...? (Master, do you mean...?)" Zombie growled suspiciously. "Yeah. Who will be left to kill me, if we will kill everyone else first?" ... ... The surprise attack was going well for the werewolves. Although the Pride family was considered the strongest amongst the seven main families in the kingdom, their unshakable faith in their own might caused them topletely forgot that they also could fall from an ambush. And a good backstab is a well-known method of dealing with such big-headed fools. Although the Gluttonys'' all had the inborn monster transformation skill that turned them into violent monsters, they could execute the stealth operation almost perfectly. After all, even if someone spotted them, they only had to devour them before they could warn the rest of the mansion. Their pack was counting twenty heads, minus the two younglings that stayed behind, and they decimated around half of the hundred or so staff and guards by the time the rm was sessfully raised. "Whew... I almost thought that we would be able to get a clean score!" The leader of the packughed loudly, pulling all the attention to them. "Bring out your strongest and die!" They roared and their ws and jaw gave out an eerie light. The next two guards that stood in their way got torn into shreds and the pieces got devoured by the werewolf''s skill. "Sapote." Even through the chaos of battle, the leader werewolf heard their name being said. And it wasn''t done by any of their pack members. The werewolf turned towards the direction where the voice came from. There, easily seen thanks to the bright moonlight, a tall handsome bespectacled man was walking, casually approaching the battlefield. One of the werewolves saw the maning and jumped at him from his blind spot. The man didn''t even nce at the monster, he simply raised his right hand that started glowing, and clenched his fist. The attacking werewolf''s body got crushed while still in the air, all their justices squeezed out like from the ripened fruit. "Big brother ckberry." The leader werewolf straightened their back and growled. Lord ckberry red at them and opened his fist. The monster''s body crushed into a tiny ball dropped on the ground with an almost pitiful sound. "What is the meaning of this, Sapotle?" The man asked coldly, buttoning the sleeve of his shirt. "Big brother, it''s nothing personal, I assure you." The leader werewolf, Sapotle, bowed his head slightly, without taking his eyes off of lord ckberry. "It''s merely, the will of the System." They shrugged and showed off their teeth in a wicked grin. "Tsk...!" Lord ckberry clicked his tongue with disappointment. "Even after all this time, you still show this idiotic blind devotion...! System is a mere thing to be exploited! Haven''t I proven it to you before?!" His voice shook the battlefield, it even caused some of the fighters to flinch and stop attacking each other "...big brother, I am only fulfilling the quest I was given..." Sapotle said calmly. "We simply need to kill most of your people. We don''t need to kill you. I don''t want to kill you." They slowly exined in a stiff voice, as if they were repeating a sentence they learned by heart. "You know what my family name is, and you still have the guts to say that...?" Lord ckberry breathed out and red at the werewolf. "Stop your pack, boy, and maybe I will spare you." He added with an annoyed expression. Sapotle raised his head and let out a long howl. All the other werewolves jumped away from their opponents and howled back. "...?" One of Sapotle''s ears moved to the side. ...not enough werewolves responded... Not to mention those who were felled in battle, but the two youngsters staying quiet was particrly odd, considering how hard it is for the puppies to control the urge to howl... "I didn''t think that you would actually order them to fall back." Lord ckberry raised his brow, all the other werewolves were backing out, doing their best to not get encircled by the Prides'' people. "...I was chosen to be Goji''s partner after you left..." Sapotle sighed heavily, not bothering to address ckberry''s surprise. The leader of the werewolves begun circling around the bespectacled man. "Pitiful beta who never wanted to be an alpha that I knew is no longer there then, I guess?" Lord ckberry wouldn''t allow himself to show his back to the enemy and also began circling the area, following Sapotle. "Nothing really changed... I still don''t want to rule. If only you didn''t betray our pack... things would''ve been different..." "I never belonged to your pack. It was just a few meetings to set up a marriage that didn''t end up happening." The two of them exchanged res. "I was born to support a strong ruler. To support you. And because you''ve had a sudden change of hearts, and followed that wretched woman,dy Goji in her anger awakened a skill that forced her to be the next avatar of gluttony. Big brother..." Sapotle''s wolf''s face tensed up and his voice hardened. "Tonight, I didn''te here for you. I came here for that wretched woman and her daughter! NOW!" When their leader roared, all the werewolves that were backing off up until that point, suddenly activated their skills at the same time. The amount of light they produced turned the night into a day. As if to contrast that, the darkness erupted from their opened jaws, spreading and crashing against the Pride''s people like a raging wave. "No!" Lord ckberry shouted, his hands started glowing and he pulled them back. The invisible power pulled on the defenders flooded by darkness... "AAAAARGH!" "UGH!" "GUAH!" But instead of getting released from the enemies'' skill, they all got torn to shreds, and their guts spilled on the ground like a grotesque rainbow just to be swallowed by the darkness of the werewolves'' devour the next moment. Chapter 72: Night of the hungry wolves - Blackberry VS Sapotle

Chapter 72: Night of the hungry wolves - ckberry VS Sapotle

"..." Sapotle observed calmly as lord ckberry unintentionally helped in dealing with his own people. For a moment he felt the urge to say a wittyment, but the hope of convincing his beloved older brother to join them was too strong. "I don''t remember any of you being able to use such skill in the past." Lord ckberry clenched his teeth ring at the receding darkness. "As you''ve said before, I never wanted to be an alpha... but apparently bing one has awakened some useful powers within me." Sapotle shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "...pack hunter...?" ckberry asked. "And the skillbination." The werewolf confirmed by nodding lightly. "Big brother,dy Goji and I miss you greatly. Please return to us." The werewolf once again bowed his head slightly. "...youe with your strongest warriors, attack my home in the middle of the night, threatening my wife and my daughter, and even kill my men in front of me... and you still have the guts to ask me to return? Return where? The house of Pride is where I belong! Where I have always belonged! And my ce is by my wife''s side!" "..." The fiery speech that lord ckberry gave only caused Sapotle to sigh and shook his head. "What has that woman done to you...?dy Goji should never have agreed to help you transfer the power of the avatar of pride to her..." Werewolf''s voice was full of sorrow and regret. Lord ckberry raised his brow. "Are you implying that my wife used the powers of the avatar of pride to influence me?" He asked mockingly. "There''s nothing to imply. It''s the truth." Sapotle shrugged his shoulders and his ws started shining. "How about a bet, like in the old times..." Sapotle started sounding a bit mncholic. "My pack won''t interfere with this fight, if you win in a duel against me, we''ll leave and never threaten that woman and her daughter." He spoke calmly. "But if I will win, they both die, and we''ll be taking you with us." "You have no right to state such ridiculous conditions!" Lord ckberry shouted and both his eyes and hands started glowing. "Big brother, look around you... do you see any of your people left? They are warming up in my pack''s bellies." Sapotle growled and lowered his body to the ground, readying for an attack. Lord ckberry was able to keep an eye on the leader of the pack and a few of the stronger ones, but the same couldn''t be possibly done for all of the werewolves at once. ckberry Pride was surrounded. "Choose. Fight only me, or all of us..." Sapotle growled in a low voice. "In the past, when you had the avatar powers, we would be no match even with more forces, but now...? Choose, big brother. Keep your pride and duel me, or be torn to shreds like a shameful sack of meat." The two of them stopped in ce and continued ring at each other. Lord ckberry raised his fists and took a battle stance, piercing Sapotle with a furious ice-cold stare. "...thank the system..." The leader of the pack breathed out with relief and muttered under his breath. And the werewolf was the one who attacked first "Think, big brother! How is it possible that in the family home of Pride, only you and your daughter have the Pride''s blood in your veins?!" He roared when his ws ripped through the air right at the human''s head. But ckberry didn''t answer nor retreat, his hands and eyes were glowing bright, and he uppercut Sapotle, meeting his attack head-on. The hits connected and created a shockwave that made the rest of the monsters tremble. After a series of attacks that could easily level the whole mansion if any of the fighters would slip, the men both pulled back. The human wearing a high-ss outfit was already having trouble keeping his breath in check while the armored werewolf didn''t seem to even break a sweat yet. "Big brother, you... Sapotle''s expression betrayed his shock and anger. "What is your current level?" He asked, clenching his fists. "79." ckberry answered with a shrug. "What...?!" The werewolf flinched and a low growl escaped his jaws. "You... you haven''t leveled up ONCE in over fifteen years...?!" Sapotle''s spiteful words made ckberry frown. "What happened to you, big brother?! Howe you of all people didn''t realize that something is wrong?!" The werewolf roared in pain. "...nothing is... WRONG...!" ckberry used that chance, clenched his glowing fists, and pulled them apart. An invisible force got a hold of Sapotle was pulling his body in two different directions in an attempt to tear him apart. "...big brother...!" The leader of the werewolves gasped. One of the werewolves in the back of the encirclement yelped in a panicked voice, but that was it. Just as Sapotle has said, no other werewolf tried to interfere with the duel. "It seems that you''ve grown... grown ignorant..." Lord ckberry shook his head, frowning and gasping for air, but even when his mind was a mess, he still ended up twisting his fists, causing the invisible pressure on his opponent to increase immensely. The pieces of armor that the werewolf wore started twisting and bending out of shape with a screeching sound, digging into the werewolf''s thick fur. "..." Sapotle kept his jaws shut, he only gazed at lord ckberry with eyes filled with sadness. "You...! What is... happening...? Is that... another new... skill...?!" Lord ckberry gasped, gritting his teeth. For some reason, even though he was in a middle of a fight, his head was a mess, and he couldn''t focus properly. It felt like a weight was being gradually lifted from his shoulders, but at the same time, his brain was being filled with mutually exclusive thoughts. "The servants were... all chosen by Raspberry and I... and I...? But I didn''t want to dismiss the previous staff...? It made no sense... Then why did we ended up...?" Lord ckberry muttered under his breath looking to the side. "Big brother, everything will be fine when that woman dies!" Sapotle roared causing ckberry to flinch. "No... no...!" His expression mixed, lord ckberry looked as if he was torn over what he should do. "Anyone raising their hand against the Pride family will die...!" He roared. "...but... Sapotle... I... don''t want to... kill... you..." He suddenly stumbled over his words and touched his forehead as if struck with a painful headache. "It... doesn''t make sense... killing Raspberry is one thing, but why... want to kill Cranberry...? You want me... But without the title of avatar... but if you kill my wife and daughter... the title will return... to me... if you want me... you... need... my daughter... alive...!" He spoke as if each and every word was causing his headache to increase. "N-no... I must protect Raspberry, you can kill my daughter if you want to but spare my... No! What am I saying...?!" It seemed as if two forces were fighting in ckberry''s brain. "No! What...?! How could I say something like that...? My daughter is only ten...? Ten...? No, it doesn''t make sense...! Cranberry is fourteen...? Already...?! When was thest time I saw her...? I...? Why do I only remember Raspberry...? What''s happening to me...?!" Lord ckberry''s skills deactivated and Sapotle got free without even having to struggle, while ckberry himself dropped to his knees clenching his head with both hands. "I-I''ve seen my daughter during meals... why can''t I remember ever speaking with her...? It''s only Raspberry... why didn''t I trained once during all these years...? Why haven''t I helped my daughter train?! Why have I never contacted any of my old friends...?! What does it all mean?! It''s all Raspberry...! It''s all Raspberry in my head...!" Lord ckberry cried, trembling as if he was experiencing terrible pain. "...it''s working...!" Sapotle whispered and ran to the kneeling man. "Big brother! That''s it! You must fight with the effects of that woman''s skills! You can do it!" "STAY AWAY!" ckberry roared and pushed the werewolf away. "I just have to defeat you here, and they both will be safe!" The man shouted and his body glowed with skills. "Tsk!" Sapotle clicked his tongue and jumped away. "But at least it seems thatdy Goji was right... the girl is the key to breaking you free..." He breathed out with relief and nodded to himself. "Look closely, big brother." The leader of the werewolves took a deep breathand spread his arms. "Do you think that this is our whole pack?" Heughed. "Since you don''t seem to care about your daughter that much, I''ve sent some of them to get rid of her before we even started!" Sapotle deredughing evilly. It was partially a lie. He did send out some of his underlings to search for Cranberry, but certainly not to kill her. Sapotle could never bring himself to harm his beloved big brother''s daughter. But the leader of the werewolves was quite convincing with his viinous act... Certainly convincing enough to... "GRRRRAOOOOUUUGH?! (YOU DARE TO THREATEN MY MASTER?!)" Chapter 73: Night of the hungry wolves - the skills upgrade

Chapter 73: Night of the hungry wolves - the skills'' upgrade

Cranberry and Zombie were unable to arrive at the mansion before the guard raised the rm. Why? "Someone''s here...!" /Servant''s quest failed Because they were spotted by a group of werewolves that stayed behind when the whole pack rushed to storm the mansion. Six massive werewolves approached them. Cranberry casually lifted up her baseball bat and rested it on her shoulder while Zombie dug in his heels, preparing to lunch at the opponents. "Whoa! Rx there, buddy! We don''t mean any charm!" Suddenly one of the werewolves raised his hands, showing that he has no evil intentions, and stepped in front of his group. Cranberry raised her brow and waited. Since she didn''t attack, the werewolf took it as a sign of willingness to listen. "Your hair is red, and you have arge undead puppet with you, are you the youngdy Cranberry by any chance...?" The werewolf asked giving his best into acting as non-threatening as possible even with his monstrous physique. "Yes, that''s me." Cranberry confirmed while staring coldly at the monsters, and she gripped her bat a bit harder. "Do you have an order to get rid of me first?" She asked provocatively and her body started glowing. "No, no, no! Nothing like that!" The werewolf quickly denied the usation shaking his head. "Let me just..." His eyes shone and his body morphed back into a human, the pieces of armor were hanging loosely from his now much smaller body and he spread his arms showing that he means no harm. "Youngdy, what I''m about to say may seem hard to believe at first but... URGH!" Four long ws pierced the human-form werewolf from behind and he coughed blood before the life left his eyes. "Yes, we''vee here to kill you." Growled the werewolf who killed the friendly one, and threw aside the dead body of his formerrade. The other four monsters didn''t even wait for him to finish talking and rushed at the Master-Servant pair with their ws and jaws shining with active skills. "Ha. That was odd." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and blew off the upper half of the fastest werewolf, spraying the ones behind him with blood and viscera of their friend. The next one got his chest torn open by the returning strike and all of his intestines fell out as he ricocheted back. The ones left alive begun to reconsider their approach but before they could do so, the third one''s head got bashed in and simrly, the fourth one got decapitated. "Graough. (See? And you were against me wearing the ones with the thinner heels.) Graugh! (Look! It''s like a de!)" Zombie growled confidently, bending his leg, showing off the heel of his boot dripping with the werewolf''s blood. "...! H-how can it be...?!" Thest remaining werewolf trembled and started backing off. "Graough? (Huh? Did you guys attack us not knowing our strength?) Graough? (Seriously?) Graough! (The one you''ve killed even knew about my master!)" Hearing him growl, thest werewolf flinched and covered his head as if he expected an attack. "This is weird..." Cranberry tilted her head while approaching the retreating werewolf. "I''ve read that the werewolves are affected by the beastmaster skill... but he doesn''t seem to understand you." She frowned already preparing to deliver another strike. /Mid-level yer defeated Master and servant receive EXP But even before she struck, a series of messages popped up for her and her servant. /Servant receives a title Lord of pride /Servant receives a skill Pride''s will (level 1) /Servant''s skill upgrade Dragon madness (level 1) + Pride''s will (level 1) + Undead body ([max]) ?? Superbia (level 1) /Error /Servant unlocked end game content before reaching the corresponding stage of the story Uninstalling the skill /Error /Unable to uninstall superbia /Calcting... /Adjusting the story /Error /No administrator''s input detected Abandoning the issue /Master receives a title Usurper of pride /Master receives multiple skills Pride''s loss (level 1) Status effect immunity (level 1) Pride''s will (level 1) /Master''s skill upgrade Dragon rage (level 6[max]) + Pride''s will (level 1) + Iron will (level 2) ?? Rage of the unbreakable (level 1) /The avatar of pride has been in Title transfer impossible The pride''s throne stands empty The wheels of fate begin to spin "What does that supposed to mean...? Where is my new role?!" Cranberry froze momentarily staring at the final message of the chain. "...!" Thest werewolf certainly wasn''t going to miss that chance. Within the same heartbeat, his ws shone deadly and he went for the stunned girl''s throat. *crunch* "UGHAAAAAAA!" The werewolf roared in pain when all of his ws got ripped out when he struck against not the red-haired girl but the chest of the blue-skinned undead. While Cranberry became shocked because of the mysterious message, Zombie simply ignored it as irrelevant and rushed in, the moment he sensed his master was in danger, protecting her with his body while activating his newest skill. The effect was rather spectacr. Instead of the usual pale light, his body was giving out strong and vivid purple light. And of course, there was the small detail ofpletely reflecting the force of the attack causing the werewolf to literally grate his hand on Zombie''s muscles. "Zombie, duck." Cranberry already regained herposure and called at Zombie''s back. The blue undead followed her order instantly, and the next second thest werewolf got horizontally bisected by Cranberry''s baseball bat. His upper half plopped on the ground with a rather pitiful sound. "Guhua...!" He gasped for air. "See? If you hit hard enough, you don''t even need an edge to cut something in half." Cranberry smirked poking the fallen foe with her weapon Werewolf''s face twisted and he turned back into a human. "It... wasn''t supposed to be like... this... Rambutan, you''ve... tricked me..." He groaned and used hisst words to spite whoever had sent him after Cranberry. "Haa... at least this new skill feels better than dragon rage... how do you feel?" She breathed out, ignoring the dying words of the werewolf, and nudged her servant. "Graough. (Invincible.)" Zombie gave a short answer and took off the shirt torn by the werewolf''s ws and used it to wipe off the remaining werewolf''s blood from his torso. "Haa... Not receiving a new role is a problem, but unfortunately, we have more pressing matters to attend to. Do you want to go and test out those new skills against the rest of those cheeky mutts?" Cranberry walked in front of the blue undead, stealing nces at his bare upper body. "Graough. (If that is your wish, master.)" Zombie nodded and threw away the ruined shirt. Chapter 74: Night of the hungry wolves - somethings off

Chapter 74: Night of the hungry wolves - something''s off

When Cranberry and Zombie arrived at the mansion, the defenders of the Prides'' were in the middle of getting decimated by the attackers. The master and servant nodded to each other and charged at the werewolves from the nk. When Cranberry''s bat smashed into the side of the monster that was about to devour a butler, the red-haired girl frowned. The werewolf that got their arm broken yelped, but quickly shook off the pain and wed at her with his healthy hand in retaliation. She smacked it away using the counter skill and with mana swirling around her baseball bat, she delivered a devastating overhead strike. The werewolf got pummeled into the ground but haven''t died immediately. "Wait... You''re the girl...? Why...?" Their dying cry got drowned into the sound of battle and Cranberry already moved on to another opponent. On the other hand, when Zombie rushed at the werewolf, he kicked the monster so hard in the stomach that all of its intestines exploded out through their back. Yet, when the blue undead spun around and used the same skill and the same amount of force on the next opponent, the struck werewolf gasped for air and got pushed back a few steps, struggling for air, but still very much alive. "Graough? (Eh? You''re strong! Are you the leader?)" Zombie growled in shock. "Who? Me?" The werewolf looked at him andughed through the pain. "As if! I''m just a..." *CRUNCH* Zombie''s roundhouse kick enhanced by the superbia skill connected and broke the werewolf''s neck before they could finish talking. "Graough...? (Wait a second... Was he talking to me...?)" Only after he finished the werewolf, Zombie groaned in realization. "Zombie! If you have trouble dealing with those mutts, try aiming at their necks..." Another werewolf''s body dropped on the ground and Cranberry stepped over it walking towards her servant. "Oh, I see you''ve figured that... OUT!" She smirked but had to dodge and countered another monster aiming at her vital spot. The thrashed werewolf got turned into a bloody pulp, causing Cranberry to frown. Zombie ran to her side, covering her back. "Something''s not right. Some of them are weak and some of them are strong. But only the weak ones always attack first..." Cranberry frowned. "Graough! (Yeah, I know what you mean!) Graough... (It''s weird...)" Zombie nodded, when... "Even after all this time, you still show this idiotic blind devotion...! System is a mere thing to be exploited! Haven''t I proven it to you before?!" Arge voice shook the battlefield. "Father?!" Cranberry''s eyes widened. Two more werewolves showed up, trying to use the chance. Zombie raised and dropped his glowing leg cleaving one of them cleanly in two. Cranberry didn''t even bother to swing her bat. She let the second werewolfe close, dodged his ws, and when he went for a bite, she simply grabbed his head and... *crunch* Crushed it like a watermelon. The monster''s eyes popped out as his skull broke into pieces and his brain got wrung out through its ears. "Haa... It really is only the weak ones attacking us..." The girl breathed out heavily, shaking off the remaining pieces of fur, blood, and gray matter from her hand, while keenly observing the rest of the battlefield. She was of course searching for her father, honestly, she never expected him toe out as long as the situation wasn''t extremely dire. That was how her mother made him act to match her own idea of a prideful man. Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "But mother is already dead, so maybe..." She muttered under her breath remembering how her father was before her mother changed him. Cranberry always felt that it was her fault. After all,dy Raspberry only used the skills of the avatar on her father after Cranberry''s first kill party... Because lord ckberry wanted to use the chance and gain an advantage over the Greed family, anddy Raspberry didn''t like that idea. Although, in truth, it wasn''t actually the first timedy Raspberry influenced her husband using the avatar''s power - but Cranberry wasn''t aware of it, and kept ming herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud howl. Almost every werewolf howled back immediately, some of them looked surprised and joined a bitter as if realizing that''s what they were supposed to do. Nevertheless, the monster''s started backing off. Zombie wanted to join the rest of the defenders and try to encircle the enemy, but Cranberry grabbed his left arm and shook her head. "You rotten brain! They were winning! Why do you think they''re suddenly backing off?!" She scoffed at him and used a charge skill to pull him into a hiding spot as soon as she could. "They are obviously nning something." She whispered angrily, with her face against his chest and her hand on his stomach, while pressing him against the shed where the training weapons were stored. "Gra-ough...! (A! I-I see...!)" Zombie recovered from the surprise and nodded. To be even more inconspicuous, he hugged his master tightly and crouched. "...haa..." A small satisfied sound escaped Cranberry''s mouth, but Zombie didn''t notice. "...NOW!" A roar pierced the night sky. "G-graough...! (M-master, look!)" He didn''t notice because he was too busy watching as the pack of werewolf uses a terrifying skill and killed or trapped all of the defenders. Cranberry flinched and nced at them from behind Zombie. She did that right in time to see the invisible force tear apart all of the defenders who were left alive. "Wha...?! But that''s father''s skill?! What is he doing?!" She tensed up and groaned. Now it was only the lord ckberry against all of the remaining werewolves. Or was it? Monsters'' had surrounded the man but it looked like only one of them is fighting against him. "Zombie, do you think you''ll be able to grab one of those mutts and bring them here, without rming the others?" Cranberry asked looking up at her servant. "Graough... (If it''s one of the weak ones, I should be able to do that...) Graough? (But why?)" He nodded and tilted his head in confusion. "..." Cranberry frowned and red at him. "Graough. (I''ll bring you one.)" Zombie sighed and stood up releasing the girl from his embrace. ...which she seemed somehow conflicted about... His body started glowing with purple light, and in the next moment, he was already by the outer edge of the encirclement. He grabbed the most outward werewolf and dashed back to the hiding spot. It wasn''t a perfect abduction though. Before he managed to block the werewolf''s jaws, the monster yelped in shock. Thankfully it coincided with what was happening during the fight, so none of the other werewolves'' paid attention to it. "You''ve also realized that the weak ones were the ones who didn''t howl back to their leader? Good job." Cranberry smiled and patted Zombie''s back while he was holding down the monster. "Graough...? (Huh...?) Graough...? (Are they really...?) Graough... (I just picked the closest one...)" Zombie groaned awkwardly, making Cranberry flinch. "Haa... so, a dumb luck...?" She sighed and shook her head. "Now then..." Cranberry''s mouth twisted into an evil smirk and she firmly grabbed on to the struggling monster''s head. "You will answer a few of our..." Her eyes glimmered threateningly as her grip hardened. But before she finished, her sentence got interrupted... "Since you don''t seem to care about your daughter that much, I''ve sent some of them to get rid of her before we even started!" The roar of the leader werewolf fighting with lord ckberry, who seemed to be losing, carried all the way over to the master-servant pair. Which in turn caused... "GRRRRAOOOOUUUGH?! (YOU DARE TO THREATEN MY MASTER?!)" ...Zombie to roar in blind fury. The blue undead, glowing with not only superbia, but all the skills he could use, turned around, throwing the werewolf''s body to the side, and lunched at the leader of the werewolves with so much power, that the shockwave he created destroyed the shed they were hiding behind. Chapter 75: Night of he hungry wolves - overwhelmed

Chapter 75: Night of he hungry wolves - overwhelmed

"What...?!" Cranberry blinkedpletely taken by surprise. When Zombie had thrown away the body of the captive, she was still firmly holding on to the wolf''s head... Which caused those two parts of the werewolf to separate... The red-haired girl looked up, away from the now lifeless eyes of the severed head she wanted to interrogate and saw her servant basically flying at the werewolf that loudly threatened her just a second ago. As for the Zombie, he used the strong kick skill in session with the acrobatic skill to gain a borderline insane amount of speed and lounged at the monster, heel first. Although the werewolf heard him growling before and even saw him kicking off the ground, there was nothing that he could do to avoid the attack. There was no dy at all between Zombie using his skills and his heel digging into the side of the monster''s chest. "GRAUGH!" The leader of the werewolves, Sapotle, growled in pain but didn''t move an inch. "Z-Zombie...?" Lord ckberry, still on his knees, raised his head and asked in a pained, confused voice. "You... STAY AWAY FROM THIS, PUPPET!" Sapotle grabbed Zombie''s leg and roared, trying to pull out the embedded heel by shoving the undead away. "Graough! (No one threatens my master and lives!)" Zombie roared back and jumped up, twisting his body and digging the heel even deeper into Sapotle''s chest, ripping his boot apart in the process. "GHUH!" The werewolf trembled and coughed up a shocking amount of blood. "You... fool...!" Sapotle gasped. He let go of Zombie''s leg and destroyed boot, and stumbled back. "Big brother!" Other werewolves cried out, their glowing ws, jaws, and eyes filled with fury, all directed at the blue undead. "No! Stop!" But strangely enough, Sapotle raised his hand and ordered them to stay back. "Graough? (What, are you chickening out, mutt?)" Zombie smirked preparing for another attack. Sapotle wolf''s face twisted in pain as he touched the remains of the Zombie''s boot still embedded into his chest. The werewolf nced at the kneeling ckberry and turned back to Zombie. "Watch your mouth... puppet... we only need you master..." He growled while bloody foam was gathering in the corners of his mouth. "Graough! (As if you stand a chance against her!)" Zombie straight upughed in his face and... "Zombie, stop!" ...flinched when he heard Cranberry shouting at him. "Graough...?! (Master...?!)" He turned back and groaned confused. Cranberry was confidently walking towards them all, holding a severed human head in one hand and a bloodied baseball bat in the other. "You. Didn''t you just said that you need me?" She asked in an ice-cold voice, staring Sapotle down. "Then why did you sent your mutts after me?" She raised up the severed human head and shook it. "You...! My underling showed up his human form to you, and you murdered him...?!" Sapotle bared his teeth and his eyes became bloodied. "You...!" "Ha ha! Good one! Showed off his human form to me, that''s rich..." It seemed that Cranberry interrupted the leader of the werewolves just before he could insult her. "This whole time your mutts were constantly attempting to kill me. This was necessary self-defense." She shook the head again. "He was originally in the werewolf form but simply returned to his human self after death." Cranberry scoffed and threw the head towards Sapotle. "...what are you even talking about...?" The werewolf coughed and spit out some blood before frowning in confusion. "Us Gluttony nsmen don''t ''return to human form''. If we die in the beast form, our corpses stay in the beast..." The head thrown by Cranberry hit the ground and rolled towards therge werewolf and ended up stopping by his feet - staring into the sky with its glossy eyes. "...form..." Sapotle blinked a few times staring at the face of the severed head. "...that''s not one of my underlings..." He said taken aback. "Graough?! (What?!)" "What?!" Zombie and Cranberry asked at the same time. "The jig is up! Switch to n B!" Suddenly one of the werewolves staying in the very back shouted hastily. At hismand, one-fourth of the remaining werewolves pulled out ss bottles from underneath their armors, uncorked them, and sprayed their contents all over the rest of the monsters in one swift motion. "What th... GHRAAAOOORGH!" "Brother, what are you- AAAAHHH!" Every werewolf that got sshed with the unknown liquid seemed to go mad and started attacking everything in sight, including theirrades. "RAAARGH!" Some of them charged blindly at Cranberry and Zombie, and even at Sapotle. "Brothers! What are you doing?!" The leader of the werewolves shouted dodging the ws and teeth of his own subordinates. "Tsk...! Those are the tougher ones!" Cranberry, forced to back off, clenched her teeth countering the attacks of three frenzied werewolves. "Graough! (It feels like they are even tougher now!) Graough?! (What was in those bottles?!)" Zombie growled kicking with all he had, but no matter how battered the monsters became, they would just get back up and continue to attack. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* "Haa... stronger or not, their necks are still their weak points!" After dealing with her opponents Cranberry rushed over to help her servant, jumping over the three fresh corpses. She charged and delivered an overhead strike to one of the werewolves. His head didn''t explode but instead caved in, causing blood and brains to spray out of his ears. That gave Zombie enough room to throat-kick two monsters and send them flying back, where Cranberry was already waiting with mana swirling around her baseball bat. /Multiple high-level yers defeated Master and servant receive EXP /Master and servant level up Multiple skill upgrade Base status points increased The system messages popped up but neither the master nor the servant had the time to bother with them. There were simply too many opponents. Even when using all of their offensive skills, they could kill one or two of the maddened beasts, they were constantly swarmed by all the rest. With no time to properly finish the enemy, they had to keep retreating while under the constant avnche of attacks, all that while keeping an eye on lord ckberry. Thankfully, even though the man seemed to be in pain he managed to stand up and was doing his best to keep up with his daughter and her undead. But even that positive state didn''tst for long. One of the werewolves climbed on top of hisrades and jumped over the Master-Servant pair right at the man. "Father...!" Cranberry shouted, dodging and countering as many glowing ws as she could, but that moment of distraction caused her dominant arm to get cut open by the attack she missed. "...!" She gritted her teeth and hardened her grip on the weapon causing the blood from the wound to spray out and flow down her arm and hand. Unfortunately, the slick blood caused her to be unable to properly hold on to the baseball bat, and her attacked lost a lot of power behind them. ...and the maddened werewolves showed no signs of stopping their reckless charge, forcing the red-haired girl to retreat further and further back in order to not get herself get encircled. Simrly, Zombie''s other boot got torn apart, while he still could use his strong kick skill reliably, without the added bonus of the boot''s attack power, more and more werewolves could shake off his blows. "Do-don''t worry about me..." Lord ckberry groaned, holding up his glowing hand - the mad werewolf was iling his limbs and snapping his jaws wildly, frozen mid-air by ckberry''s skill. Even when another five more super-powered werewolves jumped over at him, Cranberry''s father was still able to hold them back despite all of what was happening inside his head. "Graough! (Master! Why don''t you just break everything like in the Durian''s mansion?!)" The blue undead growled while two werewolves were trying to tear him apart limb from limb. "Sure! Just buy me some time to charge it up! And no! The shockwave would kill my father!" Cranberry roared furiously while repeatably bashing away the slobbering beasts. "Graough?! (Then, can''t you use your new skills?!)" Zombie growled when one of the werewolves attacking him tore his right hand off from its stitches and fell back, giving the undead enough room to take care of the other one. "And what makes you think I''m not using them?! Rotten brain!" Cranberry shouted back, missing her target and hitting the ground causing it to erupt like a geyser, blinding her opponents momentarily. "That fucking pride''s loss is doing shit!" She cursed thrashing around with her weapon, causing as much damage to as many opponents as she possibly could. "Pride''s loss...?" "GRAAAARGH" Lord ckberry flinched and his concentration wavered for a split second, allowing one of the werewolves to break free from his skill and rush at him with a furious roar. *RIIIP* Long ws shredded through flesh causing blood to spray everywhere. "FATHER?!" Cranberry shouted in panic and missed the monster''s head. That very same beast dived under her weapon and bit into her side - its massive fangs dug into her flesh with ease, causing a stream of blood to gush out and ssh on the ground... Chapter 76: Night of the wolves - magic steal

Chapter 76: Night of the wolves - magic steal

"You...!" Cranberry growled grabbing the head of the werewolf that was riping her stomach apart and dug her fingers deep into the eye socket of the monster. Even so, her furious shout wasn''t directed to the beast trying to rip her apart, but to the werewolf that protected her father by killing hisrade. "Don''t you dare touch my big brother, traitors!" Sapotle roared, his eyes glowed, his fur bristled and he seemed to grow twice asrge as he was before, undoubtedly because of a skill that he was holding back on before. The terrible growl shook the earth and caused every werewolf, no matter frenzied or not, to turn to him and charge. Even the one that was biting on to Cranberry, let go of the girl as ifpletely forgetting what he was doing even though his eye got gouged out, and rushed at Sapotle. "That''s right you fools! Come at me!" The leader of the werewolves roared and started running away, leading the whole pack away from the mansion. "...Sapotle, you idiot...!" Lord ckberry gasped and fell limply on the ground, losing his consciousness and releasing his skill. All of the werewolves that he was holding back rushed after Sapotle instead of jumping at him as if the giant werewolf was the only thing they could see. "Graough! (Master!)" Zombie growled and hurried to Cranberry''s side to support her. "I''m fine...!" She scoffed at him, pushing away his hand, even though the blood soaking through her shirt at the rmingly fast rate was saying something very different. "Graough...! (B-but master...!)" Zombie wasn''t dumb enough to believe her but didn''t try to grab her again, worried that she would keep struggling and worsen her wounds. "Go... to my room... there are... health potions... in the back of the closet ..." The red-haired girl was barely standing upright but still was stubbornly walking towards her father. "Bring me them..." She ordered and pointed at the mansion with her baseball bat. But because of all the blood, the weapon slipped away from her fingers and fell on the grass. "Go!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "..." Zombie turned around and his body glowed blue. Cranberry blinked once and Zombie was already nowhere to be seen. "...haa... my lovely rotten brain..." Cranberry breathed out heavily and her legs gave out, making her fall right by her father. She slowly put her left hand to his face to check for breathing. "Haa..." She sighed with relief after confirming her father was at least alive. When she tried to move her right hand from the wound, the fresh blood sshed on the ground beside her. "...shit... system... show active quests..." Her shaking voice was bing weaker and weaker. /You have 1 active quest: Get your powers stolen and die Reward: --- "...fucking... I didn''t even receive... a single quest after leveling up...?" She smirked and looked up at the mansion. "...haa... you should know that I don''t keep any potions in my room... stupid..." Cranberry breathed out heavily and her head dropped on her chest. "I just... didn''t want you to see me die... in such a pathetic way..." Sheughed weakly and her eyes closed. ... One of the corpses twitched and slowly got up. Arge man in a butler''s uniform stood up and dusted off his body as if the horrible wound on his stomach was nothing. When his eyes stopped glowing, his whole body begun melting and molding into something different. Where the burly man with his guts hanging out of the ripped stomach was standing before, now stood a tall serious looking silver-haired gentleman with a mustache, his clothes remained the same but there was no trace of the deadly wound. "Miss Fillia, this is our chance." He said and offered his hand to the corpse of a young maid beneath him. The girl opened her eyes and the light of the skill faded from them too. Simr to what happened to the gentleman, the skin, flesh, and bone structure of the girl seemed to melt, turning her into apletely different person. "Those idiots! They almost got me for real!" The maid that changed into a thin, sickly-looking girl with reddish hair, ignored the man''s hand and instead touched her throat checking for wounds. It was the very same girl that was disguised as a maid in the Durian''s mansion. "What would those disposable cretins do if they''d hurt me?! I''m a fianc¨¦ of a damn prince! I can''t have my skin getting damaged!" Sheined andined. "Caramb, mirror!" The girl demanded extending her hand expectantly to the older gentleman, Caramb, while still on the ground with no intention of getting up. "Miss, it really isn''t the right time for worrying about that... the corpse puppet can return at any moment." Caramb sighed and instead of giving Fillia what she wanted, he grabbed her hand and got her up. "Don''t be stupid! A future queen can''t allow herself to have blemishes like that on her visage!" Fillia scoffed at him and tried to pull her hand away. "Miss... weren''t you the one who said that you would never show yourself to prince Roan in your original form? Wasn''t that the reason we''ve spend so much time to catch you the most beautiful elf we could find?" Caramb tried to reason with the girl while dragging her towards Cranberry and lord ckberry. "Shut up! Even if he wouldn''t notice anything, I would know about it! It''s not like I''m the avatar- like father, nor I have the natural good looks like Mason! I don''t need another reason to feel inferior!" She growled spitefully and managed to free herself from Caramb''s grip. Or rather he released her since they were already by Cranberry''s body. The old man Caramb crouched by the red-haired girl and touched her neck. His eyes shone and he sighed. "Still alive, but barely. I''ll have to use some healing on her or she''ll die before you''ll be able to take her powers." While he was saying that his hand already started glowing and the gentle pale light was getting absorbed into Cranberry''s body. "..." Fillia closed her mouth and gulped down the saliva nervously. "Finally... That cursed inborn one-time use skill will prove to be useful!" She kneeled by the unconscious Cranberry and touched her face. "Tsk... Annoying. Although her face could barely be qualified as pretty, her breasts are huge, and she has strong magic and a cool magic-bound servant..." Fillia clicked her tongue holding Cranberry''s chin up as if she was appraising her. "Oh well... soon, at least her magic and servant will be mine!" She giggled in the red-haired girl''s face. Cranberry''s brow twitched and her eyelids shook as if she was about to wake up. "Miss Fillia! Please use your skill now! If I''ll heal her any more she will regain consciousness!" Caramb stood up and rubbed his hands together nervously. His eyes and ears started glowing as he scanned the area in search of dangers. "Tsk. Fine. If the puppet shows up before I''m finished, you''ll have to keep him away from me at all cost!" Fillia nodded and firmly grasped Cranberry''s head and her eyes started glowing with green light. "Miss... you''ve seen what he can do...! Are you telling me to fight to the death?" The old man sounded hurt. "As soon as I''ll steal her powers that guy will be under my control, so you have nothing to worry about. Now shut up and let me concentrate." The skinny girl scoffed at him and continued to stare at Cranberry. Slowly, Cranberry''s body started to emit a green light that, piece by piece, left her body and was getting absorbed into Fillia. The minutes were passing, the green light was slowly soaking into the skinny girl, and Caramb was starting to sweat from the stress. "Miss... can''t you hurry a little bit...?" He asked rubbing his hands together expecting the blue undead to show up at any moment. "Damn it! I''ve told you to shut up!" Fillia cursed and gritted her teeth. "Unique magic steal isn''t some measly appearance steal skill that you can just activate in a few seconds! I have only one chance and if it fails, everything gets returned to the owner while I will not be able to use it anymore, ever! So would you kindly stay fucking quiet while I concentrate?!" She growled, clenching her hands on Cranberry''s face so hard that her fingernails started digging in in the red-haired girl''s skin. *KA-BOOM!!!* Just as she finished telling off the silver-haired gentleman, a loud explosion shook the earth and a whole wing of the mansion crumbled down. "Wh-what the...?!" Caramb flinched and took a step back. "...shut up, shut up, shut up...!" Fillia chanted while doing her best to make her skill work faster. "Graough! (Master!) Graough! (There were no potions in your closet!) Graough! (And in your whole room neither!) Graough...! (So I broke into your mother''s medicine storage and...!)" Zombie growled running towards the group, holding as many bottles as he could with his left arm and half of the right one. Then he saw the silver-haired gentleman getting into a fighting stance, whose body began shining showing that he was activating some skills. Then the blue undead looked at his master and saw a scrawny girl with reddish hair, wearing a maid''s uniform that was clearly too big for her, wing at Cranberry''s face and using some strange skill that was producing a green light. "GRAOUGH! (GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY CRANBERRY!)" Zombie roared, all the bottles he was carrying fell to the ground and crashed as his body glowed purple and he charged right at the girl grabbing his master. Chapter 77: The role of a villainess

Chapter 77: The role of a viiness

*WHAM* *CRASH* Zombie''s attack was just as fast as when he got Sapotle, but the silver-haired gentleman somehow managed to intercept him and smashed the blue undead into the ground more than seven feet away from the two girls. "Caramb...! You bastard! Get him away from here!" The tremors that the attack created cause Fillia to lose her bnce and almost let go of Cranberry. The sickly-looking girl managed to hold on, but now there were long red marks on Cranberry''s face where Fillia dug her fingernails to support herself. "GRAOUGH! (LET GO OF HER YOU PIECE OF SHIT!)" Zombie roared trying to get up but the silver-haired man got him into a chokehold. "This... might not be that difficult..." Even though he seemed to be struggling greatly, Caramb''s words were rather lighthearted. "GROUGH! (LET GO OF ME!) GRAOUGH! (I HAVE TO HELP CRANBERRY!)" Zombie seemed to be going mad. His body was emitting stronger purple light with each second and he was actually raising back up even from that position. "Lay down, little friend,y down..." Caramb''s hand started glowing and he put his two fingers to Zombie''s neck. /Insuficient mana "Graough...?! (What the...?!)" Zombie gasped, all of his active skill deactivated at the same time and he hit the ground, crushed under Caramb. "Uh-oh. I can''t go too far with this or you won''t be able to move anymore, little puppet." The man sighed and patted Zombie''s shoulder, right now he was able to hold the blue undead down using only one hand. /Warning /Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required The message popped up for the blue undead but got ignored. "Graough! (You bastard!) Graough?! (What did you do to me?!)" Zombie could move his legs and head, yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn''t reach the silver-haired gentleman with any meaningful counterattack. "Caramb...! Make him shut up!" Fillia scoffed through her teeth without looking away from Cranberry. ...and Zombie''s master was looking paler and paler by each second that the green light was flowing away from her body and into Fillia''s. "As you wish, miss." Caramb nodded, grabbing the back of Zombie''s face and pushing his face into the corpse of a nearby werewolf. "I''m really sorry for the inconvenience, young friend." Caramb apologized sounding shockingly sincere. "You see, as soon as young miss Fillia Envy will get your former master''s magic ability, we will berades, so don''t struggle too much, alright?" He asked, making sure that the fur ispletely blocking off any sounds that the undead could make to distract Fillia. Of course, he did that knowing full well that Zombie didn''t need to breathe, and decided that werewolf''s corpse was a less rude option than pushing Zombie''s face into the ground. The blue undead was jolting and convulsing but Caramb was holding a firm grip on him. /Warning /Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required The message showed up but there was nothing that Zombie could do about it. "You see, friend, it''s futile. You won''t get away from me, so do yourself a favor and stop struggling." Caramb exined patiently making sure that he is out of reach of Zombie''s kicking legs kicking around wildly. "I''ll have you know, I am quite a special person, I have three innate skills you see." He smiled even though Zombie definitely couldn''t see him, and it was questionable whether he was listening to the silver-haired gentleman in the first ce. "The first one is the mana drain I used on you. The second one is closebat I''m using to hold you down. And the third one is..." As Caramb was about to reveal hisst secret, Zombie''s head suddenly sunk deeper into the dead body, causing the man to flinch with unease. "Ekhm... friend, don''t tell me that you are eating that werewolf...? You wouldn''t happen to have a skill that allows you to regain mana by eating other corpses, would you...?" He asked cautiously leaning over and lessened the pressure he was putting on the blue undead. *plop* *fushaa* With a wet gloppy sound, Zombie''s head got unstuck from the bubbling, rapidly rotting flesh and unleashed a massive amount of noxious fumes that hit Caramb straight in the face. "GUHUAH!" The silver-haired man screamed inhaling even more fumes and loosened his grip on Zombie. The undead didn''t waste any time and, after partially breaking free, he twisted his body like a snake and bit into Carab''s throat. Zombie''s eyes shone and he injected an ungodly amount of soul devouring venom into the man''s bloodstream. "...you...! How...?! I took your... mana...!" Caramb''s body was already melting from the inside but he somehow managed to whisper a question. Who knows, maybe that had something to do with his third innate skill? "...graough... (...after I received the venomancer title, producing venom doesn''t require mana...)" Zombie growled and kicked the silver-haired gentleman, and the poor man simply burst like a balloon filled with rotting meat and limp soggy bones. /High-level yer defeated Master and servant receive EXP "Caramb, I swear, what are you doing there?! Can''t you just stay quiet for five minutes?!" Fillia had her back turned to them and was focusing so hard that shepletely missed the death of herpanion. Zombie''s face became void of any and all emotions. He didn''t need to have enough mana for a skill to get to the vermintching on to his master in less than a second. "Caramb? Why did youe over for? What about the...?" Sensing the movement behind her, Fillia asked annoyed. And then she felt a cold hand closing on her throat like a vice. "...?!" She couldn''t even squeak. *CRUNCH* "!!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!!!!!" A single skill-less kick broke both of Fillia''s arms forcing her to let go of Cranberry. Without a single grunt, Zombie moved the crying and kicking filth that dared to hurt his master away from the red-haired girl. When he brought Fillia far enough, Zombie lessened his grip just a bit. "Yhou... bashtard...!" Fillia gasped for air through snot and tears. "I''m... the viinesh of thish shtorhy...!" She growled forcing every word through her crushed throat. "It''sh... a parth of the globhal eventh story quest...! You have to be mine...!" It seemed that she had some sort of passive recovery skill going on because with each spoken word she was talking more clearly. "It... has been already decided by the system...!" She gasped coiling her broken arms around Zombie''s arm to lessen the burden on her neck even a bit, unable to realize that her precious skill has already failed and the green light was rushing back into Cranberry''s body. "I am the viiness! The system gave me a quest line that would bring me a perfect life! You are just a pawn to be u...!" Fillia was really getting into this whole viin exins their evil n thing, but honestly, Zombie couldn''t think straight when something happened to Cranberry, and simply didn''t give a damn about whatever Fillia was talking about. Instead, he simply leaned over shouting Fillia, and opened his mouth. His eyes shone and... A disgusting-looking stream of soul devouring venom shoot out from his teeth right at the viiness''s face. "A-AAAAAGHruglughlrgughly...!" It was uncertain whether Zombie wanted to poison her, or just drown her, but he achieved both of those oues. ...partially... The venom spread through Fillia''s body, causing it to start dposing at a terrifying rate, but her lungs were filled with venom before she died from the poisoning. /Early mid-level yer defeated Master and servant receive EXP /Error /Essential character has died /Vacancy for one of the essential roles had opened /Calcting... /Reanimating the viiness /Error /Essential character, viiness, was killed by the holder of Superbia /Impossible to reanimate the target /Viiness role be vacant. /Role is being transferred to the one who killed the essential character /Error /The killer is the essential character and the holder of Superbia /Calcting... /Calcting... /Calcting... /... /Adjusting the story... /Transferring the role to another yer fulfilling the citeria /Master of the eternal servant Cranberry Pride Role: Backstory character ?? Master of the eternal servant Cranberry Pride Role: Viiness /Transferplete /Bond meter cap removed Bond level reached level 3 /Eternal servant magic (level 3): Unlocked Servant takes on all of the Master''s burdens "GRAOUGH! (MASTER!)" Once Zombie let go of the corpse of the former viiness, it turned into a pile of bloody goop on the ground damp from the insanely potent venom. The blue undead didn''t get overwhelmed by the downpour of messages simply because he was too busy worrying about his master. Even though he couldn''t feel any physical pain, his body must have taken quite the beating because he ended up tripping and had to crawl towards the unconscious Cranberry. /Warning /Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required The message popped up but Zombie couldn''t do anything about it while Cranberry was in no shape to address it - she couldn''t even see the message in the first ce. /Warning /Major story elements require rewriting /The system will restart to implement all the changes The content of the new message was so unexpected that even Zombie managed to tear his eyes away from his master. "Gra-ough...? (System... restart...?)" He groaned confused /System restart in... /3... As if to answer his question a countdown started. /2... "Graough! (W-wait! Stop! Heal my master first!)" He roared, but there was no answer from the system. In the first ce, the system only answered the yer characters, and Zombie was just a strong monster. /1... The final number showed up. /Restarting the system Onest message popped up and the whole world drowned in darkness. Chapter 78: System reset

Chapter 78: System reset

/... /... /Rebooting the system... /Installing the update... /Adjusting the world setting... Time remaining: 3 years 5 months 17 days /Warning /Unpredictable side-effects of spending three years in a vegetative state may ur /Calcting... /Solution: To prevent the dissonance between bodies and minds of the poption, false memories should be implemented /... /Adjusting the memories... /... /Error /Servant holds the superbia skill Unable to adjust Servant''s memories /Error /Master-Servant bond level reached level 3 Servant holds the superbia skill Unable to adjust Master''s memories /Calcting... /Abandoning the memories adjustment process for Master and Servant /... /World setting adjustmentplete /False memories implemented /Updateplete Zombie opened his eyes, feeling as if he was just sucked out of an endless void. He has found himself sitting by Cranberry''s bed. "...graough...? (...what the...?) Graough?! (Cranberry?!)" He growled horrified when his mind cleared and he remembered the state his master was in when hest saw her before everything went ck. How much time has passed since then? What exactly happened then? And where is his master now? Is she even alive? Those questions were bludgeoning every other thought in his head. Zombie decided to run out of the room to scour the battlefield, searching for the wounded red-haired girl. "Graough...! (Whoa...!)" But as soon as he stood up he realized all toote that his left hand is tied up to the bed, and it resulted in his feet kicking up in the air and him smashing his back against the floor. "Nnn..." Someone on the bed made an annoyed voice. "Graough...? (Huh...?)" Zombie shook his head and looked at what was holding him down. It was... A hand sticking out of the bundle of covers that had its fingers intertwined with his own. And the person holding on to him must have had quite the monstrous strength to hold him back like that. "G-graough...! (N-no way...!)" Zombie gasped and awkwardly crawled on the bed. Feeling way more nervous than he should be able to as an undead, Zombie slowly hooked the edge of the nket on the paralyzed fingers of his right arm and pulled it down. "Graough...? (Eh...? Um...? Master...?)" He growled in confusion. The red-haired girl wearing a blue pajama was sleeping peacefully on the mattress. She was the one holding Zombie''s hand. She looked very simr to Cranberry. But was it really her...? Zombie wasn''t able to say with certainty whether she was Cranberry or not... For example... He clearly remembered his master being almost fifteen years old while thedy in front of him was already a young adult, most likely around eighteen or neen years old. She was taller and her features seemed softer than Cranberry in Zombie''s memories. "Gra-graough...? (Ma-master, is that you...?)" Zombie growled shyly and tugged on the girl''s pajama. "...nnn...!" She frowned and made a very Cranberry-like sound, bud didn''t wake up. Zombie looked around befuddled. On one hand, he wanted to check the battlefield just in case, but something inside of him was telling him, that this sleeping girl was Cranberry herself. But then how did she suddenly got over three years older in only... Zombie flinched. How long exactly...? Thest thing he remembered was the countdown finishing and a system message informing about the restart popping up. And then he woke up. There was seemingly no dy, but at the same time, he had this strange gut feeling that it has been quite some time. Realizing that was quite an achievement for him, considering that Zombie''s rotten brain title usually dulled his intuition to the point of blind ignorance. "Graough... (How much time has passed since everything turned dark...?)" Zombie muttered to himself. He sat on the bed and closed his eyes trying to recall anything. He knew that whatever caused Cranberry to suddenly get older, must have had something to do with that sudden darkness enveloping everything. Zombie opened his eyes and looked at the girl. He saw a long thin scar going all the way from her shoulder to her wrist and felt anger remembering the frenzied werewolf who managed to reach his master. But then the blue undead looked back at Cranberry''s face, searching for other scars that she could have suffered when he wasn''t able to reach her. There was one, a small one, around her left ear but nothing else. It was to be expected though, Cranberry knew how to protect herself after all. Zombie''s eyes slid down her face and, after a big detour, ended on her stomach. The memory of all the blood and pink intestines that were almost spilling from the terrible wound caused by the werewolf''s bite echoed in his mind. He tensed up at the mere thought of it, feeling the anger build up remembering the overwhelming amount of opponents swarming the single girl and trying to eat her alive. There was no doubt that an injury like that should have been fatal. If her right arm ended up with arge scar like that then... how did the more terrible one looks now? Without any more hesitation, the blue undead reached over to the girl''s stomach with his useless paralyzed hand and pulled up her pajama''s top slightly. On a pale stomach with clearly defined muscles many tiny scars were lining up creating the outline of a beast''s bitemark. "Graough...! (You are my master..!)" The surge of relief crashed against Zombie''s cold heart and left him shedding tears of happiness. "Graough! (Master! Master, you''re alive!)" He cried, lowering his head and gently pulling Cranberry''s hand to his forehead. He no longer felt the need to go anywhere, this was the only ce he ever wanted to be. Since his master was safe, there was nothing that he wanted more than to stay by her side. "...?" Cranberry, who probably feeling a draft on her stomach, opened her sleepy eyes just a tiny bit. "...haa... so you followed me even in death...?" She mumbled half asleep and pulled on Zombie''s hand and the surprised undead ended up in her embrace. "...my sweet rotten brain~..." Cranberry purred, hugging Zombie''s head, and nuzzled her face against his hair. For a second, Zombie had no idea how to respond, considering the position he ended up in. "Ghaough...! (Master, you''re not dead...!)" Zombie''s groan was muffled since his face was smushed between Cranberry''s chest. "...? Haa...? Oh, please, Zombie, as if anyone could have lived after losing that much blood... haa... that werewolf got me goo..." She breathed out, dismissing Zombie''sment with a lethargic voice when suddenly she twitched and opened her eyes. "...d?" She hugged Zombie tighter as if she wanted to keep him safe, and keenly looked around. She realized that something was off. "I highly doubt that the afterlife, if such ce even exists, looks like my bedroom..." Cranberry said carefully weighing her words, checking everything in sight. "..." She sat up - with Zombie''s head still firmly stuck, and while leaning to the side she pulled up her pajama''s top, a lot higher than what Zombie did before, in a lot bolder move. "Ha..." She frowned when she saw the exact same scars that Zombie discovered before. Then she extended one arm, checking its length, and finally got off the bed and stood up only to realize how much taller she was now. ...and she did all of that while pulling Zombie with her, holding him in her embrace... "...haa..." Cranberry raised her brow and made a sour expression. /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 21) Only when a system message popped up Cranberry looked down at her servant, and her face became crimson red. She hurriedly let go of him and took a step back. "Ekhem... a-at least now we know that whatever happened, the system still works...!" Cranberry cleared her throat and said the first thing that came to her mind to hide her embarrassment. "Graough? (Master, do you remember what happened?) Graough! (There was that girl, and she was doing something weird to you!) Graough! (And, and there was this strange green lighting out of you!)" Zombie started growling in a worried voice. "I... have no idea what you are talking about, Zombie..." Cranberry tilted her head. "I remember sending you off so you wouldn''t see me dying in such a pathetic way..." She started massaging her temples trying to jog her memory. "Graough?! (Wait! So there really were no potions in your room?!)" Zombie growled feeling betrayed. "Yeah. Rotten brain, why would there be any potions here? We were keeping adventuring a secret from my mother, remember?" Cranberry rolled her eyes and sighed in disappointment. "I am quite sure though that I''ve heard your voice calling me and...!" Suddenly she stopped talking and blushed harder than before. "Graough! (I was...!) Graough! (And also, I was so panicked that I destroyed a whole...!)" Zombie growled,pletely missing her reaction. Instead, he himself closed his mouth and started looking around the room. "Graough... (Master, I''m pretty sure that I caused a part of the mansion to copse...) Graough... (Including this room...)" He groaned confused. "And I''m certain that one of the werewolves had run away with your right arm, too..." Cranberry added pointing at Zombie''s right hand attached together with red stitches. "Haa... Just... what does it all mean...?" Cranberry started massaging her forehead and sighed. Chapter 79: Changed backstory

Chapter 79: Changed backstory

"...I don''t remember those clothes, but they all fit me..." Cranberry changed out of the pajamas and was checking out the outfit she chose in the mirror. "Well, at least we know that my mother is gone." She smirked pointing at the open closet - not a single piece of clothing in there was red. "Graough! (Yes!) Graough? (Still, I wonder what happened though?) Graough... (There''s no trace of the battle with the werewolves...)" Zombie nodded to his master and turned to the window, checking the world outside. Cranberry walked towards him and leaned forward, putting her hands on the windowsill and touching shoulders with the blue undead. "Not really, look, the shed you destroyed is different than before. I must have been rebuilt." She pointed out, at the building in the back, now muchrger than the previous one. "Graough... (How odd...)" Zombie frowned and tilted his head, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. "Anyway, we should check around the room first. If we don''t find a clue about what is going on here, we should start exploring the rest of the mansion." Cranberry decided and patted Zombie''s shoulder. After a few minutes of investigating, dejected Zombie approached Cranberry sitting by the desk. "Graough... (Master...) Graough...! (There''s nothing out of the ordinary...!)" He groaned inint. "Graough, graough! (Tough the birthday cards I gave you are all gone, and there is a difference in the size of the clothes!)" He growled. "None of the birthday cards are there?" Cranberry asked without turning around, busy reading through some book that she found. "Graough, grough! Groaugh! (All of them are gone! One per birthday every year since we''re together, even the one I gave you for your fourteenth birthday along with the portrait of you that your mother stole and gave away to that whole Durian!)" Zombie confirmed, nodding his head vigorously. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and tapped the page of the book in front of her. "So it seems that the traces of our connection gotpletely erased, huh..." She shook her head and tapped the page again. "Graough? (What do you mean?)" Zombie realized that she wanted him to look at the book so he leaned over and peeked at it. As he did so, his ponytail slid over his shoulder and brushed against Cranberry''s face, causing it to be slightly pink. "Graough...? (Dear diary, today my dearest prince will arrive! Oh, my heart is aflutter...?)" Zombie read out loud, raising his brows and blinking in confusion. "Graough. (I didn''t expect that someone would release a book in the form of a diary.)" He said tilting his head, making a mixed expression. "Haa... It''s not a novel. It''s a real diary." Cranberry breathed out and closed the diary, only to open it again on the first page. "Graough?! (This... This diary belongs to Cranberry Pride?!)" Zombie read the title and almost choked on his own words. "Graough! (Master, but you never even owned a diary!)" He growled turning his head and looking at the red-haired girl in bewilderment. "And that''s not even my handwriting either." Cranberry crossed her arms and leaned back on the chair. "But... if it''s true, it does clear out a lot of things..." Her expression turned sour. "Apparently, around three and a half years have passed since the werewolves attacked the mansion." She started exining before Zombie could even ask her about it. "But things get really weird." Cranberry tapped the diary again. "It says here that a pack of feral werewolves attacked us and killed my mother." "Graough?! (Feral?! Weren''t they from the Gluttony family?!)" Zombie growled taken aback. "Haa... Exactly. It also says that one of the werewolves used a skill to steal the avatar of pride title from my mother, and that after I managed to kill it thanks to a lucky ident, something went wrong and I gained the title of the usurper of pride instead of the avatar of pride one." Cranberry sighed heavily and massaged her forehead. "This thing paints me as some empty-headed little girl who got everything handed to her on a silver tter!" She gritted her teeth. "Everything written here is stubbornly erasing all my hard work and painting me as azy spoiled princess..." She picked the diary with her thumb and index finger as if it was something filthy and threw it in the trashcan by the desk. "Graough! (Master! You shouldn''t throw it away like that!) Graough! (Even if it''s stupid it might have some clues about what happened!)" Zombie leaned over in an attempt to fish the book out from the trash. "...!" Zombie didn''t saw this but his action caused Cranberry to momentarily lose her cool. "You... you don''t need to bother reading it, I''ve already read through it and memorized it all...!" She said grabbing Zombie''s hand and pulling him over. "Ghaough...? (Um... master...?)" He groaned once again muffled by Cranberry''s chest. "Even if it wasn''t written by me it''s something written by someone posing as me. Knowing you, you would definitely misunderstand it as me being the author!" Cranberry didn''t regain her cool at all. "Ghaough... (I... am already confused...)" Zombie admitted. "Don''t read it. It''s all bullshit." Cranberry pulled his head out and looked him in the eyes. "Whenever it mentioned you, it was in this mean way, as if you were some nasty? stinking corpse puppet." "Graough?! (Wait, what?!) Graough?! (Who, me?!)" Zombie got caught up in Cranberry''s peace. And although in the diary, Zombie was described just as meanly as Cranberry told him, it wasn''t the real reason she didn''t want him to read it. What she wanted to hide were the lengthy descriptions of her so-called ''beloved prince''. "Yeah, exactly. You don''t want to read through all of that rubbish." Cranberry nodded with a serious expression. "Graough! (Then I definitely won''t read it!)" Zombie scoffed. "Graough... (But still...) Graough...? (What should we do now?) Graough? (Has it really been that long as that mean book has suggested?)" Zombie stopped his attempts to reach into the trashcan and looked at his master. "Haa... good thing you''re a rotten brain." Cranberry breathed out with relief and patted Zombie''s cheek. "Anyway. There''s only one way to check that out." She let go of Zombie''s face, allowing him to straighten his back, and pointed at the door with her chin. "I''m really interested whether the not dumb parts of the diary are true or not." She added. "Graough? (Like which ones for example?)" Zombie asked tilting his head. "Like the one about a so-called lull. A period of time that started right after our little squabble with the werewolves, when everyone got disconnected from the system." Cranberry exined while putting on the shiny ck loafers. "Graough?! (Something like that happened?!)" Zombie gasped in shock. "Graough? (How long itsted?)" Cranberry started staring at him with disbelief. "...haa... The diary said that it still continues, but as we''ve already seen, the system is operating smoothly." She sighed shaking her head lightly. "Graough! (Ooh! You mean with the charm skill''s level going up?) Graough...! (It must have been my love for you that reawakened the sys...!)" Before Zombie could finish his sentence Cranberry reached up and blocked his mouth with both hands. "I-I know what the side effects the rotten brain title are, but could you be at least a little bit mindful of what leaves your mouth?" Cranberry, red as a ripe cranberry, asked embarrassed, looking up at her undead servant who was innocently looking back at her in confusion. "...seriously... don''t give me hope..." She rested her forehead on his chest andined in a small voice. *rustle* Coincidentally, some noisesing from the outside caught the blue undead''s attention so he was looking away and missed Cranberry''s words. "...haa..." The red-haired girl sighed and stepped away from Zombie. "You know, I..." The determination in her eyes showed that she was going to say something important. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "Youngdy!" But right before she could say whatever was on her mind, a loud knocking interrupted her and an unfamiliar man in a butler''s uniform busted into the room as if he was invited. "Youngdy! Your fianc¨¦ has arrived!" He said in a voice trembling with excitement. "My what now...?" Cranberry crossed her arms and red at the butler. "Yo-your fianc¨¦... miss? Are you perhaps still asleep? I sometimes wonder what''s wrong with your head..." The butler sighed. "Graough... (Master, I remember that you have forbidden me to kill the family servants but...) Graough? (Can we make an exception this time?) Graough? (Please?)" Zombie asked, already taking a stance for a kick. "Ah, you hear that? Even Zombie agrees with me!" The butler used the blue undead''s groans to support his argument as if this was the most natural thing to do. "Miss, juste down quickly, it''s rude to keep the prince Roan waiting." He added running out of the room and closed the door behind him. "Haa..." Cranberry let out the air that she was holding back and started massaging her forehead with both hands. "Graough...? (Master, what is going on...?)" Zombie tugged on her shirt and asked. "This dumb diary was actually correct..." Cranberry sounded as if she was holding back an ungodly amount of anger. "This piece of shit book was actually correct...!" She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Graough... (Master...)" Zombie tilted his head totally unaffected by the threatening aura surrounding the red-haired girl. "My baseball bat should be under the bed. Bring it with you and follow me. I''m sure that I''ll be needing it in a moment." Cranberrymanded and walked out of the room without looking back. Chapter 80: Meeting the fiance

Chapter 80: Meeting the fiance

"System, show me thepleted quests'' list." Cranberry said walking down the stairs. A long window popped up with hundreds of quests she hadpleted in the past. She skimmed through all of them and her expression turned grim. "Graough? (Master, is something wrong?)" Zombie, who was a few steps behind her, asked curiously since they both shared the messages. "The quest about getting a follower... Do you remember? The level 1 quest..." Cranberry was looking at the bottom of the list. "Graough? (The one youpleted by befriending Cinnamon''s and the wolves gang''s master?)" Zombie furrowed his brows straining his memories. "That''s the one... Wait, you remember those wolves like that? Shouldn''t you say Arion and the wolves gang? He was the first monster she tamed." The red-haired girl got curious over her servant''s answer. "Graough. (Of course, I remember Arion and the rest, but I''m sure that Cinnamon became their pack leader by now.)" Zombie waved his unusable hand dismissively and exined. "Ha. I see. Well, you''re the beast master." Cranberry shrugged and continued the descent on the flight of stairs. "Back to that level 1 quest..." She returned to the main subject. "It''s gone." "Graough? (Gone?)" "Basically. In the form that the two of us knew it, at least. The reward is there but the quest description changed. Now it says, ''impress the prince''." Cranberry started massaging her forehead. "Actually, most of the quests concerning you had their description changed in some way as well. Most of them got altered only a little bit, like this one, ''reward: 5% EXP boost for your FUTURE servant''." She pointed out. "Graough? (Future servant?) Graough! (That makes it sound as if we weren''t together back then!)" Zombie growled furiously, deeply offended. "It''s strange, but it does match with what was written in the diary." Cranberry nodded in agreement. "Between the disappearance of the birthday cards that you gave me, and the change in thepleted quests'' descriptions, it really seems as if the system has attempted to retroactively alter our backstory..." She clicked her tongue and her voice turned cold. "Graough! (But you''ve said that the diary mentioned me!)" Zombie pointed out in a worried voice. "It did, but in a way suggesting that you became mine only shortly before the fight with the werewolves. Haa... this is so annoying... what else could''ve change...?" Cranberry shook her head and closed her mouth just in time before the two of them entered the entrance hall where a group of people was already awaiting them. In the center, with an entourage of maids and butlers, stood a tall handsome young blond man in splendid clothes, carrying a giant sword across his back. "Graough! (Ah! It''s the weakling from the first kill party!) Graough! (Ipletely forgot that he was the prince!)" "Pffft...!" Zombie growled in realization, causing Cranberry to almost burst intoughter in front of the guest and the servants surrounding him. "Ah! She''s already here!" The same butler who was so rude while calling the youngdy of the house, eximed happily while bowing to the prince. "Your majesty, I''m so sorry for the inconvenience even after you''ve taken the trouble toe to visit our free-spirited youngdy." The butler was repeatedly apologizing and bowing to the prince with an almost inappropriate amount of servility. The sight of both him and the prince caused Cranberry''s mood to worsen severely. "How long were you going to make me wait?!" The blond prince, Roan Greed puffed up his chest proudly and asked in an arrogant voice. The same guy who could barely hold eye contact with Cranberry when they met at the first kill party was now acting all high and mighty! Cranberry''s and Zombie''s eyes widened and they looked at each other in shock. "Tsk! What? You''re not going to even wee me? I came here after you continued begging me to, so at least show some courtesy..." Roan even dared to clicked his tongue at Cranberry in her own home...! "Please forgive such rudeness from our young miss, she must have be overwhelmed with emotions and doesn''t know how to react!" The butler was now bowing at the exact ny-degree angle apologizing profusely. There was no need for the master and servant to exchange words. Zombie took off the long package hanging across his back and unwrapped it, revealing the baseball bat. Inplete silence, he offered the weapon to his master. Also without uttering a single word did Cranberry took it and nodded at her servant showing her appreciation. "You." She red down on the servile butler. "Bow down to him again and you''re dead." She stated in an ice-cold voice. "Hmph! At least you know when to... Wait... what did you just say...?" The prince scoffed and looked to the side as if he was expecting to hear some warm or remorseful words, but flinched when he realized that what Cranberry had said was neither of those. "So sorry! I''m so sorry, young miss must have eaten something bad for dinner, you know how clumsy she can..." *CRUSH* *st* /Low-level yer defeated Master receives EXP The butler in his absolute ignorance bent his back again. As it tuned out, he did so for thest time, because Cranberry stayed true to her word and blew his head clean off. "Aaaahhh!" "Kyaah!" The other servants all started screaming and running away when the unidentifiable piece of meat and crushed bones got smeared on the floor spraying loose teeth everywhere. "Wh-wha-what did you...?!" The prince yelped and tripped while backing off, ending up falling on his butt. "Roan, right?" Cranberry asked pointing at his face with the tip of the baseball bat. "Y-yes...? No, wait! How c-could you just kill...?!" The blond prince stuttered, pale as a sheet, staring at the drops of blood slowly dripping from the wooden weapon right at his white pants. "Roan, my boy, say... you''ve mentioned that I was the one who invited you here... Is that correct?" Cranberry asked conveniently ignoring the prince''s question and walking over the dead body that was continuously spilling blood from the horrible wound. "Th-that''s r-right...!" Roan nodded nervously. "...did you confirmed your appointment with the current head of the Pride family...?" The red-haired girl asked. "N-no, why would I, the pri...?" "Did you wrote a letter to the current head of the Pride family, asking if it''s okay for you to just drop by, when you have the time, and the said letter simply hasn''t arrived yet or got lost on the way...?" Cranberry cut the prince off without as much as blinking an eye. "...n-no... W-why would I do that in the first ce?! I am the prince! And your fianc¨¦! You literally begged me with tears in your eyes toe to visit you!" Roan shook his head, regaining some of his confidence. "I see, so in fact, you didn''t have an appointment. Ha." Cranberry ignored him and nodded to herself with a concerned expression. "That''s bad... that''s really bad for you, Roan..." She looked at the fallen prince with pity. "Wh... why is that...?" Roan asked in an uneasy voice. "Oh? Don''t you know?" Cranberry smiled brightly. She took the bat away from Roan''s face and rested it on her shoulder, immediately staining her clothes with the leftover blood. Her whole body began shining with multiple skills activated at once, even her weapon got condensed mana swirling around its whole length. The red-haired girl leaned forward so that her face almost touched the prince''s face. ...and then Cranberry opened her eyes revealing the deadly ice-cold re. "Even the current monarch has to confirm their visit with the current head of the Pride family." Her voice matched her re perfectly, causing Roan to shudder from dread. "Roan, you didn''t confirm shit. That means that you are an intruder. And there is only one fate awaiting the intruders on Prides'' property." Cranberry clenched her hand on the bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Graough. (Weakling, you really should just run.) Graough. (As long as you get out of my master''s property, she will not pursue you.)" Zombie felt obliged to advise the prince, even though Roan couldn''t understand his groans. But luckily for himself, Roan certainly understood the aura of certain death emanating from Cranberry. "!!!" And so the prince tumbled on the floor and ran away as fast as he could, knocking down some unlucky servant that was just entering the mansion. /Hidden questplete Reward granted "Haa...?" Cranberry stared at the message. She looked at Zombie, but the blue undead shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head from side to side,pletely clueless. "I had some active quest...? Oh, right, things have changed and I haven''t even checked that..." She asked but realized the answer the next second. "System, show active quests." Shemanded. /Active quest: Be a bride Reward: +150 LUC "Zombie, don''t look at it!" "G-graough! (Y-yes!)" She said hurriedly and Zombie obediently covered his eyes with his left hand. "Haa... what kind of idiocy is this...?" Cranberry sighed while massaging her forehead. "Then what was... System, showpleted quests." She decided to check the one she unknowinglypleted. And there it was, on the very top of the long list. /Route A v/w hidden quest Make the prince''s heart skip a beat Reward: +5 ATK pleted) "This... poses more questions than it answers..." Cranberry blinked confused, staring at the quest''s name. Chapter 81: A talk in the office

Chapter 81: A talk in the office

Cranberry and Zombie were sitting outside one of the rooms of the Prides'' mansion, waiting patiently. The red-haired girl was calm andposed while the blue undead was fidgeting feeling uneasy. "Graough...? (Master, aren''t you worried about what will he say...?)" In the end, Zombie couldn''t stop himself and asked. "Why would I be?" Cranberry shrugged her shoulders making an indifferent expression. "Graough... (You''ve said that things have changed...) Graough, graough... (That weakling prince seemed to really think that you were his fianc¨¦ and so did everyone else...) Graough, graough? (Aren''t you worried that the system changed your father and made him, I don''t know, just like your mother was?)" Zombie leaned forward while still sitting so that he could see Cranberry''s face clearly form below to watch her reaction. The girl looked at him, raised her hand, and touched his head. "Rotten brain. Even with changed memories Roan still acted just as he did during the first kill party, the only thing that changed about him were his memories about me, not his behavior in general. We''ll be fine." She pulled his head onto herp and started patting him with a soft smile. "Without my mother''s influence, father should return to his normal self." "Graough...! (Oooh, I see...!)" Zombie''s eyes closedzily. "Say, Zombie, could you tell me exactly what you saw before everything went dark?" Cranberry asked while continuously stroking his head. "Graough. (As you wish, master.)" The blue undead nodded. "Graough. (When I got back with the potions, I saw a strange guy waiting for something and a weird girl grabbing your face.) Graough, graough. (That girl looked like she was using a skill, but instead of emitting a normal light, she was absorbing the green light that you were emitting)" He groaned and his expression darkened. "Did you recognize any of them?" Cranberry asked in a warm voice, honestly, she looked like she wasn''t paying that much attention to Zombie''s words and was just enjoying having him on herp. "Graough... (No, I did not...)" Zombie denied it with disappointment. "They could be the werewolves, or simply came with them but stayed hidden..." Even while only paying a little bit of attention to Zombie''s words, Cranberry was still able toe to a reasonable conclusion. "Graough...! (No, that''s the thing...!)" Zombie fidgeted feeling uneasy as if there was something he should have know but his rotten brain title was blocking him from realizing it. "Graough! (They both were wearing bloodied clothes! Graough! (The maid outfit and the butler''s outfit just like the rest of the house servants!). Graough! (But none of them...!)" But at that moment the door by which the Master-Servant pair was waiting opened with an audible click. "Come in." The voice called them from the inside. "Haa... we will have to finish another time..." Cranberry seemed a bit dissatisfied that the quality time with her servant was cut short when the atmosphere was so nice. Nevertheless, she gently nudged Zombie, encouraging him to get up, and stood up on her own to lead Zombie inside the room which turned out to be an office. Cranberry''s father, lord ckberry Pride, was sitting behind arge desk. His hand was still shining with the active skill and the bespectacled man was staring at it intensely. "So the lull really is over, atst..." Lord ckberry muttered to himself. "Father." Cranberry bowed her head slightly in a greeting. "Why did you called for us?" She asked in a calm voice. ckberry took his eyes off of his hand and looked at his daughter, raising his brow. "Why, you ask? Didn''t you just kill one of the servants, your personal butler no less?" "Graough?! (That rude bastard was your personal butler?!)" Zombie growled in disbelief but was ignored. "He had entered my room without my permission, offended me multiple times, and was bringing shame upon the name of the Pride family by basically licking Roan Greeds boots in the middle of the entrance hall of our family home." Cranberry counted on her fingers and looked back at her father. "Considering such major offenses, I''d say that the only problem here is that I haven''t executed the guards who had the audacity of allowing in an intruder who hadn''t confirmed with you, father, whether he can visit the Prides'' mansion or not." Cranberry dered with a stoic expression. "A small mistake that can be corrected immediately." She added without batting an eye. "..." ckberry''s hand stopped shining and he put it on the desk. He tilted his head slightly and looked at his daughter in shock. "Wasn''t that intruder your beloved fianc¨¦...? I would have expected you to be jumping with joy that he paid you any attention at all." The man put his hands together on the desk and leaned forward, posing a question. "Haa... father, I had a lot of time to think during the lull, and came to a realization, that pursuing the marriage is pointless." Cranberry slowly shook her head from side to side and opened her arms, showing that there is nothing that she can do. "I will never be a good wife and mother that my mother wanted me to." She dered which caused ckberry''s brow to shot up. "To tell the truth your change of stance towards the little prince doese to me as a relief but..." Lord ckberry rubbed his hands together and sighed. "Isn''t it too soon for you to take such stance towards the marriage altogether? I clearly remember seeing you so happy when you were nning your wedding." The slight change in her father''s voice made Cranberry smile. He seemed to be more concerned over her happiness than about how she acted in front of the very prince of the kingdom. "Honestly, I pushed for your engagement with the prince for only two reasons." Lord ckberry confessed. "First, you seemed to be head over heels for him. Second, because of the unfortunate circumstances on top of a sudden lull, our family''s position had suffered greatly, some voices even call for pushing us out of the rightful spot as one of the main families." He rubbed his hands together and frowned. "The loss of the avatar of pride title, even during the time when the system stopped working, was a severe blow to our reputation." He sighed. "Sadly, even now that the system is functioning again, it might get be even worse. If only your mother was still alive..." "Father, say, do you miss mother...?" "Wh-what...?!" Cranberry''s sudden question seemed to throw ckberry off. He flinched and leaned back in his chair. "This... haa... so be it, I think that you are old enough already to learn the truth." Lord ckberry breathed out heavily and looked his daughter in the eyes. "My marriage with your mother wasn''t my idea, it was decided by yourte grandfather and honestly, it thoroughly ruined my rtionship with the girl I loved." He said, breaking eye contact and staring at the ceiling with a sour expression. "Things happened, and I''ve even transferred the title of the avatar to your mother with the help of the said girl, well, of the said woman, to save your mother''s life. I can only imagine that my former beloved misunderstood it as a sign of me trying to leave the Pride family name and return to her but..." Lord ckberry took a deep breath and looked at his silent daughter. "I know I told you that the werewolves that attacked us over three years ago were just a bunch of feral monsters, but the truth is I expect them have been sent by that woman..." The man went silent for a moment as if gathering courage. "Cranberry, I''m sorry." He bowed deeply to his daughter. "You''ve lost your mother and our family name lost its prestige all because of your foolish father''s past mistakes." Lord ckberry gave a heartfelt apology. "If your sudden change has anything to do with the results of my actions, please think it over. Don''t be like me and consider your own happiness first." "With your permission, I''ll do just that." Cranberry bowed back to her father. "All that said, you should refrain from outright killing our servants. It was hard enough to hire the full staff after the werewolves devoured all of the previous ones." Lord ckberry straightened his back. "But since it was a good lesson to not underestimate their employer, I think there is no need for you to apologize." He smirked. "I''ll deal with the misguided guards." He added. "And since the system is operating again I expect that you will start training again? Notify me if you won''t be returning home for supper." "As you wish. We''ll be going now." Cranberry smiled back at him and opened the door. Lord ckberry twitched again when she said ''we'' and nced at Zombie with confusion. It seemed that he also believed that Cranberry thought of her servant as a nuisance before, and the sudden change surprised him. "Graough. (Goodbye, master''s father.)" Meanwhile, Zombie politely bowed to him before closing the door and following his master. "Even though the system changed a lot of things about our history, it seems that father is still the same." Cranberry was waiting for Zombie outside her father''s office and linked arms with him as soon as he closed the door. "This might be the case for all the others too..." She furrowed her brows and leaned on Zombie''s shoulder. "Could it be that..." Worried Cranberry snuggled up to Zombie and looked down, falling deep in thoughts without even finishing her sentence. Chapter 82: To the Dandelions!

Chapter 82: To the Dandelions!

It''s been over a week since Roan''s unfortunate visit and Cranberry was enjoying destroying the renewed poption of the local monsters together with Zombie in the meantime. Many of the monsters that were showing up were much stronger than before and, unsurprisingly, gave lots of EXP. Too bad the monsters weren''t strong enough to protect themselves from the Master-Servant pair. Too bad for them that is. "...graough...? (...master, do you think that Blueberry will remember us...?)" While scraping off the blood mixed with broken feathers and scraps of fur from his boots, Zombie asked with a concerned expressiom. Cranberry who was standing on top of a pile of dead griffins, flinched and furrowed her brows. "I... Haa... I haven''t thought about that... I''m guessing she will be like the others, the system should have some level of control over monsters after all. Messing with her should be even easier than with us humans, right...?" She pointed out sounding disheartened, then she jumped down and waved at Zombie to follow her. They walked for a few minutes until they came upon another pile of dead monsters - the corpses in that one were already dposing. "Graough?! (Hey! Aren''t those ones of ours?!) Graough! (I thought the Dandelions would take care of it by now!)" Zombie growled angrily. "Graough?! (System might have rewritten their memory, but those guys should hop on the easy job, right?!)" He groaned. "Maybe I have worded the letter too lightly... Or, with how the system made things to be, they are in a good enough situation that they don''t need the money as they''ve used to..." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders reminiscing about the report that the inept family servants have painstakingly gathered for her. "Haa... but to think that some adventurers would have the guts to ignore a request from someone from one of the main families... I guess Pride''s name has fallen to that extent... Oh well, if they don''t have a reason to listen to me this time, I''ll just have to create one." She breathed out and smirked, looking at her confused eternal servant. "That means we should pay them a visit." ... With the end of the lull, the adventurers guild in Smagundi was busier than ever before. While it never closed downpletely, many adventurers retired or downscaled their range of offered services, but now, when everyone has regained ess to the system and all of their skills, the full cast of adventurers returned. And what awaited them were tens and hundreds of requests to deal with various dangerous monsters that used the three years when intelligent races could barely protect themselves and took over most of thend.? "We shouldn''t have ever left the fucking branch office. This shit-stained city is making me fucking nauseous." The beautiful elven mage with quite the potty-mouth, Lairs, mmed the tankard on the table and leaned back in the chair. "Where else were we supposed to find a job?" Rotte, the muscr warrior with way more brawl than brains answered with his forehead pressed against the same table that Lairs just hit. "I can''t even feel my arms anymore, were frenzy wolves that strong, or is something wrong with my memory?" Heined. "Nothing wrong with you, I also remember things differently." Shanks, the rat-faced thief and the leader of the group, sighed while ying around with the silver wedding ring on his left hand. The Dandelions gathered in the tavern right by the adventurers guild to unwind after a tough day. "Gray ones are one thing, but it''s ridiculous that I can''t stealth-kill even the basic brown ones in one hit." Shanks sighed heavily. "There is more work now, but it''s all at least twice as dangerous as it was in the past... I almost regret that the lull is over." "Oh, shut the fuck up, Shan-shan, do you know how fucking many elven viges got destroyed by the monsters? If the fucking system didn''t wake the fuck up, the same could happen to the whole fucking kingdom!" Lairs growled at Shanks after emptying her tankard. "I''m with Lairs on this one, Shanks, that was dumb of you to say." Rotte said, waving at the barmaid to bring another round of beer to their table. "I''ve said almost, didn''t I?" Shanks furrowed his brows and also finished his beer. "...but... you two know what I mean!" He groaned and shook his head. "Uresha and I got married a while ago, and... and we''re thinking about having kids." Shanks face mellowed when he nced at the silver ring on his finger. "Also... she might not say it outright, but Uresha is too kindhearted for this line of work. She misses tending to crops and livestock, she''s the farm girl through and through." "Yeah... if not for you begging her to join our group back when we were dumb kids, Ure-ure would have stayed behind trying to rebuild everything on her own." Lairs nodded, smiling at the memories. "Exactly. You know... I''ve been secretly saving up all of my parts of the rewards..." Shanks looked to the sides conspicuously and leaned forward, and the other two did the same. "I''m saving up to buy back the spot where Uresha''s family farm was." "Man, are you crazy? Our vige got wiped out before the lull even started! Why would you want to buy a piece ofnd infested with monsters?" Rotte waved his hand dismissively, seemingly skeptical about the idea. "Unless you want the Dandelions to clear out that ce. But for that, you would have to promise me I would be able to buy back the spot where the old Currant''s forge was." Therge warrior straightened his back andughed. "I''ve promised that old bastard that I would take over his business one day." He added. "Rotte...!" Shanks''s face lighted up. "Hah! It seems that you two fuckers have it all figured out!" Lairs exchanged the empty tankard for the full one and winked at the barmaid, but gotpletely ignored. Then she turned back to herpanions. "Say... if it all goes well and the vige would get rebuilt, do you think that there will be a need for a ce like the one miss Peach ran? You know, where the three of us had grown up?" She asked getting all timid all of a sudden. "You would like to open an orphanage?" Rotte and Shanks looked at each other... "No way! The kids will start crying as soon as you''ll open your mouth!" "We all know that you had a crush on Miss Peach, but, isn''t your personality totally not suited for following in her footsteps?" ...and burst into heartyughter. "Sh-shut the fuck up! I can stop cursing whenever the fuck I want!" Lairs mmed her tankard on the table again and spilled most of her beer. "Pffft...!" "Yeah, we can hear that!" Both of herpanions snorted into their own tankards, causing the elf to blush. "This one doesn''t fucking count!" She looked away embarrassed. "Hey, what''s going on here?" Uresha, the tall burly woman who was the tank of the party, returned to their table and sat by Shanks. "I''m gone for five minutes and you''re already teasing Lairs? Aren''t you two too old for that?" She sighed and took a sip of juice from her ss. She was the only member of the Dandelions who would abstain from alcohol if she was on her day off. "I''m the one who''s always getting the short end on the stick. At least let me have this." Rotte put his hands together, jokingly pleading, and tilted his head trying to act cute. "Ugh, fuck you, Rotte!" Lairs sniffled. "Ahahaha!" Shanks startedughing. "You three never change, do you?" Uresha smiled looking at her friends having fun. "Hey! Come look! Someone is stirring trouble in front of the guild!" Some other patron called out to everyone else while looking through the tavern''s window. "...?" Many guests left their tables and gathered to watch how the scene would y out. But Dandelions weren''t among them. "Probably another poor sod that got chased out of their home by monsters..." Rotte stared into his half-empty tankard and sighed. "Speaking about poor fucking sods, Shanks, are we seriously ignoring the mission from the fucking Prides''?" Lairs nced at their leader and rubbed her wrist nervously. "Of course, their offer isn''t bad, but it would require us to go through the griffins'' territory!" Shanks shook his head and his face turned serious. "We''ve lost In''re in almost the same kind of circumstances, and with how strong the monsters got during the lull, going there would be nothing but a suicide!" "But... fuck me... you know... they''re THE Prides, right...?" Lairs, Rotte, and Uresha all looked at Shanks with worried eyes. Shanks took arge gulp of beer and continued. "Everyone knows that the Pride family has lost their avatar of sin title, their wealth is diminishing with each day, and apparently Envys pitched the idea of taking away Prides'' position as one of the main families of the kingdom and instead grant it to one of the other noble houses. We have nothing to worry about." He assured them. "Hehehe! The Brave Swords came out of the guild! That redhead and weirdly dressed corpse puppet are going to get destroyed!" Someone peering from the windowughed with excitement. Chapter 83: The Brave Swords

Chapter 83: The Brave Swords

The Brave Swords were a group of five young adventurers with amon goal of changing the world for the better with their own hands. Even during the lull those brave men and women were tirelessly fighting with monsters to protect those in need as well as fighting off the bands of bandits that formed during those dangerous times. Yes, they were truly a group of five adventurers that some even dare to call heroes. The cheerful and kindhearted young man, Cherry, the warrior and the leader of the party. Slightly childish, but with enough strength to follow his conviction through. Avocado, the brawny tank with a stoic expression on the outside, and a self-proimed yboy on the inside. His fuse was a bit short, and he might have been a bit too self-centered, but his act was slowly getting better by being surrounded by a group of friends that always tried to correct his behavior. Lemon and Lime, twins girls and spellcasters of the Brave Swords. The older one, Lemon, the mage with a sharp tongue but a heart of gold, was usually the one to set Avocado straight. And the younger, Lime, the money-hungry healer with a mischievous personality that would more often than not be the one to stirup the easily bothered tank. Finally, Lychee, the mysterious silent rouge. What shecked in social skills, she more than made up to with insight, stealth, and power. While she usually didn''t interact with her friends too much, she would always try to keep a watchful eye on their soft-hearted leader, and would always point out when their group was about to walk into a trap that the others have missed. After a whole week has passed since everyone regained the connection to the system, the Brave Swords, as the up anding stars of the adventurers guild, had their hands full of various requests. Some of them even non-profit. Other adventurers wouldn''t even spare a nce at the work that didn''t offer any pay but Cherry couldn''t simply leave the ones in need alone, and his party didn''t want to leave him alone either. For the time being, the amazing group finished reporting theirtestpleted mission at the reception desk and were about to hit the tavern next door. All members of the Brave Swords were in a great mood with their pockets full of well-deserved money, when one of the female guild staff approached them with an urgent request. "A noble from the fallen house is stirring some trouble outside?" Cherry asked, raising his brows in surprise. "Almost fallen house." The female guild staff member corrected him and nodded. "It''s the daughter of the Pride family, she demands us to call for the Dandelions and refuses to leave. But what''s more important, her corpse puppet is blocking anyone from entering the guild!" The female guild staff memberined making a pitiful expression trying to pull on the warrior''s heartstrings. "Daughter of the Pride family...? Wasn''t she the one who made the scene during her first kill party? The one who demanded to be engaged to the prince Roan?" Lemon scoffed in annoyance, she didn''t like overconfident nobles. If Cranberry could hear them she would get rather annoyed that someone dared to speak out loud about how the system changed her backstory. "Now, now, we shouldn''t judge others so hastily." Cherryughed and patted Lemon''s head, making her blush. "We should at least hear them out. Miss..." Cherry turned back to the female guild staff member. "Did youngdy Pride said why she wants to meet the Dandelions?" He asked calmly. "She demands them to clean the monster corpses from her territory. She''s being a nuisance, really." The woman answered without hesitation. "Why don''t you... call for the Dandelions...?" Lychee muttered from behind Cherry''s back. "Ah! They have finished their mission a while ago and are probably drinking in Respite. It''s just an annoying noble girl and one corpse puppet, you''re going out anyway so could you all talk some sense into her? You do know which monsters settled around Pride''s territory, don''t you?" The female guild staff member fidgeted and asked innocently It was clear that she just didn''t want to deal with the annoying customer or to look for the adventurers on their time off. The Brave Swords all frowned and looked at each other. "Pride territory... Griffins nesting ground... too dangerous for... a low-level corpse retrieval mission..." Lychee said what everyone else thought, although it looked like each word she spoke was causing her difort. "Lychee''s right. I guess that this little girl hasn''t realized that her family no longer holds the power in Fruit Sd." Avocado sighed looking to the side. "Hey, leader, let me talk some sense into her." Avocado walked past Cherry, and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I have my way with thedies, this one will be no different." He winked and wrapped his arm around the female guild staff member''s shoulders. "Miss, lead the way so I, Avacado of the Brave Swords can resolve this problem!" Avocado pulled the woman with him without waiting for her response. "Ugh... if only he kept his mouth shut, what a shame..." Lemon clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Only weak girls... fall... for a guy... like that..." Lychee said, pulling up the scarf covering her face and discreetly ncing at Cherry looking after Avocado with admiration. "Won''t that be perfect then?" Silent until now, Lime joined the conversation. "That girl is supposed to be a pushover. Let''s go and see how it will y out!" She smirked mischievously and started pulling Lemon and Lychee towards the door? with her. "Leader, youe too! Maybe you''ll learn how to be more confident from observing Avocado!" Lime snickered looking back at Cherry. "Sh-shut up, Lime!" The leader of the Brave Swords blushed and followed after his party members. When they got outside the guild''s building, Avacado was already approaching the red-haired girl standing alone in an intimidating pose with some sort of thin wooden mace rested on her shoulder. At the first nce, she didn''t look like a young nobledy at all, dressed all in the functional hunter''s clothes and only a singlepanion. On the other hand, the saidpanion, the tall, blue-skinned corpse puppet that was shining with all kinds of skills was barring people from approaching the girl or the guild''s building, was dressed very extravagantly. Jet ck hair tied up in a low ponytail with a silver ring, white long-sleeved shirt - cropped with no other purpose than to show off his muscr stomach - loose ck pants, and ck thigh-high boots on high heels. That attire was keeping people away almost as much as the purplish light of the active skills that was radiating from the puppet. "Miss Pride, why don''t the two of us go and discuss your troubles in a more cozy ce?" Avocado was already doing his magic, the confidence and charm were literally oozing from him. "Are you the messenger boy or something? Good, go and call the Dandelions for me then. The other one turned out to bepletely useless in that regard." But the red-haired girl seemed to not notice any of that and treated the young man as amon servant despite his adventurer''s gear in clear sight. "Pfft...!" Lemon snorted at herpanion from behind. "Miss... the Dandelions are currently unavable..." Avocado didn''t seem to be bothered at all and begun building the topic again. "Then make them be viable. This is a request from me and some lousy adventurers should be jumping with joy at the opportunity of fulfilling it for me." The red-haired girl shrugged and started tapping her peculiar weapon against her shoulder. "I''ve been giving you a chance because you are cute in an unconventional way, but if you are going to act like you''re some tough shit then..." Avocado flinched and hastened his approach toward the red-haired girl, it seemed that something she had said really got on his nerve because he dropped the yboy persona surprisingly quickly. "Umm... Cherry, you can forget about what I''ve said about observing him, alright...?" Lime fidgeted and whispered to their leader. "Don''t think that some fallen noble girly can talk like that to us adventurers just because you dressed up as someone capable!" Avocado growled, reaching towards the girl as if he wanted to grab her arm and pull her aside. "Touch me and I''ll kill you." The girl said, coldly ring down at him. "As if! Perhaps you don''t know who you''re talking to?" Avocado scoffed at her and stepped to the side so that the girl would get a good view at the rest of his party in front of the guild''s door. "We are the Brave Swords! None of us is older than twenty-five, but all of us are over level 60!" Heughed while bragging. "The sword of mana, Lemon! The sword of kindness, Lime! The sword of darkness, Lychee! The sword of light, Cherry! And I! The sword of protection, Avocado!" Avocado was brimming with confidence while introducing everyone in his group. "It''s people like us who are the future of this kingdom, not some rotten nobles that couldn''t even protect the title that had put them in their position in the first ce!" "Haa..." The red-haired girl breathed out and shook her head at the loud offense. "I was honestly going to just have a talk with the Dandelions and get them to clean some monster corpses for a profit..." She sighed, making a slightly sad expression. "I never expected some FUCKING MORON, to go and disrespect not only my family, but the nobility as a whole..." She shook her head. "And what is someone like you...?" "Such offense cannot go unpunished." The red-haired girl didn''t let Avocado interrupt her and simply talked over him. "I, Cranberry Pride, together with my Zombie, are challenging you Brave Sods for a duel to the death." She dered with a bright, bloodthirsty smile. Chapter 84: Broken Swords

Chapter 84: Broken Swords

"A duel to the death...." Avocado repeated after Cranberry. "...pfft...! Ahahahahahahaha!" The corners of his mouth shook, and he busted intoughter. "Ha! No way! Is she for real?" "Hey, youngdy! Do you even know what ''to the death'' means?" Some of the audience that they''ve got to join him too. "Your lives seem like the appropriate price for granting you my forgiveness." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders,pletely unfazed by the ridicule she faced. "Could someone call for the guild master to make it more official?" Cranberry nced at the female guild staff member that brought the Brave Swords. "Or is it just as hard aspleting a simple request... for a useless piece of trash like you?" She asked with an innocent smile but her eyes couldn''t be more deadly. "...!" The woman gasped and got red in the face, but before she could respond, arge man came out of the guild building and shielded her from Cranberry''s icy re. "Miss, I advise you to rethink your decision." The newly arrived man said with a grim expression. "Ah! Vice-master!" "Sorry for troubling you, sir Loquat." The woman gasped and Cherry bowed his head to therge man. "Youngdy Pride." The only one who didn''t seem to be bothered by the arrival was Cranberry. "Excuse me?" The vice-master frowned and asked. "It''s ''youngdy Pride'' for you,moner, ''miss'' is what you can call that ipetent pile of waste behind you." Cranberry exined patiently with a soft smile. Everyone went silent. The vice-master of the adventurers guild took a deep breath and turned to the leader of the Brave Swords. "Cherry, you''ve heard the youngdy. She wants a duel, so I expect your party to show her a good time." He said. "But, sir Loquat, she''s just a..." "She proposed the duel so whatever happens to her is her own fault." Cherry tried to talk some sense into the man but was met with a quick answer. "And if you agree then everything that happens to your little group will be your own fault too~" Cranberry showed a rare yfulness and mocked the adventurers'' while leaning forward. "So be it." Cherry sighed with a heavy heart and nodded, consenting to the duel. "Everyone, try not to harm her too..." *WHAM!* "...much...?" An explosion and the shockwave that followed it, caused Cherry to take a step back. "What the...?!" "AVOCADO!" Lemon and Lime shouted staring with horror at their tank. Because as soon as Cherry nodded agreeing to the duel, Cranberry attacked. Without using any skills, she simply straightened her arm holding the baseball bat, and mmed it into Avocado''s unprotected head since the tank was stupid enough to not take any precaution beforehand. The explosion was the sound of the wood meeting the skull - and winning. The so-called sword of protection''s knees buckled and he fell to Cranberry''s feet with blood pouring from his nose, ears, and eyes. When the twins screamed, Cranberry already took a step back to deliver the finishing blow, and this time she activated some of her skills... *SLAM!* ...and turned Avocado''s upper half into mincemeat while sending his legs straight up in a disgusting twist on aedy trope. "You...! Lemon, Lime, Lychee! Cover me!" Cherry quickly shook off the shock and charged at the red-haired girl while shoutingmands. *CRUSH* But as Cherry was halfway to his target, another horrible sound echoed between the buildings. It made him realized that his opponent was no longer there. With no idea where the red-haired girl went, the leader of the Brave Swords stopped his charge instead of redirecting it, preserving his mana, and ended up almost slipping on the crushed guts of his deadrade in the process. "Where did she...?! Lemon! Lychee! Watch out for surprise atta...!" The leader of the Brave Swords shouted a warning, turning back towards the guild building. And almost dropped his sword because of what he saw. Headless corpses of Lemon and Lime were spewing blood from their necks while their decapitated heads, with faces frozen in shock, were slowly rolling in two different directions. Simrly, Lychee, with her guts spewing out of her mouth as well as her crushed stomach, was stuck in the wall of the adventurers guild building, just below the second-floor window like a giant bug. "...ah...! H... how...?!" Cherry gasped, his eyes trembling, his voice stuck in his throat. "What? Did you blink or something?" Cranberry raised her brow and tilted her head while removing a piece of what looked like a raw liver from her jacket. "Zombie, nice job with those two, but get down from there already, the sword of light is mine." Cranberry looked towards the building and instructed, but wasn''t talking to the corpse of the sword of darkness at all. Instead, she said that to her servant, Zombie, who was currently hanging from the windowsill on the third floor, with the hills of his boots dripping with blood. "Graough! (Alright!) Graough! (A surprise attack was surprisingly easy and fun!)" Zombie growled happily, jumped down, and grinned at his master. "That''s what they get for underestimating the two of us." Cranberry smirked back at him and turned to the petrified Cherry. "Ha! Hey, you know that I will forgive you if you just call the Dandelions for me, right?" Sheughed, looking at the young man trembling in his boots from witnessing hispanions'' fate. Of course, she was only mocking him, the Brave Swords were doomed from the moment they agreed for the duel. "You...! YOU MONSTER!" Cherry roared and raised his sword in the air. His body started shining with blinding light and pure white mana began condensing around his sword, elongating it more and more. Without a doubt, it was a terrifyingly powerful skill. Incredibly powerful charge-up type skill that had pierced the sky. Overwhelmingly powerful... Laughably slow to use skill... Cranberry''s body begun glowing with her own skills. Within the next second, she was already by the charging up Cherry, and was winding up for a strike, as if mocking the pathetically impractical - in this situation - skill of thest of the Brave Swords. "Ah...!" *CRUSH* After giving him enough time to realize his mistake and even gasp, Cranberry smashed him into a bloody mist, sending every piece of him into the air, just for it to return to earth like a gory rain staining the clothes of the horrified audience stunned into silence. "Haa. That felt nice." Cranberry breathed out with relief and stretched her back as if butchering the so-called future of the kingdom was a light, refreshing workout. "Graough. (Master, you got blood on your face) Graough... (Let me just...)" Zombie groaned and approached his master while pulling a clean handkerchief from his chest pocket "Now... Will someone finally call the Dandelions for me? I expect that the letter I''ve sent them before must have gotten lost in transit because they failed to respond." Cranberry waved condescendingly towards the guild building and the people standing there, while Zombie was gently cleaning her off. "Lairs, quick, burn it!" Shanks whispered feverishly while pushing an open letter with the official Pride''s seal in the mage''s hands. "Wh-what the fuck?!" Lairs flinched and started fighting back. "You idiot! Can''t you see what she''s doing?! She doesn''t leave us a choice! Get rid of the evidence!" Shanks gritted his teeth and growled at her through clenched teeth. "Ah! Right! Fireball!" Lairs gasped and quickly whispered the incantation, incinerating the incriminating letter connecting the Dandelions to the doom of the Brave Swords. "Do you think that the guild knows that we received it...?" Rotte whispered looking over the backs of his friends. "Shut up and better pray that they don''t or else we are screwed!" Shanks scoffed back at him and then grabbed Uresha''s hand. "Uresha, please, whatever happens, just don''t talk. You are too kindhearted and might let slip something that shouldn''t be said. Alright?" He asked worriedly. "I... I know... but... if only we hadn''t ignored..." The burly woman was tearing up. "Fuck me...! Ure-ure, just stay with me here and let Shan-shan deal with it!" Lairs patted Uresha on the back and nodded to Shanks. "...we''re going to get in so much shit for not showing up earlier..." Shanks sighed, cursing himself for underestimating someone from one of the main families, even a family that had almost fallen out of grace. "Wish me luck." He gritted his teeth and pushed through the bystanders, forcing his way towards the scene of the massacre. "Youngdy Pride! I''m Shanks, the leader of the Dandelions! What is that letter you''re talking about?" When he finally managed to get to Cranberry, he started with a very deep bow and an introduction that hopefully fooled someone. "Hah... just as I thought, the poor messenger must have gotten eaten by a monster together with my letter or something." Cranberry followed Shanks''s act and let out a sigh. "Sorry, I see you''re on your day off... if only the staff at the guild waspetent enough to inform me about that, I would just return at ater date instead of... you know." She smiled conspicuously looking at all the corpses. "Of course! I''m terribly sorry on behalf of the guild, youngdy. I reckon you have a mission for my party. Please, if it''s not a bother, pleasee with me to discuss it." Shanks gestured towards the guild. "Ah! Vice-master!" He spoke as if he just noticed the man, stiff from the bottled anger, and walked to him, careful to not step on any of the deceased Brave Swords while not acknowledging their existence. "It seems that youngdy Pride has some sort of mission for the Dandelions, but the staff has failed to inform any of us about her arrival..." Shanks red at the trembling female guild staff member cowering behind the vice-master. "Could I borrow one of the guild''s offices to listen to the youngdy Pride''s request?" He asked innocently. Chapter 85: The illusion of choice

Chapter 85: The illusion of choice

"I-I''m sorry... youngdy Pride, could you repeat that...?" Shanks shook his head having a hard time believing his ears. Cranberry, sitting casually on the not-sofortable couch, took a sip from the prepared ss, taking her time before responding. "My Zombie and I have already cleared most of the no man''s ground adjacent to the Pride''s territory, and I want the Dandelions to take care of clearing out and selling the monster corpses." The red-haired girl smirked. "I''m requesting an important monster corpse retrieval mission. You see, while my Zombie and I wouldn''t mind if some monsters like lesser drakes would show up to feast on the griffins'' carcasses, it would be a real disaster for the local poption." She said, putting down the empty ss and ncing at the blue undead. Without any hesitation, Zombie grabbed the jug from the center of the table and refilled the ss. The two of them seemed sofortable as if they were owning the ce, and not being inside the enclosed space filled with potential hostiles. And considering what they did just a few minutes before, the probability of a vengeful crowd arriving was ufortably high. Because of that, Shanks couldn''t stop shaking and nervously checking the door as if he expected a swarm of furious adventurers to barge in to take revenge for the fallen Brave Swords at any moment now. ...the ridiculously sounding request that was just a repeat of what was in the letter, wasn''t helping to ease his nerves either... But this time, there was no easy way for Shanks to reject the offer. After all, after witnessing the one-sided massacre, he couldn''t justugh off Cranberrie''s words as crazy, overconfident, andpletely blown out of proportion. "You... youngdy Pride, did you really killed all of the griffins there...?" There was no way for the Dandelions to reject Cranberry''s request if it was a real one. Well, there was, but then they wouldn''t get the end of it from the guild, and in the worst-case scenario, the Dandelions could be even forced to pay the reparation for the families of the fallen adventurers. It wouldn''t bepletely justified, but the Dandelions weren''t an indispensable group in the adventurers guild and would make for a fine scapegoat. "There could be a few stragglers left, or a young chick that had run out of their nest, but nothing that would pose an actual threat." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and frowned. "A-a single griffin is still very dangerous, youngdy Pride, during the lull all of the monsters got much stronger than before..." Shanks bit his lips nervously and was just a step away from biting his fingernails from stress. "Should I take your doubts as a refusal...?" Cranberry tilted her head and smiled with an evil glint in her eyes. The red-haired girl was fully aware of the Dandelions situation, after all, she was the one who set it all up. She wanted the Dandelions at her beck and call, just as it was before the system changed the world''s setting. Why would she kill some random adventurers otherwise? The EXP that she and her servant got for all five of the Brave Swords was pathetic, far less than one could get from killing a single griffin. "Th-that''s absolutely not what I meant! Yo-youngdy, please, you have to understand that us Dandelions, well, we''re not that strong. Truth to be told, we''re on the weaker side. Each one of us has only one or two stats exceeding the three hundred points threshold. And..." Shanks was fidgeting as if he was sitting on a bed of needles. He started ying with the silver wedding ring on his finger. "I honestly believe that you would be better off with a stronger group..." Shanks said and sighed, visibly deting, as if the thought of what the guild will do with him and his party sucked the life out of him. But still, he was more inclined to face the possibly unjust, though mostly deserved, consequences of indirectly causing the death of the beloved group of adventurers, than face the danger of getting killed by the empowered monsters. "Graough...? (Master, he didn''t have that ring before, right...?" Zombie growled suddenly, curiously peeking at Shanks''s hands. It wasn''t some insightful hint, he just noticed the shining essory and got interested like a big blue magpie. Cranberry nced at her eternal servant and then at the trembling rat-faced adventurer. "Could it be... did Uresha finally confessed? Are you two married now?" Unlike her servant, Cranberry had the wits necessary to connect the dots, and she did have noticed all the not-so-subtle attempts at seduction that Uresha did during their travels before the system messed with everyone''s memories. Although it was still mostly a shot in the dark. She hadn''t considered before that the system would just rewrite the rtionships of any of the yer characters, but it was entirely possible that the system interfered there just as much as it did with her own story As far as she knew, Shanks could be married to anyone. "H-how did you...?!" The rat-faced man flinched and hurriedly hid his hands behind his back. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out in relief. It seemed that even the system had some bounds about messing with people''s lives. Though, it was kind of annoying for her to learn that she now had to consider that all that she had learned in the past might bepletely off by now. Especially the rtionships between all the main nimble families of the kingdom... Cranberry started massaging her forehead, already getting a headache thinking about what could have changed. "If it''s about the money, it''s just as I wrote in the letter, you get one-sixth of the profits for selling the raw materials from the dead monsters." Nevertheless, she still was in the middle of the negotiations, so she raised her head and dered. "Wasn''t it one fif... ah!" Shanks managed to bit his tongue - but not fast enough. Cranberry was smiling brightly at him for confirming that the letter did indeed arrived and the Dandelions had simply ignored it. "It would be one-fifth if only you guys responded to my request from the beginning. Think about it as a fee for your own stupidity." "..." Shanks didn''t know what else to say. She was right. What''s worse, while the Dandelions'' fate was hanging above a cliff, youngdy Pride set herself up so that no fault could be found on her side. She wanted to see the Dandelions, but her reasonably polite request was rejected - rudely at that. Things that the sword of protection, Avocado, and the vice-master of the whole guild have said to her, could be taken as disrespecting the Pride family that, although in a rough spot at the moment, was still undeniably one of the main noble families of the whole kingdom. And finally - she warned the Brave Swords. From the very beginning, she was absolutely clear about the duel being one to the death, and she even made sure that the sword of light, Cherry, would acknowledge the consequences of epting the duel. In that situation, even if the Envys were against Prides, there was no way that Cranberry would get punished. A young woman who wasn''t even taken seriously had demonstrated how overconfident the adventurers have be. "Hey, Shanks, are you listening...?" Cranberry snapped her fingers to get the rat-faced man''s attention. "Wh-what...? Oh! I''m terribly sorry, I just..." Shanks flinched and stuttered nervously. "As I''ve said, I understand that you are worried about the lives of yourpanions, even more than your own, considering that one of them is your wife, but working with us will not get any of you in danger." Cranberry assured him with a confident smile. "..." The poor man was cowering and fidgetting unable to answer. He, of course, had an answer, but it wasn''t the one he knew that the girl wanted to hear. "If it''s about safety, we can adjust the request a bit." "What do you mean, youngdy Pride...? Cranberry''s next words met with a mildly positive reaction. "My Zombie and I will temporarily join your party." "Graough? (Huh...? We will?)" "Wha... and how would that help?!" The girl''s word met with a shocked response from both the blue undead and the rat-faced thief. "Well... think about it. If I, a member of the Pride family, would join a group of adventurers and let them all die, that would seriously affect our honor." Cranberry exined. "I... I see. But still..." Yet Shanks still didn''t look fully convinced. "By that, I mean that one of us will apany you whenever you will be busy carving up the corpses." Cranberry exined further. "How about it? There are at least twenty-something nice and cold griffins just waiting to get turned into raw materials, not to mention the frenzy wolves of various colors... and with the guaranteed protection, it''s almost like free money justying on the ground, ready to be picked up." She was slowly chipping on Shanks''s words with an enticing offer. "I..." Shanks said and closed his mouth. He then took a deep breath and looked between the red-haired girl and the blue undead. "...since the youngdy of the Pride family goes so much out of her way to work with us, the Dandelions humbly ept your conditions..." Shanks lowered his head deeply and spoke in a low, defeated voice. Chapter 86: A meal with the father (1)

Chapter 86: A meal with the father (1)

It was alreadyte evening and Prides gathered for a meal. Although two humans and a blue undead might not be enough to deserve being called a gathering, they sure had more than enough pride made up for theircking numbers. Yes, it was just those three, Cranberry, lord ckberry, and Zombie. Of course, Zombie wasn''t eating. He was simply sitting on Cranberry''s left side and watching her curiously with a faint smile. Sometimes, the blue undead would refill his master''s ss or put another serving of food on her te the moment Cranberry took an interest in a particr dish. "..." Lord ckberry was doing his best not to stare at his daughter and her eternal servant but it was a rather tough task... Even though they weren''t talking at all, they had this intimate aura surrounding them that was making the head of the Pride family feel like he was a third wheel, disturbing newlyweds with his unwanted presence. Poor lord ckberry was feeling like an intruder in his own dining room! "...haa..." He breathed out lightly and used his skill to make a bottle of wine fly to his shining hand. As a father, he felt that he shouldn''t admit that he feels lonely and wants to talk with his daughter. His pride was telling him that it''s not how a man of his status should be acting. He pulled out the cork and smelled it. "Tsk..." He clicked his tongue noticing that the wine isn''t of the high quality that he got used to, but considering the financial situation that Prides were facing, the only thing he could do was to bear with it. "...how did I ever let that happen..." A single regretful thought slipped through his defenses and left his mouth as a remorseful sigh. "Father...?" Cranberry''s fork stopped midway to her mouth and she looked at lord ckberry, tilting her head. "Oh, no, it''s nothing, really." Lord ckberry made a cheerful expression not wanting his daughter to realize that something was amiss. "During these three years you had to go through a lot, father, I''ve been thinking..." The red-haired girl put down the cutlery and wiped her hands in a napkin offered by the blue undead. "Sweetie, you really have nothing to worry about, instead, could you tell me how your training is going? Should I call for an appraiser to check on your progress? Or do you wish me to request for the best adventurers to help you practice your skills?" The bespectacled man hurriedly changed the subject giving his best not to burden his only daughter with the sad fate that was waiting for their family name. "Graough... (Yeah, about that, master''s father...) Graough... (The adventurers don''t seem to like us very much...)" Zombie twitched and started fidgeting nervously while growling in a low voice. "...ha..." On the other hand, Cranberry furrowed her brows. It seemed like her father wasn''t aware of what she and her eternal servant did at the capital as of yet. Truth to be told, not many people knew. After all the death of five promising adventurers and by the hand of only a single girl and her corpse puppet, was far too shameful thing to not be covered up by the adventurers guild. But that didn''t mean it was something that shouldn''t be known to the head of one of the main noble families. In Cranberry''s memory, various groups were literally fighting over who could be the one to deliver the best intel to her father, but now... Lord ckberry being left in the dark was the best example of how low the Prides'' have fallen. And it was honestly making Cranberry''s blood boil. "Ah, say, sweetie, since when did you get so close with your corpse puppet? I always thought that you didn''t like him at all!" Seeing his daughter''s reaction, lord ckberry misunderstood her intentions and hurriedly changed the subject again. "...groaugh...! (...nothing changed...!)" Zombie was the first to react. He got all defensive and hunched down, trying to hide behind his master while ring at lord ckberry. "Pfft... ehkem..." Cranberry noticed her undead''s act and barely held back theughter. She coughed to hid it and straightened her back. "Not at all, father, at the beginning, I was horrible to him, but how could anyone continue being mean to that cute rotten brain?" She smirked and reached back to pat Zombie''s head. "Graough! (Thank you, master, I also think that you''re very cute!)" The blue undead responded happily, without even the slightest doubt or hesitation in his empty head. Cranberry flinched and blushed, but wasn''t facing her servant, to begin with, so she didn''t try to hide it. "I... see..." Lord ckberry furrowed his brow looking rather worried. Maybe even he had a slight doubt about the rtionship the two had... ...Maybe that''s why she doesn''t want to marry the prince anymore... Such a thought appeared in the father''s mind while looking at his daughter''s blushing face. "Father, you''ve said that you want me to keep training, right?" Cranberry asked, pulling her father from the depths of suspicion. "Well, yes essentially... but of course I''m not going to force you if you don''t really want to..." Lord ckberry exined, giving his best to guess the mood of his daughter. "Father, I want to take some time off from the social life..." Cranberry dered suddenly causing her father to jump from shock. "Y-you want to take a break from parties?" It seemed that in his memories, Cranberry was a social butterfly that never missed any chance to interact with others. Honestly, it made Cranberry a little sad, the girl in her father''s memories seemed a lot happier than she herself was in the past. "..." For a second, the red-haired girl wanted to try asking about her mother, to learn how she was ording to the rewritten memories, but she bit her tongue just in time to stop herself. The dead stayed dead, and the empty-headed social butterfly who threw a tantrum whenever something wasn''t going her way, never actually existed in the first ce. Chapter 87: A meal with the father (2)

Chapter 87: A meal with the father (2)

"Yes. I do. Honestly, it''s a waste of money. Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smiled with mncholy. "Money is certainly nothing that you should worry about! I will...!" Lord ckberry stood up and dered with determination, but before he could finish, Cranberry raised her hand stopping him. "Father, that''s not what I meant." She said calmly and motioned for him to sit back down. "When I said I think it''s a waste of money, I simply think that such parties aren''t to my liking. I find more fulfillment in hunting down monsters nowadays." When lord ckberry was seated again, Cranberry exined. "You don''t mean...?" Lord ckberry raised his brow in suspicion, which caused his daughter to smile mischievously. "Ha ha... it seems that you''ve seen through me already, father. I want to ask for your permission to temporarily be an adventurer." Cranberry tilted her head and smiled happilypletely disregarding the panic settling in, in her father''s eyes. "You... WHAT?! Why?! It really is about the money, isn''t it?! Cranberry, I know you are a grown-up now, but a fragile..." As one could guess, lord ckberry wasn''t happy about his daughter''s request. Far from it. But still, the words got stuck in his throat. Was Cranberry really a fragile littledy? Could he really say that after she executed the butler for being too servile to another noble? She also had been training diligently all the time in recent days, as if she was apletely different person than the daughter in lord ckberry''s memories. "Father, I realized that spending money on trivialities isn''t a proper way of showing off my pride. Trying to impress some weaklings that are content with what they have been born into is nothing more than pathetic. I want to aim higher. Much, much higher..." Cranberry''s voice was cold and precise like a de ready to pierce through any obstacle. "Ha. You''re sounding as if you''ve set your sight on the whole world." Lord ckberry said jokingly trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Essentially, yes, but for that, the two of us need to keep getting stronger. And we won''t be able to do that if we stay inside the Prides'' territory all the time under your watchful eye." "Graough! (Definitely won''t be able to!)" Cranberry nodded with a serious expression and even Zombie echoed after her, while still hiding behind her back. "Wha... you... you''re serious...?" There was no way that anyone could hear a deration like that and remain calm. Lord ckberry wasn''t an exception. He looked as if he got pped in the face and was looking at his daughter as if he hoped that she was joking. "...haa..." Cranberry breathed out and looked her father in the eyes. "Of course there is a way for us to get stronger without needing to leave." She said in a matter-of-fact voice. "We just need to leave the griffins'' corpsesying around and in a few days, or at most a few weeks, something much stronger will arrive. Sadly the local taxpayers will most definitely end up as their secondary meal, so that gets a no in my books. But the decision is yours, father. I''m packed and ready to go, but also have a couple of wagons filled with the monsters'' meat prepared just in case you would choose thetter option." She smiled innocently after boldly setting up her father with a rigged choice. "...You know that as the head of the family I have all rights to just refuse both of those so-called options, right?" Lord ckberry sighed, removed his sses, and started massaging his forehead. Without them, his sharp eyes be three times as fierce. "Of course, father, I simply prepared all that to show you my conviction." Cranberry smirked shamelessly. After all, she got her father''s eyes, she wouldn''t lose in terms of fierceness. "Ha! Just what I could expect from the daughter of the Pride family!" Lord ckberryughed and smacked the table. The atmosphere changedpletely. "I see that I was foolish to still treat you like a little girl. Forgive me for that, Cranberry." The man bowed his head slightly, but a bold smile never left his face. "As for your request, you are free to go, tell me if you need any financial support." He said nodding his head. "Graough! (Wow, master, you were right!) Graough! (He really wasn''t taking you seriously before!)" Zombie gasped in shock. "...told you..." Cranberry turned to her servant and winked. "Oh... Right..." Suddenly lord ckberry flinched and his expression became awkward as he reached to his chest pocket and pulled out a folded letter written on a beautiful, rose-scented paper. "This makes thing a bit awkward... Cranberry, do you think you can postpone your departure for a few days?" Lord ckberry asked putting his sses back on, opening the letter, and ncing at the content. "Graough...? (Did something happen...?)" Zombie, hidden behind his master felt that the girl was tensing up. "What it is about, father?" Cranberry clenched her fist under the table so hard that her knuckles turned white. "You see, I go this letter from the castle... it seems that the little prince wants to see you. This time he wrote a proper letter asking me, the head of the Pride family, to grant him the permission to enter the Prides'' estate and have a talk with you." Lord ckberry took his eyes off the said letter and turned to his daughter. "The little prince had written it in such a polite way, that I had to double-check if this letter was really written by anyone from the Greed family... do you think you could postpone your departure until his arrival?" The man smiled, as if he was expecting his daughter to refuse, and was already envisioning the surprised or infuriated face of the young prince. "Sure. Why not? Since he went through all the necessary procedures, it''s only appropriate to encourage a proper behavior like that in the future." But Cranberry simply shrugged her shoulders and nodded, losing all the tension that had built up in her muscles. "I need to tell him that the whole engagement business is canceled after all." She added with a mischievous smirk. Chapter 88: Griffin arrives

Chapter 88: Griffin arrives

In the middle of the forest, the Dandelions were working tirelessly on dismantling the various monster corpses stacked on top of each other in neat piles. They were fast and efficient, watchful not to waste anything that could be sold for profit. After all, one-sixth of the money all of the materials would be sold for would be going to their own pockets. It might seem a bit too little to bust their butts off for, but one needs to be mindful that during the lull the prices of the monster parts had skyrocketed in value and still hadn''t gone down. Considering that even with the ability to use the skills back the beasts were still much stronger than in the past, making hunting them more dangerous, the prices weren''t going to fall anytime soon. Far from it. With adventuring bing a viable option for employment again, hundreds of newbies were enlisting and therefore were in need of proper equipment, in turn giving more work to the craftsmen and driving up the demand for the monster materials higher than it has ever been before. Honestly, these past few days of work the Dandelions have earned more money than they received forpleting all of the odd jobs during the entire lull put together. With that in mind, none of the four adventurers had the time to spare to look at the red-haired girl and her corpse puppet sitting on a nearby rock. They were lookouts, but at the first didn''t seem particrly diligent about it, although the red-haired girl was using a skill that was augmenting her hearing. "Why does it have to be so hot...?" Cranberryined wiping the sweat off her forehead, twisting and turning in Zombie''sp. At the moment, the blue undead was serving as the cooling chair for his overheated master. The girl was sitting in a rather defenseless andpromising position while the eternal servant was doing his best so that she wouldn''t fall off of him. "...haa... Zombie... do something..." Truth to be told Cranberry was someone whoined a lot about the heat, at least for someone who had the fire immunity skill, but apparently, the heat and fire were twopletely separate things for the system. "Graough... (I-I''ll try, how about this?)" Zombie groaned, honestly worried, and wrapped his right - barely functional - arm around Cranberry''s torso while putting his left hand on her forehead and gently pressing her head against his chest. "...nnn...! ...fhua...?! ...haa..." Cranberry let out a series of rather questionable sounding gasps and then breathed out with a very satisfied expression. "...haa... I could stay like this forever..." She mumbled while nuzzling against the blue undead. Suddenly her glowing ear twitched and she frowned and opened her eyes just a tiny bit - just enough to send a death re to Rotte and Lairs, the two of the Dandelions who stopped working and we''re staring at the Master-Servant pair dumbfounded. "What? You want toin about something?" She asked provocatively while turning a bit and hugging Zombie''s right arm protectively. "No, no, everything''s fine." "Y-yeah, it''s just that the fucking humidity and heat are fucking awful." Both the warrior and the mage quickly denied everything and got back to work. "Fuck me... even an undead gets more action than me... and he doesn''t even fucking realize it!" Lairs growled while skillfully cutting open yet another white wolf and skinning it in a matter of seconds. "Tell me about it..." Rotte nodded and sighed, plucking the feathers from the griffin''s wing. The time was passing in tranquility, no new monster appeared either so the master and the servant had nothing else to do. "...Zombie... use that detection skill of yours just in case..." Cranberry muttered sleepily, tapping Zombie''s side. "Graough! (Alright!)" The blue undead groaned and his eyes started glowing. "Graough, graough. (Two signatures approaching from the ground, and oneing from the air, all three areing from the same direction.)" He growled, removing his hand from Cranberry''s forehead and pointing in the direction from where he saw the signatures. "Do they look strong?" The girl asked already reaching for her baseball bat beside Zombie''s leg. "Graough. (The two on the ground, no.) Graough... (But the one in the air...)" The blue undead tilted his head and furrowed his brows. "Graough. (It''s like a griffin, but stronger.) Graough. (A lot stronger.)" He groaned with confusion. "Ha! Did a griffin lord or king actually spawned around here?" Cranberry stood up excited, clenching her fist on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Wait, did you just said a griffin lord or king?! We need to run!" Shanks was the only one who picked up on what Cranberry said and instantly dropped the tools for disassembling the monsters. "Ah, right, you all go hide or something. Don''t get killed." The red-haired girl shrugged and shooed the shocked Dandelions away. ...the adventurers listened without hesitation... "Zombie, as soon as the flying one shows up, down it." Cranberry ordered while her body began shining with multiple active skills. "Graough. (Will do.)" Zombie nodded and he got enveloped by the purple light. They waited for only a few seconds when the presence Zombie spotted approaching from the air, appeared between the trees. "Graough...?! (What the...?!)" Zombie gasped, having a hard time believing his eyes. The beast that showed up could be ssified as a griffin only if someone never saw a normal griffin before. It was at least two or even three timesrger than any of the griffins that Cranberry and Zombie faced before. But just the size wasn''t the only thing that differed. The giant griffin that showed up was mostly ck with its dark feathers and mane shining purplish in the sunlight. It also had something akin to a crown of feathers on its massive head, and pure violet eyes staring right at the Master-Servant pair below. "Emperor griffin! Extremely rare! Nothing changes, go!" Cranberry shouted grabbing Zombie''s shirt and threw him at the approaching monster. "Graough! (Yes!)" Using the force of Cranberry''s throw and adding his own kick, that crushed the rock he was sitting on into dust, Zombie got to the emperor griffin so fast that he could as well telleport. "SKWEEE! (DADDY!)" The beast''s deafening screech shook pierced through the air. "G-graough?! (D-daddy?!) Graough...! (Don''t tell me that you''re...!)" A moment of hesitation was enough for the griffin to get the first attack in, and it bodymmed the shocked Zombie right into the ground, breaking a tree or two in the process. *CRUSH* Not to mention creating a massive crater in the forest soil. "LEAVE MY ZOMBIE ALONE!" Cranberry roared and charged at the monster trying to crush the blue undead with its massive body. "Skwee?! (And mommy is here too?!)" The griffin turned its head toward her and screeched aggressively. ...or that how it sounded like for someone who couldn''t understand her. "Graough! (Master! Stop!)" Zombie''s hand appeared from beneath the griffin''s feathers and waved at the furious red-haired girl. "Graough! (It''s our Blueberry!)" Zombie muffled growled was barely audible. Chapter 89: Big Blueberry

Chapter 89: Big Blueberry

"?!?!?!" Cranberry flinched and changed the direction of her strike at thest possible second, barely missing the griffin by only a fraction of an inch. The shockwave she caused hit the monster regardless but it thankfully the monster''s defense was high enough for it to be received just like a strong gust of wind that ruffled the ck feathers with purple shine. Though the tree directly in the way of the missed swing got smashed into pieces and showered everything that was previously behind it with a torrent of splinters. "Did... did you just say Blueberry...?" Cranberry hands trembled, as she nced at her servant''s arm still waving at her from beneath the griffin''s enormous body and then looked into griffin''s eyes, while her ears continued to shine - the red-haired girl had never deactivated her detection skill allowing her to hear Zombie''s muffled call. "Skwee?! (Mommy! Mommy do you recognize me?!)" The griffin screeched happily, fidgeting and shaking its wings in anticipation. "Skwee! (I got very strong! I went to sleep and woke up like this!) Skwee?! (Mommy are you proud of me, are you?!)" The emperor griffin was acting like a tiny puppy overjoyed at the sight of its master''s return. "Skwee! Skwee?! (Daddy! Daddy, are you proud of me too?!)" The griffin screeched again, this time lowering its head clearly talking to the blue undead trapped underneath it. "This one does sound a bit like Blueberry... That distorted screech is quite distinctive." Cranberry lowered her weapon after she confirmed that the monster doesn''t have any hostility towards them. "What does she says? And first of all, does she even actually recognizes us?" The red-haired girl asked, ncing back at her servant''s hand. "Graough! (She does!) Graough! (She still calls us mommy and daddy too!)" A happy muffled groan came from below and the blue hand started patting the griffin''s feathers. "Graough! (Blueberry! Daddy missed you so bad!) Graough! (You have grown up so much I hadn''t recognized you!)" He growled. "..." *ng* Cranberry let go of the baseball bat and the weapon hit against a piece of broken wood creating a small sound. In the next moment, the red-haired girl was burrowing herself in the feathers on the griffin''s chest and neck in a warm hug. "Blueberry! I''m so happy to see you!" She nuzzled against the feathers and stroked Blueberry''s head just below the golden beak because she couldn''t reach any higher with howrge Blueberry had be. "Skwee...! (Ehehe! Mommy''s pats are the best...!)" Blueberry closed her eyes and lowered her head so that Cranberry would have an easier time reaching it. "Blueberry, say, howe you still remember us? Didn''t the system changed your memories like with the yers?" Cranberry pulled herself away from the griffin for a moment and asked with a mixture of happiness and confusion. "Skwee...? (The system...?) Skwee? (Oh! You mean the strange voice that sometimes calls in my head, mommy?) Skwee! (Nu-uh! It didn''t do anything!) Skwee... (I remember everything!) Skwee! (How you and daddy brought me back from the forest!) Skwee! (How we trained and slept together!) Skwee! (How I joined my master!) Skwee! (And how daddy and I and Arion and Cinnamon and other wolves trained and got stronger!)" Blueberry got much more talkativepared to thest time they''ve seen each other, or maybe she was just so happy to finally meet her favorite people again. "Skwee, skwee, skwee... (And then, and then I went with master and master said that we can''t go visit because you because your mommy isn''t allowing us to do that...) Skwee! (I missed mommy and daddy!)" The griffin screeched pitifully and started rubbing against both Cranberry and Zombie as if she wanted to get all the love and attention she has been missing on. "Ha... um..." Cranberry made an awkward expression, Blueberry was doing her best to give an exnation to her question, but she couldn''t understand any of the screechings. "Graough! (Blueberry is talking about everything that she remembers about us!) Graough! (Master, it sounds like her memories weren''t changed at all!)" Zombie growled happily while doing his best to crawl out from beneath the fluffy monster. "Graough... (Well, at least the things about our past together.) Graough? (Master, was there anything about our Blueberry written in that awful diary that the system made?)" He asked with surprising insight. "Haa... No. There was nothing about her in the diary. If she remembers us, that means that the system hasn''t changed her memory..." Cranberry sighed with relief, but then furrowed her brows. "... but that''s odd... Blueberry, are there others like you? Does anyone else remembers everything like it was originally?" She asked with concern. "Skwee...? (Originally...?) Skwee! (Ah! I understand!) Skwee. (When I suddenly got stronger, other monsters also got stronger and my master grew up too.) Skwee. (But then master and Arion started acting differently, but I and other wolves noticed that it was weird!) Skwee? (Is that what you mean?)" Blueberry screeched and tilted her head. "Skwee! (But even though mommy and daddy also grew and look different and stronger, you don''t act weird!) Skwee! (I''m happy!)" She started rubbing against the Master-Servant pair again. "Graough. (She said that all the monsters except Arion remember things how they''ve been and they noticed the sudden change in appearance, but Mary and Arion didn''t.)" Zombie tranted for Cranberry, still trapped under the griffin. "That''s fine. It''s way better than I expected." Cranberry smiled and continued to pat therge happy griffin. "Wait..." Suddenly she stopped and furrowed her brows. "Blueberry, why are you even here in the first ce¡­?" Cranberry asked slowly and her eyes widened. "Don''t tell me that you have run away from your master...?" She gasped in disbelief. "Skwee? Skwee! (What? Of course not!)" The griffin shook her head and looked back at its empty back. "Skwee...! (See? Master is right h...!) Skwee...? (Eh...?)" Blueberry blinked a few times, staring at her back from different angles for way longer than it was necessary, and started nervously hoofing with her front legs. "...skwee... (...uh-oh...)" Chapter 90: Meeting in the woods (1)

Chapter 90: Meeting in the woods (1)

"Haa... you don''t even need to trante it." Cranberry sighed and said before Zombie could exin what Blueberry was saying. "Our little birdie got excited and threw off her master without even realizing it, isn''t that right?" The red-haired girl leaned to the side to look in the griffin''s eyes with scorn. "S-skwee...! Skwee... (Bu-but mommy, I smelled daddy, and I kind of...! Started flying faster, and didn''t check if master is still holding on...) Skweee... (I''m sorryyy...)" Blueberry screeched lowering her head apologetically. "Graough. (She''s apologizing.)" Zombie, who finally managed to get his head out from under the griffin''s body, tranted for his master. "Yeah, I can see that." Cranberry stepped away from Blueberry and started massaging her forehead. "Well then, I expect that the other two life signatures that you''ve spotted are Mary and Arion following after her." She looked at Zombie while pointing at the griffin with her thumb and picking the baseball bat that she dropped before. "Skwee? (Arion? But only me and master were flying here?)" Blueberry tilted her head in confusion. "Graough. (Master, she says that it should be only Mary.)" Zombie, using the confusion, already pulled half of his body from under the griffin. "Ha? Then who...?" "Ah! Someone''s there!" Cranberry''s question was answered before she even finished asking it and by the very person that she was curious about to boot. Because right then and there, from between the bushes came a short brown-haired girl with disheveled clothes. She looked like she had a rather rough fall but somehow managed not to break any bone or even get a bruise. Though, looking back at her clothes... The shirt that seemed a size or two too small to contain her breasts was ripped and the girl was holding a light jacket - too big for her body size - over it to cover herself prudently. While it could be that this was simply the girl''s style, the jacket alone looked far more expensive than anything else she was wearing, and, more importantly, it didn''t have any traces of the fall like the rest of her clothes. So, where did she get it from? "Ldy Pride!" As if to answer that riddle, a young blond-haired man showed up right after the brown-hairedss, wearing an expensive-looking set of clothes. Every piece of it was supposed to make a grand impression, but somehow it seemed that the set was missing something. Something like a jacket. Cranberry''s brows inadvertently raised up in slight confusion after looking at the odd pairing. "Graough! (Oh, hey! It''s the weakling prince!) Graough? (What is he doing with Mary?)" Zombie, who managed to get out from underneath the griffin, pointed out while dusting off his clothes. Yes, the blond man was obviously the prince, Roan Greed, and the girl next to him simply must have been Mary. Honestly, her childish face didn''t seem to change at all from when she was ten while only her body grew. As for Mary herself, she was looking between the prince and the pair standing beside her griffin, horribly confused. "Ah, um... my prince? Bydy Pride, do you mean THEdy Pride...? You, you don''t right...?" Mary asked the prince, ncing nervously at the red-haired girl as if Cranberry had no right to be standing there. For some reason, something in her voice suggested that it was their first meeting. And more importantly... Mary didn''t call Cranberry by her name even though Cranberry had specifically told her she could and should do that. "Haa..." That made Cranberry sigh and shake her head. The system really did wipe out the part of the story where Mary became Canberry''s follower. It was annoying. Really, really annoying. Cranberry Pride wasn''t someone who could just let go of either her property or the people she considered friends. "Lady Pride! This is such a lucky coincidence!" But Roanpletely ignored the short girl and hurriedly walked towards Cranberry and Zombie. "I''m so happy to see you in a good health, mydy." As if his high and mighty attitude from their previous meeting was just an illusion, the prince bowed with full courtesy to the red-haired girl. "Ha. Likewise, Roan, what is a man next in line to the throne doing in the depths of the wood together with a... less than appropriately dressed escort?" Cranberry straightened her back and red down at both of them. "Were you two indulging in some kind of adulterous y before you got here?" She added looking critically at the expensive jacket covering Mary''s breasts. "Graough? (An escort?) Graough! (Master, don''t you recognize her? It''s Mary!)" Zombie growled giving Cranberry a strange look, causing the red-haired to frown. Cranberry wanted to loudly sigh andin that he should be able to read her mood by now - and she was in a terrible mood considering that the girl she thought of as a friend, was acting like a stranger. "...! I-I''m not a...!" Mary got red and made sure to properly cover herself with the jacket before she proudly raised her head. "Who? She? Oh, she''s no one. On my way to your home, I saw someone falling off from an emperor griffin''s back and came to check who that was." Roan straightened his back and started exining so fast that he startled Mary. "It turned out to be this girl from our first kill party. Mydy, do you remember her? She''s the one who tamed the wolf! I had no idea she had also tamed a griffin!" The prince started blushing from the excitement while sneaking nces at the said griffin peacefully standing by the Master-Servant pair as if she belonged there. "So you say, but why are you two here alone? Where is the rest of your group? Are you telling me that you, a prince, were traveling alone, without even a single bodyguard? Isn''t that convenient..." Cranberry crossed her arms and smirked mockingly. "You know, you don''t have toe up with some random excuse. You can be an easy man whenever you want. We just have to break off the engagement and you will have all the freedom that you could ever wish for." Her smirk turned into a benevolent smile and she opened her arms while trying out some of the acting tips that she had been researching since the failure at the Durian''s mansion. "A... umm... hah...? Umm...? Wait, what...?" Chapter 91: Meeting in the woods (2)

Chapter 91: Meeting in the woods (2)

Poor Roan was utterly confused with no idea howe Cranberry twisted the situation in such a way. "N-no, I swear I don''t have anything to do with her! I''ve just lent her a jacket because her giant breasts were showing and...! Ugh-umm...! I-I mean...!" The prince tried to exin himself but when he nced at the tearful eyes of the brown-haired girl doing her very best to cover herself with his jacket, he lost his trail of thoughts. "I-I''m sorry, miss Hope, I didn''t want to embarrass you!" He quickly apologized. "Anyway,dy Pride, please, don''t speak about annulling our engagement so hastily, there''s really nothing between this girl and me!" Still, in the same breath, he turned back to Cranberry and bowed even deeper than before. /Questpleted /Reward granted "Graough? (What''s this? Weren''t we finished with your quests for the current level, master?) Graough? (Howe another one gotpleted?)" Zombie questioned, looking at the message that popped up in front of their eyes. Cranberry didn''t let the system''s surprise bother her, she was much more concerned about the prince''s behavior. Even for royalty, his act of being against breaking the engagement seemed a bit too convincing... "Is that so..." Cranberry squinted her eyes staring at Roan and Mary in suspicion. She just wanted to get some petty revenge on Mary for daring to be like the others and have her memory changed by the system. "Skwee... (Mommy, mommy, please don''t be angry at master.)" Blueberry screeched timidly moving forward and resting her head on Cranberry''s shoulder. "...haa..." Even though she wasn''t sure what the griffin meant, the red-haired girl smiled defeated by the monster''s cuteness, raised her hand, and started patting Blueberry''s head. "Th-that''s my griffin...!" Marry, who looked as if someone just pped her in the face, raised her trembling hand and spoke pointing at Blueberry. "I am aware that you are this girl''s master, yes. But what about it?" Cranberry nodded, raising her brows and ring coldly at the brown-haired girl while nuzzling her face against the soft feathers on Blueberry''s neck- rubbing it in to Mary how close she was with her monster. Mary clenched her fists and trembled from anger. "She... she doesn''t like strangers, so you better be careful,dy Pride!" She said not daring to look Cranberry in the eyes. She did it again. She called herdy Pride instead of Cranberry, while not even looking at her... The first person outside the Pride family who Cranberry allowed to call her by her first name without any honorifics, was still using her official title. Cranberry''s anger level was rising tremendously. "Oh? Does she now? Blueberry, my little birdie, do you dislike me?" Cranberry tilted her head and looked into the violet eye of the griffin, having the grown-up chick remember her properly, was soothing the red-haired girl''s nerves just a bit - helping her keep theposure. "Skwee? Skwee! (Dislike mommy? Me? No! Mommy, I love you!)" At first, Blueberry''s screech sounded confused but then she closed her eyes and lovingly rubbed against Cranberry with full andplete trust. "Pfft...! See?" Cranberry snorted and smirked mockingly ncing at the stunned brown-haired girl. "H-how do you know her name?! And why does she call you mommy?!" Mary couldn''t hold herself back and shouted angrily, more boldly than anymoner should be talking to a high-born noble. But her words once again had confirmed that even her memories were changed by the system or she wouldn''t have to ask that question. "Ah! It''s not weird at all! Emperor griffins are known for being the proudest of beasts, not even backing down to dragons,? she must have recognizeddy Pride''s greatness!" But Mary''s words brought a rather unexpected result. It was the blond prince who got all excited and started singing Cranberry''s praise. "Roan, you didn''t answer me. What are you doing here and where is the rest of your group?" Yet instead of being thankful, his interjection made Cranberry even more annoyed, and the red-haired girl asked in a cold voice, staring the prince down like a nasty bug. "I... I kind of left them and ran ahead to check on the person who had fallen off of a griffin... And then I got lost... so currently miss Hope and I are looking for a way out of the woods..." "...haa..." Hearing the prince''s exnation Cranberry breathed out heavily and looked to the side. "Don''t you know that if you are lost it''s best to stay in the same spot so the rescue party can find you easier?" She groaned in disbelief. "If you''ve traveled all the way from Salmagundi, you had toe from the southeast... Do you realize that you two must have walked all around the Pride''s mansion while missing every possible route AND vige AND town to even get here?" She said shaking her head. "Say, Roan, how high is your luck stat?" Cranberry asked, shaking her head from side to side in disappointment. "My luck...? Um... Luck, huh... well...st time I checked it was around 15, I guess..." The blond Prince blushed, lowering his head in embarrassment. "Graough?! (Wha...?! That low?! What level is he?! 1?!)" Zombie growled taken aback. "...yeah, just as I thought - typical Greed. That actually exins a lot..." Cranberry sighed and turned her back to the prince. "Oi, Dandelions! If you can hear me, pack everything and return for today! Zombie and I have to escort the prince back to the civilization!" She shouted at the bushes, which trembled in response. "Dandelions...?" Mary blinked and tilted her head, taken aback. "Just a group of adventurers that helps me clean this area. They probably don''t want to show up because meeting the prince might turn out to be too troublesome. It''s not important." Cranberry shrugged the question off and rested the baseball bat on her shoulder. "We can talk more on the way. Follow me." She dered pointing forward with her chin and began walking. Zombie and Blueberry joined her without hesitation. "Thank you,dy Pride!" The blond prince gasped and caught up to them only a secondter, keeping a respectful three steps distance between him and Cranberry. "A-ah! Wait for me!" Thest one was Mary, who continued ncing at the bushes where the Dandelions were hiding. Chapter 92: A heroine, two capture targets, and a villainess walk through the woods (1)

Chapter 92: A heroine, two capture targets, and a viiness walk through the woods (1)

The three nobles, the eternal servant, and an emperor griffin were walking together in silence. Despite saying that they would talk on their way, Cranberry would shot down basically any conversion topic that either Roan or Mary have brought up. At least until one particr topic came up... "Your highness, if I may, what is your role in the global quest?" Mary couldn''t handle the silence and asked, leaning slightly forward and peeking at Roan''s face from below while walking. Even while being covered by the prince''s jacket, her breasts had swayed voluptuously pulling Roan''s eyes right to them as if they had their own gravitational pull. "Graough. (Capture target, I bet.) Graough...? (Or is it something else after all...?)" Zombie nced at the prince curiously, and even Cranberry turned her head slightly, showing her willingness to listen. "My role in the global event you say? I don''t see why I should keep it a secret!" Roan brighter up in an instant, clearly reveling in the spotlight under which he was pushed in. "You see, my role is something called the Stunning prince of greed / capture target. Not even my mother knows what does thattter part means exactly but at least the stunning prince of greed part sounds really good, doesn''t it?" He boasted, puffing up his chest proudly. "Ah! I knew it!" Mary gasped and sped her hands together, almost dropping the jacket and shing her scantily d body for the rest of the group, before others could properly react. "Ah...!" And blushed seeing that all the attention got shifted to her, and wrapped the jacket tightly around her torso with a deep blush. "You knew what exactly...?" Roan furrowed his brows, doing his best not to stare at the brown-haired girl, but honestly, his own blushing face was enough of proof that he was ogling her this whole time. "A-ah, I knew that your highness will have some important role!" The brown-haired girl, in clear distress, hurriedly came up with an exnation while awkwardly looking to the side. "Oh? And how can you be so sure it''s an important role?" To counter that, Cranberry asked coldly looking over her shoulder at the bashful girl. Seeing Mary act like a bashful prude was one thing, but watching her try to fool someone while acting like an idiot, was something else that Cranberry couldn''t really stand. The red-haired girl''s words caused Mary to flinch and both Roan and Zombie started staring at her with concern. "I... i-it''s just that the members of my family all got roles like a background character or support character and so on, so I deduced that someone with a role with a unique name would be important...!" Mary''s voice grew quieter and she started fidgeting while dodging the looks of the others. "If you put it that way..." Roan nodded but didn''t look very convinced. Cranberry and Zombie nced at each other but didn''tment on that. Even the blue undead had enough brains, no matter how rotten, to keep his mouth shut just in case. After all, at least before the system had changed the world''s setting, Mary could understand him without any trouble. "Wh-what about you,dy Pride?" Mary tried to push the attention on to someone else as soon as she could to get out of the sticky situation. "Me? How about you say what''s your role first?" But disregarding Mary''s attempts, Cranberry simply returned the question back to her without answering. "You''ve said that all your family members have generic-sounding roles, but what about you?" She asked with a suspicious smirk. "You b...!" It was clear that at that point, the brown-haired girl swallowed the words she wanted to say, probably something not really nice and especially not appropriate to call the high-ss noblewoman with. She must have considered what she knew about the youngdy of the Pride family and decided that arguing with her was a meaningless struggle while insulting her straight to her face was a borderline suicide. And she had chosen wisely. "I''m... I''m the..." Mary said hesitantly while continuing to sneak nces at the blond prince by her side. "I''m the Heroine...! Ah!" She finally said and hid her face in her hands, but by doing so the jacket she was covering herself with almost fell off and she yelped while hurriedly catching it... ...but not fast enough to prevent the prince from taking a peek at what was underneath it... "Graough...! (I knew it, I called it...!)" Zombie groaned and shook his head with a sour expression,pletely obvious to the embarrassing scene that had yed out, that he in his thick-headed innocence had missed. Even though he had groaned rather loudly, Mary was too busy being both embarrassed and excited for the reaction her title would cause. "...of what?" Funnily enough, instead of awe and marvel at the important-sounding title, Mary met with rather doubtful, or even cold, reaction. And from the prince Roan himself no less! At least after he had cooled down after taking in an unexpected but a weed sight. "My prince...?" That question caused Mary to lose much of the gusto she had going for her, and she nervously tilted her head as if hoping that Roan was joking with her. "You do know that all of the previous global events had something to do with war and changing the bnce of power of the whole world, right? Titles like a hero or a heroine had shown up before but..." To say it lightly, Roan was more than just a little bit skeptical. Surprisingly enough, his reaction was very simr to Cranberry''s reaction when she had first learned about capture targets from Zombie in the past. "Don''t get me wrong, it''s not like I don''t believe you, but whenever there were instances of someone receiving a role like that, it was always something like ''Hero of enchanted forest'' or ''Heroine of the mountain pass''. You know. Specific stuff. Nothing as general as simply ''heroine''." The prince exined showing that he actually had a lot of knowledge regarding the global events of the past. "B-but my role really is a heroine..." Mary slouched and trembled, muttering her response in a small voice. "Ekhm...! Just... Just a heroine you say? So... something that''s mostmon in books and legends?" Chapter 93: A heroine, two capture targets, and a villainess walk through the woods (2)

Chapter 93: A heroine, two capture targets, and a viiness walk through the woods (2)

Roan raised his brow, really giving the brown-haired girl a lot of room and time to backtrack. "Ah, um... y-yes, I suppose so..." Mary nodded shyly, trying to make herself as small as possible as if she was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear. "A capture target and the heroine... haa..." After observing them, Cranberry let out a small sigh and smiled lightly. "What do you think about it, mydy?" In the blink of an eye, Roan turned to her, more than eager to listen. "A ''capture target'' sounds like something that''s possible to be conquered, or seduced... Maybe this global event is simply one big matchmaking party for the heroine?" The red-haired girl smirked mockingly. "After all, as everyone can clearly see, Mary has already begun capturing you, Roan." She shrugged and shook her head as if there was nothing that she could do about it. "Ah, how fickle of the system to pull away my fianc¨¦ from me just because of some event..." Cranberry sighed theatrically and looked to the side. When she knew that neither Roan nor Mary can see her, she winked to Zombie, hoping that he will shut up and not ruin her act, and keep his mouth shut about being a capture target himself. Thankfully, this time the gears in the blue undead''s head seemed to turn properly because he nodded without uttering a single word of confusion. "M-mydy, why would I ever...?" "What is your problem with me,dy Pride?!" The prince wanted to assure Cranberry about his intentions but then Mary stepped forward angrily and asked rather rudely, for someone of the lower status, not to mention that she interrupted the prince... "Ha? And what do you mean by that?" Cranberry stopped and turned around, raising her brow and letting her anger surface. "You... you keep making these hurtful remarks at me all the time! What, did I offended you in any way?! We''ve seen each other only once during the first kill party! What have I done to make you dislike me so much?!" Mary blew up in Cranberry''s face,pletely ignoring the difference in power and status. Prides, even in the middle of their downfall, were still far more important and influential than Hopes could ever hope to be. Not to mention that with acting like that, Mary had been clearly underestimating Cranberry''s strength while overestimating her own chances of survival if the red-haired girl decided to smack her with the baseball bat... "..." But surprisingly enough, Cranberry didn''t shout back - and neither did she straight up killed Mary for that matter - but rather frowned and her face twisted in a sour expression. "...haa..." The red-haired girl breathed out and red back at the heroine. "I am really upset because of what has been changed." Cranberry confessed and clenched her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white. "It''s not your fault that you don''t remember certain things... haa... but it really upsets me that you don''t." She breathed out staring Mary down. "And what does that supposed to mean?!" Mary stomped her foot, ready to argue back. "Howe I have to tolerate...?! Kyaah!" "Miss Hope, enough!" She was about to continue but the blond prince grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Yo-your highness...?" The confused girl yelped. "Miss Hope, it is highly inappropriate that you try to argue with my fianc¨¦, especially considering that she is helping you and me find the way out of this forest! I''ll only warn you this once, if you start shouting at youngdy Pride again, I will be the one to assure that you''ll get punished!" Roan got angry instead. He seemed actually honestly mad at Mary for raising her voice at Cranberry. "Graough...? (Master, the weakling prince isn''t so bad, maybe we can invite him for a training session once in a while...?)" The blue undead leaned in and groaned into Cranberry''s ear. Even if the blond prince was only acting as a propped fianc¨¦ in front of another noble, Roan at least fully convinced Zombie of his good intentions. "B-but, your highness...! I''m being treated unfairly by this...! This backstory character...!" Mary managed to pull away from Roan and shouted while stomping her foot like an angry child. Roan, Cranberry, Zombie, and even Blueberry, wentpletely silent and stared at the heroine throwing a tantrum. It took Mary a few seconds to realize what she had said. "Miss Hope, howe you know whatdy Pride''s role is? She hasn''t said it yet." Roan stepped back and straightened his back looking at Mary with suspicion. "..." Cranberry frowned and started observing the brown-haired girl carefully. "More importantly, say, Mary..." She spoke slowly, with an ice-cold voice. "Zombie and I were helping the Dandelions with a quest. Roan was on his way to Prides'' mansion. Why were you flying around those parts for...?" Cranberry''s question seemed to hang in the air threateningly. "I... I was..." And it turned out that it was the right question to back the heroine into the corner. "I was following the system''s global quest!" Or it would be if not for the convenient, ready-to-use excuse. "Ha? Do you mind telling us what kind of quest? I am indeed only a backstory character, but any information could prove to be useful for the capture target." Cranberry smirked mockingly. Also, she didn''t specify which capture target exactly would benefit from the information. Even while upset, the master of the eternal servant was ying her own game and acting ordingly. Sadly, her eternal servant waspletely lost, trying to understand her intentions. Right at that moment, while using the short break from walking to pat and hug Blueberry, the blue undead realized that there was something off about what Cranberry had said. The small part of Zombie''s brain that was still trying to oppose the side-effects of the rotten brain title, was going into overdrive. "Graough...? (Wait, master, do you still think that you are a backstory character...?)" Zombie tapped Cranberry''s shoulder and groaned worried, tugging on her clothes. "Zombie not no... Wait, what did you say?" At first, she wanted to shoo him away but when the meaning of his words reached her she flinched and stared at him wide-eyed. "What? No, she must be a backstory character!" Mary jumped in the conversation, confirming to Zombie and Cranberry - and revealing to the confused prince - that she can properly understand the blue undead. "Graough! (Ah! I get it!) Graough! (It must have been because you were unconscious!) Graough. (Master, you aren''t a backstory character anymore, you have be the Viiness!)" Chapter 94: I want to confirm! (1)

Chapter 94: I want to confirm! (1)

Cranberry was staring at Zombie for at least a whole minute, without blinking, inplete bewilderment. The sudden revtion actually did knock all thoughts right out of her head leaving her speechless. Simrly, Mary the heroine seemed unable to fully grasp the situation and was looking between the red-haired girl and the blue undead as if she expected one of them to suddenly burst intoughter and dere that it was all a joke. "Umm¡­ what happened¡­? Did your corpse puppet said something that made you upset, mydy¡­?" The only one still left in the dark,? the blond-haired prince Roan, asked awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck. That seemed to have worked as a wake-up call. Cranberry gulped down her saliva and turned to him with an impatient expression. "...it''s not the time to be peacefully strolling around¡­" She unexpectedly dered and grabbed both Mary and Roan by their clothes. She then picked them up, and unceremoniously ¨C and without any warning -? threw them on Blueberry''s back. "Skwee?! (Eh?! Mommy?!) "What the...?!" "Kyaah!" Neither the humans nor the emperor griffin were happy about it, to say the least, and loudly expressed their surprise, but Cranberry couldn''t care less for that. At least when it came to humans. "Blueberry, sorry for scaring you but will you help your mommy? I want you to take those two to Prides'' mansion, you remember where it is, right?" She gently patted the griffin''s neck, looked into the violet eyes, and started rubbing the soft spot right behind Blueberry''s beak. " Skwee! (Yes, yes! You can count on me, mommy!) Skwee! (A-and I wasn''t scared!) " Blueberry hoofed with her front legs excitedly and spread her wings. "Youngdy Pride, could you please exin what is going on? are we in danger or¡­?" The blond prince asked confused, but even without fully understanding what was going on, he at least got into a proper raiding position on griffin''s back without making much fuss about it. "STOP ORDERING MY GRIFFIN AROUND!" ¡­but the same couldn''t be said about Blueberry''s owner, Mary, who was iling her arms and legs while screaming like an angry child that didn''t want to share their toys. "Skwee. (Master, shut up.) Skwee? (Can''t you see that mommy and I are talking?)" Blueberry barely nced at the brown-haired girl on her back ¨C her short screech sounded oddly simr to Cranberry''s ice-cold tone that the red-haired girl used whenever she was angry. "¡­!" Hearing something like that from a monster that was supposed to be her faithful familiar was enough for the heroin to not only stop screaming but momentarily forget how to breathe. "Don''t throw them off this time andnd in front of the gate, alright? Whatever will happen, don''tnd inside the walls." Cranberry wasn''t able to understand the griffin''s screeches so she continued without much bother. As for the Zombie, he only sent the heroin a mocking smile and shook his head as if he found the situation really funny. "Skwee! (Yes!)" After a final confirmation from Blueberry, Cranberry turned around, grabbed Zombie''s shoulder, and jumped on his back with the grace of a professional raider. "Zombie will be waiting for you at the gate, I have to talk with my father first." The red-haired girl exined while wrapping her arms around the blue undead''s neck. "Lady Pride, could you please exin a bit more?" "What did you do to my griffin¡­?" Obviously, the two disinclined raiders had something to say about the situation, but once Blueberry began pping her wings while rising higher and higher off the ground, both of them closed their mouth and grabbed onto any feathers and mane avable. "Graough? (Master, are you sure?) Graough... (Last time I carried you, you ended up throwing up...)" Zombie warned Cranberry while grabbing her legs securely. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It will be horrible. Now go." She murmured pressing her forehead into his nape and closing her eyes. In the next moment, before Blueberry even managed to get above the treetops, Zombie and Cranberry disappeared to the sound of a deafening explosion. Arge crevice in the forest soil appeared right where they were standing just a moment before. "Whoa...!" Roan gasped staring at the spot with widened eyes. "Skwee! (Mommy! Daddy! Wait for me!)" The prince had to quickly close his mouth because the emperor griffin screeched with urgency and her body started shining. The speed that Blueberry would gain thanks to her skills was nothing to scoff at, and they all disappeared in a sh. ... "...seriously, I can''t believe this rotten brain... he knew all along that I got assigned a new role when I was unconscious but he just kept quiet...!" Cranberry was muttering under her breath while returning from her father''s office alone. "...I swear, he is so cute and hot but so, so dumb...!" She didn''t even stop talking to herself while passing the maids and butlers, getting a lot of strange looks. She got out of the mansion and walked towards the gate where Zombie and the others were already waiting. Though it looked like the atmosphere was rather awkward... Zombie was busy fawning over Blueberry and Blueberry waspletely immersed in getting showered in love and affection. That was the expected part. But then there was Mary, constantly trying to approach Roan, while Roan was doing his best to keep his distance from her. "Your highness, I don''t understand why can''t we talk normally!" The brown-haired girl cried confused while the blond prince hid behind the griffin''s back. "Miss Hope, it was already highly inappropriate that we traveled on miss Blueberry together. I am engaged to youngdy Pride, so to stop any rumors from even being conceived - please stay away." Roan said while peeking at Mary from over the griffin''s back. Yes. The blond prince actually tried to hide behind Blueberry to get away from Mary. "Wh-what inappropriate rumors?! I just want to talk!" Mary blushed and tried to approach the prince but even the griffin seemed to be on the prince''s side because she spread her wings blocking her master''s way. "Skwee. (Master, no means no. Leave this human alone.)" Blueberry''s screech sounded as if she was sighing. "We can talk while keeping the appropriate distance! Ah! Lady Pride!" Roanined, but as soon as he saw the red-haired girl, he perked up like a puppy and hurriedly walked over to the approaching girl while making sure to always stay at least nine feet apart from Mary. "Hey, Roan, I need an appraiser to confirm something. How long will it take to bring one here?" Cranberry cut straight to the chase without addressing theedy bit that the prince and the heroine have just performed. "Appraisers are in high demand and therefore usually try to take their time even for urgent requests from my mother, so at least a week." Chapter 95: I want to confirm! (2)

Chapter 95: I want to confirm! (2)

Roan''s response made Cranberry frown. "Haa... just as father said..." She breathed out in disappointment. "Oh, but the things change if we go to the appraiser." The prince dered proudly. "How so?" Cranberry raised her brow. "As long as you have someone from the Greed family by your side, the appraiser won''t have a choice but to check you up as soon as you show up. It''s a secret agreement that my mother forced on them. She''s a scary woman." Roan beamed at Cranberry and even made a victory sign. "Graough... (That doesn''t sound like something a ruler should do...)" Zombie groaned pulling away from Blueberry for a moment. "Great, we''re taking you with us then." Cranberry nodded and hopped on the griffin''s back as if she was her master. "Zombie, Roan, get on." Shemanded. "Like hell! Get off of my monster, now!" Mary freaked out, and as the tamer and the owner of Blueberry, she had all the rights to do that. Still... "Skwee! (Back off, master!) Skwee! (I''m helping my mommy!)" *swoosh* "Guhua!" She got pushed away by Blueberry''s wing and ended up on her butt after letting out a weird sound. "Weren''t you listening? I''ve only called for Zombie and Roan, you can just do whatever you came here to for." Cranberry nced at the girl beneath and furrowed her brows. "Or just go home, you don''t need to wait here for our return. Blueberry knows her way back, right?" "Skwee! (I do!)" Blueberry screeched happily. "Graough, (She does.)" Zombie confirmed the screech, took a seat right behind his master and waited for the prince to hop on behind him. "...shouldn''t I be behind her, I''m her fianc¨¦..." Roan grumbled while getting on but did it so quietly that no one else heard him. Not waiting for Mary to even get back up or even to startining again, Blueberry spread her wings and took off. "N-no! Wait!" The brown-haired girl reached her hand after her griffin already disappearing in the distance and gasped weakly. "My... my quest is proximity-based...!" She whimpered weakly. /Story quest A h/w failed Capture target has gone too far without reaching the necessary affection level "...!" Mary was staring at the message, biting her lips from anger. "...damn it...! What is even going on here?! Is she seriously a viiness and not a backstory character?! That''s not what I''ve seen in my dreams...!" She lowered her head and murmured furiously. "Miss...?" The guard at the gate called out to her not sure what to do but she ignored him and turned away. "...this was supposed to be the easiest quest...! And what''s wrong with Roan?! He was supposed to have a motherplex and greatly dislike his fianc¨¦ and not..." Mary suddenly stopped and tilted her head. "No, wait¡­ Was Cranberry supposed to be Roan''s fianc¨¦ in the first ce...? Why do I remember it differently?" She asked herself horribly confused. ... Meanwhile, up in the air over the forest. /Questpleted Reward granted Another strange message popped up for Cranberry and Zombie again without them particrly doing anything or even receiving a new quest prior to that. From time to time, Cranberry gave Blueberry the directions until they finally arrived at a small vige by the main road. "Graough? (Huh?) Graough... (I remember this ce...) Graough! (Whoa...!)" "What the...?!" As they''vended,? the blue undead groaned, but in the next second, he was already getting pulled down from the griffin''s back by his master, so without thinking he grabbed Roan and got him pulled too. Even though Zombie was sure he had never visited that ce together with Cranberry before, she seemed to know exactly where she was going. And indeed within less than five minutes all three of them were inside a small but moderately luxurious building that looked like it was a home office. "What may I help you with...?" A short middle-aged man behind a counter put down a sandwich and raised his brow. "My undead and I need appraising, the highest level you can perform." Cranberry said pulling out a bag of jingling coins and tossed it in front of the man. "Ah! I see! Let me just check..." The man smiled and nodded. Then he reached down and pulled out arge thick book and opened it near the end. "Yes, I have a free spot in about two weeks..." He said taking out a pen, ready to write down the appointment. "Haa... No. We need it now." Cranberry sighed shaking her head. "I''m terribly sorry, young Lady Pride, but this is just how things work." The answered with a bright smile, showing not only that he recognized who Cranberry was, but also that he didn''t care. "I see. Haa... Roan, if you may." The red-haired girl sighed and gestured at the prince standing in Zombie''s shade toe forward. "Mister appraiser, I think you want to reconsider refusing my fianc¨¦''s request." The blond prince stepped forward and leaned his torso slightly to the side. "No, I certainly don... oh..." At first, the man spoke with the same bright smile but when he looked at Roan''s face, his expression changed into one of shock. "OH! Yo-your highness?!" He gasped, standing up from his seat and bowing deeply to the prince. "You recognize who I am, good. Now, apprise my fianc¨¦ and her corpse puppet. " It was Roan''s turn to make a bright smile. "A-at once, your highness!" The short man rushed out from behind the counter and pointed at the couch by the wall. "Youngdy Pride, please, over there." He said grabbing a pen and paper. When the red-haired girl and the blue undead took their ce, the appraiser pulled up a chair, sat down, and prepared to write down the results. "For the greatest uracy please, remove any mental defense type charms and if possible deactivate all the skills that raise the mental defense." He said automatically as if he spoke those words thousands of times already. Probably because he did... Neither Cranberry nor Zombie have budged. "Good. Now then..." The appraiser nodded and his eyes lighted up with a bright light. "...huh...?" His face became pale as a sheet and he dropped his pen before he even wrote a first revealed value. Chapter 96: The confirmation!

Chapter 96: The confirmation!

"Wha... what are those stat and titles...?!" The appraiser gulped down his saliva feeling the cold sweat emerging on his forehead. Only now did he realize that he was rude to a pair of actual monsters and not just some random spoileddy and her ything. The poor man''s body started shaking uncontrobly. "Graough... (Hey, mister, you dropped your pen...)" Zombie groaned, picked up the writing utensil, and returned it by sliding it into the sweaty palm of the appraiser. Such innocent action, done without an ounce of bad will, looked extremely threatening for the terrified man backed into the chair. The appraiser was considering whether dropping on the ground and kowtowing now would save his life or was it already toote for that... "Mister, how long will you make us wait?" Cranberry asked in a cold voice. While her eternal servant waspletely clueless about the reason for the sudden change in the appraiser''s behavior, the red-haired girl was certainly not. She red at the man, tapping her fingers on the couch impatiently. "P-pl-please fo-fo-fo-forgive m-me...!" The man stuttered horribly and his eyes started glowing again, but this time his hand moved smoothly, noting every detail without holding anything back. After such an intense writing session, the middle-aged appraiser drenched in sweat handed the papers to Cranberry. Zombie leaned in curiously and even Roan stepped a bit closer to sneak a peek at the results. Name: Zombie Race: Eternal Servant (?) Role: the proudest corpse / capture target Level: 87 HP: - MP: 430 ATK: 897 DEF: 3096 MAT: 978 MDF: 2999 HIT: 451 EVA: 274 AGI: 673 LUC: 200 Skills: Superbia (level 1) Crunch (level 6 [max]) Soul devouring venom (level 4 [max]) Blunt damage immunity (level 39 [max]) Impervious (level 9 [max]) Emergency dodge (level 21 [max]) Strong kick (level 102 [max]) Acrobatics (level 24) Dragon power (level 10 [max]) Stack (level 15 [max]) Fire immunity ([max]) Overlevel (level 8) Pride''s will (level 2) Unlocked Affinities: Leg Power (level 12 [max]) Beast master (level 3) Skillbo (level 2) Titles: Eternal servant Rotten brain (+1) Dragonewt yer Dragon yer Bane of rabbits Hunter Bane of wolves Bane of griffins Kingyer Killer rabbit Bane of goblins yer of the unique Destroyer Ruthless (+2) Lord of Pride Name: Cranberry Pride Race: Human ss: Master of the eternal servant Subss: Berserk Role: Viiness Level: 61 HP: 1227 MP: 1947 ATK: 3077 DEF: 298 MAT: 2981 MDF: 756 HIT: 1183 EVA: 464 AGI: 492 LUC: 212 Skills: Fire immunity ([max]) Blunt weapon mastery (level 48 [max])) Charge (level 45 [max]) Bash (level 79 [max]) Thrash (level 39 [max]) Magic bash (level 60 [max]) Strong kick (level 102) -disabled- Rage of the unbreakable (level 3) Dragon power (level 11) Stack (level 15 [max]) Charm (level 21) Pride''s loss (level 3) Status effect immunity (level 5) Detection+ [hearing] (level 4) Unlocked affinities: Skillbo (level 2) Titles: The beloved child of pride Master of the eternal servant Hardworker Dragonewt yer Dragon yer Bane of rabbits Apex predator Bane of wolves Bane of griffins Kingyer Killer rabbit Bane of goblins yer of the unique Cmity Ruthless (+2) Usurper of Pride "...!" Roan''s jaw dropped while he was left speechless, wondering whether his eyes deceive him or not. "I-it''s really here¡­!" Cranberry gasped in awe looking at the confirmation of Zombie''s words that she desired so much. The role unique role that must have something to do with the story...! It wasn''t that she didn''t believe her eternal servant, but as someone with the rotten brain title ¨C at least ording to the official information put in books she had read ¨C he could sometimes confuse the facts without meaning to. "Graough. (Yeah.) Graough. (Told you.)" Zombie shrugged while looking over Cranberry''s shoulder to read the appraisal results. "You did~" Cranberry giggle happily and touched Zombie''s cheek. "¡­!" That affectionate action made Roan flinch, but it didn''tst long. "Graough¡­ (Master¡­) Ghaough¡­ (Master, my face can''t stretch anymore¡­)" Zombie groaned with a bored expression as the gentle touch had changed into pinching and Cranberry''s happy expression turned slightly peeved as she continuously pulled on her blue undead''s cheek. "You did tell me¡­ less than an hour ago! Do you have any idea how worried I was about that since we woke up?! I was fully prepared to go on a bloody hunt to get the role that would let me stay with y¡­" The red-haired girl stopped herints just in time before she ended up saying somethingpromising while in front of an appraiser ¨C so someone with a lot of prestige ¨C and the very prince of the kingdom. "¡­that would let me stay relevant in the global event." She finished without missing a beat. "A hunt for the role¡­?" The blond prince asked in shock. Even though Cranberry managed to hide her feelings, she did tantly spoke about something dangerous anyway¡­ "Anyway¡­" And she decided to ignore and forget about it, so she changed the subject without hesitation. "My DEF is pathetic, at level 61 even a fully offensive spellcaster should have higher stat points than that..." The red-haired girl sighed in disappointment. "Graough, graough... (Yeah, so it''s probably just as you''ve thought, you can no longer use our shared strong kick because your body wouldn''t be able to handle level 102 skill...)" Zombie groaned, pointing at the -disabled- written on the paper next to the skill name and level. "Graough. (Sorry, even though you shared it with me, I practiced it too much and made it worthless to you.)" "Don''t worry about it, I got that skill for you in the first ce. But yeah, the damage multiplier must have gotten too high after all. Still, we aren''t talking only about my shorings, you know? We need to work on your EVA and HIT too, both of those are way too low. You don''t have much mana so you shouldn''t be reliant on active skills to boost it. With how you are now, you won''t be able to hit or dodge a fully prepared high-level rogue or a speed-oriented monster." /Questpleted Reward granted "Graough? (What, again?!)" Zombie growled bewildered staring at the message that had the guts to interrupt their battle strategy revision "Haa... this is getting ridiculous..." Chapter 97: Monster and monster

Chapter 97: Monster and monster

Cranberry sighed, rolling her eyes. "System, showpleted quests" She demanded and a long list opened in front of her eyes. Three quests on top were allbeled as hidden quests for route A v/w, and the most recent one was again about raising the affection of the prince, while the one before was about disrupting the heroine''s quest. Both master and servant turned to Roan, raising their brows. "...Zombie, I think we should alter our ns a bit..." The red-haired girl leaned towards her undead and murmured into his ear. "Graugh? (Our ns?) Graough? (So we won''t be just joining the Dandelions for a while?)" "Oh! What a surprise! You got that one right! We should make our own team." Zombie groaned curiously and Cranberry pped her hands honestly impressed. "Is... is something wrong...?" The blond prince shyly took a step back, even though there was nothing that he could hide behind there. "Nothing much, it just seems that I will be able to get a bunch of secret quests as long as you''re around." Cranberry turned back to him, then shrugged and smirked. "Hey, how about you hang out with us for a bit longer?" She added while pointing at herself and her servant. "...!" The prince flinched and gulped down his saliva. His eyes darted down to the paper sheets where the appraisal results of the Master-Servant pair were written down and back to Cranberry''s che... face. "Well...?" Cranberry tilted her head and asked. She crost her arms under her ample chest... ...and her eyes shone briefly... "!!!" Roan trembled and nervously clenched his fists on his chest and stomach and his breath hastened. "I...! It would be my pleasure,dy Pride!" Without further ado, the blond Prince agreed and bowed to the red-haired girl. "Perfect. You can contact someone toe pick you up from here, Zombie and I will be busy for a bit. Be ready in three days." Without wasting more of her precious time, Cranberry dered and stood up and nodded at the blue undead. When the eternal servant walked to her from behind the couch, she hugged his left arm and pulled him to the door. "See youter then, Roan." She smirked a bit mockingly over her shoulder before leaving. "Whew..." The prince wiped the sweat off of his brows and breathed out. "What a girl, right?" He smiled all excited with a flushed face. "She''s my fianc¨¦, you know?" Roan tapped his chest with his finger sounding incredibly proud and happy. "Co-congrattions...?" The appraiser looked as if he got ten years older and took a deep breath. "My prince, you should be aware that whatever happened to youngdy Pride is not normal. Her stats'' growth I mean." The man''s hands shook as he started exining hurriedly and Roan looked at him with doubtful eyes. "I don''t know if you''ve noticed, but one of her skills got blocked by the system itself because it would be harmful to her own body! That''s not something that should be possible! " The appraiser continued. "Not only that, the disparity between her defense and offense stats are ridiculously big! I can assure you that even now she''s not able to use the full extent of her strength just because her own body isn''t able to handle the sheer power she can output?¨C and that''s talking about her normal, not skill enhanced, strength." He added but the prince wasn''t even listening. "Yeah, isn''t that amazing?! I knew that overlevel can be useful, but those numbers were insane! Not only that! Wasn''t thest human who broke the 3000 ATK threshold, my grandfather?! And what will happen when she activates her skills?! Ah! To have a woman like that by my side! Once I sit on the throne with her as my queen the Fruit Sd will enter a new era!" The blond prince raised his arms in cheer. "I will be unstoppable!" His face twisted into a wicked grin. Looking at him, the appraiser felt almost as much dread as he felt when writing down the stats of the red-haired girl and her blue undead. "My prince¡­? I''m serious, there''s nothing to be happy about in this situation... That girl is a monster...!" He tried to exin one more time, but realized it was pointless. The greed of Greed knows no bounds, as the saying in Fruit Sd goes. Everyone knew that the royal family will do everything in their might to assure that their kingdom is the greatest. With any means necessary. But in this case, the appraiser wondered if the young prince doesn''t want to try to bite more than he can chew... "Oh, and I can''t forget about her corpse puppet, either! What a perfect bodyguard! His DEF and MDF were just as good as those of a five hundred years old ind turtle! What a beast! I''m in love! Whatever happens, I must never let go of either of them! They are my ticket to infinite glory and wealth!" Roanughed while the appraiser shuddered thinking about the future of the kingdom. ... Cranberry didn''t let go of Zombie''s arm even when they went outside, out in the public. Instead, she clenched his arm even tighter while looking around. For some reason, she seemed a little bit off, as if she suddenly realized something unpleasant. Her eyes seemed to be pulled on a single point. The middle of the wide road passing through the center of the vige. Cranberry frowned, lowering her head and lifting her shoulders defensively. "Graough? (What is it, master?)" Zombie asked with a worried expression. "..." Cranberry looked at him with worried eyes. "You... don''t recognize this ce...?" She asked slowly. "...?" Zombie became confused and looked around. "Graough? (We are at the vige where I was born and died.) Graough? (What about it?)" The blue undead asked casually as if he talked about the weather. "Graough...?! (Don''t tell me, master, are you still worried that I don''t like you...?!)" He groaned in disbelief. "...no..." Cranberry denied and looked away. "...haa... well, maybe..." In the end, she admitted clenching her hands on Zombie''s arm so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Don''t you want to visit your parents...?" She asked timidly. That made Zombie stop and think. "Graough. (No, not really.)" He said with a shrug. "Graough, graough. Graough... (Mother and father were nice people, and my older sister would use her magic to show me nice dreams if I had nightmares. So maybe I should...)" "Then...!" Cranberry jolted and shook Zombie''s arm. "Graough. (But I much rather spend time with you than waste it on some random living.)" The blue undead ended what he wanted to say with a bright smile. "...haa... right, I see..." Cranberry breathed out and looked down. She almost forgot, again, that Zombie was an actual undead. The system had confirmed it before - an eternal servant that is listed as Zombie''s race is a type of the undead. And all undead monsters share the same trait. The indifference or, in many cases, hate towards all the living beings of the species they were originally. The only difference between the other undead and the eternal servant was the devotion he had towards his master. No one else truly mattered to him. When he said he doesn''t have any desire to meet his parents, he waspletely honest. And it was a bit scary. "...we should just leave..." Cranberry sighed and leaned on Zombie''s shoulder. "Graough! (Let''s!)" He hummed happily also leaning towards the red-haired girl. Chapter 98: Revelation by the campfire

Chapter 98: Revtion by the campfire

The nightfall came surprisingly early - or maybe not that surprisingly - considering all the clouds that were now blocking the sky. In the clearance in the forest, Cranberry, Zombie, and the Dandelions were all sitting around a campfire and staring into the flickering mes. Though it might sound like a quite serene picture, the peacefulness of the site was disturbed by the hellscape of all the monster corpses stacked on the multiple carts all around their group. "Youngdy, you really should consider learning how to cook." It was therge woman, Uresha, the party''s tank, that shyly but stubbornly pitched up the same idea that she tried to push since morning. "Why though? Zombie doesn''t eat." The red-haired girl shrugged and threw a stick into the fire and watched it crack and burn with an indifferent expression. "Youngdy..." The big woman shook her head in disbelief. "But you have to! What if by any chance, during our travels, we would happen to get separated for a few days? What will you eat then?" Uresha wasn''t giving up despite the cold reception. "From what you''ve told us, you never even truly slept outside, without a carriage that is, and never had eaten something not cooked by a master chef, that simply won''t do! Aren''t we all supposed to meet with prince Roan in less than two days?" The woman said in a worried voice and the other Dandelions nodded, looking at her and then at the clearly bored Cranberry. It was slightly annoyed for the red-haired girl to hear that, considering that before the system changed her backstory, she traveled and ate together with the Dandelions on more than a few asions. "Haa... I fail to see how this connects to me learning how to cook, can''t we eat in a tawern?" Therefore she responded a bit annoyed while throwing a dry twig up and catching it without breaking it - which was actually a part of her training that she came up with to properly control her strength. "...! Well... you got me there..." Uresha made an awkward expression. "Sorry, I got so caught up with the idea that a girl your age never cooked anything, that I mixed my priorities." The woman bowed her head apologetically, which caused Cranberry to smile lightly. "Nah, don''t sweat the small stuff. So, I guess what you really worried about is possible indigestion and not getting enough sleep, right?" "Right." Cranberry summarized for her, and Uresha nodded. "That''s not a problem at all." The red-haired girl waved her hand dismissively. "As soon as I received permission to leave from father, I''ve done some shopping and a few experiments on my own." She came up with an exnation on the spot and smirked. "Turns out that I can basically eat anything. But I guess that''s mostly due to the status effect immunity skill." Cranberry looked up at the surprised adventurers. "And as far as ites to falling asleep..." Cranberry lowered her head a bit and sneakily nced at Zombie. "I have a perfect strategy for that." She hurriedly straightened her back and looked to the side. "Hey, youngdy." Even though Uresha seemed at least a little convinced, Lairs, the potty-mouth mage, pulled back her long ck hair and red at Cranberry. "I fucking know why Ure-ure wants you to fucking learn how to do the fucking cooking." She said with a sour expression. "...haa... And that is...?" Cranberry rolled her eyes and tilted her head, showing the willingness to benevolently listen to the angry mage. "We, the Dandelions, take fucking turns cooking and doing the fucking dishes!" The elf pointed out at the empty dishes, still slightly wet, drying up close to the fire. "Today was Rotte''s turn to cook and Shan-shan did the cleaning. The next fucking time when we will have to fucking camp outside, I''ll be fucking cooking, and Rotte will clean the fucking dishes! That''s how it fucking goes!" Lairs growled, getting more and more agitated as she talked. "A-aaa-and?" Cranberry raised her brow openly yawning with no shame. "And?! AND?! You fucking...!" It looked like the mage''s anger was going to boil over. "Lairs, calm down." Shanks called out to the elven mage while Rotte put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "...!" Lair gritted her teeth and breathed out. "That fucking means... youngdy... that since you''ll be fucking joining us, you will enter the fucking rotation!" "Graough...! (Oh, so that was it...!) Graough? (Should we exin to them that I can cook?) Graough. (I could even take over their turns if that would shut them up.)" Zombie nudged Cranberry''s side and groaned rolling his eyes as if he had enough of hearing theints. But the red-haired girl shook her head and patted her servant''s leg. "If that''s what''s bothering you, then you can rx." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smirked mockingly at the furious elf. "Tomorrow, my Zombie and I are going to register at the adventurers guild as a two-person party." She dered confidently. "See? It''s that simple. We won''t be joining your group, we will be participating in a joint expedition instead." "!!!!" Four Dandelions flinched and started staring at the red-haired girl in utter bewilderment. "Youngdy Pride... you do know that actually joining the proper adventuring party is rather bothersome, right? Haven''t you say so yourself? That you want to focus only on fighting and honing your skills?" Shanks was the first one to recover from the shock, asked. "Yeah, yeah. I know what I''ve said, and I know all the details..." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively and patted the stack of books she was reading while the evening meal was being prepared. "In the end, apanying your little circle would only result in raking in all the achievement to your name. And that would be a problem for you after the two of us left..." She smiled brightly at the stunned Dandelions. After all, what Shanks said earlier was the truth. Being a member of the adventuring party was a pain. But only when it came to strong parties. For example, once you proved your strength and achieved a certain rank, your strong group would once in a while receive a special mission that you could not refuse. The Dandelions were just a low-level party so they were free from such annoyances, but it was more than obvious for them that once the master-servant pair would put their minds into it, they would shot straight to the top of the guild''s charts. "Fuck...!" Lairs sighed, hanging down her head and pulling her hood over her eyes. "So what you''re saying is...?" Shanks nced at hispanions and asked looking back at the red-haired girl. "That our party will hire your party, as a support party. On the exact same terms as up until now, of course. And after we fulfill our own goals, everyone will be able to go their own way without unwanted side-effects." Cranberry finished for him,cent. Chapter 99: They know a stick, now lets give them a carrot

Chapter 99: They know a stick, now let''s give them a carrot

"Huh... in that case, I guess the cooking and stuff will simply all fall on us." Rotte summed it up with a nod. "That''s honestly not a bad deal... OW!" Heughed but suddenly he jumped in pain when Lairs grind her heel on his toes. "...fucking whatever... fucking, dumb Rotte..." The elf grumbled furiously from under her hood. Seeing that, Uresha and Lairs startedughing on their own and the mood lightened considerably. "Say, Lairs. I''ve been wondering about something." Surprisingly, Cranberry didn''t just return to her books as she usually would do and instead started up another conversation. "Fucking...! What it is, youngdy?" Without taking off her hood, Lairs grumbled in response. "The way you''re addressing yourpanions, how you change their names..." "The fuck? You mean Ure-ure and Shan-shan? What''s fucking wrong with how I call them?!" Lairs instantly turned defensive and backed her head into the cor of her robe while answering in a cautious voice. "Ha? Wrong? No, nothing is wrong with that." Cranberryughed waving her hand. "It''s just that I''ve read in one of my books that the particr way you are changing their names is a form of a baby talk amongst the young elves. And by that, I mean that younger children talk like that to their older siblings. It''s rather adorable that you think of yourpanions in such a cute way." "Sh-shut the fuck up! It''s not like that at all!" Even with half her face hidden beneath a hood and the not ideal lighting provided by the fire, everyone could see that Lairs face got crimson red from the embarrassment ash she flinched and started backing off so much that she almost fell down. "Eh?! It was something like that?!" Uresha gasped happily and turned to Lairs with sparkling eyes. "Nope! No, it''s fucking not!" Lairs pulled her hood way over her face and shook her head from side to side to deny everything. "Well yeah, we all grew up together so that''s nothing strange. We all think about each other as family, right??You don''t have to be embarrassed about it." Shanks walked over to the beautiful elf who assumed a fetal position doing her best to disappear and patted her shoulder. That left Rotte, looking between Lairs and Cranberry in confusion. "Wait... Youngdy, say, in that case how do older kids address the younger ones?" He asked curiously. "No! Rotte, shut the fuck up! It''s not like that! And you, Shan-shan and Ure-ure! Stop making fun of me! I can''t believe that even Ure-ure is bullying me!" Lairs cried out in a pitiful voice. "The older ones? My books never mentioned if there was a specific way. But when a younger child changes the name of their older sibling like that, it means that they really love and respect them. It''s a really significant thing. Like I''ve said, it is a really adorable detail so it was easy for me to memorize it." Even while witnessing Lairs''s anguish ¨C or maybe because of it - Cranberry calmly responded to the warrior''s question. "Oh! So it''s like that..." Rotte nodded with a solemn expression and turned his back to the red-haired girl and her servant and crouched by the embarrassed elf. Uresha and Shanks exchanged nces and stepped aside. "Hey...? Do you still remember? Back when we were kids you really wanted me to call you like that but I refused and said that it was stupid?" "...!" Rotte asked and Lairs flinched and stopped wiggling in anguish. "Why didn''t you tell me it was something like that? You know I''m thick-headed and thick-skinned." The warrior continued. "Shut the fuck up...! I don''t remember a thing!" Lairs cried shaking her head still hiding her face under the hood. "And after I''ve said that you''ve even cried for an entire week..." "Fuck off! No, I fucking didn''t! It was only three days!" The mage shouted, revealing that she did, in fact, remembered. "Graough...? (Isn''t three days still way too long...?)" "Shhh!" Zombie groaned confused but got hushed by Cranberry. "Well... what I''m getting at is... I''m sorry. I didn''t know any better and I was a stupid kid... and... I really hope that it''s not toote for that but... I''ve honestly always thought about you as my dear sister. Laii." Rotte said softly. "...!" Lairs body trembled and she straightened her back slightly, giving up covering her face. "...fucking brat... now you''re saying that... you know how many years have passed¡­?" She sniffled ring at Rotte from underneath her hood. "I''m sorry, I should have realized that it was something important to you..." Rotte lowered his head and apologized again. "...one more time..." Lairs grumbled. "Huh...?" Rotte asked surprised. "Say my fucking name like that one more fucking time!" Lairs demanded getting angry and stomping her foot. "Whoa! Okay, okay! Laii, calm dow...!" Rotte said but wasn''t even able to properly finish his sentence because the next moment Lairs threw herself at him, locking the man in a protective embrace. "Stupid fucking stinking brat! Took you fucking long enough! Your sister was so fucking worried that you hated her!" Big heavy tears were streaming down Lairs''s face. "I promise that I will be the fucking best older sister ever!" She dered crying into Rotte''s shoulder. "Whoa! Laii! Calm down, it''s okay, you always were the best older sister anyway, you don''t have to start acting any different! And aren''t we too old to act like that?" Rotte patted her back awkwardly not knowing what to do. "No! No we''re fucking not! Fuck...! I''m...! I''m so happyyy...!" But instead of calming down, Lairs started crying at least twice as hard as before. "Graough? (Master, what is this all about?)" Zombie groaned raising his brow and tilting his head. Cranberry beckoned him closer, and when he leaned in, she whispered in his ear. "Elves value their family way more than their own lives, don''t you think that after my little intervention Lairs will look at us more favorably?" She smirked. "Graough...? (Well, yeah, sure, but why would you bother to help them with that...?)" Zombie growled back, even more confused. "...haa... weren''t you the one who told me that I should use the carrot and the stick method? Well, I just gave our spellcaster a nice carrot that she was yearning for many years. Now we should be able to properly use the Dandelions without worrying that they will turn on us." Cranberry''s eyes glistened evilly and she winked at her servant. Chapter 100: Party registration

Chapter 100: Party registration

It was a busy morning in the adventurers guild eastern territory branch, it was hard to believe that less than a month before the ce was closed down due tock of avable work. But of course, everything had to return to normal with the end of the lull. Both the requests and adventurers willing to register were pouring in almost endlessly and the reinstated staff had their hands full. "Good morning, we''vee to register as adventurers." When the queue moved and it was her turn a tall red-haired girl followed by an even taller blue-skinnedpanion approached one of the receptionists. "...but... but my break was supposed to start ten minutes agoo..." The receptionist, a gnome girl that had to stand on a chair to be able to peek over the counter sighed pitifully looking at the clock ticking on the wall. "...?" The red-haired girl tilted her head and raised her brow. "...please don''t mind me... Hello and wee to the eastern branch of the adventurers guild!" The gnome girl sighed pitifully, took a deep breath, and showed a professional smile. "If it''s your first time registering, please take one of the documents avable on the table in the right corner of the room and fill it in. If you have a note with an appriser''s signature listing all of your stats and skills please add it to the filled documents to speed up the registration process." She exined with a polite bow. "Here." The red-haired girl pulled out two sets of documents filled in with neat handwriting and put them in front of the receptionist. "Ah...! Someone actually came prepared...?" The gnome girl took the documents and skimmed them, checking whether every necessary info was filled in without focusing on the information itself. Everything was in check, even a note with the signature of a reputable appraiser. "...!" Meeting first-timers who actually checked beforehand what they should do to register, do it, and bring everything correctly filled in, got the receptionist to get teary-eyed. "Thank you for your cooperation, youngdy!" The gnome girl felt such a relief seeing that at least one newbie won''t start shouting at her because - ''they think the paperwork is absurd'', and ''they only want to kill monsters, what''s the big deal?'' - that she started addressing the girl in front of her very respectfully without realizing it herself. "Everything seems to be in check, I will pass these on for our staff to confirm the credibility of the information. I have to inform you that currently, the waiting time for that is between two hours to a day, we''re terribly sorry for the inconvenience." The receptionist bowed and apologized as was her contractual obligation even though she had nothing to do with the dy. After all, the specialist mage that was in charge of confirming the information with the system was already going half-mad from all the overwork, which greatly lengthened the otherwise quick process. "It''s alright." The red-haired girl waved her hand dismissively and pulled out another set of documents. "While we''re at it, I would also want to register a new party. I haven''t seen any rule that banned registering a party before an adventurer got officially registered, but I guess that''s not logical, still, can I at least leave the documents with you?" She asked cing the papers in front of the gnome girl. "Ah! Youngdy... Pride! It would be a pleasuuuuuuuu... Wait, what...?! Pride?!" The receptionist bowed and hurriedly nce at the papers to check for the name of the girl to thank her for being so considerate... ...and then she realized what name she just read out loud. "...the Pride...?" "Wait, did she just said... youngdy Pride?!" The name quickly got picked up by the other people in the room and made rounds amongst them. "...y-youngdy P-Pride...? C-Cranberry Pride...?" The gnome girl was trembling so hard that the chair she was standing on started making rattling noises against the floor. "Yeah. Haa... don''t tell me we got banned from registering as adventurers for winning that little duel or something?" The red-haired girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "There''s no way that the adventurers guild would be that petty, right? The duel was approved by the vice-master of the capital''s guild and all." Cranberry opened her arms and made a disappointed expression. "She...! She said it! It''s them!" Someone gasped. "No way! They''re the Swordbreakers?! They''re adventurers from this branch?!" Someone else shouted confused. "Look at the documents! They''re registering only now?!" "Shhh! Maybe they re-register like us?" "No way...!" The whole guild busted into murmurs and whispers of the scared and excited people. "Graough? (Master, why are they calling us the Swordbreakers?)" Zombie lowered his head and growled into Cranberry''s ear. "I''d like to rify that we''re not going to register as Swordbreakers. The proper name is written in the documents and will be waiting for the approval." The red-haired girl sighed and shook her head, ring at the gossiping crowd but it just caused them to whisper even more. "...haa... It will be Superbia, by the way - our party''s name." Cranberry shook her head and turned back to the receptionist. "Miss receptionist, do you know can we register or not?" She asked politely. "O-o-o-of course you c-can, youngdy P-P-P-Pride...!" The terrified gnome girl started bowing repeatedly, with each move she was getting closer and closer to mming her head against the counter. "Good. Well then..." Cranberry smiled brightly and reached towards the gnome girl. "Eeek! No! Please! I''m sorry!" The receptionist yelped pitifully and jumped off her chair and hid behind it. But Cranberry wasn''t reaching for her in the first ce, instead, she picked up a small wooden te with ''window closed'' engraved on it and ced it on the counter. "Miss receptionist, you should go on your break." Cranberry said looking at the cowering gnome girl. "E-eh...?" The small receptionist gasped. "You''ve said that you should be on your break, right?" "Ah!" She perked up when she saw Cranberry pointing at the clock. "Ah...!" But she got down just as fast when she noticed a long queue of the adventurers waiting in line behind Cranberry and Zombie. "Thank you for your consideration, youngdy, but as you can see it''s not really the right ti..." "That''s right! We don''t have all day!" "Yeah! Do you know how many monsters are out there? People are counting on us!" The gnome girl couldn''t even finish her sentence because some rude adventurers behind Cranberry decided, for whatever reason, that it was okay to butt in on the conversation. Chapter 101: Humanly response

Chapter 101: Humanly response

"...?" Cranberry turned around and red down at the verbose adventurers. "Did this receptionist or I have asked any one of you for your opinion?" She asked in a disgusted tone. "Youngdy, with all due respect to you, that gnom works here. Just standing here all day, in warmth and under the roof, and she is even getting paid." One of the adventurers bowed his head to the red-haired girl, doing his best that his problem doesn''t have anything to do with her but rather with the small receptionist girl. ?Yeah! Us adventurers are the ones who actually risk our lives out there. The least that this gnome can do is to do her work as fast as possible so we don''t have to spend here all day lining up like some cattle!" Another one joined him and a murmur of agreement circled amongst the other waiting people, while the receptionist could only keep their mouth shut and grit their teeth. As per their contract, they weren''t allowed to argue with customers about anything other than mission levels and the rewards - since none of those were up to them to decide. "..." Cranberry frowned and outstretched her hand without adding even a single word. And she waited. "...?" That odd move caused both receptionist and the queuing people to stare at her in bewilderment. But even so, she didn''t budge and kept holding out her hand. "Wha...?" "Graough. (Sorry for the wait.)" Just as one of the adventurers was about to ask out loud what the red-haired girl was doing, the blue corpse puppet by her side finally managed to take off a long thin package from his back, unwrapped it, and handed the elegant baseball bat to his master while growling apologetically. "Thank you." Cranberry nodded her head with a warm smile directed only to her eternal servant. Then she gripped the weapon''s handle so hard that her knuckles turned white and her eyes be ice-cold as she turned back to the talkative adventurers. "I was always under the impression that all members of the intelligent races were able to understand something so simple as the right to rest for everyone legally hired in any kind of business. Was I wrong Zombie?" She asked, tilting her head towards the blue undead. "Graough! (No, you were most definitely right, master!)" Zombie waved his left hand while growling in exnation that only the red-haired girl could understand. "You all heard that? I''m not wrong." Cranberry smiled mockingly looking at all the people taken aback so much as if they saw a bloodthirsty monster sing and dance. "But then, if you can''t ept that obvious right, then maybe you are just something only looking like a human, a disguised monster perhaps...?" Cranberry''s voice became cold again and despite it not being loud at all, everyone heard her clearly due to the silence that has befallen the entire room. "And if that''s the case... Miss receptionist, correct me if I''m wrong here, but as the pledge of the adventurers goes: ''it''s a duty of an adventurer to protect every member of any of the intelligent races from the beasts and monsters of the world... correct?" The corners of her lips turned up in a smug smile and her body began to glow. "C-correct, word by word, youngdy...!" The little gnome receptionist confirmed from behind the counter. "Ha ha! You all heard that?" Cranberryughed in her own nasty way and looked around making eye contact with every single person there, "So...? How will it be? Are you two humans, or monsters?" Cranberry finally looked back at the impatient adventurers and asked provocatively. "...! damn it! Fine! It''s not like waiting a few more minutes will change anything! She can go on her break, okay?!" The first one backed down instantly and stepped away. "...I''m just waiting to submit the results of my gathering mission..." The other hot-headed adventurer retreated while showing off the small bag that he had hung over his shoulder. "Ha! You can use your brains, let''s say that you are humans. For now." The red-haired girl mocked them with a smirk, and then she turned back. "Miss receptionist, have a nice break." Cranberry deactivated her skills and nodded to the gnome girl while making a friendly smile. "...! Th-thank you so much, youngdy Pride...!" The little receptionist bowed one more time, disappearingpletely behind the counter, and hurriedly trotted away, towards the door in the back. "Graough? (Master, is this a carrot and a stick approach again?)" Zombie gently tugged on Cranberry''s clothes and curiously growled into her ear. "...!" Cranberry flinched and nced at him with a blush, but neither confirmed nor denied anything. Instead, she gestured at him to follow her and walked towards the big noticeboard full of various notes containing the information about different avable quests free for the taking for the adventurers. "Graough? (Umm... We aren''t registered yet, right?) Graough? (Can we really just start picking out quests like that?)" The blue undead asked, tilting his head in confusion. "True. But who is going to stop us? The grateful receptionists?" Cranberry snorted and waved her hand dismissively. "...?" Hearing that Zombie curiously looked over his shoulder and noticed that two more receptionist have left their spots to get their due break without being bothered by the adventurers who kept nervously ncing at the red-haired girl. "Graough! (So it was the carrot and the stick again!)" Zombie growled impressed. "Haa... no, not really. Just some basic human empathy." Cranberry sighed and shook her head. "Graough... (Oh, I see, humans areplex, huh...)" Zombie nodded as if he learned some profound knowledge, while it was something that he should know since he was human before. But it seemed that he had simply forgotten about that small detail. Cranberry nced at him with worried eyes and bit her lips. Still, it wasn''t really the time for discussing the humanity of someone who was no longer a human, so she got back to the noticeboard. "Zombie, help me here, check for the monster killing quests - would be perfect if they didn''t require to be a specific rank to ept them, were not urgent, and preferably mentioned that they can be done over and over again." She instructed while already holding on to two or three notes with quests that met her criteria. "Graough! (Master, this one says that they are willing to buy the pelts of the frenzy wolves!) Graough! (Their poption should have increased enough for us to made a nice profit!)" Zombie growled happily showing off the note. "Wolves you say... well, I would rather much prefer something a bit more exotic, but considering the pay, it is a great mission to chose for our first." Cranberry smiled and praised her servant generously. "And with the money, we''ll be able to get better equipment... we are both long overdue for some strengthening essories." Cranberry dered while wrapping her arms around Zombie''s left arm and started pulling him towards the exit. "Graough?! (Ah! Is it shopping time?!)" Zombie''s eyes lighted up - not with skill but rather from the excitement. Chapter 102: The journey starts (1)

Chapter 102: The journey starts (1)

Cranberry finished her breakfast while Zombie was observing her with a slight smile. Lord ckberry was also with them in the dining room feeling even more like an outsider than ever before. Things could only get more awkward for him if his daughter requested her corpse puppet to feed her. ¡­or use him as something called a cooling chair where the corpse puppet would sit on a chair and she would sit on hisp¡­ Which happened more than once already, but not this time. But that was probably due to the chill morning rather than the red-haired girl taking her father''s feelings under consideration. Anyway, lord ckberry was also observing his daughter. The little girl that he once knew was no more, instead, the person who sat in front of him was a powerful yer character with a unique ss of Master of the eternal servant and even a subss of a berserker. And she was quickly catching up to lord ckberry''s level even though the bespectacled man was using all of the free time he could muster to train himself. "Haa¡­" Lord ckberry sighed and looked down. He thought that to keep his face as a father he would have to put much more effort than ever before or his own daughter will overtake him before he notices. *cling* "¡­?" Hearing a loud sound, lord ckberry raised his head and saw that his daughter was putting down the cutlery onto her empty te. Her undead puppet stood up and pulled back the girl''s chair. "Father. We''re going. Watch your health and don''t overwork yourself." Cranberry said with a soft smile. "You too." Lord ckberry returned the simple farewell and saw the two to the door. The Dandelions were already waiting for the master-servant pair outside in a simple carriage. The thing was - they weren''t the only ones ready to go. Beside them stood the prince, Roan Greed, sporting a full te armor and an enormous two-handed sword that had to be hung across his back to not get dragged along the ground. "Lady Pride." The prince removed the helmet, showing his golden locks, and bowed tactfully towards the approaching girl. "...haa... hey, Roan, I would be grateful if you tried to be less obvious about the fact that the royal family has spies in my household. That would at least allow me to act surprised or weing instead of annoying, you know?" Cranberry sighed and shook her head with disappointment. "Eh? Huh? Wh-what are you talking about, mydy?" The prince''s face showed puzzlement that oozed innocence, but only Zombie would believe that staged shock. "I have only told you that we should meet on this day. I didn''t specify the time, I didn''t specify the meeting spot, you didn''t even ask for any details but here you are - not a moment toote nor too early. Quite lucky... Or I would have said that if it was anyone else other than you. Why? Well, Because you''ve already told us yourself that your LUC is 15. The chances of you coincidentally getting this lucky are almost zero." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and exined in a single breath. "Graough! (Wait a minute! That''s right!) Graough! (There''s no way that this is a coincidence!)" Zombie joined in, realizing that he had put too much faith in the blond prince, and got angry. "...I¡­ Don''t know what you are talking about, mydy..." Roan''s eyes darted to the left as he was feinting being clueless. Honestly, he could be more obvious only if he started twiddling his thumbs and whistling. "Mydy, I have no idea what are you talking about, I''m sure that it was my love for you that helped me get here on time!" "Pfft...!" Roan put his all into a heartful speech but it didn''t rouse the reaction he had in mind unless what he had in mind was to make the three out of four Dandelions on the carriage start snickering while ncing at him in disbelief. "...don''t be like that, the young prince is trying to impress his fianc¨¦...!" The kindhearted Uresha nudged herpanions, scolding them in a hushed voice but that caused them to start giggling even more obviously. And that, in turn, caused even Cranberry to chuckle. "Oh, by the way, my father is thinking about getting new staff, so if you have some rmendations, I''ll be d to forward them to him. Of course, we are looking for only the best." She said teasingly. "You can help out your fianc¨¦, right?" She tilted her head and smiled innocently. "Of course! I''ll contact my mother right away, we will find the best of the best for you!" Roan, who was getting visibly embarrassing because of all theughing, caught on to the first avable topic-changing lifeline. Even so, his reaction seemed to be a bit over the top, it made Zombie nod with satisfaction, the Dandelions wereughing their heads off, but, as for Cranberry, she frowned finding it somehow suspicious. Talking with the blond prince was going on too smoothly¡­ "Anyway, Roan, I see that you are prepared for a rough time, that''s the spirit." The red-haired girl came over to the prince and gently tapped his chestte. The Dandelions all stoppedughing and peered over to check if she made a dent in it, but of course she didn''t. There was no reason to be that mean to the agreeable prince, right~? "Hey, aren''t you quite tall? Ha! And to think that you were shorter than me when we were little..." Cranberry went ahead and evenpared their heights using her hand - the difference was only half an inch or so, but Roan was indeed taller. ...and the prince''s face becamepletely red, almost as blood-red as Cranberry''s hair, as he waspletely unprepared for such familiaritying from the girl that literally threatened him once or twice before. "Before we go... say, have you got apprised too the other day? If so, show me the results." Cranberry suddenly requested, reaching her hand forward as if she expected that it was totally normal for everyone to carry a note from the appraiser everywhere they go. "Of course, here." ...and apparently, it was the norm, since the prince pulled it out from the small leather pouch attached to his waist and put it on Cranberry''s palm. "I see... haa..." The red-haired girl sighed and shook her head. Chapter 103: The journey starts (2)

Chapter 103: The journey starts (2)

"Say, is there some sort of secret reason why people don''t try to collect as many titles as possible? Especially you, Roan, shouldn''t a future king be as strong as possible?" Cranberry said, not returning the note but hiding it in her own bag instead. "Th-that''s... I have no excuse for that one, I''ve been spending a lot of time learning about politics and had almost none to properly train..." The prince seemed to dete disheartened. "Even though my mother is so strong herself, she decided that I should focus on the theoretics instead of strengthening my stats and skills." He confessed making a bitter face. "Oh well, chin up mommy''s boy, as a Greed you should be more greedy for strength." Cranberry giggled and discreetly waved at Zombie toe over. "Graough? (Huh...? What am I supposed to do?)" Zombie groaned confused but was already by the prince and his master anyway. "You''ve heard that?" Cranberry perked up, put her arm around Roan''s shoulders, and pointed at the blue undead. "My Zombie just offered that he will help you train." She dered proudly. "He did?" "Graough?! (I did?!)" Understandably, Zombie got even more confused than the prince. "That''s right." The girl nodded with an overly serious expression. "Say, Roan, your heavy greatsword proficiency skill is a bitcking, and I saw that you never learned the rooted skill, which should be the norm for any heavy weapon user... how about you start training at once? While the rest of us will be riding inside the carriage, I will lend you my Zombie as a training dummy, so why won''t you hit him a bit while on top of the moving carriage? That method will surely speed up the skill acquisition process." She smirked smugly, ncing up at the face of the bewildered blond prince. "The moving...?" Roan''s eyes darted towards the roof of the carriage that didn''t look particrly well suited for the training purposes. "Will it even support our weight?" He asked but even before he finished asking, Zombie already jumped on top of the carriage and beckoned him. "Graough. (Get on, weakling prince.) Graough. (Cranberry always knows what''s best for training.)" He growled sounding rather annoyed. "?!" Cranberry raised her brows but instead of saying anything at that sudden informal way of addressing her by Zombie, she just got in the carriage and closed the door. Even without someone tranting Zombie''s groans for him, the blond prince sighed and joined the blue undead on the unstable training ground. "Youngdy, are you sure it''s okay? If they''ll fuck up the roof it will be a fucking disaster when it''ll start raining." Lairs, the elven mage, said worried, looking with distress at the indentation in the roof above their heads. "Not to fucking mention that my defense isn''t high enough to protect me from a fucking lump of metal crashing down on my fucking head..." Sheined trying to move as far away as she could from the dangerously looking spots. It was worth mentioning that Lairs''s behavior towards Cranberry changedpletely. Even though the elf was still swearing just as always, she seemed to warm up to the red-haired girl by a lotpared to her previous borderline aggression, and none of her curses were directed directly at Cranberry either. "Rx, even if something will happen, my Zombie will deal with it. He''s really protective towards me." Cranberry straight up boasted, leaning back in the seat and grinning smugly. "And since if the armored prince falling through the roof is also something that can easily exceed my DEF, he won''t let that happen. Ever." She giggled and pulled up her shirt, showing off the scars left by a werewolf''s teeth. "He simply won''t allow a repeat of this. He''s so cute~!" The red-haired girl was gushing over her eternal servant without even a moment of hesitation, while Lairs froze up momentarily, staring dumbfounded at the muscr stomach in front of her. "Though he might kill the prince in the process¡­ " the red-haired girl suddenly furrowed her brows. "HE CAN FUCKING WHAT?!" "Youngdy, let''s call them both down, alright?" Both Lairs and Rotte - the only other Dandelion inside the carriage, since Uresha and Shanks were steering it - jumped up in panic. "Rx, I told him to be careful, so it should be fine, I trust him." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively and dered. "Oh, and that reminds me." She gasped and straightened her back while pulling her shirt down. "Do you still try to hook up with the waitresses in taverns or did you found a nice girl? And you Rotte, any luck with the guys?" She asked curiously, which caused both Lairs and Rotte to have a coughing fit. "Wa-wait...! How do you even know that I like girls...?!" Lairs backed off embarrassed while Rotte started fidgeting nervously on his seat. "..." Cranberry closed her mouth and looked away awkwardly. For a moment there, she forgot that everyone else''s memories got changed by the system and in this version of the world the Dandelions never escorted her and Zombie to the Durian''s mansion... ...so there literally was no reasonable exnation for where Cranberry knew about these little details of the Dandelions'' lives. All the time Cranberry saw Lairs''s failed attempts at wooing the barmaiden and waitresses simply didn''t happen in this world. Not to mention Rotte, who was literally too shy to boldly attempt to flirt in public as Lairs did, and mentioned his tastes only once and not even directly to Cranberry. "I''ve heard someone in the guild joking about it while I registered. You are quite famous." Cranberry forged the most probable excuse on the spot and shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Oh, and they talk about Rotte too..." She added, trying to shift the attention from herself. "Those bbermouths..." "Fuckers, and I thought that after the end of the fucking lull, they would stop fucking gossiping about people''s private matters because they will be too busy with missions!" The two adventurers growled angrily and frowned. "Sorry, I shouldn''t have asked." Cranberry actually apologized, though she didn''t even try to bow her head. "No, no, it''s okay, youngdy. It''s just that having some fuckers talk behind your back all the fucking time is really fucking annoying." Lairs scowled and started tapping her fingers on her leg. "Oh, and as for the fucking answer. No. I didn''t found anyone... fuck me... If I had the fucking time to properly meet more people, I''m sure there would be someone fucking interested, but fucking funnily enough being an adventurer doesn''t leave much fucking time for private adventures." Lairsined and Rotte let out a long sigh and nodded in agreement. "Well then. Don''t I have a nice book for you two...!" Cranberry''s eyes lighted up as she reached towards her bag. Chapter 104: Training the prince (1)

Chapter 104: Training the prince (1)

*ng* *ng* "Graough. (Your moves are really clumsy, you know?)" *ng* Zombie growled while pping away the giant de as if it was an annoying fly. The carriage wasn''t moving too fast and the shaking was within the tolerable margin but that was only if one wasn''t waving an oversized sword while struggling to keep their bnce like Roan was. "Hgraah!" The prince roared and swiped at Zombie''s legs with an overdrawn swing. *swish* But the blue undead simply jumped over it andnded back on the roof as if nothing happened. *ng* Though he did ended up lightly kicking the sword which threw off Roan''s bnce and left the prince desperately swinging one arm trying his best not to fall off. It was already the second day of their travels and Roan did gain the rooted skill so he was able to stay on top of the carriage, but when it came to actually attack, his swings were just as obvious and telegraphed as the tutorial boss''s in a video game. *ng* "Ughh¡­!" "Graough? (How about you''ll try to find your center of gravity instead of just swinging blindly?) Graough... (Seriously, it''s like you expect your skill level to raise without improving your ability...)" Zombie allowed the de to hit his head and bounce off, which has caused numbness to spread through the prince''s arms. "I don''t understand what you''re trying to say!" Roan clicked his tongue and attacked again. *ng* The result was the same as before. "Graough? (That''s not really my problem, is it?)" Zombie grunted and smacked the sword a bit harder than he intended to, and causing the prince to spin around like a top, almost breaking his waist. "Ghuah! B-be more careful, will you?! It''s supposed to be just a training session!" Roanined massaging the swelling wrist that almost got snapped off. "Graough. (Yeah, yeah, whatever.)" Zombie waved his hand dismissively and made a sour expression. The difference in his behavior when he was with Cranberry and when he was separated from her, was astounding. It was as if all his positive energy and happinesspletely disappeared leaving only an annoyed undead ring coldly at the young prince. *ng* "Graough. (You are going to hurt yourself if you will continue to make such wide swings.) Graough (You are lucky that waving that lump of metal can double as strength training.) Graough. (Because I can''t see any other benefit.)" Zombie growled. *ng* "Grough? (Oh, was that another attack?) Graough. (It took you so long that I almost fell asleep.) Graough. (And I can''t fall asleep because I''m an undead.)" Zombie fake yawning and flicked the de and caused the prince to almost lose his bnce again. *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* "Graough¡­ (Seriously, that''s sad¡­) Graough, graough. (At this rate, you''re going to get the thrash skill instead of something that has anything to do with your weapon.) A series of mindless attacks more suited for blunt weapon users like Cranberry fell on Zombie''s head and shoulders but we''re deflected effortlessly with just a single swipe of a hand. Funnily enough, Zombie wasn''t defecting those attacks because they could actually harm him but rather because he didn''t want his new clothes to get ruined. "Graough, graough...! (Come on! Figure out how to properly fight with your weapon so I can go back to my Cranberry''s side...!)" He growled, getting actually annoyed. "¡­my Cranberry¡­?!" Obviously, neither of them noticed that Cranberry - who was inside the carriage, after all - flinched and whispered in disbelief as her face got dyedpletely red, while the light of the skill faded from her ears. The prince was too busy catching his breath to react to the angry growls, so Zombie rolled his eyes and pointed at the oversized weapon. "Graough. (That weapon.) Graough? (Why do you even use it?) Graough? (Or are you seriously using it for strength training?)" He growled very slowly while tilting his head trying to convey the question the best he could. "¡­" But seeing apleteck of understanding from Roan, the blue undead ended up imitating the blonde prince swinging the heavy two-handed sword and then he opened his arms and shrugged his shoulders with a questioning expression. "...?" Roan shook his head in confusion and nced at his sword. "What, are you asking me why I chose this weapon instead of something more useful?" He raised his brow and asked. "Graough! (Yes, exactly!) Graough? (Why would you choose something that you can''t properly use?) Graough? (Are you a masochist?)" Zombie pped his hands and nodded rather condescendingly, but thankfully the prince didn''t seem to mind that an undead puppet is making fun of him. Or maybe he was so tired already that he weed a chance to catch a breath - after all, he was swinging that useless lump of metal for hours without a break. "That''s because of my inborn affinity. The giantyer. It boosts my ATK against any opponents that are at least twice my size, the bigger the more it increases." He boasted, cing a hand on his chest in a disy of pride. "...though there are hardly any enemiesrge enough that they would require me to use this heavy greatsword..." Unexpectedly, Roan lost his gusto and rubbed the back of his head with an awkward expression. "To tell the truth, it''s all because of a silly dream of mine, you know?" Roan smirked and exined, supporting himself on the sword. " You know the old legends, right? About heroes of the past conquering the wilderness and fighting with dragons, angels, true demons, titans, and even gods themselves! Well, my dream is to be like one of those heroes. Or more specifically, I want to be like the seven great elders of the past, and face against God-level monsters just like they did." He dered while putting his armored fist to his chest. " Or at least get to the Sloth''s territory, like my grandfather, and try fighting against something like a titan-ss monster. But don''t tell that to your master, alright?" He let out an embarrassedugh and looked away from the motionless undead. "Graough. (I see.) Graough? (Your dream doesn''t sound half bad, you know?)" But funnily enough, that childish dream was something that slightly warmed Zombie towards the prince, and the blue undead waved his hand dismissively while grunting. Chapter 105: Training the prince (2)

Chapter 105: Training the prince (2)

"Graouh. (Just so you know, my Cranberry is set on taking over the world using the system.) Graough! (Your dream isn''t even in the same realm!) Graough. (But you get a passing grade for trying.)" The eternal servantughed with his head up high. "Graough. (Alright, the chat over, try to hit me again.) Graough...? (Maybe try thrusting...?)" But almost instantly he stopped and pushed his hand forward to demonstrate the suggestion. "Oh? Are we actually going to do some real training?" Roan''s eyes lighted up. "Graough? (Huh? I''m not acquainted with any weapon other than the high-heels, though?) Zombie only tilted his head in utter confusion. The blue undead was lent to the prince as a training dummy, not a tutor. What was he supposed to teach the prince? How to get hit or how to use a strong kick to outspeed even the highest level charge and match blink? Or maybe cut monsters and people in two using just the high-hills? That would require both overlevel skill and the leg power affinity, which the prince possessed neither, at least for now. "Graough! (Just hit me!)" "Alright!" The annoyed Zombie hit his exposed stomach and Roan correctly read it as a signal and thrust the massive weapon at the eternal servant. *ng* The metal let out a pitiful sound when it met with the blue skin and instead of piecing through, or even scratching it, it bent and cracked. "Gah!" Not to mention that the prince put enough force into the thrust that he ended up pushing himself out of the carriage''s roof and rolled on the road while his armor nked pitifully. *WHAM* "..." "Whoa! Hold up! The prince had fallen again!" Zombie looked after him and shrugged his shoulders as if nothing happened, but the noise caused by the Roan''s fall rmed Shanks and Uresha who promptly stopped the carriage. "What the actual fuck? Again?" Lairs popped out of the carriage and approached the blond prince. "Holy shit, he got knocked the fuck out! Must have fallen on his head in a pretty shitty way. How fucking unlucky..." She reported after carefully checking up on the patient. "Haa... can you heal him?" Cranberry leaned out from the inside without actually getting out and asked in an annoyed voice. "Yes, but also no... fuck...? the bruises and the bleeding are fucking easy, but he surely got a concussion. My healing spells'' levels are too fucking low to be able to deal with that in an instant." Lairs shrugged her shoulders while Uresha picked the unconscious prince up and carried him to the carriage. "If I was a real fucking healer it would be no problem, but I''ve only recently picked up the white magic... fuck, why didn''t we hire a healer, again?" Lairs started exining herself, even though no one had any problem with her skill levels and got angry all by herself in the middle of the said exnation. "Laii, rx. We''ll just call it a day and try to find an inn. How does that sound to you, youngdy?" Rotte said to Lairs and pitched up the idea to Cranberry while helping Ureshay down the prince on the seats. "Fine by me, we are ahead of the schedule anyway." Cranberry agreed casually. "...! Well... fuck... sure, why not?" For a second time it looked like Lairs was going to continue arguing, but then she frowned, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and ended up nodding. It seemed that the Dandelions have found a new way to calm Lairs down. Now, whenever Rotte called her Laii, the elven mage''s would mellow out and her mood would instantly improve by a few magnitudes making her way more agreeable. "Zombie, get down here now." Cranberry waved her hand through the door to get Zombie''s attention. "Hey! Youngdy, with your puppet in here, it will get really fucking cramped in here. Maybe he should stay up there?" Lairs sighed squeezing herself between the unconscious prince and the wall. Instead of answering Cranberry stood up from her seat as when Zombie showed up, she pointed him at her old spot. As soon as he sat down, she promptly sat in hisp and leaned back on his chest with a satisfied expression. "Graough? (Do you need to cool down, master?)" Zombie groaned tilting his head with a happy, puppy-like smile. "Yeah... traveling in this heat is the worst..." Cranberry answered him with a tired voice. As she did, Zombie put his right arm on her stomach and his left hand on her forehead. "...haa..." Cranberry melted from satisfaction and closed her eyes. Rotte and Lairs looked at each other but held back thements. Enough said that such familiarity with one''s familiar was very umon... "Lairs, say, we''re around the Envys'' territory, will you be okay?" Cranberry asked lightheartedly without opening her eyes. "...!" But the effect her words had on the elf was rather unexpected. Lairs flinched and became pale as a sheet. She clenched her fists on her knees and straightened her back while staring at Cranberry with a mixture of fear and anger. "Why the fuck...? What do you mean, youngdy...?" She asked doing her best not to sound shaken. "Ha? Oh, because there''s all those gossips and rumors about Envys'' kidnapping elves to steal their good looks. Nothing was confirmed, and every elf straight up denied Envys'' involvement when it came to family members going missing, so it''s just a superstition, but I''ve heard that elves are very much against Envys'' and vice-versa." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders while observing Lairs from under the barely open eyelids. "...fucking rumors...?" Lairs''s body shook from the barely contained anger. For a second it seemed like she wanted to say something, but it seemed like her body gave up on her and just leaned back in her seat and put her legs up on Rotte''s knees. "Yeah, we elves just can''t stand those fuckers, they are making life difficult for us whenever they can..." Lairs sighed andined. Though honestly, that line sounded as if she was forced to say it and not like something honest. "Any-fucking-way, it''s not like we''re going to meet any of those Envy fuckers in some random inn in the outskirts of their territory, right?" She let out an awkwardugh, trying to lighten up. "Of course not, Laii, we would have to be as unlucky as this guy." Rotte nodded, following up on the mediocre joke and pointing at the knocked-out prince. Chapter 106: In the inn

Chapter 106: In the inn

"Ah! Lord Envy! It''s such an honor to be able to have you show up at my inn!" A robust dwarf with a long jet ck beard was bowing deep towards a stunning man standing at the front of a small group of incredibly beautiful people dressed up in the most expensive clothes. "We''re fucking cursed!" Lairs gritted her teeth while pulling her hood as far over her face as she could and sunk in her seat. The Dandelions and the Master-Servant pair were seated by the table around the center of the inn, at a perfectly visible spot. "The one in front is from the main branch, but he isn''t direct descendants of the head. The rest is just some branch family no names." Cranberrymented disinterested while chowing down on a delicious meal like there was no tomorrow. "Youngdy, by any chance do you remember the faces of every member of the main families...?" Shanks asked curiously while making sure that Uresha and Rotte are shielding Lairs from being seen by the newly arrived Envys. "More or less." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders. Even if she wanted to say that she did know every face and name by heart but the system reset and everyone suddenly be over three years older, therefore, changing at least a bit making it difficult to be a hundred percent sure, but that would be pointless. After all, everyone else had vivid memories of the missing years, and apparently, only Cranberry, Zombie, and the monsters of the world knew that something was amiss. "...you think we can get the fuck out of here? Please...?" The usual confidence and boldness of Lairs were nowhere to be seen, the elven mage was visibly scared. It wasn''t a reaction that Cranberry expected and it made her put down the cutlery. "...say... before, you had a really strong reaction when Envys were mentioned... are the rumors actually...?" "...! fuck... I-it''s nothing like that...!" The red-haired girl leaned in tilting her head curiously but that caused Lairs to almost burst into tears. Whatever happened between Lairs, or maybe even all elves, and the Envy family, must have been gravely serious to cause such a reaction. "Please, follow me. I''ll make sure that you''ll get the best seats!" The dwarven innkeeper hurriedly led the guests to the table that happened to be right next to the Dandelions. "...!" With the escape route cut of Lairs looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. She was pulling her hood down so much that only trembling chin was visible and she basically slipped under the table while shaking uncontrobly. While Cranberry was looking at her with utter confusion the elf''spanions seemed very calm about it. Or at least they were trying to act that way. All three of them were doing their best so that Lairs was out of sight of the people from the Envy family seated next to them. It looked like it wasn''t their first time doing something like that. Meanwhile, Zombie was looking at them all with a confused expression. "Graough, groaugh... (Weird... I remember her saying that she dislikes Envys more than she dislikes us, but this is way over the top...)" He groaned while pouring more juice into Cranberry''s almost empty mug. "...oh...? Ha!" The red-haired girl nced at him, let out a small gasp, and smirked. "Youngdy... we''ll wait in the carriage after all." Shanks said with a sour expression and was rubbing his hands together nervously. "Sure, I don''t min... ah...!" Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and nodded benevolently but as soon as she did, she looked to the sides and her eyes locked with one of the beautiful people from the Envys group. "Well, I''ll be damned! Isn''t that youngdy Cranberry?!" A ck-haired man with perfect silkyplexion and big almond-shaped gray eyes called out loudly with so much happiness that one might have missed the slight mockery that slipped in by the end. It seemed that the man found it funny that he had to call Cranberry a youngdy. And of course, his loud voice, which didn''t really match the delicate face, brought the attention of everyone present right at the Dandelions table, which inadvertently foiled the ongoing Lairs extraction scheme. Cranberry was at the crossroad. Should she engage in a conversation with the beautiful bunch the trouble may arise when Lairs will be noticed. Still not doing anything could very much bring just the exact same result too... "Youngdy Cranberry Pride in person! My, oh my! Youngdy, you''ve been stirring some troubles left and right recently? Why? Is it because your engagement with prince Roan is in jeopardy?" Another one from their group, this time a womanughed, and funnily enough her voice also didn''t quite match the face. "Now now, don''t be rude, everyone. Not everyone can be beautiful enough to be worthy of the prince..." This time even the leader of the group also spoke up obviously poking fun at Cranberry''s face that didn''t really match their standards. "..." Cranberry barely held back the need to roll her eyes. Roan''s presence would cut all of it short, but he was still lying unconscious in a carriage. Those childish insults sounded pretty cute if shepared them to what her own mother had told her before. Honestly, sitting there taking it with her head held high and looking at the Envys with pity was probably the best choice. "Oh? Youngdy? Why aren''t you returning our greetings? Did we mention touched a sore spot? I''m terribly, terribly so-!" *crunch* When the leader of the Envys'' group was in the middle of another mockery, Zombie stood up from his seat without a single groan, walked over to the man, and crushed his groins with a single well-aimed kick. "!!!" The whole tavern froze in silence. Even Cranberry was staring at her eternal servant in utter confusion. "...aaaaaahhhhh..." Meanwhile, the man who got kicked, slowly fell to his knees while making a quiet kettle-like noise, unable to even raise his voice to scream in pain. Zombie hadn''t used a skill neither did he used his full strength. But still, even though he wasn''t a chef, he made the perfect scrambled eggs. In the absolute silence that has befallen the inn, Zombie took out a bunch of small neatly written cards. "Graough. (I was hoping those woulde in handy someday.)" He growled happily while shuffling through them, and handed one to the mortified man beside the fallen one, all with a professional smile. If you disrespect my master again, I will kill you all Said the card. Chapter 107: Its Claymore!

Chapter 107: It''s ymore!

ymore Lust, the head of the Lust family and the avatar of Lust, sat on their bed andbed their long brown hair with their fingers. They looked back at the empty bed and their expression turned sour. ymore really hated when their partners left the bed without waking them up. It was making them feel lonely. "...did cuddles ever killed anyone...?" They sighed and stood up letting the thin nket fell from their naked body. ymore stood up in front of therge mirror and looked at themselves. They pushed up their small perky breasts and made a seductive face. They struck a confident pose while letting their awoken manhood show off in glory. "..." ymore tilted their head and squinted their eyes while frowning. "...being a man feels right today..." He nodded and went to the dresser to pick up the bandages for concealing his breasts. There was always a lot to do in the morning. Of course, ymore could just not chose between the man or a woman, and go around as themselves, but he had a feeling that it wasn''t right that day. "...?" Suddenly he flinched in the middle of putting on his underwear. "When was thest time I felt like being a girl...? It''s been a while..." He said to himself concerned. "Have I been neglecting mydy parts? That won''t do..." He nced at his womanhood, makeing a mental note to include at least one man as his nighttimepanion next time, and finished dressing up. ... ymore Lust. As soon as he was born, the title of the avatar of Lust was bound to be his. His body was a special one. In a different world, a body like his would be considered a hermaphrodite or intersex, but in this one, it was known as the Love-blessed body and it came in tandem with an inborn skill known as Love Switch. The thing was that the Love in the Love-blessed body wasn''t the feeling of affection at all. It was a name. A name of one of the ancient beasts that the progenitors of seven main families subdued. Chaos God, Love. As the legend went, every progenitor dealt with the ancient beast their own way. First of the Prides conquered and subdued her beast. First of the Lusts seduced theirs... ...and the child that was born was the first one with the Love-blessed body. As for the other progenitors... That''s a story for another day. As for the Love Switch... When the first child with the unique body grew up, both their parents witnessed the terrifying strength of their child''s seduction skills. There was nothing, alive nor dead, not even the inanimate objects, that could resist them. Love used their power over the system and created the passive skill that would lock that strength to protect their child from the world and the whole world from the child. And now, hundreds of yearster, the third person with a Love-blessed body appeared and was walking the earth, but without the Love''s interferences into the system, some of the properties of the Love Switch got rewritten... ymore walked down the hallway, looking through the windows at the horizon. How long has it been since he went outside? Thest time was probably his visit in Cranberry''s home. Though, then it was her visit to Cranberry''s home to be precise. Back then, he could at least argue with his parents that there''s nothing he has to fear outside, but afterdy Raspberry Pride was murdered by the werewolves, that was no longer feasible. He was the precious treasure of the Lust family. Clear evidence that the stories of old weren''t just legends but the actual truth. For the kingdom''s lore-keepers, there was nothing more important than that. Funnily enough, ymore actually wasn''t in danger. Why? Well... His Love Switch was a bit faulty. But not in a bad way. Not for him at least. Despite Love Switch being a seal that would unlock only in grave danger, as long as ymore was smiling, his Love Switch would leak the power out constantly. ...and it could fail and open up instantly as soon as ymore got startled by even the smallest thing. It was something that system by itself couldn''t patch out on its own... After eating breakfast alone, ymore was reading through the reports delivered to him by the house steward. "....oh...?" One of them picked his attention. "Cranberry is wreaking some serious havoc..." He smirked and leaned back in his seat. "Could it be that she remembers how things were before the reset...?" ymore''s eyes shone with interest and joy. There was no other usible exnation that the avatar of lust could think of at the time. In the current, updated, version of the world that red-haired girl was supposed to be a spoiled princess-like character with nothing but love and romance on her mind. But the actual Cranberry was feeling like a bulldozer toppling anything in her path. She killed the butler in her house, who was a spy of the Envys, but that wasn''t that important. Then she and her undead puppet made a show at the capital and killed off the rising stars of the adventurer world that had the support of the Greed family... And now she even started traveling thend as an adventurer herself! Together with her puppet she created a tall two-person party called Superbia and was enjoying freedom like never before. The two of them have alreadypleted multiple missions and were climbing the ranks at rapid speed. Although the part where the red-haired girl allowed prince Roan to hang out with her was kind of suspicious... "If she remembers everything then why didn''t she wrote to me, aren''t we friends?!" ymore called out angrily and threw the report on the desk. He crossed his arms and pouted. "Ah, wait... She doesn''t know that the members of the Lust family have some monster blood mixed in, and the system couldn''tpletely change our memories..." ymore realized and rxed a bit. "Make''s sense." Then he picked back the report and continued to read it. "Huh...? Zombie did WHAT?!" He gasped in shock and grabbed the report with both hands, reading it through carefully. "Envys again... Maybe there is some sort of connection there... what if the system is pushing Cranberry towards them...?" ymore rubbed his knees together. "This is exciting...! I should look into it more! Ah! What if the first part of the global event has something to do with the Envys?! I need to look into this!" Heughed happily like a child that found a new toy and stood up in a hurry. Chapter 108: An ambush

Chapter 108: An ambush

"Yeah, after that fucking show, we have no fucking chance of getting a nice cheap amodation ever again. Fuck..." Lairs sighed dispirited, looking through the window at the changing view. "Graough. (Bold words for someone who was crying in panic half of the time in that inn.)" "Ha ha! Ha ha!" Zombie grumbled under his breath and made Cranberry burst intoughter. "Haa... sorry for that." Cranberry raised her hand and apologized. "It''s just that Zombiepletely missed that Lairs is remorseful." She exined to the rest of the group in the carriage, including the now conscious prince Roan, and leanedfortably on the blue undead''s shoulder. "I really did miss a lot, huh..." Roan sighed, rubbing the bump on his head with a pitiful expression. "Seriously, your bad luck is ridiculous, I half expect you to spontaneouslybust at any given moment! What was your DEF and MDF defense again?" Cranberry''s face turned serious, or at least as serious as she could be while smirking mockingly. "Around 400 mark." "Isn''t that kind of low?" "I-it''s normal for a level 35 knight. No! It''s really good for a level 35 knight! What are you making me say?!" Roan and Cranberry continued to bicker like that for a while. Truth to be told, Roan''s growth speed was on the rather good side. There were people around his age who were stronger and/or higher level than him, but the ones that were weaker were definitely much greater in number. "I know, I''m level 62 and my physical defense barely passed the 300 threshold." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively. "Your LUC, on the other hand..." She smirked again. "Your highness, I know that the LUC stat has a cap different for everyone, but isn''t 15... you know...?" Rotte joined in on the conversation and asked carefully, gauging the prince''s reaction "It''s... one of the downsides of being a Gree..." *WHAM!* The carriage they were traveling in got hit by a sneak attack and got hurled off of the road into the fields before turning into scrap. The first one to stand up was Uresha who was outside of the carriage holding the reins. She shielded up, nced at her husband, who was getting up while holding on to his bleeding hand with a fierce expression, and then at the dead domesticated monsters that were pulling the carriage up until then. "We... might be in trouble..." She muttered carefully scanning the surrounding area. "...ugh... shit, a long-distance attack like that... Were we attacked by someone from the Sloth family...?" Shanks groaned, doing his best not to stick out from behind his wife''s towering figure. The rest of the group started getting up from the destroyed carriage pushing off the broken wood and metal. "Urgh... see? 400 in defensive stats isn''t so bad after... all...?" The prince shook off the dirt and splinters and nced at his fiance... ...who was securely locked in an intimate protective embrace of her undead servant. Her furious undead servant. Zombie''s eyes were glowing as he was carefully scanning the area in search of the hostile culprit. "Haa... attacking the carriage with the royal prince inside? What a bunch of idiots..." Cranberry - smushed against the cold, rock solid body of the blue undead - sighed while doing her best to both be vignt and enjoying the moment to the fullest. "...!" The prince''s eyes bulged out as his fianc¨¦ raised her arms and returned the embrace to her eternal servant with a soft smile of satisfaction. "...ah..." But then he noticed that Cranberry actually was just taking out the baseball bat that Zombie always carried on his back, and felt kind of stupid for getting jealous over the undead. Poor naive prince... "Where''s the enemy?" Cranberry tapped Zombie''s back and asked. Somehow her face was only a little bit flushed. "Graough. (Half a mile to the west.) Graough. (Four life signatures.) Graough. (One is gathering energy, must be for another attack.)" Zombie exined while pointing at the exact spot in the closest area where there were still trees and bushes amongst the seemingly endless fields. Cranberry looked that way and frowned. "That attack was ridiculously weak for someone from the Sloth family, especially from such a close distance. Haa..." She sighed and shook her head in annoyance. "Let me go, for now, we can continue cuddlingter." The red-haired girl rolled her eyes and sighed with a disappointed expression. "Graough...? (Umm, cuddle...?)" "!!!" Confused Zombie tilted his head and groaned while Cranberry twitched and hurriedly pulled away from the blue undead. "Nevermind that! Let''s catch those idiots and learn what''s going on!" Cranberry changed the subject as fast as she could and raised her weapon in preparation. "Are they about to attack again?" She asked in a deadly serious voice. "Graough...! (Ah! It looks like it... the energy got released...!)" Zombie growledpletely missing the point when Cranberry breathed out in relief. At the same time, a light shone from the spot that Zombie had pinpointed, and a beam of light shoot right at them like aser. Cranberry''s eyes, body, and the baseball bat, all shone at the same time and, with mana visibly coiling around the weapon, the red-haired girl swung her bat right at the lightning-fast projectile. "thunk* A clear sound as if a metal struck against metal resounded in the empty air as the beam of light got deflected and arched back towards the ce it originated from. The sound of the explosion and falling trees was crystal clear even from where the group was standing. "Tsk..." Cranberry clicked her tongue, her counter sent the attack back, but it missed by at least thirty feet so the attackers shouldn''t have suffered any damage. "Zombie! We''re going! Back me up!" With a furious expression, Cranberry shouted at her eternal servant while her body began glowing even more intensely than before and in the next moment, she disappeared just to appear a hundred feet away from the forest. She could already hear the panicking voices of the people hiding in there. As she activated her charge skill, something moved in the shadow of the trees and tworge werewolves rushed at her. "First attack that looks like Sloths'', now shapeshifting like Gluttonys..." Cranberry frowned and made a sour expression. "IT LOOKS LIKE MY ZOMBIE HADN''T BEAT YOU UP ENOUGH, PEOPLE OF THE ENVY FAMILY!" She roared and swung her weapon. Chapter 109: Elfnapping

Chapter 109: Elfnapping

Cranberry''s baseball bat tore through through the first werewolf as if it was just a paper-mache model. ...though all the blood and gray matter were a rather clear indication that it was a real living being. Or rather, it was a living being just a moment before. The other werewolf got hit by the gore of itsrade and instantly lost all the vicious fighting spirits that it was showing up until then. It started running with its tail between its legs, not looking back at all. Well, that was a mistake. Cranberry did move on to the other targets that started panicking, still hidden behind the trees - but the red-haired girl wasn''t alone in her offensive. Just when the runaway werewolf thought that it might be safe, something fell on its back and pierced through both of his shoulder des. "...uuuugh...!" It only managed to breathe out pitifully and died before it even hit the ground. "Graough! (Master! I got one!)" Zombie eximed happily, crouching over the werewolf that he pierced with the thin high heels of his boots. "Graough...! (Ah! It''s dead!) Graough! (Master, be careful! Those are the weak ones!)" He growled after Cranberry. "Of course they are! We''re you not listening to what I''ve just said?!" The red-haired girl shouted back and broke arge tree in half with a single swing. When the tree had fallen, two people who had been hiding behind it had nowhere else to go. Zombie was blocking their escape route from behind and Cranberry was in front of them, while the fallen tree was blocking their right side and the left side led straight onto the open fields with no cover. "So? Anything to say after attacking us?" Cranberry asked without lowering her weapon, if anything she was right about to strike at the two people in front of her. A young man and a woman, both incredibly beautiful, even with faces twisted with shock and disbelief. Both of them were a part of the group that got kicked out from the inn by Zombie for being rude to Cranberry. Literally kicked out. "Die, ugly!" The woman shouted and raised her glowing palm at Cranberry. It shone brightly and a beam of light shot out of it right at the red-haired girl''s face at the point-nk range. Unfortunately for her, it was something that Cranberry had been anticipating and was ready for. With another counter, she deflected the shot right back at the woman. Half of the woman''s body evaporated in an instant and only the steaming crystallized remains fell on the ground. "!!!" The man that was the only survivor trembled while clenching his palm. His pinky and ring fingers got burnt because he was too close to the reflected attack. "Haa... why don''t you just say what''s your problem?" Cranberry sighed and rolled her eyes. The fresh blood on her weapon dried uppletely from the interaction with the beam of light so now the red-haired girl could rest the baseball bat on her shoulder without worrying about dirtying her clothes. "I know you guys are known for acting like unreasonable assholes but isn''t attacking a carriage with THE prince, a bit much for an act of revenge? At least wait until he''s away?" She asked with a bored expression. "?!?!?!" The man''s shocked reaction and quick, panicked nces towards the wreckage told enough to figure things out. Well, it wasn''t that shocking, after all the prince was unconscious in the carriage while the Envys and the joint adventurers'' group confronted each other. But to think that they didn''t do any sort of research... Being hot-headed and so easy to hold grudges was the most known trait of the people from the Envy family, and those ones here didn''t seem like exceptions. "Copycat and power steal, those are some annoying skills mostmonly inherited in your family, it''s a shame that clear mind isn''t amongst them." Cranberry smirked and tilted her head mockingly. "Shu...!" "Graough... (I would rethink how you want to address my master...)" The beautiful man seemed like he wanted to curse out Cranberry but as soon as he opened his mouth, Zombie''s cold hand fell on his shoulder and the blue undead lowered his head, growling into the man''s ear in low voice. That made the beautiful man shiver and lower his head as if he suddenly developed an interest in his own feet. "..." Cranberry squinted her eyes and red at him. "Where''s the rest of your group? Were you four the only stupid ones enough to..." "LAI-LAI!" The answer for that question came shockingly fast, but not from the subdued man. Both Cranberry and Zombie turned back to the carriage wreck only to witness that Roan, Uresha, Shanks, and Rotte, are locked in a fight with a group of werewolves while one of the beasts was carrying away the unconscious elven mage whose head was bleeding profusely. The one who shouted the mage''s name was Rotte. His body started glowing and he started to chop his way through the monsters but in the end, got overwhelmed by the numerical advantage. "Tsk...!" Cranberry clicked her tongue and clenched her hand on the neck of the man that Zombie was holding securely. "Zombie, bring her back, kill all of those furry impostors." The red-haired girl gritted her teeth andmanded her servant while the beautiful man''s eyes were bulging out from the pressure she put on his neck. "Graough! (Yes!)" Zombie groaned and kicked the ground in the same time frame as he finished growling. The earth trembled and the blue undead disappeared. "Abducting an elf...? Seriously? You actually do that?" Cranberry''s voice was so cold that the strangled man could feel his veins getting filled with ice. Or maybe it was just how he reacted to asphyxiation. The next second a sound of explosion erupted and the tremors made everyone waver. "Zombie! I told you to bring her back! Alive! Not a corpse!" Cranberry roared angrily but when she looked at her servant, there was only him standing up in the middle of an empty field. "What the...?" She gasped in shock. She quickly looked around as if expecting that her servant kicked the werewolf together with Lairs and their bodies are still flying through the air. But there were simply no traces of the elven mage and her abductor. "Graough! (Master! They''re gone!)" Zombie growled in panic. "Graough, graough! (Right before I got to them, a third person appeared out of the thin air, grabbed them both, and then disappeared!)" "...?!" Cranberry flinched and red back at the man she was strangling. Even though his face was getting more and more blue his eyes and body was faintly glowing as if he was using a skill. "Oh no you don''t!" Cranberry roared, raised him in the air by the throat like a ragdoll, and mmed him down on the ground forcing all the air out of his lungs and making him fail to activate the skill properly. Whatever skill it was supposed to be. "What do you think you''re doing? We need to have a talk." Cranberry eyes were wide open and full of pure cold fury while Zombie killed the rest of the werewolves. Chapter 110: Captured man

Chapter 110: Captured man

There was an abandoned house on the outskirts of a small vige. Many years ago someone got murdered there and from then on everyone in the vige kept away from that ce. But it wasn''t haunted or anything. It was just a normal sturdy-built house with a nice wide basement. The Dandelions and Superbia were able to convince the vige elder with few coins to rent them that basement for a few hours. The basement and an old barrel that although wasn''t leaking was in a bad enough state to get thrown away. Uresha and Rotte filled the barrel with the water from the vige''s well and carried it back into the basement where Shanks was finishing tying up the unconscious beautiful man to the chair. Shanks looked at the barrel and then at Cranberry, circling around it with furrowed brows as if she was trying to remember something. "Youngdy, if you wanted to drown him a bit, you could have told me before I finished..." He said in a sulking voice. "Ha?" Cranberry red at him with disgust and frowned. "That''s not why you...?" Witnessing such a reaction, Shanks immediately knew that he was off with his prediction - and by a lot. "If you''re done here, why don''t you see what''s taking Roan so long, it''s only a fewmon herbs that are supposed to be endemic to this region. Move it." She chased him out and started staring back at the still water in the barrel. For the moment, Zombie had absolutely nothing to do so he was crouching in the corner drawing in the dust with his index finger. Rotte and Uresha already learned that it wasn''t too smart to interrupt Cranberry when she was acting like that, so they just awkwardly stood by the door hoping that their leader will return with the prince as fast as possible. "...was a robbery in a broad daylight! That much money for a single stack of some grass?! Why did you pay him what he demanded?! I almost had him!" The blond prince''s voice leaked in even before the door opened. "The poor guy has to eat something too, he was almost crying..." Shanks responded calmly. "That was the point! Why should I pay for something that I can be given for free? Isn''t that how things are supposed to be? It''s not my fault that he was so bad at trading!" As the prince wasining, Shanks opened the door and both of them entered. "Your highness, for someone with such low LUC stat, your barter skill is absolutely terrifying..." The rat-faced man muttered under his breath and quickly approached the red-haired girl who was ring at them with an unamused expression. "Sorry for the wait, here." He handed her a small pouch without getting into any details, judging it to be not only unnecessary but dangerous as well. "...haa... finally!" Cranberry rolled her eyes and crushed and wrung the insides of the pouch into the barrel without even checking the content first. In an instant, the whole basement was filled with a strong medicinal smell, rather specific and not very pleasant too... "Zombie,e here." "Graough? (Yes?)" Cranberry called and Zombie instantly appeared by her side. "How precise can you be with producing your venom?" She asked while causally wiping her hands in the captured man''s expensive-looking cloak. "Graough? (Very, why do you ask?)" The blue undead grumbled tilting his head curiously. "I need you to pour exactly half a teacup of your soul devouring venom in here." The red-haired girl tapped the edge of the barrel with her knuckles and looked up at her servant. "Will you be able to or should we send someone to get us an actual teacup?" "...did... did she just said ''soul devouring venom''?!" Roan gasped in shock looking between the Dandelions but no one was keen to answer. "Graough. (Sound easy enough.) Grough. (Here.)" Zombie simply shrugged his shoulders, leaned over the barrel, opened his mouth, and when his eyes shone, a stream of translucent liquid shot from his teeth right into the water. "Graough. (Done.)" Zombie said wiping his mouth. Only then did he realized that everyone except Cranberry was looking at him with abhor. Cranberry was only slightly frowning. "Graough... (Yeah, yeah, I''m gross, I know...)" Zombie rolled his eyes and grunted. "Graough? (But what now?)" He changed the subject by lightly tapping the side of the barrel. Although there was no visible change to the water once its surface settled, everyone could feel the eerie aura emanating from the liquid. "...haa... now we just..." Cranberry responded but stopped talking again. She frowned and looked at the rest of the group. "You want to back all the way to the door just in case." She said shooing them away. "...?" Uresha, Shanks, Rotte, and Roan, all looked at each other and hastily obeyed the indirectmand. "Zombie, hand." Cranberry extended her hand expectantly and her blue undead hurriedly followed up and loosened the stitches connecting his right arm together. Then, using the stiff blue hand, Cranberry scooped a bit of the concoction and with a casual swing, she sprayed it at the unconscious beautiful man''s face. The effect was instantaneous. Wherever the droplets hit, a brown steaming spot would appear and thin ck veins would show up digging through the victim''s skin. "...ah... aaahhhh... AAAAAAHHHHH!" The man started groaning in pain, then he woke up and started screaming his lungs off while his body convulsed and twitched - but was otherwise unable to move thanks to the constraints that Shanks had put on him. "Wh-what did you do to him...?" Roan asked hiding his arms behind his back to not show the goosebumps he got from fear. "Death''s ichor." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders while scooping another portion of the mixture and sshing it at the captive causing him to wriggle in pain and shout a lot more. "AAAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAAHHHHH!" "Elven recipe. They never expected that another Venomancer with soul devouring venom would appear, so they literally wrote it in their chronicles for everyone to see." Cranberry exined speaking over the tortured cries. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" "Venomancer?! Don''t tell me...?!" Roan became pale as a sheet and nced at the indifferent Zombie watching the struggling man. "Death ichor is a mixture that turns off and blocks any skills from being activated for a certain period of time. As you can see it''s also rather unpleasant for the subject too." She smirked watching the man wriggle in horrible agony. "Don''t you think that it''s too much...? Youngdy, If you just want to..." "AAAHHH! GHAH! N-NOOOOOOO!" The good-hearted Uresha wanted to speak for the tortured man but the said man started wriggling much harder when his face seemed to began melting off... "Ha. So it really is true..." Cranberry smirked watching the beautiful man morph into someonepletely different. Chapter 111: Interrupted investigation

Chapter 111: Interrupted investigation

"You... aren''t going to get away with this...!" A man tied up to the chair growled horribly while staring at Cranberry with eyes filled with murderous intent. It should be the same beautiful man that they already saw amongst the group of the Envy people, but now, thanks to the help of the concocted Death''s ichor, he was forced to turn back into his real self. Instead ofplete beauty, it was a rather sad look. The man was short and terribly skinny, he had dark bags under his eyes, sunken cheeks and buckled teeth, and arge wart right beneath his chin that made him look almost like a chicken. He didn''t seem old but there was barely any hair on his head already. While still wearing the fancy clothes he had on in his handsome muscr form, he looked like a scarecrow that had been dressed up for some failed prank. "Graough. (Oh, he shrunk.)" Zombie grunted casually with a shrug. But he was the only one with such a calm reaction. The blond prince Roan looked like he just saw a ghost telling him that he had lost all his money. Uresha was hugging Shanks whose eyes were bulging out, but whether it was from shock or being squeezed too hard was uncertain. "I-it was true! The stories were true! People of Envy kidnap the elves and steal their beauty because they''re actually ugly!" Rotte straight up fall on his butt and pointed at the changed man with a trembling hand. "...!" The changed man flinched and tried to at least turn away to hide his face but his constraints were too well made. "Don''t look at me!" He shouted furiously like a mad dog. In response, Cranberry scooped another portion of the liquid and sshed it on him without hesitation. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The man squealed in pain and tears started streaming from his eyes. "Your name?" Cranberry asked calmly as if she wasn''t the culprit of the man''s suffering. "...fuck you... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" A curse earned the captive another portion of the death''s ichor to the face, making the already poor sight even less bearable to watch. "Your name?" Cranberry repeated with a smile. "...!" The man trembled with his eyes glued to the blue hand that the girl was scooping the concoction with. "L-Lime Envy..." The man confessed with a scowl. "Lime Envy, thirty-tw... thirty-five years old, son of Lemon and Orange from the branch family, the owners of the territory to the north of this one?" The red-haired girl asked, showing that her knowledge about the members of every main family wasn''t just bragging. "How do you kn... AAAAAAHHHHH!" "Speak only when answering me, Lime. You aren''t the one asking questions here." Cranberry red down at the man and smiled coldly after she sshed him with more even ichor. "First, to make things clear before we get to the important stuff, say... do you all really steal the beauty from the elves...?" Cranberry asked innocently while already preparing another portion of the ichor. "...!" Lime twitched and desperately tried to free himself. "Well...?" Cranberry smiled in a friendly way which only sent chills down Lime''s back. "W-we do... We always had been doing it, all the way from the days of the firstdy Envy. There''s something wrong with our bloodline, but at least we all have a skill that lets us steal someone''s look..." Lime quickly exined and closed his eyes bracing for more suffering. "Ha. That''s messed up. All of you guys have an inborn skill like that? Crazy. And to think that Pride''s are just fireproof." Cranberry whistled and nodded her head with a smile. It looked like she actually didn''t care for the answer at all and that made Lime feel like a failure for caving in and telling the truth. "Now... why did your group attacked us? Were you sent after me? It clearly wasn''t after Roan, you didn''t even know he was in the carriage." Cranberry started circling around the barrel, even so, she never let go of the blue hand that was dipped into the concoction, ready to deliver another dose in the captive''s face. "W-we actually did that just for... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Unfortunately for Lime, Cranberry only looked like she didn''t care or wasn''t paying attention. As soon as she noticed something sounded off about the man''s answer she sprayed him with death''s ichor without a hint of hesitation. "The elf! We were only after the elf! We even get into the inn just so we could get to her!" Lime cried while convulsing and trembling from the agony. "WHAT?!" Rotte shouted and lunged at the tied-up man and mmed him to the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU LOT WANT FROM MY SISTER?!" He roared while shaking Lime''s cor. "Ghhhy...! Ghhhyyhh!" Lime was clearly suffocating but Rotte was too angry to notice. "Haa... idiot." Cranberry shook her head and grabbed the warrior by the scruff of his neck and effortlessly picked him up like an oversized kitten, just to throw him at the other two Dandelions who were about to join him in questioning the captive - which resulted in all three getting mmed into the wall. "Haa... Calm down. I''m not done with him." Cranberry breathed out in disappointment and waved at Zombie to put the fallen tied-up man back up. "Sorry for the inconvenience. Where were we...?" The red-haired girl apologized and asked. "Ah, right." But before anyone else could utter another word, she sshed the captive with more ichor. "AAAAAAHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Which caused the highest pitched scream yet out of Lime''s throat. "So you''re saying that you were after Lairs? Why?" She askedfortably. "Th-the woman who is taking the beauty from the elves mother has a daughter on her own, and that girl is almost ten years old... she cannot hide her looks anymore... That''s what the family head has told us..." It seemed that Lime lost all the willpower to fight back or deceive Cranberry, and was just trembling and spilling everything he knew. "Lairs mother?! She''s alive?! B-but her whole family was...!" "Shush. You''ll tell meter." Shank''s blurted out but was hushed by Cranberry. "Say, there''s something that bothers me... there are all those rumors about the Envy abducting the elves, but the elves always deny it... why?" "I-it''s because... because...!" Lime was about to share the secret when suddenly his eyes rolled up, shing with whites and he wentpletely limp. /Low-level yer defeated /... /Error /Administrator''s interference caused the system to be unable to grant master the experience points "Administrator''s interference...? Fuck! What is this administrator?!" Cranberry''s face twisted in anger and she swung the blue hand like a bat and turned the Lime''s head into a stter on the opposite wall. Chapter 112: Revelation

Chapter 112: Revtion

While the blood was slowly trickling down the headless neck and staining the fancy clothes of the dead captive, Cranberry turned around gritting her teeth. She passed Zombie and pushed his right arm into his hand and beelined right to the blond prince by the door. "Roan, find me those people Lime talked about!" She demanded while her eyes shone with a powerful skill. "I... ah.... I..." For a moment the blond prince was just staring sheepishly into Cranberry''s eyes as if he was hit with a sledgehammer. "It shouldn''t be too hard, how many women from the Envy family have a daughter who''ll be ten this year? You''ll do that for me, right?" The red-haired girl pinned the prince to the wall and waspletely disregarding his personal space, but Roan could only stare into her glowing eyes thoroughly bewitched. "I... I will! Everything for my beloved fiance!" The wide love-struck smile that appeared on his face almost couldn''t be distinguished from a face of a madman. "Go." Cranberry nodded and stepped back. Roan nodded and still with the crazy-looking smile stered all over his face he threw himself at the door and ran out of the basement as fast as he could without looking back. The remaining Dandelions, that managed to get themselves back up, were all ncing at Cranberry with unease. "Haa... What? You''re going toin about how I''m trying to help YOUR team member?" Cranberry breathed out and red back at them with a frown. "...!" "Not at all, youngdy! We''re very grateful for what you''re doing. But... is it wise to... Charm the prince?" Uresha and Rotte only flinched and stayed silent, but Shanks spoke up and voiced the question they all have been thinking about. "Graough?! (Huh?! You''ve used the charm skill on him?!)" Zombie who was just about done with reattaching his right arm, growled in surprise. "How else are we supposed to learn where to find Lairs? Unless any one of you knows what some administrator has to do with all of this? Because that name showed up when that guy died! So it was their fault!" The annoyed Cranberry pointed back at the headless corpse and shook her head in annoyance. "Graough. (It must have been talking about the system''s administrator.)" Zombie growled with a shrug. "Graough... (A bit weird, I was sure that there are no administrators in this world...) Graough, graough? (Remember? Like, the system couldn''t make the decision which route the story should follow?) Graough? (If the administrator was present, they should have done something themselves, right?)" Zombieined opening his arms and shaking his head at a loss. "...what....?" Cranberry''s hand dropped and she stared at Zombie with wide eyes. "Graough? (What is it?)" Zombie tilted his head and furrowed his brows. "System administrator? The System? The System has an administrator?" She asked taken aback. "Graough? (Why wouldn''t it?)" Zombie asked back even more confused. Whether it was because he was aware that this world was that of a game, or simply because the rotten brain title has dulled hismon sense, such a conclusion was obvious for him. But of course, it wasn''t as clear for Cranberry. Up until now she was convinced that the system was just a convenient tool that was misunderstood as a God by some of the people of the world. A tool without an owner nor guardian, just another force of nature. But now the person she decided to put her trust in bestowed her with a revtion that an actual overseer exists. It was like learning that the wind or the ocean have owners. "Graough... (But it''s really odd...)" Zombie, unaware of the mental shock that he caused to his master, continued groaning as if it was nothing. "Graough? (Why did they kill this guy?)" He pondered. "Youngdy... what''s going on...?" Although Cranberry did understand her blue servant''s growls and groans, no one else did so their conversation looked a bit odd for the bystanders. "...haa..." The red-haired girl shook her head and breathed out. She started walking in circles around the basement while massaging her forehead with both hands. "Graough...? (Master...?)" "Youngdy?" This caused some concerns for the others but she didn''t bother even looking at them. "You three, check the body whether or not this guy had some clues on him." She waved her hand dismissively at the Dandelions while continuing circling. "..." "...sure." They nced at each other and nodded after a short pause. While the three people were going through the dead captive''s stuff as if he was a monster corpse to be dismantled, Zombie started following his master steps. "...if we look at this that way... it makes sense... but then this... no, that would..." Cranberry was mumbling to herself engrossed in her own thoughts. While doing so she strayed from her path and was going right into the corner where Zombie was ying with dust. "Graough! (Ah, watch out!)" Zombie growled. He didn''t care about his silly drawing getting stepped on, but he certainly didn''t want his master bumping into walls like some dazed insect. "?!?!?!?!" So he grabbed Cranberry from behind and lifted her up a few inches, causing the girl to get extremely confused and il her legs as if she thought she was falling. "Wh-what are you d-doing?!" It was the first time that Cranberry let out such a high-pitched voice, she iled a bit and got embarrassed about her own reaction. "Graough. (Master, there''s a wall.)" Zombie exined calmly. "Of course there''s a wall! What, do you think I''m bli...?! Ha?" She was about to chew him out, feeling the bewildered stares of the other three on her, but then she looked down at the floor and gasped. It was Zombie''s dust drawing. Andscape out of this world. By clearing out the dust from parts of the floor, the blue undead recreated the cityscape of his old world with all the high-rise buildings, roads, cars, and people. "Graough? (Oh? I was practicing perspective.)" Zombie nced from over Cranberry''s shoulder to see what she was looking at exined. Cranberry stared intensely at the drawing, she even bent down while still in Zombie''s embrace to look at it closer. "Are those... buildings...? And roads?" She asked pointing at the skyscrapers and multi-store offices. "Graough! (Yes! I''m quite proud of how they turned out!)" Zombie growled, once again unaware of the effects of his actions. "Put me down for a bit." Cranberry tapped Zombie''s arm wrapping around her stomach and the blue undead hurriedlyplied. Only the three adventurers currently searching through the corpse''s clothes noticed that Cranberry''s words suggest that she wants to be picked up againter. "Did you draw this out of your imagination or is it one of the things you just know?" Chapter 113: Reaching for an explanation

Chapter 113: Reaching for an exnation

Cranberry''s next question caused the Dandelions to flinch and look at the Master-Servant pair with confusion. "Graough... (O-one of the things I just know...)" Zombie fidgeted and looked away. "Haa... then, are you really certain that our world''s system has an administrator?" The red-haired girl crossed her arms and asked with a serious expression. "Graough. (From all I know there''s no reason why it shouldn''t have.) Graough. (It''s all like some MMO game, even though it should be an otome game, having at least a few administrators should be a given.)" Zombie exined innocently staring at the floor. "A few...?!" Cranberry gasped taken aback. She decided to gloss over the details that she found unimportant, like the terms MMO and otome game, and instead focused on what she considered the main problem. "Graough? (Well, yes. For a whole world just one person wouldn''t be enough, right?)" "What power would those administrators have over the system?" Cranberry started speaking as soon as Zombie stopped. "Graough... (If we''re talking normal administrators they are the overseers of the yers.) Graough. (They can punish those who behave badly and so on.)" "So on? Exin more!" Cranberry got angry at the half-assed exnation. "Graough! (But I never bothered to check the details!) Graough (I was a single-yer focused gamer!)" Zombie groaned back. "Can those administrators interfere with the system?" Cranberry pressed him to answer. "Graough! (Y-yes, I guess!) Graough, graough, graough. (Since they have ess to the consolemands, as long as the developers put a certainmand in, the administrators should be able to use it to exercise their power.)" The blue undead stepped back and grumbled with a sulking expression. "...!" Cranberry looked as if she got struck by a lightning. "Ha...! But... that means that these administrators can kill anyone they want without actually attacking them? Like with this guy...?" She nced back at the headless captive and gritted her teeth. "Graough...? (Well, yes, I guess...?)" Zombie nodded without much confidence. "Then we''re all... no, wait..." She clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, but then she suddenly rxed them in realization. "If they can do anything they want then why didn''t they teleported that guy out of here instead?" She asked tilting her head in confusion. "Graough! (Whoa, no, wait!) Graough? (Why do you think they can do whatever they want?)" Zombie grunted taken aback. "Ha?" Cranberry asked with an evil re. "Graough. (Administrators can only do things within the domain they are given.) Graough? (Why would they be able to do things in ces they don''t oversee?)" Zombie exined. That made Cranberry fall deep in thoughts again. She felt a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the stuffy basement air. "Then, those administrators can do a lot but only within the area that they are given, am I right?" "Graough. (Yes.)" The red-haired girl asked for confirmation and Zombie nodded. "So within their given areas, are they like gods...?" She asked carefully. "Graough... (I''m not sure... Certainly there should be some restrictions.)" "Can they die?" "Graough. (Usually, yes.)" Zombie answered all of his master''s questions to the best of his ability. The red-haired girl closed her eyes and started massaging her forehead again. "...I hope I''m wrong... but this makes too much sense..." She mumbled to herself. "Graough? (What is it about, master?)" Zombie approached her and tugged on her clothes. Cranberry opened her eyes and looked at her servant with a bitter expression. "The powers that those administrators have - it all just fits too well with the legends of the progenitors of the seven main families." She said. "Graough? (Do you think that they were the administrators?)" Zombie gasped. "No. Not them. The God-level beats they all dealt with." Cranberry shook her head and smiled weakly. "Lady Pride subdued the fire God, Wing. Lord Greed suborn the luck God, Happy. Lord Lust seduced the chaos God, Love. Lady Envy kidnapped the spirit God, Saint. Lord Gluttony devoured the abyss God, Hell. Lady Wrath beat to death the dragon God, War. Lord Sloth merged with the wisdom God, Patience." Cranberry said while counting on her fingers. "Each of those beasts was the previous rulers of thends thatter became the Fruit Sd kingdom. Absolute rulers that decided whether someone lives or dies on a whim." She massaged her forehead again. "Umm... youngdy, how does that match what''s happening now?" Uresha stood up and pointed out. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and nced at her. "ording to their legend, the kidnapped spirit God, Saint, was the creator of the elves... and was supposed to be immortal as long as they stayed near a holy tree in the middle of the ancient elven kingdom." "But that kingdom...!" "The ancient kingdom that got destroyed, and the ancient tree got burned down." Cranberry didn''t allow interruption and continued the exnation. "The one who perpetrated that was the samedy Envy that kidnapped Saint." The red-haired girl smirked. "Don''t you see the connection?" She asked but met with only the confused looks. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and rolled her eyes. "Envy stole the powers of Saint, who most likely was an administrator. With the control over the elves, she forbade them from ever revealing that the people of the Envy family are kidnapping their brethren. Are you with me up until that point?" She asked and continued without waiting for the confirmation. "It''s only a stolen power so it''s not as strong as when the original owner is using it. That''s why they cannot force the elves to just submit to them." "Alright... That''s somewhat believable, I guess...?" Rotte nced at Shanks, but the rat-faced man''s expression clearly stated that he also wasn''t convinced at all. "And since the avatar of sin has some level of control over their family, if an order like ''if you talk about that you must die'' was given, the family member would be forced by the system to obey, unless their MDF was high enough or they had a special skill or title that would allow them to disobey." Cranberry continued talking in a matter-of-fact voice. "That''s messed up..." Uresha murmured and held onto Shanks''s hand. "If the avatar of sin, well, the avatar of envy had given that order while they also were in possession of the stolen power of the administrator, that would result in me getting a message about the interferences when that guy died." "..." "..." "..." "Graough! (Master, you''re amazing!)" The three Dandelions werepletely unconvinced, but the blue undead jumped up from the excitement, full of awe towards his master. "Still. That doesn''t get us any closer to finding Lairs..." Cranberry''s good mood went away as fast as it came, and she rubbed her sides with an annoyed expression. "Did you found something on him?" "Nothing new." Her question was answered negatively, but that was well within her expectations. "Haa... get rid of the body but leave the barrel here. If no one is using this house anyway, it should be fine." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and turned away. "Zombie,e. Let''s check out the vige together." She said waving her hand at the blue undead. Chapter 114: Optional quest arrives!

Chapter 114: Optional quest arrives!

"Graough. (This vige is boring.)" Zombie sighed while sitting with Cranberry by one of the tables of the only inn in the vige. The vige was so small that the fact that the inn even existed in the first ce was already a miracle. "The food is nd too." Cranberry nodded, looking at the spoonful of soup that Zombie held in front of her face. "Graough? (You don''t want it?) Graough! (Master, don''t force yourself to eat if you don''t want to!)" "Wait!" The blue undead was about to take back his hand but Cranberry grabbed his wrist and shook her head. "It might be nd but it''s edible, and I am hungry. It''s satisfactory enough. Aaa!" She dered and opened her mouth. "Graough? (Ah! Is that so?)" Zombie gasped happily and smiled. And then he continued feeding his master as if it was the most normal thing to do. "I could get used to getting spoiled like this~" Cranberry hummed with joy. "..." The attention of most of the vigers was already focused on them since they were the rare visitors who weren''t traders, that the vige did have maybe twice or three times a year, but with how the two acted that curiosity changed right into shock. After the soup was finished Cranberry went ahead and changed her seat from a simple wooden chair to Zombie''sp even though there was still more food waiting for her on the table. She leaned back on his chest and put his right arm around her stomach. "...haa~" She breathed out with bliss, resting her head near the blue undead''s neck. "Graough? (Master, how did the prince got out of the vige?) Graough...? (Our carriage is gone, did he decided to run all the way back...?)" Zombie''s low growl tickled Cranberry''s ear. "Ha ha! No, no. Think about it~!" Sheughed and poked his cheek with her finger. "Roan''s a prince. There''s no way that the queen would let him travel around without any bodyguards. He must have gone and left with them." She exined patiently. "Graough? (Were there any bodyguards?) Graough... (No one showed up even when our carriage got blown up...)" Zombie was skeptical. "They were, they were~" Cranberry hummed again and closed her eyes. "Protecting the life and protecting from any charm are two different things. While traveling like that and hunting monsters along the way, why would the hired bodyguards bother shielding their clients from every attack? If they''re expensive to hire, they should be able to at least recognize the strength of an attack and react ordingly." She said while enjoying the soothing coldness of Zombie''s body. "Graough...! (Ooh! I see...!)" Zombie growled and nodded although, in truth, he hadn''t understood a thing. "For now, the best option for us is waiting in this vige for his return. Nothing good woulde from us running around like headless chickens, asking everyone about Lairs or Envys." Cranberry patted Zombie''s hand and exined, even though the blue boy wasn''t even going to ask about what will they do about the elven mage in the first ce. "Graough...? (Master, are there other bodyguards guarding you except me...?)" The question that came out of the blue undead''s mouth and the tone he growled in, certainly took Cranberry by surprise. "Haa...? Other bodyguards? Do you think of yourself as my bodyguard?" She asked blinking in confusion. "...graough...? (...d-do I don''t count as one...?)" Zombie responded with an embarrassed growl. "...!" Cranberry twitched and her mouth started forming a smile. She shook her head and tried to make a serious expression but the pesky happy smile was forcing its way on her face. "Zombie~? Are you jealous~?" She turned around in hisp, now facing him, and traced circles with her finger on his wide chest. "G-graough... (D-depends...) Graough...? (Are there other people around you that I''m not aware of...?)" Zombie turned his head away and was ncing at his master, badly faking indifference. "As someone from the seven main families, of course that I do have a bodyguard." The red-haired girl answered with a slight smile. "Graough...! (Ah...!) Graough?! (Wait, if you do then why did this whole scenario with werewolves even happened?!) Graough?! (Where were they?!)" Zombie furrowed his brows and started groaning in anger. "...haa, I don''t feel like exining it to you..." Cranberry sighed in disappointment and turned back around toward the table. "...so you only cared about that..." She sulked, picked up the fork, and started stuffing her face with food, chewing so furiously as if the meal had severely disrespected her. Zombie didn''t open his mouth, waiting for the answer. "Haa... fine. I don''t know why they didn''t act. Maybe they got bribed or something. Or they made the deal with the attackers. I don''t care." After a few long minutes, Cranberry gave up the silent treatment and exined. "Graough! (Oh, I see!)" Zombie nodded, pulled up a handkerchief, and wiped a smudge of sauce from Cranberry''s cheek. "Though, now that I think about it, I haven''t seen that guy around since we woke up after the system changed everything..." Cranberry put down the fork and leaned back on Zombie''s chest. "I never bothered to check what was going on with that since I always have you around, but it is odd..." She tapped her chin with her index finger, staring at the inn''s ceiling. "Graough...? (You didn''t care because you have me around...?) Graough...? (So... I am your bodyguard...?)" Zombie showed up a surprising amount of wits with thatment and made the smile return to Cranberry''s face. "Haa...? No, no, no. Zombie, you aren''t my bodyguard. You are MINE. That''s the onlybel you need, getting into more details is unnecessary." She dered proudly and raised her hand to poke his blue cheek. "..." Zombie tilted his head, squinted his eyes looking into the distance, and fell deep into thoughts. Cranberry smirked and closed her eyes, satisfied after filling her stomach with food, and her heart with her cute eternal servant. After a while Zombie nodded and shifted his position. He leaned forward and simply hugged Cranberry from behind and nuzzled his cheek against hers. "Graough...? (If I''m yours, then that means that you are mine, right...?)" He groaned lightheartedly. "?!?!?!?????!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!" Cranberry''s brain overheated for a moment and she couldn''t even utter a word. She just clenched her legs together, stiff as a board and red as a tomato, with her heart beating so fast as if it was about to burst out of her chest. "Ugh...! Disgusting... isn''t that filthy? That''s a corpse puppet, isn''t it?!" "Apple, shut up!" The words whispered by two random vigers worked on Cranberry like a bucket of cold water. "All nobles are the same, they got messed up in the head from all the luxury!" "Apple, you idiot, what if she hears you?!" "So what? I''m a coachman for the Envy family! What some adventurer can possibly do to me?" The rude manughed at his friend who tried to stop him. /Route c v/w''s optional story quest received The secret of Envy *talk with the people in the inn *learn about what the Envy family is doing in the shadows *witness the kidnapping pleted) *learn about the whereabouts of the elves *investigate the hidden elven vige *find the missing elves *investigate the Envy''s residence *learn the secret of Envy *confront the avatar of envy about the elves *report the Envy family to the royal family Quest reward: depends on the % of thepletion of the quest /(10%pletion - level up) /1st tier reward granted /Master and servant level up! The messages popped up one after the other, but Cranberry only nced at them and instead focused on the viger who offended her. "Zombie, you saw the quest. Let''s go ask around." Her blissful mood waspletely gone, and only the cold fury remained. Cranberry slowly walked over to the table that the rude viger was sitting by. "You''re a coachperson for the Envys, huh?" She nodded her head, looking down on the man. "Yes, I am." The foolish viger boasted, puffing up his chest. "I see... I see... that makes things easier." Cranberry nodded benevolently and leaned towards her blue servant. "Zombie, make sure that no one leaves until I''ll be done asking questions." She said calmly. "Graough? (Should I bring the barrel with the skill blocking thingy?)" "No. Just don''t let anyone get out." Zombie asked and Cranberry instructed him patiently. "Whoa, missy, I don''t know how the likes of you act in their hometown but here we...GHHHH...!" The innkeeper walked over to Cranberry and tried to get threaten her into backing off, but the red-haired girl simply swatted lightly at his head... ...and the innkeeper''s face caved in, turning into a bloody mess - and the man fell on his back like a fallen tree. "That bitch!" "Look at what she did to Melon!" "Oi! What the hell do you think you''re...?! AAAAAAHHHHH!" All the angry voices changed into the panicked screams when Cranberry picked up the table that the rude viger, Apple, was sitting by and effortlessly threw it at the loudest offenders, causing more than a few broken bones and concussions. "Haa... Apple, right? Did I get it right? So, you are a coachperson to the Envy family, are you not?" She repeated the question, now a lot more menacingly. Chapter 115: Friendly talk and another revelation

Chapter 115: Friendly talk and another revtion

"I... I... I am... y-yo-youngdy... " Apple started trembling and bowed deeply in front of the girl. All of his bravado disappeared, probably because the small demonstration had sobered him uppletely and he realized the terrible position he got himself into. "Good." Cranberry nodded benevolently. "Now, tell me what the Envy family is doing in the shadows." She smiled happily and asked. "N-nothing! The Envy family isn''t doing a-anything suspicious! I swear!" Apple shouted in a panicked voice but his eyes darting all over the ce clearly showed that he knew something, and was lying about it. "Ooh... I see, I see..." Cranberry nodded and quickly reached towards Apple''s shaking hands. Before the man could realize what was happening, the red-haired girl got a hold of the pinky finger of his right hand and pulled on it. "AAAAUUUGGHHHHAAAAHHHH...!!!" Apple squealed like a butchered animal when his finger got ripped off and blood gushed from the meaty wound. "So maybe it''s not the whole family, but just some of the members?" "I don''t...! I-I really d-d-don''t...!" Apple was bobbing back and forth in his chair while clenching his hand close to his body, trying to stop the bleeding. "Ooh... I see, I see..." Cranberry nodded, grabbed Apple''s elbow, and forced him to raise his hand. Then she grabbed his ring finger and pulled it up. "AAAAAAARRGGHAAAAAAHHHH...!" The Apple''s eyes bulged out as his voice raised high and the blood from his new wound sshed on the inn''s floor near the fallen innkeeper. "Then, maybe it''s not a few but..." "Everyone! It''s everyone from the Envy family!" Cranberry was asking another careful question but Apple''s pitiful cry interrupted her mid-sentence. "Oh, so every Envy is doing something suspicious on their own?" Cranberry asked already reaching for his middle finger. "NO! No! I-it''s not like that! They are all doing the same thing! Everyone, everyone, everyone!" The man was shaking like a leaf in the wind while clenching his remaking fingers tightly, desperately trying his best to protect them. "And what is that activity they are doing?" Cranberry''s smile became wider and she asked in a friendly tone that somehow was the most terrifying thing that she could do. "The rumors are true...! They... the Envys... they are kidnapping elves... what else could they do?!" /Quest progression /*learn about what the Envy family is doing in the shadows pleted) /(20%pletion - +25 LUC) /2nd tier reward granted /Master and Servant base status points increased Messages that popped up proved that Apple''s words were true. Cranberry smirked and let go of the man''s arm and let him crumble at her feet into a sobbing, bleeding mess. "Haa... Zombie, seeing that only that part of the quest waspleted, it seems I still have to talk with all the other people in here, throw one over here!" Cranberry sighed and called at her blue undead who - thanks to his amazing speed - was blocking the door and all the windows for all the unlucky frightened vigers who were trying to get out. "Graough! (As you wish!)" Zombie growled happily, grabbed the closest viger who tried to pass by the belt, and threw him across the inn right to Cranberry''s feet. "Good." The red-haired girl smiled and opened her hand. Two bloody fingers fell from her palm and bounced on the floor causing the new victim to be green in the face. "Now then, what can you tell me?" Cranberry smiled friendly and asked after leaning forward and wiping her bloodied hands against the viger''s clothes. ... /Quest progression /*talk with the people in the inn pleted) /(30%pletion - free skill) /3rd tier reward granted /Master and servant receive a free skill (To select a skill pick and chose one from the skill list menu) "...haa... finally..." The red-haired girl breathed out in annoyance. About an hourter, after Cranberry was done traumatized every single patron of the only inn in the vige, a series of messages has finally shown up and freed the Master-Servant pair from the chore of questioning every single viger one more time just to be sure. Mostly because some of the said vigers would not have enough fingers tost them through another round of questions. As it turned out, only Apple had any relevant information, the others could only repeat rumors or tried to lie their way out of a friendly conversation with Cranberry, but they all ended up just like Apple in the end. Fingerless and severely traumatized. "Zombie, it''s enough, let''s go to our room." Cranberry waved at her eternal servant and motioned with her chin at the stairs leading on to the second floor. Then she started walking there, careful not to step on any of the many ripped-off fingers littering the bloodied floor. Zombie hurriedly followed after her, but in his case, he didn''t bother to check what is getting crushed or pierced by his heels. "We''ve identally stumbled onto some weird quest... Route c... ha..." Cranberry muttered to herself. "Don''t you have any hunch about what this all means? Those whole routes and that v/w thing?" She asked Zombie without any hopes of getting a reasonable answers. "Graough. (Routes are the stories of particr capture targets.) Graough...? (As for the v/w, I guess it could be the viiness/win condition or something...?) Graough. (Each route should have the win-lose scenario for the heroine anyway but I guess it''s the same for the viiness too.)" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and answered as if it was nothing. And then he passed the frozen red-haired girl on the stairs. "Graough? (Huh? Master? What happened?)" He asked cluelessly, looking into Cranberry''s wide opened eyes. "That... haa... that makes a lot of sense actually..." Cranberry breathed out trying to calm down and nodded at Zombie. "Does that mean we forced our way right into another capture target''s route then?" She asked ming her shocked heart. "Graough. (Yeah, seems like we triggered an event.)" Zombie agreed. "By any chance, do you know who is the route c''s capture target ...?" Cranberry brushed her hair to the side and asked trying to remain calm but failing. "Graough. (No, sorry.) Graough. (I''ve never yed this game and have no idea what''s toe.)" "Haa... no, it''s fine. Don''t worry." Zombie bowed apologetically and Cranberry waved her hand dismissively. "Let''s try toplete more of this optional quest tomorrow... haa... what the hell is going on here... what game is he even talking about...?" "Graough! (Lets!)" The master decided and let out a heavy sigh while the servant agreed with a cheerful groan. Chapter 116: Night at the inn

Chapter 116: Night at the inn

Zombie watched over the sleeping Cranberry, sitting by her bedside and holding her hand through the whole night. During that time he heard a lot of different thingsing from downstairs. The vigers were trying to lower their voices but sometimes one of them would break the silence with an angry remark, feeding Zombie enough information to piece together most of the picture. First of all, most of the vigers who lost their fingers during the ''talk'' with Cranberry, got the hell away from the inn and possibly even from the vige, to wait in the woods until the red-haired girl will leave for good. But not everyone. There were those who wanted revenge and they were the ones who stayed or returned to discuss. Burning down the inn came up more than a few times, and Zombie found it rather amusing since his master waspletely fireproof anyway, and he imagined that the sight of Cranberrying out of mes would most definitely make all those idiots defecate from fear. Then there were those who suggested killing the girl in her sleep but we''re rejected mostly due to the fact that Cranberry and Zombie weren''t the only adventurers in the vige ...and of course, whether weak vigers could even defeat an adventurer - not to even mention Cranberry being protected by Zombie to boot - in the first ce, was a whole separate topic. The blue undead was just staring at the floor, his eyes glowing reddishly as he was memorizing the life signatures of each person that expressed their evil intention towards his master. Zombie still remembered that sleep was important for the living and that his master would instantly wake up as soon as he would let go of her hand, so he couldn''t leave her side to deal with the angry mob. But he made sure to memorize them all. Every single one of them. The way their lifeforce pulsate, how it swims throughout their bodies... An example needs to be given. And he will certainly deliver on that front. Zombie smiled lightly and turned back to his sleeping master. Cranberry''s way of sleeping was rather funny. The nkets were piled on top of her like a mound of dirt and only one hand, holding onto Zombie''s left hand, was sticking out from underneath. It was as if Cranberry has made herself a burrow to hide in. Funnily enough, when she slept like that it meant that she waspletely rxed. Even with her monstrous strength, being tangled in nkets like that meant that she wouldn''t be able to react to a sudden attack as fast as she would if she slept ''normally''. The red-haired girl was sleeping in such way only when she was holding Zombie''s hand. Actually, Zombie found it really amusing that the red-haired girl was able to rx like that in an unfamiliar bed in potentially hostile territory. But it seems like she had no trouble resting after all. Still, holding her hand like that had its demerits. Mainly, the blue undead couldn''t practice drawing and painting, and that was his main hobby to indulge in the past several years. So instead he ended up practicing using every skill that didn''t require him to move around. Cranberry being buried in the nkets, besides being incredibly cute in Zombie''s opinion, had the benefit of shielding her from the light created by the blue undead activating his skills. As for the vigers plotting their revenge, they''ve given up in the end and left the inn without actually doing anything. Now Zombie and Cranberry were the only ones inside. The blue undead remembered about the elusive bodyguard that his master mentioned, and decided to look around whether or not he could spot a person that would meet the qualifications necessary for that. Considering who they were protecting, they had to be at least at the same level or stronger than Cranberry. Or at least that what Zombie had figured out. But no matter how hard he looked for a strong life signature, the strongest ones after Cranberry were only the Dandelions... ...and Zombie was pretty convinced that none of them is secretly a bodyguard. That bodyguard might have some skill that could possibly hide or change his life signature, but that was something that Zombie didn''t ount for. Instead, he came to a conclusion that after the system reset, the world setting was changed so that Cranberry simply didn''t have a bodyguard anymore. He wasn''tpletely wrong, but he also wasn''tpletely right on that assumption... When the blue undead finally gave up the search, he realized that one of the rewards mentioned something about a free skill, and not only Cranberry received one, he did too! Still, up until now, Zombie could never ess themands as the yer characters did. After all, he was a monster. He racked his brain trying to remember whatmand Cranberry used when she was picking the skills. "...graough...!" (...ah, of course, system, show skill list...!)" He groaned in the smallest voice he could, to not wake up his master. Actually, he had little hope it would work, monsters were growing stronger faster than humans and advanced their skills faster than humans but couldn''t use many of the system''s benefits. /Skill list Choose one of skill as a reward: But once again the system showed that Zombie is more special than other beasts, and simply showed exactly what the blue undead asked for. The list was surprisingly long but most of the entries didn''t look good for Zombie at all. He hoped for a taming skill, since it would be perfect to pair up with his beastmaster affinity, but sadly that one wasn''t avable. "...graough...? (...is any of those any good...?)" Zombieined. But then a second tost skill got his attention. "Graough...? (Ooh...? That looks interesting...?)" He grunted and his eyes glittered. Envenom (level 1) Envenom - to coat in or fill something with poison. That was certainly a skill that wouldplement his soul devouring venom and the Venomancer title. "Graough. (System.) Graough. (I choose envenom.) /Servant receives a skill Envenom (level 1) /A skill is resonating with a title /Title upgrade Venomancer (level 3) /Servant''s skill upgrade Envenom (level 1) ?? Envenom (level 5 [max] "...graough...! (...that went better than expected...?!)" Zombie growled in shock and grinned. He nced at his high heels and the grin became much much wider. "...Graough...! (...now, that makes things even easier...!) He chuckled happily and looked at the life signatures of all the vigers who had the guts to plot against his master - the vigers who were foolish enough to be sleeping peacefully in their homes instead of running away as far as they could. The next day would certainly prove to be... interesting... ... It would turn out like that, but not in a way that Zombie was envisioning... Chapter 117: The rumor of an elf

Chapter 117: The rumor of an elf

"Haa... what a poor customer service." Cranberry sighed sitting by the empty table that Zombie just finished cleaning from all the blood fromst night. "Graough...! (Master, don''t be mean, I''m doing my best...!)" Zombie growled at her sulkily from the kitchen. The red-haired girl flinched and covered her eyes. "I didn''t mean you, Zombie, the owner of this ce should be ashamed. No professionalism." She shrugged, kicking a lost finger from underneath her seat. "Graough? (The guy who got his face punched in?)" Zombie growled in confusion. "...really, not even a pityugh...? haa..." Cranberry mumbled under her breath and sighed. "Graough! (Master, it''s ready!) Graough! (Hope you''ll like it!)." The blue undead walked out of the inn''s kitchen carrying a full course breakfast prepared especially for his beloved master. Heid it all out in front of her and then sat on the opposite side of the table. "Graough. (Here.)" He pushed the biggest te towards the girl and then put his hands on the table and rested his head on top. His eyes were focused solely on Cranberry and he was almost trembling with anticipation. "Thanks for the meal." The red-haired girl smiled and picked up the fork. Several minutester, when Cranberry was already finished with the meal, the door to the inn opened and the leader of the Dandelions, Shanks, entered. "Whoa...! What the...?!" But he almost fell on his butt when the nightmarish scene showed up in his face. Dried up blood, scraps of meat, and even whole fingers were littered all over chairs, benches, and tables. And in the middle of it, by the only spotless table, the tall young woman with blood-red hair was sitting leisurely while ying around by throwing the severed fingers at the wall. "Ah, Shanks, how''s it going?" Cranberry greeted the rat-faced man and threw thest finger, getting it embedded in the wood next to several others. "Ha! I knew I will get a throwing skill!" She suddenly raised her fist in the air and cheered. "System, permanently share throw with my Zombie!" She dered at the thin air with a smile. "What do you want?" Then she turned to Shanks as if she wasn''t doing anything abnormal. "I... I just... umm..." The man felt lightheaded and could barely stay on his feet. "Oh, right... You might have to wait outside. The flies swarming in the morning were annoying, so Zombie sprayed some of his venom around. The vapors killed every bug, but it must be very bad for humans too." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders pointing at literal piles of dead bugs in the corner. "Or you can stay, like me, and level up your resistances." She added lightheartedly. /Skill upgrade Venom resistance (level 8) Just as Shanks was about to pass out, his resistance did level up and his brain cleared up a bit. Without testing his luck he went right back through the door he just came in through and breathed in the fresh morning air. "Did you learned something about Lairs?" Cranberry shouted after him. "...what is wrong with her head...?" Shanks gasped to himself, looking back at the cheerful red-haired girl sitting in the middle of the deadly-vapor-filled inn. "...ugh... y-youngdy..." He had to take a few more breaths to calm down. "We don''t know if it''s about Lairs, but one of the vigers had seen a ck-haired elf somewhere in the forests to the west of here yesterday evening. Apparently, there are no elves living in that area - it might have been Lairs! What if she had gotten away from her abductors?!" The rat-faced man regained some of his vigor and reported with excitement. "..." Cranberry furrowed her brows looking at him with hesitation. If it was about the elves then even if it had nothing to do with Lairs, they might be able to progress the optional quest. This whole - elf spotted in a ce where they weren''t supposed to be - thing was fitting awfully well with ''learn about the whereabouts of the elves'' or? maybe with the ''investigate the hidden elven vige'', one of the two. "Zombie, what do you think? You fancy a stroll in the woods with your master?" Cranberry leaned all the way back on the chair and looked at the blue undead cleaning up in the kitchen. "Graugh. (Sure.) Graough? (But who will check on that elf?) Graough? (Are the Dandelions really up to the task?) Graough... (Those guys we were fighting with were stronger than them...)" The blue undead walked toward his master while wiping his wet hands in a rag. "...pfft...!" Cranberry snorted looked away to hide her smile. "Have you told the others yet?" She shook her head and asked in a serious voice, looking back at Shanks. "They already went to check it." Shanks reported with an awkward expression. "...haa... Weren''t you guys supposed to be the careful ones, that just wanted to survive...?" Cranberry shook her head and stood up. While doing that, she identally kicked a severed finger that shoot out and sttered on the wall. "Should we check whether any of the vigers know something about the elves...?" Cranberry squinted her eyes looking at the bloody smudge on the wall. "W-we already asked around...! That was the first time that an elf was spotted in that area! That''s why we''re thinking that its Lairs!" Shanks hurriedly exined, while doing his best not to look anywhere near the messed-up sights. "Ha! I doubt that." Cranberry chuckled and shook her head. The quest she received was all about the Envy family - why would it try to lead them to travel across the kingdom in order to find some random hidden elven vige to learn about them? No. The hidden vige simply had to be somewhere within the Envys'' territory. And the forest that was the western boundary of theirnds just seemed to be the perfect hiding spot for the elves. It might have been a bit too dangerous for the elves to settle basically at their enemies'' doorstep, but knowing how the system worked, the ones who funded the vige in such a ce most likely received a quest that guided them in such an oundish direction. The red-haired girl wrapped her arms around Zombie''s left arm and leaned on his shoulder. "Anyway, let''s check it out too." "Graough. (Let''s.)" She dered and Zombie nodded. Chapter 118: Mess with the master, get punished by the servant

Chapter 118: Mess with the master, get punished by the servant

The entry to the forest was surprisingly close by, even while lowering their speed to allow Shanks to keep up, the group arrived there within half an hour from departure. Uresha and Rotte were waiting for them. "Ha? Why aren''t you searching for Lairs? Are you too scared to go in without us?" Cranberry put her hand on her hips and tilted her head in disbelief while Shanks was wheezing, trying to catch his breath. The two Dandelions looked at each other with sour faces and then pointed at the ground right when the line of trees was starting. A single arrow with bright feathers was sticking out of the ground looking surprisingly menacingly. "Graough? (What, we''re you attacked or something?)" Zombie growled and walked tight towards the arrow and picked it up. *thunk* Immediately after, another arrow silently pierced the air and made a sound only when it got embedded in the ground right next to Zombie''s foot. "Graough... (Wow, whoever it is, their aim is really off...)" Zombie snorted, picked up the other arrow too, and returned to his master''s side. "Graough. (Here.)" He groaned passing it to her with an indifferent expression. "...wh-why are you giving this to me...? Elven craft, it''s probably a warning shot... haa..." Cranberry got honestly confused, but took the arrows anyway and examined them. "Graough! (So you can practice your throwing skill!)" The blue boy responded cheerfully with a bright innocent smile. If anyone except the red-haired girl would be able to understand him, they would undoubtedly be shocked. But they weren''t, so they weren''t. "Well, we know for sure that the elves are here." Rotte breathed out and shook his head, looking nervously towards the treetops. His armor would barely ssify as a medium weight, and although it provided the necessary protection from ws, fangs, and blunt damage, it wasn''t designed for perfectly protecting him from the piercing damage. That what he had his shield for. But an arrow flying at him from his blind spot without making the whistling noise wasn''t something that he could protect himself against even with that. Uresha was a different case, with her te armor, heavy helmet, and an enormous tower shield, turning her into a walking fortress. She didn''t have to worry about the arrows. But the shock spells, that the elves could use freely, were a different matter altogether. "Haa... Have you tried asking them whether a foreign elf showed up here around yesterday or not?" Cranberry breathed out and asked, massaging her forehead. Since the living were talking, Zombie zoned out and was scanning the surrounding area in search of the familiar life signature of thest member of the Dandelions. "Yeah, we''ve tried. They''re not very talkative." Rotte shook his head with a bitter expression and Uresha nodded in confirmation. As they were talking Zombie frown seeing that the closest life signature, that was hidden in the tree branches around a hundred feet away, was gathering energy just as if it was preparing a skill. "Honestly, with what''s going on with the Envys, I''m not even surprised that they act like that but..." "No, they are idiots." Uresha was smiled weakly, doing her best to look at the situation from a wider perspective, but was interrupted by the annoyed Cranberry. "Wha...? Why would you say that?! If their family members get abducted all the time, why shouldn''t they protect..." "And what exactly are they protecting by announcing their presence to anyone thates close?" Therge woman tried to argue but her argument was shot down instantly. "They''re idiots, nothing more. Since they''re already staying away from the viges and towns, they should just stay put and mask any traces of their presence and not y around by shooting the warning shots at every passerby." Just as she spoke those words, Zombie stepped in front of her. *cling* An arrow with bright feathers hit him in the middle of his chest and bounced off with a metallic sound. If Zombie didn''t move in to protect Cranberry, the arrow would hit the red-haired girl square in the forehead. Without waiting for anyone to react, the blue undead leaned back as if he was breathing in the air for a shout. His body started glowing violet, his eyes shone white, and then he leaned forward and opened his jaws. But instead of a roar, a geyser of venom erupted from his mouth. "!!!!" Everyone, including Cranberry, backed off in terror. While shooting out venom under enough pressure to dig out a trail in the ground, Zombie raised his head and the constant stream of venom shot up and pierced through the trees, only losing the power and raining down on the vegetation a hundred feet further. /Middle-level yer defeated Master and servant receive the EXP /Proficiency level reached Servant''s title exclusive skill unlocked Throw (level 1) + Envenom (level 5[max]) ?? Venom canon (level 1) Every living thing, whether a nt. an animal, or the elven sentinel hiding in the branches high in the trees, died and started rotting within the first second of being sprayed with gallons of the highly pressurized venom. "GRAOUGH! (AND NOW I''M COMING FOR YOU!)" Zombie roared. "Graough. (Cranberry, it''s dangerous, so don''t go anywhere without me.) Graough. (I''lle back right away with someone we can ask some questions.)" He quickly growled at the confused red-haired and shoot out into the rapidly dposing forest. "..." "..." The Dandelions and Cranberry looked at each other in dead silence. Shanks wanted to ask the red-haired girl what in the world just happened, but the look of utter bewilderment on the girl''s face was more than enough to figure out that she also couldn''tprehend what had just urred. "...ha..." Cranberry closed her mouth and straightened her back. "We... should just wait and see who will he bring back." She said awkwardly and swiped the nonexistent dust off her baseball bat while blushing. "Bring back? He''s going to bring someone back?" Shanks asked while looking at the purple vapors of death being released from the rotting nts, disintegrating in front of their eyes. Thankfully the wind was keeping them away from the group. "That''s what he said..." Cranberry nodded and also looked at the destruction that kept spreading all the more while the venom kept soaking into the ground. What at first was a straight line of around hundred feet long and a foot wide, was now over two hundred square feet, and the rotting didn''t show any sight of stopping. Chapter 119: Olive

Chapter 119: Olive

Olive was the oldest elf in their vige. He was old enough to remember the times before the Fruit Sd kingdom was even established. Yet, just as it was for all the elves, despite his age, he still looked like he was in histe twenties. He was both old and smart enough to not want to be the leader of the vige, hidden away deep in the forests of the Envys territory, so one thing lead to another and he ended up on guard duty. It was fine, he even enjoyed it... ...until the point in time when the vige elder decided to pair him with a hotheaded youngster under the pretense of training the elf who barely reached adulthood. The guard duty itself was a rtively easy but very important job. All the people that woulde to the forest were supposed to be monitored, and in case they got anywhere near their vige, the guard''s duty was to use spells to confuse them and lead them away without being noticed. That n was almost wless. The main point was to not use the spells directly on humans - in case their MDF was really high - but to create mirages and optic illusions to distract them without rming them to the elven presence. Such a solution was perfect for Olive since he wasn''t a good fighter to begin with, but when ites to pranks like that, he was definitely the best one to pick from amongst their entiremunity. Thanks to that, the elves living on the Envysnd managed to stay hidden away through the centuries right under the noses of their enemies. Well, in that case, why was the n almost perfect and not perfect? Since the elf-hunting groups were appearing around their forest more often, the vige elder who was Olive''s junior, assigned him a helper. Yes, the already mentioned, hot-headed youngster. The vige elder did that despite Olive''s numerous protests and threats about not cooking her dinner anymore. That''s how the old elf ended up teaching a rash young elven archer, who apparently listened to too many stories about the adventurers and great battles and had his head full of the most reckless stunts. Olive went and used his illusion spells to test the new guy a few times already. He created the mirages of different humans approaching from different directions. Every time the oue was the same! The youngling shot a warning shot at the illusion...! A warning shot! Warning! Shot! Something that was supposed to be used only when a foreign elf was approaching! And when just the day before, Olive created a mirage of a ck-haired elf, as another test, the kid instantly got out of hiding and approached it INSTEAD of shooting a warning shot...! The worst fear of the old elf became the truth. He wasn''t teaching a new guard, he was just babysitting a trouble-child. It was the worst! ...or so Olive thought... Because the next five minutes proved to be even worse than the actual worst thing he lived through - the suffering he faced while running from the tyrant elven emperor, the venomancer, many hundreds of years before. ... He was just returning from answering the call of nature. "...the fuck...?" The first sign of trouble that he noticed was the absence of the young elf. That kid simply couldn''t sit still for more than five minutes, howe he had enough patience for carefully aiming at the target was already beyond Olive''sprehension. "Now... where this little fucker went..." Olive sighed and pulled back his long blond hair, freeing his long pointy ears. He closed his eyes and used a detection skill. His ears began glowing and his overpowered skill let him pinpoint the location of his prot¨¦g¨¦. Olive could hear everything, even the things that humans were unable to ever perceive. The life of the nts, the heartbeat of nature... ...the fast heartbeat and held back breath of the idiotic young elf that was pulling the bowstring while using a skill aiming at some adventurers and two monsters by the forest entrance....! "THAT FUCKING IDIOT...!" Olive''s own voice that he couldn''t hold back, almost caused him to go deaf. Without deactivating the detection skill, the old elf opened his eyes and dashed madly using every body strengthening skill he knew. He had to stop the hot-blooded cretin at all cost. While still being a good mile away, Olive was already using his illusion skills, not on the people and beasts by the entrance, but on the other elf to distract him. "Haa... Have you tried asking them whether a foreign elf showed up here around yesterday or not?" Olive shuddered when he heard the stronger of two monsters speak up in a human voice. "...the fuck... they are looking for theirpanion?!" But as he heard the continuation of the talk - while still running and doing his best to reach the young elf who stubbornly ignored him - Olive realized that the people out there were not their enemies... But then the bowstring sung and the arrow disturbed the airflow of the forest, aimed at the monster-like human. ...they weren''t the enemies, and yet that fool of a youngster attacked them...! What Olive hated more than being responsible for giving orders, was wasting the lives of potential alli... *cling* "...huh...?" The certain-kill arrow got blocked like it was nothing. Olive stopped in his track, feeling as if a pound of ice-cold metal was dumped into his stomach. That sound... Did he miscalcted...? The female wasn''t the stronger one amongst the two monsters after all...? The next thing he heard, was the mana stirring up and gathering in the body of the defense-oriented beast... And all of a sudden, every nt screamed in absolute terror. Olive''s first reaction was to fall on the ground and hide his head. The next thing he heard was the sound of some liquid roaring like a raging waterfall and piercing through the treetops, spraying death all around. Within seconds, countless animals, insects, and nts died without being able to even cry for help. In his overwhelming panic, Olive didn''t deactivate his detection skill and his ears became filled with the disgusting, nauseating sounds of rapidly dposing organic matter. The poison instantly killed everything it touched. But it didn''t stop there, it was soaking through the ground as if hungrily searching for the roots of the nts to kill more living things, as if it was a conscious bloodthirsty organism. Once the position got a hold of the earth, it reached for the skies. The deadly vapors that were released from anything touched by the liquid became airborne and were carried by the wind, knocking the birds and winged bugs out of the sky, and poisoning even more nts. There was only one thing that could have caused that. And Olive was fully aware of it what it was. Soul devouring venom. "Veno... mancer... has returned...!" The old elf shook as if he got seizures. He needed to run. He had to run. There was no time to be shedding tears for the nature nor the fallen youngling. Olive had to warn everyone back in the vige. The elves cannot fall under the venomancer''s rule ever again...! Even being captured by the Envy family was a better oue. In his fear, Olive didn''t even ount for the fact that the owner of the venomancer title may not be an elf to begin with, nor that the new venomancer might not be interested in elves at all. The terror that the ancient elven emperor instilled in Olive so many centuries ago all resurfaced at the same time and allowed the old elf to get off the ground and pushed him towards the hidden entrance to the vige. He has to save his brethren...! This time, he can''t fail...! Not caring for conserving any strength, Olive used all of his avable mana to create the most powerful illusions he could to stop the new venomancer from approaching. Unbelievably strong monsters that could actually pass the mental damage as the physical one. Walls of trees so durable that not even real battering rams constructed for leveling castle walls would be able to scratch them. An endless maze that couldn''t be traversed and had no exit. And finally, numerous clones of himself and other elves so detailed that no living being could perceive the difference with any of their senses. Olive did the exact same thing that used to shamefully run away from the pursuit of the ancient emperor. He did all the things that let him sessfully escape the venomancer''s grasp in the past, and even added a few new tricks that he had picked up during his long life. For a second, he thought he has a chance... ...but then, even without having to rely on his detection skill, he heard a vengeful roar filled with concentrated hatred towards every living being. "GRAOUGH!" The roar of an undead...! The illusions of monsters got ripped to shreds. The invincible walls were broken through. The maze got brought down. The numerous copies got ignored as if they didn''t even exist in the first ce. Olive didn''t even manage to nce back at the impending terror spreading even more venomous death all over his beloved forest that sheltered the elves for centuries. The next thing that the ancient elf knew, a cold hand got a hold of his back and he got smashed into the ground causing the soil around him to violently erupt. "!!!" With his mouth full of dirt, Olive couldn''t even curse nor beg for mercy. But even if he was brought down, he didn''t intend to just get himself get defeated so easily! Even if his specialty was the illusion spells, his status points and even his weakest skill should be significantly stronger than the average high-level yer''s of the modern era. Getting smashed against the ground, although painful, didn''t cause much harm... Chapter 120: Friendly invitation

Chapter 120: Friendly invitation

Olive had to think fast. The opponent who got a hold of him was undoubtedly a high-level undead. Therefore it got two major weaknesses. Holy magic, and fire magic. Olive thorough his life has ignored the holy magic - for the most part - since it was customary for the elven elders to be proficient in it, and he wanted to avoid bing the elder at all cost. But thanks to that he focused on other types of magic and gained the mastery of fire among other things. In the situation he was in, using fire magic also seemed like the better option - even if he won''t be able to finish off the undead, the forest fire he will undoubtedly rm the hiding elves far more efficiently than some pir of light going off into the sky, far away from the vige. As soon as he came to that conclusion, Olive deactivated the thought-eleration skill and used the strongest of his fire spell while he was sinking into the ground pushed by the cold hand. A spinning sphere of fire ignited around the elf and the undead and started rapidly spinning, sucking in the air around them, and constantly raising its temperature. The magic mes turned from red to orange, to yellow, to finally be blindingly white. Olive''s clothes burned away within the first second of his attack while he was busy protecting just his body from getting turned into charcoal by constantly using a healing spell. Even so, he felt his eyes were about to melt and his lungs were burning as all the avable air was getting used to fuel the infernal fire. Almost everything around the old elf evaporated or got crystallized. Almost everything. The grip that the undead had on Olive''s neck didn''t lessen in the slightest. "?!?!?!" Then the undead stopped pushing the old elf down and instead pulled on his neck, and the next thing that the elf knew, he was soaring through the sky. *CRUSH* Then a hit from below came out unexpectedly and propelled Olive even higher while breaking the elf''s bones and bursting his internal organs like water balloons. Another hit came from above, surprisingly enough, and send the elf back to the devastated ground. Meeting with the earth was so abrupt and violent that the elf momentarily lost his focus while creating a crater that could hide an entire city within its diameter. Only then did the fire spell deactivated and dissipated into the dried-up air. "...fuck..." Olive gasped shaking his head, trying to regain the rity of the mind. *RIIIP* And he regained all of it thanks to the wave of the unimaginable pain flooding every inch of his body. His opponent - the fireproof undead - hadnded. And the undead chose Olive''s knees as itsnding spot, which resulted in the elf''s legs getting ripped in half... The mutted calves tumbled on the bu ground. "AAAAG-umpfh...!" The old elf gave his all to scream even though his throat still hasn''t healed properly after inhaling pure mes for a horribly long time - but his mouth was sealed by a cold hand refusing him even that. Then the old elf was raised up to the eye-level of his opponent, and he saw his enemy''s face for the first time. An undead like he had never seen before. If not for the deep blue color of his skin, he could easily pass off as a living man. Long ck hair falling loosely around his face, jet-ck eyes filled with hatred, glowing with dark-red light, the tall muscr body that was missing half of the right arm... Whether the missing hand was the result of the fire spell he had used or not - Olive couldn''t possibly guess in his current state. And then, although the old elf couldn''t possibly see that from his perspective, was a single piece of clothing that somehow survived the insane heat that burned everything in the radius twice as wide as the crater that falling Olive has created. ck trunks. "Graough?" The undead opened his mouth and growled aggressively. He was either using the old elf or asking him something, but Olive couldn''t possibly understand the groans, nor he could even let out a sound while having his mouth sealed by the undead''s left hand. "...graough..." After not receiving the reaction he apparently hoped for, the undead sighed and let go of the elf. ... Being caught and severely damaged altered Olive''s ns quite a bit... From Olive''s position, he could now notice the smokeing from the trees that his skill didn''t turn into ash far in the distance - that surely had to rm his brethren. Now, his duty as a guard required him to upy the intruder for as long as possible to allow others to escape safely. Olive''s eyes begun to shine when he directed all of his remaining mana and willpower into an illusion spell that had fooled an elder lich once in the past and... /Skill failed A message popped up for Olive and severely damage his spirit. But the messages didn''t stop there. One much wore came right after. /yer attempted to influence the owner of the superbia with an inferior skill /Calcting... /yer receives a penalty MDF, MAT, LUC,?-55% for the next 72 hours (71:59:59) (71:59:58) The elf had received a penalty, and a timer showed up in the upper right corner of his vision. "Su...perbia...?" Olive managed to mumble with his dry lips. He raised his eyes and attempted to focus his eyes on the face of the undead. "Monsters aren''t supposed to have the sin exclusive skills... You... are a high level... avatar of pride...?" He asked while the passive regeneration skill was slowly but surely stopping the bleeding from his severed legs. "Graough? Graough!" The undead had tilted his head, frowned, and then suddenly waved his hand as if he heard a good joke andughed. Then the blue undead proceeded to walk over to Olive''s side and crouched shoulder to shoulder next to him as if he didn''t just trash the elfpletely. [My master is looking for someone. A ck-haired female elf, named Lairs, that got kidnapped by the Envy family. Someone saw a ck-haired elf around here yesterday, and we think it''s her, but I don''t sense her life signature anywhere. What did you do to her?] Chapter 121: Offering the prey

Chapter 121: Offering the prey

The undead scratched the question in the crystallized ground using his fingernail. "..." Olive was staring at the words in disbelief. It was his own fault... That monstrosity of an undead came here after someone spotted the illusion he had created to test the young elf... It was all his fault... [Now, I will take you to my master.] Another sentence got scratched into the crystallized earth. [You don''t have to help us, but just so you know, if you refuse, I will go straight to that crowd of panicking life essence scrambling about fifteen miles away and subdue every single one of them for my master to question.] "I... I''ll help..." That threat seemed to be the straw that broke the camel''s back. Olive nodded in defeat. "Take me to your master." He asked in a shaking voice. "Graough...!" The blue undead suddenly nodes to himself, and without any written exnation, he raised his hand and focused on his index finger. His eyes glowed with white light and he squinted them as if he was considering something important. Then the monster nodded and delicately tapped Olive''s forehead with the tip of his fingernail. "...GUHAH...!" The old elf wheezed from the sudden pain. It felt like his head got pierced by a scorching nail. He couldn''t see it, but the spot where he got poked became a jet ck dot and lightning-like ck lines began continuously spreading from it, covering his whole face with a ck web-like pattern within few seconds. Olive''s eyes shed white and he lost consciousness. "Graough... (Tsk...) Graough... (So it has to be diluted with water and herbs after all...)" Zombie clicked his tongue and sighed in disappointment. Truth to be told he could produce venom not only from his teeth but nails too, and with that, he tried making the smallest amount of venom possible to recreate the effect of death''s ichor, but even so he couldn''t simply replicate the skill blocking properties of a properly made mixture. Thankfully he at least didn''t kill the elf and just knocked him out, but honestly, that had a lot more to do with the elf''s resistance than with Zombie''s ability to hold back. The blue undead stood up and walked away from his captive. He had to go for quite the distance just to pick up his right arm that got flung a good distance away from the center of their battlefield and then returned to his victim. "Graough... (The stitches melted off...) Zombie nced at his right arm and sighed. Then he picked up the loose arm with his teeth and leaned down for the unconscious elf. He picked him up by the long blond hair and threw him over his back like a traveling sack. "Ghaough. (Seems like Cranberry is patiently waiting for me.) Ghaough... (So cute...)" He murmured to himself watching the life signature of his master pulsating impatiently in the distance, but not showing a sign of movement. /Proficiency level reached /Master''s skill upgrade Charm (level 23) A message popped up after hisment, causing him to frown. "Ghaough...! (Ohe on! Now she knows that I was checking up on her...!)" Zombie groaned and shook his head. Without wasting any more time he started running back to their group. Thankfully, even while unconscious, Olive was tough enough to not die from the burden caused by the overwhelming speed since Zombie had totally forgotten to consider the side effects of his skill-enhanced movement. ... Meanwhile, the three Dandelions were ncing impatiently at the red-haired girl. "Youngdy, are you sure that it''s alright to stay here? If the elves defeated your corpse puppet and are preparing to attack us, we''d better..." "Shut up. As if some mes could get rid of my Zombie!" Shanks once again tried to reason with Cranberry, but the girl had none of it. In a very short amount of time, the earth shook from explosions and the insane heatwave blew past their group, setting the rotting forest in front of them on fire, but the red-haired girl didn''t even budge. She stubbornly stayed in ce ring at the spot where shest saw her blue undead. "Zombie told me that he will bring someone here, so that means he will bring someone here. Both of us always keep our word." She dered with a cold frown, in a way thatpletely rejected even the idea of her servant getting destroyed. That had left the Dandelions in a really awkward position. The mes and the heatwave affected them far more than they did Cranberry, since she was fireproof to begin with. Shanks and Rotte had to throw away their weapons that heated up in an instant, and poor Uresha got scalded by her own armor when the full te started glowing reddish. She was being treated with all the medicine that the adventurers had on them, although even those had to be cooled down since the liquids - just like weapons - got near the boiling point. Suddenly a blur of blue light appeared out of nowhere and stopped right before the group, causing the earth to tremble. "Ghaough! (Master, I''ve returned!) Ghaough? (Did you miss me?)" Barely clothed Zombie growled happily towards Cranberry, even though his voice was muffled by his own right hand that he was holding in his mouth. Cranberry carefully observed him without saying anything. Her eyes moved up and down as if she was studying Zombie''s body from head to toe. "You got me worried, some of our shared skills leveled up again." Cranberry sighed and shook her head. "Graough. (I brought someone we can question.)" Zombie dropped his right hand and smiled, he then ced Olive''s body by Cranberry''s feet. "And this is...?" Cranberry nced at the beaten-up elf who was barely breathing and looked back up at Zombie''s muscr stomach. "Graough. (Living with the strongest life signature in the entire forest.) Graough, graough? (I don''t know what he was doing away from the rest, but he should be the leader, right?) Graough! (He should know something about Lairs!)" "...haa..." Hearing his exnation, Cranberry slowly breathed out and started massaging her forehead. "You can localize anyone by seeing their life signature, but you didn''t check whether Lairs is around...?" The red-haired girl asked calmly, with a hint of disbelief. "Graough? (Why wouldn''t I try that?) Graough! (It was the first thing I did!) Graough, graough. (But there was no trace of her anywhere, so I decided to ask around.) Graough! (Those living dared to attack even you!) Graough! (They probably did something to Lairs!)" Chapter 122: An actual peaceful talk

Chapter 122: An actual peaceful talk

"...haa..." More growls came and Cranberry closed her eyes and massaged her forehead even harder. Zombie''s logic was all fine and dandy... ...for a rotten brain, that is... If he paid attention during the lessons he took together with Cranberry, he would remember that for the elves the family is the most important thing. He would also know that the second most important thing, is the bond that all elves share as a race. It was very unlikely that the elves of the hidden vige would harm another elf, even if they didn''t know her. Though, at the same time, maybe that simple logic that was fueling Zombie, had some truth in it after all... If, for example, Lairs was being chased by the pursuers from the Envy family, the forest elves could have ignored her for the sake of protecting their family. Whether that logic was true or not, Cranberry walked over to the naked elf and looked at his face. "Zombie. If you wanted to just bring him to me, why is he poisoned by your venom?" She asked, pointing at the web of ck veins covering the elf''s face. "...graough, graough... (...I thought that if I use just a tiny-tiny bit of my venom, it will work just like the concoction that you made before...)" Zombie lowered his head and admitted in shameful groans. "Ha." Cranberry snorted and nodded. Then she walked over to her servant raised her hand. "?!" The three Dandelions held their breaths, thinking that the girl would hit the blue undead in anger. "You did a good job holding back. Must have been difficult." But instead, Cranberry reached up and patted Zombie''s head a few times and poked his stomach with her finger. "Next time, at least talk to me first." She added with a smile. "Graough. (Okay.)" Zombie nodded. Cranberry turned back towards the captured elf and frowned. "Now, we should wait until he wakes up. Zombie, warn us if something else would try to attack us." Shemanded. And then something unexpected happened. Zombie reached with his left hand and patted Cranberry''s head just as she did to him a moment earlier. "Graough! (You also did a good job, waiting so patiently!)" He growled happily. With the red-haired girl having her back turned to him, Zombie was unable to see how red did her face became. ... and then Olive opened his glowing eyes, and red right at the blushing girl...! /Warning /Illusion type metal attack detected /Eternal servant magic (level 3) detected /Redirecting the mental damage to the servant /The owner of the superbia skill is being attacked by an inferior skill /Calcting... /The attacking yer receives a penalty /Previous penalty hadn''t ended /Stacking the penalties /MDF, MAT, LUC, -96% for the next 100 hours Time remaining (99:59:59) (99:59:58) "Ah, fuck...!" Olive could only gasp weakly at the messages that popped up in front of his eyes. "..." *crush* Zombie passed his master and punched the elf''s face, causing his head to burrow into the ground. "...that was fucking uncalled for." Olive groaned when Zombie removed his fist that barely caused any damage. After all, Zombie''s strength lied within his legs, not arms, and the physical defense stat of the old elf had hundreds of years to develop to a monstrous level, so the elf was fine even under penalty. "Oh, really?" This time it was time for Cranberry to approach the elf. She crouched by his body and grabbed his hand. "...fucking monster, you may be strong, but you shouldn''t underestimate..." The old elf''s voice was extremely calm, even confident, for someone in his position. "Haa...? Really now?" Cranberry interrupted him and smiled in a friendly manner. Then she closed her grip on Olive''s hand without even activating a single skill. *CRUNCH* "!!!!?!?!?!?!!!!!!" The crushed bones of his hand pierced through the muscles and skin and shoot out like exploding shrapnel. Olive hadn''t even managed to let out a sound, his body arched and his mouth opened in a voiceless scream of overwhelming pain. This was much worse than when the blue undead had ripped off his legs - in the middle of the battle, the mix of adrenaline and healing magic was constantly circting through his body and he was only focused on fighting. This time he was rxed and so sure that nothing will happen, just like with the punch that he revived from the undead, that the painpletely took him over. "Ha! That''s it?" Cranberry chuckled at the elf''s agony and wiped her bloodied hand against the ground. "You guys, throw a nket over this pervert or something, seriously..." She shook her head ring with disgust at the naked elf wriggling in pain like a worm pulled out from the soil. After a few minutes when the passive healing skill managed to numb the horrible pain, Olive managed to regain some rity. By that time Cranberry had sent the Dandelions away just in case that one of them could be the next target for the surprise attack. It was just her, Zombie, and Olive. "You''re finally back with us?" Asked Cranberry, sittingfortably in Zombie''sp. "Fuck... That ck-haired elf you are looking for. She never even fucking came here. The fucking thing that your fucking informant saw, was just a fucking illusion I created to fucking test the fucking kid I was preparing for the fucking guarding duty...!" Olive said in one breath, trying to get up, but failing. "Yeah, I figured out it had to be something like that. My Zombie said that Lairs isn''t here and then you tried to use an illusion skill on me, it fits." The red-haired girl nodded. "...then, fuck, if that''s the case, will I get a fucking apology...?" Olive smirked and red at the blue undead hugging the girl from behind. "Ha! You fought with my Zombie and not realized who might I be? Then are you perhaps as young and inexperienced as your appearance is suggesting?" Cranberry mocked him back. "If I had to fucking guess you are some sort of fucking necromancer that managed to kill and fucking enve this generation''s fucking avatar of pride. I don''t fucking know how did you managed to trick the fucking system so he would keep the fucking superbia skill after fucking kicking the bucket, but nheless, I have to say I''m fucking impressed." Olive gave up the attempts to get up and simplyid on the ground staring at the sky. "Oh, and somehow he''s a fucking venomancer too. What the fuck?!" He groaned in disbelief. "Graough. (Wow, he''s speaking just like Lairs.)" Zombie growled impressed. "There''s a saying that you shouldn''t trust an elf who doesn''t curse. That''s simply how most of the elves talk, I told you before, it''s a defense mechanism so people won''t bother them too much because of his looks." Cranberryughed and nuzzled her head against his neck. "Graough. (That''s a stupid defense mechanism.)" Zombie growled and rested his chin on Cranberry''s head. "...fucking hell, he''s not a Pride, but you are from the Pride family, aren''t you...?" The change in tone of the elf''s voice made both the master and the servant look at him curiously. Olive''s eyes were wide open and he looked absolutely shocked. "Oh no, oh shit, oh fuck...! This is the fucking worst...!" The elf fidgeted nervously and he got a bit green in the face. "...what are you going on about...?" Even Cranberry tilted her head in confusion. "First, answer me this one fucking thing. Did you ever seen a fucking system message saying: ''The pride''s throne stands empty. The wheels of fate begin to spin''? Please, say no." Olive begged but sadly the answer what exactly what he feared. "We''ve seen it, right after the previous avatar of pride had died. That''s when some of my Zombie''s skillbined into superbia." Cranberry answered with a light shrug. "..." The old elf stared at her in silence for a good minute. Right when Zombie was about to groan about what''s going on, the elf blinked and sighed. "I need you two toe with me." Olive said with urgency. "Ha? Oh. Ha! That was easy." Cranberry raised her brows andughed in surprise. "Graough...? (What if it''s a trap...?)" Zombie growled making a worried expression and protectively hugging Cranberry a bit tighter. "It''s okay, you''ll protect me, right?" The girl smiled sweetly and put her hand on the blue undead''s hand. "...graough... (...always...)" Zombie responded in a sulking way. "But first. Tell us, where will you guide us." Cranberry turned back to the old elf and asked seriously. "...the fucking hidden elven vige in the fucking heart of the forest, the only fucking ce in the whole fucking Fruit Sd where elves don''t need to fear anything, for fuck''s sake. And you seemed to be fucking smarter than that..." Olive rolled his eyes I''d disbelief, but that didn''t bother Cranberry at all. /Quest progression *learn about the whereabouts of the elves pleted) (40%pletion - HP regeneration) 4th tier reward granted /Master receives a skill HP regeneration (level 1) /Error /Servant doesn''t have HP Unable to grant the reward /Changing the 4th tier reward for the servant /Calcting... /Servant receives coordinates to Pheonix''sir /Route g''s optional quest unlocked - Boots of the Phoenix - "Graough? (Route g?) Graough...? (Seriously...?)" Zombieined but then he noticed that his master is motioning at him to stay quiet, so he closed his mouth. "With that out of the way, we can go to your vige." Cranberry nodded with satisfaction. "Zombie, pick him up, he needs to guide us." Cranberry waved her hand benevolently and Zombie went straight to the old elf. "...can I request not being carried by my hair this time?" Olive asked in a weak voice. "Graough. (Of course, you can.) Graough. (But I will ignore that request.)" "Ha ha!" Zombie responded lightheartedly and Cranberry burst intoughter. Chapter 123: Through the woods with an elfbag

Chapter 123: Through the woods with an elfbag

In the end, Zombie didn''t ignore the old elf''s request, and instead of dragging him by the long blond hair, the blue undead got the rope from the Dandelions who were called back and with Cranberry''s help ended up carrying the elf-like a mailman bag. "The fucking world ising to an end and I am facing more fucking? humiliation than ever in my entire fucking life..." Olive sighed heavily, but no one was listening to himin. As it turned out, a good chunk of the first stage of the journey to the hidden vige was blown off by the fight between Olive and Zombie, so for a few more minutes, the guide was unnecessary. The Dandelions were left behind just in case since Cranberry couldn''t promise their safety and Zombie simply didn''t care enough about anyone else except Cranberry to even try protecting them. "Anyway, since the vige will be abandoned when we fucking get there, I''ll only ask you not to fucking loot it, alright? We don''t have any fucking heirlooms or artifacts so..." "The elven chronicles say that you usually build your viges around very specific kind of trees." This time, Olive''s attempts to make conversation came to fruition, but not on the subject he wanted. "Yes, usually." Olive nodded. "Our race gets really fucking impressive bonuses if we settle around old trees that absorbed mana from the air for at least a few hundred years. Though there''s a little fucking trick that allows us to..." He started exining with surprising gusto for someone who was essentially severely wounded and taken prisoner. "What properties does your tree have?" Cranberry interrupted him. "Properties...?" All of a sudden the old elf started ying the fool. "Hundred of years soaking in mana is bound to grant some special qualities to the tree." Cranberry smirked and nced down at the elf. "Wasn''t your sacred tree the reason the ancient kingdom of the elves got destroyed? You got raided until nothing was left." She pointed out causing the old elf to look away in anger. "...yes... that''s exactly what fucking happened..." Olive''s answer was curious, or rather not its meaning but the delivery. His tone was almost mechanical as if that was the answer he was repeating hundreds of thousands of times... ...but it didn''t sound like it was something that he wanted to say. "Hey, you''re listening?" Cranberry snapped her fingers bringing Olive back to reality. "I asked what properties does the tree in your vige possesses." She said impatiently. "...it''s a fucking good magic conduit. If you channel a certain kill skill through it, the wood won''t fucking turn to fucking dust but instead pass it to the fucking target. Really fucking good for arrows. It''s also nice and fucking sturdy. It can''t be cut down with any fucking skill nor weapon that we possess, so to fucking make something from it we need an elf with a fucking special ss and skills that let them influence the growth of the living wood to the desired shape." The old elf exined. "I see..." Cranberry nodded and pulled out one of the two arrows she received from Zombie, and tried to break it in half. Nothing major happened, it bent only slightly. "Ha...!" The red-haired girl gasped and activated her body-enhancing skills. Then she tried breaking the arrow again. The arrow bent like a crescent moon but didn''t even crack. "Hee, and I thought that those were just some ordinary arrows." She smirked and nodded with satisfaction. "Good, we''re both due for an upgrade." "...? If you fucking say so...?" Olive shook his head in confusion. "I was talking to my Zombie. Do I have to remind you that if you piss me off I won''t hesitate to kill off all your friends and family in the vige?" Cranberry frowned and red coldly at the old elf. "And I fucking told you that there will be no-fucking-one there. They must have seen the fucking fire I caused and fucking escaped. That''s how our fucking evacuation n works." Olive responded with a very simr frown. "Graough. (He''s lying, not even one life signatures had disappeared) Graough. (Most of them are even using some skills, but definitely not escaping.)" Zombie dered looking seriously at his master. "My Zombie says that you''re full of shit. Escape n? Your friends are preparing an ambush for us as soon as we enter the vige." Cranberryughed coldly and repeated Zombie''s words adding just a bit of ir to them. "Fucking good one. Fuck no, they are definitely fucking escaping. That''s how I devised that whole fucking n and the elder agreed to it without fucking hesitation. She wouldn''t just fucking abandon it for no fucking reason, the lives of fucking everyone are at stake!" The old elf exined honestly. It was something that he definitely thought was the truth. But clearly, what he thought was the truth and what actually was the truth, were twopletely different things. "Ha! I''ll return a question from before right back at you. Weren''t you supposed to be wiser than that?" Cranberry rolled her eyes at the old elf. "And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Olive got agitated, but Cranberry only smirked at him. "How many people in your vige do you know?" She asked. "Every fucking one. On a first-name basis. For me, they''re all family." The elf dered proudly. "I see. And for the elves, the family is the most important?" "Of fucking course it is!" Another question met with a fast and decisive answer. "Then why do you think that they will abandon you just to save themselves?" Cranberry asked and observed how the confidence disappears from Olive''s face and gets reced by a grim realization. "...fuck..." The elf gritted his teeth and looked away with a bitter expression. "Graough, graough? (Master, should I use my new skill and shoot out some venom at them when we get close enough?)" Zombie asked innocently. "My Zombie is considering bombarding your whole vige with soul devouring venom if they will attack us first." Cranberry repeated the prettied-up version of Zombie''s words. "Graough. (No, master, I meant it as a preemptive strike.)" "Shush!" Zombie corrected his master but was hushed down with a quick wave. "Use the remaining time to think out a way to get us inside without causing us any trouble, and nobody else will get hurt." The red-haired girl dered pridefully and hastened her peace. Chapter 124: Fruitful negotiations

Chapter 124: Fruitful negotiations

"What the fuck do you fuckers want for releasing him?!" Once the master-servant duo got to the part of the forest where the trees were reasonably intact, the old elf could easily guide them to the hidden vige. And the first thing that weed them at the right spot, was a shout of an angry woman. "Well, that was easier than I thought." Cranberry smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "I don''t fucking appreciate being put up like a fucking shield." Oliveined looking back at both Zombie and Cranberry while being propped up and disyed like a shield on Zombie''s arm. "Should I order my Zombie to shot the venom?" Cranberry looked at him and raised her brow. "No, no, no. Of fucking course not! I''m just thankful that you covered my privates at the fucking least... fuck..." Olive hurriedly shook his head and waved his hand in denial. "Graough? (Master, should we, like, cut off his finger and throw it to them?) Graough? (You know, to show that we''re not joking?)" Zombie groaned curiously, ncing at his master. "Pfft...! Ha ha! No, I don''t think that''s necessary." Cranberryughed and patted his back. "He''s already missing his legs, that should be enough to let them know." She giggled, but then she looked back at the old elf. "Tell them that we''re your friends, and wee in peace." "ARE YOU, THOUGH?!" Olive snapped at her, but in his position, it was the only thing he could do. "Whatever you fucking do, don''t harm my kept man anymore! Fuckers!" The same voice shouted at them from the wall masked to look like the face of the cliff. "Graough...? (Kept man...?)" Zombie growled in confusion. "Mirabelle! For thest fucking time! I''m not your kept man, for fuck''s sake! This human and her fucking corpse puppet are fine. I need to fucking show them something fucking important. So open the fucking gate!" The old elf shouted back angrily. "..." But there was no response. "Graough. (A few life signatures are huddled up together.) Graough. (They aren''t using any skills, I think they are just talking.)" Zombie looked past the elf meat shield and stared at the walls with his reddish glowing eyes. "Ha." Cranberry nodded with an indifferent expression. "Olive, are you fucking serious about this?" Finally, the same voice called out again. "No, Mira, for fuck''s sake, don''t go with that n! There really is something I fucking need to show them!" Olive responded hastily. "Graough? (And what is he talking about now?)" Zombie leaned back and asked Cranberry. "They most likely had some backup n in case someone got captured, and he tries to stop them from using it." She exined with a shrug and Zombie nodded. "...okay..." The woman''s voice sounded conflicted. "Hey, umm... Olive''s current holders...? Sorry for calling you fuckers!" The voice apologized. "But just in case, could you remove the cloth so we can check if he''s unharmed except for his legs?!" "...ha...?" "Graough! (No problem!)" The next words caused Cranberry to groan in confusion. "Mira, no! Apple, fucking stop her!" Olive shouted in panic. "No, no, no! Don''t even fucking think about it! She was fucking joking!" His shouts became high-pitched when he realized that Zombie is actually trying toply with the demand. "No I wasn''t! Show me that d...!" "Fucking hell! Somebody...! fuck...! ... help me grab the elder! She''s sexually harassing mister Olive again!" "Noo, you fuckers! Let me have this...!" "Pull her away from the fucking gate!" More voices joined in the struggle. "Haa... and here I thought that Lairs was kinda awkward." Cranberry sighed, shook her head, and stepped back from behind the blue undead. "We''re opening the fucking gate!" Another voice called And the camouged walls started moving. "Is anyone using a skill?" "Graough. (No one.)" Cranberry asked and Zombie shook his head in denial. "Graough... (They are doing something weird with their mana... but it''s not a skill...)" Zombie added tilting his head. With how the things were, everything looked like they will enter the elven vige without any trouble. Both the red-haired girl and the blue undead rxed, Zombie even lowered Olive who sighing with relief tied up but at least with his privates covered. Then, from the circr opening in the wall, arge metallic pipe was pushed out. It was big enough to fit Cranberry''s head but still too small to allow her whole body to fit inside. An object so foreign that at first neither Zombie nor Cranberry realized what it was. The pipe moved as if being carefully aimed at the two. Then Cranberry realized where she has seen it before. "Hey, this kind of looks like the pictures of weapons that the Sloth family uses to fight the titan-ss monsters, doesn''t it...?" She said looking at the pipe with great curiosity while letting go of Zombie''s arm to have a better look. "Graough...? (Weapons...?)" Zombie grunted in confusion, unable to realize what it was, even when the answer was within the memories from his old world. "No! Fucking idiots! Sto...!" Olive yelled at the hidden elves but was interrupted before he could finish. The high-caliber artillery cannon shoot at the master-servant pair from a point-nk range and the elves from behind the wall activated as many barriers and protection skills aimed at the captured Olive, as they could. *BOOOOM* *cling* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Yet something went wrong, the thunder of the explosion got intercepted by a clear metallic sound and then immediately followed by an even louder roar, and the whole fake cliffside exploded causing an enormous cloud of dust and smoke to rise and cover the area. "We have a fucking malfunction!" An rmed, panicked voice shouted from apletely different direction. "Fuck! Go get Lemon! Check for the survivors then spread out to look for Olive! If the other two fuckers are somehow fucking alive, fucking finish them off immediately!" Before the dust cloud dissipated, the real gate far to the right of the fake cliff opened and a group of elves busted outside, glowing from all kinds of different skills. The fair-skinned elf at the back who was issuing themands had to be Mirabelle. She was shouting orders, while carefully looking around with keen golden eyes. She herself had used the most powerful protective skill she could use, but she knew from experience that weapons made by the Sloth family can be far more dangerous than they should, especially if an ident like this happens to ur. Chapter 125: A bloody battle

Chapter 125: A bloody battle

"Get rid of that fucking smoke! I fucking swear, if this fucking broken ass piece of junk actually killed our people, I will personally ughter that fucking smuggler''s entire fucking family!" Infuriated Mirabelle cursed while other elves obediently followed hermands. Within the next few seconds, the smoke was gone and the dust settled... ...reveling thepletely unharmed people... "Haa... so be it. A promise is a promise." Cranberry breathed out in annoyance and nced at her steaming baseball bat - broken awkwardly in half - while standing next to the remains of the destroyed artillery cannon. Her body was still glowing with multiple skills. Zombie was right behind her, it looked like the red-haired girl had stepped in front of him when the cannon fired at them shielded the undead by countered the shell. The eternal servant''s reddish eyes were ring right at the petrified, speechless elves, with as much hatred as only an undead could muster. Olive was struggling to break free but was unable to do anything, blocked by the red-haired girl. "N-no...!" Mirabelle gasped, shocked to the core. ...and then Cranberry clenched her hand - that she was blocking the old elf''s mouth and nose with - so hard that her knuckles turned white. *CRUNCH* Olive''s eyes popped out and his head exploded into a gory mess that no magic could ever hope to restore. "Zombie, we''re killing them all." The red-haired girl dered in an ice-cold voice. "For now, no venom." Cranberry winked at her blue undead and disappeared. "...graough... (...okay...)" Zombie became grumpy and canceled the venom cannon skill he was already preparing, and instead activated all the other body-enhancing ones and rushed at the horrified elves. "AAAAAAAAARGH...!" But before he could reach them, Cranberry appeared right at the back of the group and tore the leg off of one of the elves. Then she proceeded to thrash around turning half of the surrounding elves into mincemeat. It wasn''t like the elves didn''t try to defend themselves... The thing was that no matter what skill they used, it would end up being dodged or countered before any of them could even graze the red-haired girl. And then Zombie reached them too. In his case, every offensive skill used by the elves connected, but none had any effect whatsoever except for the destruction of the weaponry and/or body part of the attacking elf. Master and Servant were consistently killing off every single elf in their path and both of them were aiming at the woman inmand conveniently situated at the middle of the elven group. "Fuck! Elder! You need to run!" A white-haired elf shouted at the woman right before his head was blown off by a terrible strike dealt with a ripped-off leg. "Fuck...! FUCK! Why is this fucking happening?!" Mirabelle shouted with tears in her eyes. She was using her strongest support and barrier skills but no matter what, her people kept falling to the blood-soaked ground as soon as either the red-haired girl swung her gory weapon or the blue undead raised his leg. In a way, it was better to die by the undead, because he simply killed them with his own body. The red-haired girl on the other hand was using the limb of her fallen victim as makeshift weapons, fueling the fear and panic amongst the elves. Then the leg she grabbed off of her first victim got blown into pieces countering a fireball, she simply charged at one of the elves trying to retreat and regroup, blew off his head, torn off his hand, and went back to continue the massacre. Still, because of her fighting style, her speed was slightly lower than Zombie''s, and the blue undead ended up reaching Mirabelle first. Yet that also meant that Mirabelle had a clear shot on him for the first time since the fight had broken out. "EAT THIS YOU FUCKER!" A blinding white light gathered around her hand and shoot right at Zombie''s chest. Zombie stopped in ce as his head got flung into the sky. /Warning /Servant became damaged /Servant has insufficient mana to regenerate Permission to use Master''s mana required Even though there was a huge hole in Zombie''s chest and his head gotpletely separated from his torso, a message that popped up was just as casual about the damage as always. "ZOMBIE!" The same couldn''t be said about Cranberry who lost her cool and missed her next attack and only tore off the elf''s face instead of blowing his head off. That mistake was used by the other elves and the red-haired girl got hit by multiple spells and skills, mostly lightning-based ones that caused partial paralysis. She was forced to back off and watch Zombie''s body just stay in ce while his head with a motionless face fell on the ground sshing the bloody mud around. "YOU...!" Cranberry roared, ring at Mirabelle and the light surrounding her became twice as bright. /Master''s skills upgrade Rage of the unbreakable (level 5) Blink (level 3) A message popped up in front of Cranberry''s eyes but she could only see the hateful elf. It was Cranberry''s first time witnessing in person Zombie getting damaged to such an extent. The horrible fear of losing him pushed her right into recklesness. The red-haired girl disappeared and appeared several feet back. She did that just so she would have enough space for her charge skill to activate at full power. With her next attack, she tore every single elf, except for the elder Mirabelle, in half and her weapon turned into a useless scrap of flesh. But even with a powerful buffing skill like the rage of the unbreakable, Cranberry''s body was that of a ss cannon. Her own skills were so overpowered that they began turning against her and causing a severe strain on her body with the disproportionately low DEF to STR ratio. That coupled with the damage she already received earlier, made Cranberry sway on her feet and start losing focus. /Seal of the Eternal - partially unlocked That''s why she didn''t even notice a short message that popped up for her. "Fucking human slut...!" Mirabelle gritted her teeth and reached her hand at the red-haired girl, aiming another one of her skills to finish the girl off. "...fuck... elder...! Run... away...!" Then a weak voice came from behind and the elven woman felt a cold hand on her shoulder. "Every-fucking-thing will be okay...! I promise I won''t let anyone else get killed, so just rest and wait until I kill that fucking bitch...!" Mirabelle smirked. "...ha...?" Cranberry''s eyes widened and she gasped in shock looking at something right behind the fair-skinned elven woman. "No...! Elder...! Behind you...! Fucking... mon...ster...!" One of the horribly wounded elves cried from the ground. "...eh...?" *CRUNCH* Mirabelle gasped and felt as the cold hand is crushing her shoulder while forcefully turning her around. "?!?!???!!!?!?" The elf''s brain nked out at the sight in front of her. It was the blue undead. But he didn''t regenerate at all. His head was still in the mud a few feet away and the empty eyes were staring nkly into the distance. Instead, it was his headless body with a gaping hole in his chest. From the exposed blue flesh a dark-red smoke was raising and filling the hole that Mirabelle''s holly magic skill had created. The smoke wasn''t just filling the hole, it was raising up and forming a head-like shape. A shape with no eyes or mouth, and yet Mirabelle knew that the monstrosity was smiling at her. And it was the most terrifying smile the elf ever had to face thorough her extremely long life. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The next thing Mirabelle knew, she was pulled down by the monster, and her stomach got hit by the raised knee, which had caused a deafening explosion. The elder''s intestines exploded behind her like a gory serpentine and got stuck on a nearby tree. "!!!!!" "Elder! NOOO!" Mirabelle''s knees buckled down, but the monster didn''t allow her to just go down like that. Apanied by the cries of the surviving elves, the smoke-headed abomination ripped off her arm and then pushed her body at Cranberry''s feet, yet the fair-skinned elf hasn''tpletely fallen - still partially propped up by her own intestines still tangled in the branches. Then the abomination walked towards the red-haired girl and offered her the arm. "Zo-mbie...?" Cranberry shook her head and blinked in disbelief staring at the monster,pletely dumbfounded. The abomination tilted his smoky head as if trying to ask the girl what was wrong, then it pushed the ripped-off arm in her hands, and pointed at the elven elder barely hanging on to her life two feet above the ground. "R-right. We should get rid of the most imminent danger..." Cranberry smiled weakly and grabbed the arm like a mace. "You should have listened to the guy that brought us here. We would just check your vige for a bit and left. We would even help you find the missing elves..." Cranberry said in a grim voice, ring coldly at Mirabelle while raising the arm for a finishing blow. "...?" The elven elder shuddered, lost for words. "Die." Cranberry frowned about to end the elf. "W-wait...! Fuck...! I beg you...!" Mirabelle managed to regain control over her voice and cried out raising the only hand she still had which caused her to swing back and forth on her intestines. "At least, fuck...! Kill me, but spare...! Spare the rest of our vige...!" She pleaded with tears streaming down her beautiful face. "No." *CRUSH* Cranberry shrugged and delivered an overhead strike right at Mirabelle''s forehead. The red-haired girl controlled her strength the best she could so that she wouldn''t harm herself anymore but she still managed to turn the elven elder into a bloody puddle at the bottom of a newly created crater. /high-level yer defeated /master and servant receive EXP It wasn''t nearly as impressive as bringing down Durian''s mansion but all her muscles were already screaming in unbelievable pain due to the damage caused by the electric shock from the elven skills. "Zombie..." Cranberry muttered and her eyes shed whites. The girl fainted and almost fell face-first into the bloody mess but her undead monstrosity instantly came to her side and gently supported her. "... (Master, you can rx.) ... (I''ll take care of the rest.)" Zombie dered even though his current head was made out of the dark-red smoke and unable to produce any real sound, and his old head was lying uselessly in the mud a few feet away. Chapter 126: Keep your head

Chapter 126: Keep your head

Cranberry was floating in the endless darkness, suspended between the state of consciousness and unconsciousness. She couldn''t open her eyes nor make any sort of movement but was aware of what was going on around her in general. She heard the sounds of a massacre. Of flesh being ripped into pieces. Of bones getting grounded into dust. Of streams of blood pouring onto the forest soil She could feel the ground tremble with each devastating kick. She could hear the screams and cries. Of terror. Of pain. Of despair. And countless voices begging for mercy and for help that would nevere. /Proficiency level reached /Servant receives a title Terror of the elves /Master receives a title Terror of the elves But soon, all the voices went quiet and the only sounds were those of someone dragging something back and forth. /Quest progression *investigate the hidden elven vige pleted) (50%pletion - MP regeneration skill) 5th tier reward granted /Master receives a skill MP regeneration (level 1) /Servant receives a skill MP regeneration (level 1) Even in her state, Cranberry could still see the system messages that popped up. Then, in the outside world, the sound of footsteps grew closer and Cranberry felt that someone is lifting her up and putting her on something pleasantly cold. She recognized that feeling instantly. She was sitting in Zombie''sp. Soon she felt his numb right arm embracing her stomach, then his left hand began patting her head, and she knew that everything will be alright. "... (Cranberry, you sleepy head, it''s time wake up~) ... (I''ve already cleaned up the entire vige~)" Zombie didn''t make any sound, and yet Cranberry clearly heard him humming into her ear. But if waking up was that easy, Cranberry would do that a long time ago. "... (Now that I think about it, this red gas looks simr to mana that usually heals me...) Zombie seemed to have figured something out. "... (...alright, let''s try it...)" ? Intrigued Cranberry - stillpletely immobile - waited for her servant''s next action. She felt Zombie removing his hand from her head, and grabbing her chin instead. Then, he guided her head towards himself. For a moment nothing happened. Then something tickled her nose. It was a warm funny feeling as if her skin got licked by a strand of smoke. ...smoke...? If she had any control over her body, she would tens up from the realization and her heartbeat would elerate several times over. Then, slowly, gently... she felt the smoke touching her lips and sneaking inside her mouth, coiling around her tongue, teasing her gums and pte... ...! ...an electric-shock-like sensation spread through her body as the smoke pushed its way even deeper inside as if it wanted to possess her whole body. /Servant unlocked servant exclusive skill Damage absorption (level 1) The sensation changed, it began to feel as if the smoke was sipping straight into her body, bypassing any boundaries of the flesh, reaching right to the very core of her being. For a moment the red-haired girl lost track of what was her own body and what was the smoke. Then, all of a sudden, an unidentified forced sucked all the foreign matter right out of her in an instant. "?!?!?!???" Cranberry opened her eyes, gasping for air like a shipwreck survivor who managed to get above the water surface. The first thing she saw was the red gas shaped like a head staring at her with its featureless face. "I...! You...! What did just...?!" She gasped, disoriented, blinking repeatedly in confusion. Zombie removed his hand from her chin and the girl instantly touched her lips. "You just...! We definitely just...!" Cranberry had a hard time focusing her thoughts enough to form a single consistent sentence. Zombie tilted his fleshless face in confusion and pointed at his old headying in the mud, half-buried into the bloody soil. "Wha...? Ah! Right, right... system, regenerate my Zombie." Even though she was still unable to fully grasp the situation, she at least didn''t repeat the mistake she did many years ago and watched how she phrased themand. /Permission received /Regeneration in progress... The message popped up and in an instant, the blue head with the expressionless face exploded into the dark-red cloud and shoot towards Zombie''s body and mixed with the red gas of his temporary head. When that happened, the blue undead''s body trembled. A spine shot out from the blue flesh like a stalk and a skull grew on top of it like a brand new bud while the missing chunks of organs popped up like mushrooms after the rain. Then the naked bones grew the nervous system, veins, muscles, and tendons. Lastly came the eyes, teeth, skin, and finally hair. /Regenerationplete The rather gruesome spectacle was more than enough to clear Cranberry''s mind and push out the previous topic right out of her brain. Zombie tilted his regenerated head and smiled at his master with his fresh new face. "This feels way nicer than that other form, whatever it was." Zombie giggled, poking his cheek with his index finger. "...haa... rotten brain..." Cranberry shook her head and breathed out with relief. She raised her hand and also started examining his face. "How does it feel? Nothing seems off? No unexpected side-effects?" She asked, turning around and carefully inspecting him from up close. "Everything feels the same as before. Does it look any different?" The blue undead asked innocently turning his head to check the mobility. "Haa... No, it looks as good as always." Cranberry breathed out to calm herself and sat back in Zombie''sp. Suddenly she jolted and sprung up. "Your right hand! Did your right hand got reattached?" She asked with sparkling eyes. Zombie flinched and checked his limb. But sadly, it was hanging down on the loosened stitches just as it was before he got hit with the holy magic. "Haa... sorry..." Cranberry looked down and apologized with a bitter expression. "...?" Zombie tilted his head and frowned in confusion. "Master, I don''t mind. I got used to it already." Heughed it off and waved his left hand dismissively. "I''m just d that you didn''t mess up with my head as you did with my right arm. Could you imagine that? That would be so creepy!" Zombieughed cheerfully, but that only made Cranberry blush. "Don''t try to tease me, you rotten brain!" Sheined and looked away pouting. "Eh? Did I say something weird...?" The blue undead frowned and pondered. "...haa..." Cranberry rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. Then she looked around. The two of them were sitting in a rather odd ce - by the well in the corner of the vige square. The red-haired girl leaned to the side and nced over the blue undead''s shoulder at the pile of corpses stacked neatly right in the middle of the settlement. Right by the pile-up of dead bodies was a pile of various items, nod doubt looted from the victims before they got stacked. "You really did clean the whole vige, huh?" Cranberry nodded with an impressed smile. "Yeah! By the way, this ce is more like a medium-sized town. They even have a library. The guy protecting that ce had simr strength to that elf who brought us here, so I expect that there''s something important inside." "I see. We should check it out then." Chapter 127: To the victor go the spoils

Chapter 127: To the victor go the spoils

"...I want to take all those books with us..." Cranberry looked longingly at the rows of bookshelves in arge building undoubtedly made with special skill by making the trees grow in a coordinated manner to form walls and ceiling. It was an impressive library that could even bepared to the one back at the Pride''s mansion, and honestly, hundreds of books that she has never seen before were making Cranberry a bit weak in the knees. "Haa... It feels like a waste to just leave them here, right Zo...?" She sighed and over her shoulder to smile with disappointment at her servant, but the blue undead wasn''t there. She didn''t even notice him walking away. "Zombie? Zombie! Where did you...?!" "AGHAIGH...!" An inhuman screech pierced the air causing Cranberry to instantly shift into a battle stance. The red-haired girl backed inside the building and grabbed the nearby chair and prepared to use it as a medium for her skills while carefully watching her surroundings. *THUMP* A sudden vibration shook the whole building, causing Cranberry to frown and activate her skills. /Low-level Draconid defeated /Master and Servant receive EXP /Servant receive a title Draconid yer /Master receive a title Draconid yer But right then, a system message popped up in front of her eyes. "Low-level draconid...?" She tilted her head in confusion and slowly went outside. After few seconds she heard an approaching noise. She looked in its direction and saw her eternal servant pushing four carts tied together like a train. ...and arge scaly beast with a crushed frog-like face was on top of thest one, dead, with its limbs hanging loosely off the cart''s sides. "...exin...?" Cranberry put down the chair and massaged her forehead. "Well... when I was dealing with all the living here, I''ve noticed they had those monsters in the stables and all..." Zombie fidgeted and started the exnation in a roundabout way. "So just now I went to set them free since it looked like they would die otherwise." He was dodging Cranberry''s eyes and ying a fool. "Setting them free..." Cranberry raised her brow looking at the dead monster on that her undead brought back with him. "It was its own fault! It attacked me first!" Zombie furrowed his brows and sulked. "And I was only taking the carts so that we could transport all the books!" Heined. "Ha." At least Cranberry got the answer she was looking for. Truth to be told, taking all the books with them had never urred to her, she was going to just skim through some of them out of curiosity. In the back of her mind, she still had Olive''s words when the old elf told them about the end of the world, but by that point she was convinced it was just an empty talk the old elf came up with on the spot, to lure them into a trap. But still, checking it in the elven books wouldn''t be a bad idea, just in case... It had nothing to do with the red-haired girl wanting to put into practice her old elvishnguage skills. Nothing! Not even a bit! She also had a bit of aversion for taking someone else''s books without permission, since she herself hated when others did that to her, but in this case... "Are there any elves left alive?" Cranberry asked, trying to look as casually as possible. "No. I''ve definitely dealt with them all." Zombie shook his head and pointed at his eyes that glowed red for a split second. "I see, I see..." Cranberry nodded to herself and nced at the pile of corpses at the center of the vige. "Say... ording to our quest, we are supposed to find the missing elves, right?" She asked with an indifferent shrug. "Yes." The blue undead confirmed while already carrying the books from the library and loading them on the carts in neat stacks. "And the elves are very fond of their families, right?" "Seems like it." Zombie agreed with Cranberry''s statement while making sure that the books won''t fall off during transport. "And those elves were most likely the rtives of the elves who we are supposed to find toplete the optional quest? And would definitely reward us for..." "Master. I''m done with packing the books, I''ll get the valuables next and we''ll be ready to go. Let''s talk more when we''ll be on the way back to the Dandelions." Zombie pulled the four cart train, of which the three carts were already full, towards the center of the vige. "Ha ha!" Cranberryughed and nodded to herself. There was no need for overthinking anything. "Go do that. I''ll check that special tree of theirs. There might be a piece of branch that I could use." She shrugged and smirked, turning away and waving at her Servant. About an hourter the four cart train pulled by the blue undead departed from the hidden vige apanied by the cheers and apuse of no one. In the dead silence, only a few forest critters dared to nervously stick their noses out of their burrows. Cranberry wasfortably sprawled on top of the second wagon that Zombie filled with books in such a way that they formed a seat just for the red-haired girl. She was turning pages of arge red book and reading through it with great attention. "Is it something good?" Zombie asked curiously looking back at his master. "It''s a story about an artifact, a ring that could make its wearer go invisible. I wonder if it''s a real story or just some legend?" Cranberry nced at the pile of valuables on the cart in front of her. "Do you think that any of those could turn out to be an artifact like that?" She asked with a cheeky smile. "I don''t know, maybe." Zombie missed the clear irony in his master''s voice and answered with a serious face. "Haa..." Cranberry rolled her eyes and sighed. "Anyway. I guess sneaking inside the Envys'' residence won''t be that easy, we should prepare." Sheined using her finger to bookmark a page and leaned back in her seat. "Sneaking in? Weren''t we going to search for Lairs and the rest of the missing elves?" Zombie asked in confusion. "Ha? But we will! Think about it, if they are using their skills to steal the beauty of the elves for themselves, they need to keep them somewhere safe and secure. Remember, we were told that Lairs was kidnapped for the exact same reason too." Cranberry giggled and waved her finger. "You see, that steal skill of theirs works only on living beings, so Envys simply have to keep the elves alive. " Cranberry opened the book again and dived back into the lecture. "The conclusion is simple - either they are hiring some insanely trustworthy people to guard the abducted elves in some secluded location, or they are keeping them somewhere where they can constantly have an eye on them." "Like, in their main house?" "Like, in their main house." Zombie asked and got a decisive answer. Chapter 128: City of Tart

Chapter 128: City of Tart

"Y-youngdy...? Wh-where did you get all of that?!" Shanks gasped in confusion when the four wagon train filled with loot rolled by him and hisrades. "Oh, when we promised the forest elves that we''ll search for their missing family members, they got super generous." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively andughed off the question. "And Laii? Was she really not there?" Rotte walked over to Cranberry''s cart and ask with concern. "No. Just like that old elf had said. She was never there in the first ce." Cranberry shook her head. "..." The three Dandelions looked down in disappointment. "But still, it''s not like we have no idea where to look for her." The red-haired girl shrugged and got the attention of the three adventurers. "Do you mean...?" Uresha asked. "First things first, we need to deal with all of that." Cranberry didn''t let her finish and motioned at all four carts. "Zombie already agreed to pull them until the next city or a big town, so just hop on and let''s be on our way." She exined and beckoned other adventurers to get on the wagons. "..." As they did, Zombie red at them, annoyed. His master always carries them during fights and now he has to actually carry them? It wasn''t something that he waspletely fine with, but he wasn''t going to ignore his master''s wish, so he didn''tin out loud. The Dandelions also knew better than to question Cranberry''s decisions, so they hopped on the first cart right where all the valuables were. "Those are...!" Uresha gasped and picked up two delicate rings that looked like a set. "You can have those. Actually, you all can pick something if you like, still, only one item per person, we''ll be appraising and selling the restter. Just like always, you''re getting one-sixth of the ie." Cranberry nodded benevolently. The three Dandelions looked at each other withplicated expressions. Then, they all nodded at the same time and took something from the pile. Uresha and Shanks took the matching rings, and Rotte took a pendant. "Alright, we''re should aim at the settlement closest to the Envy''s estate. Remember to point my Zombie in the right direction at crossroads. Cranberry instructed and picked up another book to read. "..." Zombie turned to the Dandelions and red at them without a word. "What does he...?" Rotte mumbled, feeling uneasy under the evil stare. "For starters, we should go to the east." Shanks figured out what had to be the blue undead''s intention and gave the first direction. Zombie nodded, turned away, and started pulling the cart. Honestly, it wasn''t a fast way of moving around. Their overall speed was slower than when they were traveling by a proper carriage because the wagons they were using now had far worse suspension and the blue undead was adjusting the peace so that the ride wouldn''t be too unpleasant for his master. In the end, they had to spend the night in some random vige, unable to reach their destination before dusk. Since their cargo this time was way more valuable than usual, Cranberry reluctantly sent Zombie to guard it through the night. When the group checked up on him in the morning, they found him crouched on the ground, drawing in the dirt with his left hand. ...and the corpses of three foolish vigers who thought that they could sneak past him to filch something were neatly stacked by the wall of the inn. After Cranberry returned his right hand back to him, the group went on their way. The next city or a big town that had an appraiser and an adventurers guild office turned out to be the very same city where Envy family''s main residence was. What a coincidence... After a little hold-up at the eastern gate, the group entered the city of Tart. "The guards will most definitely warn Envys about your presence, youngdy." Shanks secretly warned Cranberry. "No other way around it." But the red-haired girl didn''t seem too bothered. "It''s better than sneaking in and getting spotted like amon thief. No offense." She shrugged her shoulders and smirked. The rat-faced thief closed his eyes and took a deep breath, giving his best to not frown. "Anyway. Youngdy, do you want us to handle everything, as usual?" He somehow managed to make his voice sound friendly "Ha..." Cranberry frowned and nced at their wagons. "...sure, but we''ll go with you this time." She said after a moment of hesitation. Shanks tilted his head in confusion and exchanged surprised nces with Uresha and Rotte. "I''ve heard some rumors that people, especially merchants in Tart, are extremely cunning and vicious when ites to business. I kind of want to see them in action." She smiled mischievously and waved her hand at the blue undead, beckoning him to approach her. Shanks nodded in understanding and left to join his concernedpanions, and Zombie red at them as they were talking amongst each other in hushed voices. His initial opinion of the Dandelions has changedpletely. Recently he never seen any of them step up to help during a fight, and since they weren''t encountering that many monsters that needed to be put apart to sell, he categorized the adventurers as unreliable meat shields. Still, they clearly had some uses for his master, so they maybe weren''t that useless after all... Suddenly, he felt something wrapping around his neck. He tilted his head in surprise and nced to the side, just to have his vision blocked by a curtain of blood-red hair. It was his master. Cranberry had leaned down from her seat on the second cart and was hugging the blue undead from behind. "Hey... just so you know, I''m going to stir up some trouble to force someone from the Envy house to show up." The red-haired girl whispered straight into Zombie''s ear. "Try to follow up on everything I do, but don''t use your venom, and don''t finish anyone who I''ll attack but don''t kill in one hit. Understood?" She instructed him and asked, not pulling away and waiting for his answer. "I''ll do my best." The blue undead nodded. "That''s my Zombie~" Cranberry hummed in satisfaction and let go of her eternal servant... *peck* "...?" As the red-haired girl was moving away, Zombie felt a soft sensation on his cheek. He tilted his head like a confused puppy and turned to the side searching for the cause. It definitely wasn''t an attack, it felt too nice, so what else could it be? Then Zombie turned to his master, but the red-haired picked that exact moment to jump off the cart and walked towards the Dandelions without looking back at the blue undead. "Zombie, let''s go." She called and waved at him to follow. Chapter 129: To the appraiser!

Chapter 129: To the appraiser!

"Youngdy, you sure you don''t want to stay on the cart? Your face is kinda flushed..." Rotte pointed out when Cranberry approached them. "Shut up! I just feel like walking!" The red-haired girl scoffed and red at him with ice-cold eyes. "Do you know the way to the item appraiser?" She hurriedly changed the subject. "Yes. The ce that one of the guards advertised as the shop that has the best offers is located in the alley, right next to the city square. Obviously, we should most definitely not go there." Shanks kept nodding to himself while exining. "Envy territory sucks..." Rotte sighed and rubbed the back of his head with a displeased expression. "Haa? So you all have been here before?" Cranberry looked at them with mild interest. "Not exactly in Tart, but we had the displeasure of being forced to take a mission from the local guards." Uresha sighed heavily and even she, with her kind heart, looked really pissed off. "The folks from here will try to eat you alive even if you are their ally." Therge woman frowned and crossed her arms defensively. "They will try to underpay you, even if you have their signature on the agreement. They will charge you an insane amount of money for staying at the inn. And then let''s not even start with the food prices..." Rotte counted on his fingers. "Don''t forget about the prices of the materials! Local guild bought everything we had for one-third of the market price!" Shanks shook his head trying to forget the unpleasant experience. "Ha. I see." Cranberry nodded. She stopped blushing already and her heart rate returned to normal so she went back to one of the carts and took out a simple thick stick made out of dark wood with purple luster. Funnily enough, the stick had the rough diameters of the baseball bat that the red-haired girl was using up until recently. What was even funnier was that she and Zombie had found it in the back of the workshop of the weaponsmith in the elven vige - it was stored away in the shop, gathering dust under scraps of metal and cloth, as if the craftsman was ashamed of what he had created and hidden it. The girl swung her new weapon around a few times to check how it holds in her hands. The dark wood tore through the air with an ominous sound and gathered the attention of a few passersby. "Good. I want to see them try it with a Pride." She nodded and smirked. "Y-youngdy... calm down! That was when we were still a bunch of rookies! There''s no need to get violent!" Shanks instantly raised his hands and started calming Cranberry like she was a wild animal. "..." The red-haired girl nced at him, making an annoyed expression and her smirk changed into a doubtful smile. "Let''s just go." She rested the new bat on her shoulder and waved her hand dismissively. "...well then..." Shanks sped his hands together and started exining while walking. "Since without a doubt, the guards and the appraiser that he sent us to, have a deal, we can safely assume that the ce will have the worst deals in the entire city." He was speaking loudly enough for other people to hear him, and more than a few of those unintentional listeners made sour faces, as if annoyed that this group won''t get fooled. "That''s why we should look around for a bit and search for another appraiser on our own." "True." "That''s our best bet." The Dandelions agreed unanimously. "Nah, let''s go there." Yet Cranberry had a different idea. "We want to make it quick, to continue searching for Lairs. We''ve wasted enough time already." She shrugged her shoulders and ignore the snickering merchants that they were passing. "...! Youngdy...!" For some reason, Uresha got teary-eyed. It was very likely because she misunderstood Cranberry''s intention and thought that the girl was so concerned with their fourth member, that she was going to forgo the maximum profit. "If... if that''s what you want..." Shanks put his hand into his pocket and nervously rubbed the ornate ring inside. "Thank you." Rotte lowered his head to the red-haired girl. "Wow, idiots." Zombie sighed and shook his head in disbelief. "...?" Shanks looked back over his shoulder, looking around with an angry expression. "?" Zombie raised his brow and red back at him but got ignored. But apparently, the leader of the Dandelions didn''t find whatever he was looking for and simply turned back. "Should we split up then? To makes things even faster?" "Not yet. I want to at least watch over the transaction with the appraiser and then either I or Zombie have to oversee how the books are packed before we''ll send them back to my house." Rotte came up with a proposal, but Cranberry had different ns. "Ah, alright, I understand." The warrior hurriedly nodded and he looked away awkwardly. With that the group followed the instructions they got from the bribed guard and soon enough everyone, except Zombie who stayed with the cargo, entered the appraiser''s office. The bell above the door rung and as if it was a summoning tool, a skinny, twitchy man with dark bags underneath his eyes showed up. As soon as he saw the young red-haired girl leading the group, his eyes shone and his fingers moved. He was someone who judged others solely by their appearance and prided himself with never being mistaken. Seeing the confident bossy walk, coupled with worn-out clothes - no doubt a hand me downs from older sibling''s adventurer gear after they''ve given up and returned to the vige - the appraiser could almost smell the innocence and naivete. And her weapon was just some stick! The other adventurers looked somewhat capable, but from their aura, it was clear that none of them was from the Envy territory. So maybe they joined forces during a mission? Or maybe the girl fooled them by saying that she knows her way around these parts... In any case... Easy pray. Well, there was no doubt that they found the ce after asking the guard, so that much was clear. With the capable-looking adventurers in tow, it looked like their loot might have been worth something. The only question was, how much will he be able to rip them off? The appraiser barely contained the wide grin that was forcing its way on his face, and instead bowed deeply. "Wee, dearest customers!" He eximed with a servile, oily voice. The young and inexperienced but overconfident adventurers loved when others treated them like some important figures after all~ Chapter 130: People too cunning for their own good

Chapter 130: People too cunning for their own good

"..." Zombie was standing by the four carts, staring into the distance and swaying from side to side like some dumb corpse. Cranberry and the Dandelions just entered the appraiser''s office, but the blue undead was already getting anxious, unable to see his master. His eyes were glowing red as he kept checking on her life signature to stay calm. After all, the red-haired girl asked him to watch the cargo. He couldn''t just leave and join her inside... "Hmph..." *crunch* "AAAGHHH...!" Zombie grunted and kicked a thief who was using a sneak skill and already reaching for the jewelry on the first wagon, crushing his crotch into a bloody pulp. Just as Cranberry instructed him before, the blue undead wasn''t going to finish anyone who his master didn''t kill in one hit. ...he interpreted it as ''don''t kill anyone''... Though whether or not the unlucky thief would prefer to be dead was a different matter altogether... Unable to hold back tears and snot the thief skulked away with blood soaking through his pants, making a trail on the road. "..." Zombie puffed out his cheeks and returned to watching his master''s life signature. "...!" He perked up instantly seeing that she''sing back outside! And indeed, Cranberry indeed left the building. She and the three Dandelions were leading some skinny man towards the carts. Zombie checked the man''s posture and lost interest. The man''s life signature''s intensity suggested that he was only in the middle levels and had a nonbat vocation... Also... he could be snapped in two like a dry twig even by Zombie not using his strength-enhancing skills. So of course he didn''t notice that the appraiser''s eyes lighted up when he saw the mound of valuables stacked on the first cart. Nor how he licked his dry lips in an obnoxious way. "I see... I see..." The appraiser nodded and the greedy light disappeared from his eyes. He turned to Cranberry and made a tired expression. "While the amount is nothing to scoff at, I can tell at a nce that many of those things are just some cheap toys that peddlers sell to kids." He sighed with disappointment. "I can perform the appraisal on few things that look somewhat promising, but honestly, it might be just a waste of my time and your money. The cost of the appraisal will surely be higher than the worth of the items." The appraiser was bowing his head apologetically. Zombie rolled his eyes and held back a sigh. To him, the man''s words seemed not only usible but straight up true. After all, it made sense, the elves living in the middle of a forest, in hiding no less... Why would they had anything of worth with them? Although Zombie didn''t bother to ask while he was ughtering all of them, the forest elves seemed like the type of people that get fooled by merchants. ... That rotten brain +1''s side effects were in full swing...! ... "Is that so? Let''s shovel through them just in case." Cranberry smirked and asked in a lighthearted voice. "Of course, dearest customer, if that''s what you wish for." It looked like the appraiser was trying to test his flexibility with how deep he was bowing to the red-haired girl. Seeing that behavior Zombie nodded with approval. Then the appraiser got on top of the cart and started rummaging through the loot. "...!" He was doing fine with keeping a bored,posed expression, but one pendant, in particr, caused him to tremble and his eyes glowed brightly. "Did you found something good amongst this garbage?" Cranberryughed condescendingly, leaning on the side of the wagon and looking at the skinny man with mockery. "...y-yes, actually." But instead of backing down the man smile and nodded. "You might have hit a jackpot with that miss, this one can be worth more than half of all this stuff added together!" He pulled up the pendant and show it off to the girl and the Dandelions... ...but it wasn''t the pendant that has caused him to show such a strong reaction. The appraiser managed to skillfully hide the real one in his sleeve and seamlessly pick up a different one to present. He did it so skillfully that no one even noticed... Or did he...? Cranberry simply nodded and smiled with satisfaction and picked up a shiny earring from the pile. "So you say... will you write down its properties for us? And while you''re at it, don''t you know a trustworthy merchant who would be willing to buy all of this from us? We''re in a hurry." She exined and threw the earring back as if it was just a piece of trash. "Dearest customer! But of course, I do! It just so happens that a good friend of mine runs a..." "I-it''s him...! That''s the corpse puppet that attacked me!" The appraiser''s joyous rant was interrupted by a pained cry of a man in blood-soaked pants pointing his finger at the idly standing Zombie. "Doesn''t look that strong... is there only one of those here?" Captain of the guards raised his brow making a condescending face and waved at his men to surround the blue undead. "Who is the owner of this creature? Hmm...?" He was beginning a speech when another guard, most likely his vicemander, jogged to him and started whispering into his ear. The Dandelions and Cranberry looked at each other. That other guard was the same person who pointed them to the skinny appraiser. The captain''s eyes were looking between Zombie, the skinny appraiser showing a confident smile, and the pile of valuables, books, and the corpse of therge draconid. "I see..." The captain nodded and squinted his eyes. His eyes stopped at the pile of jewelry and other valuables and a nasty smile bloomed on his face. Seeing that, the skinny appraiser paled and the aura of confidence that was surrounding him evaporated. "An assault on the civilian is a serious crime, the safety of the citizens is the highest priority of us, the guards of Tart!" The captain dered in a booming voice. "You lot! The foreign adventurers! This corpse puppet belongs to one of you, doesn''t it? You are all under arrest and all of your belongings will be confiscated as evidence for the case! Men! Secure everything!" The guards'' captain proimed. Chapter 131: How about a bet?

Chapter 131: How about a bet?

"Wait! No! You can''t do that! We had a deal!" The skinny appraiser stepped forward and stood in front of the wagon with valuables, protecting it with his own body from the hands of the guards. "Citizen, step back! This is a guards business already!" But he was pushed back effortlessly. "Haa... aren''t you forgetting about someone?" But then the red-haired girl, who up until then was busy stopping the Dandelions from voicing theirints, casually walked between the armed guards and the wagons and beckoned her blue undead to join her. "Prisoner, if I was in your ce, I would stay put and shut up." The guards'' captain frowned and scoffed at her. "Oh, my! How scared I am! Woe is me!" Cranberry sighed and touched her forehead and swooned theatrically into Zombie''s arms. "A couple of little soldiers-wanna-be''s will try to stop the adventurers who hunted down a low-level Draconid? Really?" She smirked, tapping the bat on her shoulder. "I''ve told you to watch your mouth, little girl. Most of us are seasoned ex-adventurers. Taking down one measly lizard is nothing worth bragging about." The guard''s captain responded in a cold voice. Zombie was staring questioningly at his master. It was unusual to see her just taking the insults in such aposed manner. Normally she would already paint the surrounding buildings with the gray matter of the rude guard''s captain. But since she didn''t attack and simply talked, Zombie followed up on her act and stayed put. "Little girl, you seem to also be overlooking that this city has more guards than what we have here..." The armored man made a triumphant smile. "And you seem to be overlooking that we have a full team of adventurers and a corpse puppet that can spit venom. Does every single one of your men have the poison resistance?" Cranberry responded with a light shrug. *nk* Zombie opened and closed his jaws, making a threatening sound. "...you seem to forget that this is the territory of the Envy family. Do you really want to stir up trouble here?" The guard''s captain tensed up and growled in a low voice. "Ha...!" Cranberry snorted triumphantly. Once the man backed off and had to rely on the higher authority, she knew that she almost had him where she wanted. "How about this? Instead of just throwing threats at each other, let''s make a bet." She proposed in a friendly manner. "Why would I agree to some...?" "Just a simple nonbat test, we have an appraiser right here after all..." The man was going to refuse, but Cranberry started exining her idea as if she hadn''t realized that he was saying something. "Let''s make him be the judge. We select one person from each side to be apprised. Whoever has the highest ATK wins." "..." The guard''s captain raised his brow and squinted his eyes. His silence was the best proof that he got hooked. "If our side wins, you leave us alone and we''ll just sell that stuff to the nice person this guy will rmend and even those nice adventurers will apologize to the victim. If you win, then forget about confiscating our loot. We will officially gift it to your squad, as an apology for causing trouble." Cranberry spread her arms and her smile widened. "Or we can just start fighting and my Zombie will poison everyone present. And let''s just say that his venom is... even more, threatening than his kicks." She added and her smile turned into a wolf-like grin as she nced at the man with bloody pants. "Y-you can''t be serious...! Look at what that thing did to me! I demandpe...!" "Take him away." "Wha...?! N-no!" The ''victim'' tried to get back the attention but once the guards smelled the profit, he was no longer necessary for them and was escorted somewhere else. "..." The guards'' captain nced at the blue undead standing calmly by his master''s side. "The contestants will be able to use skills. The corpse puppet can''tpete." He said in a serious voice. It was a wise decision, usually, the undead monsters had a much higher skill level cap on the strength-enhancing skills than yers. Or rather, it would be a wise decision, if their opponent was literally anyone else other than the red-haired girl. "Of course. Then? We have a deal?" Cranberry agreed without any hesitation. "Deal." The guard''s captain nodded and stepped forward. "I''m going to represent my side." He dered. "Ha! Then I will be your opponent." Cranberryughed and shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "You, civilian. Appraise us." Two guards brought back the appraiser that they pushed away a moment ago and put him in front of theirmander. The skinny man bit his lips and frowned. No matter what, he had to say that the girl is stronger. There was too much money on the line. The overconfident girl seemed like she still believed that the loot they''ve brought is mostly worthless, but in truth, she was in possession of a small fortune, with extremely expensive, highly detailed jewelry which was loaded with many enchantments. The price that they will fetch will be extraordinary. And the deal that the appraiser had with the merchant was really sweet... Worth even risking his life for it. Without further ado, the skinny man activated the appraisal skill and looked at the guard'' captain. To make his n work and be convincing, he had to know what the girl was going against. "Without activated skills, 725 STR!" The appraiser called. The guards'' captain nodded, satisfied with the correct number. He activated his skills and stepped forward nodded at the appraiser to use his skill again. "With skill...!!! Oh...!" He gasped, but quickly shook his head. The vision of him retiring and living in luxury was getting blurrier and blurrier. "1953 STR points...!" The appraise dered with a bitter expression. The bragging about many ex-adventurers joining the guards wasn''t just intended to scare the girl. The guard''s captain himself had to be one before, and an early high-level one too! "Ha? Seriously...?" Cranberry couldn''t believe her ears and gasped loudly. "What''s this? Getting cold feet?" "The audience is bothering me..." Funnily enough, her line was misinterpreted as a sign of faltering because both the guards and the spectatorsughed lightheartedly. And then the appraiser used his skill on her... And as it was already amon urrence for the appraisers using their skill on Cranberry... *crash!* "What the hell is this?!" The appraise took a step back, tripped, fell on his butt, and cursed loudly. Chapter 132: Big sister, is that you?!

Chapter 132: Big sister, is that you?!

The appraiser''s body started shaking uncontrobly and a cold sweat drenched his clothes. Many of the onlookers snorted and shook their heads thinking that the skinny man is ying into the role way too much. But the few who actually knew him exchanged confused nces. "I... I..." The appraiser couldn''t even speak properly over the chattering of his own teeth. "Th-th-th-th-th...!" "Get a grip, civilian!" "The guard''s captain shouted and that somewhat helped the skinny man contain the panic attack. "3622 STR..." "...?!" "What the fuck?!" Once the numerical value left the appraiser''s lips everyone unintentionally took a step back from the red-haired girl. Even the guard''s captain... Even the Dandelions! "Wi-without using any skills, this y-youngdy has 3622 points in strength..." The skinny appraiser looked as if he was going to keel over and die from a heart attack at any moment. He was trying to scam that girl...?! That monster?! What was he thinking?! "..." The guard''s captain stared at the appraiser, then nced at the girl. He gulped down his saliva and motioned at one of his underlings with his head. The guard nodded and stepped forward, his eyes begun shining. "He is not under any sort of control or charm skill..." The guard gulped down his saliva and reported. "Civilian, check her again." The guard''s captain demanded. "Th-th-this y-youngdy has 3622 STR..." The appraiser repeated for the third time, unable to look up at the girl who he thought was just some low-level nobody. "...he''s not lying..." "!!!" The guard with glowing eyes gritted his teeth and said to hismander, who became pale as a sheet. "...so, you''re a berserk or something...? How about showing your STR without enhancing it with skills?" The guard''s captain wasn''t going to let go that easily. Even though by now he realized that he would be in deep, deep trouble if he tried to fight the girl, he at least tried to outwit her, just as anyone from the Envy territory would do. "Haa...? Didn''t you heard what this kind appraiser had said? Do you see me activating any skill at all in the first ce?" Cranberry snorted and shook her head. Theplete absence of the glowing light connected with the skill was the best proof she could ever give. "...this must be some sort of trick...!" The guard''s captain gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. So much money was right there in front of his nose, but it was protected by an unbelievable monster like that...! "Ha? Really? Then, why don''t you try and arrest me now?" Cranberryughed mockingly and took a step forward. "!!!" Every single guard took a step back away from her at the same time. "Now then. You guys, go apologies to the weakling who bumped into my Zombie and got himself hurt." Cranberry nodded with satisfaction and waved at three Dandelions. "..." None of them looked too happy about it, but that wasn''t the time to voice theints. Not after learning about the real strength that the red-haired girl had at her disposal. "And now, my good man, aren''t you going to appraise the loot we brought? Properly, I mean?" The red-haired girl walked over to the pitiful appraiser and smiled in a friendly manner, but the thin man could feel her cold gaze stabbing into his very soul. "O-o-o-of c-c-co-course, y-y-youngdy...!" The man jumped up at his feet and started bowing repeatedly. It took some time but under the watchful eye of Cranberry, the appraiser did his job properly and even went together with them to his friend the merchant, to exin the situation. The poor Dandelions didn''t know how they should act around the noble girl. They always knew that she was strong, but after learning how strong she ACTUALLY was, they honestly got cold feet and were at a loss. Still, Cranberry simply ignored their worried nces and instead was tapping her finger on her hip impatiently, as if waiting for something. When the transaction was almost finalized, it turned out that the merchant didn''t even have enough money on him to pay in full, so he hurriedly ran out of the store shouting something about getting more funds. A few minutester, the door to the shop opened, but instead of the returning merchant, a group of beautiful people entered. Cranberry raised her brow looking at their faces. Those weren''t just some random customers, but the members of the Envy family. And ones that she recognized by the looks alone, without them needing to introduce themselves - so only the more influential ones. Amongst them was exactly the person she was waiting for. The key to her n. The two groups were looking at each other in silence for a good few seconds. "By the system! Could it be? Is it really you big sister Cranberry?!" The still air was broken by a young man. He was very handsome, but not as otherworldly beautiful as hispanions, not to mention he was in the back of the group, tagging along as if only an afterthought to the others. "Sister...?" The Dandelions looked at each other in surprise "...haa..." Cranberry closed her eyes and breathed out. She was prepared for that from the moment she read through her diary. The system changed a lot of things about her backstory and the backstory of many others. One of them was the handsome young man in front of her. Mason Envy, the firstborn son of the head of the Envy family. The person she was going to use to get inside the Envys'' mansion without causing too much suspicion... That person, Mason, had a whole section dedicated only for him in the diary that was supposed to be written by Cranberry herself. Apparently, he had an older sister named Fillia in the past. By now, Cranberry knew that must have been the girl who originally had the title of the Viiness - and got killed by Zombie while trying to steal her powers. But after the reset, the system changed the memories of every yer, and for them, Fillia died in early childhood, and Cranberry and Mason met at her funeral. That wasn''t the end. From that point onward, they supposedly developed a deep friendship, strong enough for the boy to start calling her big sister - filling the void caused by the loss of the biological one. Chapter 133: Figuring out a plan

Chapter 133: Figuring out a n

"Been a while, little Mace." Cranberry tilted her head in a cute way and smirked at the supposed old friend. ording to the diary entries, Mason was a frequent guest at the Pride''s mansion and Cranberry even gave him an affectionate nickname like that. It was meant to be an endearing nickname since a mace is a blunt weapon and those were favored by Cranberry. Funnily enough, even though the two of them as kids were presented by the diary to be the best of friends - the rtionship between the two houses they were born in was frigid cold, to say the least. ¡­It was an open verbal hostility, though Cranberry was more than a little bit convinced that the Envys didn''t just stop at words, no matter if before or after the reset¡­ Still, that only meant that the things remained the same between the house of Pride and the house of Envy¡­ Only that now it was the Pride family that was nearing its fall and Envys were the influential ones in this setting. At least on the surface level... "Big sister Cranberry! It''s so good to see you! Why haven''t you wrote me a letter that you wille to visit Tart?!" Mason was a moderately tall guy, he was taller than Cranberry by only by an inch or two - which put him around the same height as the blond prince Roan. He had silky-smooth short brown hair and almond-shaped deep green eyes. His ears were slightly pointy which coupled with rosy cheeks made him look like a cheerful rowdy kid, even though he was younger than Cranberry by only a couple of months. He walked in front of the rest of his group, skillfully moving past the other people, and when he got to Cranberry, he went straight for a brotherly hug. "¡­!" Cranberry tensed up - gritting her teeth and clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white - but didn''t block nor pushed the brown-haired boy away. "...haa..." But she did breathe out in barely hidden annoyance or - as Zombie would recognize if he was there - borderline anger that was only a step from spilling, which would result in deaths of not only the all too friendly Mason Envy, but everyone in the same room too. "Mace, I would like to point out that I''ve been on the road for some time already, and I haven''t taken a bath sinceing to this lovely city of yours¡­" She didn''t even try to return the hug, and instead tapped Mason''s back whileining. "I''m serious, it actually has been a while since I even saw a propped bathtub. So back off a bit, will you?" The red-haired girl spat through her teeth, barely managing to hold back a somewhat friendly smile, getting really pissed about the excessive physical contact. "Ah! Sorry! Sorry! I was just so happy to see you! Recently you haven''t been responding to any of my letters and I thought that..." Mason stepped back and lowered his head apologetically while looking at hispanions that flinched and started gesturing at him to stop talking. "¡­you know¡­ forgot about me¡­" He ended up finishing his sentence rather awkwardly ¨C it was all too obvious that it wasn''t what he wanted to say originally. "...Ha... I see..." Seeing that Cranberry nodded and breathed out in preparation. To make her n work, she needed to fool the friendly Envy boy into thinking that she''s the same person that he ''knew for all those years'' ¨C of fake memories. Well then¡­ Cranberry looked to the side forcing her brain to recall the details from the diary that she honestly wanted to forget, or at least never think about ever. So¡­ What was it again? Mason was her precious little brother... Precious little brother... ...that information wasn''t helpful at all - the red-haired girl never had nor wanted to have even a single sibling before... So, that left precious... ¡­someone precious¡­ Precious - then someone she loved...? So... like, basically Zombie...? Her eternal servant was the only one toe to her mind when thinking about that phrase. Well, alright, there was her father too in some capacity, but in his case, it was more of a respect thing than any actual warm feeling¡­ Should she treat him like her cute blue undead, or like her father¡­? That was an important part to consider. In the first ce, Cranberry could use the charm skill but recently it got so powerful that she could identally fry her target''s brain... after all, even the prince went crazy for her for a bit... Which was most likely the reason he hasn''t return to her side yet¡­ probably¡­ Actually, that thing with Roan could turn out to be problematic¡­ No! That certainly wasn''t a good time and ce to think about the blond prince! Toplete the optional quest properly and reap the best reward, she had to act smart and think things through... There was something in the diary about Mason not getting along with the rest of his family... What was it about... was he... shunned...? He certainly didn''t seem to be in a good rtionship with his father ¨C even though he really wanted to be epted¡­ As for the rest of his rtives¡­ the living ones that is¡­ He thought that they hate him because he isn''t beautiful enough¡­ Then¡­ Cranberry looked between the brown-haired boy who was actually very handsome, and the rest of the group he came to the shop with - they all were stunningly beautiful with no exception. ¡­But the past interrogation that she performed, although cut short, already shone enough light on the secret behind that beauty¡­ The bad rtionship between him and them¡­ it could only be one thing, right? If his looks were actually natural, it was clear that the others would bully him out of envy. How fitting! Cranberry held back a nasty smirk that was forcing its way on her face. There was a way for her to act like the empty-headed girl that the system wanted to force her to be, withoutpletely faking everything! Cranberry nodded to herself and stepped in front of her friend that was supposed to be close like a brother to her but the truth was that he was a total stranger - and spread her hands, shielded him from the rest of the group. "Are you guys trying to get Mace in trouble again?!" She furrowed her brows and growled angrily. Chapter 134: Lets get to the mansion!

Chapter 134: Let''s get to the mansion!

"Lady Pride, we would never...!" "Shut up." One of Mason''spanions tried to deny the usation but Cranberry made him back off by straightening her hand and pointing the baseball bat at his chest. "I knew that if I stir some trouble you smartasses would bring Mace here and try to get him in trouble!" The red-haired girl scoffed at them and shook her head. ...even though the only real trouble was her own behavior... "Those are the adventurers that were in the center of the whole mess, question them if you want - but do that by yourselves!" She pointed at the shocked Dandelions in the back and grabbed Mason''s wrist. "Mace, we''re going to your house! You''ve been letting others lead you by the nose way too much!" Sheined and pushed past the shocked Envys like an icebreaker, leading Mason away. "Big sister Cranberry, they are not bad people...!" The young man tried to exin but the red-haired girl only shook her head and busted through the door, unhinging and sending it flying into the opposite building. *WHAM* "...?" Zombie, waiting by the carts, raised his brow and looked at her in confusion. "Go with the n I told you before and join me at the Envy''s mansion! No discussion!" Cranberry shouted at the blue undead, changing her original n of action on the fly. "Big sister Cranberry, is that the corpse puppet that wrote me ab..." "Big sister?!" Mason looked at therge undead with sparkling eyes of a curious child, while Zombie shook his head, shouting out in bewilderment mixed with anger. "Yeah. You don''t have to bother about him for now. He will finish some stuff for me and join us soon enough." Cranberry exined and nodded at Zombie, making a serious face. "Now''s not the time to chit-chat - we''re leaving!" "A-ah, okay, big sister!" The red-haired girlmanded and rushed up the street basically dragging the handsome young man with her. "..." Zombie was staring after them even after they disappeared from his sight. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist so hard that the bulging muscles of his left arm ripped the sleeve of his shirt. --- "Big sister Cranberry, I''m really happy that you came all this way to visit, but truth to be told it''s not a good time... Ah, go right behind the fountain - you''re still bad with directions, huh." Mason shy voice would grow louder only momentarily - when he was giving Cranberry directions. "Really? What''s going on?" The red-haired girl asked offhandedly turning right as she was told while trying to ignore an annoying trait that the system tried to push on her. She wasn''t lost - she never truly went to the Envys'' mansion. "Some people from the branch family were killed during an important mission for my aunt, and father got really angry at her..." Manson exined. "Haa...? Mission for your aunt you say?" Cranberry smirked, confidently pushing past other passersby with no remorse whatsoever. "Sorry for that, mister! Sorry, aunty! Y-yes, big sister Cranberry, but, could you be a little more careful? You made that man fall onto a crate of tomatoes..." Manson was hurriedly apologizing to the victims of the Cranberry''s on-foot-road-rage and trying to keep up with the conversation at the same time. "Whatever, those looked half-rotten already." The girl just shrugged her shoulders and didn''t even bother to look back. "Tell me, Mace. That aunt of yours doesn''t happen to have a daughter around ten years old, does she?" She asked innocently. "Ah! She does! Do you remember her? A few years ago I wrote you about it!" Mason face lit up when he started talking about his family. "I have a little cousin, her name is Plum! But until recently I''ve never seen her in person before, I''ve been told she has been very sick since she was born. Those people from the branch family who died, did so while securing the cure for her." The tips of Mason''s ears seemed to drop a bit when he made a sad face talking about the deceased again. "But on the bright side, the mission ended up a sess! The cure was delivered and little Plum is all good now! She looks very different than her mother... She''s super cute though and has amazing long ck hair! I''m so jealous about her looks~!" Even though jealousy should be a negative thing, both his tone and happy face were sending apletely different message. "Ah~ I see! That''s amazing news!" Cranberry nodded and looked both ways on the crossroad while making a mental note that the girl looked different than her mother... ...The guy she interrogated had said that they were told to kidnap the elf that was the daughter of the one who already got her beauty stolen, to make sure that the familiar resemnce was kept - but it clearly looked like, the low-level grunts from the branch family were lied to... "Right?! Keep going straight, big sister." "Alright." Mason instructed and the red-haired girl nodded in acknowledgment. "Both the sickness and the medicine sound like a big deal. Did they had to take that cousin of yours to some special ce to administer it?" Cranberry slowed her peace and was now walking arm to arm with Mason, giving him way more attention than the young man ever received from his family... "They sure did! Plum arrived at our house wearing some special robe that was blocking off sunlight and was brought to the basement by my father! The medicine was already ced there before. Everything must have gone smoothly because only about half an hourter father and Plum got out of there and she was all good!" ...so of course, Mason couldn''t stop himself from spilling every little detail that he thought was interesting. "That''s amazing! But isn''t it too dangerous? Using the basement of your own family home as a medicinal facility?" Cranberry asked furrowing her brows. "That''s what I said too! And let me tell you something even weirder! It seems like the sickness that Plum had isn''t all that rare! I''ve overheard her mother and my other aunt worrying about how Plum is handling everything, and how hard it was for them when they were in her position!" Mason leaned in and whispered conspicuously. "It seems like this sickness might be hereditary or something! That would exin why I''m banned from even getting close to the basement. Maybe others are worried that I will contract it too or something?" He wondered. Cranberry raised her brow and tilted her head. "You''re telling me that you weren''t sick and never been in that basement?" "Yes." She confirmed with him and begun studying his face carefully. Mason was handsome, but not otherworldly beautiful like the other members of his family, even those from the branch families. At the same time, those people were definitely the ones stealing the beauty of the elves... If the brown-haired young man was really telling the truth... Cranberry''s suspicion from before was confirmed while another one rose in her mind as her eyes ended up at Mason''s pointy ears. Every other member of the Envy family that she met up until then, no matter how beautiful, always had round ears... "...hee... is that a part of the secret~?" Cranberry muttered to herself with a mischievous smile. "Big sister...?" Mason looked at her with his big, innocent eyes. "I want to see that secret book collection you''ve written me about~!" Cranberry answered smoothly and hastened her peace again. "Let''s hurry!" She cheered leading Mason towards the roof of the impressive mansion peeking out from above all the other buildings. Chapter 136: Like a shooting star - but a little bit dumb

Chapter 136: Like a shooting star - but a little bit dumb

"My lord! There''s a monster rampaging in the city! It''sing towards the mansion right now!" A messenger came running to the training ground next to the Envys'' family house and shouted in panic towards the tall ck-haired man of unearthly beauty. The man frowned and red at the messenger with his piercing green eyes. Standing tall with his chin raised slightly, the man looked like a marble statue of the most stunning deity of fury. That man was of course Lord Envy himself, father of Mason, and the current head of the Envy family - the avatar of envy. "What is that supposed to mean?! What are those city guards even doing?! Aren''t we paying those former adventurers so much to deal with that exact sort of thing?!" The stunning man roared, and even his angered voice was like a songposed by a genius musician. "My lord, they... they cannot stop that monster! It looks almost like a corpse puppet, but it glows violet and ispletely unbreakable!" The messager cried in panic, fearfully looking over his shoulder as if he expected the beast to appear at any moment. "I''ve seen it take the attacks of over fifteen guards head-on! Proper skill-empowered attacks! And that thing didn''t even flinch! They only made it angrier!" He trembled. "...this could be bad..." "...a corpse puppet...? ...did someone angered a corpse puppeteer...? All of the members of the branch families of the Envys started whispering amongst each other, the organized training got interrupted, and the man who organized it all wasn''t even going to try and calm them down. "Does it mean that another main family is trying to start a feud with us? How many of those puppets are there? Do we know where the corpse puppeteer is - and who is it exactly?!" Lord Envy got straight to the point as if a switch was flipped inside of his head. "No trace of the puppeteer, and there is only one corpse puppet!" The messenger reported, causing lord Envy''s re to be sharper. "One? You''re saying that those ipetent fo..." "....aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA...!" Lord Envy''s angry shout was interrupted by an approaching scream of terror. "...?" Everyone turned towards the direction of the sound in an instant. To do that, they had to look up... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" ...and they saw one of the city guards flying through the skies... No, not flying... The guard was falling from the sky and was going to crash right in the middle of the Envys'' training ground! *CRASH* "Ghyah!" "Kyaa!" "Ughh...!" But before the falling guard had the chance to be a stter, a violet blur jumped over the wall surrounding the Envy''s estate andnded in the middle of the gathered Envys, causing an eruption that sent more than just a few nsmen flying while raised a huge cloud of dust. "AAAAAAGHH!" The unlucky airborne guard on his way back to meet the ground - fell right into the dust cloud and made a pitiful noise. The thing was - it certainly wasn''t a noise of someone getting smeared on the ground after a huge fall... "Tsk...! Who told you to getunched so high? My cute Cranberry told me to not kill anyone... Or at least that''s what I think she meant..." The dust cloud had dispersed and everyone present could clearly see a tall blue man in very entric clothing, holding up an unconscious guard foaming from the mouth - knocked out, but certainly alive. The undead was towering over all the present humans mostly because of the ridiculously high heels of its thigh-high boots. Its dark blue skin was contrasting the white cropped shirt with ripped left sleeve, that showed off most of its muscr stomach and suited the jet ck hair tied up in a low ponytail. "What are you all looking at?" The undead growled aggressively, pulling back the strand of loose hair that fell on its forehead, and straightened its back, squinting its obsidian eyes with a red tint while looking around all the confused faces. Yeah, it was definitely Zombie. Even though every Envy present was incredibly beautiful, in terms of looks Zombie wasn''t that far off, and if not for the obviously corpse-like color of his skin, he could pass as one of them. "M-my lord! That''s it! That''s the corpse puppet I was talking about!" The messenger pointed at the blue undead with a shaking hand. "...you dare to point your filthy living fingers at me...?" *SMASH* "UGH!" Zombie red at the pointing man and threw the unconscious guard at him without hesitation, swiping him off of his feet. "Hmph!" The undead scoffed at the living and his face twisted in disgust. His reddish glowing eyes focused on the mansion and he began casually walking towards it. "Where do you think you are going, puppet...?!" But his path was blocked by furious lord Envy, glowing with all kinds of active skills and battle-ready. "..." Zombie red at him and rolled his eyes. *WHAM* "GHUHOH!" ...and threw a powerful kick out of nowhere, without as much as taking a proper stance or activating a skill - no warning at all. Lord Envy managed to protect his chest from being pierced by the high heel by intercepting the sole of the boot with both arms, but even so, he was still pushed back by a dozen feet, digging a trail in the ground. "My lord!" The others have gasped. "Weakling." The blue undead scoffed at the green-eyed man and shook his head. "You...! Ugh... How dare you speak like that to the avatar of envy!" Lord Envy had to gasp for air before he could shout because the kick knocked all the air out of his lungs. "Avatar of envy? You...? Khahahaha!" The corpse puppet let out a mocking, condescendingugh and waved his hand dismissively. "Impossible. You are way too weak... Unless you are just like thest avatar of pride was..." The blue undead tilted his head examining the beautiful man with his glowing eyes. "You...! Impudent bastard! What connection do you have with those detestable Prides?! Did they send you?! Men! Get him!" Lord Envy roared and railed his nsmen against the corpse puppet. "Yes, my lord!" The less quick-witted ones actually tried to jump at him without any n... "UH!" "GHHH...!" "AYHA!" But all were sent flying with lightning-fast kicks. "Detestable you say...? So you have something against Prides...?" The undead lowered his leg and stared coldly at the avatar of envy whose hands still couldn''t stop shaking after receiving the first kick. "Prides are over! They got what they deserved over three years ago during the night of the hungry wolves event!" Lord Envy growled focusing on using self-heal skills to get his arms back into shape. "...? Wait a second... How do you even know about that event...? And... do you actually understand my groans? It sure sounds like you do... and here I thought only my Cranberry and that one tamer girl - Mufy, or whatever her name is - can understand me...!" Zombie furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes in suspicion. Lord Envy paled and closed his mouth for a moment as if he realized that he had said more than he should. "What groans? You''ve been talking clearly since the very beginning!" He quickly used the first opportunity to change the subject and shouted back trying to sound annoyed to mask the nervousness. "Oh? Is that so?" It looked like the corpse puppet has took the bait and rxed. At least he did tilt his head and smirked. "That makes things so much easier then." Zombie nodded and looked back at the tense avatar of envy. "If you can understand me, then let''s make things less annoying for all of us, alright?" The blue undead opened his arms with a cheerful expression that was only a little bit mocking. "...?" Lord Envy blinked a few times in confusion and his nsmen started looking at each other simrly taken aback. "I don''t want to waste my time by carefully watching the strength of my attacks just so they wouldn''t kill you, weaklings. So just let me pass and get inside that house, so I could join my Cranberry. Easy, right?" Zombie proposed with a friendly smile while pointing at the mansion... No, he was pointing at the mansion, he was pointing somewhere below the mansion...! "Join your...? Join?!" Lord Envy repeated and turned towards the mansion and his eyes shook from terror. "AN INTRUDER IS TRYING TO INFILTRATE THE BASEMENT! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!" He roared in a blind panic and dashed towards the mansion like a madman. "I''ll take care of the intruders! You all get rid of that puppet! If it rejoins its master it could be all over for us! Take care of him and follow me!" He looked back and shouted at his previously unwilling nsmen. "GET HIM!" And this time there was no hesitation in any of their movement. Every person avable that heard lord Envy''s shout, rushed at the blue undead without a second thought - as if they suddenly went mad for some reason - while their leader busted into the mansion. "Oh, you weak little assho...!" Zombie also rushed after him but... /Optional quest special timed quest unlocked /Servant receives a special timed quest Helping the master Keep the Envys'' nsmen away from the basement (30:00) /(29:59) /(29:58) A quest with no reward and a timer showed up for the undead before he could even finish his sentence. ...he could his help master by dealing with those weak living...? "...It looks important... fine... Bring it on!" Failing to find the odd quest suspicious, Zombie roared with a huge smile only after a little bit of hesitation and turned right back to face his opponents. Chapter 137: The hopeful suspicion

Chapter 137: The hopeful suspicion

"We should quickly sneak into my room so no one would notice us...!" Mason whispered, tiptoeing after Cranberry, who was walking casually through the empty hallways. The red-haired girl would only briefly stop before an open door or a passage and gripped her baseball bat a bit tighter each time she heard someone passing, but thankfully for everyone else, she never had to use it. Thought that could be partially contributed to her reasonably high LUC stat... "Ah, this is the door...! Umm...? Big sister Cranberry...?" Mason perked up when the two of them approached a door to his room, Cranberry even opened the door, but after a brief look, she closed it and continued moving through the hallway pulling the brown-haired young man with her. "We''ll returnter, let''s continue exploring for now..." Cranberry said absentmindedly as if she was waiting for something. "O-oh... okay... if you want to..." Mason agreed slightly confused. Cranberry wasn''t going to let go of him so he didn''t have a choice in that regard anyway. "Ah! No! You can''t!" After few more minutes, when Cranberry was about to open a small door under a staircase leading to the higher floor but got stopped by Mason. "Ha? Why?" She frowned when he got in front of her and barred the door with his own body. "It''s the entrance to the basement! It''s where my father treats other members of my family! What if you will get infected?!" Mason''s eyes shook with genuine worry, so Cranberry held back the sigh that was forcing its way out of her mouth. She couldn''t ditch Mason just yet, her backup n in case things went south depended on him. She couldn''t kill him no matter how much he annoyed her. Not yet at least. "Alright~ Let''s check out the higher floors real quick too!" Cranberry seamlessly transitioned from the cold, expressionless face to the bubbly happy one. "Ah! Okay! There''s actually a nice spot on the second floor where I used to hide when..." Mason breathed out with relief and smiled back, but then he flinched mid-sentence and blushed. "There''s a room with lots of books that no one really enters so I made it into my secret library..." He quickly changed the backstory of the ce he wanted to show the red-haired girl, hoping that she wouldn''t pry any further. "Sure, let''s go there." And she didn''t, but definitely not because she was tactful... The truth was she simply didn''t care enough to get interested in some obviously sad memory of a guy she had no connection with - except the one made up by the system... The two of them continued the exploration undetected for a few more minutes before arriving at Mason''s hiding spot. Only when they both were inside, Cranberry did let go of Mason''s wrist. "It''s a room of the maid who was nursing me." The young man said closing the door. He then walked towards the window and opened the curtains, letting the daylight illuminate the bookshelf on the opposite wall. "She really loved books and used to read them to me when I was little..." Mason approached the bookshelf and gently caressed the books on the highest shelf. "I''ve been told that my mother died giving birth to me... and that maid... it will sound really silly, but when I try to imagine my mother in my mind I always have the face of that maid..." Mason smiled softly. Funnily enough, the books he was touching at the moment were all in old elvish... Actually, every book on that shelf was in elvish. "Ha. I understand." Cranberry nodded mechanically while looking at the window and tapping her finger on her waist impatiently. "You know... I actually..." Mason started speaking but he hesitated and blushed. "You know about the ridiculous rumors that some people keep spreading about my family, right? That we kidnap elves and steal their beauty?" He asked. "Yeah, I do." Cranberry nodded. "...because of something like that, the elves don''t seem to like us at all... right?" "..." He asked awkwardly and Cranberry just silently waited for him to continue. "The-the thing was... that maid was an elf. I''m sure of it. I remember her long ears, and how she used topare them to mine... she seemed to really love it... and always kept saying that I have my father''s eyes..." Mason fidgeted. "Oh...?" For the first time since they entered the room, Cranberry looked straight at him. "You see... I''ve always been told that my mother died giving birth to me... but could it be that... I''m that maid''s child...?" Mason asked anxiously ncing at Cranberry. It definitely wasn''t something that should be discussed with just anyone during a casual conversation. But for Mason, who had the fake memories imnted by the system, Cranberry wasn''t a stranger but a friend close enough to be treated like family. Therefore, he shared his suspicion with someone else for the first time. "That would exin so much...! Why everyone treats me like a stranger! Why my father acts so cold towards me, but I often see him watching me from a distance with such gentle eyes...! If I was a child of a mistress, an elf no less, that would exin everything!" Now it was clear that Mason wanted to take Cranberry to this room just so he could share what he couldn''t write in letters in fear of being discovered. "Because of those nasty rumors the elves dislike our family, and many of our nsmen me the elves as the source of those false rumors! It''s a vicious cycle of hate!" "Haa..." Cranberry let out a half-assed gasp and nodded. It really seemed like Mason had no idea that all of those rumors he called false, were in fact true... "I suspect that the elven maid, my actual mother, was forced to leave the mansion because..." *CRUSH* A sudden explosioning from the outside shook made the windows tremble and caused Mason to stop talking. "What was that...?" He asked fearfully. But at that moment Cranberry grabbed his wrist again and pulled him towards the door. "We''re going to the basement." She dered with an evil grind. "B-big sister...?" Mason trembled, unable to oppose the red-haired girl. "That maid you think was your mother... was she pretty?" Cranberry asked while pulling him through the corridors leading to the staircase. "Was she...? Of course, she was! She was an elf!" Mason furrowed his brows and scoffed as if Cranberry was making fun of him. "And one day she suddenly disappeared?" The girl asked and felt that the young man flinched. "How did you...?" He asked confused. "Let''s check out the basement then... I have a feeling that we might find some clues about her there~" Cranberry hummed, smirking non-stop. "You...! You think so...?" At first, Mason wanted to deny the possibility, but then he furrowed his brows. It was something that he never considered... but what if...? "Big sister, do you really think so...?" He asked while they were descending the stairs. "Definitely~" Cranberry answered without facing Mason - and her smile when she said that could only be described as ''viinous... Chapter 138: In the basement (1)

Chapter 138: In the basement (1)

"Say, Mace, is that door booby-trapped?" Cranberry asked while carefully examining the old, unassuming door supposedly leading to the basement. "I... I don''t think so...? I think it''s only locked, my fathe... big sister, what are you...?!" Mason tilted his head trying to remember if ever saw or heard something about that, but then he witnessed Cranberry raising her weapon and activate the skill that caused it to start glowing. Her question was just a formality, even if the brown-haired young man would swear on his life that there was nothing wrong with the door, she wouldn''t believe him anyway. *SMASH* ...and she simply busted open the door while using the counter skill... "Big sister! What are you doing?!" Mason gasped in shock. Cranberry just nced at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Now there will be trouble whether we go in there or not. So let''s just go." She smirked and pulled on Mason''s wrist. "...haa..." Seeing no message popping up, she let out a small, annoyed noise, and confidently descended the well-lit spiral flight of stairs. "The faster we will be done with this, the better. " The red-haired girl dered furrowing her brows. "Y-yeah! That''s a great idea!" Mason truly was an innocent guy... He thought that her mentioning time had something to do with Cranberry not wanting to make things too troublesome for him, and not her getting annoyed at theck of quest progression... ... The two of them had to walk quite a lot of steps down, it seemed like the basement was less of a basement and more of an underground bunker with how far below the ground they had to descend. Finally, they both arrived in front of the sturdy-looking ck door with thick metal bs barring further ess. "Big sister, after all, we should..." *SMASH* Mason tried to talk Cranberry out of her risky idea onest time, but the red-haired girl simply repeated the same action she did on the door upstairs. She broke it while using the counter. /Optional quest special timed quest unlocked /Servant receives a special timed quest Helping the master Keep the Envys'' nsmen away from the basement (30:00) /(29:59) /(29:58) The only difference this time was that the metal door did not turn into splinters as the wooden one has done before. "...oh...?" Cranberry raised her brows reading through the system message as the broken metal door tumbled across a long hallway and crashed down by the opposite wall at the other end. The hallway itself was very wide and well lit, let''s just like the staircase. Thanks to that, all of the cells lined up alongside it were perfectly visible from the very start. "Wh-what are those...?" Mason noticed the sturdy metal bars blocking each and every cell, and trembled. But whether he liked it or not, Cranberry was going in and pulling him along. "...!" It tuned out that none of the cells were vacant either... Each had a tenant. And each of them had some sort of trait or traits that would put them below the beauty standard of the world above. Terrible skin condition,zy eyes, buck-teeth so big they stuck out of their lips - those were the least problematic but mostmon issues, but the diversion didn''t just end there. Many of those prisoners had visible physical deformations, some more serious than others. Cranberry was looking around with coldposure. Some of the prisoners didn''t even react at their arrival, while many tried to actively hide their appearances in shame. All of them looked like ugly humans, but at the same time, each of them had long pointy ears. /Quest progression *find the missing elves (60%pletion - hidden affinity unlock) /Tier 6th reward received /Master''s hidden affinity unlocked Violence (level 1) /Servant hidden affinity unlocked /Error /All of the servant''s hidden affinities had been unlocked /Calcting... /Servant''s 6th tier reward changed /Servant''s title upgrade Venomancer (level 4) All poison type skills level up Base status points increased But ording to the system message that revealed itself to Cranberry, they weren''t humans at all. "..." Mason raised his hand and touched his own ears. They weren''t as long as the people in cells, but they still liked extremely simr. "Big sister... are... are those members of the Envy family who are just like me...?" He asked,pletely missing the correct answer. "..." Cranberry only nced at him briefly and then rolled her eyes. "Lairs, are you in here?" Instead, she called loudly, observing the elves'' reaction. Every single one of them that was in Cranberry''s sight, turned away from her and started staring at the stone floor. That wasn''t a reaction that the red-haired girl had hoped for. "...fuck...!" But then a small panicked voice and haphazard movement seeminglying from the cell furthest away from the entry was perfectly clear in the dead silence that befell the hallway. And it was a reasonably familiar voice that had cursed at Cranberry many times in the past. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out, let go of Mason''s wrist, and walked towards that cell. "Big sister, what is going on...?!" The brown-haired young man was spinning in circles, pale as a ghost, looking all the deformed prisoners with shock, fear, and confusion mixed together. "Who are all these people? Are they patients? Are they criminals? Why are they here?" He sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. "You have a mouth, don''t you? Ask them yourself, idiot." The red-haired girl furrowed her brows while her mouth twisted with anger as she red back at her supposed best friend. "...!" Mason flinched and took a step back as if he was considering running away from the basement. His body trembled, but in the end, he stayed, covering in fear in the middle of the corridor. Meanwhile, Cranberry was already by the bars of the veryst cell looking inside with an expressionless face. A bowl with food and another one with water left on the floor by the bars as if meant for some stray animal. A small hole in the indented stone floor that could only possibly serve as a toilet. And a shaking bundle of nkets huddled in the opposite corner. "Ha. I know that it''s you Lairs. Come on. I still have some more exploring to do, so we don''t have time for ying hide and seek. We''re leaving." *SMASH* Cranberry called out and destroyed the bars with a single swing of the baseball bat. But even so, the bundle of nkets didn''t react, it only continued to tremble. "Haa...? Don''t tell me they stole your hearing too or something?" Cranberry scoffed and stepped inside the cell. "FUCK NO!" The person hiding under the nket flinched and screamed in a pitiful high-pitched voice filled with despair. It was definitely Lairs... Chapter 139: In the basement (2)

Chapter 139: In the basement (2)

"Haaaaa..." Cranberry let out a deep sigh and shook her head. "What is this about now? Will you try to convince me that you aren''t Lairs?" She snorted looking down at the bundle of nkets. "...fuck... youngdy, i-it''s not like that at all..." The hidden elven mage shook her head and answered in a dispirited voice. "Ha?" A short scoff from Cranberry made her flinch and the missing member of the Dandelions continued. "...this... the thing is... fuck me... Youngdy, the thing is that I''m fucking sick, alright? Fucking everyone here is sick...!" Lairs''s voice was trembling just like her body. Truth to be told, she sounded a bit odd. As if the words were forcing their way out of her mouth whether she wanted it or not. Cranberry straightened her back and red at her, as if she wanted to burn through the nket covering the elven woman, with her sight alone. The red-haired girl heard a tone like that before. Many times actually... "The elves... we can sometimes contract a fucking terrible disease that turns us into this fucking ugly ass freaks..." Lairs took down the nket and turned to face Cranberry. The red-haired girl didn''t flinch, she only raised her brow looking at thepletely change visage of the elven mage. Her beautiful, long silky jet-ck hair was no more, instead, she had thin curly brownish hair and at least three bald spots... It looked like her skin was covered in a rash and it was peeling off in many ces on her body, including the side of her neck and her nose. Her left eye was covered by a milk-like membrane and looking in the opposite direction than her clear right eye, and even that eye had a constantly twitching eyelid. She also somehow developed an enormous overbite, her left arm was shorter than her right arm her left hand, and was missing two fingers and all fingernails. Even her posture was terrible as if she had severe problems with her back, and her legs didn''t really seem to work either. "T-the Envy... Envys are researching a fucking cure for us... we all are... staying here on our fucking own..." The changed Lairs spoke mechanically while looking away. "Big sister? Do you know someone here? I''ve heard something about a cu-AAAHHH!" Mason ended up scuttling to Cranberry''s side, and asked, but as soon as his eyes led on the elf on the floor, he screamed and backed off. "...fuck...!" Lairs cursed, clenching her deformed fist and looking away in shame. "Ha." Cranberry smirked and nced back at the other cells. Every elf in the hearing range that the red-haired girl saw, was looking at the floor and blocking their ears. A bit odd behavior... They couldn''t show their unwillingness to join the conversation any more clearly than that. "Really now..." Cranberry furrowed her brows, noticing something odd. Lairs''s cell was thest one on the right wall, but what the red-haired girl failed to notice earlier because of how the hallway was constructed with a slight curve, was that the corridor continued further. The thing was it was a short branch, there was no more cell per se there, but it ended in a simple wooden door blocked by the cell''s sturdy metal bars. That door seemed like a normal bedroom door, though it had no window so there was no way to figure out what was actually on the inside. If this was an escape route, why was it barred like a cell? What was the purpose of mounting those in front of the door...? "A-ah... sorry for acting so rude just now..." Mason reflected on his act and hurriedly bowed apologetically to the cowering Lairs, causing Cranberry to stop paying attention to the suspicious door. "..." But other than that, the red-haired girl didn''t respond back to him in any way. "S-so my family is actually helping elves... I never knew! Ah! Does that mean that the rumors about elves getting kidnapped are all about my family gathering you for treatment?" The more Mason talked, the more Lairs was trembling. Cranberry could clearly see how the elven mage was clenching her fists and gritting her teeth... "...yes... fucking exactly..." That''s why it was so odd to hear Lairs confirm Mason''s naive conclusion. "So my father is not only treating the mysterious disease but researching the one elves have! Maybe those are even rted...!" Mason seemed ted. "Ha...!" Cranberry scoffed and shook her head. Many things still needed confirmation, mainly because only a few of them made sense. But if she was right... Cranberry crouched by Lairs and put her hand on the trembling elf''s shoulder. "Aren''t you worried about how the rest of your party feels?" She asked. "I fucking am..." Lairs muscles rxed and she responded sounding so defeated that Mason started tearing up. "Don''t worry, I''m sure my father will find the cure soon!" He said in a hopeful voice. "Your mother is supposed to be here too, did you two meet already?" Cranberry asked, treating Mason as if he wasn''t even there. "The fuck?! How, the fuck, do you know about that?!" "...!" Lairs flinched and stared at Cranberry, wide-eyed from shock - her shout made Mason jump. "Oh, we have caught one of the guys who abducted you before he could escape, tortured him, and learned a bit of detail. Not much because he died in the middle of the hearing, but still." Cranberry answered without any hesitation, looking straight into Lairs''s eyes. "...!" "Big sister Cranberry! You''re not serious, are you?!" There it was! For a split second Lairs''s changed face brightened with joy, before she suddenly lowered her head, hiding that expression. If Cranberry would blink or gasped and panicked just like Mason did, she would have missed it. "Big sister! Don''t even joke like th..." "Shut up." Mason was getting worked up but was cut off with a single ice-coldmand. "You were abducted, right, Lairs?" Cranberry asked while still holding elf''s shoulder. She could feel how tense Lairs muscles were, just as if she was consciously trying to fight off some higher power taking over her body. "...no, I fucking wasn''t. They, fucking, had to act fast so my fucking disease won''t affect other elves...!" Lairs fidgeted and exined in a pained voice. "Lairs... what other elves? You were traveling with a group of humans and an undead, through the territory of the Envy family, which is well known for having no elvish poption." Cranberry tilted her head and asked, hiding the existence of the - now exterminated - elven vige. "...! That...! That fucking disease might be dangerous for humans too..." Lairs responded, with muscles stiff from fighting to retake control over her body. "Could it be that the elven disease is the same disease that my family is suffering from...?!" Not wanting to make Cranberry angry again, Mason focused back on the topic that the girl has been tolerating up until that point. Although the fear in his voice and constant nces towards Cranberry made it clear that he didn''t just forget the part about torturing and death of someone that could very likely be his family member. "Yes. That''s exactly right." Another voice joined their conversation, and a tall ck-haired man with piercing green eyes walked on the three of them. "That''s why neither of you two should be here." The man looked down on them all and frowned. "F-father?!" Mason gasped and hurriedly stepped in front of crouched Cranberry, shielding her from his parent. Chapter 140: In the basement (3)

Chapter 140: In the basement (3)

"I got so worked up over who might have broken in here, but it turns out it really was just the Prides'' brat... I was sure that the course puppet was trying to fool me." Lord Envy furrowed his brows and scoffed, looking over Mason''s shoulder and ring at Cranberry. The red-haired girl''s eyes became ice cold and she clenched her hand on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white, readying herself to strike... "You got yourself a strong puppet, but I still don''t approve of you being friends with my son." Lord Envy made a sour expression. "Must I remind you that even though Prides are still one of the main families, the difference between us is iparable." Now it was Cranberry''s turn to furrow her brows. Something about Envy''s words didn''t match the situation. Cranberry was about to bust his head open with the glowing baseball bat, and he was treating her like some pesky child caught during mischief... "Tsk...! You have your father''s eyes... it''s been three years since you got almost wiped out, but you haven''t learned any humility, huh?" Lord Envy shook his head with disgust. "Father, how could you say that...! Cranberry''s mother d..." Mason gasped and moved to the side doing his best topletely block the red-haired girl. He stuttered when he himself referenced the night of the hungry wolves event and fearfully nced at Cranberry. "...died that night! Why are you so insensitive?!" Mason gulped down his saliva and finished the sentence with a determined expression. ...then Cranberry realized what was going on, and she almostughed out loud. It was the same situation as with the Brave Swords. After the system reset, the whole world was considering Cranberry to be some useless spoiled girl with no prospects whatsoever. And although she wasn''t hiding her "new" behavior, still not that many people actually believed the witness testimonies. Lord Envy wasn''t acting weird, he was simply acting exactly as the system made him think - as of a brat, not threatening in the slightest! With that revtion, she could almost forgive his inexcusable act. Almost... But for the time being, she decided it was more profitable to let him live. After all, the exploration of the mansion still wasn''tpleted for some reason... And who would know this locale better than the head of the family himself...? So instead of attacking, Cranberry loosened her grip and looked to the side making a grumpy expression. "Mason, I know that you like this girl, but she isn''t worthy of you." Lord Envy seemed satisfied with Cranberry''s reaction and looked his son in the eyes. "...?!" There was not even a speck of the usual coldness in his voice either, which caused Mason to flinch in confusion. "After hearing your little talk, I can already tell you that she''s a liar, and a poor one at that. But..." Lord Envy smirked but then his face turned gentle and he looked at the door at the end of the branching hallway. "...this may be an excellent opportunity..." The man muttered to himself and walked towards the door. Then he waved at Mason to follow him. "You. Prides'' girl. I''ll give you a chance. Go join your corpse puppet upstairs. If the two of you will somehow manage to live long enough for the two of us to return, I will forget this trespassing." Lord Envy scoffed at Cranberry without sparing her a nce. "...Mace, you heard your father, go." "...!" Cranberry lightly pushed forward the hesitant Mason, and almost send him flying. Not bothering to say anything else, the red-haired girl simply stood up and walked towards the exit, as if she really intended to do what Lord Envy told her. "Big sister..." "Son,e here." Mason was moving back and forth, unable to chose who he should follow, but it was his father, and not Cranberry, who turned around and beckoned him once again. As for Cranberry, she simply stopped in front of the empty doorframe, away from the field of view of two Envys, and waited. The father and son got in front of the normal-looking door behind the bars. Lord Envy raised his hand and knocked. "Coming~!" A voice, that sounded way too happy considering the ce, called from the inside and a sound of rustling and quick footsteps followed. Soon after the door opened and a woman showed up. With a petite frame and long, dark-blond hair she was incredibly beautiful, like a fairy from a painting. Even her simple clothes couldn''t hide that beauty and ended up only making her shine even more. She simply couldn''t be a normal human... ...and she wasn''t. The long pointy ears sticking through her flowy hair made it abundantly clear that she was an elf. "Rambutan!" The elven woman gasped. Her ears twitched and her face brightened while looking the tall ck-haired man in the eyes. "I-I mean, lord Envy! Hello, what brings you here?" But as soon as she realized that he wasn''t alone, the elven woman hurriedly changed the way she addressed him and switched to the polite speech. "Hello, Sk. Thanks to some unforeseen but in the end lucky circumstances, I was finally able to bring him here without causing an outcry of the rest of my family." Lord Envy exined and put his hand on Mason''s shoulder. As for Mason himself, he was standing still, speechless and wide-eyed, staring at the happy elf behind the bars. It was the elven maid from his memories "Him...?" The elven woman, Sk, tilted her head in slight confusion and looked at the young man. Her owns ears twitched when she noticed his peculiar pointy ears, and when she looked into his eyes she flinched and covered her mouth in shock. "M-Mason...?!" She gasped and the tips of her ears dropped. She looked at lord Envy with big, teary eyes. "Rambutan... is... is he really...?" Sk started trembling. "Yes. That''s our Mason." Lord Envy confirmed, nodding his head with a gentle smile. "Mason...! My baby!" Sk started crying and outstretched her hands. *ng* "U-kyaah!" Without paying attention to the bars she tried to embrace the brown-haired young man, but obviously, the metal stopped her and she ended up letting out a cute pitiful noise. "Sk!" "...!" Both lord Envy and Mason quickly reacted and approached the bars. "Sk, you have to be more careful..." Lord Envy smiled gently, putting his hands between the bars and delicately brushing aside Sk''s hair, checking for any injury. "Are... are you my... mother...?" Mason fidgeted and asked shyly. Sk and Rambutan looked at each other in surprise and then back at Mason. "Mason...! You recognized me...?!" "Clever boy." They both showed great joy in their reactions... But there was someone who saw the touching scene and didn''t seem moved at all. "Fucking... treacherous whore...! " Lairs, who had a perfect view of what was happening, sucked in the air and muttered furiously under her breath, biting her lips until they started bleeding. "...?" And although the little happy family of three didn''t hear her, Cranberry, with her ears glowing with the detection skill, certainly did. Chapter 141: In the basement (4)

Chapter 141: In the basement (4)

Cranberry smirked and silently walked towards the branching hallway. "Haa..." She peeked over the corner and breathed out rather mockingly. The little happy reunited family wasn''t blocking the doorpletely so it was easy to see behind them. And so Cranberry, and Lairs, could have a good look at Sk''s ''cell''. It was a bedroom. A high-ss, luxuriously decorated bedroom with all of theforts anyone could have wished for. Cranberry looked back at the conditions the other elves were forced to live in, and almost busted intoughter. The difference in treatment was so stark that it was straight-upughable. Cranberry shook her head. After seeing something like that could anyone actually believe the whole "we''re trying to treat their illness" bullshit? Still, if some random person would listen to the elves'' exnation, they wouldn''t be able to disregard the words of the "patients" themselves. But Cranberry wasn''t just some random person. She was from the Pride family. And she knew exactly how someone acts and speaks when someone with system privilege is forcing them to obey against their will. After all, her mother used the unique privilege of the avatar of pride, to force her to obey her on so many asions that she eventually developed a counter skill... That''s why Cranberry was one hundred percent sure that everything that Lairs have said about the Envys, the illness, and a research fo the cure, was false. But then, howe the elves had to obey the Envy family? Only the avatar of pride had the privilege of controlling others, and that only applied to those who shared Pride''s blood... Then, was it some sort of special trait that Envys managed to keep hidden? It was possible, but something about that didn''t seem right... For once, if they could control the elves, why they had to kidnap them, and not simply made theme to them? Could they not force the elves to obey thempletely? Instead of getting answers, more and more questions were piling up in Cranberry''s head. "...haa..." The red-haired girl sighed and nce at the timer counting down in the upper right corner of her field of view. There was still some time. She decided to give the three some time. At least until the timer will get to 0:00 before she will force lord Envy to show her all the secrets of the mansion before she''ll kill him. After witnessing the indifferent reaction that lord Envy showed while talking to her, she realized that neither of the doors nor the metal bars blocking the cells were anything special. Thankfully she wasn''t using any mana-hungry skills and didn''t feel too bad about the waste -? better safe than sorry after all. "Say, Lairs. That savior of yours. He has to be pretty strong, right? I''ve been wondering what level he must be to perform the treatment." "..." Cranberry asked but the changed elven mage only lowered her head and stared at the stone floor. "Ha. So it''s amand that stops you from disclosing any potentially harmful information, huh?" "...!" Cranberry hummed happily seeing Lairs''s body flinch before the system could force her to stay still. "Hey, let me tell you something." The red-haired girl leaned over Lairs and whispered. "I don''t care how much you guys hate the Envy family and the avatar of envy. That fake-faced piece of shit mocked me and my family. I will be the one to blow his head off~" Cranberry hummed happily and straightened her back. With a rough n of action decided, there was nothing left for Cranberry but to wait. She wasn''t going to bother to look at the loving family scene ying out a few feet away from her, and instead, she started looking at the cells of the changed elves. "...ha...?" And then she noticed an odd pattern. The elves were really dedicated to blocking any sound, one of them straight up jammed his fingers in so deep that something inside must have ruptured and blood was dripping down his deformed face and then on the floor. "..." Cranberry closed her mouth and carefully took a look at every single one of them... ... Every elf who was blocking their ears and looking away wasn''t just gawking at the floor or their own knees. Every single one of them was intensely staring at a single point. An unassuming piece of wall right by the entrance, or rather, a single ring with a burning torch. As the red-haired girl approached it, all elves hurriedly looked away, undoubtedly pulled down by the systemmand. Cranberry carefully examined the wall and... There was a draft. Just a small one, and if she didn''t put her hand right by the stone, she would have missed it. The basement was underground, there should be at least some airflow to allow the prisoners to breathe, but... not through that wall. There were outlets leading in the air, but they were really small and located inside each cell... "..." Cranberry took a deep breath and grabbed the ring holding a torch. She didn''t want to break the mechanism so she didn''t just pull it in any random direction using her full strength. Instead, she delicately tested it by turning and twisting it in search of the smallest resistance. Finally... *click* *hshaa* After she turned the ring in a clockwise motion, something inside the wall clicked and a piece of the wall opened seamlessly with only the smallest sound of flowing air showing a staircase spiraling down intoplete darkness. "...if, by any chance, none of you had received a reward form the system for that show of pure will, I swear on the Pride''s name, I will make sure all of you will not only survive but thrive as long as you won''t turn against me..." Cranberry dered in a small voice and took out the burning torch from the ring. "Lairs, repeat my words to themter." She made sure to say it loud enough for the fourth Dandelion to hear it, while making an evil grin, and stepped into the unknown. "...if you will save us from this fucking fate, why the fuck would any elf want to go against you...?" Lairs closed her eyes and mumbled in a pitiful voice, pressing her itchy rash-covered forehead against the cool stones of her open cell. Chapter 142: In the basement (5)

Chapter 142: In the basement (5)

The spiral staircase was around the same length as the one leading from the surface to the basement, but the descending felt as if it took much much longer. If not for the timer that appeared for the rewardless quest that Zombie received, Cranberry would assume she was already walking for over an hour and not mere minutes. With the overwhelming darkness pressing on the weak torchlight, Cranberry started regretting not putting an effort to develop the night vision skill. The enhanced hearing she got instead seemedpletely useless and only made the cracking of the fire loud enough to cause a headache. Still, with the minimal distraction from the outside world - after deactivating the hearing skill, she had every opportunity she wanted to figure out where the spiral stairs were leading her to and try to prepare ordingly. She ended up with three most likely options: Treasury - the ndest and least likely of the three, but a possibility nheless. It was usible for the Envy to hide their most valuable treasures somewhere no one would even consider looking. An even more secure prison for some extremely important captives that couldn''t be put together with the rest. Or... And that option was derived from both previous options. Something that allowed Envy to influence the system to allow them to control the elves to a certain degree. It could be an artifact or... "Ugh...!" Cranberry, engrossed in her thoughts, failed to notice that there were no more steps going down and she arrived at the bottom of the tform but tried to take a step down anyway... ...which resulted in an unpleasant shock spreading through her whole body... "...good thing that Zombie couldn''t see that..." The red-haired girl sighed with relief and looked around and illuminating her surroundings with the torch held up high. "...?" She ended up stunned when she turned around and saw a pale greenish-white lighting from a small passage. Right before it, there was a metal ring hanging off the wall. At first, Cranberry thought that it was something connected with the secret door upstairs, but after she tried to turn it to check whether something happened, she realized that it was just a ring meant for holding a torch and nothing else. She leaned forward, focusing on the greenish light in an attempt to recognize its origin... The only thing that she could think of was fluorescent mushrooms... "..." Cranberry nced at the torch and then at the ring by the passage. "Haa..." The ring had to be there for a reason, and it looked like the greenish light was bright enough to allow her to find her way inside... So she put the torch in the ring and moved through the passage. After a few steps, the narrow passage widened into arge circr cavern... /Quest progress update *investigate the Envy''s residence pleted) (70%pletion - Rarest title upgrade) /Tier 7th reward granted /Master''s title upgrade Beloved child of pride ?? Pride''s sessor /Servant title upgrade Lord of Pride ?? Prince of Pride "Ha ha!" The moment the red-haired girl took another step, the message she was waiting for had finally popped up, and she couldn''t hold back a burst of happyughter. How could this be a reward for some random optional quest? Those rewards werepletely insane! For a second she felt the urge to run back upstairs and confront Mason''s father to fulfill the next part of the quest as soon as possible just to see what the next level reward was, but she managed to stop herself. After all... The green lighting from a whitish veiny pir in the center looked rather ominous - it might as well turn out to have the connection with the secret of Envy, and that was worth getting checked first. The timer for Zombie''s quest had only nine minutes left anyway, and it was almost certain that once it finishes, her cute blue undead would run to her as fast as he will be able to. And knowing him, after not seeing Cranberry for almost half an hour, he should be on the verge of losing control and about to start a rampage. That meant that the confident lord Envy might as well get wiped out before the red-haired girl climbs up the stairs... Cranberry smirked and nced back over her shoulder as if she expected to see the silhouette of her servant at the door. Obviously, he wasn''t there, and instead, Cranberry realized that she made the correct choice leaving the torch behind. Why? Because while the center of the cavern was illuminated by the eerie pir, the walls were pitch ck, and only the flickering light in the distance was showing her the way back to the spiral stairs. "...haa..." She let out a long breath and shook her head to focus back on what was in front of her. "...you''re the person who had forced the system to rewrite the world setting..." "...?!" A weak raspy voice came from the pir and caused Cranberry to instantly prepare her weapon for a counter. Was it a guardian? Or maybe the voice was just a distraction and various types of traps wereying in wait for her? It was also possible that she had multiple Sloth-made cannons aimed at her that very moment. After all, if even some forest elves could get their hands on one, what could stop someone from the Envy family from getting several? /The administrator ~Saint~ requests ess to master''s yer info /Calcting... /Eternal servant magic (level 3) detected /Superbia skill detected /ess denied Messages that showed up caused even Cranberry to tremble from shock. "...most peculiar... even in this changed world, that skill shouldn''t be unlocked before the very end..." The voice sighed with exhaustion. "Administrator? Saint?! You... no, you cannot be...!" Cranberry clenched her hands on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Are you... the kidnapped spirit God, Saint...?" She asked in disbelief, slowly circling around the pir. "..." The silence felt different as if the voice didn''t want to answer. The red-haired girl continued slowly approaching until she was close enough to recognize that the veiny pir was in fact numerous roots covered in fluorescent mold clumped together. And in the very middle of it, as if coddled by all the roots, lied a white empty shedding of some sort of human-insect hybrid. It didn''t look alive. Cranberry furrowed her brows, anxiously looking around for any other ce where the voice could havee from, but then the husk''s mouth opened like a gaping wound, revealing more of the molded hollow insides. "...I am thest living administrator of the system, Saint..." And a hoarse tired voice echoed through the shedding and escaped from both the mouth and the torn back. Chapter 143: In the basement (6)

Chapter 143: In the basement (6)

"Haa... does that mean that the legend aboutdy Envy abducting you is false then? Do you even know about that legend in the first ce?" Cranberry sighed and asked, squinting her eyes in suspicion. "..." Once again the answer didn''te immediately, just as if Saint had a hard time making wordse out from his dead-looking shell of a body. "..." Cranberry was also silent, but in her case she was focusing on the surroundings, preparing to counter any surprise attacks that mighte at her from the darkness. Nothing seemed off for the moment so she cautiously stepped forward. "...the legend about me is... mostly false..." "Mostly...?" Saint suddenly spoke, getting rmed Cranberry''s attention. "...that woman... your legend suggests that she had abducted me around the same time that the six monstrously strong yers went against the six administrators... but that isn''t true... she..." Saint stopped talking as if they had to recharge their energy, and Cranberry walked a bit closer. "...targeted me only after she saw the great benefits the other yers received from taking down their administrators..." The empty husk sounded angry, but there was no passion in their voice as if the fires of hatred burnt out through the years, and only lukewarm ash remained in their ce. "...the silly little legend, about me being sneaked away from my bedchamber while I slept, under the noses of other administrators, was a lie that woman made up... my so-called abduction..." Saint had to take another break before he could continue, but this time he started speaking much faster than before. It seemed like he was slowly getting used to talking with someone after the long years in istion. "...the truth is... what happened to me was just an event orchestrated by the system... I should have known that it would happen... I trusted the system''s will... and didn''t know what suffering would that bring me..." The anger in their raspy voice changed into self-loathing. "...if I knew what would happen to me... I would have fought with all my might to change my fate even a little bit... just as you did..." Saint let out a tired sigh, but if he wanted to gain some empathy, he picked the worst possible target. "I was under the impression that the gods, or how you call it, the administrators, had the power to change the system to their will?" Cranberry spoke, checking the countdown in the corner of her vision. There were still four whole minutes until it would reach zero - which felt a bit odd to Cranberry, with all the lengthy breaks that Saint took while talking, she almost expected it to have finished already... "...the administrators didn''t create the system and could never go against the grander n... we were only tasked by the system to supervise the specific fields, and were given the right to ru-... to guide a selected group... my task was to watch over the elves, and therefore they are the only race I can directly influence with..." The husk answered in a pained voice. "Seeing them getting routinely abducted, stripped from their beauty, and imprisoned, I would say you aren''t doing a very good job with ruling them. Whoops, I meant with guiding them." Cranberry smirked mockingly. "..." And it looked like she struck the nerve. "...bringing down the administrator does grant the yer some benefits, but it doesn''t grant them the same privileges that the administrator had... but that Envy woman did things differently..." "...?" The amount of self-loathing in Saint''s voice increased by arge margin causing Cranberry to raise her brow curiously. "...using my elves as the bait, she ambushed me and by using her unique skills, she managed to steal just a tiny bit of my power... just a tiny bit... but it was still enough for the system to count it as her victory...? most of my privileges got locked out... except the ones that she had stolen..." "Ha..." Cranberry furrowed her brows and nodded, the countdown was still at the three-minute mark... "So what you are saying, is that the avatar of Envy can bend the elves to their will?" The red-haired girl tilted her head and smirked. "..." The husk didn''t answer. Cranberry took a small step forward. "...in a small way, they can... it''s a stolen power, they can only partially rewrite the race''s setting, but as long as the power isn''t fully theirs, they won''t be able to make it permanent..." Saint exined with a hint of joy in their raspy voice. "...but thanks to that, Envy''s steal-type skills are much more efficient on my elves..." They added. /Quest progression *learn the secret of Envy pleted) (80%pletion - all status points +25%) /Tier 8th reward granted /Master''s base status points greatly increased /Servant''s base status points greatly increased "Haa... I would prefer to have a proper sit-down and learn everything the way it really went, but I guess this has to do..." Cranberry let out a deep sigh and shook her head in disappointment. "..." Thest administrator became silent. "..." And so did Cranberry, only with a mocking smile stered on her face. "...what do you mean, yer...?" Funnily enough, it was Saint who broke the silence first. "I''m saying that I will begrudgingly settle with learning those half-truths since they do seem to be real enough to trigger the questpletion." The girl shrugged her shoulders and enlightened the confused administrator. "...you...!" "Ha ha! Haa? Are you mad that your pathetic trick was seen through?" When Saint''s voice became dyed by real anger, Cranberryughed in delight. "..." Not even Saint stopped talking, but even the gaping mouth of his empty husk closed. "You were too impatient and made some mistakes, but I guess that''s what centuries of imprisonment would do to you~" Cranberry giggled yfully, not dropping her guard for even a second. Then, she suddenly pointed her thumb at her right eye. "You''ve said that you''ve lost all the privileges? But you''re the one who makes the quest timer loop, aren''t you? The timer for my Zombie''s rewardless quest. Just now it went from 1:00 to 1:59, again. You seriously thought that talking only right when the loop happened would distract me enough so I wouldn''t notice?" The lighthearted feeling surrounding her disappeared. "..." Saint refused toment. "And then what was that system message informing me that you''ve tried to check my yer''s info? Hallucination? Or maybe your powers momentarily returned?" Cranberry''s voice was cold as ice. "You would either start talking before the timer would loop, or when I got closer to you. You moldy bastard, you are leading me in." She raised her head up high and red at the glowing husk with disgust. "...the descendants of that Envy woman all know to never approach me... because even theughable EXP that yers give would be enough to revitalize me enough to break through the measly chains their ancestor put on me...!" The empty husk not only talked again, but it also moved and stood up in its rooty cradle and stared down at Cranberry with its empty eyeholes. "Haa? I gave you the benefit of a doubt since you could speak, but it seems that you really are just as brainless as you look." "..." The red-haired girl scoffed mockingly, while the moldy shedding''s glow intensified, it looked exactly like a light of the active skill. "Haa... idiot..." Cranberry shook her head and sighed. "Listen, Saint. I''ll give you a choice." Despite all the warning signs, she seemed to drop her guard and lifted up her index finger. "You can wait for me to go back onto the surface and kill the avatar of Envy who is in possession of your so-called missing powers. After that, you will be free and able to restore all the damage they''ve done to your favorite elves through the years..." She dered. "Or - if you choose to attack me - I will kill you. But don''t despair. You''ve said that yourself - Envy cannot save the changes to the race setting - Their steal-type skills cannot exist without an original owner. Without you, the elves will be able to free themselves just as good." Cranberry raised her middle finger. "...or I can continue with my original n..." *RUMBLE* Husk''s mouth tore open forming the creepiest smile and the whole cave trembled. Countless roots, those fluorescent as well as the in ones erupted from every square foot of the cave and shoot right at the distracted girl. "...I WILL NEVER TRUST A PLAYER AGAIN! NOW DIE SO I CAN BE FREE...!" Saint''s voice raised in a mad song as the roots reached their target, destroying everything in their path. "...?!" But when no EXP was gained and Saint''sugh stopped. As their head was raised, Saint could clearly see the red-haired girl materializing above him from the thin air after a perfectly timed blink skill. Her body, eyes, and even the weapon she was wielding were shining with the blinding white light of multiple active skills. The girl realized that thest administrator had noticed her and a joyful smile bloomed on her face. "Wrong choice." She said and swung down. Chapter 144: In the basement (7)

Chapter 144: In the basement (7)

"S-so it was like that...!" Mason sobbed, overwhelmed by emotions. His father had exined everything to him. How the Envy family took on the arduous and rewardless task of protecting the elven poption from the mysterious sickness. How, during the research, some of their family members got infected as well. The sickness was supposed to be quite easy to heal for humans, but to this very day, only a single elf waspletely healed with no rebound. Mason''s mother, Sk. Mason''s father, Rambutan, was the one who made the breakthrough and helped her. During the treatment, the two of them grew closer and ended up falling in love. That''s how Mason himself ended up being born. Of course, it all happened after Rambutan''s first wife had already passed away. But then why Sk had to stay hidden away in the basement behind the bars? Although lord Envy was sacrificing all of his free time to research the cure for the elven disease, not many of their family members shared his enthusiasm. Some of them had no connection with the elves but still ended up contracting the disease, and although it was always treated in a timely manner, it wasn''t the most pleasant experience... ...and they would put the me on the elves. It didn''t matter that Sk was the first elf to be fully cured. It didn''t matter that Rambutan was pulling money out of his own pocket to continue the research. The dissatisfied members of the Envy family raisedints against their current head. And since the avatar of envy didn''t have absolute control over their family like the avatar of pride, Rambutan had to vastly decrease the scope of his actions. ...as well as putting Sk in hiding in order to protect her from the angered nsmen... But the same couldn''t have been done for Mason. So instead of being the shining beacon of hope for the coexistence between the elves and humans, the young half-elf became a punching bag for his cousins. Rambutan, watched closely by other influential nsmen, was forced to stay away from his beloved son, despite his own feelings. ... With no one there to put the tant lies into question, Mason was looking at his father with a mixture of pride and awe. That exnation was all that the brown-haired half-elf always wanted to hear. He got an answer that both put his father in a favorable light and proved that he himself wasn''t hated at all. The opposite, actually! It wasn''t his father''s will to be separated from him! How good that sounded? Too good to be true. ...and it wasn''t the truth... But Mason didn''t WANT to question anything he heard from his parents. "...I knew it had to be something like that...! I always knew...!" Mason sobbed, shedding tears of happiness. "It was... Mason, you''ve grown up to be such a good boy. Mommy is proud of you!" Sk was embracing her crying son through the metal bars and her gentle voice was soothing him while she was patting his head. "We both are." Lord Envyughed and joined the group hug. *THUMP* A sudden tremor almost knocked the happy family off bnce. "What was that...?" Mason gasped, anxiously looking around the ceiling, fearful that it might cave in and bury them alive. "..." "..." But Rambutan and Sk were looking straight down, their faces pale as ghosts''. "...it cannot be..." Lord Envy suddenly raised his head and shuddered, his eyes trembled as he read through the system message that popped up for him. "...no..." Sk had also looked up. But she wasn''t looking at a system message of any sort. Over the shoulder of her son, the beautiful elven woman was staring at the only cell visible to her from the branching hallway. The one which had its bars smashed open by the red-haired Pride girl. Lairs''s cell. The disfigured member of the Dandelions'' body - while still pressed to the stone floor by the system''s power - started glowing with a light of a skill. Then, the elven mage twitched... She used her three-fingered hand to support herself and began standing up. While she was doing that, the joined fingers split apart, and her whole hand molded back into its original shape. Lairs was raising back on her feet, and her whole body looked as if it was shedding, discarding all the changes done to her by the skills of Envys. All changes, all blemishes, and all signs of the sickness were disappearing in a matter of seconds. Her face which was changed the most, took the longest. But soon enough, both of her eyes were looking straight at Sk with an almost iprehensible amount of hatred. As Lairs''splexion cleared out, and the frail light locks sprouted into a cascade of lush ck hair, the elven mage raised both her hands, and the air atop of her palms ignited into fireballs. Then she took the first step on her restored legs and... "You fucking treacherous whore of a mother...!" "...?!" While speechless Sk trembled, Lairs''s low growl rmed the other two, and so they turned around just in time to witness the me skill shooting right in their faces. "!" Mason cowered and raised his arms, trying to protect his head. Sk flinched and closed her eyes, hugging her son tighter. Only Lord Envy kept his head clear enough to step in and use a barrier skill to protect them all. "Fucking whore! Filth! Fucking traitor! Through all those fucking years I fucking believed that you were fucking abducted, but you fucking whore of a mother betrayed your own fucking family?! Your whole race?!" Lairs was hurting her own throat with shouts so loud that even the elves still blocking their ears heard her and realized the pressure of the system disappeared. "And the rest of you fuckers! Get the fuck up! Those with support skills raising the fucking magic defense - use it and then help the rest! FUCKING MOVE IT!" The elven mage roared at other elves while throwing fireball after fireball at Rambutan and his family with one hand, and aimed her other hand at the first elf she saw. "GAH!" "?!" Hearing the pained voice shocked Lairs. At first, she thought that it came from the elf she cast the MDF rising skill and momentarily stopped the onught of the attacks, horrified that she had used an offensive skill on one of her own kind. "Father?!" "Rambutan!" But the shocked screams of Mason and Sk quickly cleared that misunderstanding. The pained gasp didn''te from the caged elf, who was now in the middle of turning back to his original form, but from lord Envy himself! While still keeping up the defensive skill, Rambutan''s body started changing, melting, and molding into apletely different person. That process looked exactly like what happened to Lairs, with the only difference being that Lairs''s beauty returned while Rambutan''s beauty vanished. After just a few seconds, the sculpture-level beauty of the avatar of envy was gone. And so was his height. The real Rambutan Envy was a short, sickly-looking man with a severely malnourished body. Oversized clothes were hanging off of him like from a scarecrow and helped hide any deformities. But the part that was still perfectly visible and coincidentally was the only part that didn''t change, was Rambutan''s piercing green eyes. "Don''t look at me...!" The pitiful-looking green-eyed man tried to hide his face in shame without putting his family in danger but didn''t manage to cover for his lisping. "Father...! What does that....?" Mason gasped, staring wide-eyed at the man barely reaching his chest, who was supposed to be his imposing father. Suddenly, gentle hands turned Mason''s head away from the cowering Rambutan and guided him against the ck-haired elf unleashing a ridiculous amount of fireballs at them. "It''s her fault! She''s one of the bad elves who learned to control the disease your father was researching! An evil witch who must have infiltrated this ce to kill him so he could not find the cure!" Sk called with righteous fury, spouting lies she coined on the spot without even batting an eye. "B-bad elves?" Mason stuttered trembling in confusion, looking fearfully at his mother. "You fucking...! That''s how you''re calling your own fucking flesh and blood...?" Lairs managed to hear Sk even through the sound of the exploding fire spells, and asked back, pale as a ghost, stopping the offensive. "Foul-mouthed witch, it''s no use trying to confuse us with your lies! I have only one child, and he''s right here! I have no connection with you!" Sk scoffed at her and proudly raised her head. "...so fucking be it...!" Lairs''s beautiful face twisted with an angry grimace and the fire burning on top of her palms changed into tens of tiny crackling bolts of lightning. Out of all the nature-based magic skill types, the electric ones had the highest barrier-skill piercing power. That only showed that up until then, Lairs was just buying time for the other elves to recover. Now she was actually set to harm the mother who outright rejected her. The ck-haired elven mage outstretched her hand, aiming at the little family huddled together behind a barrier. But before she attacked, she quickly nced to the side... ...at all the freed elves looking back at her, awaiting her by the exit. Not even one of them got on the stairs yet, all of them were waiting for theirst brethren toe. "The fuck are you waiting for? Get the fuck out of here!" Lairs frowned and shouted at the beautiful but visibly malnourished prisoners. "Go up! And if you see a big-ass fucking blue corpse puppet, don''t ever fucking attack him!" She added and looked back at her opponents, who haven''t done anything except defending even while she was distracted, while the other elves finally began escaping the basement. "...fuck, at least I can make sure that those fuckers won''t stab you all in the back. My fucking mother has too much fucking experience in doing that..." Lairs sighed and shot her first lightning bolt. Chapter 145: In front of the door to the basement

Chapter 145: In front of the door to the basement

"..." Zombie was sitting in front of the door leading to the basement in the hallway of the Envys mansion. The whole mansion was quiet, only the asional grunts of the people beaten up senseless would disturb the peace once in a while. The unconscious as well as those nearly conscious humans were littering most of the floor space, as well as thewn outside. Using his skill, Zombie could see that there were almost twice as many living down in the basement as there were on the surface, but most of those below were melves, for once - and on top of that - the odd quest specified to not let anyone into the basement. There was no need for him to worry about those below. "...what is Cranberry doing...?" Zombie muttered to himself, cautiously observing his master''s life signature, gathering energy for unleashing her skills. Some odd message about the administrator''s request did pop up, but no matter what, Zombie couldn''t notice another life signature beside his master. Why was she activating her skills then? Were there traps or something? Zombie furrowed his brow and checked on the other life essences. There were three energetic ones standing together - the annoying brown-haired guy who Cranberry took with her, then there was the avatar of envy with his distinctive greenish lifeforce, and then there was a third one, equally lively, but not really human. Yes, the third one must have belonged to an elf, but differed from the other elves inside. "...but why is there a single lively elf there, when all the others there are barely alive...?" Zombie tilted his head in confusion. Well, at least Lairs was in there too. ...her life signature was one of the weakest ones by far... ...and that weakness didn''t look natural. When his master was calmly asleep, Zombie used to observe the life signatures of others in the mansion as well as everyone''s in reach, so he gained some degree of expertise So he could somehow tell... None of the elves were actually close to death. It''s just that something was forcibly squashing their life force. "I wonder if it''s..." *THUMP* The blue undead was a step away from figuring out the reason for the oddity, when a sudden tremor spread through the whole building, causing the windows to tremble. /Administrator defeated -no EXP received- /Secret achievement unlocked Master receives a unique title Heretic /Ruthless (level 2) detected /Calcting... /Ruthless (level 2) - assimted into Heretic /Master receives a unique skill No mercy (level 1) "Cranberry!" Zombie gasped and jumped up at his feet. "There really was someone there with her?!" The blue undead became so baffled that he didn''t even realize that the timer for the rewardless skill disappeared even though it showed 0:32. Instead, he stared down and focused on the life signatures below the ground underneath his feet. His master looked to be in perfect condition, she was wandering around seemingly without a purpose, so Zombie assumed that she was looking for loot or something, and calmed down. The actual change though happened for the elves. Lairs''s life signature was the first one that started to burn brightly right after she used some skill, and began moving and attacking the group of two Envy''s and the mysterious elf. Then another elf''s life signature got revitalized and interestingly, the life signature of the avatar of sin diminished greatly. Then the rest of the elves got stronger one by one, from Zombie''s perspective it was like a domino effect. "A-aahhh...!" "Ugh...!" "N-noo...!" The few still conscious Envy nsmen cried while their bodies shrunk and changed. And, of course, not only the conscious ones morphed, every single fallen Envy went through a metamorphosis. The more elves regained their strength, the more Envys changed intopletely different humans. "...I don''t get it..." Zombie furrowed his brows and sighed. Meanwhile, the elves in the basement had regrouped and started climbing the stairs, leaving Lairs behind to deal with the three that others. That caused Zombie to frown. After the avatar of envy got weaker, it indeed looked as if he won''t be able to win against Lairs, but he wasn''t the only person there. While Lairs was the strongest amongst the four, as far as Zombie could predict, she would not be able to win against three opponents. But the other elves left regardless? "...that''s it for the elven solidarity, it really isn''t much after all, I guess..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders, getting reminded about the elves from the hidden forest vige who he decimated. They too, once the things got dire, tried to leave someone behind. Or was such an action supposed to be called a noble sacrifice? Zombie honestly didn''t have enough brains to figure whether there was a difference or not. So instead, he unhinged the basement''s door, put them aside, and blocked the way for anyone who would be trying to get out. After a while, the sounds of someone sneaking upstairs reached the blue undead. It sound like the elves were carefully climbing the spiral stairs, stopping from time to time to use some kind of detection skills, most likely the hearing-enhancing ones, to check whether it''s safe to escape or not. There was nothing wrong with that, it was an understandable decision. They must have gotten really surprised hearing all the groans of pain, of the defeated Envys mourning the loss of their beauty. The only problem with that particr detection type skill was that it didn''t work against Zombie, since if the blue undead remainedpletely still, his body produced no sound whatsoever. Why would that be a problem for the elves...? Well... ...Zombie didn''t have a particrly good impression of them. Lairs was good, but during the previous meeting with arger group of elves, he and his master got weed by a shell from the artillery cannon from a point-nk range. Speak about a bad first impression... All things considered, that action proved to be both correct and horribly incorrect, but either way, it certainly left Zombie with a bad aftertaste. And this new approaching group of elves went ahead and left Lairs - the main reason aside from the optional quest for Cranberry and him arriving at the Envys'' mansion - behind to fend for herself alone. "...wouldn''t it be better to just kill them all, just in case...?" Forgetting about the detection skills, Zombie crossed his arms and sighed. "...!" Which caused the elves to stop dead in their tracks right before the first one in the front of the group would be visible from Zombie''s position. "...ah..." Zombie realized his mistake and gasped trying to figure out what to say next. It turned out that being understood by everyone isn''t such a good thing after all. "I... I meant the Envys..." He added awkwardly looking to the side. "...?" A single elf carefully peeked from behind the cover of the staircase. "You cane out, my Cranberry and I have received a quest to find you. I mean no harm." Zombie rolled his eyes and beckoned the elves. "...is that the corpse puppet that the ck-haired one talked about...?" "...corpse puppets can talk...?" "...is this a trick...?" The elves whispered amongst themselves. "Hey. The quest only mentioned finding you - and was alreadypleted, by the way. Since my Cranberry never specified what should I do about you, you can just go wherever you want." The blue undead scoffed at them and step away from the passage. "Shoo. If my Cranberry will need you, I''ll find youter." He waved his hand dismissively and even looked the other way to make the elves feel a bit more secure. "..." Which kind of failed and only added to their anxiety, and not even a single one took another step. "...or do you want me drag all of you out of there myself? MOVE IT! My Cranberry will be using those stairs to return, so stop blocking it." "...!" Only when he threatened them directly the elves decided to move and rushed out from the basement. "Hmph...!" Zombie frowned ring down at them with his reddish glowing eyes. They weren''t weak. Even though they were visibly malnourished, the strengths of their life signatures revealed to Zombie that they were stronger than the Envy nsmen. Honestly, they were on the stronger side amongst all the living that Zombie saw in the city since he and his master have arrived there. But those very elves were acting as if the unconscious people sprawled on the floor pose an actual threat to them. "Just go already, and if someone will try to stop you - kill them. What''s the big deal anyway?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and shook his head irked by thepleteck of pride in the freed elves'' act. Overconfidence was something that both Cranberry and Zombie abhorred but excessively humbling yourself was just as annoying - if not more. After thest elf of the group passed him, the blue undead blocked the passage once again, without looking back to check on the running elves. "...seriously... how much longer will that dumb que... HUH?!" While mumbling under his breath Zombie nced at the timer that should be in the upper right corner of his vision but... Since the timer disappeared the moment that Cranberry killed the administrator, nothing upied that spot anymore, and the realization caused Zombie to loudly gasp. "...!" Without wasting any time on questioning why it disappeared without any system message informing him about the sess or a failure of the quest, the blue undead instantly kicked off the ground and dashed madly down the stairs to rejoin his master. Chapter 146: In the basement (8)

Chapter 146: In the basement (8)

When she killed Saint, Cranberry didn''t hold anything back and used all of her power and avable skills to ensure a one-hit kill. She seeded splendidly, but at the same time, she caused the part of the cave to cave in at almost buried herself alive at the same time. Her body almost broke down on her, but somehow, she managed to stay conscious. If she didn''t use blink to teleport back and follow it up with thrash in session with counter, she would have undoubtedly died under the pile of dirt or the falling rocks. But even after surviving the major threat, she found herself in a rather peculiar situation. All the roots covered with the fluorescent mold got buried by a cave-in, and the light of the torch she left by the staircase vanished too. At that point, the red-haired girl couldn''t be sure whether the fire got blown off by the gust of wind caused by her own attack or did the passage got blocked by the rocks... Neither of those options was good since she didn''t have the night-vision skill and deep underneath the surface the darkness was absolute. Cranberry couldn''t even tell a difference whether her eyes were opened or closed. She tried activating various skills to illuminate her way but the light of the skills couldn''t be used as a reliable light source. "..." The red-haired girl clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white - though that wasn''t really visible for anyone right then and there - and gritted her teeth when a wave of paining from her muscles crushed against her brain. It hurt. It was so damn painful! Using the full extent of her monstrous strength increased by the inhuman multipliers of the overleveled skills was too much for her disproportionately low defense to handle. It was already a miracle that she could move her arms - but maybe, after all, she did subconsciously held back at thest second or something... In any case, she stopped herself from cursing loudly and focused on calming her breath. Her current situation was bad. But screaming and wasting precious oxygen was probably the worst idea she could have in her position. ...she wasn''t sure whether the cave in its current state had any airflow and therefore couldn''t be reckless after all. First of all, she started wandering around in search of a wall. If the passage didn''t get buried, that was probably the best course of action. Even so,pleting that goal took her surprisingly long - she must have done a fair share of circling around since she couldn''t be even sure that she was walking in a straight line in the first ce. Not to mention all the fallen rocks littering the ground making her trip, further adding to the confusion about her position. "...!" When her fingers finally met the cold surface of the rock wall, she had realized something. Her hands were going numb. That couldn''t be a good sign. "..." But staying in one ce helplessly waiting for the rescue wasn''t an option when the safety of the location she was in wasn''t assured. So Cranberry slowly breathed in the stuffy air and begun walking alongside the wall. ...in the depths of her heart, she hoped that Zombie wille for her, but dark thoughts in the back of her head were telling her that dying alone trapped in the darkness was what she deserved... "...as if...!" The red-haired girl gritted her teeth and increased her peace. *ck* *ck* *ck* *ck* "Ha...?" Cranberry''s ears picked up a new sound - silent and far away at first, it was getting closer with an astounding speed. She recognized it... It was the sound of high heels hitting against the stone floor! "Zombie?! I''m here!" She turner around and called out towards the direction that the sound wasing from. "Cranberry!" In the next moment, the cking stopped right in front of the red-haired girl and she felt a gust of air hitting against her as her eternal servant suddenly stopped. "Cranberry! Are you alright?! Did you seriously fought an administrator?! What happened?! What was it about that weird quest with a timer that disappeared without any message?! And what were you looking for here in the darkness? You don''t have a night vision like I do!" Zombie was asking questions almost as fast as he could run, and overwhelmed Cranberry with his words. "...haa... so I picked a direction that would take longer..." She sighed, ignoring the barrage of questions, and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "...tsk...!" ...and clicked her tongue when the electric-like pain pierced her numb hand. She almost dropped her ck baseball bat-like stick. "Your hands...! What happened?!" Zombie gasped and Cranberry felt him gently grabbing her hand and lifting it up. "Well... haa... I did found a half-dead administrator, who had power over the elves, and had some of that power stolen by the Envy. That whole administrator wanted to kill me to regain freedom so I killed them instead." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders with an indifferent expression. "..." "But they seemed like a big deal so I used all I had to finish them as fast as possible and well... you know..." She smiled awkwardly in response to Zombie''s silence. "I should have ignored that weird quest ande for you..." The blue undead sounded regretful. "Ha? No, don''t worry about that. I was the one who taught you to prioritize the questpletion whenever possible, so it''s fine. I''ve crushed him just fine on my own." Cranberryughed, reassuring her servant. "That''s not really what I meant." "...?" Zombie shook his head and Cranberry tilted her own, though only the blue undead was able to see that in this situation. "That administrator didn''t show up for me when I was checking up on your life signature, so either they weren''t alive in the first ce or..." Zombie nced to the side. "...or there was no need to hit them that hard in the first ce because they were barely alive... haa... damn it, you''re right..." Cranberry picked up on what her blue undead was implying and sighed in defeat. "Oh well, with the HP regeneration skill that I got as a reward, this shouldn''t take too long to heal, don''t you think...? Kyaah!" She shrugged it off as if it was nothing but then suddenly got pushed against the wall by her servant and made a sound like never before. "...what are you doing...? Haa... the optional quest is still notpleted, what if the avatar of envy will run away...?" She asked raising her brow. "Cranberry, can I try to heal you right away?" "Ha?" The red-haired girl eximed in shock after hearing the question. "Alright, I hope it will work with my normal head too." Zombie took her confused sound as permission, then nodded to himself and gently touched Cranberry''s face, rising her head by her chin for a better position. "Normal head...? Wait, you don''t mean... mhpfh?!" Her next sentence got interrupted by Zombie''s cold lips locking with her own. "?!?!?!?!!!" At first, Cranberry was so shocked she forgot how to breathe. Without thinking she grabbed onto Zombie''s shirt and pulled him closer. "...nha...?" "Wait, the damage drain skill isn''t activating... Maybe I should do it like this...?" Cranberry made a silly little sound when Zombie pulled his head away, but the blue undead only frowned in confusion and muttered something under his breath. And then he leaned in for another kiss... "!!!!!!!!?????!!!" *nk* The sensation of his cold tongue prating her mouth almost made her faint, and she ended up dropping her weapon. When she met it with her own tongue, her body got pierced with wild bursts of pleasure causing her to tremble. She had to be closer, she had to get even closer...! She wanted him too much! After climbing on her tiptoes, Cranberry - ignoring the pain in her damaged arms- wrapped them around Zombie''s neck going into offensive, her leg involuntarily raised up alongside Zombie''s leg and wrapped around his waist. "Zombie...! My Zombie...!" Giving herself only the bare minimum time to breathe Cranberry yelped in between the kissespletely losing the track of time. "Cranberry... I think I figured out how to activate the skill...?" While Cranberry head went nk from the outburst of passion, the dense as the surrounding rocks Zombie eximed happily and tightly embraced his master. "?!?!?!?!?!??????????" The next kiss waspletely different than all the previous ones. With the feeling of something going inside her and spreading through her body, Cranberry momentarily lost control over her limbs and hung limply in Zombie''s arm, to the slight glow of dark red aura. The blue undead raised her up and pressed against the stone wall for better support. Unknown energy was sipping into her bones, muscles, and skin, but she was only focused on the cold sensation of Zombie''s touch. And then suddenly, just as fast as the feeling came, the mysterious energy got sucked out all at once leaving her body - restored to a perfect condition - and even cleared her head. /Warning /Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required "It worked~" Zombie hummed happily and put his master back on the stone floor. "..." Even though her body got restored to its perfect condition, Cranberry freshly out of Zombie''s arms was just as unsteady as a newbornmb and kept holding on to Zombie''s shirt. "...that... that was a skill...?" She gasped still feeling very weak in the knees. "Yes. Damage absorption. Convenient, right? You can heal me and I can heal you!" He confirmed clearly overjoyed. "Haa... I see... system, heal my Zombie..." She nodded and gasped. /Permission received /Healing in progress /Healingplete "What level is it...?" After the dark red light flowing from Cranberry got absorbed into Zombie, the red-haired girl asked. "What level is what?" Zombie tilted his head in confusion. "Your damage absorption skill of course!" Cranberry rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Um, well... level 1." The blue undead answered honestly. "We''ll definitely have to focus on practicing it... but not now...! After weplete the quest." Since she knew that Zombie could see in the darkness, Cranberry looked away to hide her blushing face. "I see! Yes, you''re right!" Zombie realized and nodded vigorously. "Ah..." But then he looked up and gasped. "...if we want toplete the quest and save Lairs while we''re at it, we should better hurry up. She''s in trouble." He reported while observing the three life signatures pushing back Lairs''s life signature that was getting weaker and weaker. Chapter 147: In the basement (9)

Chapter 147: In the basement (9)

At first, things looked good for Lairs. Other captured elves escaped, just as she intended, lord Envy was only defending and the other two didn''t even try to interfere, and she even saw Zombie running down the secret passage for about a split of a second. The elves who were kept in the basement the longest have said that the thing that allows Envy to influence their race is hidden there, and clearly, Cranberry, who opened the passage in the first ce and went inside earlier, must have dealt with that thing. Surely with both of them there, there was no need for Lairs to worry - that haughty nobledy and her undead puppet would surely get out of there in just a few seconds... Surely... But then a minute has passed. Then five minutes... Surely...! And then ten... Lairs was drenched in a cold sweat. She didn''t have a n at all, the whole stepping up to take revenge on her mother thing was suddenly looking incredibly stupid to her. Shanks would hew definitely call her an idiot for not running away the first chance she got. Seriously... as a member of the Dandelions, survival should be her top priority. It seemed that Rotte''s recklessness was rubbing off on her recently... "...what a bother... I''m going toin so much to that little brother of mine..." Lairs whispered while throwing another lightning bolt. She had already depleted three-quarters of her mana and was slowly approaching her limit. Since there was no sign of either Cranberry or Zombie returning, the best option would be to run away after all, preferably while not being hit in the back by her opponent. And for that, she needed a distraction. Therefore she switched back to the fire skills and created a fireballrge enough to create a smokescreen. "Take that!" *BOOOM* "GAAAHH!" But right then another fireball shot at her, caused her skill to explode right in her face and sent her crashing against the wall. "Did... did I got her...?" Mason, the brown-haired half-elf opened his eyes and lowered his trembling hand. "You did it! Good job, Mason! We can''t just wait here for the rescue after all!" His mother, Sk, patted her son''s head and turned to the sickly-looking short avatar of envy by her side. "Rambutan, no one ising, we have to escape on our own!" *Skreech* She said grabbing onto the metal bars blocking her way, and using a skill to bend them enough for her to slip through. "But...! But what will...?!" Lord Envy gasped looking fearfully at the basement''s ceiling. "Saint is dead! I''ve seen the system message and all the other elves should have too! There''s no going back anymore! Let''s kill that girl and just get away from... Huh...?!" Sk shook her head and pointed at the Lairs... ...who was no longer by the wall. "No! We can''t let her escape!" Sk panicked and ran after the escapee. "BITCH!" "Guhuah!" Just to be greeted by a glowing fist to the face as soon as she turned the corner. "Sk!" "Mother!" The moment of satisfaction that Lairs just couldn''t let pass cost her the precious seconds necessary for escaping. "You''re not getting away with this!" As the elven mage turned around and ran towards the stairs, Mason kneeling by his mother - whose broken nose was bleeding profusely - shouted and reached his hand forward and his eyes and palm shone. *rumble* "Fuck...!" The ceiling trebled and caved in, blocking the way outside and almost crashing Lairs. Thankfully, the elven mage managed to dodge the rocks and dirt at thest second. "ARGH...! You fucking...!" Unfortunately, that left her wide open to the attacks from the back that she was so worried about. She got hit with a shock spell that caused temporary paralysis and made her tumble on the floor like a sack of potatoes. "Fucking... traitor...!" She ended up facing the approaching three in a rather unrefined position and tried to spat towards her mother, but because of the paralysis, she ended up only salivating excessively. "That''s what you get for not showing respect to your elders." Sk smirked raising her hand with tiny lightning bolts dancing atop her palm. "...you fucker...! You''ve abandoned me when I was four and betrayed our entire race... you even fucked the worst enemy of the elves and birthed his bastard... and you still fucking dare to speak about receiving a FUCKING RESPECT...?!" Lairs growled doing her best to break through the shock skill effect - in vain. "..." Mason fidgeted nervously and nced anxiously at his mother. "What a ck-haired which can know about me?" "...!" Sk indifferent words made Lairs flinch. The ck-haired elf trembled and although she tried to stop it, her eyes filled with tears. "Just die already." Sk scoffed and shoot out the lightning at the defenseless Lairs. "...fuck..." Lairs cursed and closed her eyes. And nothing happened. No sudden burst of pain. No excruciating waves of torment. No nothing. "...?" Lairs slowly opened her eyes, almost expecting that her mother waited for her to do that for some twisted reason only a traitor like her could understand, but the thing she saw was the imposing blue-skinned corpse puppet in a fancy outfit. "Haa... it''s refreshing to know that I''m not the only person who had a bad rtionship with their mother." A step behind him stood a tall girl with blood-red hair wearing a simple hunter''s garb that made her look like a newbie adventurer, wielding something akin to a ck branch as a weapon. "Youngdy...? Fuck me... what took you two so long...?" Lairs sighed feeling all the tension leaving her body. "Oh, you know... stuff..." Cranberry''s face became just as red as her hair and she started fidgeting while ncing at her blue undead. "Big sister Cranberry?! Why are you protecting that evil elf?!" Mason was the first one of his little family to shake off the confusion and ended up asking in a confused voice. "Haa? So you''re evil now? Do you belong to an evil elven organization?" Cranberry smirked mockingly and raised her brow looking at Lairs. "Does that mean we now have convection with some crime syndicate? Cool!" Zombieughed excitedly, shaking off the charred dust from the spot on his stomach where Sk''s lightning spell hit him. "Y-you! Pride girl! Don''t interfere with the private affairs of the Envy family!" Lord Envy stepped up and shouted at Cranberry in amanding tone. "Ha?" The red-haired girl tilted her head and asked with a frown, ring down at the short man. "Wait... what? Tha-that''s how Rambutan Envy really looks? Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha! I can''t...! The difference is too much! Ha ha! Ha ha! No way! And people actuallypared you to my father?! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha! I can''t...! That''s so ridiculous!" But once she recognized him, she couldn''t hold back her uglyughter at all andughed so much that she even grabbed her stomach because it started hurting. "You...!" Lord Envy bit his lips and lowered his gaze. After all, he was the one who knew best how he looked. "Big sister! Don''t insult my father like that! It''s all this witch''s fault and...!" "Mace. Shut up." Mason stepped in in defense of his father, pointing at the immobile Lairs, but Cranberry cut him off with a single ice-coldmand that made him shudder. The speed at which Cranberry changed from joyful mockery into an icy indifference only added to the shock value. "How dare you talk like that to Rambutan?! He''s an avatar of envy and a good...!" Sk got offended in the ce of her lover as if it was her ce to interfere when the nobles from the seven main families were talking. "Haa... you... what was your name again...?" Cranberry asked, interrupting the angry rant, and massaged her forehead. "Ah, right. Mrs. Fucking Traitor, you too should stay quiet, you know? I''m a Pride, and we hate when absolute morons with nothing of worth to say interrupt our conversations." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and her body started glowing with skills. "...!" Sk flinched and stepped back. Her offensive skills were nothing to write home about so she wasn''t going to test herself against the opponent of unknown strength. "So, mister Envy. Got anything to say in your defense?" Without deactivating her skills, Cranberry asked lightheartedly and took a step towards the short avatar of envy. "...! It''s Lord Envy for you! Even with my inferior looks, my title and position in the kingdom deserves respect!" Rambutan raised his head and dered. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It''s not like the main house of Envy is the one supporting the kingdom and you won''t be alive for much longer anyway, for the matter." Cranberryughed and waved her hand dismissively. "What did you...?!" "Big sis...!" "My master ordered you to shut up, hasn''t she?" Rambutan and Mason started talking at the same time, but both went silent when Zombie growled at them and his body released a violet light. "Ha! Hey it looks almost as if they understood you." Cranberry smirked and nudged her blue undead in the ribs. "Probably because they did." Zombie shrugged his shoulders. "Ha?!" "Right?! I don''t know since when, but it seems like I no longer groan and talk normally instead." "No way...! Ha?! Wait?! NOw that I think about it... You seriously haven''t been groaning for a while!" "Looks like it." For a second it looked like the Master-Servant pair forgot where they are. "Big sister...?" "..." But as soon as Mason opened his mouth uninvited once again, they both turned to him with the same annoyed expression. "Haa... Who''s your sister? Know your ce, trash." The red-haired girl breathed out and finally said the thing that was bothering her the most this whole time. "...!" The brown-haired half-elf''s eyes widened and it looked like he forgot how to speak. "Now. One thing that''s left for us to do here is to confront you about the elves..." Cranberry''s face twisted with the evil smile and she turned to the avatar of envy... Chapter 148: Out of the basement

Chapter 148: Out of the basement

Rambutan Envy flinched and nced at Lairs, hidden behind the blue undead. "It''s like I''ve said before..." He said, sweating nervously. "...for generations the Envy family did its best to control the spread for the mysterious disease that gued the elves..." "Fucking bullshit! You shameless piece of fucking shit! How dare you fucking continue to lie like that with your true face revealed while we all have fucking seen how you paraded around wearing a stolen face! Fucking degenerate!" Lairs couldn''t even hold herself back so that Rambutan would get half of his speech done, and started barraging him with insults over the false information he was still trying to push forward. "Shhh. Grown-ups are having a serious conversation." Zombie went ahead and blocked her mouth with his finger. "...?" Lairs went wide-eyed looking at him. "A... I..." She shook her head and pulled away, still staring at the blue undead with disbelief. "...I''m thirty-five though..." She ended up exining in utter confusion. "Ha." Cranberry nced at her and nodded. That''s the elven bloodline for you, for human standards, Lairs didn''t look a day over twenty - and she would stay like that for at least a couple hundred or so years if she won''t get killed or die in an ident along the way. "Yeah, I don''t actually care. Just don''t interrupt them anymore. Oh, right! Why don''t you make yourself useful, and clear the way upstairs in the meantime!" Zombie added with an innocent smile. "Fuck... was he always saying stuff like that when he was growling before...?" Lairs asked, no longer agitated by Rambutan''s words. "More or less. He''s not insulting you nearly as much as usual though. Anyway, Envy... Cranberry shrugged and returned the talk with the short man. "Haa... Will you seriously keep repeating that lie in front of the elves who know the truth?" She breathed out in a tired manner and asked. /Quest progression *confront the avatar of envy about the elves pleted) (90%pletion - blessing of Saint) /9th tier reward granted /Master receives a skill Blessing of Saint (level 1) /Calcting... /Blessing of Saint (level 1) assimted with the Heretic title /Servant receives a skill Blessing of Saint /Servant skill upgrade Superbia (level 1) + Blessing of Saint ?? Superbia (level 2) "I am telling the truth!" Lord Envy trembled from anger and repeated with no trace of remorse. Zombie only shook his head and Cranberry somehow managed to hold back theughter. There was no point in pursuing the matter anymore. At least, there was no point in doing that for Cranberry. But actually, there was one little thing that the red-haired girl realized that she should make clear before ending their little conversation. "Alright. I''ll ask you something else then. Unrted to the elves." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and lowered her weapon while keeping the skills active. "The werewolves attack on the Envy mansion three and a half years ago..." "...!" Even before she finished talking, lord Envy clenched his fist and stiffened. "...your people were amongst them, weren''t they?" Cranberry smirked, lightly tapping the floor with the tip of her shoe. "...the werewolves, I mean." "Nonsense. You were attacked by the werewolves from the Gluttony family! You got what you deserved for years of decadence and showing off! Trying to me the Envy family for your terrible defense!" Lord Envy started hurriedly shouting while visibly perspiring from the stress. It was hard to say whether thatck ofposure was caused by the current situation or simply because lord Envy''s previous social poise was all something that he stole from some elf. Of course, it could also be just a clever ruse aimed to make Cranberry let down her guard, but if so, it had already failed. "...oh, really? Then how do you exin that the werewolves who died transformed back into their human forms? That''s not how their skill works, you know? At least the original one, not a stolen one." "Big sister Cranberry, there''s no way that someone from our family would do that! Seven main families are the backbone of the entire country, plotting against one another would be pure insanity! Only an utter fool would attempt that!" Mason joined the conversation uninvited, again, but this time Cranberry didn''t stop him. Mostly because it was funny to watch as his father bes gradually more pale the more his son was saying. "Hey, Mrs. Fucking Traitor, isn''t it time for you to step in and stop your son from insulting his father? What kind of mother are you...? Oh, wait..." Cranberry asked Sk, but then nced at Lairs, who actually was using earth magic skill to clean up the passage, and then looked back at Sk, smirking mockingly. "How dare you brat...!" The short lord Envy, stood up for his elven lover... But for thest words that he ever spoke, he could have thought them through a little better. Without any warning, Cranberryunched at the green-eyed man with enough speed that her charge skill could be easily mistaken for the blink skill, and struck right at her opponent''s unguarded head. "Nooo...!" By some divine prominence, Sk shouted and managed to push her way in front of her lover. Or maybe it was thanks to the power of true love? *SPLAT* Whatever it was, it certainly didn''t manage to save any of them. Cranberry''s smile only widened as her weapon tore through Sk''s neck, beheading her, while simultaneously smashing Rambutan''s head open like fresh watermelon. /Multiple mid-level yers defeated /Master receives EXP /Master has in the avatar of envy /Master receives a title... /Error /Heretic title detected /Calcting... /System restriction removed /Title of avatar of envy was deleted from the system database /The avatar of envy has been in /Title transfer impossible /The envy''s throne stands empty The wheels of fate begin to spin /Viiness''s role secret achievement unlocked On the ultimate route /Master receives a special quest Road to rule "UGH...!" Just the shockwave of the strike was enough to send Mason crashing against the wall and almost knocked him unconscious. *SMASH* But Cranberry didn''t just stop the attack there - she let her baseball bat get embedded into the wall, right beside Mason''s head. The whole basement shook and the pieces of ceiling and walls started to crumble. "...haa... well that was unexpected..." The red-haired girl breathed out, nced at the incapacitated half-elf, smirked, and looked back at her eternal servant. "Zombie, when I pull this out, grab me and Lairs and run out of the mansion." She motioned at the ck baseball bat and clenched her fists around it so hard that her knuckles turned white. "If you say so." The blue undead shrugged his shoulder and reached for Lairs. The ck-haired elf was staring speechless at the growing puddle made of blood sipping out from her mother''s body mixing with lord Envy''s blood. "..." When the undead wrapped his left hand around her waist and picked her up like a sack of flour, she didn''t even make a sound and only continued staring at the floor. "Ha ha! It was annoying knowing you, Mace." Cranberry openlyughed at the brown-haired young man struggling to crawl towards his parent''s corpses... "This our final goodbye." ...the red-haired girl said and pulled out the baseball bat from the wall. *RUMBLE* "...big sister... why...?" The whole ce trembled horribly and walls and ceiling crumbled and gave way for a massive amount of earth and rocks to bury everything into a makeshift grave, drowning Mason''s cry. But Cranberry was no longer there to hear it. While she was pulling out the weapon, she was already jumping onto the back of her blue undead who rushed to the cleaned-up staircase leading to the surface as soon as he felt the girl''s arms wrapped securely around his neck. The mansion itself was falling apart - the copsing basement was causing the destruction to the rest of the building. /Multiple mid-level yers defeated /Master and servant receive EXP Just as Cranberry had told him, Zombie was running outside the mansion with all his might, and therefore he wasn''t paying attention to what he was stepping on and with what strength... ...many of the Envy nsmen turned into a bloody paste before the debris had any chance of damaging them. "Gah...!" Once outside the outer walls surrounding the residence, Zombie unceremoniously dropped Lairs and carefully let Cranberry down. "U-u...! Gbluergh...!" The ck-haired elf climbed up on all fours and immediately started throwing up with absolutely no remorse. "...yeah... you are much faster now, no doubt..." Even Cranberry''s face was slightly green and she had to support herself on her eternal servant. "Haa..." Scratch that, she was simply snuggling up to him and even let out a relieved sigh. "...did... did you really had to kill them...?" Lairs asked while trembling. She was so shaken that she didn''t even care that her hair is dipping into her own vomit. "Haa? Are you saying that I should let them live? And what? Allow them to take revenge? Or to give them a chance to start kidnapping some other race with lower magic defense than elves have?" Cranberry asked and shook her head. "Nah, just like with monsters, you should never give a chance for a straggler to escape and get stronger, you will eventually regret that." She dered proudly. "That said... Zombie." She pulled away from the blue undead and looked up at his face. "...?" Her eternal servant tilted his head like a puppy and looked back at her curiously. Cranberry raised her baseball bat-wielding hand and pointed at the mansion. "Cover it all with your venom. The message about killing an essential character didn''t show up, so that guy is still alive... or that new title of mine is messing things up..." Cranberry looked to the side and frowned. "Oh, who cares. I want everyone inside those walls melted." She ended up waving her hand dismissively and send out Zombie anyway. "N-no wait...!" Lairs tried to get up but she ended up slipping in the puddle she created herself, and Zombie ended up ignoring herpletely. Instead, he walked towards the gate, his whole body began glowing violet and then he stuck his head inside. *&^%$#@$%^)(^$#(%$#* The sound of the highly pressurized venom crashing against the ground and who knows what else, made Lairs shudder. Chapter 149: Onwards, towards greater heights!

Chapter 149: Onwards, towards greater heights!

"Fucking hell... youngdy... him I can understand, but you... are you an idiot...?" Lairs gasped, sitting back on the road, staring wide-eyed at the red-haired girl. While the blue undead was using his venom cannon skill to destroy every living organism within the walls of the Envy''s estate, Cranberry was casually seated by the said wall and in the middle of writing something in a sketchbook. "What exactly do you mean? Because I might get angry if you''re just trying to pick a fight." Cranberry asked without either looking at Lairs or stopping her hand. That certainly didn''t help the ck-haired elf''s morale, but she decided to respond. "You... you must fucking realize what you''ve done, right?" She gulped down her saliva and asked, looking at the translucent vapors raising into the skies like hot air in a desert. "Even that fucking kid has said it before. The fucking seven main families are the fucking backbone of the kingdom, and you... you just fucking killed the head of one of those families...! A fucking scum - sure - but an important fucking scum! And not to mention the unspecified amount of his fucking nsmen! How the fuck are they supposed to function as a fucking family sporting the Fruit Sd now?!" Since Cranberry didn''t make any hostile movement, Lairs continued speaking, getting more and more agitated with each word. "Haa... first of all, you''re overdramatic." Cranberry sight and responded while continuing to write. "And how the fuck am I supposed to act?! I''ll be sentenced to fucking death by the royal decree just for being in the fucking vicinity and not stopping you!" The ck-haired elf shuddered and hurried her face in her hands. "Nah. Envys were never a part of that whole backbone in the first ce. Not those Envys, at least." Cranberry casually dropped a bomb like that into the conversation, ncing meaningfully back at the crumbling mansion. "...the fuck...?" Lairs slowly raised her head and looked at the girl taken aback. "Since you''re an adventurer and not a high noble, I can''t me you for not knowing. That misinformation is a key point to the sess of the n after all." The red-haired girl exined with an indifferent expression. "You know that the Envys are supposed to be spymasters gathering the information and keeping an eye on the movements of the other nations, right? Well, that role actually belongs to their distant rtives. They share the same surname, but actually, their branches of the family tree split centuries ago. The surname is the only thing connecting them... Once as a kid, I even overheard my father talking with his friend that the Envys doing the spying are looking for a way to get rid of the main family ones..." The red-haired girl''s face darkened. "Though that was before the..." She furrowed her brows and looked at the bewildered elven mage. How was she supposed to tell her that the world has reset and many things changedpletely... "...before what? The fucking lull? It changed something...?" Lairs asked. "...!" Cranberry flinched and her hand stopped. She raised her head and stared at the ck-haired elf, as if she realized something important. "Wh-what...?" Lairs fidgeted uneasily, was it something she shouldn''t have asked after all? "Say. Lairs, since during the lull everyone has lost the connection to the system and couldn''t use skill - how did main family Envys manage to keep their appearances....?" She asked furrowing her brows. "Because the fucking skills they''ve used before the lull started were extremely fucking proficient against us elves? Though they couldn''t fucking use them during the lull and that''s why we had the few years when no young children from their family went out in public?" Lairs answered with a shrug as if what she said was totally obvious and not suspicious at all. "Ah. I see." Cranberry nodded and wrote onest thing in the sketchbook, and then tore off all the pages she was writing on and folded them neatly. "Anyway, since even the corrupted guards that the Envys had bought shoulde soon to check up on what the hell that noise was... here." She said, standing up and offering Lairs the folded pages. "...?" The ck-haired elf nced at it and then up at the red-haired girl. "I have a mission for you. Since I''ve told your friends that you will all meet in the capital, you might as well hand it to the guild and ask them to show it to the royal family." "Fuck me... I mean, sure, going to the capital sounds like a good fucking idea to me, but what makes you think that the fucking guild will do any-fucking-thing about this, other than throw into the fucking trash?" The elven mage waved the folded pages. "Well, mostly because it''s a report about what happened here and I even admitted to killing all of the people inside the mansion. Since the adventurers guild doesn''t like me very much, they should take the bait." Cranberry smirked and waved her hand dismissively. "That said. Zombie, are you done?" She asked looking back at her blue undead. "...hmmm... yeah, I suppose so. The message didn''t pop up in the end, but there''s no point in continuing." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the harrowing ruins surrounded by the sea of ck rot. There was no natural way that anything was left alive in there. "...ugh... fuck..." Lairs shudder at the sight. "...fine! Fuck! This may work, but why the fuck are you putting a target on your back? Even if you''re correct about the main family Envys and those spy Envys, you still fucking killed a lot of important people! The next fucking avatar of envy will surely want to take revenge, and the royal family won''t stay fucking quiet either. You seem to have fucking forgot that your family''s status is not what it fucking used to be, youngdy." She turned back to Cranberry and said in a worried voice. "Ha ha!" But to her surprise, the red-haired girl onlyughed cheerfully. "Oh, you see..." Cranberry calmed down and smirked mischievously, dodging the original questionpletely. "The people of the Pride family think of the system as a convenient tool to get stronger. With strength, you see,es respect. That''s simply how our world works." She shrugged her shoulders lightly and her smirk grew into a grin. "With enough strength to back you up, you can get away with anything basically. That''s why I''m going to follow my family''s teaching and use the system to get as strong as possible." She exined, slowly walking towards her blue undead. "?" When she got to him and wrapped around his arm, he tilted his head curiously and smiled back at her cluelessly. "The two of us will go fetch ourselves an artifact and continue to train along the way..." "That''s still not fucking enough...! Do you know how many max-level yers, equipped with the best fucking gear that the money can buy, are at Greedsmand?! Lairs interrupted the red-haired girl, and it might have been the first time that Cranberry had allowed it without getting annoyed. The master of the eternal servant furrowed her brows as if deciding whether she should say more or not. "Lairs, what would you do if suddenly the system offered you a quest that uponpletion would allow you to aplish your greatest, most ridiculous goal that you have ever dreamt about? System, show active quest." She asked the ck-haired elf and immediately after used a systemmand to look at her ongoing quests. The special quest ''road to rule'' was boldly disyed in apletely new section of the window called ''priority quest'' "I... what....? Fuck... well, truth to be fucking told, I would be kind of suspicious. I mean, I fucking only ever got quests that were essential for my survival or some trivial ones that would help me slightly..." The ck-haired elf responded. Suddenly her ears twitched and she looked back, down the road towards the city below the ruined mansion. It seemed like someone had finally realized that something was wrong with the building itself because arge group of armed people wasing toward them in a rush. "Ha! Suspicious you say? Lairs. I believe that system is a thing, it has no will on its own and is only fulfilling its purpose in this world. It''s not malicious nor cunning... and it''s certainly not capable of subtly leading the yers into a trap." Cranberry also noticed the approaching group but continued speaking anyway, reminiscing about the time when the system bluntly gave her a guest telling her to die. That time, with the help of her blue undead she managed to change the fate that the system had in store for her, but this time... ...this time she was going to follow the offered path... "Haa... You''ve said that Greeds have strong yers on their side." Cranberry breathed out and nodded casually. "There''s always someone stronger no matter where you go. It''s your choice whether you want to let that knowledge kill your drive, or to push you to reach for the greater heights." The red-haired girl dered and jumped up dramatically. "...!" Zombie reached out and instinctively caught her into a princess carry. "That said, I think those guys over there are both stronger than you and angry enough not to care for any exnation that you may have, so... you know..." Cranberry smirked with an evil glint in her eyes and tightly wrapped her arms around Zombie''s neck. "You better start running." *WHAM* With Cranberry''sst words spoken, the Master-Servant pair disappeared to the deafening sound of the earth splitting apart. "..." Lairs blinked a few times, dumbfounded, staring at the could of dust that the escaping duo had raised. "...there! I see someone!" "It''s an elf!" "Catch her!" "OH FUCK!" Hearing the voices of the agitated crowd, Lairs cursed loudly and used the speed-augmenting wind skill to run away as fast as she could. Chapter 150: Epliogue [In the basement (10)]

Chapter 150: Epliogue [In the basement (10)]

I... I can''t breathe...! ...can''t move... Father... Mother... help me... ... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...? Wh-why...? It hurts...! I can''t move...! I can''t breathe...! ...I... ... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... ...? N-no...! Not again...! ...just... let me die...! /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... ...let me die...! ... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... ...let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die...let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... let me die... ... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... ...you piece of shit system...! ...I... cannot... move...! ...I am buried underground...! ...what am I supposed to do...?! ...what have I done to deserve thi... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...Father... Mother... help me... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...Father... Mother...! /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... ...why...? /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...ah... that''s right... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...they can''t help me... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...they''re dead... ...she killed them... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ... .................................... ... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...her fault... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...it''s all her fault... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...I will kill her... /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...I will kill her...! /You are dead /Error /Calcting... /The world setting in its current stage cannot progress without Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target /Attempting revival... /Fruit of the forbidden love / capture target revived ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill her... ...I will kill /Proficiency level reached yer receives a skill Undying rage (level 1) /Calcting... /Viiness ultimate route is avable /System restriction removed /yer''s skill upgrade Apperance steal (level 15 [max]) + Skill steal (level 20 [max]) + Mana steal (level 10) + Life steal (level 11) + Magic steal ([max]) + Memory steal (level 4) + Endure (level 36 [max]) + Undying rage (level 1) ?? Invidia (level 1) /yer receives a unique title Fallen half-elf /The death branch of the nature skill tree unlocked ... ... ... ... ... Envy''s mansion became an abandoned ruin. In the beginning, no one dared to approach the poisonous swamp that had suddenly appeared around it, killing everything in its vicinity - even knocking down the birds with its putrid vapors. But even that swamp had disappeared after a few days just as suddenly as it appeared and the site became a prime hunting spot for thieves and beggars searching for anything worth selling. "Yo, Orange, how about there?" A thin man in rags leaned down looking down the copsed spiral staircase. "Man, are you stupid? Haven''t you heard the official statement? That''s the basement. The elves were being imprisoned there, even if it''s notpletely buried, which I''m sure it is, what do you reckon we find there? Some rags?" A thin man''spanion, an older-looking fellow with a long grayish beard wearing simr rags waved his hand dismissively while checking out a piece of bent yellowish metal he just pulled from under the piece of the wall. "You bettere help me move this ruble, this may be a part of a golden chandelier." He said examining the metal closely. "Who''s stupid? Don''t make meugh, you''ve never even seen a normal chandelier, not to mention a golden one! I have a good feeling about that basement..." The thin man smirked cheekily. "Whatever, man. I''m not going to risk breaking my legs just to uncover some broken piss-buckets or whatever." Orange shrugged his shoulders and turned away. "Your loss, he he he~!" Hispanion cackled and started carefully climbing down, using whatever avable footing was left. The truth was, he received a system quest encouraging him to check the basement and that might have been just the stroke of good luck he was waiting for, for so long. He received the quest rather suddenly and since he was talking with Orange, he didn''t have time to read what the reward was, but that could be easily made up to. "Huh...?" Since he didn''t have any fire or holy type skill, the homeless couldn''t see all that well after getting to the bottom of the stairs, but still, he could barely make out that the doorway in front of him is tightly blocked by the soil mixed with debris. Was there even a point in getting down there? "System, show active quest." Hemanded in a hushed voice and a window with only a single quest appeared in front of his eyes. "Show quest details." /Basement of wonders /Quest objective: Die bing the nutrients for the weakened fallen half-elf Reward: --- "Wh-what the...?! HFUMGPHF...!" As the homeless man raised his voice staring at the outrageous quest description, the earth blocking the doorway started crumbling and an ash-gray hand glowing with green light erupted from within and grasped the thin man''s throat. "?!?!?!?!!!!!" The homeless man tried to struggle but his meager skills werepletely useless against the vice-grip of the hand. More of the earth and rabble crumbled down and a soil-stained ash-gray dried up head and the malnourished torso got uncovered. "...hateful... so hateful..." The mummified gray being whispered coarsely, tightening its grip on the homeless man''s throat. "...why are you so full of life while I''m on the verge of dying once again...?" Its mutter changed into a furious growl. The green light enveloped the thin man, sipping inside him through his opened mouth, nose, ears, and eyes, just to get sucked back out and be absorbed into the ash-gray being still half-stuck inside the blocked passage. "I want it... I want your life... I want it all...!" It growled. And as the green light was being drained out of the homeless man, the poor victim was getting thinner and thinner as if something was sucking him dry while the ash-gray being was recovering just as rapidly. Soon, it was easy to tell that the gray being was in fact a male, a handsome youth with piercing green eyes and short brown curly hair that not quite covered his unusual pointy ears. "..." The homeless man turned into a dried-up husk opened his mouth in a soundless scream for thest time, and died,pleting his rewardless quest. "...haah..." The gray-skin young man breathed out with relief and threw the dry husk to the side. His nourished body stopped glowing and he broke free from the grave he spent system-knows how long. "My man? Apple? Are you there? I''ve heard a weird noise!" "...!" Orange shouted down the broken staircase looking for hispanion, unknowingly getting the attention of the ash-gray young man. "Did you fell down and broke your neck? Man, say something if you''re still alive and need help...!" The man called, making a worried expression. "..." The ash-gray youth''s handsome face twisted in fury as he looked up towards the source of the voice. "...so hateful..." The ash-gray youth muttered, clenching his fists, and his body got enveloped in green light once again. Chapter 151: The path is clear!

Chapter 151: The path is clear!

In the western corner of the northern border of the Fruit Sd kingdom, right at the edge of the great sea of mist that separated the Sloth''s territory from the rest of the country, there was a mountain range devastated by the long distant artillery fire hundreds of years ago. The legends have said that it was the ce where lord Sloth cornered the God of wisdom and merged with it, gaining the knowledge and technology necessary for keeping the monstrous titan-ss monsters at bay. The sun was rising, illuminating the tops of the highest mountain peaks that only a few of the brave - or insane - travelers had dared to thread.. "...haa... hey, Zombie, do you ever wondered what kind of skill is needed to control the sea of mist?" The red-haired girl getting a piggyback ride from the blue undead, asked, looking at the hundreds of feet tall wall of swirling whiteness on their left - a sign that thend was peaceful and no titan-ss monster managed to break through the defense lines constructed by the Sloth family. "No, never. But isn''t it controlled by the system itself? We''ve seen that it stretches all the way to the horizon, if someone really is controlling it, their mana must bepletely insane." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and answered indifferently. "That''s the thing... one doesn''t exclude the other." Cranberry furrowed her brows and nested her chin against the blue undead''s corbone. "Think about it. Saint was thest administrator. And at the same time, they were the spirit God Saint from the legend of Lady Envy." The red-haired girl''s eyes gleamed coldly as she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Wouldn''t that mean that all gods from the legends were in fact administrators who had some degree of control over their respective aspects of the system? Haa..." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "God of wisdom merged with Lord Sloth... would a chimera of a yer and an administrator keep the benefits of both? Saint certainly tried to kill me to regain some of their powers. Does that mean that with a steady influx of experience points be immune to the passage of time?" Cranberry wondered while listening in to the chirping of birds and the sound of Zombie''s high heel boots on the mountain path made by wild animals. "You''re making it sound like there always had been only one avatar of sloth. But wouldn''t someone notice that? Even with the sea of mist in ce, it''s not like their territory ispletely cut off from the rest of the world. They have to pay taxes like the rest, right?" Zombie pointed out with a glint of brilliance that even dumb people showed once in a blue moon. "Ha ha! True. But the avatar of sloth doesn''t have to pay them in person, right?" Cranberryughed in her unique way and nodded. "Truth to be told, the avatar of sloth is said to doing absolutely nothing except controlling the sea of mist. Apparently, no avatar of sin has ever graced the coronation ceremony of the Kings and Queens of the Fruit Sd. They''ve always sent a proxy." She exined while rxing slightly And even pulled away from Zombie''s back, as far as she could without getting off of him, and stretched her body. "~nnnnnngh~" She let out a funny sound and her expression changed into a blissful one. "Really? That sound like a big deal... Isn''t that a bit disrespectful?" Zombie furrowed his brows and asked intrigued. "Oh, it is extremely disrespectful, considering that all the other avatars of sin would always attend no matter the circumstances." Cranberry waved her hand and shook her head. "But when during one of such events, the Sloth''s proxy was asked the very same question... you know what their answer was?" Cranberry smiled mischievously and started ying with Zombie''s hair. "Umm... no idea." Zombie answered honestly while threading carefully by the edge of a cliff that suddenly revealed itself when the edge of the wall of mist started arching away from it. "They''ve said. ''The current avatar of sloth is too busy protecting the border from invading monster. They have told me to ask the new ruler whether someone else who could hold the horde of titan-ss monsters at bay had finally appeared so the Sloth''s can have some rest. Ha ha! Wasn''t that a lovelyeback?" "Ouch, brutal." Cranberryughed and Zombie flinched. "Titan-ss monsters are even above dragons, angels, and true demons, right?" The blue undead added curiously. "Yes. Apparently, they are supposed to be just below the god-ss monsters in terms of strength, but their level of intelligence varies from dumb adult human to clueless toddler - a clueless toddler with enough strength to level a city in one hit. Cranberry ended up answering while rummaging through her travel bag and ended up pulling up an old-looking book. "Wow!" Zombie let out an excited gasp. "That''s not all. Did you know that the Sloth family came up with a tradition, where every yer whose STR will exceed 3000 points will be granted a title of honorary Sloth, allowed to enter their territory and even take part in ying a titan-ss monster?" Cranberry opened the book on the bookmarked page and read out loud. "In the past, there were many adventurers and even some nobles who strived to achieved that, but since from everyone who aplished that and then returned - all of them were said toe back disillusioned and with their spirits broken Because of that, the tradition is basically dead." Cranberry closed the book and put it back in the bag. "Why disillusioned?" Zombie raised his brow. "The 3000 STR is quite something, even more of a big deal nowadays, but it seems like it''s like a bare minimum necessary to survive in the Sloths'' territory. Every monster is basically dragon-ss, and every human has to be an overpowers monster just so they can stay alive." Cranberry said and leaned forward, hugging Zombie again. "..." The blue undead furrowed his brows and looked at the mist. "...always someone stronger..." He muttered under his breath. "Yeah. That''s how it works." Cranberry nodded and closed her eyes nuzzling against his neck. "Haa... It looks like Sloths'' came up with the tradition as a way to remind everyone else why they should be left alone. Thest person who went to their territory as an honorary Sloth, was the previous king, you know, Roan''s grandfather, and it seems that the Sllths'' n has worked." The red-haired girl sighed. "Master, how about we go there and train?" Zombie asked out of nowhere. "It seems like a nice ce to get stronger, right...?" He tilted his head when Cranberry didn''t give an immediate answer. "...haa... we will. But not yet, it''s too early." Cranberry breathed out And shook her head with a solemn expression. "First, I need to be able to use all the full extent of my strength without hurting myself, or there will be no point. Dying foolishly isn''t on my to-do list, you know?" Sheiners pinching Zombie''s cheek. "Ah...! I haven''t thought about that..." "Of course you haven''t, rotten brain." The Master-Servant pair''s banter was echoing down below the cliff. "For now, let''s concentrate on the task in front of us. How much further to the Pheonixyer?" Cranberry asked opening her eyes. "Umm..." Zombie squinted his eyes and looked around. "The entrance will be just below that mountaintop, the one with a hole punched out on the side." The blue undead momentarily stopped supporting Cranberry''s leg and pointed at the right spot. "So high up... we will have to camp for a few more days before we reach there, so I would get used to the altitude." The red-haired girl nodded. "The Pheonix is a monster that breaches the gap between angel-ss and true demon-ss monster - if we won''t be able to defeat it, we shouldn''t even dream about going all the way to the Sloth''s territory and bother the people who are working so hard to protect the entire continent." "Okay! And if you still feel bad, I can always heal you with my damage absorption!" "...!" Cranberry flinched and her face turned crimson red from embarrassment at Zombie''s innocent remark. "...yes... yes you can..." The red-haired girl became unusually timid. "You know... we could actually train it right now... o-only if you want to train it that is...!" She started mumbling while fidgetting intensely. "We could just rest here for a bit and watch the sunrise and all... this whole scenery does set up a nice mood..." Cranberry was doing her best to control her voice and not betray how much she actually wanted to do that. "But you aren''t hurt anywhere though? It won''t even activate otherwise." Zombie tilted his head while making a clueless expression. Thankfully, thank''s to his rotten brain skill, he was as observant as it gets. "..." Cranberry twitched and her expression soured. "...haa..." She breathed out heavily?trying to get rid of all the disappointment in her body, and shook her head. "...?!" Then she suddenly flinched as if she realized something. "Zombie, use your taunt...!" She said with a determined expression. "Ah? Okay..." Zombie nodded and... "COME AT ME YOU FUCKERS!" ...his deafening roared thundered over the mountains. "SKREEE!" "RAAAARGH!" "REEEEEEEEEE" "KURIIIIII" Within the next second the air was filled with the battle cries of various monsters that were minding their own business up until that point. "What do you want to do though?" Zombie asked his master. "I''m going to get damaged a bit so that you''ll be able to train your skill, of course!" Cranberryughed, showing all her teeth in a bloodthirsty smile, and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. Once a first beast showed up, the red-haired girl''s body begun glowing with skills and she disappeared from Zombie''s back. "Wow, Cranberry is somitted to training!" The blue undead gasped in awe, watching as his master''s mighty swing rips right through the cranium of therge four-winged reptile. But then he furrowed his brows and looked to the side. "And here I thought that she maybe just wanted to kiss... yeah, right...! As if she sees me like that..." He sighed, kicking up the ground with disappointment. Chapter 152: Meet the Wraths (1)

Chapter 152: Meet the Wraths (1)

Seven main families are the backbone of the kingdom of Fruit Sd. Every single citizen regardless of their status and origin knows that. Sloth family protects not only Fruit Sd, but the whole continent from the invasion of the monstrous titan-ss beasts from the far north. Envy family is responsible for gathering intel thanks to which their kingdom always has an upper hand in negotiations. Lust family''s duty as lorekepers is to preserve the history both past and present for the future generations to learn from. Gluttony family watches over the army and trains the most excellent warriors and soldiers forever hungry for achievements. Greed family''s insatiable yearning for more wealth and power constantly pushes the kingdom towards the ever prosperous future. Pride family watches over the other families with strict eyes so that the corruption would never sneak its way into their ranks. And finally, the Wrath family. The most humble from all the others, they took on themselves the burden of protecting the most important members of the main families. ...yes... Those are the stories feed to themoners and the less influential nobles. The truth has always been different. Much more muddy and unsightly than some pretty legends and tall tales. Though the progenitors of the seven main families all brought down an administrator each in one way or another, they remained humans - mostly - as did their descendants, and therefore the intrigues and schemes were just asmon amongst them as they were amongst the nobility in any other country. Basically, all of them were hiding something and were using the prettied-up legends to their advantage. All of them were much more - or much less - than what the public thought about them. Even the humble Wraths weren''t the exception. Through the years they shifted from the powerful bodyguards who protected their targets with their honed bodies and ferociousness, into the more intellectual position of advisers, or straight up stopped supporting some of the other houses and focused on the creme of the crop and those who paid the most. By far, they were the ones who changed the most from how they were during the life of their progenitor, lord Wrath, who had beaten the administrator to death with his bare fists. ...or so it seemed at the first nce. "Here, Corvus, how about another cup of tea?" A young ashen-haired girl of fragile built, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, leaned over the table and poured the hot beverage into the teacup of the person sitting on the opposite side of the table. Her pale hands were carefully gripping the teapot, as she watchfully made sure that not a single drop would get spilled. "Thank you very much, Mika." Herpanion nodded with a pleased expression and picked up the teacup, taking a moment to smell the aroma of the excellently brewed tea. He was a young man, around twenty years old. He was both tall and slim, with a handsome face surrounded by sleek white hair, and his pale blue eyes that made him look slightly demonic were partially hidden behind a pair of stylish half-rimmed sses. "Delicious." Corvus took a sip and smiled, making the young girl blush. At the first nce, it was clear that Mika wanted to impress him. She asked Corvus to join her for the afternoon snack in the garden, right where the exotic flowers were in full bloom. She prepared the tea herself after carefully investigating whether the particr brew she liked suits the type of desserts prepared by the cooks. And finally, she styled her hair so that she would look more mature and serious, she did the same for her clothes too - picking ones that would look simr to the style that the elegant Corvus was going for himself. Well, by the looks alone she had things figured out perfectly. Corvus''s ck shoes, white pants, ck shirt, and white vest were mirrored by Mika''s white shoes, white dress with ck rims, and ck vest - making the two of them looked like a set, with just enough differences to not be too jarringly obvious. "I''m really grateful that you always manage to find the time to keep mepany, even with your busy schedule, Corvus." Mika nodded politely, keeping in mind that she shouldn''t blush too much or say something unsightly childish. "No need to thank me. I''ll always find time for my sweet little sister." Corvus responded with disarming smile, that made Mika feel both happy and infuriated at the same time. First of all, Mika wasn''t Corvus''s real sister, she was the daughter of the head of the Wrath family, Pomegranate Wrath, the avatar of wrath, and Corvus was the adopted son of Pomegranate''s deceased older brother. Second of all, she had fallen in love with him, utterly andpletely. But to ever hope to be together with him, she had to face many obstacles. The age difference - for once. Mika was seven years younger than Corvus. Thankfully, in only four years Mika would turn eighteen and would be able to marry him without getting him in trouble. But to even start thinking about the marriage, she would have to move past an even greater hurdle. The little sister zone. Mika''s biggest problem and greatest pain was the fact that her beloved Corvus simply didn''t saw her as a possible romantic interest. At all...! At first, the ashen-haired girl thought that she still had a lot of time to change that. After all, Corvus wasn''t really a social butterfly and didn''t have much contact with anyone, since even the man himself had confirmed that he doesn''t have a special someone, and isn''t looking either, being too busy with his work as a bodyguard. But the global event started. That damned global event! Mika''s beloved Corvus received an outrageous role of Wrathful protector / Capture target, while she got stuck with Justice''s Wrath. Her own extremely odd and vague role aside, the second part of Corvus''s role bothered Mika greatly. Capture target. Capture. Target. Mika''s intuition had instantly told her that this had something to do with being a romantic interest for someone - she had no doubt about it! That ursed global event was obviously trying to mess up her long-term n of winning Corvus''s heart! Chapter 153: Meet the Wraths (2)

Chapter 153: Meet the Wraths (2)

"Corvus, tell me, how is your work? Does your target gives you a hard time?" Mika asked calmly, not letting her true emotions show. Actually, the way she addressed the young man was a part of her original n. She threw out words like ''big brother'' from her vocabry and made sure to trick Corvus into calling her by her given name without any honorifics too. "No, not at all. I''ve been blessed with an extremely cozy position of watching over the youngdy Cranberry Pride." Corvus smirked with a hint of mockery. "As you know, the Pride family is on the brink of getting stripped of its rank amongst the seven main families, so the heartbroken littledy is sitting put in her room, crying her little heart out." He dered, waving his hand dismissively without even batting an eye, and took another sip of the tea. "Honestly, I don''t understand why your father has tasked me with the role of her bodyguard while any other nsman would do just as good of a job. That girl really doesn''t do anything! I almost died out of boredom during the lull!" He sighed and leaned back in the chair. "The most intense thing that happened to her during the three and a half years I''ve been guarding her was her waking up in the middle of the night to find that her water jug wasn''t refilled the evening before and she had to go get it herself!" He scoffed and shook his head. "Oh, that''s surprising. Father has always kept her in high regard and since his health got worse he started putting more pressure ondy Cranberry''s wellbeing. I expect that''s because father mes himself for what happened to her mother,dy Raspberry." Mika furrowed her brows while getting dispirited. "Ah...!" Corvus flinched and blushed from embarrassment. "Sorry... of course, you would know about the reason... Please, pardon me for speaking out of line, Mika." He bent his back and apologized to the girl. "No, no. You don''t have to be sorry." Mika got timid, fearing that she soured the mood, and shook her head. "It''s just that my father was Prides'' bodyguard before he became sick. It was something like an old tradition between our two families. But because of his declining health, father wasn''t there when Prides needed him the most and it had cost them the title of the avatar of sin." "...I see..." Even though she was clearly making Corvus feel ufortable, Mika couldn''t just stop talking, she was going somewhere with her story, it just needed a propped build-up first. "Father takes honor very seriously, so that''s why he assigned you, his best pupil, to watch overdy Cranberry to make sure nothing happens to her. So don''t feel bad! In the past, he himself had watched over her a few times when she was outside the Prides'' mansion so that only serves as proof of how much my father trusts you!" She ended up on what was in her opinion, a high note, but in truth, it only made Corvus very nervous ad twitchy. ...just as if he was feeling bad over something he had said and done... ...or because of something that he was iming to be doing while cking off... "You know, what I meant to say was that there''s so much difference between her and you, Mika." Corvus did his best to pull himself together and derailed the subject from the ufortable direction that their talk took. "Really?! Ekhm... Really? in what way exactly...?" Mika got a bit too excited over the white-haired man seemingly steering their conversation towards herself as if he wanted to know more about the younger girl - which was exactly what Mika was aiming for. "I-is it about our looks...?" She suddenly flinched putting her hands up to her chest. "What?! No, no, no! It has nothing to do with something like that!" Corvus waved both his hands in denial. "What I meant was, that girl isn''t even remotely interested in training, she doesn''t want to put work into restoring her family status... The only thing she cares about is that she won''t be able to attend as many parties as she would like. Truly deplorable. You on the other hand are doing everything in your power to bring more glory to our family name! Say, how is your focus training going..." Corvus threw shade, or rather straight-up insulted the red-haired girl who wasn''t there and smoothly transited toplimenting the girl in front of him. But then... *WHAM* "EH?!" Suddenly, the door of the mansion opened and a horribly skinny ashen-haired older man in oversized clothes busted inside, followed by three panicking servants, making Mika yelp in shock. "Father...?! Why aren''t you in bed?!" The girl jumped off of her chair and ran towards the approaching man. "Step aside, Mika." The older man growled through his teeth, clenching his fists on the stack of neatly written papers, and nimbly dodged the young girl while his body begun glowing with skills. "Lord Pomegranate! Why are you...?" "Brat, what is Cranberry Pride doing right now?!" Corvus had also stood up and started voicing a question towards the newly arrived head of the Wrath family, but lord Pomegranate had no intention of hearing him finish some mundane exnation. "What is Cranberry...?" Corvus flinched and paled, his forehead became shiny from sweat. "Who allowed you to speak about her with such familiarity?! Little Cranberry isn''t someone the likes of you can just address on a first name basis!" Lord Wrath shouted with such anger that the white-haired youngster backed off instinctively. "She... the youngdy Pride... is in the Pride''s mansion of course. In her room, mourning the approaching loss of the Pride family''s position amongst the seven..." Corvus was regaining some of his confidence while speaking, but then... *SLAM* "URGH!" "FATHER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO CORVUS?!" The white-haired young man was in the middle of exnation when the avatar of wrath punched him right in the face, sending him flying and crashing into the flower bed to the apaniment of Mika''s horrified screams. "You ungrateful brat! How dare you lie to me like that?!" "...?!" Lord Wrath roared at Corvus in pure fury, making Mika flinch and back off in confusion. Chapter 154: The exposed lies

Chapter 154: The exposed lies

Corvus lifted his upper body up and shook his head. The punch, even though it was supported by the skills, only managed to break his nose that was bleeding profusely staining his ck and white clothes with amaranth blood. "L-lord Pomegranate, why are you doing this...?" He asked with his ears still ringing from the blow. "Why...? WHY?! Oh, the gull of this lying bastard...!" The avatar of wrath''s face twisted into the expression that perfectly suited his title. He was furious, overwhelmingly furious. The older man was clenching his fist, trying to contain his anger that was already boiling over, and shaking with ire. "Master, stop! Think about the condition of your body!" One of the servants cried and all three of them grabbed onto the old man and activated their skills. "My older brother picked you up from the streets!" But as if the two men and one woman doing their best to hold him back were just some feeble kittens, lord Wrath was pulling them together with him as he was approaching Corvus menacingly while growling through his teeth. "When he passed away I took it upon myself to brought you up just as he would wish for! I treated you like my own!" "Kyaah!" Lord Wrath raised his right hand again, and the female servant holding on to it yelped pitifully as she was lifted off the ground as if she was merely a feather. "And... THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME, YOU SNAKE!" Lord Wrath roared readying for a swing. "I... I don''t...!" "YOU....!" "KYAAAH!" Corvus trembled and raised his arms to protect himself from the next hit, but that miserable act had only added the fuel to the fire of lord Wrath''s anger and triggered the swing instead, causing the poor female servant to cry in panic as she swung back and forth from the man''s arm. "Father! Stop this, right now!" That was the moment when young Mika has thrown herself in between her father and the object of her unrequited love in order to protect the young man. *smack* "Ughh...!" But regardless of Mika''s efforts, the bundle of neatly written papers that her father had thrown, flew right past her right ear and smacked Corvus square in the face, exploding into tens of pages that began slowly floating back to the ground. "F-father...?" Mika asked confused, stubbornly standing between the two men, and looking between them both. "WHO THE HELL IS MOURNING ANYTHING, YOU LYING SLOB?!" Lord Wrath shouted, putting his hand down slowly, mindful of the shaken female servant still grabbing onto it. "Little Cranberry had been raising hell right since the lull ended, dueling adventurers, bing an adventurer herself, almost frying the royal prince''s brain with a charm skill; wiping off almost entire main branch of the Envy family, and finally going missing almost three months ago!" Lord Wrath shouted it all in one breath and had to pause to get some air while his daughter and Corvus were both left stunned unable to progress the slew of information presented to them. "I have entrusted youpletely with everything concerning little Cranberry, and what did that bring me?!" The older man continued shouting as the veins on his neck and forehead were both bulging on the verge of bursting. "Your weekly reports were filled with nothing but lies! Do you have any idea how much shame I had to suffer through when an official from the royal family arrived at our door asking for the current location of the girl and her corpse puppet, and I have foolishly responded with ''at their family mansion, of course, I just received a report from my most trusted pupil''?!" Lord Wrath gritted his teeth as a sudden spasm had twisted his hand in an unnatural direction. "Graargh...!" "Master...!" He growled, twisting his hand back how it should be while one of the male servants holding him back, gasped and started using a healing skill on him. "The face he gave me then felt worse than this damned sickness...!" Lord Wrath growled and closed his eyes from the pain coursing through his limbs. "F-father, I''m sure that Corvus never meant anything wrong... ah...!" Mika tried to protect the white-haired man but when her eyes identally met with the eyes of the third servant holding her father back, the man holding lord Envy from behind, she got scared and hurriedly looked away. "Never meant anything wrong?! Then why did he lie in every single report he had made since three months ago?!" Lord Wrath snorted, so mad, that he startedughing. "Even while bedridden and under all of that awful medication I''ve found it odd that this snake was home so often, but I made the mistake of believing his lousy exnation!" He shook his head, gritting his teeth with disgust. "What do you have to say in your defense, you two-faced brat?!" Lord Wrath growled, looking over his daughter''s shoulder, at the clearly ashamed Corvus, who didn''t even try to stop the blood pouring from his broken nose anymore. "I...! But... but...!" Corvus couldn''t get himself to even look in Pomegranate''s eyes and turned his head to the side. "The things I wrote... that was her exact behavior during the lull! Three and a half years of just sitting perched on a tree and observing some spoiled girl bitching about the so-called misfortune while being surrounded by luxury! There was no point in guarding her at all...!" Corvus gritted his teeth andined while clenching his fists, crushing the flowers in between his fingers - all without looking at lord Wrath or any other person there. "...you...!" The avatar of wrath trembled and his face twisted from all the building-up aggression. He tried toe closer to the shameless young man, but both his daughter and the sudden spasm twisting his right foot prevented him from doing that. "...Ti...! Go...!" Lord Wrath gasped through his teeth. Although it sounded like just a weird grunt of pain, it was actually a name. "..." The woman grabbing onto his arm blinked in surprise but then nodded and disappeared into the thin air within the same heartbeat. ...she used the high-level blink skill... *SMASH* "GUHUAH!" The female servant appeared right in front of the moping Corvus, and with a single p to the face, she mmed him into the ground so hard that he bounced up in the flurry of ripped petals. Chapter 155: The reason for anger

Chapter 155: The reason for anger

"NO! STOP HURTING HIM!" The shocked Mika cried and threw herself on Corvus''s body so that the female servant wouldn''t be able to hit him again without harming her, but even so, the woman was no longer there - in a blink of an eye she already returned to lord Wrath''s side and was grabbing onto his arm as if she never left in the first ce. "Ugh...! Guh...!" Corvus gasped for air in no shape to get up. It seemed that his jaw got dislocated from the p and in a really bad way too... "Why would you do something so cruel to him?!" The young girl cried ring at her father with spite. "Mika, get away from him! After all the things we did for him, that scum ignored the mission I, as the head of the Wrath family, had given him! The diligence I praised him for on so many asions turned out to be a lie! And you heard what he had said! He did that because he got bored...! Thatzy scum! I should have given you to the Sloths'' fishermen when I had the chance!" Lord Wrath had real trouble containing himself. Time after time the white light of the skills he was using, was turning bright red, threatening to erupt into a violent unique wrath-type skill. "No! It surely isn''t what like it looks like! He must have had an important reason!" Mika bravely defended Corvus, who was gasping for air unable to articte even a single word properly because of the damage he had suffered. "...please, listen to what your father really means,dy Mika..." The scary servant holding lord Wrath from behind spoke, and it turned out that he had a really soft and gentle voice not really matching his beady eyes of a maniac. "But he''s wrong! He doesn''t even want to hear Corvus''s side of the story... his reason, I mean...!" After noticing that the servant isn''t nearly as terrifying as his outward appearance suggested, Mika cried out to him, looking for support. "His reason doesn''t matter in the slightest!" Lord Wrath roared and managed to take another step even though his foot was twisted at an insanely painful-looking angle. "You silly girl, you don''t understand the severity of the consequences of that boy''s actions! You don''t even know who those three are, do you?! And what does it means that they are here?!" "Eh...?" Lord Wrath scoffed and pointed at the three servants holding him back, and caused Mika to flinch and nervously look at the servants. They all were wearing a standardized servant''s attire that all the staff hired by the nobles of the main families was assigned. Each of them looked considerably young, at most two or three years older than Corvus, so they had to be in their mid tote twenties at most. The copper-eyed female had her tinum hair cut rtively short in a practical bob-cut. The scary-looking ck-eyed male had his ck hair cut short like a soldier. And the blue-eyed one who was continuously using a healing skill on lord Wrath had blond curly hair making him look like a cuddly sheep. There was absolutely nothing that Mika could use as a clue to figure out whether there was anything special about them. "They are thest students of my older brother! Exactly half a year before his death, they all passed the qualification exam and became the exclusive bodyguards of the queen herself and were supposed to never leave her side...!" Lord Wrath began trembling even more than before and the light of his skill stopped flickering and just straight up settled for vibrant red. "Eh...? But then why are they...?" Mika gasped looking at the impressive trio with confusion. "Why are they here then, you ask?!" Lord Wrath straightened his back and red down at his daughter and the young man she was protecting. "Because of that bastard! Because of his tant failure to keep an eye on little Cranberry, thepetence of OUR ENTIRE FAMILY HAD BEEN PUT INTO QUESTION, AND THEY GOT DISMISSED FROM THEIR RIGHTFULLY EARNED POSITION!" The older man shouted and the air surrounding him begun to tremble like during a heatwave. The trio of dismissed bodyguards exchanged worried looks and nodded. The intensity of the light they were producing increased, bing almost blinding, proving that they were holding back quite a lot before. Even so, they were barely able to hold back the weakened avatar of wrath from obliterating the white-haired man. "Because of his ipetence and lies, the reputation of us all as the bodyguards got shredded into nothing! I trusted him and got repaid with betrayal!" Lord Wrath''s voice trembled and the light of his skill faded as he hung down his head in defeat. "That... that''s not really his fau..." Mika had still much to learn, one of those things was when to keep her mouth shut... Thankfully there was someone there who knew what to do. "Girly. Do this guy a favor and stop trying to get him killed." The tinum-haired woman sighed and sneered at Mika. "I would never...! Ah..." At first, the young girl inted with anger but as soon as she nced at her father''s face she realized her mistake. "I understand..." She mumbled and got off of Corvus, which coincidentally allowed him to have an easier time breathing. "Cri, Ti, Cal, as of right now Corvus is under house arrest, escort him to his room and then heal him. I''ll arrange for someone to keep an eye on him so you three could rx a bit until we''ll figure out a way to regain the trust of our clients." Lord Wrath encouraged the trio to let go of him and take care of the barely conscious white-haired young man. And of course, they did so with only a moment of hesitation. Then they approached Corvus and picked him up. "Umm... master, where is his...?" The one using healing skills before asked looking around with confusion. It has been a while since they stayed in the Wrath''s household and their knowledge of the location of everyone''s bedrooms was almost nonexistent. "Ah! I''ll show you the way!" Mika offered instantly and rushed to the front to show others the way. "Haa... The acting is really easy if I''m actually angry at the nasty brat." Lord Wrath breathed out, watching as the youngsters all left. "...the rest is up to you three... System, show active quest." He added and loudly issued a systemmand. /You have 1 active quest Putting things into motion Assure that CriTiCal, Justice''s Wrath, and the Wrathful Protector, will meet up with the heroine Revard: +1 year to live "...I really hope that everything will work out fine..." Lord Pomegranate Wrath sighed and let the system window fade from his line of sight on its own. Chapter 156: The luck of a prodigy

Chapter 156: The luck of a prodigy

"..." Corvus was lying in his bed and staring at the ceiling while his bedroom was getting darker and darker as the setting sun has almostpletely hidden behind the horizon. The bloodied papers that Lord Wrath had thrown in his face got picked up and delivered to Corvus by another servant a few minutes after he got locked in his bedroom. Said papers were all neatly stacked on top of the nightstand after the white-haired young man had read through them countless times during two days that he had already spent locked in. As for the content, it was a real report on Cranberry''s action prepared and delivered by a spy from the branch of the Envy family that had worked exclusively for the crown for generations. It had been prepared by gathering the valuable intel after they realized that the young prince Roan had been acting strange - and it turned out that he got hit by a powerful charm skill. The report had been nothing but dry facts written down with no emotion whatsoever, but it was impossible for Corvus not to see it as proof of Wraths''ckingpetence. Well, truth to be told it was proof of his, Corvus''s,ck ofpetence, but as someone referred to as the best pupil of the avatar of wrath, his failures reflected on the whole family. "How was I supposed to know that after three and a half years that pompouszy girl would turn into a violent monster?" Corvus sighed, doing his best to dissociate himself from the problem as if it was Cranberry''s fault that he had not been doing his job and submitting false reports for three months while loafing around in the Wraths mansion. This whole situation was his first major setback. Corvus''s problem was, he was too good at everything and never had a chance to learn from his mistakes. That also included his childhood on the streets. Although he had no parents to support him, all of his skims and ns to get food and a ce to sleep had worked wlessly. He had never gone hungry even for a single day nor was he ever bullied by the thugs because he quickly became one of them with no struggle or anything. It was all working out for him as if it was simply how it was supposed to be. He only had to follow his quests and everything would go smoothly. Even betraying the street thugs that took care of him, in the middle of a robbery, came to him easily as he simply received a lucrative-looking quest and follow it through. Completing that quest was how he ended up in a Wrath family too. As it turned out the skills he got from stalking and stealing from his targets as well as blending in the crowd while running from the guards were a good match for the beginner bodyguard, and soon enough - with a head start like that - Corvus was hailed as a prodigy. No struggle, no problems, the only thing he had ever heard was the praise pouring on him by everyone in his surroundings. Then, the man who adopted him or whatever - died. That also had proven to not be problematic in any way shape or form since he instantly got taken in by the little brother of the said man - an avatar of wrath to boot! Just like that Corvus had ridden the easy life all the way to the top of the Wrath family. Even when the global event started and he received the peculiar role of Wrathful protector / Capture target, it didn''t bother him at all. Once again, he had to just follow the quests and everything would turn out fine. Some quests mentioned a heroine of some sort but since he hasn''t met someone with such a role, it didn''t bother him that much. But, a thing that he did found interesting, was that some of the quests were instructing him to spend a lot of time with the little love-struck kitten that was the daughter of the current avatar of wrath, Mika Wrath. Her affection was so obvious that it was almost pitiful. Corvus didn''t think much about her, but since it looked like catering to that kid''s childish desires would turn out profitable, he went all-in on that. And that''s when he started skipping on observing Cranberry Pride, the noble girl that the avatar of pride himself had been keeping an eye out as a favor for her father. Honestly, with a life like that, why WOULDN''T Corvus thought that he could get away with ditching the job, no matter how important for his benefactor it was, and instead attend some silly tea parties or whatever. From his experience, he could get away with anything. If he yed his cards right and hold himself back to not outright stomp the budging affection that the young girl harbored for him - in a few years he could even be the husband of the next avatar of wrath - talk about the upgrade of social status! But then the luck seemed to have left him, in the form of a punch that almost blew his head off and a p that almost snuffed the life out of him - and he ended up under a house arrest, stuck in a family with a broken reputation where basically everyone had rightfully hated him. "It''s just a single mistake, what is their deal...?" Corvus scoffed while carefully inspecting his jaw and nose. Every injury got healed while he was being carried back to his room two days prior, apanied by the panicking and crying Mika. "Tsk...!" The memory of her snotty nose made Corvus click his tongue. If she was so worried about him, she should have tried harder to protect him in the first ce! As the sun had set and the room became dark, the white-haired young man shook his head and turned on his side, now staring at the wall. Since things got to where they got, there was nothing else for him to do than to wait for a quest that would open a way for him to arrive or something. /yer received a quest Regaining the honor The Wrath family has lost its honor because of your actions, escape the mansion and search for the viiness and her servant to make up for your mistakes. Reward: unique title: Reimer of the honor *knock* *knock* *knock* "Corvus...! Are you still awake...?" Apparently, Corvus''s luck had already returned since within less than a single minute not only an exact quest that he wanted has popped up, but it was immediately followed by a silent knocking and a conspicuous voice that could only belong to Mika. "Yeah, I am." The white-haired capture target smirked and got up. Chapter 157: A solid plan

Chapter 157: A solid n

Corvus walked to the locked door and knocked back at the girl trying to get his attention. "You also got the quest...?" He put his arm against the door and asked with a smirk. "...?" The silence brimming with confusion made Corvus furrow his brows. So that kid didn''te to him because she got the same type of quest that he did...? "Corvus, I came to rescue you! We can elo-" *smack* "-AUGH...!" Nheless, Mika quickly got over being taken aback and dered in an excited but hushed voice. The odd thing was that her own words got interrupted by the end, right when she was going into dangerous territory. And by something that sounded like a p to the back of the head. "...uuuugh... I... I mean, we can go and finddy Cranberry..." Mika sniffled and ended up saying somethingpletely different than what she originally intended. "...if you will be the one to find her, that should improve our family''s situation..." The girl continued talking after that, but her tone suggested that she wasining and not proposing a n. Under basically any different circumstances, Corvus would either refused with a straight face orughed the proposition off - especially if it came from the young Mika. Too much bother. But after receiving a quest that basically told him to do that very same thing, Mika''s proposition was more than weed. "Ah! That''s exactly what I''ve been thinking myself! Mika, you really do understand me!" Corvusughed making himself sound upbeat and excited. "Eh?! You were...? I...! I mean, of course, you were!" At first, even Mika was taken aback, and that let Corvus know that he overdid it a bit this time. "Mika, this might sound unbelievable, but I just received a system quest about regaining the honor of the Wrath family. Your n, it''s not just wishful thinking, it will definitely work!" The white-haired youth changed his approach on the fly. "But the first step is for me to escape the mansion if you were so kind as to get the..." *click* Corvus got interrupted by the sound of the door lock opening. "...key." He gasped and took a step back. The door slowly opened revealing the ashen-haired young girl wearing inconspicuous traveling clothes and a backpack, holding up what looked like a hairpin, with a big proud smile on her face. "How did you...?" Corvus shook his head and looked between Mika''s face and the hairpin. "Remember that special quest I received a month ago? I''ve finallypleted it and received a secondary vocation! I''m now also a thief~!" The young girl boasted, proudly puffing out her chest. "O-oh..." A thief? Seriously? That was hardly an appropriate secondary ss for someone from the proud bodyguard family... Corvus was a step from groaning and rolling his eyes but managed to stop himself in time. "That''s amazing! I''m so jealous!" He instead smiled and praised the girl. Even went for a head pat. "Gah...!" "?!" Or he would have if Mika wasn''t suddenly pulled back by someone right when Corvus''s hand was about to touch her head. "You...!" Corvus gasped and clenched his fists under the indifferent gaze of the copper-colored eyes. Without a doubt, it was the same woman who pped him when he was down trying to get up! "Ti! What are you doing?!" Mika struggled but Ti had a good grip on her backpack and wasn''t going to let go of her that easily. "What is she doing here...?" Corvus took another step back, ready to shut the door at any time if necessary, but that only earned him a mocking sneer from the tinum-haired woman. "Master told me to keep an eye on you, miss Mika, and that is what I will do. If you have any objections we can go and see him right now." Ti shrugged her shoulders let go of the girl. "Wha...?! N-no! Ti! I''m sorry! It''s okay, you don''t have to go anywhere, please!" Mika panicked and instead of jumping into Corvus''s arms, she grabbed onto Ti''s apron. "..." Corvus had to stop himself from clicking his tongue while ring at the copper-eyed young woman. "..." She also looked as if she was holding something back. A disappointed sigh. She might have not figured Corvus''s crooked personality, but she certainly realized how he wanted to manipte Mika. "Hey, Mika. What is that old woman doing here?" Corvus asked rudely, observing Ti with Eyes squinted with suspicion. "Corvus! Don''t be rude to Ti!" In the end, the only one to react to that childish insult was Mika. As for Ti herself, she just raised her brow at him with a bored expression as if asking whether it was the best he got. "I''m sorry. But you have to understand my suspicion. She did attack me. And what is she doing here in the first ce, can I at least get an answer to that question?" Corvus gave up and steered the conversation on to the topic that he was interested in. "Oh! You see, Ti just..." "Miss Mika made apelling argument that you finding the missingdy Cranberry would help our situation... and even you yourself had confirmed that the system had bestowed you with a quest like that." Mika was going to answer but the copper-eyed young woman talked over her. "Being a part of the Wrath family, it is my pleasure and my duty to offer my help with seeing it through." Ti''s answer was clear and reasonable. Her and her twopanions lost the most when the Wraths'' reputation got ruined so, of course, she would want to regain the family honor and her position the most. "Then, does it mean that you will help me escape from here without even telling lord Pomegranate?" Corvus raised his brows, crossed his arms, and whistled with a bit too much sass for keeping it in a good taste, but once again his action fell t. "Not only that. In fact, we are going to travel together." Ti revealed while putting her hand on Mika''s shoulder. "Wait, what?! We?! You''re including Mika?! You can''t be serious! Everyone will think that we kidnapped her or something!" Corvus shook his head in full denial. "You thought I wouldn''t go?! It''s my n!" Mikained and stomped her foot. "You don''t have to worry about anything." Despite all the negativity, Ti simply shrugged her shoulders dismissively and smirked at the other two. "Cri and Cal preparing a proper cover-up story, we just have to make sure that no one spots us during the escape, and then wait for them at the meeting point. Us, Critical, were doing a good job guarding the current queen, we will properly watch over miss Mika too while you will be focusing on the search." She exined calmly. "Cri and Cal?! Wait, so what, those guys areing to?!" Corvus growled through his teeth, ncing at the unsuspecting Mika. "Yes. Or what? Were you expecting a lovely trip with just the two beauties?" Tiughed and waved her hand as if she was clearing up some smoke. "You have two minutes to grab your things. Move it." "...! Right..." Ti''s copper-colored eyes gleamed metallically and made Corvus flinch. Chapter 158: Waiting for a lead

Chapter 158: Waiting for a lead

Corvus and Mika were sitting alone by the table in the corner of a roadside inn during a morning rush. Both of them had only ordered some tea but had the guts to upy a whole table by themselves when other potentially more profitable patrons had to wait... ...which has earned them more than a few annoyed res from the staff whenever they''d pass by. "Tsk...! Where did that woman go? It''s been over thirty minutes! Maybe she was deceiving us from the start and want to get me in even bigger trouble?!" Corvus was nervously tapping his foot while looking all over the inn in search of the missing third member of their small group. But s, Ti, who left the two almost immediately after they were seated by the table, was nowhere in sight. "Corvus, isn''t she just waiting for the other two to show up?" Mika took a small sip of her lukewarm tea and frowned, trying to bear with the bitterness of the beverage - after all Corvus didn''t add any sugar to his own tea and she tried to match him. The only thing was, Corvus didn''t even touch his drink yet. He didn''t even appear to be interested in the tea in the first ce and left it to the side as if he expected it to be poisonous or something. "Yeah, right. More like waiting for the other two to plot against us." Corvus scoffed and started watching the entrance as if expecting a patrol of guards to just burst in and charge at him. *nk* But instead, he was served arge tter of delicious-looking food. "...huh...?" He groaned and red at the smiling waitress who had just put yet another tter in front of Mika. "We didn''t order this." Corvus scoffed at the woman and pushed the food away. "Enjoy your meal." The waitress was smiling so much that her eyes were basically closed. "We. Didn''t. Order. This." Corvus slowly spelled each word with increasing anger. "..." But then the waitress opened her copper-colored eyes. And red down at him. "Cal is already here but Cri got held back in the mansion. Eat." "!!!" "Ti...?! Why are you dressed like that?" While Corvus was too busy being drenched in a cold sweat to say anything, Mika gasped and stared at the tinum-haired woman who perfectly blended with the staff. "Collecting information." Ti simply shrugged her shoulders and turned to the next table with a friendly smile back on her face. With her gone again, Corvus and Mika ended up eating the food and waiting for another twenty minutes. The morning rush wasing to an end when Ti came back to their table, this time back in her travel attire. "We''re going." She gave a shortmand and walked to the door without even looking back. "..." Corvus gritted his teeth and clenched his fist looking at her back. "Let''s go." He scoffed and waved at Mika, who was already up and ready to go just waiting for him to move. The two of them caught up with Ti in front of the inn where Cal and Cri were already waiting for them in the carriage. Without further ado, Ti grabbed Mika and got onto the carriage and Corvus had no other choice but to follow them. "We got some lead. They''ve been seen in the next town over, doing a mission or something." Ti exined one Cal closed the door and Cri smacked the monster pulling the carriage with the reins. "Huh? Just like that?" Mika asked in confusion mixed with hints of disappointment. "Stop being ambiguous and tell us who''re you talking about" Corvus didn''t fall for Ti''s little trap and asked in an annoyed tone. "Fine, fine." Ti rolled her eyes. "I''m talking about the Dandelions. The party of adventurers who worked together withdy Cranberry''s party, Superbia." She exined. "Why should we even bother with them? The report that Greeds gave to lord Pomegranate clearly stated that those guys were only responsible for cleaning up monster corpses. They have no value to us." Corvus dismissed the idea while shaking his head. "It never hurts to double-check the information. Knowing the Greed family they weren''t too generous while asking their questions." Ti smirked and pulled out a bag filled with money. "The Dandelions are just an average bunch, below average in terms of strength even, a little bit of positive encouragement might jog their memory better than any threats made by the official investigators." Ti shrugged her shoulders, shaking the bag. "They should be able to at least point us in a direction in which we should go to start the real search." She added, putting the money down. "..." Corvus red at her in silence, furrowing his brows while trying to find faults in the n. "I guess that''s not the worst idea in the world, considering that apparently, every trace of Cranberry''s existence cuts off in Envy''s city." He sighed and leaned back in his seat with a grumpy expression. "Lady Cranberry." Ti corrected him without batting an eye. "What?" Corvus looked at her as if she just lost her mind. "Just in case, get used to calling herdy Cranberry. You''ve seen the report, she clearly hates when people are too casual with her." Ti exined patiently. "Umm..." Mika fidgeted, shyly looking between Ti and Corvus. "What is it, Mika? You need a toilet break?" Corvus raised his brow and asked. "Wha...?! No! Could you stop treating me like a little kid already?!" Mika blushed from embarrassment and stomped her foot. "I just thought, that if we think that the Dandelions were hiding something even from the royal investigators, then maybe they''ve also straight-up lied aboutdy Cranberry''s capabilities?" She suggested, gathering the attention of others. "By that you mean...?" For the first time since his arrival, Cal spoke, voicing a question. "During the lessons about the etiquette and social structure of our kingdom, I''ve learned about the direct descendants of other avatars of sin, anddy Cranberry... well... let''s just say that she was used as a negative example of too much empty pride not backed up by real any real strength." Mika fidgeted both happy and terrified by the attention she got. "How do we know that those Dandelions weren''t just using her as a cover and they did everything by themselves and got rid of her after?" She asked. Chapter 159: Carriage talk

Chapter 159: Carriage talk

Mika''s question was a valid one considering the information at their disposal. "Miss, don''t make the same mistake that the Brave Swords did. Do not underestimate her." Cal smirked and shook his head. "How am I supposed not to underestimate her?! From every piece of information we have on her, she wasn''t supposed to be anywhere near as capable and cunning to pull even one of the things in the report! Aren''t her actions and behavior way too different from what they were in the past? Is she even the same person? If the report is really correct, it means thatdy Cranberry must have had experienced some lucky break or a fateful encounter or something!" It sounded almost as if Mika, of all people, wasining about the unfairness of the system, and she did that while ncing at the annoyed Corvus, as if she feared that he would change his mind about her. "Maybe she did, maybe she didn''t, one thing is sure - she is strong, it seems that all the spectators that the investigator managed to find had confirmed it. There''s no ce for doubts." Cal exined patiently, leaning forward and moving his hand around in a circr motion. "Wasn''t she capable of using a high-level charm skill all of a sudden too? Consider this. What if she simply charmed others into believing that she is so strong now, or, or she used it to fool everyone in the first ce?" Mika flinched but didn''t back down at all, and instead came up with two other options. "Miss, the people in the report were scared of Lady Cranberry, you cannot charm someone into being afraid of you, that''s not how it works." Cal spoke slowly to make sure that Mika would have to understand even if she didn''t like what she heard. "Then, it''s thetter option! She had to be able to use charm since she was very young, and used it to trick everyone into thinking that she is a weakling! With that, once she wanted her big entrance, she simply had to stop using it!" The ashen-haired girl seemed really proud of herself and the conclusion she came up with. A shame it was as far away from the truth as possible, and so far out there - even from the perspective of people with false memories - that the rest of the group didn''t even consider it for more than a few seconds. "Her sudden change and increase in strength aren''t really important for our case." After a moment of silence that served no other purpose but to let Mika know that she had said something silly, Corvus sighed, rejoining the conversation with an annoyed expression. "That''s true. Figuring out the origin of her newly found strength isn''t our objective at all, we are only required to find and bring her with us back to the royal castle if possible - and preferably unharmed." Ti agreed with Corvus and shrugged. "Considering how quickly and efficiently she and her corpse puppet were able to deal first with the Brave Swords andter with the main branch of the Envy family - we might be in for a hard time." "Pffft... hahaha!" Cal sighed and his head hung down in a theatrical disy of despair and made Ti giggle, which seemed to be the whole point. "Oh, that''s right. The corpse puppet." Mika livened up again and asked. "Is it true that she has only a single one of those? Aren''t they supposed toe in bulk or something?" She tilted her head and furrowed her brows. "Don''t even joke like that, have you missed the part in the report where the investigator wrote that thing''s stats?!" Following Mika''s question, the atmosphere turned serious and the ashen-haired girl earned a scornful stare from Ti. "Ifdy Cranberry is something akin to a ss cannon with ridiculous power but equally ridiculously low defense for her level, then that corpse puppet is a moving fortress - the worst kind of opponent. Not to mention that he doesn''t have the HP at all! What is that supposed to mean, is he unkible or something...?" Cal shuddered at the thought. "...!" Mika flinched and fearfully inched a bit closer to Ti for protection. "Cal, don''t scare our young miss." Ti squinted her eyes at the scary-faced man and turned to the ashen-haired girl. "There''s nothing to worry about some corpse puppet that will turn into smoke after being hit with a holy magic type skill, and coincidentally holly magic type skills are Cri''s specialty. Personally, I still believe thatdy Cranberry is a bigger problem." Ti tried to lift Mika''s spirit up in her own way. "How strong is supposed to be?" Even though the report had stated her level and status points provided by two different appraisers, Mika still asked that question. And she was right when she asked about it. The two separate appraisal results put into the report weren''t done long apart from each other, but the difference in STR alone was enormous whenpared to the usual growth ratio of the status points. "Her level isn''t all that impressive, but her STR and MAT are ridiculously high." Ti made a sour expression and looked through the window. "But... that might also be used as a clue." She added. "...?" "Yeah, it might be another lead." Corvus and Mika were surprised by her words, but Cal nodded in agreement. "You know about the requirement to be the honorary Sloth, don''t you?" Cranberry turned away from the window and smirked at the confused two. "Ah!" Mika gasped and pped her hands together. "We''ll have a little talk with the Dandelions, but in case that they won''t bring anything new to the table, we will continue checking the validity of the report while moving north." Ti shrugged her shoulders and looked at the ceiling. "Ifdy Cranberry wanted to hide from the royal family after what she had done, Sloths'' territory would be the best ce since she had already met the requirements to gain ess and it''s a pretty secluded location, to begin with. Thankfully, there are only two spots where she would be able to safely enter the sea of mist." "Both of which are in very dangerous locations surrounded by monsters though." Corvus pointed out with a frown. "That''s why we are checking whether there are any other leads before going there, aren''t we?" Ti smirked and shrugged her shoulders. Chapter 160: Hows the two doing...?

Chapter 160: How''s the two doing...?

The mes of a zing inferno were licking the bodies of the passerby walking through withplete calmness and confidence. "Haa... so annoying..." The red-haired girl sighed and snapped with the strap of her bra with an annoyed expression. As for the things she was wearing... It was only a set of bluish-ck underwear - boyish trunks and what was known in the other world as a sports bra. That''s it. Everything else either burnt or melted in the heart of the volcano that was the Pheonixir''s first level. They were now in the area known as the trueir. The incrediblyrge cave that could be onlypared to a cathedral built for giants was full to the brim with a bright fire taking every square inch of the avable surface. As for the weapons she wielded - in her right hand she had a ck thick stick looking just like a baseball bat and in her left hand, she kept half of a blue arm, holding it by the palm. "I hate this heat. It sucks that your body can''t keep the pleasant coolness in here." She added, ncing at the abs of the tall blue undead wearing only bluish-ck trunks. Oh? The blue undead wasn''tpletely blue anymore. Aside from his long ck hair that was falling loosely on his shoulders since the silver ring holding it together melted off long ago, the blue undead had another differently colored part. His right hand. Yes. He actually had something that looked like a hand attached or rather growing out of his elbow. The new hand looked as if it was made out of thick red and ck smoke that was constantly swirling around but somehow always managed to stay in the vague shape of an arm, hand, and even separate fingers. "Hey, what can I do? I''m just a corpse, my body can no longer maintain a specific temperature, master of the eternal servant." The undead scoffed and waved his smoke right hand dismissive. "Master of the...? Come on! Are you still angry about the boots?! I apologized already!" The red-haired girl frowned and shook her head. "HMPH! You did, but I didn''t ept it because it was a stupid apology! You knew that even if those boots were fireproof, they weren''t magmaproof - but you still decided it was okay to send me right in the middle of that pool of magma! Oh, Master of the eternal servant!" The blue undead snorted and looked away making his ck hair fluttered in the mes. "I bought you those boots in the first ce, remember?! And we''re in the middle of the quest that will get you a brand new awesome pair! Sending you into the magma was the fastest way to get that annoying monster, okay?! At least shorten it back to just master, like always - then I will be able to forget that you are calling me that just to annoy me!" The girl couldn''t help it and pouted while stomping her foot. "KHAHAHA! You wish! I really liked those shoes, you know? Master of the eternal servant!" The undeadughed mockingly and waved the middle finger of his smoke hand at the confused red-haired girl. "Haaaaaaaaa! Why are you acting like this?! You didn''t even blink when I tore off your hand all those years ago! Howe some stupid boots trigger you so much?!" "Even a patient undead like me has his limits! And who cares what happens to my body! I can''t feel pain! Why should I bother about what happens to this piece of dead flesh anyway?" The blue undead scoffed and waved his smoke arm dismissively. "Well, I care for that dead body of yours even if you don''t, okay?! I will never do the same mistake like with this." Cranberry shouted back at him and waved his severed right arm around. "You say that but then you get upset that I''m angry at you!" "Well, I would understand if you were mean to me because of the ripped arm, but getting so angry because of some shoes?!" "There weren''t some shoes, they were MY BOOTS, DEAR MASTER OF THE ETERNAL SERVANT!" "I''VE TOLD YOU, I''M SORRY, HAVE I NOT?!" The two shouted at each other letting their voices carry over the sea of mes. "Silence, noisy worms! You are in the presence of the higher being!" Then another voice was heard over the crackling of the endless fire. Low, bellowing words full of pride and primal confidence shook the insides of the cave, interrupting the noisy conversation. "You have done well to get so far to reach my trueir...! But your journey ends here!" The sea of mes parted and made way for a gigantic golden-red bird. Its crimson glowing eyes were shooting mes and each p of its wings caused the bright feathers to rub against each other and shoot out thousands of sparks. Each of the monster-bird talons was bigger than the red-haired girl and the blue undead put together. "I am the 109th incarnation of the physical remains of the great fire God, Wing! Kneel before me and your demise won''te with suffe..." "SHUT UP, YOU PATHETIC BAG OF EXP! THE GROWNUPS ARE TALKING!" The blue undead pointed at the 109th incarnation of the physical remains of the great fire God, Wing, and shouted while his body begun glowing violet and his eyes shone red. "...?!" The gigantic bird flinched as its body shook from fear. "Ha ha! So your intimidate is finally on the high enough level to affect the Wing''s remnant?" Cranberryughed cheerfully. "It sure is, master of the eternal servant." "Oh,e on!" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and made Cranberry cry out in a pitiful voice. "Who... what are you...?!" The monster asked in a trembling voice, pping its wings desperately to get higher up, out of the reach of the terrifying undead that grew to the size that dwarfed the bird - at least in the bird''s eyes. "Ask 99 of your previous incarnations, weakling!" *SWOOSH* The blue undead grinned and swung his smoke right arm at the beast. The red and ck gas expanded into a whip-like tentacle that extended all the way towards the hovering bird and wrapped around its neck like a noose. "Hey, don''t you feel lonely up there anyway? Why don''t you join us... DOWN HERE!" The blue undead smirked mischievously and crouched, making his elongated arm retract while still wrapped around the monster. "GH-UGH...!" The strangled beast cried out as it got pulled down with strength exceeding its highest expectations. "Y-you...!" It gasped for air on its way down to the scathing hot stone floor while fighting desperately to stay up in the air but failing miserably. "I will not be defeated by mere worms with..." It focused its ming eyes on the single being down below, readying a sure-kill skill that would wipe him... "Huh...?" A single being...? But where did the other one...? *WHAAAAAAM* *SPLASH* The next second the monster bird''s head exploded into a myriad of sparks and mes that copsed in on themselves into an orb the fraction of the previous size of the monster. /Remnant of Wing defeated /Master and servant receive the EXP /Master''s level cap reached Level 99 ?? Level 99 /Skill Overachiever activated /Master''s skills and affinities level up Master''s base status points greatly increased /Servant level up Level 311 Servant''s skills and affinities level up Servant''s base skill points greatly increased /Condition met /Master receives a title Terror of the Demigods /Servant receives a title Terror of the Demigods "Haa... so for the so-called demigod, the number of times it needs to be hunted down to bestow a ''terror of'' title is just one hundred, huh? Good to know. Wouldn''t it be fun if the two of us wrote a book about it someday?" The red-haired girlnded gracefully right next to a big reddishly-gold egg that the body of the dead monster bird condensed into upon its demise. All the mes in the cave wend out and only the sparse glow that the egg''s shell was giving out was illuminating the surroundings. "That would actually be pretty fun, as long as I will be doing the illustrations. I don''t have the brains for interesting words." The blue undead approached his master and nodded with eyes sparkling with joy. "What was that this oversized chicken said the first time we found it? That it has been a few hundred years since anyone came here, and then you''ve said that it wasn''t just an ordinary Phoenix, right? And that its appearance and size wasn''t listed in any of the books that you''ve read?" He asked curiously. "Yes, that''s right..." Cranberry confirmed, curious where the undead was going with his deduction. "That means that we basically re-discovered it, right? Wouldn''t that make us famous...?" The blue undead asked happily. "Master of the eternal servant." He added with a nasty smirk. "...ugh...! haaaa...! I should have known that you were going in for such a cheap shot! Haa... We have a few minutes under fifteen hours until the chicken will respawn, so we could just go outside for a bit... but first... my arms are killing me. I know that you''re still angry, but could you heal me, please?" It seemed that the red-haired girl has given up and instead of arguing she blushed and showed off her trembling, bleeding,pletely broken fingers. "As you wish." The undead''s smirk changed into a gentle smile and he lowered his head towards the girl already climbing up on her tiptoes. Chapter 161: An unexpected encounter

Chapter 161: An unexpected encounter

The travel from one town to another was going as smoothly as possible for the Wraths'' group. One could even say, too smoothly. After few hours of failed attempts of getting others to talk, Mika had given up and was staring out the window trying to not look like a bored kid and instead keep up a straight face like the grownups surrounding her. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *knock* *knock* Three loud knocks followed by two soft ones resounded inside the carriage, making Mika flinch and Corvus straighten his back and furrow his brows. On the other hand, Ti and Cal remainedpletely calm. "Don''t mind it. It''s just one of our signals." The copper-eyed Ti, waved her hand dismissively to calm them down. "What does it mean?" Even so, Mika fidgeted nervously and asked. "It means that there are bandits on the road..." "BANDITS?!" Ti was exining but Mika loudly interrupted her. "...but they are robbing someone else, so there''s no reason to worry." Ti finished while squinting her eyes, dissatisfied with the littledy of the Wrath''s house reaction. "Miss, just one look is enough for me to figure out what you will say next, and the answer to that is no. We don''t have time to waste on some trivialities so let''s just ignore them." The woman shook her head with a serious expression. Her words not only reached Mika, but made herpletely and utterly bergasted. "What do you mean trivialities? We are going to help the people who are getting robbed, right?!" Mika shouted, getting red in the face, ring at the calm Ti. "Miss Mika, don''t make it difficult for the rest of us." The copper-eyed woman shook her head and sighed. "Other people are not our business and can do whatever they want." She shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever they wan...?!" Mika got taken aback. "Ti! How could you say that?! Those poor people didn''t choose to get robbed, now did they?!" She puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms. "..." Ti just shrugged her shoulders again and looked to the side, signaling the intention of ignoring the young girl''s words as long as she will continue to pursue the subject. The ashen-haired girl gritted her teeth and looked at the other two in people in the carriage, but both the scary-faced Cal and her beloved Corvus seemed to have shared Ti''s opinion on the matter as they have also dodged making eye contact and looked away. "...!" Mika trembled and ended up also facing away from herpanions. She turned to the carriage''s window at the perfect moment to catch a glimpse of the scene of the crime. A group of armed people was surrounding an open wagon while the man standing on the wagon was trying to protect a woman holding on to two children. Before Wrath''s carriage passed them, the man on the wagon got stabbed in the guts. Mika''s body begun glowing with intense red light and she busted open the carriage door and jumped outside without any hesitation. /You receive a role exclusive quest Punish the ruffians and protect the innocent Reward: +5% ATK increase when fighting against opponents that Justice''s Wrath considers evil A system message with a quest popped up but she hasn''t even noticed it. "MISS MIKA?!" Ti shouted in panic and jumped out after her. With multiple skills active, the ashen-haired girl was already by the bandits. *SLAM* Before they even noticed her, the young girl shining with blood-red light had already grabbed one of them and - after lifting the bandit up without any visible effort - smashed him into two others. Then Mika spun around and jumped, kneeing the fourth bandit in the fact and, whilending, effortlessly caught the arm of the fifth one and threw him over her shoulder right into the sixth one. "Why are you helping those...?!" When the bandits'' leader, who was in the middle of stabbing the man on the wagon, realized what was happening, all of his men were incapacitated and he had a furious ashen-haired girl flying at his face with a fist glowing with red light. He managed to pull out the sword from the guts of his victim and used the de to protect his head from the oing punch but... *CRUSH* After meeting with the delicate-looking fist, the weapon broke and its shards followed Mika''s punch adding more damage to the hit. "GUHUAH...!" The bandits'' leader groaned as he was sent flying back, spitting blood and broken teeth while still mid-air. "Bastards!" Mika spat at the twitching bandit and hurriedly turned around and ran towards the wagon. The wounded man was kneeling down and holding on to the gruesome wound, trying to keep his intestines inside his body and stop the bleeding. "Oh no...! Is-is it really bad...?!" Mika''s voice trembled as she caught a glimpse of the wound. It looked like the bandit''s de was dull and jagged and ended up doing severe damage to the man''s stomach. "...I... think so..." The man groaned and nodded as the woman and two children clung to him with tear-stained faces. "Th-thank you... youngdy... for helping us...ugh...!" He added bowing and causing the blood to ssh against his hands. "D-don''t move! We have a healer! Ti! The other guy, Cri, or whatever, you''ve said that he has holly magic type skills right?! So he can heal, right?!" Mika was barely holding back tears, the light of her skills faded and she turned to the stunned copper-eyed woman and asked in desperation. "Ah, yes, he can." Ti flinched and nodded. "Then get him to heal this person!" Mika cried with urgency. Her voice was easily heard by the rest of their group that had already get off of the carriage stopped by the roadside not that far away, to begin with. "On it!" The blue-eyed Cri called out and ran straight to the wounded man. His hands started glowing with a strong light and within seconds, the wounded man''splexion was getting better as the wound was healing up at an incredible speed. "Miss Mika..." The usually scary-faced Cal was looking at the ashen-haired girl inplete shock. "Howe you can use the avatar of wrath''s exclusive skill?!" He gasped sounding more than just worried. Chapter 162: Quest completion

Chapter 162: Questpletion

"Wh-what do you mean...?" Mika tried to act clueless but it was far toote for that. Everyone knew that amongst the intelligent races, only certain types of skills would produce a light other than white. Multicolored skill light wasmon for monsters, but when it came to intelligent races, only the people well versed with sin exclusive skills could show off that quality. Each sin-based skill had its own color. Pride was purple or violet. Lust was blue. Envy was green. Gluttony was orange. Greed was yellow. Sloth was light blue or aquamarine. Wrath was red. Well, honestly, saying that only people well versed in the sin-based skills would have the light of their skill turn the specific colors was already a generous generalization. The truth was most of the time only the avatars of sin and their definite, system-assigned sessors, would do that. And it wasn''t something that they could hide. As long as the specific skill was active, their bodies would produce the colored light instead of the white one - regardless of the user''s will. "Shouldn''t we drop this whole charade and return to the mansion to check up on lord Wrath...?" Asked Cri, who had already finished healing the victim of the bandits - there was already no trace of the horrible stab wound anywhere on the man''s stomach. The three bodyguards looked at each other with worried expressions. "Umm... no, you see..." "You can calm down." While Mika was having trouble exining, Corvus came to her rescue, taking the attention off of her. "Mika had unlocked a skill called Ira when she was six. That was long before lord Pomegranate sickness''s symptoms first urred, therefore her red light has nothing to do with his health." He assured them, putting his hand on Mika''s head and patting her hair. "So, don''t make her feel ufortable, could you?" He added looking down on all three of them. "Anyway, we helped those people, now we can go to the next town. Let''s go." Ti furrowed her brows and turned away, and Cal and Cri did the same. "W-wait! Shouldn''t we... eh... wait..." At first, Mika was calling after the three bodyguards, but at the very end, she furrowed her brows when she realized something. Something was off. "System, show active quests." "...?" She said, causing Corvus to raise his brow in confusion. The system window showed up in front of the ashen-haired girl, and there it was. On the very top of the active quests was the one that she basically ignored when it showed up since she was in such a hurry to help the people in need. /Role exclusive quest Punish the ruffians and protect the innocent Reward: +5% ATK increase when fighting against opponents that Justice''s Wrath considers evil It was still active even though all the bandits were spread on the ground defeated. "...why...?" Mika murmured confounded. Corvus nced back at the people who were attacked, the family of four happy that they survived the attack. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary... ...except the faint lighting from the woman''s eyes... "...is something wrong?" Corvus asked quietly, careful to not be heard by anyone but Mika. "Ah... you see... when we passed by those people getting robbed I received a quest about saving the innocent from the ruffians, but it didn''t getpleted yet..." The ashen-haired girl responded in a hushed voice. "..." Corvus frowned and nodded. If the quest wasn''tpleted, then it simply meant that the condition wasn''t met. The white-haired man rubbed Mika''s head and turned back to the family that Mika saved The man, woman, and a little girl were all hugging in a perfect picture of happiness. But the young boy was only clinging to the adults while giving the girl a grumpy look. "..." Corvus sighed and shook his head. He straightened his back and his body began glowing with bright light. "Corvus...?" Mika tilted her head looking at the young man, but he only shook his head. "I really hate kidnappers, you know that?" Corvus asked loudly, causing Mika and even the tree bodyguards to flinch and look at him in confusion. But the happy little family didn''t simply flinch... The man pulled back while protectively grabbing the little boy and the woman pulled out a small knife and pressed it to the little girl''s throat. "...!" Mika became stunned, unable to even gasp in shock. But the reaction of the so-called family was enough for Corvus to take action. Since he had already activated his skills, the only thing left was to use them. The tall white-haired man disappeared from Mika''s side and appeared right by the woman holding the little girl hostage. *smash* *cling* With a single, well-aimed punch to the temple, he knocked her unconscious, making her drop the knife that fell on the wagon''s floor with a clean sound. Without giving her body time to fall down on her own, Corvus pushed her off and stepped towards the man and the young boy. There was no hesitation in his movement as he kicked the man in the face causing him to fall off the wagon together with the scared boy. The only one left was the little girl. She was just standing there, with a drop of blood slowly sliding down her throat where the knife nicked her skin. "Corvus?! What the hell are you doing?!" Ti came rushing back from the carriage, shouting at the white-haired man. But then the little girl''s eyes cleared out. She looked around in confusion, saw the unconscious woman, and the man, and a young boy attempting to crawl away from the wagon. Then she looked up at the white-haired man and... "UWAAAAAH!" She busted into tears and clung to Corvus''s leg, crying her heart out and leaving everyone, except the white-haired man, stunned. "Now, now. It''s alright." Corvus made a soft smile and leaned down to pat the little girl''s head. /Role exclusive questpleted Reward granted "Ah...!" A system message popped up for Mika, informing her aboutpleting the quest. "Wait... but does that mean..." The ashen-haired girl paled, looking at the groaning men that she had assumed were the bad people. They all had different clothes that looked like farmers'' clothes and their weapons didn''t make sense for bandits. Only the leader had a sword, but all the others had things like hoes and sicles for cutting the wheat... "Corvus, have I... have I beat up a rescue party...?" Mika asked in a trembling voice. Chapter 163: Kidnapping case (1)

Chapter 163: Kidnapping case (1)

"The only way to not make mistakes is to do nothing." Corvus shrugged his shoulders while patting the crestfallen Mika''s head. They were sitting in front of their carriage while Ti was tying up the couple and the child that had turned out to not be the poor victims but the actual ruffians, while Cal was helping the men from the rescue party stand up and go to Cri who would then heal them up. Needless to say, all of them were rather displeased that they got mistaken for bandits. Especially the one in the lead, who had turned out to be the kidnapped girl''s father. But since all of them were locals from a nearby vige and have at least heard that their lord and his family all had ashen hair, they restrained themselves to just the scolding looks and didn''t voice their true feelings. "Once again, I am so terribly sorry!" Mika bowed at the ny-degree angle, making all the healed-up men flinch. "N-no, youngdy, you were just... doing what you thought was right!" The man in the lead raised his hands in panic. A noble bending their neck towards themoner? That was unthinkable! "..." The little girl fidgeted nervously and hugged her father tighter. Even though she was under the charm spell at the time, she still had witnessed how Mika had beaten up all the people who came to save her. That wasn''t something that a child could easily forget. Seeing all of that, Corvus let out a light sigh and tapped Mika''s shoulder. "Yeah, so remember when that old woman was making you ufortable before? Now you are making those people feel ufortable. Having a distance to yourself is good, but remember about your status. And about theirs." He whispered conspicuously and nudged her to the side. "Ah...!" The ashen-haired girl realized the awkwardness of the situation that she had caused and hurriedly straightened her back with a slight blush of embarrassment. "A-anyway. You are very brave toe after the kidnappers by yourselves considering your strength... ah..." What was supposed to be genuine praise that would lead to lightening the mood, came out as a mockery way before Mika could bite her tongue. Everyone could see an angry vein popping out on the leader''s forehead, but what was he supposed to do? Deny it? "We were not brave, but desperate." In the end, the man said while breathing out. "Desperate...?" Corvus raised his brow with interest. "Yes. When the first two children have gone missing from our neighbor vige, and people from there went and try to put up a search quest for the adventurers, they got chased out of the adventurers guild. They were told that they should have kept a better eye on their kids with the monsters stronger than ever before and that they won''t waste the adventurers'' time searching for two kids who were eaten by some frenzy wolves or something." The man started exining, and all of hispanions clenched their fists In anger. "Did they really say that?! That''s horrible!" Mika also clenched her fists almost as agitated as the men in front of her. "Serves us right. In other territories, people keep the adventurers in check, were always sparing with money, and downyed the risks involved - but we in the Wrath''s territory were always upfront and paid good money for even the easiest missions... look where it got us. Those fat pigs in the guild won''t even look our way unless we show up with enough gold to afford to buy an artifct!" The man was ready to spat to the side from anger, but he stopped himself, not wanting the nobles to think that he wanted to disrespect them. "...and this year wasn''t good for the harvest. Lord Pomegranate Wrath is a reasonable man and a good ruler. He lowered this year''s tax so that no one would need to starve to afford to pay it. But those bastards at the guild...!" He trembled from anger. "What happened? You''ve said the first two children, that means that more went missing too?" Corvus interrupted the man''s angry rant and pulled the conversation back on track. "..." The man looked down and gritted his teeth. "That''s right. Four more from the first vige, then seven from another, then three from the next one, and nine from ours. My little Apple would have been the tenth one." He said patting his daughter''s head. "...!" The little girl sniffled and hid her face in her father''s clothes. "That''s...!" "With that many cases, what did the guild said?" Mika took a step back, all shaking from the bottled anger, but she got stopped by Corvus before she went ahead spoke her mind. "They''ve said that the potential risk of the mission far surpasses our budget and toe back with better reward." The man''s shoulders trembled from fury mixed with shame. "..." Corvus furrowed his brows while scratching his chin. Was it a coincidence that they''ve stumbled upon this whole situation right then and there? Corvus''s quest mentioned something about a viiness and the appraisal report did state that Cranberry''s role was the viiness. ... Could it be that it was somehow connected? Truth to be told Corvus''s LUC was insanely high, way over what normal yer character had considered normal. It allowed him to identally stumble upon things he needed the most since he was an abandoned child. So, was it helping him now too by guiding him towards the viiness by pushing him towards this serial kidnapping case? After all, being the mastermind behind mass kidnappings was something that someone with a dubious role like viiness could try to pull off... Right...? There were still too many pieces missing - like the reason for the kidnapping for example - but still, it was worth checking out. Something was telling Corvus that he won''t regret going out of his way to help thosemoners. He nced at the three strongest bodyguards from the Wrath family. Neither Ti, Cal, nor Cri, looked even remotely interested and were openly ncing at the carriage to show that they care only about finding and questioning the Dandelions as fast as possible. But when Corvus looked at Mika, he smirked. The teenage girl looked like she was going to offer help to the vigers at any moment even without him guiding her towards that decision. The question was, whether or not the two of them will manage to convince the famous CriTiCal trio to stray from the n. And then the solution fell right into hisp, like always. "Raor!" "Arion! Wait for us!" Chapter 164: Kidnapping case (2)

Chapter 164: Kidnapping case (2)

Everyone, including the tied-up kidnappers, turned towards the direction that the voice wasing from. As it turned out, the one barking was a big but terribly skinny ck wolf with an orange glint to its fur, while the one calling after it was a short brown-haired young woman riding a giant blue griffin. But that wasn''t all, the girl was followed by another six ck wolves - each and every single one of them had a slight difference like in the color their fur was glinting or their features. There was even one that had a green belly, and another one, the one in the back of the group, that had very short jaws but massive front ws that looked almost like daggers. "Miss Mary...?" To Corvus''s and Mika''s great surprise, the one who called out to the approaching girl was the copper-eyed Ti. And she did that in a rather familiar manner too...! The skinny wolf approached them and started sniffing around, boldly walking between the surprised people without a moment of hesitation - which was already umon for the usually careful wolf monsters. Yet, it was hard for anyone to keep marveling at the confident wolf when a tamed emperor griffin of all things, was approaching them. Adult emperor griffins'' were known to ruthlessly pursue dragonewts and even full-on dragons if those had crossed their territory. In short. Having one tamed was a ridiculously impressive feat that had never been done before. "Raor." While they were busy staring at the almost legendary monster, the skinny wolf approached the tied-up kidnappers, put a paw on the man''s shoulder, and growled, baring its fangs and salivating hungrily. "Raor, raor...!" The wolf''s eyes and jaws started glowing with orange light as its head was inching closer and closer to the petrified captive. In response to that, the short jawed wolf with long ws got on its hind legs, eerily simr to a werewolf but much more beastly and inhuman, and nimbly jumped to the skinny wolf that was about to devour the tied up man. "Raa!" It let out a short bark and smacked the skinny wolf''s head with the dull side of its ws. "Good job Cinnamon. Arion, bad boy! You can''t eat people! Come back here!" The brown-haired girl riding on the emperor griffin praised the short jawed wolf and scolded the skinny one. "...raor..." The skinny wolf, Arion, sulked and dragged behind as he and the short jawed wolf with long ws, Cinnamon, returned to their master''s side. "Ah?! Hey, aren''t you three the bodyguards of prince Roan''s mother?! What are you doing here...?" Mary gasped in confusion looking at Ti, Cal, and Cri. "Same to you, miss Mary. Weren''t you staying with the young prince as he was recovering from the aftereffects of the charm skill?" Ti asked instead of answering and smiled lightly. "I was, but what prince Roan needs now is peace and quiet and not the constant racket of my menagerie." Maryughed and gestured at all her monsters. "I was actually on my way to my father''s territory, but along the way I''ve heard a story about serial kidnappings that the adventurers guild didn''t want to look into... and so here I am!" She added and opened her arms to show how transparent she was with her motives. "Then again, what about you three... umm... you five...?" Mary nced at Mika and Corvus and hurriedly changed what she was saying. Well, well, well, wasn''t that just the situation that Corvus was waiting for? "Unbelievable! We have just stumbled upon those men chasing after the cleverly disguised kidnappers, and heard the very same story!" The white-haired man sped his hands together and took a step forward. "Miss Mary, right?" He added casually getting on a first-name basis with the newly arrived girl. "My name is Corvus Wrath, and this is my younger sister, Mika." He introduced himself and the ashen-haired girl - who didn''t look too happy about his eagerness to talk with other women nor how he introduced her as his sibling - and slightly bowed his head. ".You..? It''s not time for your route yet though...?" The brown-haired girl furrowed her brows and looked at Corvus as if he was a less than desirable surprise that she stepped into. "Ummm... Sorry for that, I guess...?" The white-haired man got taken aback, shocked by the oddment. "Ah! I''m sorry! Please forget what I''ve said! What were you about to tell me?" Mary got flustered and repeatably bowed her head in apaology. "Okay... Originally, we were on a different mission, but upon stumbling on such a serious situation, we''ve decided to help those people too." Corvus didn''t let her say it twice and dered while ncing at the three bodyguards, expecting to see them get agitated. "Right! We cannot just ignore such a serious matter!" Mika confirmed Corvus''s words while sticking to his side and grabbing his hand in an attempt to show the weird girl their close rtionship. But that was the only reaction from their side. Neither Ti, Cri, nor Cal, said a word against Corvus''s selfish change of ns. Quite the opposite, really. They all look relieved and almost happy? Corvus squinted his eyes in suspicion, but only for a moment since he was still in the middle of a conversation. In the meantime, Marry got down her griffin and gracefully curtsied. "Young lord Wrath, youngdy Wrath. It''s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mary Hope and I''m a tamer." She greeted them back and raised her head. "Well then, miss Mary, since our objectives seem to ma..." "Eh?! Are you the same Mary Hope who received a ss right after her initiation and tamed a monster during her fist kill party?!" Corvus wanted to go straight to proposing cooperation, but Mika - out of all people - gasped and asked excitedly. "Yes, that''s me." Mary nodded her head with a smile and patted therge skinny wolf that was still eyeing out the captives while salivating. "And this is Arion, my first monster. Please, pardon his behavior, he is a real glutton, and his appetite seems to grow with each day." The brown-haired girl introduced the wolf and bowed her head apologetically. "It''s not a problem at all!" Mika shook her head and assured. "Scaring those awful people may be a correct way to go. After all, we need to interrogate them about what were they going to do with this little one and what they know about all the other children and their whereabouts." Corvus slid back into the conversation and put it back on the right track. "That''s right! The missing children!" Mika flinched, blushing slightly from the embarrassment of her own excitement, and turned to the captured kidnappers. Chapter 165: Kidnapping case (3)

Chapter 165: Kidnapping case (3)

The interrogation went rather smoothly. With a massive wolf staring at them hungrily and salivating as if they were the most delicious meal he had ever seen, the two adults and the child were spilling every little detail that they were aware of. The problem was - that they didn''t have much relevant information. The whole kidnapping skim was an organized thing and they weren''t the masterminds behind the kidnapping. It wasn''t their first job but the little girl who was now sticking close to her father was their first target in the new vige - they had captured a few of the kids from all the neighboring viges too. Their method was simple and effective. The woman would use a charm skill on a targeted child, the man would use the skill that lowers the detection, and together with their real child and the kidnapped one, they would simply ride out of the vige on their wagon without raising any suspicion. They would get away with theirtest abduction, if not for the fact that the girl''s father used to be a scout in the army, and had much greater detection skills than any other viger in the neighborhood. Thanks to that, even though he was busy at work, as soon as he had noticed that the girl went away, he started looking for her and found her on a wagon leaving the city with some strangers. As for what the kidnappers were doing with the children they''ve captured - they were dropping them off in a small fishermen''s vige by thergeke right in the eastern corner of the Wraths'' territory. The money would be handed to them by an inconspicuous hooded fellow by the corner of thest building at the western edge of the vige. "That''s it? Who else was involved? How many groups like yours are out there? And who hired you in the first ce?" "I-I, don''t know... I can''t remember." Corvus kept asking more and more questions, but it looked like the investigation had hit a wall, at one point the captives, even the kid, all seemed to have parts of their memory erased. But whether it was something done by the system itself or the skill of a yer character - no one from the Wraths'' group could tell. "Can''t remember, isn''t that convenient." Corvus snorted and shook his head. "Hey you, wolf, can you bite off just one of his feet to show these three that we''re not joking around?" He asked the skinny wolf, Arion. "Raor..." And Arion barked in response. It seemed like the wolf was annoyed that some stranger is trying to order him around, but at the same time, his hunger was stronger than any negative feelings. "N-no! Stop! I really can''t remember how we got this kind of job! We just... always been doing that...!" The man freaked out doing his best to pull away from the salivating monster eyeing not just the man''s foot but his whole leg. "Yeah, right. As you wish. Wolf, do your thing." Corvus shrugged his shoulders and waved in a bored manner. "Raor!" Arion''s eyes and started shining as he opened his jaws with no intention of holding back. But right then... "Arion, no." The brown-haired heroine, Mary, boldly stepped between the trembling captives and the investigation team and straight-up put her hand in Arion''s jaws, blocking any attempts at biting off anything. "Hfaoff, hfaof..." Arion whimpered unable to let out a proper bark. "I''ve said that you can''t so you can''t. I''m the master." Mary shook her head and dered, squinting her eyes at her familiar. "And as for you, young lord Wrath, please refrain from ordering my monsters around, I really don''t appreciate when someone does that.... out of their route..." She added ring at the white-haired man. "Please, pardon my rudeness, miss Mary." Corvus bowed his head and apologized. "But you heard it yourself. Those stubborn fools don''t know when to give up!" He scoffed and shook his head in disgust. "It''s obvious that they are hiding the truth, we just need to make them talk." Corvus said, taking a step towards the brown-haired girl. In response, Mary took her hand out of Arion''s jaws and red at the white-haired man even harder. "Roar!" As for Arion, he seemingly lost interest in the delicious restrained human and barked, moving protectively in front of his master. "Why?" Mary raised her brow and asked. "Huh...?!" Corvus gasped taken aback. "Excuse me, miss Mary, didn''t we agree to help solve this serial kidnapping case? How do you reckon we''ll do it without properly investigating things?" He asked slightly more aggressively than necessary. "Is itmon for the Wrath house to tell every single servant and errand boy their most secret ns or something?" Mary sighed in response and almost clicked her tongue although she managed to stop herself in time, since it would be rude. "What are you imply...? Oh..." At first, Corvus wanted to continue arguing to prove his point, but then he realized that he was in the wrong. "The less the grunts know, the better. That should be obvious. Instead of wasting time on small fries, we should go up theirmand chain or whatever it''s called. Like the hooded man that''s been paying those guys for every kidnapped child." Mary exined patiently, leaving the white-haired man without much say in the matter. "Corvus, I also think that''s what we should do." And once silent until that moment Mkia agreed with the brown-haired girl instead of being at his side, he was left with no choice at all. "Fine, let''s do as you say. I guess that we''ll be making those guys to bait that hooded guy out, right?" He sighed and pointed at their trembling captives. "We will be needing a kidnapped child..." He added ncing at the little girl holding on to her father a bit further away. "Yeah, we will." Mary nodded, looking at the very same girl. "You two can''t be serious! What if this n fails and she will be in danger?!" Mika clenched her fists and shook her head so hard that her ashen hair smacked her face, in a show of a childish temper. "..." "..." Mary and Corvus looked at each other and smirked. "Ah, I see we got a volunteer for the role of a kidnapped child." The white-haired manughed, putting his hand on the shoulder of the youngdy of the Wrath''s house. "Wh-what...?!" Mika gasped in shock. /Justice''s wrath receives a role exclusive quest Infiltrate the base of the mysterious organization Reward: Role exclusive skill: Justice''s punch "WHAT?!" Her gasp change into a shout when a system message popped right up in her face. Chapter 166: Kidnapping case (4)

Chapter 166: Kidnapping case (4)

"I can''t believe I''m actually doing this...!" Mika gritted her teeth and pulled the hoof of an old coat deeper onto her head to make sure that the signature ashen-hair of the Wraths'' won''t out her immediately. "..." The family of kidnappers stayed silent exchanging worried looks. In their situation, they had no say in the matter. "This is so embarrassing..." Mika grumbled rubbing her bare feet together. With the help of the three bodyguards - especially Ti who seemed to be the best at disguising herself and others - Mika was prepared for the role of an abducted child. Her short for her age height was a great advantage and after being stripped from her normal clothes and given some hand-me-downs from the helpful vigers after a short exnation, she was ready. She ended up looking quite convincing too. But that was her biggest problem. "...Corvus had seen me like this...!" She cried, hiding her face in her knees as the wagon rode towards the fishermen''s vige. Even though she agreed to the n and all, it didn''t mean that she had to like the role she had to y. The worst part by far, was Corvus''s smile when he had said that the disguise had suited Mika. Suited her. This ridiculous childish attire and strategically ced dirt that made the ashen-haired girl look five years younger - suited her. Hearing something like that from a man she was trying so hard to appeal to was a crushing blow to her spirit. And after all, she did to appear grown-up and mature too...! Mika gritted her teeth as she was doing her best to hold back the tears of shame, and her body started glowing red when she identally activated her skills. "!!!" The terrified kidnappers almost fainted seeing that. *thunk* "OW!" Suddenly a small pebble hase flying out of nowhere and smacked Mika in the back of her head, making her yelp in pain. "...uuugh..." The ashen-haired girl rubbed the painful spot where a bump was already growing and looked around in confusion. ...and then she saw Ti, few hundred feet away from the wagon, leaning from behind a tree waving at her in a silent scolding. "...tsk... I know, I know...!" Mika grumbled and, still teary-eyed, made sure to deactivate her skills so that their targets wouldn''t notice that something was off. Around ten minutester they arrived at their destination. The vige was not that small but all the buildings huddled around thergeke were looking like they were about to copse. The few tiny boats were gathering dust, pulled on the shore, looking as if they weren''t actually used for quite some time already, and the emptys were bundled together and thrown by the wall of what seemed to be the ruined storehouse. Even so, the people there didn''t look nearly as malnourished or feeble as one would expect. Far from it. Every single one of them looked almost... prosperous...? It was hard to describe, those people were wearing rags but had the liveliness of a prosperous merchant on their way to finalize a big transaction. Of course, that might have been connected with the strong will and positive outlook on the world of the vigers, but even the inexperienced Mika felt that something was off. After all, if this was really the fishermen''s vige, shouldn''t there be more... fishes? Or at least, shouldn''t the smell of the fish be much stronger? Instead of that, the whole ced smelled like a dreamykeside resort. Odd. What were the people there eating if no fishes were being caught? If the vige was surrounded by fields or at least each shack-like house had a vegetable garden, then it would be somewhat possible to exin. But it wasn''t. If there were domesticated animals in their pens or feeding at pastures, that would make sense. But there weren''t any. The closest thing to any source of food getting any attention at all was a small orchard to the side of the vige. But was it possible for humans to live off only a few apples and nothing else? Some of those oddly lively vigers would wave at the family on the wagon and greet them in warm voices, a clear confirmation that they were visiting a lot. That made Mika flinch and clench her fist in anger. What was going on in there? What happened to all the children that... "...?" Mika gulped down her saliva as she realized something. She slowly raised her head just enough so that she could have a quick look around, and felt a sudden chill. There were no children in the vige. Although it was the prime time and weather for the children to y outside, there was not a single one in sight. And it wasn''t like the vige was full of old people either, most of the vigers were considerably young or at most middle-aged. So, to sum it up, the so-called fishermen''s vige wasn''t doing any fishing, wasn''t having any viable food source, was far away from other viges, and wasposed of only adults that looked far too healthy to live in a ce with such terrible conditions... Even without knowing that this vige was a drop-off spot for the kidnapped children, the ce just screamed trouble. Mika clenched her fists and bit her lips doing her best to not activate her skills out of the sheer survival instinct that was going into overdrive as the wagon stopped. "Honey, it''s time for you to go..." Just as it was exined to Mika earlier, the woman stood up and gently pushed her forward to get off the wagon. "Ah! My sweet niece! Thank you for bringing her here. Now, let''s go dear." Without any dy, one of the vigers just straight up approached Mika as soon as her feet touched the ground and started leading her away after putting his hand on her back. As soon as the two of them disappeared in a seemingly random house, the family on the wagon drove away as if it was nothing and stopped by the western end of the vige where a hooded person threw them a bag of coins. *CRUSH* At that moment, a blue emperor griffin fell from the sky destroying the building that the hooded person was about to go in. "WHAT THE-ugh!" The hooded fellow gasped but in the next second, a purple whip coiled around their neck and pulled him towards the monster. Chapter 167: Kidnapping ca... wait, WHAT?!

Chapter 167: Kidnapping ca... wait, WHAT?!

Seeing the emperor griffinnd so abruptly, and its rider - a brown-haired girl - catching one of their own, the vigers started screaming in panic and running away. Yeah... As if! ---- "Hostiles on the premise! Take them out immediately!" Every single person charged towards the monster with their bodies shining with skills. All forty or so ''vigers'' with no exception but with perfect coordination as if they were prepared for that exact situation. ---- "Damn it! Blueberry, pull up!" Mary freaked out, released the hooded man, and pulled on the griffin''s feathers. "Skwee! (We can take them on!)" Blueberry screeched in response and her wings, ws, and beak started shining as she disobeyed her master and begun a counterattack. *SWOOSH* The skill-enhanced p of wings caused a gust of wind so powerful that the closest buildings got blown away as if they were made out of hay, revealing that they werepletely empty inside. Just like the building that got destroyed, the vigers got stopped by the wind pressure, and those who were too eager and jumped in the air for a better angle of attack got smashed back into the ground. ---- "What the hell is that thing?! Higher-ups didn''t mention shit about high-rank monsters in the area!" One of the vigers shouted as his eyes started glowing and a bluish bubble-like dome appeared from thin air and protected the rest of them from the wind. "I guess that''s that for an easy low-risk mission, huh,mander..." Another one sighed and pulled off the loose rags that he was wearing for clothes revealing high-quality armor underneath. "Shut up and check up on the ones who got hit! Magic assault squad, attack!" The barrier man shouted. Without saying anything back, the viger in fancy armor nodded and rushed towards the groaningrades. Simrly, at the barrier viger''smand, fifteen vigers stepped forward creating a perfectbat formation. Their hands lighted up and thebination of fire, lightning and ice type of magic skills shoot through the barrier as if it wasn''t even there, straight at the blue griffin and her master. ---- "SKWEE! (SKWEE!)" Blueberry pulled back and let out a deafening screech, so powerful that the ground in front of her shoot up, and the iing attacks all crushed and vanished against the wall of dirt and sound. "Blueberry! Get us away from here! Fly away!" Mary panicked and burrowed her face in the griffin''s feathers. "Skwee?! (Master, are you dumb?!) Skwee! (In the air I either throw you off again or be the biggest and easiest target!)" Blueberry scoffed at her master -pletely unapologetic after foolishly staying instead of retreating - and smacked the air in front of her with her massive front talons that were glowing brightly. Instead of it being just some attempt to scare their opponents, it was a straight-up attack that ignored the distance between the parties. *CRUSH* *WOBBLE* As the hit connected, the bubble-like barrier shook and stretched back like an enormous jelly but didn''t break and instead returned to its original shape. --- "What in the world was that?!" One of the vigers shouted gritting his teeth. "Shut up and continue to fire until effect! If this thing escapes and decides to attack us from behind we''re screwed! I don''t even want to think about the mess we will get in if we let this beast roam free, the higher-ups hate civilian casualties!" The barrier viger shouted back, sweating profusely as he concentrated on keeping the barrier functional. ---- "Skwee? (Eh?) Skwee! (Those guys aren''t weak!) Skwee! (Somebody, get the guy that master dropped!)" When another powerful attack from Blueberry leveled three-quarters of the vige but didn''t even put a dent on the translucent barrier, the emperor griffin screeched loudly and started backing off while continuously attacking using her wings and ws while protecting herself and her master with the sound barriers of screeches. The hooded guy that Mary released just a few seconds before was still underneath Blueberry''s body and was trying to crawl away. But then the griffin''s cry was answered. A blurry shadow speed towards them from the orchard and changed into one of Mary''s ck wolves. "Raugh! (Big sis Blueberry, I got him!)" The wolf barked and picked up the hooded man by the scruff of his robe. "Skwee! (Thanks, Plum!) Skwee! (We''ll join you right away so stay put in the back!)" "Raugh! (Big sis, the other humans went to get back the little human!) Raugh? (Think you can keep those here busy long enough for them to return?)" The ck wolf barked questioningly with its jaws full. "Skwee! (Ugh!) Skwee! Skwee! (Fine! But tell Arion and sister Cinnamon to be ready to jump in and help me if I''ll call them!)" Blueberry screeched back, tensing up. Things were bing annoying. They were supposed to just act as a decoy for some weak humans for a few seconds, why are they holding back an organized group of strong humans?! And Blueberry''s master''s wails certainly didn''t help boost the morale of her named monsters... ---- "Commander! There is something unidentifiable on the winged monster''s back! Also... I-I think I saw a shadow fang next to that giant griffin...!" "What did you say?!" Once one of the vigers approached the barrier viger and reported, the barrier viger shouted back in shock. "Shadow fang? Shit!" He cursed. "Is it possible that some of our native monsters followed us through the sea of mist...?" The messenger viger asked clenching his fists, trying to remain calm. "It... it is possible... Shadow fangs are ridiculously smart even in the confusing mist, and if there''s one, there are others nearby! Damn it!" The barrier viger gritted his teeth. "Who the hell told you to stop the assault?! Increase the firepower! You''ve heard the scout! Those there are our monsters! Use some real skills or the civilians in the area won''t have a chance of survival and we''re all going to be sent to the first line!" He shouted at the fifteen vigers who stopped the offensive to listen to what the messenger viger had to say. Chapter 168: A battle in the fishermen village

Chapter 168: A battle in the fishermen vige

"Uuu...! What is going on...?! There was nothing like this in the game I''ve seen in my dream! Uuughuu...! Somebody save me...!" "..." Two tamed monsters nced at their master and then at each other and shook their heads in disappointment. In the next second, just as another barrage of magic missiles came at Blueberry from the earth and sky - each one attack much stronger than any of the previous ones - and the ck wolf''s - Plum''s - body glowed with a murky light and both they and the hooded person changed into shadow and shot back towards the orchard where they came from. With no distraction that needed to be protected underneath her feet, Blueberry dodged the shower of destructive elemental magic skills by nimbly jumping to the side and begun galloping with incredible speed, circling the group, while asionally slowing down to send another attack their way to keep them upied. --- "Everyone watch out! We''ve lost the visuals on the shadow fang!" The messenger shouted, but the assault team had their hands full with just trying to hit the giant blue griffin. "Damn it! Even a young dragon would try to fly up by now! That monster is too smart! Is it a local king?" A viger cursed and asked herrade while aiming another spell. "Worse. That thing must be the emperor griffin, and if the scout is right, it''s probablying from the sea of mist." "You''re kidding me? Out of all the monsters that could have followed us, we had to get an emperor?! How unlucky are we?! Wait! Don''t tell me this shit is looking for a new territory?!" The woman got an answer but not the kind that she had expected and spit to the side with fury. "Let''s hope it was just hungry and got lured by our smell." "You know that''s bullshit! You know how far we are from our territory?!" "Magic assault team! Stop gossiping and take that monster down!" It took the barrier viger''smand to shut up the chattering vigers. --- "Skwee! (Master, stop cking off!) Skwee?! (You could distract them too, you know?!)" The very real emperor griffin screeched at her master and shook her head so that the neck feathers smacked the face of the cowering brown-haired girl on her back. "Wh-what?! Blueberry, what is going on? You are keeping them at bay, right? That means you can retreat! Let''s just run away!" The girl sobbed and pulled on Blueberry''s feathers in an attempt to make her turn back and ran away. "Skwee! (Master, you dumbass!) Skwee?! (Weren''t you listening to what Plum have told us?!)" Blueberry got angry, climbed on her hind legs, and released two consecutive talon attacks that turned the vigers'' barrier into a wobbly mess for a good few seconds and momentarily stopped their counterattacks. "Skwee! (You agreed to help those humans, so pull yourself together!) Skwee! (Now, start helping too!)" Blueberry screeched and released a terrifying series of talon attacks that changed the blue bubble-like barrier into a trembling mess, but still didn''t manage to pop it open. ---- "Screw it! Commander! Requesting permission for using frontline-level gear!" Shouted a woman in the front wearing a slightly different type of high-ss equipment underneath some rags. "Permission granted, let''s get this over with as fast as possible." The man holding up the barrier nodded. "Gunners! Your turn! Magic Assult squad, change to support formation!" At themand, ten more vigers stepped forward, each of them was holding up a device simr to a crossbow, but without the cross-arm, and made out ofposite minerals. If Zombie was there he would have recognized the simrity between those things and modern weapons from his previous world... ...or maybe he wouldn''t, with the rotten brain title it was really a gamble to bet on what the blue undead would recognize or not. Anyway, the ten vigers raised their assault rifles that started glowing the moment they''ve activated their skills as if the firearms were the extensions of their bodies. As they did, the fifteen vigers that were constantly shooting fire, lightning and ice, at the griffin spread out and some of them change the types of magic they were using. The fire got switched for the exploding earth shrapnels, lighting assault continued, and the ice became water spears thatbined with lightning created electrified puddles that focused on hindering the griffin''s movement instead of directly harming it. "Fire at will!" The barrier viger shouted amand and the gunners removed the safety locks and aimed at the rampaging monster. As soon as they got a clear line of fire, their fingers touched the trigger and...! ---- "SHE''S NOT HERE!" A furious roar pierced the sky and the next second a shape appeared above the vigers'' barrier. ---- "What the...?! That''s a human! So it''s not just a bunch feral beasts attacking us?!" The barrier viger gasped in shock looking straight up at the materializing shape. ---- "WHERE DID YOU TOOK OUR YOUNG MISS?!" Ti, who turned out to both the one who roared and the shape that appeared above the barrier, growled - releasing so much bloodlust that even Blueberry, her ally, trembled - and punched the blue bubble. Her hit made the bubble wobble, but in a different way than any of Blueberry''s attacks. Ti hit the barrier from the very top and created tens of consecutive waves traveling down from the top to the bottom of the bubble. And once all ten reached the ground... *SPLASH* The translucent bubble-like dome broke like a real soap bubble. ---- "Damn it...!" The barrier viger cursed and clenched his nose trying to stop the bleeding that started when his skill got destroyed. "Defense formation! ASAP! Local max level hostile yer character confirmed!" He shouted ring up at the woman hovering in the sky above their heads. ---- "Ah. So you''re the leader." Ti scoffed looking down at the organized group that simply couldn''t have been simple vigers. In particr, she was ring at the man bleeding man who looked just like a simple fisherman at the first nce. Only he didn''t reveal any fancy armor and was actually wearing only an unbuttoned shirt and short pants. Yet despite his looks, he was giving themands. "I''ll make you spit out where did you hide our young miss...!" Ti''s shoulders trembled from anger, and as her body began falling down to earth it also started glowing and the copper-eyed woman disappeared. "Got you!" ...just to appear right behind the man who had lost his barrier, and threw a punch to incapacitate him before grabbing him as a hostage. Chapter 169: The outcome of the battle

Chapter 169: The oue of the battle

*WHAM* The power of Ti''s punch was so powerful that even the people hit by the shockwave that it created got staggered. "Eh...?" Ti gasped in shock. Her fist... was caught... Not only that, it hasn''t caused any damage to her target at all! "No. I got you." The barrier man, shining with pale blue light, frowned and after shifting a little bit, threw Ti over his shoulder and smashed her against the ground. *WHAM* "GUHUAH!" The copper-eyed woman gasped where the air got pushed out of her lungs and almost lost consciousness because of the impact that caused the earth around her to crack and erupt high into the air. "KGHHHGH!" She whizzed when the strong hand locked on her throat like a vice grip. Even with all of her skills activated, it felt like the barrier man was going to snap her neck like a twig. "Order yourpanions who lured those beasts here to show up." The barrier man ordered lifting the copper-eyed woman up by her throat. "Kghhh!" But Ti could only whizz, unable to even squeeze out a single word. "Skwee! (They got one of our humans!)" The screech of a griffin made the barrier man look away from the copper-eyed woman, but it didn''t distract him nearly enough to loosen the iron grip. "Oh, no! Miss Ti!" "?!?!?!???!?!??" "...what the...?!" Mary properly straightened her back for the first time since the battle has begun and cried in panic, which, funnily enough, was the very thing that caused every person disguised as a viger to lose their cool. "I-is that girl RIDING on the system-damned emperor griffin''s back?!" They were all so taken aback that even some of the gunners straight up put down their guns to rub their eyes in disbelief. "What is going on? Did south finally started taking the monster threat seriously...?" The barrier man raised his brows and almostughed. At that very moment, the air blurred and two people materialized from thin air on both sides of the man choking the copper-eyed Ti. Those two were the two other bodyguards - Cri swiped at the man''s legs while Cal went for the head. *SLAM* *WHAM* Two powerful explosions sent geysers of soil high into the sky as the barrier man punched both bodyguards and mmed them into the ground getting them stuck like some low-level grunts in a cartoon. "You! Emperor griffin raider! Cease the assault and state your business, or these three will be executed!" The barrier man straightened his back in an imposing pose and called toward the stunned Mary. As soon as he spoke those words, three gunners approached him and pointed their weapons at the two unconscious men and the woman struggling in the barrier man''s grip. "Skwee! (Master, he''s definitely baiting us into a trap!) Skwee! (We should use this chance and attack them!) Skwee... (My wolf siblings can save our humans and...)" "Blueberry, enough! Look at where your waywardness got us! No! We''ll do as I say now!" The blue griffin was rearing to continue the fight, but Mary shot down her idea with an angry shout. "..." The people disguised as the vigers looked at each other but didn''tment on that behavior. "Gunners, don''t shoot. For now." The barrier man reached his hand out stopping the gunners from firing at the monster and its raider at thest second. "Skwee, skwee... (But... but master, they are strong but I''m sure that together with the wolves I could...)" Blueberry screeched and started nervously hoofing with her front legs. "No means no! See? Those guys aren''t attacking us now even though they could! Maybe it''s all a big misunderstanding or something?!" Mary wasn''t going to budge at that andpletely rejected the griffin''s idea. "...misunderstanding...?" The barrier man repeated the word he overheard even though the brown-haired girl stopped shouting and only whispered it to her monster. "Ughhhhh...!" Suddenly the barrier man''s eyes widened in realization and growled in annoyance, leaning back and covering his eyes with his free hand. "Commander...?" All the other fake vigers looked at the barrier man in confusion, but he didn''t seem too care. "Don''t tell me you guys are some kindhearted adventurers who are looking for the missing kids!?! No! No way! Not a single branch of the adventurers guild should have put up a mission for that! Come on! Tell me I''m wrong!" The barrier man had momentarily lost his cool and shook his head - and arm, making Ti cling to his wrist for her dear life. "Y-you are wrong. We aren''t adventurers..." Mary got taken aback by the man''s sudden outburst cowered and responded shyly, while patting Blueberry''s side, signaling her to approach the fake vigers. "Oh, thank the system. Then, who are you guys exactly? Some secret forces of the Greeds or maybe Wraths training in the area?" "Ukhe! Khe!" The barrier man rxed and even put down Ti, who started coughing and gasping for air. The copper-eyed woman even tried to get away, but as soon as she attempted to get up, a cold shiny muzzle appeared right in front of her face. Just from a first nce, it didn''t look like a powerful weapon, but just as she was taught, when Ti came in contact with a piece of unknown equipment, she used extra caution and just sat down instead of trashing around, focusing on regaining her breath under the watchful eye of the gunner. "N-no..." Mary shook her head, answering the barrier man''s question. "Huh? Then what are you?" The barrier man tensed up again and so did the thirty-nine of his subordinates, all ready to restart the fight. "No! I-I mean... we aren''t any special forces nor adventurers... we just... heard that someone is kidnapping children from the surrounding viges and decided to help them..." "Oh, for system''s sake..." As Mary began exining the barrier man sighed heavily and started massaging his forehead. "That means that... oh for...!" He bit his lips and nced at Ti who was ring at him with vicious eyes. "You used a bait, didn''t you? One of yours disguised as a kid and got kidnapped or something?" "..." The barrier man asked, and didn''t even need a verbal answer since the awkward silence was enough of a confirmation. "Was it that girl that arrived just before you attacked? Damn it! I was thinking that there was something off about her!" The barrier man cursed and shook his head. "You! You called her young miss or something. Who is she?" He turned to Ti and asked. "What did you do with her? The house that one of your subordinates took her waspletely empty." Ti answered with another question, staring boldly into the barrier man''s eyes. "Who is she...?" The man asked coldly and his body began emanating pale blue light again. "..." Ti flinched and gritted her teeth. "...Mika Wrath. Daughter of the current avatar of wrath, Pomegranate Wrath." She ended talking to the ground she was sitting on, without raising her head. "...why have I had to be put in charge for this mission...?" The barrier man let out his heaviest sigh and covered his eyes with both hands. "...who are you people, anyway?!" Ti groaned massaging her throat. The barrier man looked at her and sighed. "We are..." Chapter 170: Welcome

Chapter 170: Wee

/Role exclusive questpleted Reward granted /Justice''s Wrath receives a skill: Justice''s punch (level 1) "Eh...?" Mika gasped staring dumbfounded at the message that popped up in front of her eyes. She reacted like that because the insides of the house that she was led into weren''t looking like a hideout of any mysterious organization at all. It was empty. Honestly, it was silly to even call this construction a house. What may have looked like an old-fashioned three-room home from the outside, was just a wooden frame without any proper rooms or anything even resembling furniture. "Rx kid, I was the same as you. Everything is going to be alright." Said the man who led her there and suddenly his body began glowing in a pale blue light. "No...!" Mika flinched and tried to escape using her skills but even her strength enhanced by the red light of wrath exclusive skills wasn''t enough to let her break free. The next moment she got surrounded by the pale blue light and the empty husk of a building disappeared from her sight. No. It was Mika and the man who had disappeared from the building, not the other way around. ... "...?" The next thing that Mika knew, was that she was standing in a corner of apletely white room with a simple low bed. "Fisherman 1 from the Wrath''s territoryes home with a catch." "Wee home, Fisherman 1, go get a warm bath and grab some rations, I''ll take care of the child." "Yes, Ma''am!" Mika shook her head and focused on the man who had brought her to whatever this ce was, saluting to a tall bespectacled female with a white coat on top of a high-quality armor that looked very functional with no usual re that the craftsmen she knew liked to add on their creations. The confused girl felt like she should act - activate her skills and escape, but... Where was she exactly in the first ce? He mind was still fuzzy but she realized that she must have been transported by the man who was leaving the room with a teleportation skill - a ridiculously high-level skill and a rank-up version of the blink skill that only a few lucky ones were able to get their hands on. Three to be exact. Three people in the fruit sd were known o have a teleportation skill, that''s it. What was going on? Who were those kidnappers? Howe they had someone with a teleportation skill on their side?! "Sit." The bespectacled woman said while grabbing a noting pad and a quill from the desk by the door. Mika continued looking around nervously unable to decide her next move. Honestly, she could be anywhere, she only learned about the teleportation skill very briefly, but even that was enough to know that it allowed the user and their target to travel incredible distances instantly - as long as the user knew the exact coordinates. "...sit down, child." The woman spoke a bit louder and approached Mika with a concerned expression. "...?!" That made the ashen-haired girl jump and look at her with worry. But even so, Mika''s instinct told her to not use skills against that woman. Maybe it was something in the way she held herself, or something about her aura, but there was definitely something dangerous about that unknown woman. "...I see, you might have some auditory problems..." The woman nodded to herself and wrote something down on her notepad. "U-um...!" Because of Mika''s nervousness, she spoke in a voice that was a lot higher than her natural pitch, but funnily enough, that was perfect for the time being as she was posing as a child younger than her actual age. "Yes?" The woman looked up from her notepad and asked, drilling her with her sharp eyes that piercing re couldn''t be eased up by the sses. "I-I can hear you just fine, but first could you tell me where am I? What is this ce, um... miss...?" Mika fidgeted and asked trying to get any information at all, no matter how trial. "Just call me medic 7. If you can hear me then sit down and rx." The woman crossed something from her notepad and pointed at the bed behind Mika''s bed with her quill. "What are you going to do to me...?" Mika took a step back, tensing up and preparing to put up a fight if necessary. "I will perform a simple checkup on your body to determine your condition and assigned you to the most suitable unit." The woman exined. "Unit...?" Mika nervously clenched her fists and took another step back. Medic 7 nced at the girl''s hands and put away the notepad. "Alright. Usually, we fill new recruits in after the medical checkup and a day of rest, but I am allowed to exin a bit in cases like this." She shrugged her shoulders and exined. "Recruits?! Are you some evil organization?!" Mika gasped and once she took another step back she tripped and unintentionally ended up sitting on the simple bed. "...evil organization...? Pffft...!" The bespectacled medic snorted and shook her head. "No, nothing like that." She dismissed Mika''s question with a humorous wave of a hand. "The exact opposite actually" She smiled and said looking to the side and then leaning in as if she was about to tell some important secret. "This will also answer some of your questions so listen well." The medic added and winked at the confused Mika before continuing. "If anything, we are the one''s protecting the whole Fruit Sd from the horrors unimaginable for all of you southerners." "...!" Mika flinched at that revtion. Through the confusion and fuzziness still lingering in her mind after the first time teleportation, a ready exnation was surfacing in her head. "Oh? You looked like you might have an idea of what I''m talking about? It has been a good few years since thest time we had a propped visitor and not a recruit, so we all thought that the south had forgotten about us, but I guess some legends must have remained?" The woman asked with satisfaction, looking at Mika''s face. "Little one, let me confirm your suspicion. You are in fact in the middle of the great sea of mist at the far north. Wee to the Sloths'' family territory." Chapter 171: Story choice

Chapter 171: Story choice

"Slo...?! Sloth family territory?!" Mika gasped and jumped back up at her feet. "Yeah. Was it not what you were thinking...?" The medic asked with a soft smile. "But...! Why are members of the Sloth family abducting children from our territory?!" Mika asked unable to wrap her head around such revtion. "This doesn''t make sense...! Wasn''t Sloth family supposed to protect the northern border of the kingdom from the invasion of some horrible beasts?!" She clenched her fists from and her shoulders trembled. "From the titan-ss monsters, yes. That is exactly what we''re doing here." Instead of reacting with surprise, the bespectacled woman simply nodded and confirmed Mika''s words. "And what exactly doesn''t make sense here?" She added tilting her head. "Let me tell you something. Even though we are doing our best - or rather because we are doing our best - many of us are dying in action and we are in the constant need of new recruits to replenish our ranks." The medic exined. "So... so you''re just kidnapping children?!" Mika asked in disbelief. "A proper training takes a lot of time, you know? We aren''t just trying to send in some cannon fodder to get devoured by monsters. And before you startining about taking children away from their families - we have already emptied every single orphanage in the Wraths territory, and started the second phase, picking up children most likely to die, from the impoverished areas. You do know that there''s a serious famine problem in your home territory nowadays, right?" The medic described the premise of their operation and ended it with a question. "I-it''s not that bad! Lord Wrath changed the taxation so that everyone could survive...!" Mika, as a proud daughter of the very ruler of the Wrath territory, couldn''t just stay quiet about medic''s words. "...not that bad...?" The medic looked at the ashen-haired girl and squinted her eyes. She then took off her sses, started cleaning them with a cloth that she pulled out of the pocket inside of her armor, and red at Mika. "You are not just some poor child from that territory, are you?" She sighed putting the sses back on. "...!" Mika flinched and ended up activating her skills in preemptive self-defense. "..." When the medic saw the girl''s body glowing red, she only made a sour expression and buried her face in her hands - which honestly threw Mika offpletely. The young girl expected that she''ll get attacked or captured, but the bespectacled woman just leaned against the desk and sighed. The woman''s eyes started glowing and her face turned soured as she looked at Mika. "So... You''re a Wrath, huh? Mika Wrath, the direct descendant of the avatar of wrath?" The medic asked. "Y-yes..." Mika nodded since in her situation there was really not much that she could think of doing, as it was almost certain that the woman used an appraisal skill. "And your father hasn''t told you that he and the queen have given us permission to perform this operation? It was all disclosed to them, only the civilians weren''t informed because otherwise your whole territory would get abandoned in few days. You know, considering the famine and all." The medic had rubbed in the terrible situation of themoners living in Mika''s father domain and Mika''sck of relevant information picked back the notepad and quill and started writing down the girl''s stats and skills. "How old are you?" She asked focused on the notepad. "Fourteen and a half years old." Mika answered with a sour expression - she felt really bad when it turned out that some outsider knew more about her territory. During their short travel, Mika was too busy trying to appeal to Corvus to be looking around focusing on the people outside who weren''t him. "Ah, still counting halves - eh? Nostalgic." The words of the smirking medic brought Mika back to the present. "Well, we don''t have permission to put actual nobles from the south into our ranks so we will just have to wait until fisherman 1 will rest a bit and have you return with him. Until then you can wait here with me." The woman just shrugged her shoulders and smiled as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with the whole situation or the things she had said. "Really? Just like that...?!" Mika gasped in disbelief. "Yes." The medic nodded with an indifferent expression. "If your strength was higher by a thousand points or so, I would be even able to give you a tour around our facilities, but there are regtions in ce that forbid any outsider who''s not a recruit or whose strength isn''t above 3000 to leave through that door." She added pointing at the white door behind her. Mika curiously leaned to the side to have a look. "As I''ve said, we are only required to keep this operation a secret from the masses, you, as a daughter of the head of the Wrath family, are exempt from any consequences. That said..." The medic furrowed her brows. "...howe you even got into our little setup vige and disguised like that to boot? Did you ran away from home or..." Her voice grew colder as the realization came to her. Mika flinched and looked away, lowering her head. "Oh. Great." The medic read all the information she needed from Mika''s reaction and closed her eyes looking slightly on edge. "So the south didn''t even manage to hold up their part of the deal, huh. Typical. So? How was it? Did you got requested to help those so-called adventurers, or however you guys call your special task forces?" The woman tilted her head and asked. "N-no... we got involved because I wanted to help the people because the adventurer guild refused to put up a mission for the adventurers..." Mika exined shamefully without raising her head. She purposefully left out the part where it was her who convinced others to go with the n, even though she kind of regretted it after donning the disguise. "Ah, so it was the ipetence in properly dealing with the task and not a purposeful leak of information. That''s a bit better. But still..." *knock* *knock* * knock* Three quick knocks on the door interrupted the woman. "Enter." She furrowed her brows, straightened her posture, and called. "Ma''am!" The door opened and another person in armor very simr to the one that the medic was wearing entered the white room. "The sectionmander wants to see you! Fishermen''s vige hade in contact with a group of locals! One of them is a tamer with an emperor griffin and seven shadow fangs!" The man reported while saluting. "A tamer with a WHAT?!" The medic asked dropping the quill and the notepad from sheer shock. "That''s miss Mary! Those must be my friends!" "...?!" "Friends...?" Mika eximed, at which the medic stared at her wide-eyed and the other man blinked and repeated the girl''sst word in confusion. "...anyway. Good timing, I have something to say to the sectionmander too." It only took a few seconds for medic 7 to pull herself together - she straightened her back and turned back to the messenger. "Private, go find fisherman 1 and tell him to forget about the rest and call him on standby. We might need him and fisherman 2 to transport a few people from the south." She dered in a serious voice. "Ma''am! Yes, Ma''am!" The messenger saluted her and hurriedly left the room. "Wrath, you stay put until I''lle back. You won''t be able to pass those anyway so just sit and wait." The bespectacled woman tapped the white doorframe and made eye contact with Mika. "A-alright... B-but what exactly is going on? What happened with my friends?" Mika asked worriedly. "They probably got captured, after all, you southerners have a level cap of 99 and the weakest soldier from the Fishermen''s vige was level 124. I''m not sure about that tamer though... A tamed emperor griffin!" The woman gasped and trembled with excitement. "Whatever the case, you''ll soon be reunited with your friends one way or another." She added and left, locking the door. "Whew... what have I gotten myself into..." Mika sighed and deactivated her skills. She hasn''t even realized that she didn''t deactivate them before, and now she plopped on the bed feelingpletely spent. Howe those things escted so quickly? She was supposed to be on a journey together with her beloved Corvus to regain her family''s good name by finding the missingdy Cranberry Pride. A random case of kidnapping turned out to be linked to somerger organization, but who in the world would expect that the very people who were behind the numerous abduction were none other than soldiers from the Sloth territory - and they had the crown blessing too! Not to mention Mika''s father! It was all going in the direction that the young ashen-haired girl could never even imagine. But then something even more shocking happened. /Warning /Unable to progress the story due to insufficient data /Calcting... /Exception granted /Justice''s Wrath receives a global quest story choice Option 1: choose to leave the room Reward: +1005 STR, +503 DEF The story will continue following the ultimate route Option 2: Stay and wait for medic 7 to return Reward: Justice''s Wrath title will get permanently erased The story will follow route f h/w scenario A series of messages popped up in front of Mika''s eyes. Chapter 172: Walking out

Chapter 172: Walking out

"What the hell is this supposed to be?!" Mika shouted, jumping at her feet, ring at the message with a fury so strong that all of her skills activated at once. Never before has she seen or heard of the system giving the yer character something like options to chose from - no matter what, it would always be either a normal quest, a sorry quest, or an emergency quest. But here she was, facing a global event story option. She clearly had a choice so the system was respecting the free will of the yer character. ...or that would be the case if not for the fact that one option came with an incredible benefit while the other waspletely trash with no benefit whatsoever - at least not for Mika. After all, everyone knew that having a unique role in the global story event meant that the person would be important for the future of the world. And for Mika, that also meant that she had another connection with her beloved Corvus - although their roles had little inmon, they were both unique roles, and that was enough to get Mika''s hopes up for what the system had in store for them in the global quest. But now that very same system had the audacity to give her an option that would sever that very special connection! It couldn''t get more insulting than that! "Of course I pick option 1!" The ashen-haired girl stomped clenched fists and shouted at the message hovering in front of her line of sight. /Justice''s Wrath has picked option 1 Reward granted The story will continue following the ultimate route "Good!" Mika scoffed at the new message, underestimating the importance of the decision she had made - for her it only meant that she would continue being connected with her beloved Corvus and nothing else. "...so it really was that easy...?" When her emotions have calmed down and she deactivated her skills, Mika furrowed her brows and nervously scratched her cheek. Her eyes ended up on the floor, where the dropped quill and notepad lied abandoned by the medic. "..." Mika nced at the door and then cautiously walked over and picked up the notepad. The piece of paper on top of it was covered with notes on top of the page - some of them were scratched out while others were circled. It looked like before she realized who Mika was, the bespectacled woman was figuring out what would be the best ss to put her into even without knowing her stats. The recon squad was crossed out followed by the hearing impediment annotation which was then also crossed out. Small build/nimble was circled and connected back to the recon squad. But then the results of the appraisal were added and no more additional notes were made, just straight up information. Name: Mika Wrath Race: Human ss: Berserk Role: Justice''s Wrath Level: 39 Subss: Thief HP: 339 MP: 184 ATK: 1996 (1221 + 775)! DEF: 999 MAT: 125 MDF: 172 HIT: 100 EVA: 68 AGI: 111 LUC: 76 Skills: Closebat (level 20 [max]) Charge (level 9 [max]) Enrage (level 9) Empower (level 8) Ira (level 4) Steal [item] (level 2) Sneak (level 1) Lockpicking (level 2) Pickpocket (level1) Justice''s punch (level 1) Unlocked affinities: Focus (level 5) Title: Apostole of Wrath Hardworker Bane of rabbits Wolf yer Griffin yer Although the skill list and the title list were about what one could expect of someone her level, the girl''s status points were outrageous, especially the strength stat. ...they were incredibly unbnced - but! They were unbnced on purpose, by design, by Mika''s family. All thanks to two things. The hidden affinity - Focus - which Mika unlocked at a very young age during everyday training at the Wrath''s mansion. The properties of that affinity would allow the owner to select only a single stat to raise instead of the natural progression of all status points increasing thanks to training and the bonus received during each level up. The other thing was Mika''s title. Apostle of Wrath. She wasn''t born with it. But what she was born with, was the beloved child of Wrath title which got upgraded into the Apostle of Wrath title thanks to the hard work she put into raising her strength. That title was passively giving her borderline broken amounts of bonus points to STR with each level up and coupled with the focus affinity, it allowed Mika - at level 39 - to reach the strength stat value which many of the strength-oriented adventurers from the six territories of Fruit Sd - that did not include the Sloths'' territory which the ashen-haired girl was currently in - could never achieve in their entire lifetime. "..." Mika was staring intently at the numbers. In particr at 1996 for the STR or rather (1221+775) STR. It was weird, Mika has never before seen any appraiser write it in such a way - but more importantly... "She appraised me before the reward..." Then she nced at the door and furrowed her brows. The bespectacled woman has said that no one under 3000 in strength could pass it unless they were the recruits. But after receiving the reward from choosing option 1... "..." Mika clenched her fists and took a deep breath. Yes. She chose an option, so she should follow up on her decision and actually leave the room. That should be obvious. Yet, the ashen-haired girl was anxious about leaving. Maybe she should chance it and go against her own choice? But would the system allow for such tant cheating? Truth to be told the more Mika thought about it, the more suspicious the choice was in the first ce, with one option heavily weighted on one side. "...no way, if I''m not part of the global quest, someone might take away my Corvus!" In the end, she nodded to herself with a newfound dedication fueled by the feelings she had for the white-haired young man, she boldly walked to the door and opened it. "..." Seeing an empty hallway cooled her determination just a bit and she momentarily hesitated before taking a step out of the white room. But when she did... /Calcting... /Sufficient STR detected Route f''s endgame content avable /Justice''s Wrath receives a title Honorary Sloth /Justice''s Wrath receives a time-limited use skill Acedia (level 1) /Acedia (level 1) will be avable for: (72:00:00) /(71:59:59) /(71:59:58) "What the...?" Mika shook her head, staring wide-eyed at the system message. In thest ten minutes, she experienced not one but two new things she had never even heard about, and it all had to do with the system. Choosing an option instead of doing a quest to progress the story. And now this. Time-limited use skill. What was it good for anyway? It had an odd name, so maybe it was simr to Mika''s skill Ira? But if it really was simr to Ira - which was a Wrath exclusive skill - then it should have been something exclusive to Sloth... But every teacher that Mika had, always said the same thing about the sin exclusive skills... The system will not allow a single person to learn two different sin-exclusive skills at the same time! The people of the past had been trying it, there were many attempts to make a single person be the avatar of two sins at the same time, but it had always failed miserably. Not that people cannot learn from a failure. The fact that one person can hold only one sin exclusive skill allowed for the previous avatar of pride, lord ckberry Pride, to transfer his skill and title to his sick wife, Raspberry, with the help of the avatar of gluttony,dy Goji Gluttony. But that was many years in the past and withdy Raspberry''s death three years ago, some people med the erasure of the avatar of pride title on that very experiment. Still, that wasn''t exactly something that was on Mika''s mind right at that moment. She didn''t care about the peculiar situation of her skills, but what she did care about was what she should do from now on? She nced over her shoulder at the door to the white room she closed herself. Seriously what was she doing without any n at all? She gulped down her saliva and started walking down the empty hallway with her footsteps echoing louder and louder. The further from the white room she walked, the more anxious she was. What will happen when someone will see her walking around? Will they get angry? Will she get in trouble? That bespectacled woman has told Mika quite casually that if her STR value was above 3000, she would even show her around the facility... Well, now Mika had over 3000 points in strength, so maybe it was actually okay for her to walk around like that...? The ashen-haired girl tried to calm herself and her beating heart, she was almost out of the empty hallway - she even started hearing some voices and the normal bustle of human activitying from whenever the hallway lead to. "..." Mika took a deep breath and closed her eyes to calm herself. /Justice''s Wrath level up Level 40 Skills level increased Base status points increased "KYAAAH!" Mika screamed in a high-pitched voice when a sudden system message popped up when she least expected it. "Damn it! What am I doing...!" She breathed out leaning forward and started massaging her forehead. And then she flinched... "Wait what?! Level up?! But I haven''t killed any monster, where did the experiencee from?!" She gasped in shock. Chapter 173: A quick check up on the two (1/2) Chapter 173 - A Quick Check Up On The Two (1/2) /Secret achievement unlocked The end of the phoenix /Master receives a unique title Demigod eater /Master receives a skill Devour (level 1) /Demigod eater title assimted into Heretic /Heretic, Pride''s sessor, Cmity, and Apex predator titles together with a Berserk subss are reacting with a skill Devour (level 1) ??? Annihtion Bash (level 1) "Haa... that hit the spot!" The red-haired girl sitting by the pieces of the reddish-gold eggshell patted her stomach with a satisfied expression and smiled happily at the blue undead by her side,pletely unbothered by the messages popping up in front of her eyes. "Great job! It was delicious!. Haaa... Who would have thought that the egg that the phoenix reverts to after death will be this delicious raw, after adding just a few spices?" She breathed out blissfully andid down on the ground. "It''s good that you''re happy. That big chicken managed to run away quite far, don''t you think?" The blue undead with a red and ck right arm nodded and sat down beside the girl and casually wiped the remains of yolk from the corner of her mouth. "Haa... it sure did! You didn''t have to jump straight into the sea of mist after it, though, you know? Without the appraiser telling us our stats we can''t be sure that we are strong enough to even be here." With his pleasantly cold left hand touching her cheek the girl looked up at his face with a slight pout. "I think it should be alright. After all, from what I''ve seen with my life signature detection, all the monsters from the area were getting away from the chicken''s path rather hastily." He said with a light shrug. The two of them were in the middle of the clearance in the fog, surrounded by the walls of mist thick as milk. The confusing mist was already beginning to reim the spots where the mes of a dying phoenix evaporated it, but it wasn''t instantaneous - the red-haired girl and her blue undead still had a burnt ck field the size of ten football stadiums all to themselves, they could even see the blue sky above. "Ha. Curious. Still, we should assume that it''s because the weak ones are gathered on the outskirts, those monsters that ran are probably just barely qualified as high-ss beasts." The red-haired girl sighed and rolled on her side and closed her eyes about to go to sleep while using the blue undead''s left arm as a pillow. "Hey, hey, you''re not a kid, why are you trying to take a nap after a meal? And if you want a pillow, use my former right arm instead." The undeadined but since he said it in such a warm tone, it didn''t seemed like he was actually annoyed at all. "I refuse. I can sleep well only if I feel your presence near me, so let me stay like this... okay?" She asked while already sounding as if she was dozing off. "Alright. I''ll keep watch. I''m allowed to kill anything that tries to attack us, right?" "..." The undead nodded and asked but the only response was the girl''s calm breath. She managed to fall asleep in record time! "I wonder if this area is really that dangerous..." The undead tilted his head looking around with his eyes glowing red. Most of the monsters'' life signatures that he spotted before following the runaway phoenix to the sea of mist were already far outside the range of his detection skill. Though, some of them actually stayed barely within. Those were the strongest ones out there, and they were all grouped together too. The blue undead has never seen life signatures like those. No. Correction. He saw a life signature that was simr to one of the three types of signatures he spotted. A couple of years in the past, during the first kill party when it was the weakling prince''s turn. "So there really are dragons here..." The undead nodded looking at a bunch of life signatures neen miles away to the north. "...why are they so weak though...?" The undead tilted his head and sighed in confusion. Then he focused on a much smaller group of signatures fifteen miles to the northeast. Those were definitely different types of monsters and there were about thirty or so of them. Although much less numerous, they were stronger than the group of dragons from the north and were focused around a single one slightly stronger than the rest. And coincidentally, that slightly stronger one was gathering mana preparing some sort of skill. "Hmm...?" The undead furrowed his brows, focusing on it. After just a couple of seconds, the unknown monster fully activated the skill and shot it right at the Master-Servant pair. Although the distance between them was nothing to scoff at, the attack arrived shockingly fast. A giant, zing sword flying de first right at the two, meant for skewering them both. The skill reached its target and...! *thump* Nothing. "Hmph." The blue undead scoffed after catching up the tip of the fiery sword with his red and ck right hand,pletely stopping all the momentum the attack had without even budging or activating a single skill. "...a pathetic weakling like you dares to attack the two of us...? I apud how daring you are. But, seriously, I''m supposed to be the rotten brain, why are you acting like an idiot?" He frowned, speaking to an opponent who had no possible way of hearing him. Then the undead''s body shone violet and his eyes shone white. The zing red sword that he was still holding on to, changed its color to ckish-violet. "I don''t want your little gift, here, have it back." The undead smirked and his body glowed up even more. And then he... *WHOOSH* Threw the violet ming sword right back at the group. /Multiple angel-ss monsters defeated Master and servant receive EXP /Condition met /Master receives a title Angel yer /Servant receives a title Angel yer *£¤?¡ê¡è?€$¡À¡ê$¡è????¡ê?¡À€* The erasure of around twenty-seven of the unknown monsters was followed by the silent inexplicable sound that couldn''t really be put into words. "Tsk, not even enough for a level up. I should have made it stronger so that it would kill all of them - I''m still not used to controlling fire..." The undead clicked his tongue and shook his head while tapping the stylish ck thigh-high boots on high heels with a tasteful wing design on their outer sides that were added to his skimpy outfit of just bluish-ck trunks. "I''d better train..." The undead turned around and squinted his eyes at therge group of dragon life signatures up north. He raised his smoke arm aiming at them and smirked. Once his body begun glowing violet and his eyes shone red, a ball of violet fire bigger than the undead appeared out of the thin air. "Would this be enough...?" The undead tilted his head and after careful consideration, he made the already giant fireball twice as big. "Bye-bye." He snickered andunched the skill at the unaware dragons. Chapter 174: A quick check up on the two (2/2)

Chapter 174: A quick check up on the two (2/2)

"Alright, this is as far as we can go without being spotted by the people of the Sloth territory." The red-haired girl reached out her hand to stop the blue undead from walking right by her and ended up with her palm on his muscr stomach. "Say, why do we even hide from them? In the first ce, we are helping them by exterminating all monsters around their settlements and transport routes - why would they be against that?" The undead tilted his head and asked. "Haa... well, considering that all the native monsters have left their usual territories because of our little chicken chase and caused a lot of damage to the people and the transport routes - I doubt that they would weeplete strangers with open arms. And since enough time has passed for the royal family to start taking action about our quarrels with the main branch Envys - like wanted posters or something. It is possible that Fruit Sd''s citizens - no matter the territory they are from - may be inclined to attempt to apprehend us tempted by the price on our heads." The red-haired girl exined whilepletely absorbed in the study of each muscle on the blue undead''s stomach which she traced with her index fingers with increasing interest. "What''s the big deal about that? If they''ll attack us, we will simply kill them." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and shook his head dismissively. "...haa... it might be okay in different territories, but I don''t want to do that here. People of the Sloth territory are protecting the rest of the kingdom and continent from being flooded by the titan-ss monsters, and they have been doing that without rest for hundreds of years. I just think that they should have some benefits over the rest of the poption." The girl stepped towards the blue undead and rested her forehead against his robust chest while continuing to touch his abs. "Ohh... it''s like with that receptionist?" The undead gasped and nodded his head in understanding. "Pfft...! Not exactly, but you seem to get a general idea." The girl snickered and nuzzled against him while resting both of her hands on his stomach. "Are they close enough already?" She suddenly asked looking up at the blue undead whose eyes were glowing reddish as he was looking around. "Not yet. But, they are closing in, a bunch of wolves, some griffins and lizards, and those horned funny-looking thingies but barely any humanoid winged monsters." The undead scoffed and sighed. "The angels are supposed to have the highest MDF of all the known monsters, it''s not that surprising that your group taunt didn''t work on them." The red-haired girl patted the blue undead''s stomach and nodded with understanding. "Hey! My taunt is strong enough for the likes of them! It''s probably because there weren''t all that many winged ones in this area anyway!" "Ha ha! Of course!" The undead furrowed his brows and pouted at the insinuation that poked at his pride and the red-haired girlughed in a very specific way that sounded like a dog''s barks. "Haa... Just in case, let''s make today thest day when you''re using your fire offensively in the sea of mist. It looks like the fog is thinning out and that could be dangerous for the local poption and to us too... you do remember that one of my road to rule quest objectives is to erase all avatar of sin titles, right? The avatar of Sloth is controlling the sea of mist - I''m not too keen on announcing them our presence just yet - I think we''re still too weak to aplish my n." Cranberry breathed out andined. "...although I can''t be sure whether the avatar of sloth doesn''t already know about us and our ns or not..." She added tracing circles on the cold blue skin of her undead. "...haa... your taunt is really something, I''m hearing at least a thousand of various beasts." The red-haired girlbed back her blood-red hair with her fingers, revealing the ear glowing with white light. "About that... time to test out that newbination skill we came up with~!" Zombie hummed happily and wrapped his arms, both the cold blue one and the red and ck smoke one around the red-haired girl, hugging her close. "...~!" The girl closed her eyesfortably and embraced the undead back. Their bodies began to glow with a strong murky red light that looked just like the smoke that the undead''s right arm was made out of, and in the next moment, the ckish-red pir of fire erupted into the sky, evaporating the mist in its path. As the mist disappeared, the hord of crazed-up monsters rushing madly right at the pair was revealed. "?!?!?!??!!!" They all sensed the dangering from the pir of odd fire but it was far toote for them to retreat. Suddenly, the pir of fire changed its color to violet and begun to expand at an insane rate. Before any of the massive beasts could even blink, the zing inferno swallowed them whole and turned their flesh and bones into ash with a horrifying howl of mes. /Multiple High-ss monsters defeated Master and Servant receive the EXP /Master level cap reached Level 99 ?? Level 99 /Skill Overachiever activated /Master''s skills and affinities level up Master''s base status points greatly increased /Servant level up Level 391 ?? level 397 /Servant''s skills and affinities level up Servant''s base skill points greatly increased /Condition met /Master receives a title Terror of the Night Fangs Terror of Angels Bane of Dragons Bane of true devils /Servant receives a title Terror of the Night Fangs Terror of Angels Bane of dragons Bane of true devils "Whoa, that was quite something!" The blue undead gasped, looking up at the ashes of the monster falling onto the burnt ground like genuine snow - but a lot more ugly. "Khe, khe...!" The red-haired girl tried her best to protect her mouth and nose from the ashes but there was only that much she could do. "...! Crap I forgot that you need to breathe! Hold on tight." He gasped and gently lifted the girl up in his arms in a princess carry, jumping away from the continuously falling ashes that already were covering most of the area freed from the mist by the undead''s fire skill. "Hey, how about we hasten your n and go meet the titans? I''ll jump over the defense lines of the Sloth family so that they wouldn''t notice us." The undead asked but the only answer was a silent frown from the girl. "Yeah, we''re definitely going." The undead nodded to the girl and jumped. *tap* Cranberry tapped his chest and scowled at him. "Pffft...! Nope, not listening." Zombie snorted and faced away from the pouting girl. Chapter 175: Found out!

Chapter 175: Found out!

"Huh? Why are you here alone?" "?!?!?!" Mika flinched when she heard a surprised voice in front of her. The ashen-haired girl slowly raised her head and fearfully looked at the person who spotted her. "Huh...?" It was a boy that must have been of a simr age to her. His short, buzz-cut hair was ck, he had a surprisingly goodplexion for a teenager, big blue eyes, and long eyshes that would make many girls jealous. But! He was wearing a simr kind of armor that both the medic and the messenger were wearing, so he must have been one of the Sloths'' people. That meant that Mika could get in trou... "Geez, did medic 7 forgot about a recruit again?!" But instead of getting angry or suspicious, the buzz-cut boy only shook his head and sighed. Then he approached Mika and grabbed her hand. "!!!" The ashen-haired girl tensed up - she got herself caught so easily! ...or so she thought for a moment. "You''re a new recruit, right? The fishermen''s vige sure is working hard." The buzz-cut boy was talking casually while pulling Mika with him. "...?!" She tried to oppose him with all the enormous strength she now possessed, but she only ended up making a trail on the floor with her feet as the boy didn''t even notice her attempts to break free. "You see, our territory is facing a real problem nowadays." The boy exined, picking a hallway leading to the right from the three ways that the original hallway was splitting into. "The higher-ups have revealed that the titan-ss monsters are more active than they were for thest fifty years, so it''s really important for us to keep the defense lines, right?" "Titan-ss?!" The boy nced back at Mika, who gasped, repeating the terrifying name. Titan-ss. The terribly powerful beasts, usually enormous in size, wielding overwhelming power. Hearing someone mentioning them so casually was enough to make Mika forget to struggle. "Yeah! So we have our hands full! But recently - around two months ago or so - all the monsters living in the ocean of mist started attacking all the convoys that were transporting supplies from the southern territory! We can''t spare any soldier of ours to protect them, because if even one titan-ss will slip through our defense lines it will be catastrophic for the southern territories." The boy walked through the third door on the right and continued walking down yet another hallway while Mika waspletely engrossed in his exnation. "That''s why we need more people on our side. With how things are we won''tst without a functional supply chain. even though the monsters attacking the convoys are barely on par with the dragon-ss monster, those southerners are getting wiped out instantly. It really must suck to have a level cap of 99 right?" The boy sighed and asked Mika, as if he was talking about something rtable, but in fact, he couldn''t be talking about more foreign things to the ashen-haired girl. This was the same thing that the medic had told her before. Southerners could only ever achieve level 99. That was the truth. Well, Mika always thought that was the deal for all intelligent races though... But clearly, the people living in the Sloth territory were built differently. "Oh! That''s right! What level are you?" The buzzcut boy interrupted Mika''s inner turmoil and asked curiously. "Ah... l-level 39- um, level 40." She confessed truthfully, taken by surprise. For her age, it was a great achievement - at least for the standards that she was raised in. "Oh! I see..." The boy tensed up and awkwardly looked to the side. "Don''t worry! You''ve only just arrived, right? You will surely grow much, much stronger in no time! Look at me for example! I was born in Lust territory and was only level 12 when I arrived here seven years ago - now I''m level 111." ...he stopped and put his hand on Mika''s shoulder reassuringly. "..." What was she supposed to say to that?! "Oh! Right! Geez, sorry for stalling. Here we are." The boy flinched and step back, slightly blushing, and turned towards the door that Mikapletely missed, and knocked on it. "Come in." The voice from inside called without even a second of dy. "Let''s go." The boy nodded at Mika and opened the door. "Sir! Bruiser 97-F brings a new recruit! She requires a standard set of equipment!" The boy dered while saluting and straightening his back so much that he almost bent backward. "...why is a bruiser bringing a recruit here? What about the senior staff that should be responsible for that?" A tall, strict-looking man in a differently colored armor asked from behind a counter, furrowing his brows. "Sir! I found this recruit lost in section A-7 of the medical facility!" The boy said in a tone that suggested that the rest should be obvious. "...medic 7..." And the long, tired sigh of the man behind a counter made it clear that indeed, it was obvious. "...recruit, did medic 7 at least told you what specialization should you go into?" The man gritted his teeth as if chewing on a viciousment about the medic 7 that apparently had a running history of messing up. "She... she told me that since I''m a berserk, I''d be best suited for the closebat..." At that point, Mika had absolutely no idea what to do so she just went with the flow. And lied. After all, the bespectacled woman wanted her to join the recon squad - at least up until she learned about Mika''s identity. "...your old vocation doesn''t matter anymore..." The man eyed out Mika for a moment and then turned around. "...wait here." He said and disappeared behind the door in the back. "Oh! Closebat? So our specializations are going to be simr! Maybe you''ll join my team after your training isplete?" After breathing out and returning to a more natural position, the buzzcut boy smiled towards Mika. "I... I guess...?" The ashen-haired girl nodded awkwardly and rubbed her left arm. "Um..." Mika fidgeted and nced at the boy. "Call me bruiser 97-F." The buzzcut boy waved his hand dismissively. "...bruiser 97-F... what did that person mean when he said that my previous vocation doesn''t matter? How can the job that system has assigned to me don''t matter anymore?" Mika asked confused. "Whoa, did medic 7 not exin anything to you?!" Bruiser 97-F raised his brows and whistled. Chapter 176: Unbelievable

Chapter 176: Unbelievable

"She ran off somewhere before she was able to..." Mika shrugged and lowered her head apologetically. "...geez..." Bruiser 97-F put his hand to his chin and breathed out, trying to find the right words. "It will be exined to you in more detail during the training, but the gist of it is that the jobs that the system gives, aren''t always fully aligned with the soldier''s predisposition." He traced circles in the air with his right hand while doing his best to exin. "You see... someone might be a thief or a rogue because of their way of life, but it doesn''t change the fact that the skill that this particr person can raise to the highest level is a taunt, right?" "R-right..." "Right! That''s why the ''recruit'' didn''t be your main ss nor a subss but instead reced your race!" "It did?!" Mika''s eyes widened at the revtion - she of course hasn''t be a recruit but knowing that this was something that happened to other people was enough to make her feel anxious. "Exactly! When that happened, you were granted the shared Acedia skill from the avatar of Sloth..." "...!" The offhand mention threw by bruiser 97-F made Mika''s heart skip a beat. The Acedia skill was shared by the avatar of sin with normal people?! And not just one but many?! Then the timed one she received was the same?! "Acedia is the only passive skill amongst the sin exclusive skills. It grants the amazing benefit of passive EXP gain so you will continue to level up without having to risk your life before your stats will be useful in actualbat experience. It also unlocks your level cap." Bruiser 97-F smiled warmly and continued. "It''s awesome! But it doese with a disadvantage." He added, making it sound as an unimportant afterthought. "It stunts the growth speed of any skill you already possess or rather it makes most of them regress, it makes it basically impossible to gain new skills too... but it''s not worth getting worked out for! That''s when the specializationes in handy!" The boy quickly added seeing the worried expression on Mika''s face. "You know that every yer character has different predispositions and level caps for different skills? The medical staff is responsible for checking what is the recruit''s predisposition - what is their level cap for a particr skill useful skill that they would be focusing on from then on. When everything is checked, a recruit like you is bestowed the appropriate skill by the avatar''s proxy and admitted to a proper training course. It''s all done so that the recruits won''t waste their time and effort trying to keep up some garbage skills and instead concentrate on raising only the single useful one. Whew..." After saying all that is, bruiser 97-F had to catch a breath. "This skim was put into motion by the first avatar of Sloth hundreds of years ago and continues to be the most efficient one. With thebination of Acedia, a specialized training, and the weapons manufactured by the engineering division, we - the Sloth soldiers - continue to keep the titan-ss monsters at bay." He finished talking, pridefully puffed out his chest, and nodded with satisfaction. "That''s insane..." Mika gasped. "Right?!" Bruiser 97-Fpletely misunderstood what the ashen-haired girl meant, and grinned. The training program of the Sloth family soldiers seemed to be exactly opposite to how the people of the southern territories have lived and trained for ages. Mika couldn''t understand how bruiser 97-F could be so calm about basically admitting that he only knows a single skill and nothing else! Single skill! What about theplementary skills?! "What about theplementary skills?!" This was such an unbelievable thing that Mika straight up asked about it out loud. "Huh?" Bruiser 97-F tilted his head in confusion. "What about theplementary skills?!" Mika repeated, but seeing theplete cluelessness in the boy''s eyes, she clenched her fists and started exining. "Theplementary skills! One person can only use three skills of the same type at the same time, that''s the limitation of the system which protects us from the too many stat modifiers imposed by the skill usage ripping our bodies apart! You are not supposed to main only one skill! That will eventually lead you to kill yourself while trying to use it!" Mika approached the bruiser 97-F and got up in his face. "It was proven in the past that even the most harmless passive skill can have fatal consequences on the user''s body if it''s trained recklessly! What are you all thinking?!" "I-it can...?" Bruiser 97-F blushed and tried to back off but Mika followed him until the boy''s back hit the wall and he couldn''t back up anymore. "How are you guys making up for the difference in the status points?! Huh?! Or are you trying to say that the so-called specialists are focusing on general power-up skills?! Because that''s not specializing and it''s still harmful to the user''s body to experience too many stat multipliers working at the same time!" The ashen-haired girl got incredibly animated over the matter. It wasn''t just some random outburst of righteousness or anything. All the questions that she asked were the same questions that she herself, and her family - as well as the rest of the southern territories of the Fruit Sd kingdom - had to ask themselves time and time again. "C-calm down, okay...? Please." Bruiser 97-F, now red as a tomato, put his hands on Mika''s shoulders and gently pushed her away. "I don''t know what you''re talking about...! I''ve never experienced any bacsh from my skill - and I have been inbat already!" He tried to defend himself and not look at the disheveled clothes of the ashen-haired girl. "Which do you use?!" Mika scoffed at the boy while being pushed away inch by inch despite her best effort. "Iron fist..." Bruiser 97-F answered in a worried voice as if worried that the skill won''t be to the girls liking. "Every skill that''s using your body as a medium requires to have strong physical defense on top of the physical strength! Particrly punching and kicking skills require the user to have the DEF be at least one-fourth of the STR. What are your base stats?" Chapter 177: Odd quest

Chapter 177: Odd quest

Mika grabbed bruiser 97-F''s wrists and tried to got even closer to him to pressure him into confessing, while not fully realizing that her action could look quite different from the boy''s perspective... or from any bystander''s perspective for the matter... Anyway, her attempts only ended up in herically sliding her feet on the floor as she couldn''t defeat bruiser 97''s strength. "Um, please calm down...? My stats are fine, they are ranging from 4500 to around 13000 except from luck that''s capped at 99!" "Aha! See! They''re only... wait! 4500 is the lowes?! The strongest is 13000... what...?!-KYAH!" "Watch out!" Once bruiser 97-F folded in and confessed, the outrageous number got Mika by surprise and she ended up slipping. That was so sudden for the boy trying to keep the ashen-haired girl away, that he reacted instinctively by trying to catch her... ...leading for the girl to end up in his embrace. "While close rtions are not banned, it is highly advised that you keep the disys of affection to your private quarters." And that was the scene that the quartermaster has returned to, holding a simple wooden crate stuffed with various equipment meant for Mika. "Wha...?! N-no! Sir! It''s not like that!" Bruiser 97-F blushed and hurriedly put Mika away. "..." Yes. He physically lifted her up by her shoulders and put her to the side like an object. Very confused, very embarrassed, ashen-haired object. "Recruit, take the armor and try it on, use the dressing room." The quartermaster continued talking as if nothing happened and pointed at the simple door to his right. "Okay." Mika nodded and hurriedly approached the counter, picked up the box, and... /System detected that all essential characters necessary for the special timed quest of the global event''s ultimate route: - Final frontier - are in the required area. /Due to the unique nature of the - Final frontier - quest, the system requires permission from each of the necessary essential characters to begin. /Do you agree to start the - Final frontier - quest? YES / NO (warning - none of the essential characters will be able to leave the Sloth territory until the questpletion/failure) A series of menacing messages had popped up the moment that Mika has turned towards the dressing room. "Eh...?" The ashen-haired girl stopped midway and furrowed her brows staring at the message. How many times the system is going to show up with somethingpletely new?! This was getting ridiculous. "Is something wrong?" Bruiser 97-F asked seeing the concern on the girl''s face. "Um... It''s fine, don''t worry. Just some weird message has popped up." Mika shook her head dismissively and walked through the door. "Ah, I know what she means! When I was picking up my equipment for the first time I got a quest telling me to put it on! It was a bit weird." The boy nodded with understanding. "We all did. Almost every Sloth soldier receives exactly the same quests from the moment they be a recruit. It''s because the first avatar of sloth used the powers of the wisdom God, Patience, to influence the system to streamline the training process." The quartermaster nodded, waiting for the girl toe out to see whether or not he chose the right size for her armor. "It''s a shame that Patience''s powers weren''t enough to wipe out the titan-ss monsters..." Bruiser 97-F sighed. "Hey, youngster, be grateful that the first avatar managed to raise the sea of mist before god''s powers ran out or the whole Fruit Sd would be just some monster-filled wastnd." "Sir! Yes, sir!" The quartermaster scoffed and the boy straightened his back and saluted. Then they both went quiet and waited for the girl. But she was taking quite a long time. "Maybe she never wore armor before and needs help?" Bruiser 97-F muttered and took a step towards the dressing room. "Ekhem!" But as soon as he did that, the quartermaster loudly cleared his throat, startling the boy. "The recruits'' armor is crafted in such a way that as long as you want to put it on right, you will put it on right. Also, didn''t you heard what I''ve said before? Leave the disys of affection to your private quarters. Private. The dressing room isn''t a ce for two brats to fool around." The man red at the boy. "I-it''s not like that at all! We just met!" Bruiser 97-F tried to hurriedly exin himself because he did not carry any incident intentions when he wanted to check up on Mika in the dressing room. ... ... ...he didn''t carry any intentions as incident as the ones that the quartermaster was using him of, at least... And then the door opened. ---- Meanwhile, inside the dressing room, Mika had no other choice but to give up the escape attempts after she was unable to open - or break open - the small window. "...this whole situation is such a mess..." She sighed while changing from the simple childish clothes into the armor made out of some unknown monster materials - it was made out of hide, metal, and even something akin to a bone in few ces, but the ashen-haired girl was unable to discern what kind of monster or monsters were hunted down to make it. But one thing was sure - it was high-quality gear. So high quality in fact, that Mika had a hard time believing that such good equipment was handed so casually to some recruits. But, that was Sloths'' for you. A boy her age was already level 111 and had stats so insane that they would instantly ce him on the top spot of Fruit Sd''s strongest people - and that was only enough for him to be just some low-rank soldier who sounded straight-up crazy. ...though truth to be told Mika had no idea whether bruiser 97-F was just a low-level soldier or not, and was working under her own assumptions... Of course, the equipment would be just as insane as the rest. "I wonder if they''ll let me keep it even if I get busted..." Mika wondered, touching the perfectly fitting chest piecepletely awestruck. Then she stuffed her old clothes into the little bag that was prepared at the bottom of the crate and left the dressing room holding the wooden crate and the bag in one hand, and the helmet in the other. "Sorry for taking so long..." Mika apologized and lowered her head before she even fully opened the door. "I had trouble with... ah...!" The ashen-haired girl gasped as the first person that she saw after raising her head was the bespectacled woman making an annoyed expression and tapping her foot on the floor. "Well, well, well. Miss Wrath. Do you have anything to say to me?" Medic 7 asked, loudly breathing through her nose which made her sound like an angry bull. Mika flinched and nced to the side, just to find that both the quartermaster and the bruiser 97-F are kneeling by the wall, remorsefully staring at the floor, and a painful-looking lump was swelling on the quartermaster''s head while the buzz-cut boy seemed remorseful but otherwise? fine. "..." Mika closed her mouth and started staring at her feet, too afraid to make eye contact. It was clear that medic 7 was the one who reprimanded the two by the wall, and since bruiser 97-F revealed how ridiculous his status points are and the quartermaster couldn''t be weaker - once again that was Mika''s assumption - Mika was disillusioned about her chances of going against the bespectacled woman since she got the two of them to kneel down. "How were you able to leave the room in the first ce? I didn''t make you a recruit, and you certainly didn''t have enough points in STR to make it out on your own." Medic 7 was pissed off. It seemed like the next thing she was going to say would be something like: ''you''re a foreign spy, aren''t you?'' while she continued massaging her hand that seemed to be swelling for whatever reason. Anyway, Mika wasn''t in the most desirable position at the moment. "Once you left many messages have popped up and the system have given me a choice and one of the options was to leave the room and when I picked that option it gave me enough status points in STR that I was able to pass through the door and then received a title of honorary Sloth and a temporary level 1 skill Acedia and once I picked that choice and received a reward I could not just stay behind in the room!" Therefore the ashen-haired girl decided just decided to tell the truth... ...all in a single breath. "So you''re saying that the system forced you to leave the room even though you didn''t want to...?" Medic 7 furrowed her brows and asked dumbfounded. "That''s right! System! Yes!" Mika eximed and nodded her head vigorously. /Justice''s Wrath agreed for the - Final frontier - quest to begin /Calcting... /Waiting for other essential characters decisions "What?! Wait! NO! I wasn''t talking to you!" Mika saw the unexpected messages pop up and cried in anger. "What happened?" Medic 7 raised her brow at Mika''s entric behavior and asked. "It''s the system again! It showed me some weird timed quest named - Final frontier - or whatever, and I had to make a choice do I want it to start or not! And system took my words just now as a confirmation that I want to start it!" Mikained reaching her hand as if she wanted to grab the message hovering in front of her eyes and tear it apart. Chapter 178: The lovely reunion

Chapter 178: The lovely reunion

The door closed behind the bespectacled woman and the ashen-haired girl. The quartermaster sighed and stood up and waved at the bruiser 97-F to do the same. "So her name is Wrath? Just like one of the southern territories..." Bruiser 97-F fidgeted, too busy looking at the door to notice the quartermaster''s gesture. "After hearing those two talk, I think it''s safe to assume that it''s not just some coincidence - and that girl is from THE Wrath family." "...!" The man shrugged his shoulder and made the boy flinch and lower his head. "How old are you again?" The quartermaster asked. "Fourteen years old, sir!" The boy responded. "Then, what''s the matter kiddo?" The quartermaster made a surprisingly friendly smile and asked as his demeanor changedpletely. The boy fidgeted and nced at him, unsure how to start. "I-I''m not saying that I like her or anything - we only just met - but it''s, I don''t know, a bit sad knowing that I have no chance..." Bruiser 97-F confessed with a pitiful expression. "Knowing? What are you talking about?" The quartermaster shook his head andughed. "Um... well... I mean, sir, you''ve said it yourself... she''s someone from the seven main families, and before bing a soldier, I was just amoner from the backward vige in the Lust territory..." Bruiser 97-F exined, twiddling with his thumbs. "Oh, please! Kiddo, you saw her reaction when you told her your stats - by the way your decisiveness about bringing someone who looked like a lost recruit here was nice, I will put a good word for you to the higher-ups - she instantly threw herself in your arms!" "Sh-she just tripped!" The boy blushed deeply making it clear that he didn''t even hear the middle part of the quartermaster''s speech. "Yeah, yeah, sure." The man waved his hand dismissively and looked away with a mocking smile. "Still, it sounded like she was going to leave soon. Why not go say goodbye and ask for a little kiss on the cheek? You''re a proud Sloth soldier busting your butt off on the frontline, protecting the whole nation from titan-ss monsters!" The quartermaster''s smile changed into a cheeky smirk and he winked at the boy. "...! Sir, do you think she would agree...?! No! Sir, please don''t tease me like that!" Bruiser 97-F looked like he was about to run after the ashen-haired girl but then he shook his head and made a pitiful face. "At least go say goodbye, those southern girls aren''t as reserved as the girls here, you might get a hug." The quartermaster pointed at the door and nced at the buzzcut boy. "Sir..." Bruiser 97-F clenched his fists and bit his lip. "Go see her, that''s an order from your superior." The quartermaster made a serious expression and red the boy down. "Sir! Yes, sir!" Hearing an order caused bruiser 97-F to straighten his back and salute, it was more than just a fast reaction, it was basically a muscle memory by now. "Dismissed." The quartermaster waved at the door and turned away. "Sir! Yes, sir!" The boy saluted again and left without any more protests orints. "...damn it..." When the door closed and the sound of the footsteps disappeared, the quartermaster sat heavily on the simple wooden chair behind the counter and hid his face in his hands. "...the -F series are the experimental batch that the avatar shared a custom modified Acedia skill with. That makes them level up a bit slower than the rest of us, but their stats are sky-high inparison..." He sighed heavily, leaned back, and started staring at the ceiling. "But that also means that their bodies are that much more prone to break from the unnatural growth... he said that he was fourteen... his number was 97... that''s the highest number we got in seventy years..." The quartermaster started rocking back and forth in his chair. "That means he has like what...? Two more years to live? Three, if he''s lucky...? System-damn it...! That''s not how it''s supposed to be! How are those -F kids any different from a cannon fodder?!" *WHAM* The man gritted his teeth and leaned forward, making the front legs of his chair m against the floor with a loud sound. ---- "I''m sorry for causing trouble..." Mika apologized, following medic 7 with her head down. "I wouldn''t call it a trouble, only a slight annoyance." The bespectacled woman responded without even looking back. They were walking for a while in silence. Every hallway looked the same to Mika, so she wasn''t sure whether they were returning to the white room or going in apletely different direction. "Still, there was a slight change of ns." Medic 7 suddenly spoke, making Mika raised her head and look at her in confusion. "That tamer who was with your group. She was able to subdue a pack of shadow fangs and even an emperor griffin. The higher-ups dered their interest in her, and decided to make an exception and invite her to our territory... together with the rest of yourpanions, for whatever reason..." She sighed and massaged her forehead as if she got a migraine just thinking about so many southerners arriving without fulfilling the normal procedure. "Wait... does that mean...?!" Mika straightened her back and gasped. "Yes... they are all already here - together with some uninvited pests - and they all want to see you." Medic 7 exined, though the middle part she mumbled under her breath as if clenching her teeth in anger. "...!" Mika trembled in anticipation. If what the bespectacled woman was saying the truth, that means that not only the three bodyguards and the tamer girl were here, but her beloved Corvus too! And if she ys things right, then maybe she would be able to jump into his arms and pin it on being moved because of their reunion...! She covered her mouth with her face and snickered. "We''re here. We prepared a guest room for all of you. Enjoy your stay until we''ll be done with examining the unusual tamer." Medic seven suddenly stopped in front of one of the doors and tapped it with an indifferent expression with only hints of annoyance in her eyes. "Okay!" Mika nodded her head and braced herself. In her mind, Corvus was definitely the one who was the most worried about her, therefore he would be the one waiting by the door. That was the requirement for her touching reunion n! "Go in. Don''t make your friends wait." Medic 7 rolled her eyes and opened the door for the ashen-haired girl. "Everyone!" As soon as she got the chance, Mika threw herself through the door with open arms. *squeeze* And embraced the first person standing the closest to the door, careful to mind her newly acquired strength. "Hiah?! What the fuck?!" Someone let out a cute high-pitched voice and then cursed in confusion. "Eh...?" Mika gasped and looked up at the face of the person she was hugging. ...and she locked eyes with a tall beautiful ck-haired female elf, staring down at her in utter confusion. "Whoa...! Um... fuck...! Don''t get me wrong, kid. I think you''re really fucking cute, but... you''re way too fucking young for me. Sorry." The elven woman smiled awkwardly and bowed apologetically. Wide-eyed Mika was so confused that she released her embrace, but didn''t step away. ...it was the elf who stepped away as soon as she got a chance. "Ashen hair... ah! Forgive mypanion''s rudeness, youngdy Wrath!" Another person stepped in and bowed deeply. It was a short and skinny rat-faced man wearing light armor and fingerless gloves that showed the silver wedding ring on his left hand''s ring finger. "Fuck yeah! I got hit on by a high-ssdy?! Wait, no... Fuck! Did I offend her by fucking rejecting her feelings?!" The elven woman flinched and backed away even further. "Laii... I don''t want to burst your bubble, but I''m pretty sure this youngdy just made a small mistake due to being overwhelmed with emotions..." Another man showed up, this one had medium armor, a shield strapped to his forearm, and a broadsword on his waist. He also seemed to be a bit on the chubbier side. "...oh... yeah... that makes sense... fuck me..." The elven woman''s long pointy ears drooped down as she sighed dispiritedly. "Now, now. Don''t you all see that you made her confused?" And then another person showed up, thergest woman that Mika saw in her life. That is, Mika thought that was a woman, judging by the voice that came from inside the helmet of a full te armor-d person holding arge sword and an enormous tower shield. "Eh...? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!" Mika gasped, finally shaking off the initial shock. She stepped back and looked at the bespectacled woman still standing in front of the door. "Those... those aren''t my friends..." She uttered pointing at the four adventurers in front of her. "Yeah. They''re not. Those four are the pests I was talking about before... your friends are further in." Medic 7 sighed and pushed up her sses. "Ah! Right, sorry, we''ll move right away." The big woman apologized hurriedly and started pushing the others out of Mika''s way. Once she did that, Mika saw Corvus, Cri, Ti, and Cal, all her friends that she traveled together with, with the exception of the brown-haired Mary, sitting by a table in the far back of the room. "Ah! Young miss!" The first one to spot Mika''s arrival was the copper-eyed Ti. She stood up from her seat and rushed towards the suddenly timid ashen-haired girl. Chapter 179: Risky actions

Chapter 179: Risky actions

"I''m so sorry, young miss. We shouldn''t have gone with that awful n, to begin with." Ti apologized bowing her head deeply in what seemed like genuine remorse. "Ah, no, there''s no need to apolo... " ...or it would seem like it, if not for the fact that the copper-eyed bodyguard was using the chance to curiously peek at the ck-haired elf talking with her friends in the corner. And Ti did that in such an obvious way that Mika caught her immediately. "What are you doing...?" The ashen-haired girl leaned in and whispered confused to the copper-eyed woman. "...! Nothing much, just... checking on those guys..." Ti feigned ignorance but in such a way that it could be misunderstood as her keeping an eye on the four new people. "Oh, that''s right. Young miss. You weren''t here when we all introduced ourselves. Those are the Dandelions." Ti cleared her throat and pointed at the four adventurers. "Oh? Wait! We are looking for them before we got involved in this mess, howe they got here together with you all?" Mika took a step back and hid behind Ti, looking at the four adventurers with suspicion. "They..." "We were on our way back from one of the viges, we nned to get some fish for cheap from the fishermen''s vige, but as we got close, three people appeared out of nowhere the next thing we knew, we were here." Ti wanted to exin but the rat-faced man was faster. "Those three were our people. Fishermen 1, 2, and 3. With their teleportation skill and the skillbination affinity they are able to pull off mass teleportation." Medic 7 finally stepped into the room and exined. "The more people they transport, the more exhausting it is..." She added ring at the Dandelions. "If it''s so troublesome then maybe they should be more careful and not start the teleportation before they check the premises...!" The rat-faced man scoffed back at the bespectacled woman and proudly raised his head. "Don''t try to me others for the shorings of your own people, recruit 11-EKHEM! Medic 7 or however you are called." He added. "...!" That remark made medic 7 scowl and breath out so hard that her sses fogged up. "...thrash who don''t have even one stat in four digits amongst their whole group shouldn''t be allowed to voice their opinion..." Medic seven took off her sses and sent the rat-faced man a murderous re. "If you don''t like us so much then send us back." The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulders and responded with a re on his own. "Oh, wait, your fishermen, or however you call them, all copsed as soon as we all got here! Because of their own ipetence!" The rat-faced man scoffed and shook his head. "Fucking pathetic." The ck-haired elf muttered under her breath and shook her head. "You...!" Medic 7 gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "...!" Mika, as well as all the others from her group, were staring at the Dandelions in shock. The ashen-haired girl couldn''t believe her ears. What were those adventurers saying?! She could understand their behavior if they had stats backing up their confidence, but medic 7 had said that none of them had stats in the thousands. What could they do against the overwhelming soldiers of the Sloth territory...?! Those people were either mad or simply stupid... "What? Do you want us to fail the special quest we received?" Shanks puffed out his chest and nodded up at medic 7. "...tsk...! Just don''t get in our way!" The woman clicked her tongue, put her sses back on, and turned away without actually picking a fight that she should win without breaking a sweat...! "...eh...?" Mika gasped wide-eyed. It looked that the adventurers weren''t either mad or stupid... "Youngdy, don''t be surprised, the four of us simply received a special quest right when we arrived here." Therge woman in te armor saw the ashen-haired girl got taken aback and exined. "But what does a quest has to do with...?" Mika looked between the Dandelions and the bespectacled woman in confusion. "Miss. The special quests are the types you cannot just ignore. They have clear conditions ofpletion and failure - and if you do fail them, there will be a penalty." Ti leaned to Mika and whispered into her ear. "That''s still not a good enough reason to..." The girl shook her head and stepped away from the copper-eyed woman. "Youngdy. The special quest we got is for finding and securing the missing food provisions for the Sloth territory. Fail condition is for us four to leave the territory or to be held captive by anyone from the intelligent races. And the penalty is..." The rat-faced man faced the ashen-haired girl and exined, and as he took a breath, he sent a mocking nce at the angered medic 7. "For all the rations to never be found again. And that''s something that the Sloth soldiers cannot allow. You can''t really protect the whole kingdom from titan-ss monsters with no food reserves, can you?" He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "As if weaklings like you can survive in the sea of mist." Medic seven snorted and looked away with a sour face. "Fine then. Go ahead and waste more rations looking for the missing ones without our help. Good luck." The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulders and turned away. That was enough - not for medic 7 but for Mika. "You...! You all...! That''s terrible! Aren''t you ashamed of yourselves?! How can you four act like that?! Why are you acting so awful to the people who are literally risking their lives to protect everyone from the strongest monsters?! Do you have no conscience?!" Mika might have only met three Sloth soldiers in person, and it was all within the past two hours, but that didn''t change the fact that almost every child in the Fruit Sd knew the stories of the Sloth army protecting the kingdom from unimaginably powerful monsters. In Mika''s mind, everyone should be grateful for Sloth soldiers fulfilling duty and be happy to support them whenever a chance presents itself. But those adventurers acted as if they were above that! As someone with a role of Justice''s Wrath, how could she stand for such injustice? "..." The Dandelions looked at each other with serious expressions. Therge woman shook her head. The warrior looked to the side with an indifferent expression. The ck-haired elf crossed her arms and stubbornly red at the agitated ashen-haired girl. And as for the rat-faced man... "Youngdy, if that is what you think, then here." He put his wrists, together and walked towards the angry girl. "Take us into custody and force us to fulfill this quest against our will." He said without even batting an eye. "...!" For a moment Mika wanted to take a step back. But then again, why wouldn''t she make those stubborn adventurers do the right thing?! She was Justice''s Wrath! Wasn''t her role enough of a proof that she was in the right? "Hmph!" Mika stepped forward and reached for the rat-faced man''s hands to indeed capture him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "E-eh...?!" "Don''t you dare touch our young miss!" But as soon as she make her move, medic 7, pale as a ghost, jumped to the ashen-haired girl and pulled her away from the adventurer, causing the copper-eyed bodyguard to roar in fury. "What we''re you thinking?! Didn''t you heard what the penalty for them failing the special quest will be?!" Medic 7 shouted at the startled ashen-haired girl. "And didn''t you hear me saying to not touch our young miss?!" Ti stepped between the girl and the bespectacled woman and her body started glowing with all kinds of skills. "How can you be sure about the penalty in the first ce? Maybe those people just made that up on the spot!" The copper-eyed woman clenched her fists and growled at the bespectacled woman. "I know that they are saying the truth because of my hidden affinity, appraisal+. When I apprise others I can see their active quest. The same goes for your active quest, so stop making a fuss, bodyguard." Medic 7 put a lot of emphasis on thest word, straightened her back, and stared down at Ti - she was towering over the female bodyguard by at least two whole feet. After hearing that, Ti flinched and deactivated her skills. "I''m d that you understand. Now, you two, go sit with the rest of your friends and wait for the unique tamer to return." Medic 7 breathed out and shooed Mika and Ti towards the table where the rest of their group waited in awkward silence since they missed their chance to step in. "...miss, let''s go." Ti clenched her teeth, grabbed Mika''s arm, and started pulling her towards their friends. "Ugh... I hope they hurry up with those tests and we''ll be able to send at least the unnecessary ones away..." The bespectacled woman turned away and sighed to herself. "...!" Whether she intended it to be heard or not, Ti picked up her voice and stopped right in front of the table before she could take a seat. She frowned angrily and gritted her teeth. "Screw this. To he''ll with caution. I don''t care anymore...!" Ti breathed out. "Ah!" "So you''ll agree?!" Corvus and Cri heard her and both eximed excitedly. "Umm... what are you...?" Mika pouted and asked, upset that Corvus had basically ignored her.. "System, yes." Instead of answering Mika''s doubt, Ti simply gave a systemmand. And then Mika realized what her friends meant... /Thest essential character picked their choice /Calcting... /All the necessary essential characters agreed for - Final frontier - to begin System messages started popping in front of Mika''s eyes one after another. /Adjusting the story... Chapter 180: The quest and the preparation

Chapter 180: The quest and the preparation

/Justice''s Wrath receives a special quest - Final frontier - Timed endurance quest to test the yer''s limits /- The kingdom of Fruit Sd is in grave danger. The Sloth''s forces protecting the northern border for hundreds of years will no longer be enough to stop the titan-ss monsters. - /Objectives: Fight on the frontline and protect the border plete the standard training course (48:00:00 remaining) *push back the 1st monster wave (72:00:00 remaining) *push back the 2nd monster wave (96:00:00 remaining) *push back the 3rd monster wave (120:00:00 remaining) *push back the 4th monster wave (144:00:00 remaining) *push back the 5th monster wave (168:00:00 remaining) *push back the 6th monster wave(192:00:00 remaining) *push back the 7th monster wave (216:00:00 remaining) *push back the 8th monster wave (240:00:00 remaining) *push back the 9th monster wave (264:00:00 remaining) *push back the final monster wave (288:00:00 remaining) /Reward: (Depends on the contribution and % ofpleted objectives) /Fail conditions: Death (Justice''s Wrath''s) Desertion (leaving the quest area during the waves) Being out of the quest''s area during the wave (any) /Penalty: The Sloth territory will fall and the Fruit Sd will be flooded with Titan-ss monsters (titan-ss monsters will bemon encounters in the overworld) "..." Was there even a need toment on that? Mika felt her legs turning into jelly and she simply plopped down on her butt, unable to keep herself upright after reading through the messages that have popped up. Especially the part about the penalty for failing the quest. The happy until just a moment ago bodyguards, including Corvus, all became ghastly pale and started staring at the table in instant regret. They all have received the exact same type of quests as Mika did, with the same type of penalty in case of a failure. "...hurgh...!" Ti covered her mouth with her hand and blocked the bile rising up her stomach from escaping. A horrible mistake... epting that quest was such a horrible, horrible mistake... And not just for the people who received the quest, but for the entire kingdom. ... That''s what you get for underestimating a special quest of the global event. ... But no matter how much regret they had, it was toote to change anything. "...what''s wrong with them...?" Therge woman in full te armor asked in a worried voice and turned to herpanions. "Fuck if I know..." The ck-haired elf shrugged her shoulders. "..." The rat-faced man squinted his eyes and nced at the bespectacled woman standing next to the door. Her eyes were glowing as she was carefully examining each one of Mika''s group. "Tsk...!" Suddenly she clicked her tongue and turned away. "Idiots! Wait here until I''ll return - that''s an order!" She scoffed, looking over her shoulder at the bodyguards, and stormed out of the room leaving the despairing Wraths and confused Dandelions behind. The minutes were passing and the adventurers were still keeping their distance from the speechless Wrath''s. *WHAM* "...damn it...! Why did you agree to that stupid quest?!" All of a sudden, Corvus mmed his fists against the table and shouted at Ti. "...wha...?!" That question has literally made the woman took a step back. "Why did I agree?! Why did all of you agree so eagerly without even considering what the consequences could be?!" She shouted back, ring furiously at the white-haired man and pointing at him and the two other bodyguards. "But it was your vote that tipped the scale! And after all your high and mighty ''we should be careful'' bullshit, too!" Corvus didn''t even try to deny that he instantly agreed for the special quest to start and scoffed at Ti. "What are we going to do...?" "...!" Mika''s weak yelp caused the quarreling pair to flinch and stare down. "What else is for us to do? We need toplete that quest or everything will be over. If titan-ss monsters were to roam free there would be no safe ce left for the intelligent races to live in peace." Cri sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Judging by your reaction, young miss, you also received the same quest and agreed for it to start. Well, we''re in the same boat now..." He smiled at Mika and then looked at Ti and Corvus. "So let''s not ce me on a single person, alright?" He said to the two. "...nothing we can do now..." Corvus shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "Sorry for shouting." Ti apologized but not to the white-haired man but to her twopanions. That was the moment that the bespectacled woman returned to the room. "What? You still can''t get over some quest? Follow me. All of you." She asked coldly, raising her brow, and then she pointed at all the southerners and waved her hand nonchntly walking back out. "Alright, it seems that they figured something out." The rat-faced man breathed out and waved at his friends. The Dandelions nodded and reluctantly followed after medic 7, but the Wraths'' group didn''t budge. The ck-haired elf was thest of the Dandelions to leave. She stopped in the door and looked back at Ti and furrowed her brows. "...fucking... Yo! Pretty-eyes! You all are going to get left behind!" She called and hurriedly left. "...if we''ll try to run away, the quest will automatically fail..." The scary-faced Cal sighed and stood up from his seat. The others nodded. Ti helped Mika stand up and in the end, their group also left. "Ah! Hello again!" There was already no sign of either medic 7 or the Dandelions, but the one person waiting for the Wraths'' group was the buzzcut boy that Mika met before. Once he saw the ashen-haired girl his face brightened up, but when he noticed how pale she was, his enthusiasm diminished greatly. "I''m bruiser 97-F, medic 7 told me to take you to receive the equipment." The buzzcut boy straightened his back and saluted to the group. "Follow me." He added and turned around and started leading them through the maze of the corridors. Mika couldn''t really recognize the path they took but they inadvertently ended up in the room where the Dandelions were waiting while the quartermaster was as examining their equipment. "This is awful. How can you southerners even fight against anything in such poor quality defensive gear?" The quartermaster shook his head and sighed as he was knocking on the tower shield of therge woman. "...it''s adequate for my level..." The woman inside the te armor sounded as if she was pouting. "Maybe, but!" The quartermaster sighed again, grabbed the left corner of the massive shield and... *SCREECH* ...proceeded to bend it while only using his thumb and index finger which resulted in metal crying pitifully. "...!" Therge woman visibly flinched and pulled away, so did basically everyone else in the room except for medic 7 and bruiser 97-F... ...and the rat-faced man... The rat-faced man stepped forward instead of backing off. "Since when is the quartermaster allowed to destroy the equipment of the visiting southerners? Don''t you Sloth soldiers have a rule against that?" He frowned and red at the much taller man. "As long as you will be helping us, we will lend you proper equipment maybe even give it to you if you''ll do a good job so there''s no problem, is there?" The quartermaster flowed his arms and red back. The two men were staring at each other in silence for a good minute while the other people were straight-up confused - especially the Dandelions. "We don''t have all day. Get those people some fitting equipment, they all will attend the elerated training course that the higher-ups are putting together right now." Medic 7 was the one who stepped in and broke the staring contest. "What do you mean by ''they all''? Why would we need some training?" The rat-faced man raised his brow and asked without stopping ring at the quartermaster, but got no response from the bespectacled woman. "That''s right." The quartermaster took his eyes off of the rat-faced man, jumped back behind the counter, and looked at Mika''s group. "I see, good for you kiddo." He smirked and winking at bruiser 97-F before turning around and disappearing in the door in the back. "Tsk...!" Shanks clicked his tongue and turned away still agitated. The other Dandelions surrounded him and started whispering to calm him down. After a few short minutes, the quartermaster reappeared holding much more boxes that it should be safe to carry at once. "Get in line." He ordered, putting the boxes on the floor behind the counter, and waved at both groups toe over, which everyone did with various levels of reluctance. "Not you, the gear I gave you before is fine." The quartermaster shooed Mika away when she stepped forward together with her group. "Go talk with that kid or something while the rest is changing." He scoffed pointing her at the buzzcut boy who looked like he wanted to hide but had nowhere to go. The ashen-haired girl wasn''t feeling that great, still very much shaken from the terrible quest she received, and since Corvus wasn''t showing any interest, she did indeed want to bruiser 97-F. "How are you?" Bruiser 97-F smiled awkwardly, unsure how he should act. "...are the titan-ss monsters as powerful as the legends say...?" The ashen-haired girl nced at him and asked fearfully. Chapter 181: Special 1 - What about Claymore?

Chapter 181: Special 1 - What about ymore?

"Nnnnnnnnghh...!" ymore stretched like a cat, putting their hands forward and sticking up their pajama-d butt up from the covers. "Whew, it''s actually nice to have a proper sleep once in a while." They purred doing a little buttocks wiggle, bathing in the sunlight. *knock* *knock* As per ymore''s request, a servant arrived at their door with the sunrise. "You maye in." ymore called with a slight smile, not bothering to change their position. The tall long-haired beautiful woman in a butler''s uniform entered the bedroom carrying a tray with food. "Family head, I''ve brought you your breakfa..." She begun saying but suddenly stopped when faced with sacred-looking behind illuminated from the back by the morning sun that ended up looked like a halo - and forgot what she was going to say. "Oh, hello there, um..." ymore peeked from over the covers and furrowed their brows trying to remember the maid''s name. "...Kopia, what was the name of this new form of yours again...?" They gave up and asked the frozen maid. "Seriously, family head, it''s great princess Apricot, and it''s based on the character from the book you have favored a week ago." The maid shook her head causing her long hair to glimmer in the morning light. "Do you prefer me in a more familiar form? Like this?" The maid asked and her body begun glowing white while melting and molding until it became a body of a tall but skinny ten years old boy while the oversized butler''s clothes hung loosely from his shoulders "Orange Tart, lord ymore, at your service, my family is so grateful that you made sure that someone reced me during my first kill party since I was bedridden due to a terrible infection that day." The boy bowed and dered. Then his body begun glowing again and this time it changed into that of an adult handsome man with a striking smile and the butler''s clothes became slightly too tight. "Or maybe you prefer me as the gullible coachman, Passionfruit?" He asked with a sweet smile and winked. "I prefer you in the form that you feel the mostfortable with right now, Kopia." ymore sighed and sat upright at their feet and rubbed their sleepy eyes. "..." The man flinched and his smile became softer and much more genuine. "That''s why I really like you, family head, you never tell me to be something stupid like my real self." He bowed his head and his body begun glowing and changing for the third time. They ended up in a small androgynous body with gentle facial features, blood-red hair going down to their knees, and piercing pale-blue eyes. "Kopia Envy, the Envys'' branch family spy who infiltrated the Wrath house at an early age and ended up being assigned as your personal bodyguard that miraculously fell madly in love with you at the first sight and pledged their life to you." The uniform ended up being too big again but Kopia didn''t seem to mind as they walked over to the bed and put the tray next to the drowsy ymore. "...what''s with the introduction...?" ymore furrowed their brows and mumbled. "Oh, it''s because family head seems to be really forgetful today - to protect myself from a heartbreak once the inevitable ''who are you again?'' question woulde, I decided to strike first." Kopia raised their head proudly and tapped their chest with an open palm. "..." ymore looked at them and blinked. "That''s it, enough with the head talk. I''m a girl today." ymore dered and adjusted her way of sitting to be moredylike. "Oh? It has been a while, hasn''t it?" Kopiaughed while folding up the pants and sleeves of their shirt so that they could move freely. "It certainly was. But I guess you can''t remember about our visit to the Prides'' mansion... Kopia, look away." ymore sighed getting out of the bed and changing out of the simple pajama into a set of cute underwear and a dress after confirming that her bodyguard isn''t peeking at her. "Alright, I''m done." She nodded, happy with her looks, and called Kopia. "...Prides'' mansion? Mydy, are you actually feeling unwell? Why would we ever go there?" Kopia furrowed their brows with genuine worry and tilted their head in concern. "Oh? No, no, you misunderstood me, Kopia, it''s a change of topic. I meant it as a return to our conversation about traveling around incognito. You can''t remember about the visit to the Prides'' mansion I''ve nned because I haven''t told you about it." ymore waved her hand dismissively and spun around letting the dress swirl around. "O-oh...! It turns out it was me who wasn''t keeping up with the conversation. Your dashing looks must have bewitched me..." Kopia looked down blushing shyly. "That said... Mydy, pardon me for straying from the topic you wanted to discuss, but could I ask you a rather personal question?" They fidgeted on the bed and asked. "I''m not calling for you as my nighttimepanion because in one of our conversations you let slip that your inborn form change skill is so powerful that somehow neither you nor anyone from your family is entirely sure how old are you exactly. You might be too young for that, and I have standards and family honor to uphold - but I appreciate your feelings." ymore shrugged her shoulders and answered the question, that wasn''t even asked, in a t voice. "Apparently, I might not even be human~! One day Envy family spotted that there is one more person in the group of the children learning about the kingdom''s internal affairs. It turned out that two of the children arepletely identical, one of them was the branch family head''s daughter, the other one was me. Forget about my age, I don''t even know what my original gender is! As far as we know I might be a bastard of the Lust family and also have a Love-blessed body!" Kopia didn''t even flinch and instead happily added to ymore''s information, coincidentally forgetting about their real question. "But the appraisal results always state that you are human." ymore pointed out. "That''s because I''m always getting apprised in the form of a human." Kopia smiled and just their eyes glowed - when they blinked, the eyes changed, the whites turned ck and the pupils became red horizontal slits. Then they blinked again and their eyes turned back to ''normal''. "...Kopia, you little scam, you just don''t want me to talk about going outside! You''re just like my parents! Hmph!" Instead of getting scared or worried, ymore puffed out her cheeks and stomped her foot. "Mydy, I wouldn''t dare!" Kopia bowed down so that they could hide their deeply blushing face. Chapter 182: Training session

Chapter 182: Training session

The past ten hours could be described only as torture. Without water, without a moment of rest, all the southerners in the facility were forced to run around with weights exceeding their natural carrying load limit while dodging the projectiles shot from training machines in irregr intervals. "What is...! The...! Purpose of...! This...!" Mika was wheezing while trying to catch her breath. "Oh?" Bruiser 97-F who was passing her with much bigger weights than anyone else put together strapped to his back, stopped by her and tilted his head. "Miss Mika? Are you alright? If you stay in the same ce for too long you will get hit by a rubber ball." He said looking around in concern. Still, the people operating the training machines were concentrating fire on the rat-faced man running much farther ahead, so two teenagers were safe at least for the moment. "Say... what is the point of this exercise...?" Mika gasped and asked. Her strength wasn''t all that badpared to the Sloth soldiers, but her endurance was apletely different matter... "I don''t know. But they told us to do it, so there must be a reason." The buzzcut boy shrugged his shoulders and fixed the straps of his weights. "Yeah... but what is that reason...?" The ashen-haired girl groaned and straightened her back. "You know how they are shooting at us? On the front lines our gunners don''t use something as silly as rubber balls, but live ammunition. Maybe this training is meant for you to get used to instinctively getting out of the way of fire?" Bruiser 97-F shrugged his shoulders and guessed. "...is that so... but then why are you here with us...? Mika furrowed her brows and asked. "Ah...! I... I often get injured by friendly fire on the frontline because I sometimes pursue too far after the enemies..." The boy exined and blushed. "Wait! Are you saying that no one will stop using those weird projectile weapons even when their allies get in the way?! Isn''t that dangerous?!" Mika''s eyes got filled with righteous anger and she asked in disbelief. "Miss, you don''t understand, if the gunners stop shooting, some of the monsters might slip by. And a titan-ss roaming around the sea of mist is a terrible hazard for the cities and viges supplying us with food." Bruiser 97-F exined politely while starting moving again and got Mika to follow him. "Thest time that happened, the damages to the crops were so high that we had to request the southern territories leaders to get us some emergency supplies." He continued exining while picking up the peace. "By the way, those emergency supplies are the same ones that have gone missing and those people are supposed to find." The boy added pointing with his chin at the adventurers in a brand new high-quality gear, running ahead in the hail of rubber bullets. "I see... hey, don''t you think that your colleagues are really going after that short man...? Isn''t that a bit odd?" Mika noticed and asked. "I don''t know. Maybe they don''t like how cocky he acts all the time. Here you don''t want to stick out too much." Bruiser 97-F said, but then heughed. "Scratch that, you don''t want to stick out too much on the battlefield either. The titan-ss monsters will focus on you to break the defense line." He added. "...! I-I see..." Mika flinched and mumbled under her breath, taken aback. Then she nced at the eleven timers counting down in the corner of her vision - that have reced the single timer counting down the time remaining on the Acedia skill. (37:39:27) (61:39:27) (85:39:27) (109:39:27) (133:39:27) (157:39:27) (181:39:27) (205:39:27) (229:39:27) (253:39:27) (277:39:27) The sheer amount of space they upied was enough to make it unsettling, not to mention how they all counted down in perfect sync towards the time when the girl and her friends will have to face the titan-ss monsters on the frontline. Still, to do that, they would need to finish this first objective - the training...! Mika couldn''t stop worrying that maybe those higher-ups that bruiser 97-F was talking about, simply weren''t taking the special quest seriously. Still, considering that one of their soldiers, medic 7, had the apprisal+ affinity that allowed her to see active quests of the people she apprised, that shouldn''t be the case... Unless... *thump* *thump* *thump* Suddenly the three rubber balls shot through the air and got embedded into the ground dangerously close to bruiser 97-F''s feet. "UH-oh, that''s enough of a chatter, they noticed that we''re cking off...!" The boy snickered and rushed ahead with at least twice the speed. "Hey! Who''s cking o...?!" *thump* *thump* Mika water to protest but then two bullets grazed her hip and dug into ground behind her. "...!" The ashen-haired girl closed her mouth and hurriedly elerated despite the exhaustion taking over her. Even if shecked the endurance, she was able to use her great strength to make each step a lot longer by basically constantly jumping horizontally. By utilizing that technique she was able to not only pass the Dandelions but even her friends. "Mika, aren''t you tired? Maybe we should request that they let us rest?" Corvus livened up as soon as she got into the reach of his voice. "N-no, I''m fine...!" The ashen-haired girl blushed, happy that her beloved Corvus was worried about her, but at the same time, something inside her was telling her to show him that she''s not some kid who needs to be looked after. And to back her words up, Mika elerated even more and started catching up to bruiser 97-F. That''s why she missed the annoyed face that Corvus made as soon as she gave him an answer he didn''t want to hear. "What? Are you angry that you can''t luck or lie your way out of this exercise?" Ti running a few steps ahead of him smirked and whispered mockingly. "Did anyone asked you for your input?" Corvus scoffed angrily and faced the other way... *thump* ''WHOA...!" Just in time to notice and dodge an iing rubber ball that would otherwise hit him in the head resulting in at least a concussion - if he was lucky. "Tsk...!" The white-haired young man clicked his tongue and concentrated on running and dodging. The same exercise continued for another five hours before they were allowed to change the location. Chapter 183: You can look but you cant touch

Chapter 183: You can look but you can''t touch

After eating some nd-tasting rations, the group was led to the shooting range where recruits assigned to be the reserves for the gunners'' squads were training. There, one of the instructors showed them three basic types of guns that were used by the Sloth soldiers. "...each handgun, assault rifle, and a shotgun works thanks to being constantly provided with mana by the user." The female instructor pointed at the weapons put on disy for the southerners to see, while bruiser 97-F was standing by her and observing in silence. "Are you going to teach us how to use them?" After listening to the exnation, and seeing the guns fired by the recruits destroying the targets in the distance, the white-haired Corvus asked with sparkling eyes. "...!" "..." The Wraths'' group seemed excited about the idea, but the Dandelions couldn''t look less interested. "No." Still, the instructor simply shook her head from side to side and denied in a calm manner. "What?! Why not?! Then why were we brought here in the first ce?!" Corvus scoffed and got angry, raising his voice at the calm female instructor. "I was ordered to simply show you all how those weapons look so that you won''t step in front of the gunner. You can look as much as you want but you can''t touch anything." The woman shrugged her shoulders looking down on the agitated white-haired man. "That is ridiculous! We will need all the power we can get toplete the special quest and you just deny us the best weapons?!" Corvus did not want to back down. "...I wouldn''t be so keen on trying to use those things..." Surprisingly enough, the rat-faced man of the Dandelions group voiced his opinion, gathering the attention of the other southerners and even the instructor. "And why is that?" Corvus furrowed his brows and turned to the short man. "You must have heard that some of the Sloth-made weapons are circting around the whole kingdom, right?" The rat-faced man sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Corvus nodded and raised his brow waiting for the man to continue. "Those things are well known for malfunctioning. When we were young, our vige was attacked by monsters." The rat-faced man squinted motioned at himself and his threepanions. "It just so happened that our vige elder got his hands on a gun just like that one." He said pointing at the shotgun in the middle of the disy. "He was quite proud of it too, even got a proficiency skill for it. But do you know what happened when he needed that piece of junk the most?" The rat-faced man asked looking the white-haired young man in the eyes. "That shit exploded, killing him and wounding four other people, causing a lot of panic and confusion that resulted in our vige getting overran by the monsters." The rat-faced man''s expression got sharper and more serious, and the rest of the Dandelions clenched their fists after being reminded of the tragedy of the past. Corvus, Mika, Ti, Cal, and Cri, all flinched and took a step back from the disyed guns even though just a few seconds ago they were all about the idea of trying them out. "All the weapons from our territory that circte around the rest of the kingdom, are stolen assets that have entered the market illegally, without any sort of approval, and are mostly faulty equipment smuggled out by insurgents, traitors, or deserters." The female instructor sighed and exined, ring at the rat-faced man. "Not to mention that it''s very easy for someone without proper training to overcharge any gun with mana resulting in the gun''s malfunction." She added coldly. "Devastating, explosive malfunction." The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "That happens only when guns are used by the unpreparedmon rabble." Although the instructor tried to keep it together, there was clearly something about the short adventurer that was making her tilted. "Is that so? Is that why the shooting positions of the recruits are spaced so far from one another? Aren''t they better prepared than just some unpreparedmon rabble?" The rat-faced manughed pointing at the very young recruits practicing at safe distance. "Why don''t you tell us how many recruits you lose yearly because of the weapon malfunction during training?" He asked mockingly. *WHAM* "YOU OF ALL PEOPLE HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK ABOUT THAT, YOU DAMNED DESE...!" "Ma''am...!" "...!" The instructor mmed her hands against the table andshed out at the rat-faced man, but got interrupted and brought back to her senses by the buzzcut boy stepping in her line of sight. "...ekhm... the order was for me to only show you the guns. Make sure to memorize how they look and never step in front of a Sloth soldier firing one of those at a monster - or you won''t survive even a single bullet." The instructor coughed, straightened her back, and continued as if she didn''t just hurt her throat screaming at the short Dandelion. Although the heated exchange between the two didn''t really go anywhere, it did cool down Corvus''s eagerness to pick up the new weapon for himself. Even though the white-haired man was convinced that his LUC stat wouldn''t allow for any sort of malfunction, walking around with something that was basically a bomb wasn''t something that appealed to him. "After you''re done, bruiser 97-F will lead you to the next area. Until then, you can look, but don''t touch ANYTHING." The female instructor crossed her arms and repeated what she said before, ring at the rat-faced letting her fury resurface at the end of her sentence. "Fuck that." The ck-haired elf scoffed. "No thanks, we''ve seen enough at our vige." The other male member of the Dandelions made a sour expression and waved his hand dismissively. All four adventurers went ahead and walked around the disyed guns keeping more than enough distance from them, and lined up behind the buzzcut boy showing their readiness for leaving. "I-it would be better if we hurry up, right? We only have thirty-two more hours toplete the training..." The worried, ashen-haired Mika looked at herpanions and said in a small voice. "Yeah. Let''s go to the next part." Corvus agreed with her and approached bruiser 97-F. Chapter 184: Special 2 - Its Claymore - again!

Chapter 184: Special 2 - It''s ymore - again!

"Mydy, say, why are you so insistent on training the detection [sight] skill?" The androgynous short human with long blood-red hair and piercing pale-blue eyes asked the beautiful girl who was focusing her glowing eyes on a faraway forest-covered mountain visible from the window of her room. "You have me to protect you, am I that unreliable in your opinion...?" They grumbled and fidgeted on their spot at the freshly made bed. "I''m not interested in the detection skill for its usefulness or anything. What I am after is the miracle lense skill that is the evolution of the farsight skill that is the evolution of the detection [sight] skill. What I''m using now is the farsight." The beautiful girl rified. "O-ohhh... I see... as expected of youngdy ymore!" The wide-eyed Kopia nodded their head in understanding even though they didn''t have the slightest idea what that miracle lense was all about. The farsight was clear, it was a skill that allowed the extreme enhancement of the user''s vision without the need of telescopes and such, but the miracle lense...?" "I found a guidebook for learning it in one of the archives while I was searching for the way to earn a strong tracking skill. Miracle lense allows the user to take a peek at anything their hearts desire without any obstacles, no matter how well hidden or how far away it is." ymore exined without Kopia having to ask her directly. "Mydy, don''t tell me...! Do you want to try to find the missing youngdy Cranberry by yourself?! Why? What''s in it for you? You don''t have any connection to her!" Kopia furrowed their brows unable toprehend the girl''s motives. "...see? That''s why I know you don''t have even a speck of monster blood in you, you don''t remember how things were before the system reset." ymore sighed and shook her head. "...? Mydy? What are you talking about?" Kopia tilted their head and furrowed their brows. "Nothing important, say, what was the real question you wanted to ask me about before?" It was ymore''s turn to change the subject. "Eh...?" Kopia tilted their head even further in absolute confusion. "Ah! Oh, that''s right!" Suddenly they pped their hands together and nodded. "Say, mydy, there is something that I don''t understand about the Love-blessed body." They properly sat upright and asked in a serious voice. "Hmm? And what is that you don''t understand?" ymore blinked a few times and the light of a detection skill faded from her eyes as she focused on the person in front of her. "Howe you can change so perfectly? When you are in your base form you have the features of both the male and female forms. But when you choose what you want to be for a day, you changepletely!" Kopia eximed furrowing their brows. "Like, you do bandage up your breasts to tten them in your male form, but is that even necessary? I mean, your shoulders look way broader, your jaw gets stronger, you even lose your plump hips! And while you''re a girl, your whole body slims down and gets curvier, and somehow your adam''s apple disappears! And there''s no trace of the... the, you know... bulge... or anything!" Kopia ended up saying while shyly ncing at ymor''s waist. "Are you sure you are not someone like me? Have you tried changing into a different person before?" They asked curiously. "..." ymore didn''t answer immediately and turned back to the window and reactivated her skill. "...! D-did I say something that made you angry, mydy...?" Kopia flinched and get off the bed and got on their knees immediately. "I''m terribly sorry, mydy, please forgive this stupid, insensitive servant...!" They cried out while their shoulders shook. "I''m not angry, you know? At least not as much as you think." ymore sighed without pulling her eyes away from the faraway scenery. "Then why...?" Kopia didn''t dare to raise their head. "While I understand your curiosity the words you used are the same words everyone uses - everyone except Cranberry and Zombie, that is." ymore exined with a shrug. "Mydy...?" Kopia flinched and asked, surprised by their master''s kind voice. "Once Cranberry learned about my Love-blessed body, she only asked me one thing - is it useful for getting stronger - and as for Zombie, he didn''t even ask and just epted Cranberry''s words without a singleint... though that might have more inmon with the connection they share more than anything."? "Mydy, but when did you ever spoke or exchanged letters with...?" Kopia asked immediately once ymore closed her mouth, but the girl didn''t answer them. "As for my body. It''s always the same no matter what. It''s the perception of others that change. The Love-blessed bodyes equipped with the most powerful charm-type skills and my love-switch isn''t able to block them all. Once I say something, it bes the absolute truth to anyone seeing me. That''s the whole secret. Though, I''m pretty sure that I also asked you before not to peek under my skirt, didn''t I? You little rascal." She instead answered Kopia''s previous question and added a gentle scolding too. "...I''m sorry..." Kopia lowered their head and blushed from embarrassment. "You know, I... /Proficiency level reached Farsight (level 10[max]) ?? Miracle lense (level 1) "AH! I GOT IT!" A message popped up for ymore, causing her to jump up and threw her hands up triumphantly. But it wasn''t the end of the messages... /Ultimate route avable /System restriction removed /Skill upgrade Miracle lense (level 1) ?? Future sight (level 1) "...eh...?" ymore flinched and her arms dropped as she stared at the skill name in confusion. Future sight? W-was it just as its name suggested...? "Mydy...?" Kopia asked, worried about the girl''s odd behavior. "..." ymore just shook her head decided to try out the new skill on the spot. Of course, she did that while focusing on the red-haired girl and her blue undead. Once she did... "...!" Chapter 185: One objective down

Chapter 185: One objective down

"Congrattions. That concludes the elerated training course prepared for you all. You passed." Arge buff man put down arge practice shield and nodded with approval. /Special quest progression plete the standard training course (7:29:12 remaining)pleted 1/11 objectivespleted Reward: +5% to each base stat Reward granted Series of messages have popped up and the first-timer disappeared from the upper right corner of Mika''s vision. "Oh, thank the system..." Mika breathed out and plopped on her butt right where she stood, exhausted both physically and mentally. Even though their group was allotted both time and ce to sleep, the ashen-haired girl wasn''t able to sleep even a wink, which resulted in the state she was now in. She sighed, pulled her knees up, and hid her face. Atst, all the so-called training was over. Honestly, Mika couldn''t really see a point in any of the exercises that they were put through by the instructors. The only thing she was sure of, was that every single one of the Sloth soldiers, including the recruits, was better suited and prepared toplete the horrible special quest. With her head still down, Mika nced at the first of the remaining ten timers. (31:28:44) Her body shivered uncontrobly. Thirty-one hours and twenty-eight minutes - that''s how fast will she and herpanions have to face the first wave of monsters. No. That''s how much time they have to repel the first wave of monsters. In the past few hours, they were briefed about the strategy the Sloth soldiers use while guarding the border. The frontline was divided into three lines of defense. The first one, the one at which the most fighting took ce, was an area where squads of closebat-oriented Sloth soldiers were chasing down the passing titans while the gunners were raining hailstorms of bullets to stop the monsters from ever approaching. Every titan-ss monster was extremely aggressive and the confrontation with at least one would ur once every two or three hours at minimum. It was worth mentioning, that the Sloth soldiers on the first line very rarely got to kill any titan-ss. Those monsters were actually much smarter than they looked and every bit as tough as they looked, so they would manage to retreat before the first line soldiers could deliver a decisive blow. Even if the squad wanted to kill a particrly aggressive and stubborn titan-ss, another titan-ss monster would arrive at the spot and help the first one escape - despite the support of the artillery from the third defense line. One could say they served as a bumper for the titan-ss monsters to bounce off of. The second line of defense wasposed of abination of traps, pillboxes with powerful stationary heavy machine gunsid thickly as well as tens of miles of barrennd where the sea of mist was the thinnest which allowed precise aiming for the deadly bombardment from the artillery cannons. If the titan-ss monster was to breach the first line and push its way into the second line, the duty of the remaining Sloth soldiers from the first line would change from stopping the monster from passing through to stopping the monster from retreating. The second line of defense was the killing ground that the titans almost never escaped alive. The third line of defense wasposed of nearly countless batteries of artillery protected by walls spiked with heavy machine guns and all avable spare personnel ready to support the soldiers from the first and second defense line. In the long history of Sloth soldiers protecting the Fruit Sd, no titan-ss monster was ever able toe close enough to pose an actual threat to the third defense line equipment, not to mention actually breaching it. But ording to the - Final frontier - quest, that could no longer be the case, and it was up to Mika, Corvus, and the three bodyguards to prevent the disaster that was supposed to be too much for the Sloth soldiers to deal with. But will they actually be able to do that? The burden of the responsibility that was pushed on their shoulders was honestly way too much. Especially for young Mika, who didn''t even agree to start the quest on purpose. If she was alone, she would probably scream and cried for hours over the tant injustice that she had to face. If only she used different words while talking to medic 7, the system wouldn''t misunderstand the as an agreement. That''s why now, instead of screaming and crying, the ashen-haired girl just wanted to punch herself. "Miss, you should get some rest while you can." Ti approached the ashen-haired girl and sat beside her. Even though the copper-eyed woman was level 99 - which was the maximum level that a yer character from the southern territories could achieve, she was just as tired as Mika. "That tamer girl never joined our training, did she? She probably hasn''t received that stupid special quest." Mika raised her head and sighed, even though that was only her own guess. "Lucky..." She murmured, leaning her head against her own arm. "Not at all." Ti shook her head andid down on the ground. "When I disguised myself and went around to gather some information, I learned that miss Hope did get the - Final frontier - quest just like us, but considering the difference between our vocations, she was put under a different training regime together with her tamed monsters." The copper-eyed woman exined in a low voice. "What? Seriously?" Mika gasped and looked at the bodyguard in shock. "Not only that, it seems that they are treating her way better than us, like, as if she could actually be useful. I learned that she will be dividing her monsters too. She, the griffin, and one of the wolves wille with us to the frontline, while the rest of her tamed monsters will go with those guys." Ti exined and motioned with her chin at the dour Dandelions standing a few feet away. "Well, she is a tamer who controls really rare monsters, so it''s not that odd, I guess..." Mika nodded and looked at the adventurers. "Wait! I almost forgot! Before they go, we should ask them aboutdy Cranberry!" Mika gasped as she finally remembered the original objective her group went on a journey for. "I have already done that. They have said that they don''t know anything beyond what they have already told the investigators sent by the royal family." Ti pped her legs together and reported. "O-oh... I see..." The ashen-haired girl flinched and slouched slightly dispirited, she was actually hoping that she could distract herself from the terrifying reality even for a little bit, but, well, that didn''t happen. Ti looked at her with worried eyes, then she quickly nced at the Dandelions, particrly at the tall, ck-haired elf. "But we can go and ask them about it together. Maybe they will be more willing to talk to you." The copper-eyed woman said and stood up. "Can we?!" Mika gasped in disbelief and also got up. "Sure, sure." Ti nodded and got up, then they both walked towards the four adventurers. The warrior was the first one to notice their approach, and he budged the elven mage in the side and whispered something in her ear. The ck-haired elf''s ears twitched, and she turned towards the two, tilting her head curiously. She even blushed a little! Mika furrowed her brows and nced at Ti, but there was absolutely no change in the way the copper-eyed woman acted. "I know you have already spoken with Ti, but..." The ashen-haired girl moved in front of the female bodyguard and said instead of a greeting. "Youngdy, we have already told your friend, and the people sent by the royal family, everything that we knew. Honestly. One of the investigators even had a skill that allowed him to recognize when someone was lying. Everything is in the report." The rat-faced man interrupted her in the most politely impolite way possible. "But...! I''m not saying that you were lying to the investigators, but maybe you just forgot about some detail, or maybe..." "Everything." Mika tried a slightly different approach but was cut off instantly, with just enough passive-aggressiveness to not be perceived as offensive. "...!" The ashen-haired girl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. The short man was getting on her nerves for a while. The rude, arrogant way he treated and talked to the instructors and the higher-ranked Sloth soldiers that were around his age that passed them during training, waspletely unjustified in Mika''s opinion. That, coupled with her own anxiety about the approaching wave of monsters, ended up mixing together and ended up erupting as a brief outburst of anger. "What is your problem?! Everyone is just trying to do their best but you think you are so much better than them!" Mika shouted, stomping her foot and causing a small tremor. "That is entirely not your business, youngdy. Now, if you excuse us. There are plenty of crates with supplies that we were officially hired by the higher-ups to retrieve." Shanks bowed his head to the furious girl and turned around. He waved at hisrades and the four of them have left the area without looking back - except for the ck-haired elf who did nce back at the copper-eyed Ti onest time. Chapter 186: Trouble on the way

Chapter 186: Trouble on the way

The reinforcements for the Sloth soldiers fighting on the frontline were marching north through the sea of mist. They were all moving alongside the path marked in such a way so that only humans were able to notice it. The journey was long and arduous, their path was twisting and turning in the most unusual way that seemed extremely impractical. But no one dared to stray off or take a shortcut. The thickness of the mist increased a hundredfold even a single step off the marked path and was filled to the brim with monsters that although weaker than titan-ss, were still posing a serious threat to the members of the intelligent races. Amongst the marching soldiers, was a group of people from the south. Although everyone going north had the same equipment, for the most part, the southerners still managed to stand out like a sore thumb. First of all, they weregging behind. Not because they werezy, but rather... "...why... couldn''t we take a carriage...?" Corvus gritted his teeth, doing his best to match his speed to the Sloth''s soldiers'' tempo. "...a ride in a carriage would be amazing... and here I thought that stupid endurance run was bad...!" Ti nodded in agreement and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "Aah..." Mika, Cal, and Cri, all grunted in agreement, too tired to speak properly. "Sorry. You heard their exnation, right?" But there was someone in their group who wasn''t tired at all even after marching for over twenty-three hours. "They are unable to tame any of the native monsters, and even if they brought some from beyond their territory - it would backfire. The smell of easy prey would lure more strong monsters making traveling even harder. Traveling by foot is the most reliable and safest way... as long as we''re on the path." "Easy for you to say... Mary..." Corvus shook his head and red at the busty brown-haired girl, riding atop of the massive blue emperor griffin. Yes. Mary Hope, the tamer who was called for examination as soon as she stepped a foot in Sloths'' territory, has rejoined the Wraths together with two of her monsters. Just as it was nned in advance, she lent six of her wolves to help with the search quest that Dandelions received. The heroine wasfortably seated on the back of her griffin, Blueberry, while therge but terribly skinny ck wolf, Arion, was walking beside them. To clear some doubts, Blueberry was walking instead of flying, because traversing the sky inside the sea of mist was literally impossible due to the properties of the unnatural mist - they were banned from flying until they''ve reached the third defense line where the mist was beginning to thin out. "Sorry, if it was up to me I would let you hop on too, but..." "Skwee!" Mary bowed her head apologetically but got interrupted by an angry screech of the emperor griffin. The blue monster raised her head tall and spread her wings showing off her majesty. "...as you can see, Blueberry refuses to let anyone other than me on her back." The brown-haired girl sighed and shook her head apologetically. "Skwee!" "..." Blueberry folded back her wings and screeched, as if she was adding something - something that made Mary''s face scrunch up in annoyance - but the brown-haired girl didn''t borate on what that was about. "And the wolf...? He looks big enough to be able to carry a person... would you mind if at least our Mika caught a ride on it...?" Corvus asked, looking at the skinny wolf that was the size of a small horse. "...! Corvus! You... you don''t have to worry about me...! I''m fine...!" The young ashen-haired girl''s face got even redder than it was before - now a blush of embarrassment was added on top of the face flushed from exhaustion - as her heart fluttered when her beloved person showed concern for her. "Raor." The ck wolf growled and basically did a shoulder shrug but with his head, which nicely conveyed his indifference to the idea. "That is..." Even so, Mary made a concerned expression. "...you see, Arion wouldn''t mind that, but truth to be told... he''s a bit too skinny tofortable ride him... you know... his spine would... bother her..." She fidgeted and exined while her face was getting progressively redder. "...?" Mika tilted her head in confusion and looked at the wolf. Was its spine that bad? If she just put something over the monster''s back, there should be no problem... "A-ah... I see..." But apparently, only Mika was thinking that since a unanimous grunt of understanding circled the rest of their group. Their march continued. Surprisingly enough, the mist around them began thinning out. What was basically a milky wall was slowly bing a thin veil. "..." "...something''s wrong..." Ti whispered to herpanions after observing the nearest Sloth soldiers - they were clearly uneasy about something, looking around and clenching their weapons. One would think that it would be more normal for people to rx when a thick mist was clearing out... In the south, that would be the case. The thing was, they weren''t in the safe southern territories, but in the far north of the Sloth territory, where the mist should always stay as heavy as possible to confuse monsters. In that ce, being able to see meant being seen as well. "Enemy spotted! Earth Dragon approaching from nine o''clock! Get ready to intercept!" Amand was issued and few squads of the Sloth soldiers got into battle formations. "Earth Dragon...?! Just like that?!" Mika gasped and took a step back. *thump* *thump* The earth trembled in the rhythm of steps as a giant, moss-green lizard-like monster with horned head pierced through the fog, like a ghost ship reappearing on the surface back from the depths of the sea. The beast slowed down, as if surprised that it could see so so many delicious humans so clearly for the first time, its ck forked tongue was constantly peeking from his jaws. "KUOOOOOGH!" *thump* The dragon climbed onto its hind legs and roared, its tail smashed against the barren ground... "Kyah...!" Mika yelped in panic and clung to Corvus''s side. "KUOOOOGH!" *CRUSH* As if waiting for that, the dragon fell back on all fours and charged straight at Mika''s group. Chapter 187: Finding a different perspective

Chapter 187: Finding a different perspective

"Corvus, keep the young miss safe!" Ti shouted over her shoulder as she, Cri, and Cal rushed to meet the approaching monster head-on. Their bodies lit with active skills making them shine like beacons in the foggy sky... Yet still, they were looking terribly feeble in front of the moss-green dragon the size of arge house, charging madly, not even looking at the three approaching people and only having its eyes on the ashen-haired girl frozen in ce from fear behind them. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT OF THE LINE OF FIRE!" A furious voice roared before the three brave bodyguards could meet halfway with the monster. "...!" Cri, Ti, and Cal, flinched and hurriedly jumped away. "It''s just a lizard! Remember to keep your output on the lowest level! FIRE!" Within the next second, tens of manna-powered assault rifles thundered and countless bullets rained on the dragon''s hide. "KUOOOGH!" The beast slowed down and roared. It didn''t seem like the bullets were doing any serious damage, barely prated the monster''s scales, but apparently, they''ve caused enough pain for the dragon to reevaluate its choices. "Now our chance to finish it!" Seeing the hesitation in the monster''s movement, the scary-faced Cal called out at the other two. "Stay back!" *shove* "...?!" But just as he did that, one of the Sloth soldiers in full armorpleted with a helmet that covered their face, appeared in front of him out of nowhere, and pushed him back without using any skills. ...which resulted in Cal tumbling back like a ragdoll, unable to resist the strength. "What do you think you''re doing?!" Ti stepped up to the soldier and shouted in their face as Cri hurried over to check up on Cal. "That''s what I should be asking?! What do you mean to finish it?! You want to kill a monster so close to our supply route so that the carcass would lure more monsters and made it even harder to travel?!" The soldier shouted back, making Ti flinch and step back. "Maybe you don''t care about the long-term consequences because you''ll be gone as soon as your quest ends, but we are stuck here forever! We don''t need some weak southerners messing everything up, so just stay back and don''t get in our way!" The soldier added angrily and scoffed at the copper-eyed woman. "KUOOGH!" The dragon roared onest time before it turned back and ran away with its tail between its legs. "Enemy repelled, road secured. Continue marching!" Themand was given and the gunners stepped back into the lines. "Recruit 91-F, return to your squad!" "Sir! Yes, sir!" One of the squad leaders called out and the masked soldier straightened their back, saluted, and hurriedly ran back. The army started marching in the thinning fog again. Even though the visibility was getting better and better they all stuck to the marked path without fail. The Wraths'' group had no time to mop around and also started moving, although the mood was down in the gutter. "...tsk... if they''ll be that cautious with the titan-ss monsters too, how will Iplete Arion''s route''s questter on...?" ...and no one paid any real attention to Mary, biting her fingernail while staring after the running dragon... "...that was a recruit...?" Ghastly pale Cal muttered, massaging his chest while Cri was using a healing skill on him. "I don''t understand this special quest at all! How are we supposed to stop something that they can''t?! That was a system-damned dragon just now! Dragon! And they made it ran away as if it was a scared frenzy rabbit! It''s ridiculous! We might as well ignore the whole special quest and ask to be sent back!" Corvus shook his head andined. ".,..but... the message said that if we fail, titan-ss monsters will start appearing in the other territories... that would be a disaster..." Mika, who never stopped sticking to Corvus''s side, said in a trembling voice. "Will they, though?" Corvus asked in annoyance. "The monsters don''t appear out of thin air! They are born and have to mature as every other living being! And all titan-sse from far north!" The white-haired man waved his hand decisively. "The Sloth family had held their ground for hundreds of years... they had to fight countless titan-ss, it is rather difficult to believe that they will fail all of a sudden..." Ti nodded, agreeing with Corvus. "Skwee!" "?!" All of a sudden the emperor griffin spread her wings and screeched at the two as if scolding them. "Wh-what is it about...?!" Corvus stiffened and put some distance between himself and the blue monster. "Sorry, Blueberry here just... well..." Mary leaned to the side and peeked from behind the griffin''s neck. "She''s saying that you worry too much. You should just use the system and its quests to get stronger." She furrowed her brows and exined. "..." The Wraths'' looked at each other in silence. "Huh... Maybe we are looking at our situation from the wrong angle..." Cri, who just finished healing Cal, stroke his chin and pondered. The others looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean? We got a dangerous quest that we can''t ignore in a ce where basically everything can kill us in a single hit. What angle do you want us to look at it from?" The copper-eyed woman furrowed her brows and scoffed. "Well, yeah, but..." Cri nodded but then tilted his head and started rubbing his hands together. "Maybe it is a pointless quest, and the Sloth soldiers are enough to deal with any danger thates their way...?" "Yeah, that''s why it''s pointless for us to be here!" As he continued, he got interrupted by angry Corvus. "Wait, wait, wait! That''s the thing! If they can do everything themselves, then why shouldn''t we just catch a ride on their sess?" "...!" Cri exined and everyone flinched as they understood what he was implying. That special quest had eleven stages, andpleting each one would get them a reward. It was likepleting eleven quests. And the first reward was already good, which meant that the next rewards would only get better and better. "Haha! They don''t say that the emperor griffins are one of the most intelligent monsters for nothing! Thank you, Blueberry!" Cal pped his hands and bowed to the blue monster. "Skwee!" Griffin proudly raised her head and screeched. "..." Mary turned away with a sour face. "Skwee!" The griffin screeched angrily and turned her head to re at her master. "...!" Mary flinched and bit her lip. "Blueberry said that it was her mother who has said that." The brown-haired girl said, and each word sounded as if she really didn''t want to say it. "I see! Your mother is so wise! Amazing!" "Yes, exactly!" "Skwee!" Cri instantly spoke the words of praise and others joined in, making the griffin screeched happily like a little chick. Chapter 188: The third line of defense

Chapter 188: The third line of defense

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* "Those are the artillery cannons of the third line that they told us about...?" Ti looked at the hundreds of artillery batteries lined up behind a protective wall of a military structure spiked with smaller cannons and heavy machine guns. Even the group of people brought up in a world of magic with no ess to such weaponry had to feel respect when seeing teams of people manning the cannons that spit fire and shells with each deafening shot, raining death and destruction upon the first and second line. "Wait...! Why are they shooting?! Has the first wave already started?! Are we toote?! System, show active quest!" Mika panicked and loudly called out a systemmand. - Final frontier - Timed endurance quest to test the yer''s limits - The kingdom of Fruit Sd is in grave danger. The Sloth''s forces protecting the northern border for hundreds of years will no longer be enough to stop the titan-ss monsters. - Objective: Fight on the frontline and protect the border plete the standard training course pleted) *push back the 1st monster wave (05:02:33 remaining) *push back the 2nd monster wave (29:02:33 remaining) *push back the 3rd monster wave (53:02:33 remaining) *push back the 4th monster wave (77:02:33 remaining) *push back the 5th monster wave (101:02:33 remaining) *push back the 6th monster wave(125:02:33 remaining) *push back the 7th monster wave (149:02:33 remaining) *push back the 8th monster wave (173:02:33 remaining) *push back the 9th monster wave (197:02:33 remaining) *push back the final monster wave (221:02:33 remaining) Reward: (Depends on the contribution and % ofpleted objectives) (1/11 rewards granted) Fail conditions: Death (Justice''s Wrath''s) Desertion (leaving the quest area during the waves) Being out of the quest''s area during the wave (any) Penalty: The Sloth territory will fall and the Fruit Sd will be flooded with Titan-ss monsters (titan-ss monsters will be amon encounter in the overworld) Thankfully, the optional quest was still there, on the very top of the active quest list, looking as menacing as it should. "Thank the system...!" The ashen-haired girl swayed when the wave of relief reced the burning anxiety. "Whoa! Watch out!" "...!" Mika would actually fell down if white-haired Corvus hadn''t caught her in time. The young girl blushed, relishing in the unexpected contact. "Hey, someone''sing." Sadly that bliss wasn''t meant tost, and Ti called out to the rest of the group while pointing at approaching Sloth soldiers. The Wraths and Mary looked at each other and waited. One of the Sloth soldiers stepped forward and removed his helmet, showing a familiar face. "Bruiser 97-F from the 1stpany''s closebat squad at your service!" The buzzcut boy who they all met before, straightened his back and saluted. "Wee to the frontline! Although this is only the third line and we still have a bit of distance ahead of us until the first one..." Bruiser 97-F made eye contact with Mika, blushed, and instantly looked down. "Our squad has been selected to keep you all safe while you''re on the frontline! Nice to meet you!" The boy finished while staring at his own feet with a red face. "..." Seven other soldiers behind him straightened their backs and saluted. Judging by their heights and body structure alone, all of them were around the same age as bruiser 97-F and Mika. "Thank you for your cooperation..." Corvus nodded to them, unsure how he should react - he was already well aware that it was ridiculous to judge someone from the Sloth territory based on their age or looks, but being told that he will be protected by a bunch of kids, barely teenagers, didn''t sit too well with him. The three bodyguards and even Mary looked like they shared Corvus''s sentiment. "Why are they already sho...?" /Quest update *push back the 1st monster wave (05:00:00 remaining) Calcting... All essential characters are within the quest''s area Requirement fulfilled 1st wave - START (Reward: Depends on the contribution) Mika began asking, but her voice got stuck in her throat once a series of messages popped up unexpectedly. "EH...?! But we aren''t on the first line yet...!" The ashen-haired girl shook her head and regained her voice. Everyone from their group got confused. "Did something happen?" That made bruiser 97-F and his squad members worried. "Our quest... It updated and the messages say that we are within the required area and that the first wave has started...!" Mika nced at herpanions and exined, taken aback. "It says that it''s enough for you to be on the third line?!" Bruiser 97-F and his squad members gasped. "Monk 89-F, go and report that to thepany leader immediately!" The buzzcut boy looked over his shoulder and motioned with his head at the soldier on his left. "Sir, yes sir!" The youth saluted and ran off immediately. "What was that about...?" Mika asked. "It''s nothing. The higher-ups were in a bind trying to figure out a proper way to deal with the situation - after all, we can''t really allow people from the south to take part in actual fighting. Especially since one of you will be an important figure in the future..." Bruiser 97-F exined, suddenly he flinched, noticing how close Mika and Corvus were. "...!" Mika followed his line of sight and realized that Corvus was still supporting, even though she could stand up just fine - it looked almost as if he was hugging her! Mika''s face grew red and she hurriedly stepped away from the white-haired young man. "A-anyway, if there''s a chance that we can avoid putting you in harm''s way, it would be the best for both parties!" The buzzcut boy realized that his squad mates were snickering at him and quickly finished his thought. The Wraths looked at each other and breathed out in relief. "So that was the case... thank the system..." Ti smiled wiped her face. "But... will it really be okay...?" The only uneasy person left was Mika. Her sense of duty wasn''t allowing her to just ept that someone else will be doing all the hard work while she will be sitting by idly. "It will be alright! After all..." Bruiser 97-F waved his hand dismissively. *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* ...and the thunder of the artillery guns'' volley drowned every other word that the buzzcut boy has tried to say. Chapter 189: First wave done! ..and...

Chapter 189: First wave done! ..and...

/Quest progression 1st wave sessfully repelled *push back the 1st monster wave (00:00:00) pleted) 2/11 objectivespleted Reward: Calcting Justice''s Wrath contribution... /Error /Contribution level below 0.01% /Calcting... /Adjusting the reward /Reward granted: +1% to every base stat *cling* "Eh...?" Mika got so surprised by the message that she dropped the fork right onto the floor. "Whew... so that''s how the waves will be. I thought that those timers are time limits for us, like the training one was, but it looks like they''re just showing how long we need to hold the monster waves back toplete the objective." Cri, sitting on the other side of the table nodded and took another forkful of food from his ration. "We should get you another fork, miss." The scary-faced Cal reached under the table and picked up the one dropped by Mika, but instead of giving it back to her, he put it to the side. "Wait a bit." He added and stood up. "The reward is pretty bad if you ask me, but I guess we can''t reallyin since all we do is sit on our rumps behind secure walls." Ti chewed on her food with a sour expression, looking at the message that popped up for her. "Just to be sure, did we all got +1% to all stats?" She asked looking at herpanions. "Yeah." "Uh-huh." "Same." Others confirmed with various levels of enthusiasm. "Here." Cal returned to the table with a new fork and passed it to Mika. "Ah...! Thank you." The ashen-haired girl bowed her head and got back to eating. "It seems like there will be no problem with us staying away from the actual fighting. Good." Ti nodded, with relief. "...I can''t say that I like that though..." Mika slouched over her ration and murmured. "Mika, you need to take it easy. I know that some of the system believers take the quests too seriously and think that they are the most important thing, but they''re not. The system can only interfere that much - in the end, we all can make a choice." Corvus skilled at Mika over the table and exined. "The system will adjust." He shrugged his shoulders. "Free choice, yeah, right..." The ashen-haired girl pouted and stabbed her food with the fork. She knew that Corvus was saying that only because he never got a quest or a choice that was heavily weighted towards one option, while the so-called reward for the other one was basically a penalty. Yes, Corvus never got a choice like that, so he could speak about the system''s respect for their free will with a straight face. But it wasn''t the same for Mika. "I just think that we should be prepared just in case." She mumbled, staring at her food that she kept stabbing with the fork until it became an unrecognizable mush - more unrecognizable than it was before. The phrasing in the - Final frontier - quest''s description was really bothering her. The Sloth''s forces protecting the northern border for hundreds of years will no longer be enough to stop the titan-ss monsters. ''Will no longer be enough'', and not, ''are no longer enough''. When she pointed that out to herpanions, they''ve dismissed it as irrelevant vor text and nothing more. They all were older and stronger than Mika, so the ashen-haired girl couldn''t really argue with them. After all, Cri, Ti, and Cal were all max level for normal yer characters, so they sure did see andpleted a fair share of quests already and Mika was the sheltered, inexperienced one. "Miss, you shouldn''t y with your food." "Sorry..." Ti pointed out, making the ashen-haired girl flinch and blush. "I don''t think I can finish all of it anyway..." The girl apologized, pushing the ration to the side. "..." Her action got the attention of a soldier walking by. It was a girl, looking as if she around Mika''s age. Her ck hair was cut functionally short so that it would fit under a helmet without any trouble... ...and she looked pissed of... "Is every southerner so wasteful with their food or only weaklings like you?" The girl stopped behind Mika and squinted her eyes looking at the unfinished mush in the simple container, and muttered so that only the ashen-haired girl would hear her. "...!" Mika flinched and gritted her teeth. "What can we help you with...?" Ti asked, raising her brow at the ck-haired girl. Even though the soldier girl kept her voice low, it wasn''t that hard to figure out that she did or said something - at least based on Mika''s reaction. "Is every southerner so wasteful with their food or only useless weaklings like you?" But if Ti banked on the ck-haired girl to back down and go away, she lost big-time. "You did attend the briefing. You should know that our supplies are running out due to the unusual behavior of the local monsters. Until the situation will get resolved, every single ration counts. You aren''t doing anything, to begin with, why were any of you even granted any rations if you can''t even appreciate it?" The soldier girl doubled down and asked, looking down on every single member of the Wraths'' group. "..." Ti closed her mouth, unable to think of aeback. "No. Wait. I need to clear something." Suddenly the soldier girl raised her hand and bowed apologetically. "The tamer that arrived with you. She may be weak, but she''s doing her best to lend us a hand and both her monsters are helping monitor the situation in the sea of mist. I want to make sure you know that I''m talking only about the five of you." She exined. "Monk 89-F! Come back quick! We saved you a fruit bar!" A voice that the Wrath''s knew called to the ck-haired girl from across the canteen. "Ah! Squad leader, thank you...!" The girl perked up and hurried over to the table where none other than bruiser 97-F and the rest of the closebat squad responsible for protecting Mika''s group were sitting. "Tsk...! Full-mouthed brat!" Corvus clicked his tongue, staring daggers after the ck-haired girl. "..." Mika grabbed the ration she previously pushed away and pulled it back. "Miss you don''t need to force yourself..." "No. She was right. I have no right to be wasteful." Ti made a worried expression but Mika only shook her head and picked up the fork. Chapter 190: On the rooftop

Chapter 190: On the rooftop

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* The thunder of the artillery was especially deafening on the roof of the barracks. Normally, the rooftop was empty since it was out of bounds for most of the Sloth soldiers so there was no one there to be bothered by the noise The barracks as well as other military facilities of the third line of defense were built in such a way so that the noise from the outside couldn''t be transferred to the inside. That''s why, no soldier would be caught outside of the facilities - not to mention on the rooftop of one - in the middle of the artillery fire, as long as they didn''t absolutely have to be there. But that was the case only for the soldiers... The two silhouettes sitting by the northern edge of the barracks rooftop were looking at the horizon, seemingly unperturbed by the constant volleys of fire. Even though the unnatural mist has thinned out quite a bit, the first defense line - a ce where the shells should be raining down on - waspletely engulfed in the milky fog because of the distance. "Raor...! (I''m starving...!)" Therge but terribly skinny ck wolf with an orange glint to his fur barked impatiently while salivating, scratching the roof with its front paws. "I know, I know. Try to bear with it for a bit longer, just until Blueberry returns." A short, busty, brown-haired girl burrowed her face in the wolf''s fur while stroking his head. "Raor... (Mary... It hurst...!) Raor...! (My stomach hurts...!)" The wolf growled, scratching onto the roof more and more. Hisrge body shook with a sudden spasm. "Arion! Think about something else! Blueberry should be back in less than an hour - it will be okay." The brown-haired girl was stroking the wolf''s head, locking him in a tight embrace. *GHOOOAAAAAGGHH* She was so close yet she didn''t even flinch when an ungodly noise, sounding like a howling of some hellspawn, came out of the wolf''s stomach. "We''ve learned the meditation skill together, remember? Let''s try using it. It should calm you down." Mary proposed in a gentle voice. "Raor... (I don''t want to meditate...) RAOR! (I WANT TO EAT SOMETHING!)" Arion bared his massive fangs and roared. His body begun trembling uncontrobly and the orange glint of his fur changed into an almost blinding orange light. But that resulted in Mary hugging him tighter. "Arion. Arion, listen to me. Focus on my voice. You are not some wild beast. The hunger doesn''t control you." The brown-haired girl rubbed her forehead against the wolf''s neck and said with confidence, in a calm manner. "...raor... (...y-you''re right, Ma-Mary, I''m not...)" Arion clenched his jaws so hard that his teeth made a dangerous sound, and he dug his short ws into the roof. "Raor... (But... those fools...!) Raor...! (They could kill a dragon, but they let it go...!)" The wolf trembled and cried. "Raor...! (Such feast...!) Roar...! (A beast like that would satiate my appetite for a while...!) Roar...! (Not like those ridiculous rations...!)" Arion snarled furiously. "It''s not their fault. They are just following orders. they don''t know about your situation." Mary exined with a kind smile. "Raor! (I don''t care!) Raor! (I just want to eat something!) Raor! (Anything!) Raor! (I will eat them if I have to!)" *GHOOOAAAAAGGHH* The wolf howled, but even his own voice was muffled by the growl of his stomach. "You know it''s not true. Arion. You are not a monster. You''re a kind, well-behaved boy. You don''t eat good people, and you don''t let some measly curse turn you into a beast." Mary pulled back a bit and smiled at the wolf after a confident speech. "...raor... (...Mary, you...)" Arion yelped. /Quest update *push back the 2nd monster wave (00:00:00) pleted) Reward: Calcting the reward... (3/11pletion - random title upgrade) Reward granted yer''s title upgrade: Kindhearted +2 ?? Heart of gold /Reward granted yer''s title upgrade: ... /Warning /Curse of gluttony detected /Calcting... /Adjusting the reward... /Reward granted /Proficiency level reached yer''s skill level upgrade Starvation (level 11) /Warning /All base stats increased by 1100% until the yer''s status will change to satiated. "RAOR!" "Ughah...!" A message popped up and Arion''s body shed with orange light that could rival the sun. Within the same heartbeat, the wolf had pushed the brown-haired girl on her back and pressed her shoulders down with his strong paws - pushing the air right out of her lungs. "Raor...! (You don''t know who I am...!) Raor...! (My curse...!) Raor...! (Those cursed skills...!) Roar...! (You have no idea what I''m going through...!)" Arion roared, mping his fangs right in front of Mary''s face. "Raor... (You always repeat the same things...) Raor... (I''m a good boy...) Raor... (I''m not a monster...) RAOR!? (WELL, WHAT IF I AM EXACTLY WHAT I LOOK LIKE!?) RAOR! (JUST A MINDLESS STARVED BEAST!) RAOR?! (WHAT DOES THAT HEART OF GOLD OF YOURS HAS TO SAY ABOUT THAT?!)" Arion growled, putting more and more pressure on the girl''s shoulders. "But you''re not a mindless beast. The curse is trying to break your will, but it won''t. You are too strong. And you know it just as well as I do." Even though Mary was wearing a standard armor, issued to all recruits in the Sloths'' territory, Arion''s ws, which should be nowhere near strong enough, pierced through it and pushed against her soft skin. "Raor... (You know nothing...!) Raor... (You speak like that only because of your titles...) ...raor... (...don''t make meugh...) RAOR, RAOR?! (WHY DON''T I RIP OUT THAT HEART OF GOLD OF YOURS AND TRY HOW IT TASTES LIKE?!)" "Kyaah!" Arion roared, ripping off mary''s armor and turning her undershirt into shreds, making the brown-haired girl scream in shock. *GHOOOAAAAAGGHH* The wolf''s saliva was dripping from his mouth and sshing against the girl''s body as Arion''s stomach growled horribly for the third time. "Raor... (There''s plenty of meat and fat on you...) Raor...! (All it would need is a single bite...) Raor, raor...! (A single bite, and you would be killed and devoured by the very monster you foolishly thought was on your side...!)" "If that will ease your suffering even a bit... I don''t mind." The brown-haired girl closed her eyes and presented her throat in silent eptance. "RAOR!" Arion spread his jaws, and bite at Mary''s neck with a mad snarl. *CHOMP* *RIIIIP* Chapter 191: Searching for the missing supplies

Chapter 191: Searching for the missing supplies

Traversing the sea of mist was already difficult enough when one was using a properly marked path. If the mist was thick enough, a monster could be literally a single step away, and one wrong move could lead to getting killed and devoured in an instant. Even while knowing that, a mixed group of Sloth soldiers, adventurers, and monsters, strayed off the path willingly, fully aware of the dangers. Still, there were a lot of problems with the whole situation. First of all, almost none of the humans present shouldn''t be allowed to wander the sea of mist under normal circumstances. The adventurers present, were the Dandelions, a group of four mid-level adventurers with moderate stats. If it was a normal situation, they would never be even allowed to enter the Sloth territory... Or return to the Sloth territory, as actually was the case with one of them. As for the Sloth soldiers... Three squads were selected to help with the Dandelions'' special quest. Gunners'' squad, closebat squad, and the support squad. Going by theposition alone, they were a properly bnced group. ...the problem was, they were all a bunch of kids that barely stopped being recruits a few days ago. Some of them weren''t even teenagers yet... The truth was, the food supply of the Sloth soldiers was in a far worse situation than the higher-ups were leading the soldiers to believe. With the irregr behavior of the monsters, none of the transports were going through, and the frontline had less than three days of rations left. Their mission had to be a sess. But then why the ones sent to support the weak adventurers were only three squads of inexperienced newbies? Well... A major reason behind why an odd bunch like that was put up to an important mission of finding and retrieving missing supply crates, was the presence of the tamed monsters. Six strong rare wolf monsters, shadow fangs, which came together with a peculiar tamer from the south. Once the tamer agreed to lend the monsters, the n wrote itself. Instead of wasting more precious resources on arming and supplying two or more wholepanies to kill anything in their path, a small, inconspicuous group could use the shadow fangs'' natural sneakiness and skills that prevented detection to retrieve the missing supplies without ever getting noticed by the native monsters. The tamed monsters were carefully examined and it was determined that the probability of sess was plenty satisfactory. Also... Although none of the higher-ups were going to say that out loud, there was another reason why the small-scale operation was approved. And that was... "S-sir... I''ve seen something move in the fog on our nine o''clock...!" A small Sloth soldier trembled and stuck to the short rat-faced man as close as they could. "Calm down, kid, if we were in danger, the wolves would have warned us." The rat-faced man, Shanks, assured the small soldier pointing at the six ck wolves surrounding them while their bodies were glowing with skills. "Right?" He added a bit louder. "Raa!" The wolf with short jaws and ridiculously long ws barked in confirmation back at the man. "Sir. Are we really going in the right direction...?" Another young soldier, basically glued to the rat-faced man''s leg, asked fearfully looking around. Shanks''s eyes and ears shone brightly, and he furrowed his brows, concentrating. "Yes, ording to my skills, the nearest food item that matches the ones listed on the report is ten hundred feet to the south, we''re good." He reassured the child. "Fucking hell, that sure is an odd thing to see. I never fucking imagined that our Shan-shan will be so popr with kids." The ck-haired elven mage, Lairs, whistled to herself and muttered. "Are you jealous, Laii?" The warrior a bit on the chubby side, Rotte, smirked and poked the mage''s side. "Kyah! Stupid! No, I''m not fucking jealous! Just...! Surprised..." Lairs shrieked and jumped up, then she blushed and turned away. "But that sure is a sight... when we were still on the marked path, they all seemed to dislike him and call him a traitor and a deserter." The tank of the group, arge woman named Uresha, made sure that the supply crates that they found up until that point, are properly secured on the frame attached to her back. "But as soon as we walked into the fog, they all surrounded him like a bunch of scared puppies." She added with a soft smile, looking at her husband in the middle of a group of anxious young soldiers. Their groupposition was as follows. Six shadow fangs were forming arge circle and using a skill that was erasing the presence of anything inside. Then, on the inside were the three Dandelions, Lairs, Rotte and Uresha, and ahead of them, were three full squads of the Sloth soldiers focused around the Dandelion''s leader, Shanks, as if he was some sort of beacon. "Sorry for butting in..." Suddenly, a Sloth soldier that was the closest to the three Dandelions, spoke up. "...the fuck...?! Ah! I-I mean... what is it, sweetie?" Lairs flinched and cursed loudly, but then hurriedly changed her demeanor and asked, making herself sound properly nice andposed... "Pffft...!" Which caused Rotte to snort, as he barely held back theughter. Seeing Lairs trying to imitate a woman who was singlehandedly running an orphanage where he, Lairs, and Shanks grew up, was quite the sight. "..." The young soldier looked like he was about to retreat. "Don''t mind him, sweetie. What did you want to say?" Still, Lairs didn''t lose her cool and proved that she can speak two consecutive sentences without cursing. "You see... the thing with sir Shanks..." The soldier, encouraged by Lairs''s warm tone, decided to spoke up after all. "It''s a bitplicated..." The young soldier looked around awkwardly, trying to find the right words. "He''s actually a well-known person amongst the Sloth soldiers... He didmit desertion and ran away from the Sloth territory, and was still considered a recruit back then! He has somehow managed to navigate and escape the sea of mist when he was younger than I am right now. Not only that - he''s the only person ever to achieved something like that." The young soldier exined sounding conflicted, stuck between disdain and awe. Chapter 192: A secret revealed

Chapter 192: A secret revealed

"We know about that, sweetie. Shan-shan did exin his circumstances to us before we formed the Dandelions a good few years ago." Lairs nodded, still managing to hold up the proper act in front of a young soldier. "No, you don''t understand. with how he is now... Sorry, but since you aren''t Sloth soldiers, you cannot experience the benefits of the buffs that we get just by being near him..." The young soldier sighed, sounding as if he was looking at something amazing. "But that''s not just it - by simply being in his proximity, it feels like someone is watching over us... As if he is watching over us... Not like the avatar of sloth... but, like, like a guardian, or a worried parent..." The young soldier fidgeted and his voice started sounding a bit hoarse as if they were about to cry. "You can''t even begin to imagine, how terrible it feels to know that we''ve lost a general like him before he could achieve his true potential..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a fucking second! Shan-shan never mentioned THAT! Fucking, what?! He was supposed to be fucking general?!" The sudden revtion was enough of a shock topletely shatter Lairs''s kind-spoken persona. "No, wait! When you say general, you mean a like a fucking leader or just some...?" Lairs''s ears twitched as she asked the young soldier, moving her hands as if she wanted to physically make the right wordse out of her mouth. "Um... I mean, the general of the army, the highest position in the Sloth territory aside from the avatar of sloth." The young soldier sniffled and exined, a bit taken aback by the mage''s sudden outburst. "Fucking...! But that would make also make him a fucking noble, wouldn''t it...?!" Lairs shook her head in disbelief. "Um... ye-yes. He is. I mean, he was. Until he deserted and got disowned by the Sloth family." The soldier confirmed. "Fuck me! Did any of you knew about that?!" Lairs gasped and looked at the other two, but both Uresha and Rotte shook their heads with utterly shocked expressions. "Shan-shan! Why don''t you fucking say something!" Lairs looked at the rat-faced man surrounded by the young soldiers. "Don''t you fucking try to act dumb! We know that you can fucking hear us! You''re like fucking nine feet away and have your fucking detection skills active!" She eximed, very much moved, but still minding how loud she got - the presence hiding skills only blocked the sounds up to a certain level of volume, after all. "Lairs, you''re scaring the kids." The rat-faced man sighed without even ncing back at hispanions, fully focused on what was going on inside the mist surrounding them from every direction. "Don''t pull fucking kids into this talk, Shan-shan! Why the fuck did you hide from us that you were a fucking...!" "Raa!" "...!?!" At that moment, the long-wed wolf let out a short, cautious bark, causing the elven mage to flinch and look around cautiously. "Yes, I''ve noticed it too." Shanks stopped and nodded at the wolf. "Everyone, get into defense position, be ready to retreat at mymand." Hemanded and all the young soldiers listened to him without a moment of hesitation forming a proper formation. "There''s either a throne or a cherubim camping right by a few of our missing supply crates... damned thing seems to be collecting them for some reason." Shanks scoffed annoyed, using his detection skills to continuously check the surroundings. "...tsk..." He clicked his tongue and looked around. "If anyone got the quest about defeating the highest order angel-ss monster, raise your hand." He added. The young soldiers looked at each other, but no one ended uping forward. "...we might be in trouble... but don''t panic." Shanks said breathing out slowly. "Shanks... could you exin what is it about? What throne or cherubim?" Uresha fidgeted nervously, worried over her husband''s behavior. The rat-faced man looked at her and made a sour expression. He started ying with the silver wedding ring on his finger, and it took him a good minute before he responded. "The two I mentioned are angel-ss monsters. Humanoid type. Usually between sixteen and twenty-four feet tall. Two sets of arms, three faces, one normal, two on each side of its head. Big wings. They can and will fly, but mostly prefers to follow their prey on foot. Use fire skills to create ming swords that move ording to their will. While they cannot match a titan-ss''s physical strength, there were cases of a seraphim - the strongest angel-ss of the highest order - chasing off a closebat type titan-ss by using the long-range fire skills. All angel-ss have the highest MDF out of all the known monsters and are far smarter and far crueler than humans. But the ones from these parts have been exposed to the confusing mist for too long, and mostly reverted back into savage beasts, just like all the other monsters living here. The problem is, this one seems to have retained enough intelligence to set up a trap." The indifferent delivery of the book definition of the monster, followed by a tired sigh and an annoyedment, caused the Dandelions to shudder. "How do you know that? Don''t tell me you have such good memory that you remember all the things they taught you here thirty years ago?! But that would mean that you also remember that time I...!" Rotte gasped looking slightly terrified for some reason. "It''s not like that." Shanks shook his head, cutting Rotte off before the warrior could b out his secret. "You heard the kid. When I escaped, I got disowned and the avatar of sloth sealed basically all of my skills. Well, you remember how I was called over to see the higher-ups before we departed?" The rat-faced man asked and smirked. "We''ve made a deal. Some of my hidden affinities and old skills got unsealed so that we couldplete the retrieval quest using as little resources as possible." He exined. "One of them is a skill that acts as a proxy in connecting me to the system''s core. That''s one of the perks of being the direct descendant of the Sloth family - Sophia - knowledge of the system." Shanks shrugged his shoulders looking back in the direction of the angel-ss monster. "...our monster is acting odd... it''s just sitting by the crates... oh! It stood up!" Shanks''s eyes widened. Chapter 193: Flaming sword

Chapter 193: ming sword

"Why are you saying that it''s acting odd? Maybe there''s no trap, and it just wants to eat the food inside the crates." Uresha asked in a hopeful voice. "That would be really lovely since we would be able to take it down by surprise when it would be busy eating..." Shanksughed with disappointment. "But the thing is - neither angel-ss nor true demon-ss - or titan-ss monsters for that matter - eat normal food. They live off of mana gathering in the air, and if that''s not enough, they can just kill other monsters, or anyone from the intelligent races and get their mana that way. Though we can''t be sure about the titan-ss monsters actually, since Sophia never gave a normal answer to that question." "...!" His exnation caused a wave of shivers to travel through the group''s spines. "Still. It seems distracted... this might be our chance after all..." Shanks furrowed his brows. "Kids, keep the defensive formation but be ready to charge. Laris, Rotte, Uresha, keep close and be ready to either support the kids or run together with them." He said in amanding tone. "Shadow fangs. You get the first shot. Angel''s weakest point is its neck, so it should be right up your alley. Just remember to keep away from its hands, but stay close enough so that it won''t decide to barrage you with the ming..." *ignite* "...swords..." Shanks flinched and shook his head in confusion, as the angel, stillpletely invisible for the naked eye because of the fog, activated the very skill that the rat-faced man was warning the wolves about. "Impossible... there''s no way that it could dete...!" *rustle* As the angel-ss monster straightened it back and it spread its massive wings, revealing another, smaller pair just beneath the first one, the words got stuck in Shanks''s throat. Thankfully not for long. "DEACTIVATE THE STEALTH SKILLS AND JUST CHARGE THAT THING! IT''S NOT A THRONE NOR A CHERUBIM! THAT''S A SYSTEM-DAMNED SERAPHIM!" He roared, furious that a half-crazy monster managed to trick him and his unsealed skills. *THUMP* "...arf...!" *WHOOOSH* Before the meaning of his words reached anyone from his group, a massive zing sword pierced through the fog and impaled the green-bellied wolf in the forefront of their group. There was no explosion, no extreme heatwave... But Avocado, the only shadow fang with healing abilities in existence, managed to let out only a short shocked yelp before turning into charcoal. "If you want to live, CHARGE!" The rat-faced man roared again and this time his body begun glowing with pale blue light. Yet, the light of his skill didn''t just brighten him up - instead, it started spreading until it engulfed all of the young Sloth soldiers. *THUMP* The next ming sword dug into the ground, this one was unmistakably aimed at Shanks, but the man was no longer standing in the same ce where he was just a second before. "Closebat squad! Keep it busy! Aim for the legs, break his ankles if you can! Gunners, medium output! Aim at the wings! Those feathers are as strong as a dragon''s hide! Shred them so it cannot fly! Support squad! Concentrate on speed buffs and use shield skills to throw that thing off bnce after it''ll swing at the closebat squad! I''ll handle the stamina and mana regeneration so just focus on bringing it down!" Shanks shoutedmands, somehow keeping up with the young Sloth soldiers who despite the age difference should have ridiculously higher base stats than him. "Sir! Yes, sir!" The young soldiers shouted in unison - there was no hesitation no doubt for themands they''ve received. All of them disappeared into the mist, leaving the rest of the Dandelions and five wolves behind. Soon, the sounds of a fierce battle filled the air. "...what in the world was that...?!" Rotte was the first person who regained their voice. He was staring in disbelief at the burnt wolf. The ming sword went out as if it was never even there in the first ce, leaving behind only a charred mass that used to be a shadow fang. The Sloth soldiers had overwhelming stats, but even still, the six wolves were supposed to be the aces in the hole of the whole special quest. They were supposed to be the ones to save the day if everything else failed. Seeing one of them get killed in one shot even before an actual fight has broken out, was the morbid reminder of the reality they were in. The three Dandelions huddled close together. Rotte realized that his new armor is just a medium-ss one just like his old one was, and therefore doesn''t provide as much protection as the heavier counterparts, and he even though he is proficient with his evasion skills, using them would put hispanions in a harm''s way. Uresha realized that the new tower shield made with sturdy materials from monsters she never even heard of, was still not enough to protect all her friends if a sudden attack came from the back, side, or above, and she didn''t have any skills that could fill that gap. Lairs couldn''t even imagine how any of her protective spells could hold up against an instant death skill like the me sword, even if she used the stack skill and put up multiple barriers at once. If the push came to shove and the powerful opponent aimed at her or her friends, there would be nothing that she could do. It seemed like the only thing left for them to do, was to despair. Simrly, the five remaining wolves appeared to be unable toprehend what transpired. They slowly approached the charred remains of their pack member, sniffing around it with their tails hidden between their legs. "Ruff..." "Raugh..." "Rorf...!" Some of them growled or barked at their deadpanion as if they were expecting him to regenerate and stand back up at any moment. But nothing like that happened. One of the wolves inched closer and pushed his nose against the spot where the dead wolf''s green stomach was as if it tried to make Avocado stand up. *crack* "Arf?!?!" But that only resulted in the charred carcass breaking in half, showingpletely dry, ckened insides, and the wolf jumping back with a yelp. "Raa..." The wolf with short jaws and long ws growled. Her body began glowing with skills as she stood up on her hind legs like an eerily disproportionate werewolf. "Raa...!" Her growl was filled with fury, and it looked like mana begun to coil around her long ws, elongating it even more... "Raugh!" Other wolf barked and nodded in response, walking over to the huddled Dandelions. The wolf then activated its skills and stood in front of the adventurers, clearly ready to protect them. Three other wolves soon followed him and surrounded the Dandelions, creating a smaller version of the barrier they were keeping up before. "Raa." The long-wed wolf growled in approval. "RAAAAA!" Then she snarled madly, and threw herself towards the sound of the battle, disappearing into the fog just as Shanks and the inexperienced Sloth soldiers. Chapter 194: Securing the supplies

Chapter 194: Securing the supplies

"We need to get out of here. The seraphim might have retreated, but as long as it has a shred of its original intelligence, it will try to get us from behind." Shanks exined while his body was giving out a calm blue light. "Don''t use that presence erasing skill anymore." He added looking at the remaining four wolves. Yes. Four. Not five. During a fight with the cherubim, another wolf got killed by the ming sword. Cherry, the first wolf who stepped up to protect the Dandelions. Cherry didn''t even directly engage in a fight. During a fight, where the long-wed wolf ripped cherubim''s throat open, nearly decapitating it, the towering monster used the one-shot kill skill in panic and threw the ming sword seemingly at random. But there was nothing random about it. The burning de pierced right through Cherry''s skull, killing it instantly, and the mana that got transferred to the cherubim allowed it to regenerate enough to pull off a breakneck escape. "Thrones and Cherubims are one thing, but a seraphim can see the distortion in the flow of mana in the air when a powerful skill affects the outside of the user''s body." The rat-faced man exined while the shadow fangs were mourning their fallen pack members, watching as their remains crumble into ash. "We should change our original n a bit. Make sure to properly secure all the crates that that damned angel-ss hoarded. We''ll be returning to the collection point for today to drop the collected crates - and we''ll be going back together with them. There''s no way in hell that we''re staying out here with a seraphim who can still think clearly enough to use battle strategy... At least not with our current forces." "Sir, yes sir!" A choir of voices responded in unison. "That''s not what I meant..." Shanks hung down his head and sighed, sitting down on the wagon where the young Sloth soldiers and the two Dandelions were putting all the crates with supplies collected through the day. "Is my proposition making sense for you?" He asked looking back at hispanions. "Eh...?" Lairs, who up until that point was focused on healing the scrapes, bruises, and broken bones that some of the Sloth soldiers suffered during the close encounter, flinched and let out a cute confused noise. "...?" Simrly, Uresha and Rotte, looked at each other shocked. "You''re asking us for our opinion?" Uresha tilted her head in confusion. "Of course I am! We''re in this mess together and we''re a team... for the love of system, the skills that have been unsealed are only affecting the people who share the Acedia! Why are you three acting like Sloth soldiers too?" The rat-faced man shook his head and clicked his tongue in disbelief. "...fuck me... this is awkward... I just... got swept with the mood, I guess...?" Lairs blushed and looked away, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Same..." Rotte nodded, staring at his feet. "It just... feels natural to obey you." "Wha?! Whoa, so Ure-ure and Shan-shan are like that during their lovey-dovey time?" Uresha fidgeted and muttered which caused Lairs to whistle and snicker mischievously, mindful of her tongue. "Lairs, stop being a pervert! You know that not what I meant! The children are listening!" Therge woman undoubtedly gotpletely red under her helmet and scolded the ck-haired elf. "...ah...!" Lairs gasped, suddenly remembering her position, and nced at all the young Sloth soldiers, patiently waiting for their turn to be healed by her. They were all looking at the elven mage with eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Raa...!" The lighthearted atmosphere got ruined by the angry bark of the long-wed wolf. It was ring hatefully at the two women while baring its fangs. "Wh-what is its fucking problem...? Are we about to be fucking attacked?!" Lairs flinched, breaking her polite act, and looked over her shoulder, assuming that the wolf was growling at something hidden in the mist. "No. There''s nothing in a mile radius. I think she''s just angry because you''reughing." Shanks shook his head, dismissing the elf''s fears with a shrug. "Oh, so this one''s a she. Okay. Why does she have against... oh... I''m sorry...." At first, Lairs was ready to call out the tamed wolf''s rather rude upbringing, but then the realization dawned on her, making her feel really awful. After all, if somebody was joking around andughing not even two hours after her friends died, she would also like them to shut the fuck up. "I was very insensitive. Again, I''m sorry." The ck-haired elf apologized to the short-jawed, long-wed wolf. "...raa..." The wolf snorted and returned to her pack to stay with the remains of their fallenrades as long as they could. "Shadow fangs are a bit like elves. They value their family over anything else." Shanks spoke, looking at the backs of the ck wolves sitting by the ashes. "I feel like fucking shit already, you don''t need to fucking add on to my guilt, Shan-shan..." Lairs made a face as if she was holding back tears and hurriedly started healing the Sloth soldiers who needed help. "Back to the main topic. Does anyone disagrees with my proposition, or maybe has a better n?" Shanks looked around but everyone was either shrugging or shaking their heads. "..." Then his eyes ended up on the four wolves. They all stood up and their bodies were shining brightly with skills. That included their eyes, ears and noses. "...before you''ll do something stupid. Let me ask you - would the two who died wanted you to risk your own lives and the lives of the people they tried to protect?" "...!" Shanks asked and the wolves flinched. "Since even Lairs apologized, I also have something to seek forgiveness for. It was because of my mistake that two of your pack have died. I''m sorry." He bowed his head just as Lairs did a minute ago. "The Seraphim had no right to be in this particr area. That''s why I confused it with a throne or a cherubim - which has a much higher chance to wander around this sector of the sea of mist. My skill, Sophia, connects me to the system''s database, but it doesn''t just hand me the correct answer - it just hands me the most probable one, based on the circumstances. I knew that the monsters started traversing the sea of mist in apletely irrationally manner, but even so, I haven''t ounted for that even a bit..." Chapter 195: Tamed monsters

Chapter 195: Tamed monsters

*munch* *munch* *crunch* *munch* The ck wolf with orange luster to his fur was hungrily feasting on a corpse. Meat, fat, bones, even armor, he was gulping down whatever he could bite off - yet no matter how much he ate, his stomach never got any bigger. If anything, despite all the thick fur, the wolf looked even more like a skeleton than ever before. "Skwee... (Now you''ve done it...) Skwee? (Why were you so stupid?) Skwee? (You got a penalty for doing that to master, didn''t you, Arion?)" The blue emperor griffin, Blueberry, standing next to the wolf, watching it devour the corpse with a terrifying speed. "Raor! (Shut up!) Raor! (Mary herself has said that it was okay!)" Arion red at Blueberry and growled angrily, ripping into pink intestines. "Skwee. (If you don''t slow down, you''re going to choke.) Skwee. (Her sacrifice would go in vain, so slow down.)" Blueberry stretched like a cat and mocked the wolf. "Raor? (What''s your deal?) Raor, raor! (It''s not like Mary''s tamer skills had any effect on you once you grew up into an emperor griffin!)" Arion scoffed and red at her, chewing on the liver. "Skwee... (True, but mommy and daddy asked me to listen to her...) Skwee! (They asked me to be good, so I am!) Skwee... (Unlike a certain someone...)" Blueberry tilted her head and her strong body shook from a mischievous giggle. "...raor... (...hmph...)" Arion shook his head and finished the corpse - just another bite and there was no trace left, even the blood-stains were licked clean, making it seem like nothing ever happened. "I can''t get in contact with Cinnamon and the rest..." Mary climbed down the nearby tree and sighed dispiritedly. "Skwee? (They told us that the mist blocks most of themunication skills, remember, master?)" Blueberry raised her head back up, making herself look as innocent as she could. "Skwee? (How''s your throat?)" "..." She asked, stealing a nce at flinching Arion. "It''s fine." Mary smiled softly and touched the thick bandages wrapped around her neck. "Mend was enough to stop the bleeding and heal most of the damage, but it''s not like it can numb the pain and soreness. Sorry if I made you worry." She waved both her hands dismissively andughed. "Skwee. (You were lucky.) Skwee, skwee. (If that guy didn''te to his senses after tasting your blood, your mend skill would be useless.)" Blueberry screeched, shrugging her wings, continuing to nce at Arion - whose ears and tail were continuously dropping lower and lower the longer she talked. "That wasn''t luck. I simply believed in him. Arion is a gentle boy, and he''s definitely stronger than some curse. Also, even after decapitation, the head is still alive for a few seconds, I bet I could still do something." Mary proudly puffed out her already impressive chest and dered with confidence. "Skwee... (Yeah, yeah...)" The blue griffin rolled her eyes and stomped her hind leg. "Skwee. (If I were you I would watch out, or him. ) Skwee. (That glutton is eyeing out your chest all the time.) Skwee. (You never know when he will take a bite out of it.)" "...!" Hearing her screech that, Mary blushed crimson red and she hurriedly covered her breasts with her hands, even though she was wearing armor. "RAOR! (NO, I DO NOT!) Raor... (I-I mean I do look sometimes...) RAOR! (BUT NOT BECAUSE I WANT TO HURT YOU!)" Arion growled panicked, seeing Mary''s reaction. "...Arion is a perv..." "RAA! (WAIT, NO!) Raa! (I didn''t mean it in THAT way either!) Raa! (I take it back! I take it back!)" ...but then Mary blushed even harder, and Arion started panicking even more. "Skwee. (You two are weird.)" Blueberry shook her head, blissfully ignorant about what possibly could that whole ''THAT way'' mean. "Geez.... we should go back to the barracks or the Sloth soldiers will think that we got killed. Arion, did you ate your fill?" Mary nced at her ck wolf, pouting her lips, angry just a little bit. "R-raor... (Y-yeah... for now I guess...) Raor, raor. (That armored dragon and that two-faced angel-ss that we hunted with Blueberry were quite filling.) Raor! (Especially the wings!)" Arion responded more enthusiastically than was necessary, showing very clearly that he was really d about the change of subject - which was further solidified by his wagging tail. "Alright." Marry nodded and approached the blue griffin who spread her wing and lowered it so the girl could grab onto something as she was hopping on her back. "...but on our way, Blueberry will carry you in her talons." Mary added when Arion was just about to jump on the griffin''s back, in front of his master. "Raor?! (Wh-what?!) Raor?! (Why?!)" The wolf growled in shock. "Hmph!" In response, Mary just puffed out her cheeks and looked away, covering her chest with one arm. "Skwee-wee-wee...! (Pffft... hahahaha!)" Blueberry snorted andughed. "Raor! (Mary, please, don''t be like that!) Raor?! (Do you have any idea how scary it is to be carried like prey?!) Roar! (And Blueberry, stopughing!)" The ck wolf growled pitifully and then barked angrily at the blue griffin. "Don''t shout at Blueberry. Also, until weplete your story mission and remove the curse of gluttony, whenever Blueberry will be carrying us, you will be carried in her talons." Mary dered decisively, looking away from the ck wolf doing his best puppy-eyes. "Raor! (No!) Raor! (That''s so not fair!)" The wolf cried and kicked the ground with his paws. "Arion, that wasn''t a question! And I hope that you understand why I making such a decision." Mary furrowed her brows and scoffed. "Blueberry, let''s go. Grab him." She said in a grumpy voice, and lightly tapped the griffin''s sides with her heels. "Skwee! (Ahaha! Okay!)" Blueberryughed and instantly kicked off the ground. "Raor...! (Wait...!) Raaaaaooooor...! (No, no, no, no, noooooo....!)" Arion yelped and started running away, but within a second, he was already caught by the strong talons and lifted high into the sky. "RAOR...! (OH, COME ON...!)" The trapped ck wolf cried. "RAO-r...? (I HATE TH-huh...?)" He roared but suddenly the growl got stuck in his throat. "...This... this cannot be...!" Simrly, Mary on Blueberry''s back stiffened and clenched her fists on the griffin''s feathers. "Skwee...? (Eh, what''s going on...?)" Blueberry screeched in confusion. "I-it''s the wolves... I regained the connection...!" Mary stuttered and her body trembled. "Raor... (Avocado and Cherry are... dead...)" Arion finished the girl''s sentence. Chapter 196: Corvus and CriTiCal (1)

Chapter 196: Corvus and CriTiCal (1)

"Hello everyone! Miss Mika, sir Corvus." Bruiser 97-F approached the table where the Wraths were seated and bowed his head to all the people but mentioned only two by name. They responded with polite nods, all except for Corvus, who nonchntly saluted the boy without standing up in a rather familiar manner. "Miss Mika, do you have time to talk for a bit again?" After the greeting, Mika just as she was done with eating her ration. "Umm..." The ashen-haired girl went wide-eyed and looked at herpanions. Was there even anything nned for them to require such a question? Most of the Sloth soldiers treated the southerners just like air and didn''t even respond to their greetings nor did they try greeting them first. Well, there was one exception, and he was standing right in front of Mika with the excitement of a little puppy that saw their master return home. "Miss, I am quite sure that we don''t have anything nned for today, it''s alright to go with him if you want." The scary-faced Cal waved his hand with encouragement and tried to make a friendly smile but his face ended up contorting as if he was furious. "Ah! Okay!" Mika smiled and hurriedly stood up. "Sure, the usual spot?" She turned to the boy and asked. "Yeah!" His response was no less spirited than hers and they both left the canteen. "..." Their departure didn''t go unnoticed, most of the younger Soldiers and almost all the recruits were ring at the leaving two, in particr, their angry stares were focused on the ashen-haired girl. "Whew, our little miss is hated for sure." Cri ran his fingers through his hair while leaning back in his seat. "Well, we are all rather not weed here. It seems that our presence is treated as an insult to theirpetence." Ti pointed out while scooping the box her ration came in clean. "Howe it''s our fault though? It''s the system that is saying that they won''t be enough to deal with the waves, not us." Corvus sighed and rested his head on the table. The three bodyguards looked at each other and then at the white-haired man. "Say, you don''t really seem too interested in who our little miss is hanging out with, huh...." Cri stopped ying with his fluffy hair and leaned forward with a smirk. "...heh..." In response, Corvus simply returned the smirk and shrugged his shoulders as if he actually didn''t care. "...yeah, Corvus, how it is with you in the end...?" Ti crossed her arms and tilted her head looking at the white-haired young man. "I beg you pardon?" Corvus raised his brow and blinked a few times in confusion. "From what I''ve learned about you before we got you out of the Wraths'' mansion, you seemed like a bonafide scumbag who wants to manipte our little miss into falling for you..." Ti stated without even a hint of awkwardness. "Well, the prospect of being the spouse of the next head of the Wrath family does seem like a really nice thing. If I''ll y my cards the right way, it is within my reach within a couple of years." And Corvus responded with an equally calm manner,zily waving his hand from side to side. "Though, being a trusted friend of the couple that will lead the Wrath family in the future is just as appealing - if not better." He added with a dreamy smile. "...ah! That''s it! That''s the part of you that messes up with my previous evaluation!" Ti straightened her back and eximed while keeping her voice low enough to not get any more of the unwanted attention from the Sloth soldiers. "You aren''t motivated at all! No, it''s not that either... Oh, I got it. How can you be that flexible? Do you have no personal goals or something? Once our young miss started hanging out with that kind boy, you almostpletely stopped interacting with her! Being the head''s partner and being the friend of the ruling couple are twopletely different things, you do understand that, right?" Ti started tapping her fingers on her forearm and both Cal and Cri nodded in agreement to her words. "Things will work out in my favor in the end - I am very lucky after all - I tend toin a lot when I get physically harmed..." Corvus paused for a moment to send a meaningful re to the tinum-haired bodyguard before continuing. "But I trust in the path that the system has in store for me. I only need to follow my quests and good things wille." He exined in a rxed voice. "Oh? Doesn''t that line sounds familiar...! I didn''t take you for such a devout believer in the system faith." Cal''s beady eyes widened as he gasped with interest. "What can I say? When I ended up on the street as a kid, the system faith''s church was the coziest ce to camp out during the rainy season. And the priest there was a damn good orator. I liked listening to the evening masses - themon folks were usually the most softhearted after those and would even throw a coin or two my way as they were leaving." Corvus giggled, reminiscing his childhood. "Ah, those were fun times." He sighed staring into the distance. "Huh... if you can say that, then your experience with living on the streets was way too different than ours." Cri frowned and looked away. "Oh, for sure. But that''s because I was always lucky. My LUC is my strongest stat and I''m not sure if I even have a cap on it. I mean, it just keeps on growing!" "..." "..." "..." That statement had earned Corvus the silent judgmental stares of all three bodyguards. "Haha! Do you think that is unfair? Let me tell you about a really broken affinity I was born with, then! Silver lining - no matter how unlucky I am, there will always be some lucky event that will bnce things out for me. And it''s a passive too - no need for mana or some activation bullshit!" He raised his head up proudly and boasted. "I don''t know, man. Ending up on the street as a child doesn''t strike me as a super lucky thing." Ti frowned and shook her head. "It sure beats getting straight up killed by your own family though, right?" "...!" The casual tone in which Corvus delivered his response made the CriTiCal trio flinch. Chapter 197: Depends on your point of view

Chapter 197: Depends on your point of view

/Quest progression 4th wave sessfully repelled *push back the 4th monster wave (00:00:00) pleted) 5/11 objectivespleted Reward: yers contribution... /Error /Contribution level beneath 0.01% /Calcting... /Adjusting the reward /Reward granted: +1% to every base stat /Reward granted /Reward granted A series of messages have popped up in front of Mary''s eyes, but the brown-haired girl showed no interest in it. She didn''t care that this time her contributions were basically nothing since she and her monsters were focused on a different task during the entire time. Instead, what she was focused on, was the death of two of her wolves! Two of her precious tamed monsters were killed off while helping find the missing supply crates - a mission that although was a special quest, was supposed to be easy and safe thanks to the stealth skills of the same wolves! Or that''s how it was supposed to be. "THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD!" Mary roared furiously in the rat-faced man''s face. "Miss Hope, I''m telling you that you didn''t discuss anything with me, but with the higher-ups of this ce." Shanks exined without budging even a bit. "BUT IT''S YOU WHO LEAD THIS WHOLE OPERATION, AND ANY CASUALTIES ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!" Yet Mary didn''t seem to calm down at all even after hearing his exnation. Probably because the man didn''t exin the things she wanted to know in the first ce. "We''ve encountered a strong angel-ss monster, we fought it off but it managed to kill two of your monsters. It''s surely a huge loss for you, but still, looking at the bigger picture, this result isn''t that bad." "YOU...!" ...and even when he did, it got way worse, actually. "Miss, I am sorry for your loss." "...yeah, right...!" Surprisingly enough, once Shanks bowed his head, Mary did calm down - or at least she stopped shouting like mad. She fell down on an empty seat and sighed. "This really sucks... Avocado was a bit timid, but he never hesitated to help people weaker than him. Being able to borrow his healing skills was helping me a lot since my mend skill is extremely crude and painful. Cherry was very brave and always did her best. She was really good with stealth and was the fastest after Cinnamon. Losing the two of them isn''t just some loss, it is a disaster...!" The brown-haired girl''s face scrunched in a bitter expression and she hung her head down and shook it, dispirited. "Say, that angel-ss that you encountered, how strong was it? Just an hour ago, Blueberry and Arion hunted three of those around the perimeter of the barracks... and an earth dragon too." Mary raised her head and asked. The seemingly calm question was loaded with assumptions and the girl''s trembling voice had shown more than enough that she was on the verge of blowing up again. "How many faces and wings those angel-ss monsters had?" But Shanks asked for more details in a calm manner. "...? How many? One face and a single pair of wings..." That has taken Mary aback, and she responded in confusion as if it didn''t ur to her before that the monsters in the Sloth territory could have a variety. "Then, miss, with all due respect, your monsters have hunted basic angels. They are very strong whenpared to the monsters we have in the south, but here they''re just the bottom feeders and mostmon prey. Falling the earth dragon is a bigger deal though." Shanks bowed his head once more. "...then, what did you encounter... the rest of my wolves only remembers the ming swords that kill in one hit and even Cinnamon could just recall that the monster was big because she was too furious to have a proper look." This time it looked like Mary really did calm down, or at least her tense muscles rxed. "What we faced was a seraphim. Three faces, four pairs of arms, two pairs of wings, twenty-four feet tall, and still partly self-aware - the strongest type of angel-ss that we possibly could encounter. Those things can see the mana in the air and can spot their prey just by sensing the distortion in the mana flow. That''s how it got us even under the stealth skill of your wolves. Even if the stealth skill can block all five senses from sensing anything past it, it still affects the mana flowing around the casters. Avocado and Cherry died because they were too good at using their skills and were the easiest to pinpoint by the seraphim." "...you knew all that and you guys still approached it...?" When the rat-faced man paused, Mary straightened her back and red at him with usation. "When I first noticed it, I mistook it for a cherubim - a one-step lower angel-ss that cannot sense the mana flow - and proposed a n to sneak past it. But the seraphim attacked us and killed Avocado before we were ready in the first ce." "You bastard! So it IS your fault after all!" Mary ended up jumping back up with her face twisted in fury. *click* "Ah...!" That was the moment when the door to the small room the two were having a talk in, opened, and a very young bespectacled girl wearing an oversizedb coat stopped and flinched looking between the two. "Am I interrupting something...?" She asked awkwardly, clenching the notepad in her hands. "Yes, you ar...!" "No, medic 13, miss Hope and I have already finished discussing the results of our previous mission." Mary was about tosh out again, but Shanks stepped in front of her and approached the bespectacled girl. "Oh! Yes! About that! Sir! I''ve wanted to thank you for what you did! Thanks to your leadership, all of my friends returned safely!" The girl bowed gasped and bowed down to the rat-faced man. "No, no. I should have done better." Shanks shook his hand and denied. "But, sir! For a group that small, and made out of inexperienced rookies to boot, encountering a partiality sentient seraphim is a death sentence! It''s such a great feat that the higher-ups have granted them more rations - and that includes bonus sweets too!" Medic 13 squeaked in a high-pitched, childish voice full of awe. "Good for them, but in the end, we simply were very lucky, I should have been a bettermander." Shanks shook his head again. "Sir...!" Medic 13 fidgeted. "If... if it''s okay with you, everyone from the three squads that you lead today is throwing up a small unofficial party - approved by the higher-ups, of course - and would really appreciate it if you show up, even for a little bit... please...?" The girl ended up bowing again and asked. "..." Shanks made a conflicted expression. "Sir...? Please? We all want to show our gratitude!" The girl pleaded, looking up at him with puppy eyes. "Alright, I''ll go." The rat-faced man nodded and smiled in defeat. "!!! That''s great! Sir! Please, follow me!" Medic 13 sprung back up excitedly, grabbed onto Shank''s sleeve, and started pulling him instantly. "...hmph..." Mary red after them and stayed behind in the empty room even after the door closed behind the two. Chapter 198: Corvus and CriTiCal (2)

Chapter 198: Corvus and CriTiCal (2)

The grumpy brown-haired girl left the barracks without a word and instantly jumped on her griffin''s back and they flew into the foggy sky without even a second of dy, as if it was some sort of showcase of riding skill mastery. "Uh-oh, Mary sure didn''t look pleased." Corvus breathed out and slowly inched away from behind the corner of the building to check on whether the brown-haired girl was still around. "Why are we hiding away from her in the first ce?" Cri, Ti, and Cal all leaned away from the corner of the wall, staring at the white-haired young man with annoyed expressions, which actually made for a ratherical effect. "You know how I''m always lucky, or rather, mostly lucky?" Corvus asked. "Yeah." "Sure." "Show off." The three bodyguards nodded in unison. "...I''ll pretend I didn''t hear that, Cri - anyway..." Corvus frowned at the fluffy-haired smugly-smiling man. "Since I am that lucky, once something unlucky happens to me it feels so different that thorough the years I ended up developing a knack for sensing where something can bring me bad luck." He said with a serious expression. "So... something like a danger sense skill but for misfortune...?" Ti furrowed her brows, more than just doubtful. "..." Cal held back whatever he wanted to say and just looked away, dodging eye contact. "Wow. What a show-off...!" Cri didn''t even try to mask a deep sigh and he shook his head at the white-haired young man. "You don''t have to believe me, but I''m telling you. There is something about that girl and one of her familiars, the super skinny wolf, that just reeks of bad luck. She doesn''t seem like a bad person but... let''s just stay away from her, alright? And let''s keep Mika away from her too if possible." Corvus frowned and crossed his arms defensively. "Aww! Guys! Little Corvus is worried about us!" Ti snorted and started giggling like crazy. "Shut up, old hag." Corvus scoffed back at her and turned away. "Pfft...! Say, do you really think that this level of insult will work on me? You do know that the older you are in the bodyguard business the better you are at your job? It means you are good enough to keep both your clients and yourself alive! Call me old hag or granny Ti as much as you want, kiddo!" Ti stood tall proudly, moving her hands in a way that suggested that she wants Corvus to roll more age-rted insults her way. Cal and Cri burst intoughter and even Corvus couldn''t stop himself from smiling. "Heh, I like hanging out with you, little Corvus, it helps me forget the shitshow that we got ourselves into by epting that stupid quest." Ti stopped fooling around and put her hand on Corvus''s shoulder, voicing her genuine appreciation. "Ah, yeah, I know exactly what you mean! Who knows, maybe the reason why we can just stay here on the third defense line instead of actually sticking our neck under the executioner''s axe on the first or second one is because of our little Corvus''s silver lining affinity?" Criughed and stuck to Corvus''s other shoulder, sliding under Ti''s arm. "Hey, that makes you our lucky charm, doesn''t it?" He added with a cheeky smile. "Cal, you join us too!" Ti giggled and called the scary-faced bodyguard over. "..." But the man didn''t just cling to the white-haired man like hispanions did, and instead nced at him with an expectant look in his beady eyes. "...okay. Feel free." Corvus rolled his eyes and lowered his head in defeat. *pat* "...?!" Instead of going for a more joking response Cal went for a headpat to get his luck from the white-haired man which made the said man flinch from surprise. /Wrathful protector role-specific achievement unlocked People I want to protect /Role exclusive skill granted yer receives a skill Lucky charm (level 1) "Huh...?!" Corvus flinched and gasped in shock, staring at the surprise message. "...?" "Eh...?" "Wh-what...?" And the three bodyguards showed the exact same type of reaction. "Hey, Corvus, I was joking about that whole lucky charm thing you know? Howe that a message saying that Lucky charm boosted my luck by 200% for the next thirty minutes showed up for me just now?" Cri asked surprised enough to pull away from the white-haired man. Well, he pulled away but only enough so that he could get a good look at Corvus''s face - his hand was still firmly ced on the wrathful protector''s arm. "...I... I just got a system message aboutpleting some sort of achievement... and it gave me that skill... it''s a role exclusive skill too...!" No matter how much shocked the other three were, Corvus was the most surprised one by far. "It''s the first time I got a role exclusive anything too..." He exined staring at his hands in confusion. "Doesn''t that mean that you actually want to be our lucky charm? Hmm... wrathful protector might sound like a scary role but isn''t it actually kind of cute? You want to keep us safe!" Cal furrowed his brows and deduced while rubbing his chin with a profound expression. "Wh-what''s so wrong with making reliable allies and not wanting to lose them? I''m not made of stone, you know?" Corvus blushed, staring down at his own feet. Even though he never actually intended to reveal that he came to like the powerful trio by keeping the air of a cold and distant person - the very system that he trusted went ahead and exposed his real feelings. "Just look at you, aren''t you just a big softie?" Ti snickered and patted Corvus''s shoulder. "Hey! That LUC increase... Now that I think bout it, wouldn''t that be perfect for the royal family with their obnoxiously low luck stat? How about, after we''ll be done with all that special quests and whatnots, we will rmend you to the queen? The fourth bodyguard! That would make your life nice and easy, right?" Cri pointed out, still stuck in a bodyguard''s mindset. "..." But Corvus simply shook his head from side to side. "Sorry, but could you keep my powers a secret from the Queen? Actually, not just my affinities and skills, just don''t mention me to the queen at all, okay? to her, and any other Greed for the matter." He suddenly became very serious causing the other three to stop joking around. "...sure...?" They looked at each other in confusion. Chapter 199: Special 3 - The vision

Chapter 199: Special 3 - The vision

ymore''s body shook as if she had a fever. "...that is my spot...!" She growled at the vision she saw in her head. /Skill level up Jealous rage (level 2) ?? Jealous rage (level 10[max]) ymore''s body shone with a bright blue light and she gritted her teeth so hard that they made an unpleasant creaky sound. "Kopia...! You will infiltrate the Sloth territory - find and kill that wretched bitch calling herself the heroine...! I want Mary Hope dead at all cost...!" ymore''s anger seemed to be physically manifested thanks to the amount of blue light that she was emanating. A stray tuft of hair raised up from her head and formed the shape of a reaper''s scythe. Her voice was barely audible, but it would be far less frightening if she was screaming her lungs out... "What...? Mydy, what are you talking about?! What did miss Hope ever do to y..." "You will kill that wretched girl that will be apanying them." ymore demanded ring coldly at Kopia, without acknowledging Kopia''s opinion. "Mydy, calm down, saying stuff like that isn''t like you. And, murder isn''t really my cup of tea eith..." "Do it or I will hate you forever." Kopia''s attempt to refuse met with an immediate and deadly serious answer. "..." The word ''hate'' made the androgynous bodyguard tremble uncontrobly and they clenched their fists so hard that their fingernails pierced the skin of their palms causing bleeding. The next moment Kopia ran out of the room as if their life depended on it, shutting the door with a loud noise. *SLAM* "...eh...?" That very noise seemed to snap ymore back to reality. She deactivated her skill and shook her head - the tuft of hair went back down as if it never emerged- as if living its own life. "What did I just...?" ymore trembled and reached for the top of her head in search of the wild tuft. "Why would I ever tell Kopia something like that...?!" The girl gasped, getting teary-eyed. Then she looked at the bed where Kopia was sitting just a moment ago. The sheets were stained with the drops of blood that fell from Kopia''s wounded hands. "...!" ymore trembled covering her mouth with both hands. "Kopia! KOPIA! STOP! I DIDN''T KNOW WHAT I WAS SAYING!" She then immediately threw herself at the door and ran out of her room screaming after her bodyguard who has already disappeared from the hallway. "Kopia! Come back! I didn''t mean what I''ve said...!" ymore cried out in panic, desperately running through the mansion, searching for any trace of the bodyguard. "I would never hate you! Come back! I''m sorry...! You don''t have to attack anyone!" She cried and cried but she only managed to get the attention of the worried servants - and neither of them was the one she was calling for. "Kopia...! Ah! The future sight!" ymore sniffled and flinched in a sudden realization. If she uses her new skill she might see where Kopia will go and she will be able to send someone to bring them back! "..." She closed her glowing eyes, concentrating on the androgynous bodyguard. The vision she saw waspletely different than before! The first one was showing three people walking out from a thick fog entered a small vige. The red-haired girl with a ck bat in one hand and half of a blue arm in the other, a short brown-haired big breasted girl, and a tall blue undead with his right hand missing. They wereughing having a casual conversation. They all looked like good friends, maybe even more. The heroine was in a spot that belonged to ymore! ...she was in a spot the ymore wanted more than anything... ...she stole it from her... But the new vision that the avatar of lust saw, presented her somethingpletely different! A grand ballroom decorated so pompously that it must have costed a fortune... The crowd of splendidly dresses people - many of whom ymore had recognized as the members of various noble houses, big and small, from across the whole Fruit Sd - and Kopia was amongst them! They weren''t even disguising themselves as someone else and just stood there in the form they felt the mostfortable in - the short androgynous body with long red hair and piercing blue eyes. Kopia was standing amongst some rather unusual characters too - the confused light-brown-haired girl, the scared tall gray-skinned man in a tuxedo, the horrified tall dark-skinned woman in a ck dress with two long daggers on both sides of her waist, the panicked ashen-haired girl in a crimson dress, and the trembling young white-haired child - the child that was reaching out their shaking hand towards something that shouldn''t have been there... Because despite the marvelous location and their beautiful clothes, the people gathered there weren''t dancing nor enjoying themselves. They were all standing around a giant ckened crater - the very crater that the child was reaching their tiny hand towards -?right in the middle of the ballroom staring in horror at something at the bottom. "...!" ymore trembled but didn''t open her eyes, she needed to know what would happen. The people must have been talking, she saw them moving their mouth but the vision was silent - the only thing revealed by the future sight was only that, the sight, no sound. "..." ymore trembled and breathed out trying to calm herself down, and then she focused on what the people in her vision were staring at a monster... A monster that ymore had never read nor heard about... The monster surrounded by such an immense aura of hate, violence, and death, that it simply couldn''t have been a creature from this world. The monstrosity looked as if it waspletely made out of red and ck smoke, constantly swirling and expanding, but still staying in a humanoid shape. The creature didn''t have any facial features or anything, but its bodynguage had shown that it was in denial - it had its head down as if staring at its empty hands... as if something most important to it was supposed to be there - but wasn''t... The smoke monster slowly raised its featureless head and even without eyes, it stared straight at the group that included ymore''s shape-shifting bodyguard, and then it... ")(*&*&^*%#@%$**&*(&(^$#$^@^%^()*)(*^$%^#%#@%$&*&)*^%^$%" Even though there was supposed to be no sound, the horrifying inhuman roar of the beast that didn''t have a mouth almost blew ymore''s ears off and made her drop to the floor with no strength in her limbs. "KOPIA! COME BACK! YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!" ymore, pale as a freshly washed sheet, screamed on top of her lungs while shaking horribly. Why did she lose control because of the surge of jealousy and said those words to Kopia...?! WHAT IN THE SYSTEM''S NAME WAS THAT ABHORRENT MONSTROSITY AND WHY WAS IT UNLEASHED ONTO THE WORLD?! Did the vision changed because she, ymore, ordered poor Kopia to kill the heroine?! ymore felt her stomach twist into a knot in horror - she was sure that the small bodyguard will fulfill the mission she has given them... Kopia wasn''t a part of the Lust family - they didn''t have any resistance to the charm skill. When Kopia said that they were madly in love with ymore, they meant it. Always. But they still managed to keep their sanity around the fickle avatar of lust for most of the time... ...that is, until ymore would threaten to hate them - after hearing something like that Kopia waspletely unable to refuse any request made by ymore. The avatar of lust swore to never extort the bodyguard with that method, but that promise went down the drain so easily... ...but that also meant that the appearance of the otherworldly monstrosity was also her fault... "What have I done...?!" ymore cried, shivering at the mere memory of the roar of the smoke beast from her vision. "Mydy...?" Someone approached the worried girl and offered her their hand. "Ah! Kopia! You didn''t-...eh...?" ymore gasped, momentarily grabbing onto herst hope, that Kopia hasn''t left yet and the appearance of the smoke monster can be prevented - and looked up at the person... "N-no...!" She yelped in desperation. Needless to say, the one who approached her wasn''t Kopia, but just a random servant... Chapter 200: The recruit

Chapter 200: The recruit

Mika was taking a stroll around the close perimeter of the base. With how the things turned out - after figuring out that the southerners don''t actually need to fight to progress andplete their annoying special quest - the higher-ups of the Sloth soldiers have demanded that no one from the Wraths'' group would leave the area of the secure third line of defense. It was early morning, the day when the 5th wave of monster would appear, but there was still quite some time before the usual system announcement about its start. The ashen-haired girl was walking slowly, running her fingers by the sturdy fence made out of various titan-ss monsters'' parts that had an amazing property of keeping the beasts of lower-tier away. "..." Mika breathed out while looking in the direction of the second and first lines. She just couldn''t ept that someone else is fighting her battle while she sits tight and in a somewhat cozy space and gets feed for doing nothing. Something like that went against her sense of justice. And, with a role of Justice''s Wrath, how could she just ept that? It wasn''t like the daughter of the avatar of wrath was just thinking about doing something in silence while loafing around! But all her propositions were systematically rejected - every single one from the most daring one all the way to the most reasonable, in her opinion at least. Still! Not to mention moving to the first defense line, or even the second one - Mika was refused even when she asked to train together with the recruits! Although, thest one didn''t cause as much push-back as all the previous options... ...and that is exactly why Mika was strolling around... ...to find the training ground where the recruits were doing their morning drills. If Mika just so happened to be in the right spot at the right time, could she really be med for getting identally mixed up in their group and train a bit? Even though the recruits were all children younger than her, when ites to height, Mika could blend right in. It was probably the only time Mika wasn''t annoyed by her dyed growth spur. She was already wearing a recruit''s armor that she received from the quartermaster! The n was almost perfect. Almost. The problem was, she could never figure out when and where the recruits were training. Mika did try to ask Ti for help in figuring that out, but unfortunately, the copper-eyed bodyguard was sharing the same opinion about the ashen-haired girl risking her health in any way, as the higher-ups of the Sloth soldiers. "...this makes no sense, there wasn''t any training facility on the inside, they have to train outside..." The ashen-haired girl hissed in annoyance. Then, once she entered the recreational forest - the only area inside the protective fence that had trees... "...uuuugh...!" "...!" Mika heard someone''s voice, and she instantly put on a helmet that was a part of the armor set. With having her face and hair out of the way, she was fully camouged. "...?" Yet she still ended carefully tiptoeing towards the source of the sound. "...uuu... uuugh... uuu...!" "???" The closer Mika got the clearer it was to her that the owner of the voice was crying. "...uuuuu...! uuuu.... ughugh...! uuughuu...!" And not just crying, but literally bawling their eyes out! Mika managed to somehow localize the crying person, she pressed her back against the trunk of arge tree that stood between her and them and slowly leaned to the side, peeking while feeling a mixture of anxiety and curiosity. "...uuuu..." It was a small Sloth soldier. Must have been a recruit. From Mika''s position, she could only see the left profile of them, but it was enough to figure out that it was a girl, since she took off her helmet and put it down beside her, so that she could be able to wipe her tears But her tears wouldn''t stop flowing. The recruit looked around nine or ten years old and had long light hair that she braided in a not very practical but cute way. "...uuugh...! uuu..." The girl sobbed, sniffled, and wiped her eyes with her left hand. "..." Mika made a sour expression, even though she has found one of the recruits that she sought, it wasn''t in a situation where she could just ask about the training grounds. *crack* "WHO''S THERE?!" "...!" At the slightest sound, the crying recruit has flinched and tensed up defensively, with her eyes still red and puffy. That reaction made Mika flinch, even though she definitely wasn''t the one who has made the sound that rmed the other girl. So she decided to stay put. "Recruit 93-F, there you are! Your squadmates have asked me toe to look for you since you''ve missed the morning meal." ...which turned out to be the right decision, since the person who actually made the noise showed up with a soft expression. It was... "Bruiser 97-F, sir?!" The recruit 93-F flinched and turned away, doing her best to hide the tears. "Yes, yes. It''s me. A fellow -F. Why are you here alone and crying? This ce is meant for group recreation activities." The boy tried to crack a joke but it didn''t reallynd properly. "Your squadmates are worried." He added. "Sir, it''s alright, you don''t have to lie about the reason..." Recruit 93-F sobbed lowering her head. "I messed up during the morning drills, again, and got punished... because of my poor performance my squad will miss out on sweets for a sixth week in a row... my squadmates must really hate me by now. They wouldn''t ask you to look for me. She sniffled and exined. "Don''t say that, the squadmates are like a family." Bruiser 97-F tried to either cheer her up or at leastfort the child, but it didn''t looked like his words have the effect he was aiming for. "Then this family hates me. It''s not like it''s a new thing for me anyway... uuugh..!" Recruit 93-F wiped her tears and shrugged her shoulders. "What exactly happened...?" Bruiser 97-F asked. "Uugh..." Chapter 201: We of the 90-F

Chapter 201: We of the 90-F

"...ugh...! I... I ended up using too much strength..." Recruit 93-F sniffled and cried. "Things like that happens during training - that''s why we are training, to learn to control the strength we gain." Bruiser 97-F exined. "...uuuuu....! ...uuuugh...!" The girl was crying more and more. "..." Mika gulped down her saliva, sticking to the tree she was hiding behind - the situation was rather awkward - there was no chance for her to either reveal herself or back off without getting noticed...! So the ashen-haired just stayed in her hiding spot, trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Stop trying to hide it. Stand up." The bruiser 97-F asked suddenly. "...uuu... sir, y-yes sir..." The girl cried butplied. "Is that mess-up during training the reason for how you''ve ended up like that? Did your instructor not sent for one of the medics?" "...?" The change of tone in bruiser 97-F''s voice caused even Mika to get curious. ...what was ending up ''like that'' meant...? So she peeked over and... "...hurgh...!" When she saw ''that'', Mika hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands, not only to stop herself from screaming but to hold back the bile rising up from her stomach. "N-no... sir... during the training I... uuu... I only blew up the training dummy... ugh...!" Recruit 93-F cried and shook her head. "I... I got like this... be-because the instructor have left me with the special training dummy... uuu... that, that was meant to withstand over a thousand normal hits, and... and... uuug...! and told me to break it... but... but I wanted to quickly join my squad because... uuu... because every member need to be present to receive the bonus ration... uuugh... so I thought it would be a good idea to just use my full strength and... ended up like that..." She exined. ''That'' referred to her right arm being torn to shreds. Forget about the armor, all of the skin waspletely gone and most of the muscles and tendons were ripped apart and barely connected to bones that also looked severely damaged. Recruit 93-F''s right hand was missing all fingers and half of the thumb. Surprisingly enough, there was a lot less blood than one would expect from a terrible wound like that. Howe the young girl was only crying and not writhing in agony was beyond the nauseous Mika''sprehension. "Why didn''t you go to the medic?" Brusier 97-F asked in a tone of voice that was more suited for talking about the weather and certainly out of ce when talking to the gravely injured kid. "..." Recruit 93-F gritted her teeth and looked away. "You do know that the longer you will dy getting it healed, the more chance there is for your hand ending uppletely disabled, right?" "...!" "...!" Both the recruit 93-F and Mika behind the tree flinched and trembled. "...but if I''ll go like that, they will get angry at me... and will punish the whole squad... uuuu... I don''t want everyone to hate me even more...!" The girl shook her head while crying pitifully. "They won''t. idents can happen to everyone. You are the only other 90 besides me who survived, right? You need to report every detail about the side effects you''re experiencing to the medics so that the future recruits won''t have to go through the same pain." Bruiser 97-F spoke gently. "It''s not your fault that you can''t control your strength yet, it''s most likely because the Acedia skill you received is a bit too strong. The medics won''t be angry at you and they will certainly protect you and your squad from getting any unjust punishment." He added with a warm smile. "...you promise...?" Recruit 93-F sniffled once more and asked in a defenseless voice, she even forgot about the proper way to address the older, fully-fledged Sloth soldier - but Bruiser 97-F didn''t seem to mind at all. "Yes. At least that''s how it was with me." He nodded, taking off his right glove. "...!" Mika, taken over by the curiosity, leaned over and peeked at him and got surprised by the sight of a hand which skin consisted of just scars upon scars upon more scars. "Now go to the medics already." Bruiser 97-F shooed the crying girl away, and this time she listened and hurried back towards the buildings. But was it alright to let her go alone? Maybe someone should go with her, just in case if she fainted along the way or something? ...were Mika''s thoughts as she stepped out of her hiding spot behind the tree. "Huh? And who might you be...?" And of course, she was instantly spotted by the surprised bruiser 97-F. "...!" Mika flinched and tried to step back behind her cover, although she realized at once that it would be futile - what we''re the chance that once she did that, the boy would just forget about her? "Are you perhaps one of recruit 93-F squadmates? We''re you worried about her?" Bruiser 97-F asked hopefully, making the ashen-haired girl feel even more guilty than she already was. "N-no, sorry. It''s just me..." She hurriedly apologized and removed her helmet. "Miss Mika?!" Instead of being disappointed, the boy blushed and gasped enthusiastically. "What are you doing here? No, wait, I don''t mean it like you can''t be here - because it''spletely okay for you to be here! But, I didn''t expect to meet you here at this time! That''s all!" Bruiser 97-F started talking haphazardly, blushing even harder. "That girl..." Mika asked nervously, looking towards the direction where the young recruit left and realized that the girl was already gone. "Ah! So you''ve seen that... There''s no need to worry, we 90-F types are strong, unless our heads are blown off we can even survive without a heart for a good few minutes! Inparison, the arm is nothing serious." The boy fidgeted and waved his hand dismissively, getting a bit shy. "Anyway, what brings you here? Did you wanted a change of pace?" He asked curiously. "...ah...! Well, yes, actually." Mika flinched and turned back to bruiser 97-F. She had no reason to doubt his words about the toughness of his ownrades, so she switched back to her original objective. "I''ve really wanted to work out a bit, you know, train. I thought that maybe it''ll be okay for me to join the recruits training session..." Mika swayed from side to side and nced innocently at the buzzcut boy. "Ah. Sorry, joining the recruits is absolutely out of the question." But bruiser 97-F shot her down without a moment of hesitation. Chapter 202: Special 4 - the one who misleads

Chapter 202: Special 4 - the one who misleads

"Done." A girl with medium-length light-brown-hair, opened her eyes and put down her hands that she was pressing to her temples just a second before. The light of her skill has already faded, and she breathed out with relief. "You do have quite the range on that skill, are you sure that the avatar of lust will be fooled by it though?" Herpanion, a menacing-looking figure wearing a long gray coat with arge hoodpletely covering their face, spoke cautiously. "The ultimate route is active, which means the wonder lense will change into future sight. The only problem, and a minor one at that, was to time my skill correctly so it would ovep and cover the vision the moment they activate it. Easy." The girl shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Oh, really...? And how do you know you didn''t mess things up?" The hooded person frowned and asked doubtfully. "Are you kidding me?" The girl snorted and pointed at the now empty window of the Lust family mansion where just a short while ago ymore was cheering for the acquisition of the skill she wanted for a long time. "Everyone''s memories might have been changed and twisted, but the general order of events did not, and the story keeps following the one I know by heart. I know exactly when and where every essential character will be at any given time and what needs to happen to make them follow a certain pattern." The girl smirked and tapped her chest with a dangerous-looking smile. "I allowed you to steal some of my memories just so you could see the truth for yourself, my doubtful capture target, you could be a little more willing to believe in me." She added, putting her left hand on her waist, striking a confident pose. "..." Herpanion didn''t answer right away, he slowly straightened his back just so his piercing green eyes could be seen shining from underneath the hood while somehow the rest of his face remained hidden. "Yes. You allowed me... Somehow, I wasn''t able to just steal them - and that is precisely why I cannot trust you at all. As far as I know, you might be secretly on that hateful woman''s side, leading me into a trap to bring me more despair..." The person let out a low angry growl, staring down at the girl whose smile didn''t waver even a little bit. "You''re overthinking it. Cranberry Pride is a threat not only to the system and its stability but to the whole world. Her death is the second thing I want the most in this world." The girl frowned and her hand unintentionally reached to her face and she started carefully inspecting her nose bridge as if she was worried that there was something wrong with it. "Her corpse puppet on the other hand..." Suddenly she put her hand down and the expression that she showed to herpanion caused him to tense up. "If you ever try to hurt Kiwi, our deal is off." She dered in a voice so cold that herpanion unintentionally shivered. "...and I will personally make sure that you''ll taste every single bit of the horrible despair that you fear so much..." The girl promised, staring right into the hooded man''s piercing green eyes. "...! A-as far as I know it, Kiwi is not her corpse puppet''s name." As if angry at himself for showing weakness, the hooded man scoffed and waved his hand in a domineering gesture. "As if I would give a damn about the name that this murderer and kidnapper have forced upon that poor child." The girl snorted and turned away. "Prepare yourself. Right now Kopia should be scared to death, fearing that their beloved master might hate them. If we miss our chance and don''t intercept them now, the next chance wille during a side-quest near the northern border, but by that point, Kopia will be hostile and it will be extremely hard to get them on our side - and we need them to get into the Sloth territory in time to get two more allies for our crusade." The girl had pulled out a silver pocket watch and checked the time. "..." She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, focusing on her memories before opening them again with a determined expression. "Just say the line I taught you, loudly, that will be enough to pull Kopia in." She spoke coldly and pointed at the crossing of two alleys behind them. "...it''s your fault if that fails..." The man shook his head and turned his back on the girl. "Now." "WE MUST PREVENT CLAYMORE LUST FROM GETTING IN CONTACT WITH CRANBERRY PRIDE, OR THEY WILL DIE!" Given the signal, the man didn''t just speak loudly - he straight up shouted with enough strength to make the dirty remains of the windows in the nearby?building vibrate. "...EH...?!" *wham* "...uuu..." An old woman dressed in rags, who just so happened to be sneaking by the alley holding onto some trash as if it was a treasure, gasped and tripped over her own feet and sniffled pitifully once she tried to get up. "Look at what you did...!" The light-brown-haired girl shook her head in disbelief and pushed by her hoodedpanion to help the old woman up. "Sorry, granny, mypanion is just a bit too invested in our quest." She apologized while pulling the woman up. "Quest...? You two have a quest that has something to do with the avatar of lust...?" The woman''s voice shook as her eyes widened from shock. "It''s nothing you should worry about granny, we won''t let anything bad happen to the young head of the Lust family. Be on your way and forget that you ever met us." The light-brown-haired girl assured her and gave her a little push on the back to make the woman move. "Who are you two...?" The woman didn''t want to go and instead tried her best to turn around, staring intently at the girl and her hoodedpanion. "Just some random people who want to prevent the viiness from killing all avatars, including the avatar of lust." The girl exined and since the woman didn''t want to leave them alone, she was the one to walk away. "Let''s go, we must hurry." She passed herpanion and nodded at him to follow. And the two of them left the back alley with the perfect view of the Lusts'' mansion. "..." Three steps, five steps... "...your n has failed..." After the two of them took ten steps, the hooded man clicked his tongue in disappointment. "WAIT!" But before any of them could get even an inch further, the person behind their backs called out sounding desperate. "My name is Kopia Envy! I am a personal bodyguard to ymore Lust - if you have any information about the potential danger that could affect my master, I demand that you two will share it with me!" The desperate persons cried out. "..." The light-brown-haired girl moved her head as if she was turning her ear towards the person behind her, but in truth, she only did that to show a triumphant smirk to the hooded man. Then they both turned back to face the old woman. But at the spot where the old woman should be standing, a frail-looking androgynous human was clenching their hands together looking as if they were sick with worry. Their long red hair was covering the loose rags they were wearing but their piercing blue eyes were focused on the mysterious pair in front of them as if nothing else mattered. "You must tell me about your quest! Please! I can''t allow anything bad to happen to my master!" Kopia cried out pitifully and took a step forward. Chapter 203: And so, the real quest has begun Chapter 203 - And So, The Real Quest Has Begun "But why...?!" Mika groaned and slouched. "Well, mainly because, as you saw with recruit 93-F, they don''t really control their strength just yet." Bruiser 97-F punt his hands together and exined as if he had prepared for just that moment. "idents during training happen everyday, usually everything ends up alright because every recruit has high defense and health points so the medics can restore most of the wounds. But if we put you into the mix... you understand, right?" He asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and ncing at the ashen-haired girl. "...oh... yeah, that does make a lot of sense actually..." Mika sighed, disappointed, and visibly deted. "But I just so happen to have a day off today. If you want to, we can train together or..." "WE CAN?!" Before the boy finished talking, the ashen-haired girl was already in front of him, clenching his hands with her own, and looking up at him with sparkling eyes. *** ****** *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* The thunder of the artillery was booming over the military facilities of the third defense line. "...dear system... everything hurts... even my eyelids..." Mika groaned weakly, sprawled on the rooftop of the barracks, looking up at the foggy sky. "Hey, you kept up really well, honestly I thought you will give up halfway through! Good job!" Bruiser 97-F, sitting by her side, raised up his fist and cheered for her. "...and you''re saying that you all train like that every day as long as you''re not on the frontline...?" Mika moaned from exhaustion and turned her head to look at the boy - who didn''t even seem to break a sweat although he was doing all the exercises together with her the whole time! "Yes, basically. It''s a must if we don''t want to let our skill level drop." The boy shrugged his shoulders and smiled. *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* "Eh? What do you mean?" Mika furrowed her brows and asked. "Huh? Did I say something weird?" Bruiser 97-F tilted his head in confusion. "You have to train to not let your stats drop? You were actually serious about it back then?" The girl asked in confusion. "...well, yes... Why would I be lying about that? If we don''t train constantly, even the single skill we have may start dropping, you know, the number getting lower." The boy exined. "...what...?" Mika looked at him as if he lost his mind. "The skill level can drop only if you get hit with a certain debuff, and it''s usually not permanent. You cannot lose skill level because of being idle." She added, looking taken aback. "No. You definitely can. Ask any medic and they''ll tell you - skill levels can drop down if they won''t be properly trained." Bruiser 97-F was no less bbergasted than Mika was and responded with confidence. "And it''s not like it''s only their word. Skills I had before I got brought to the Sloth territory dropped to level one and then disappeared." He added in a serious voice. "...?" Mika blinked a few times and looked down, trying to wrap her head around what she just heard. Because she waspletely sure that what bruiser 97-F had said wasn''t right. It couldn''t be. She was always taught that the skill levels could only go up! Well, with skills there was that thing that if they merged together with another skill, the newly created skill would be level 1, but still, that wasn''t what the buzzcut boy was talking about! He said that his skills have disappeared! "So... wait... that means that it''s not like you don''t train other skills because it''s a waste of time, but you train only one skill because you don''t have anything else?" She was so utterly shocked that she sat up even though her muscles were screaming from pain. "Yes. well, technically I have two skills though - my iron fist and Acedia, but you have the right idea." Bruiser 97-F cleared out and nodded. "...maybe that''s something unique to the Sloth soldiers..." Mika furrowed her brows and wondered, she face the other way and looked towards the direction of the second and first defense lines. *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* "I wonder how it''s going for them, cannons are shooting a lot more than during the previous waves..." Mika pulled up her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. "It''s going fine. I''ve heard that only during the previous wave the monsters managed to breach the first line - and that''s honestly quiteughable. Which one was that? Fourth already, right?" Bruiser 97-F asked straightening his back and also facing towards the distant second and first defense lines. /01:02:23 "Yeah. The fifth one is a bit over an hour from wrapping up." Mika nodded, ncing at the first timer in the upper right corner of her vision. "Hey, can I tell you something in secret?" She tensed up and asked without looking at bruiser 97-F. "O-of course!" The boy hurriedly nodded his head, feeling sudden butterflies in his stomach. "...I think I am kind of... disappointed that the situation isn''t more dire..." The ashen-haired girl confessed and burrowed her face in her knees. "Huh...?" Bruiser 97-F gasped, disappointed. /01:01:19 "...it''s really petty of me, I know... but that whole special quest made the situation look so dire... I kind of... you know... thought that I would have to y an important role in all of this... I want to show my worth or whatever..." /01:00:10 Mika murmured, blushing in shame. /01:00:01 /01:00:00 /00:59:59 "I''m horrible, I know... and I''m supposed to be Justice''s Wrath or whatever..." Mika raised her head, turned to bruiser 97-F, and smiled weakly, ashamed of herself. "..." But the buzzcut boy wasn''t looking at her at all. Instead, he was staring mesmerized at the foggy horizon. "What are you looking a...?" Mika tilted her head and leaned forward to see what got bruiser 97-F''s attention. "...?!" In the mist... there was a shining spot... A little gold dot that seemed to grow bigger and bigger and... "WATCH OUT!" "Kyaaah?!" Bruiser 97-F shouted and brutally shoved Mika off of the roof, causing her to let out a panicked scream as she fell to the ground. The next moment... *$&@?¡è??$¡ê£¤€¡ê¡è??????%>}?!?$¡ê@&$¡À^>Chapter 204: After the 5th wave The 5th monster wave of the -Final frontier- quest had something that no one had expected. Once the titan-ss monsters'' forces had passed the first line of defense and enter the killing zone of the second line, an obnoxiously strong attack - a high power beam - was lunched somewhere from the mountain range deep inside the monster territory and decimated everything in its path, both titan-ss and Sloth soldiers alike. Yet despite that seemingly impartial nature of the attack, it was the human side that suffered consequences far greater than monsters... ... ... "IT''S YOUR FAULT THAT HE WAS ON THAT ROOFTOP! YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME! IT''S YOUR FAULT THAT HE DIED!" Were the words that monk 89-F shouted in Mika''s face before she was forcibly escorted out of the gathering hall, KICKING AND SCREAMING, by the rest of her squad before she could do something more radical and get herself in serious trouble. "It''s alright Mika, it wasn''t your fault." Corvus put his hand on Mika''s shoulder and assured in a calm voice. "..." But there was no way that the ashen-haired girl could agree with him, was there? If she only wasn''t so selfish and just stayed put like the rest of her friends from the Wrath family, bruiser 97-F would still be alive. ...and the worst part was, that the two of them didn''t end up on the roof because of the training or anything. It was just that Mika wanted to rest there since she wanted to see if she can check on what was going on at the second and first lines of defense through the ever-thinning fog. Bruiser 97-F wouldn''t even think about going there on his own if not for Mika''s wish. The girl clenched her fists. "...my fault...!" She whispered through her teeth, with tears forcing their way out. And then... /Unique hidden achievement for -Final frontier- unlocked Innocence lost +8000 to every base status point (except LUC) "GHUAH...!" Mika fell down on her knees and spat out a mouthful of blood. "MIKA?! Someone! She needs a medic!" Corvus gasped and shouted for help, kneeling by the fallen ashen-haired girl. *** Mika was taken to the medical wing for a checkup and treatment. "She suddenly gained an enormous amount of status points - it is a miracle that she even survived." The young, bespectacled girl in an oversizedb coat looked away from the unconscious ashen-haired girl sleeping soundly in the simple bed and exined to the worried people of the Wrath family and the not so worried Dandelions who also were there for some reason... "What do you mean suddenly gained status points?" The copper-eyed Ti asked, shaking with worry. "I contacted medic 7 who was the one examining this person right after she arrived at Sloth territory, and byparing the results of the appraisals, I can safely say that except for LUC, all her stats increased by over 8000 points each." "8000?!" Even the seemingly uninterested Dandelions all gasped when an insane number was mentioned. "Yes. This is unprecedented. Honestly, we have no idea how she is still alive. Our research says that a singr increase of anything above 1000 status points results in the subject''s body''s destruction in one way or another." The young medic exined. "That''s why I called for sir gene... I mean, for sir Shanks. Could you use Sophia and try to look for an answer in the system database?" She turned to the Dandelions and asked. "...of course I could check. But I refuse." "...!" Shanks'' calm answer stunned everyone. "You...!" The white-haired Corvus gritted his teeth and walked over to the rat-faced man and tried grabbing him by the armor, but got stopped by the other three Dandelions stepping in front of their leader. "I don''t care who you are or was! If you refuse to help Mika, I will...!" He threatened, trying to re at Shanks past hispanions. "Your youngdy is safe. Since she survived the initial shock, the rest is for her body to adapt to new capabilities. Medic 13 here didn''t ask for help with the treatment, but for guidance for the next batch of experimental Sloth soldiers... I didn''t run away from this ce as a child to rejoin them as an adult." "Huh...?!" Shanks exined in the same calm voice, causing Corvus to flinch. "I apologize for my behavior, gene... s-sir Shanks." "...?" The white-haired young man looked over his shoulder to look at the medic, just to see the young bespectacled girl blushing and looking away in embarrassment. "Ah... oh... I... I''m sorry..." Corvus backed down and unintentionally nodded his head - something in Shanks''s tone was making him treat the rat-faced with even higher respect than the avatar of wrath. "Then, my lord, does that mean that Mika will be fine...?" Now it was Ti''s turn to approach the adventurers and ask, pushing past the dispirited Corvus. "...!" And then she flinched, realizing how she addressed the adventurer. "Yes, like I''ve said, since she survived the initial shock, the only thing left for her is to rest as her body will adapt. She might be unconscious for a while but ultimately she will be fine." The three Dandelions stepped back revealing the indifferent rat-faced man. "Thank you, my l... sir!" Even though Ti was cautious about how she speaks, she almost addressed the adventurer as someone of a higher position than her, something like that hasn''t happened to her ever before. ...and even though she stopped herself from using overly respectful words, she still bowed to him...! "...tsk... don''t worry about your odd behavior." "...!" Shanks spoke as if reading in Corvus''s and Ti''s minds, making them flinch. "Because of the unexpected situation that demands special attention, the higher-ups of the Sloth soldiers have decided topletely remove the seals from my skills, stats, and affinities. What you are experiencing right now is the effect of my inborn affinity, right to rule. I''m very sorry for the inconvenience." He exined and bowed his head just a tiny bit. *thump* "...!" Which resulted in everyone in the room, except for the unconscious Mika, to drop on one knee and lower their heads as if pledging themselves to the one true ruler. "..." Shanks gritted his teeth, looking with pained eyes at his two best friends and even his wife acting the same way. Since the right to rule was an affinity and not a skill, it couldn''t be turned off. "Stand up. I have a skill that speeds up the process of adaptation to status point changes, it will make youngdy Mika recover sooner." He sighed looked away as the other got back up with utterly confused faces. Chapter 205: The decision

Chapter 205: The decision

Mika regained consciousness but didn''t open her eyes. She could feel that something wasn''t right. Her body was feeling too well. She clearly remembered the excruciating wave of pain ripping her muscles apart before she threw up blood, howe she now felt sofortable and safe? It was as if she had her father by her side... No. Not even that. It felt as if some omnipotent benevolent guardian had stepped down from the heavens and was now nursing her to health. She feltpletely safe. And that waspletely unthinkable in her current situation. The ashen-haired girl slowly opened her eyes just a tiny bit to check her surroundings. She wasying on a simple bed and there was someone sitting on a chair by her side. Someone mindful enough to keep an appropriate distance. Mika''s heart began beating faster. Was it Corvus? Was he waiting by her bedside, waiting for her to wake up because he realized that he has feelings for her?! Mika hurriedly opened her eyes and faced the calm person. "Cor...! Eh? My lord? EH?! My lord...?!" She eximed, stopping mid-word just to gasp in confusion when the person she expected to see turned out to be someonepletely different - the rat-faced man, one of the adventurers that arrived in the Sloth territory together with Corvus, Mary, and the three bodyguards... And then she gasped realizing how she unintentionally addressed him. "Oh, youngdy, you woke up, I see." Shanks''s palm stopped glowing and he lowered it with a relieved expression. "I was getting worried that you might sleep through the next wave. And honestly, I''m not entirely sure that you are allowed to do that, the special quest you received is quite bothersome." He smirked and tilted his head, watching Mika with his pale blue eyes glowing with distinct light blue light. "You can see my quest, my lord?!" Mika gasped in shock. "Yeah, I have almost forgotten how many skills I actually have. It''s truly bothersome." Shanks sighed and smiled with mncholy. "Youngdy. There is something I wanted to discuss with you." He added, looking back at the ashen-haired girl. "Yes?!" Mika unintentionally straightened her back and responded in a loud voice. "It seems that the monster waves of the -Final frontier- quest truly are too much for the Sloth soldiers." The rat-faced man leaned forward and started exining. "It looks like that deep in the northern mountains lives a monster like we never saw before. The beam that you had the displeasure of seeing in action was a skill of said monster... At least that''s what my skill, Sophia, is suggesting." He said and Mika nodded, not even considering that the man could be wrong or lying. "Do you remember that you received quite a sizable amount of status points before you fainted?" Shanks suddenly changed the subject, or so it seemed. "Eh...? Ah! Y-yes! I do remember that. It looked like it was a reward for gaining a unique achievement..." Mika answered, lowering her head as her eyes begun stinging once she realized why she got the achievement. "Yes... right now most of your skills are over 8000, your DEF, so your physical defense is around 9500 while your ATK, so a physical attack, is over 11000. That makes you the?third strongest person currently in the entire Sloth territory." Shanks nodded his head and started listing, counting on his fingers. "What do you mean my lo... sir...? Weren''t all Sloth soldiers incredibly strong? Bruiser 97-F highest status points value is... was around 12000, and he was only a normal soldier." Mika asked confused, flinching, and getting visibly sad as she corrected herself when talking about the boy who was no longer alive. "Bruiser 97-F wasn''t just amon soldier. He was the squad leader of the strongest closebat unit in the entire Sloth army." "What?!" Shanks exined and Mika gasped in shock. "But...! Then...! Then what were he and his squad doing here guarding us and not fighting on the first line of defense?!" The ashen-haired girl wasn''t able to ept what he just heard. "Youngdy, you seem to underestimate the consequences that failing your special quest would have on the rest of the kingdom. One of the failure conditions is your death - of course, that the higher-ups would send the best unit to watch over you." "...!" Shanks words left Mika speechless with her mouth half-open. "Let me talk more bout the Sloth soldier for a moment. You surely noticed that some of them have -F added to their numbers, right?" Shanks asked and then continued without waiting for Mika to answer. "All the -Fs are the experimental ones, the human experiments set for a Failure. Each of them has received a variant of the Acedia skill of high level - the higher the number before -F, the stronger the Acedia skill, and the amount of bonus status points added with each level up. Your friend, bruiser 97-F was only the second person in Sloth territory who survived the increase of around 1000 points to his stats with the exception of LUC." "Wait! What do you mean 1000 points to his stats during a level-up? He was level 111!" Mika interrupted Shanks, pointing out the mistake. "Yes. Until level 99, the variant of Acedia that is given to the soldiers only increases their level normally. From the data I have, your friend was averaging at 500 status points each when he reached level 99. And once he got to level 100 the Acedia has kicked in." "..." Once again the rat-faced man''s words have left Mika speechless. "Good. Now that we have this out of the way, I want to discuss something important with you, youngdy." Shanks nodded and rubbed his hands together. "With your sudden empowerment, the situation has changedpletely. The higher-ups think that you no longer need protection and instead, you should be the one protecting others." He dered, making it clear that he shares the same opinion. "You mean...?!" Mika''s eyes widened and she asked, clenching her fists. "Indeed. Your plea to be transferred to the first line of defense had been re-reviewed and approved." Shanks smirked and nodded. "Your friends are already preparing for the departure. If you''re feeling well enough already, you can join them." Chapter 206: On their way to the first defense line

Chapter 206: On their way to the first defense line

The convoy of Sloth soldiers was marching forward through the sea of thin mist. There were two rather short people walking on the very front. The ashen-haired Mika, and the rat-faced Shanks. "Why are so many soldiers joining me to the first line? I thought that you said I was going to do the protecting, sir?" Mika asked, ncing back at all the people trying to keep up with them. "The first line needs reinforcements after being hit by that golden beam. You may be strong now, but don''t think even for a second that you can take that attack head-on, remember what happened to bruiser 97-F. Also, you won''t be able to manage to hold the whole line by yourself." Shanks scolded her and shook his head in disappointment. "...sorry..." The ashen-haired girl realized that she got the excitement got to her and lowered her head in apology. "Raa." Suddenly, arge short jawed ck wolf with extremely long front ws appeared beside them from the shadow together with three other ck jet-ck wolves. "Hello Cinnamon, does your master managed to spot something from up there?" Shanks,pletely unperturbed by the sudden appearance of the wolves who almost gave Mika a heart attack, asked in an indifferent voice. "Raa." One bark, therefore yes. "Dragons?" "Raa. Raa." Two barks, so no. "True deamons?" "Raa. Raa." "...so angels..." "Raa." Shanks made a sour expression. "It might be just me but for some reason, we''re encountering far more angels who still possess partial self-awareness and intelligence than we ever should." Heined. "Youngdy, did you know that in reports from two months ago about the monsters of three high sses just below the titan-ss attacking the settlements and harassing the convoys with supplies, many different types of monsters were listed, but as of the past seven days, it''s extremely rare to encounter anything besides the still intelligent angel-ss creatures..." Shanks furrowed his brows and rubbed his hands together. "Cinnamon, your master said that she did found a couple of dragons before, right?" "Raa." He asked and the ck wolf barked. "What about the past two days?" "Raa. Raa." At his next question, the short-jawed wolf shook her head in denial. "That''s bad." Shanks frowned. "What is it about?" Mika joined in the conversation "Sophia tells me that the most probable exnation is that a titan has somehow slipped past the defense lines and is hunting down the monsters that lost their minds in the sea of mist. We''re encountering so many intelligent angels because they''re the only ones still smart enough to realize that they should be running away instead of trying to fight it." The rat-faced man turned to her and exined with a heavy sight. "B-but that''s impossible! If the titans could just sneak past the defense lines they would have done it hundreds of years ago!" Mika trembled at the mere thought. "Well, the other option is that the angels started regaining their intelligence because the mist started suddenly thinning out, since they are the one monster ss that has the highest MDF. Once they did, they started killing the other monsters in order to dominate the whole sea of mist and take it as their territory." Shanks shrugged his shoulders and massaged his forehead. Neither of those options was good for the Sloth territory and its citizens, but there was a chance that they were both incorrect, to begin with. Sophia wasn''t wless after all. "Anyway for now we should...!" The rat-faced man sighed and nced down at the ground... ...the ck ground burnt by a powerful me and covered here and there with a copious amount of ashes. "What is it...?" Mika asked curiously, also looking down but failed to see anything special in the remnants of the fire. "..." Without slowing down his walking speed, Shanks reached down and picked up a handful of soil and ash and let it ran through his fingers. "These are ashes of true demon-ss and dragon-ss monsters..." He said with a grave expression. "Wha...?! Seriously?!" Mika flinched and jumped up. "The situation may be far worse than I expected. There is a slight chance that a lord or even a king had appeared amongst the angel-ss... at first, I thought that the mist thinning out might be just some anomaly, or that the current avatar of sloth is already getting weaker, but it might just be that an angel-ss king is literally using its fire to evaporate the confusing mist..." Shanks spoke with a face pale as a ghost. "Are you kidding me? I thought that high-tier monsters are unable to achieve the ranks of lords and kings!" Mika gulped down her saliva and clenched her fists. The new suspicion introduced by the rat-faced man was far too scary to think about. After all, a lord monster was as strong as monsters of a whole ss higher than its kin. ...and a king monster usually had the strength of a monster-ss two, or even three times higher than the rest of its kind... If this new monster was a lord then it must have been as strong as a titan-ss. And if it was a king... Angel-ss king? Wouldn''t that mean that it could have the strength exceeding that of a titan ss? What would that make it? A god. A first god-ss monster in centuries...! "Because usually, there is no need for a lord or a king in the higher tier. Those monsters are already highly intelligent, but that very intelligence is something that prevents them from gathering in enough numbers for a lord-rank monster to appear amongst them. They all want to rule but none of them wants to be ruled over." Shanks said, already realizing what he had implied. "But... doesn''t that mean that the confusing mist that lowers the intelligence of the monsters, had too great of an effect and made the angels'' group up...? And that''s how a king emerged...?" Mika asked. While they were talking, the amount of ash underneath their feet increased so much that itpletely covered the burnt ground and everyone in the convoy was pushing through the ash that was reaching up to their ankles. "If that is the case then the Sloth family has put themselves and the whole kingdom on the chopping block. Monster wave''s from the front and an angel-ss king from the side... aren''t wepletely screwed...?" Shanks looked away and gritted his teeth. Chapter 207: Misplaced expectations Chapter 207 - Misced Expectations "Arge Dominion approaching from the west! Gunners, middle output!" Shanks shouted as the earth shook from the steps of the medium-sized angel-ss monster. Twopanies of gunners raised their weapons and rifles the humanoid two-faced beast full of holes the moment that it appeared from the mist. "Hold fire!" Themand was issued and the soldiers put down their guns. The rat-faced man approached the massacred carcass, carefully examining it. The dead monster fell on its back but apparently, there was something there that the re-enlisted former deserter wanted to check because he flipped it with a flick of a wrist despite the massive size. "Its wings arepletely burnt, those aren''t wounds that a Sloth-made weapon can cause." Shanks said pointing at the charred stumps on the back of the fallen angel-ss monster, exactly where the wings should be. "Tsk...! That''s why it wasn''t flying and swoop at us. I almost mistook it for a lower order angel, since those prefer to attack from the ground." He exined, turning around and walking away. "What happened to just chasing the monsters off so that their corpses won''t lure stronger ones, sir?" Mika followed the rat-faced man and peeked over his back as he was going back, to look at the deceased monster. "Since something is killing the true demons and dragons, we don''t have to worry about angels. As I told you before, they do not require food and live off of mana." The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulders dismissive. "Oh. I see..." The ashen-haired girl nodded keeping close to the adventurer while peeking at the fallen monster. Just as Mika was ncing over her shoulder, Shanks looked back too. At her. "If we encounter a lowest order angel or a weak middle order one, you will take it down." And dered casually. "Wha..?! Ah! I mean, yes!" At first, the girl flinched and tensed up but then she hurriedly nodded. They were on the way towards the first defense line to fight titan-ss monsters, getting scared about something weaker was a little bit ridiculous. "You have to test out your strength. Don''t worry, the angel-ss don''t have that much DEF, with how your stats are now, you should defeat one with a single punch even without using a skill." The rat-faced man assured her. ... ... A chance for Mika to test out her strength didn''t take too long to appear. Merely two miles further, Shanks spotted an angel-ss monster wandering around, aimlessly spinning in circles in the mist. "That''s the lowest order angel-ss, Principality. Its behavior is... odd. I don''t see any burns on it but it looks like it got a concussion..." Shanks furrowed his brows and reported, leaning his head towards Mika without looking away from the monster. "You won''t get a better chance than this. Go." He encouraged the nervous girl and patted her back. *BOOM* The next moment, the earth underneath Mika''s feet exploded as she rushed at the angel. The closer she was the better she could see her target. It was around fourteen feet tall, with a mask-like face andrge wings that despite their magnificent look couldn''t actually support its weight. "...?!" Principality noticed the ashen-haired girl a second before she hit it. Its stiff face twisted in shock and instantly twisted with a furious expression as its eyes shone clearly activating some kind of skill. "N-NO...!" At that time Mika panicked and instantly activated her strengthening skills together with the justice punch she got not that long ago and punched at the monster''s face. *SMASH* *ssh* Mika''s hit didn''t simplynd on the monster''s face, nor did it ripped its head off. No. The empowered punch literally turned the unlucky angel into a smudge of blood on the ground, with not a single piece of its body big enough to discern what was killed there. /Angel-ss monster defeated yer receives EXP /Requirements have been met Justice''s Wrath''s hidden affinity unlocked Giant yer /Calcting... /Hidden affinity resonates with the title specific skill Skill power upgrade Justice punch (level 1) (+50% damage when facing against opponents that Justice''s Wrath regards as evil) "...eh...?" That was clearly too much! Mika gaspednding gracefully a few feet behind the bloodstain. "You really didn''t have to use a skill, you know? Still, impressive, with that, you may be able to take on a titan all by yourself." Shankse up to the ashen-haired girl and apud her, grinning at the liquid remains of the Principality. "...o-oh. That''s good. I''ll do my b-best..." Mika stuttered, staring wide-eyed at her own fist. There was something off about this whole situation... Especially the way that her skill description was phrased. ''When facing against opponents that Justice''s Wrath regards as evil'' - regards as evil and not the ones that actually are evil. And why was the skill description shown in the first ce!? Normally a yer character has to spend a small fortune to hire a high-level appraiser to read it for them or search through rare books by themselves to know for sure. Honestly... This whole situation - the weird option she got at the very beginning, the odd special quest, the too specific description - it all felt as if something was pushing the girl toward a specific direction, but she couldn''t understand why, nor was she able to foresee what was waiting for her at the end of that route. And, what''s more important - whether her choices wouldn''t bring more misfortune to the people around her. "..." Mika clench her fists and looked down at her feet. The memory of the desperate face of bruiser 97-F the moment that he pushed her to safety was etched into her memory just as strongly as the sight of the boy''s silhouette being disintegrated by a golden energy beam. "How much time left?" Shanks asked, pulling Mika from her thoughts. "Ah...!" She gasped and hurriedly nced at the first timer. /05:04:47 "Less than five minutes to the beginning of the seventh wave." Mika reported. "Tsk... and we''re still two hours away from the first line. It''s taking too long, it would be better if the two of us just ran ahead, but we can''t leave the rest like that..." Shanks clicked his tongue and nced back at the rest of the convoy. "The golden beam got shot one time during the fifth wave, one hour before the time limit, for the sixth wave it got shot two hours before the time limit... going by that, now it will probably be shot three hours before the end, so right when we''ll be arriving at the outpost... Everyone! Increase the marching speed!" The rat-faced man gritted his teeth and shouted back and hismand got repeated by themanders of each unit. "I don''t want us to be bunched together like an easy target when ites." "I think the same." Heined to Mika, and the ashen-haired girl nodded in agreement. Then, a few minutester... /05:00:00 /6th monster wave - start /04:59:59 "...eh...?" Mika looked to the side and spotted a small golden dot on the horizon. *¡è?$€€?$?¡Â]~[¡À]<^%????¡ê¡Â¡À$¡ê#&}>[emailprotected]?$][¡À¡ê¡Â¡Â¡è* A golden beam shot at their convoy with an ungodly sound that couldn''t be put into words. Chapter 208: 6th wave Chapter 208 - 6th Wave The convoy was hit quick, and it was hit hard. The golden beam cut right through the middle, killing more than one-third of the Sloth soldiers meant as the reinforcements for the first line of defense. "RAAAA...!" The short jawed wolf, Cinnamon was howling over the loss of another one of herrades, Plum. Including Cinnamon, there were only three shadow fangs left - four, including Arion, who was with their master, Mary, flying high in the sky on the griffin''s back to gather intel. "This is the worst..." Shanks shook his head while observing the reorganizing convoy, returning from checking up on his friends. Thankfully, Uresha, Lairs, and Rotte were all okay - although very shaken. Traveling at the back of the convoy they found themselves surrounded by scared young recruits looking for moral support in their elders, which honestly made Shanks relived. "...why was it shot right at the beginning?" Mika asked in a dispirited voice as soon as the rat-faced man returned to the front. "It seems that it''s the worst-case scenario." Shanks shook his head, making a sour expression. "It''s not an anomaly that follows a schedule, although that was always just wishful thinking on our side." He sighed heavily and massaged his forehead. "It looks like this is a straight-up long-range attack, and what''s worse, that something that is shooting it is moving around in a mostly straight line - right at us. And is getting closer. At least that''s what Sophia skill is suggesting... Alright! Is everyone ready? We need to at least reach the final outpost of the second line before the first line or we might get caught in our own artillery fire! That would be the dumbest way to die! Move out!" He groaned and then looked back at the shrunk convoy and shouted amand. ... ... "THE DEFENSE-ORIENTED ONES ARE LEADING! EVEN MAXIMUM OUTPUT IS DOING SHIT TO THEM!" "SCREW THIS! LET THEM PASS! ARTILLERY WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM! WE''LL NAIL THE REST FROM THE BACK!" The Sloth soldiers'' shouts were echoing through the hellscape of the frontline''s first defense line. Tens of titan-ss monsters from the 6th wave were pushing forward relentlessly as if something was herding them forward through the Sloths'' territory. Although tens of enemies might not sound much at first - their size alone could more than make up for their numbers - even the adults could barely reach above the ankles of the smallest one. And all of them were attacking at once in something akin to a formation focused on the spot with the least amount of Sloth soldiers - the very same spot where the golden beam has passed, annihting every human in its path. It was a bothersome tactic the beasts have picked up since the previous wave and seemed like they greatly liked it. The hurriedly deployed reinforcements weren''t nearly enough to repel the titan-ss monsters offensive and had to fall back, breaking the line just to not get trampled as the towering giants with seemingly imprable skin passed by. Some of them were humanoid types, some were beast types, but what they all had inmon was that they all looked like mutated beasts straight out of nightmares - with arms, heads, teeth, and ws sticking out from ces where they didn''t belong. The one on the very front, with the lower body of a bull and the upper body humanly enough to be called a man, had a third hand sticking straight out from its chest that had a bloodshot golden eye in the middle of its open palm. Said eye was necessary for it to look around, considering that the monster had rows of yellow teeth lined up in its eye sockets that didn''t seem too useful. "€¡À¡Â£¤¡ê¡À¡è?$]`<>%|?}¡ê¡è" The monster roared closing its middle hand, protecting its eye from harm. "@$&?¡Â¡è??¡ê£¤¡ê??¡è?" Other titan-ss monsters responded and rushed head-first into the second line of defense that stretched for miles and was the ce where beasts like them never left alive, pelted with the artillery fire. But before that could even happen... "BASTARDS!" *SMASH* The ashen-haired girl came crashing down from the sky and kneeled the half-bull titan square in the face, causing its forehead to cave in. "¡À¡è^¡À`~£¤€¡À¡ê€" The monster roared inhumanly and fall to his side, kicking its massive legs in pain and crushing the Sloth soldiers who were too slow to act - the beast was injured but still very much alive and even more dangerous than before. "TSK!" Mika spat to the side and clenched her trembling fist. It was almost her full-force attack. It had an effect, but not to the extent she hoped for. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET THEM PASS!" The soldiers were shouting and waving at her but the girl''s body was glowing intensely crimson with hints of white - which was proof enough that she was in her berserk state and wasn''t really paying any attention to anyone else other than her opponent. "How about this?!" She rushed at the rampaging titan blinded by pain and her clenched fist begun glowing with even more light on top of the ones active before. "DIE, YOU EVIL MONSTER!" She roared just in case so that Justice''s Wrath exclusive skill would activate properly. *SMASH* *ssh* And sure enough, this time the bull-monster''s skull didn''t resist and got squashed like a grape under the mighty justice''s punch, spilling blood and gray matter everywhere. Its eye on the palm of its middle hand became bloodshot and its pupil went inside its socket as it shed the white. "Dear system...! That was one of the strongest defense types we ever recorded, wasn''t it...?" One of the soldiers gasped as they all stood there in silence forgetting about the casualties they''ve suffered. Killing a titan-ss monster like that should be only possible while using a concentrated artillery fire, but here, a single human has done it right in front of their eyes. "¡è??^*CRUSH* *RIIIIIP* This time the punch not only caused a cave-in but straight up blew a gaping hole in the chest of a humanoid type with additional heads instead of shoulders, that had arms growing out of their opened jaws. "AND I WAS AFRAID OF YOU! AHAHA! COME AND GET M-" *STOMP* Theughing Mika blinded by the bloodlust missed the foot of a spider-like titan-ss monster that stomped on her with its enormous limb. Chapter 209: At the outpost

Chapter 209: At the outpost

*SLAP* "YOU STUPID BRAT, WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?!" The sound of a strong p to the face resounded through the silent meeting hall and was followed by a furious scream. "Mary! What do you think you''re doing?! It wasn''t Mika''s fault!" Corvus shouted and stepped behind the furious brown-haired girl and the remorseful ashen-haired girl. "...mend..." *crack* Mary whispered and the fingers that she broke on Mika''s face were forcibly put back in ce and healed. "Wasn''t her fault...? WASN''T HER FAULT?! She jumped in the middle of the titan-ss monsters who were on their way to get annihted, and almost get herself killed! Because of her both Fig and Melon are dead! And if not for the Cinnamon taking away the attention of all the monsters from the 7th wave and leading them away, so would all of us and every single soldier from the first line! All while she wasying unconscious while we had to fight!" She shouted and tried to pass the white-haired man but got caught by him instead. "You damned idiot! It''s your fault! I can''t even contact Cinnamon through my tamer bond! WHO TOLD YOU TO GO FULL BERSERK AND LOSE YOUR SYSTEM-DAMNED MIND?!" Even though she was being restrained, Mary wasn''t going to stop her outburst and tried to break free - or at least she made sure to stick her head past Corvus so that she could look at Mika while pouring out all the hatred she was feeling. "I... I''m sorry, Miss Mary... I just... panicked and didn''t think things through. I didn''t want things to turn out as they did..." Mika trembled, subconsciously lowering her head more and more. "Who cares what you wanted?! Do you have any idea how many soldiers have died while you were going wild?! That dumb half-bull would have died under two minutes at the very start of the second line! But noo! Youngdy Wrath just had to show how strong she became! You spoiled child! Look how much harm you have caused!?Got yourself knocked out and caused more deaths than all the precious waves!" "MARY! That''s enough!" Corvus pulled away from the brown-haired girl and shook her shoulders to make her look at him. "She said she''s sorry, there''s nothing more we could do, so stop causing a scene." He said in a calm,posed voice. ...which was exactly the wrong way to approach the situation... "Shut up, you annoying capture target! Your route isn''t even avable and I don''t want the stupid harem anymore in the first ce! You''re just a tagalong here while that brat triggered some bullshit quest that I have never dreamt about! That''s not how things are supposed to be! I thought that only I can receive story choices because I am the heroine, but apparently, some random side character from some heroic bonus chapter can too!" The heroine shouted, pushing herself away from the confused capture target. "This whole situation is so wrong! How could this happen?!" She growled furiously messing her own hair as she turned her back to the two Wraths. "Was the stupid reward worth it at least? How much percentpletion did you get? For the 6th wave, of course, the one you didn''t sleep through! You can check in your menu, right?!" She turned back and asked. "You know what? No, don''t even tell me. Couldn''t be that much anyway!" But she shook her head and scoffed almost immediately without waiting for an answer. "What does that mean? No matter what Mika did singlehandedly kill two titan-ss monsters! What do you mean that can''t be that much?!" Corvus stepped forward and waved his hand angrily. "Haah...?! I''ve told you to shut up! I know because right after my poor Cinnamon lead all the monsters away saving your skins and the timer have run out, I received a reward. As Cinnamon''s tamer, I received a reward of 87% contribution for the 7th wave! What did killing two titan-ss from 6th got you? Did you at least get 10%?" Mary spared Corvus only a single nce and concentrated back at Mika instead. "...I... I got 4% contribution..." Mika''s shoulders trembled as she revealed what killing two titan-ss monsters was worth for the system. "TSK! That''s what you get for using skills that lower your sanity just to raise your strength! That guy has told you that you don''t need to use any rage skills in the first ce! But no! You had to panic like a headless chicken!" Mary also trembled - not from guilt, but from pure fury that she felt towards the ashen-haired girl. "I hope the 4%pletion reward was worth getting tens of Sloth soldiers killed, hundreds getting injured, and me losing all of my shadow fangs!" The heroine gritted her teeth and finally left as the gathered Sloth soldiers made way for her in silence. No one has agreed with her out loud, but more or less all of them had thought the same thing. What use is there for someone so strong if they are causing more casualties than the enemy? "...what a mess... what did she even mean about my route not being avable? Does she knows something about my role...?" Corvus sighed, looking at Mary''s back. *...uugh..." His thoughts were interrupted by an ugly sniffle of Mika finally unable to hold back her tears. "No, Mika, don''t let her get to you like that...! You meant well..." The white-haired young man approached her with a worried expression and put a hand on her shoulder. "...b-but sh-hee-ee''s riiightttt...!" The ashen-haired girl sobbed wiping her eyes with both hands, unable to stop the outpour of tears. "It''s not your fault for getting overwhelmed! If I was in your ce I would do the same thing!" "....uuuu.... *sniffle*" Corvus''s attempts at calming Mika down ended up in failure. "...I''m not cut out for this... where is Ti where you need h...!" He ended up sighing, but then instantly flinched when he felt how hard Mika''s shoulder trembled. "Sh-she won''te...! Cri and C-Cal have both died just like miss Mary''s wolves...! They tried to save me from the spider titan-ss and got killed by it instead...!" The ashen-haired girl crumbled to her knees and yelped as if each word was causing her physical pain. "..." Corvus closed his mouth and looked around, they sure were making a show out of themselves for all the surviving Sloth soldiers in the outpost. "...there''s still a few hours before the 8th wave, you should get some sleep." He ended up picking her up and gently carrying her away in his arms. Chapter 210: Behind the outpost

Chapter 210: Behind the outpost

"Umm... h-hello..." The ck-haired elven mage approached the lone person sitting by the back wall of the outpost. "...what do you want...?" The person turned out to be Ti. The tinum-haired bodyguard with copper-colored eyes. Though her eyes weren''t really visible at the moment since she was hiding her head in her knees. ...and her voice was hoarse from crying... "..." That made Lairs stop in ce and hesitate. "...if you are here to console me about Cri and Cal''s, thank you, but I don''t need any more pretty words. The Sloth soldiers have said enough..." Ti was doing a good job at controlling her voice but her shoulders would not stop shaking once she mentioned the death of herrades. "...fuck me... this whole situation just sucks so hard..." Lairs couldn''t find the right words to respond to that and ended up breaking her gentle act. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she was seated on the ground, two steps away from the mourning Ti. "...yeah... yeah, it does..." Whether it was because of the unusual words used, or because she was shocked that the ck-haired elf didn''t leave, Ti ended up agreeing with Lairs, in a weak voice. "..." "..." The two of them stayed silent for a few minutes - Ti with her face hidden and Lairs just staring at the fogged sky. "...they were so much better bodyguards than I was... Before another minute passed, Ti sobbed, clenching her fists. Lairs said nothing and just listened. "...I was always the one physically strongest and always had an easier time disguising myself to protect our target, but I never once thought that I wanted to use my own life to protect the client..." The tinum-haired woman breathed out, trying to calm down. "Cri was more carring than anyone and Cal was the most gentle person I''ve ever known... that''s why it was okay for me to be distant... our strength and weaknessplimented each other. As long as there were the three of us working as a team - and if we were serious - we could even stop the outbursts of anger of the avatar of wrath..." "...?" Lairs tilted her head in confusion, not quite sure where Ti was going with her talk but nheless, she kept her mouth closed. "...that time, when our young miss got stomped down by the giant spider... both Cri and Cal rushed in without any hesitation, but... but I..." The bodyguard''s voice broke down into a heartbroken cry. "...I just stood there!" Ti turned her head towards the silent Lairs, showing her tear-stained face and copper-colored eyes, red and swollen from hours of shedding tears. "...I thought to myself - I''m not going to die for that girl! I betrayed Cri and Cal...! It''s my fault that they...!" *hug* Her words were interrupted by Lairs. Instead of saying some useless noble-sounding words, the ck-haired elf got to her and locked her in a protective embrace. "Fucking hell! Do you even hear yourself, idiot?! If you went with them, the only thing that would change would be the fucking number of deceased people would be higher or by one!" And instead of warm words, what left Lairs''s mouth was a pained scolding. "...!" Ti''s body stiffened from shock, and Lairs pulled away from her while keeping her hands on the bodyguard''s shoulders. "You think you would fucking change anything?! Haven''t you heard what my older brother, Shan-shan, has said?! The stats and max level we have in the south are worth less than shit in here!" Lairs shook Ti''s shoulders and eximed. "I know that yourrades were the most important to you and their deaths hurt the most, but not only they died while trying to save that girl! That tamer girl lost two wolves right there and the third one that saved us all is probably dead too, and most of the Sloth soldiers that rushed that titan-ss were wiped out too! It''s not like one more person could change anything!" She said looking Ti in the eyes. "...n-no..." But Ti looked away. "Don''t say that... if you say it like that, the only other person I can me will be the young miss...!" She shook her head, copsing into Lairs''s arms. "...if only she didn''t stick her nose in other people''s business, none of this would have happened in the first ce! She only needed to stay in the dumb carriage but she just had to go save some travelers! It''s all her fault that we got here, and Cri and Cal and all the others all died while trying to save her while she got scared, went berserk, and messed everything uppletely!" Ti growled crying her heart out into Lairs''s chest. "..." Lairs''s eyes widened but she just let Ti continue to pour out all the pain troubling her heart. "It''s unfair...! It''s so unfair! We were only doing our job! Why am I the only one left alive?! Why didn''t I go together with Cri and Cal?! It would be better if I died with them! I shouldn''t be allowed to continue living! I even me young miss for my own failure...!" "..." Hearing that made Lairs breathe out. Ti wasn''t actually hating the ashen-haired girl nor anyone else. She was just overwhelmed by the loss of two people that were closest to her and was trying toe to terms with it. The only one who she truly med was herself. The ck-haired elf put her hand on the tinum hair of the bodyguard and started gently patting it. "Why am I like this...? You... please... me me... say that I am a detestable person and I should have died together with my friends, instead of ming the young miss for myck of decisiveness...!" Ti trembled and looked up at Lairs''s face. "You just wanted to live, if you want someone to me you for that, then you should try talking with someone other than a member of the Dandelions." But Lairs just smiled and continued patting her head. Chapter 211: The plan goes like this

Chapter 211: The n goes like this

Three people gathered in a small room with only a tiny round table and four chairs. Two were sitting by the table and one was standing up. The one standing up was Shanks, the rat-faced leader of the Dandelions, who was in fact originally a member of the noble Sloth family and if he didn''t deserted while he was a child, he would be the general of the army - the second most important person in the Sloth territory right after the avatar of sloth. The two sitting were the two girls, or rather one young woman and a young girl. "It''s almost time to keep moving if you want to take a position on the first line. I will hop on Blueberry and be there in no time but what about the two of you?" The short, brown-haired busty young woman with a childish face, frowned and crossed her arms. She was the tamer who had lost most of her tamed beast. The one bestowed by the system with the role of the heroine, Mary Hope. She was particrly ring at the other girl sitting across the table from her. The young ashen-haired girl was slouched in her chair, clenching her fists on top of her knees and staring at her own feet. She was the holder of the vague role of Justice''s Wrath and an only child of the head of the noble Wrath family, Mika Wrath... ...and she was also the person who felt the most responsible for everything that had urred in the Sloth territory the past couple of days - which funnily enough, she actually was, to a greater or lesser extent. "No, Miss Mary, you will be taking your griffin, but you won''t be going scouting solo, the higher-ups have a different n for the three of us." Shanks shook his head from left to right and spoke in an indifferent voice. "The three of us? What do you mean, sir...? Damn it!" Mary asked and then instantly flinched and gritted her teeth as she realized how she addressed the rat-faced man. "Can''t you do something about that awful skill?!" She growled furrowing her brows. "Sorry, I''m not using its active ability - the problematic part that you experience is a passive part that I can''t do anything about." Shanks bowed his head slightly and apologized. "And about our orders, you, your tamed monsters, and I will all be acting as a support for the youngdy Mika." He exined nodding at the ashen-haired girl who trembled at the mention of her name. "I... Sir, I don''t think I am up for the task." She responded in a dispirited voice and lowered her head even more, slouching down terribly. "...hmph... You sure as hell are not!" Mary red at her and scoffed before looking away. "Miss Mary, please, no matter how big is your anger, you need to put it to the side or we might not survive thising monster wave. As for you, miss Mika, there''s no need to get preemptively worried. Let me exin a bit more before you jump to a conclusion and refuse." Shanks waved his hand and smirked. "The three of us will be a vanguard of sorts, we will extend further than the first defense line with the objective of killing or scaring off as many titan-ss monsters as possible before they evene in contact with the Sloth soldiers." "Ah...!" Hearing him say that, Mika gasped and straightened her back. "Sir, what you''re saying is...!" She spoke up in disbelief. "Yes. It''s exactly what you think. This time you are more than weed to gopletely berserk - since you''ll be far enough to not cause any damage to anyone else. And, if the situation will be too dangerous, the two of us will be there to retrieve you." Shanks added pointing at himself and the very unhappy-looking Mary. "Won''t your presence be a problem though, si-...urgh...!" The brown-haired girl asked and gritted her teeth, chewing on thest word. "I understand where your concern ising from, but don''t you think that my passive skill that annoys you so much wille in handy? Even the youngdy here is still capable of speech once she entered her enraged state, which gives us enough reason to assume that she should still be influenced by my right to rule skill. Or do you think it will be better if - when the push wille to shove - you and your griffin will be the only ones to restrained a berserk and flee while from under the attack from the titan-ss monsters at the same time?" Shanks shrugged his shoulders. "You know, I''ve heard that you yourself were quite panicked when you first encountered the undercover Sloth soldiers... maybe it is you who will turn out to be a burden?" He smirked looking down at the sitting girl. "Haa, kind sir, I didn''t say I''m not going to do it, so could you stop trying to get me riled up?" "...!" Mary''s sigh was so simr to Cranberry''s that Shanks took a step back in confusion as if the red-haired girl suddenly appeared in front of him. "Just so you know, back then it was somethingpletely different, I never expected that a bunch of fishermen would turn out to be a regr army. Now, since I''m already mentally prepared for a fight with monsters, there won''t be any more of such shameful disys, I''ll show both of you how the member of the Hope family fights!" She stood up from her seat and dered with a steel gaze. "If you don''t have to go into more details, I''ll take my leave, kind sir." She added with a scoff, managing to twist up the respectful title into mockery before walking out on the other two. "Miss Mary, don''t leave without...!" "I''ll be waiting for you two by the front gate together with my monsters - the ones left alive." Mary interrupted Shanks''s, red at the ashen-haired girl, and closed the door. "Anyway... don''t worry, youngdy. We won''t have to stop every monster by ourselves, it will be enough if we defeat even a single one before they reach the first line. But still, I will have to give you orders. I hope you won''t hold it against meter on - after all, after this quest is over, my skills and stats will get sealed again and I''ll be back to my life as just some middle-level adventurer." He spoke and bowed his head to Mika. "...N-no, you don''t have to apologize or anything, sir Shanks!" Mika shook both of her hands and hurriedly dismissed Shanks''s worries. "Honestly, I''m d that there will be someone to guide me, after all... I''m afraid of my own feelings, I find myself wanting more and more glory... And once I''m using my skills, it feels like I am the only righteous person around... I really don''t want the repeat of yesterday... " She muttered and her shoulders trembled. "Don''t worry. We won''t let that happen. We should go too. I wonder if I''ll get a titan yer title I will be allowed to keep it..." The rat-faced man assured her and gestured at the door before furrowing his brows and pondering. Chapter 212: Forefront

Chapter 212: Forefront

/06:00:00 /05:59:59 "...less than six hours remaining..." Mika breathed out and reported. "Understood." "Cool." Both Shanks and Mary acknowledged her a bit absentmindedly. Mary was standing between therge blue griffin and the big but equally skinny ck wolf, all three were staring at the fog in front of them as if hoping for something. Shanks on the other hand was sitting crosslegged on the ground and tinkering with a massive high-tech rifle that didn''t fit the fantasy world setting and was as long as he was tall. "I thought that we weren''t allowed to take their weapons...?" Mika asked ncing curiously at the shining gun. "..." Shanks nced at her and continued doing the maintenance. "This one here doesn''t belong to the army. She was made specifically for me the day I was born." He exined after a moment of silence. "Eh...?" Mika blinked a few times in confusion. "She''s different than the guns that the Sloth soldiers use, she doesn''t rely on the powers of the avatar of sloth to takes any mana. This beauty only works together with charge cannon - a skill exclusive to members of the Sloth family. My older brother made it for me, it''s a downsized version of his own weapon. It amplifies our skill multiple times before unleashing it... this is the first time I have had the chance to use it. I was never allowed to touch before I escaped, charge cannon skill is too dangerous for a child to use after all." Shanks said with a warm smile, gently caressing the gun''s side. "Oh? Sir Shanks, you have a brother?" Mika raised her brows. "But it sounds like you didn''t contact him after you arrived here." The ashen-haired girl tilted her head, making a sad face. "That''s because there is no possible way for me tomunicate with him..." "Ah! I''m so sorry...! SInce he is your older brother, that means he is a member of the Sloth family too, right? I''m sure that after all of this is over you two will get a chance to reconcile!" Mika clenched her fists and affirmed the rat-faced man with a strong-willed smile. But her upbeat demeanor met with a rather cold reception. "It''s not like he doesn''t want to talk to me. There is just no possible way for someone whose body is alive but the mind died many years ago to evenmunicate with anyone, to begin with." "Eh...?! I-I am so sorry, sir Shanks! I had no idea that..!" "No, it''s alright, I''m the one who''s sorry, this whole thing isplicated and I can''t really disclose it to the outsiders." Shanks exined and when Mika gasped and tried to apologize, he interrupted her with another exnation. "O-oh, is that so..." Still, his words left the ashen-haired girl more confused than she was before. "Hey, do you think that the titan-ss monsters wille sooner if they''ll hear a really loud voice...?" Suddenly, Mary joined their conversation, but rather than continuing the subject, she intercepted it and asked her own question. "No. I don''t suppose so, not unless it''s coupled with a very powerful taunt skill." Shanks shook his head in picked up his rifle, checking whether the optics aren''t off. "Good. You better block your ears." Mary nodded and turned to her griffin. "Blueberry, call her." She patted the griffin''s side. "SKWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The griffin''s screech tore through the air and echoed, bouncing off from the mountains hundreds of miles away. "What, for the love of system, was that?!" Shanks asked slightly louder than normal, since even though he managed to cover his ears in time, they still ended up ringing from the overwhelming volume of the screech. "I still haven''t received a message confirming Cinnamon''s death. I can''t summon or contact her but it might just be that the fog is blocking our connection and she''s still alive somewhere. If she heard Blueberry''s call and is still alive, she should try toe back here. Hopefully, our connection will be renewed somewhere along the way - that way even if she is injured, I''ll be able to get her here." "Oh... I see." Shanks nodded and picked up the gun he hurriedly put to the side before. "Whew..." Mika, who removed her hands from her ears only then, breathed out in relief. "Still, isn''t it weird? The titan-ss monsters are approaching only at a very specific time, and after the time on the timer runs out, they are leaving or trying to leave. Isn''t that very unnatural behavior?" The ashen-haired girl asked, not really expecting an answer. "There''s nothing natural about any of the titan-ss." Yet the answer did arrive straight from the owner of the Sophia skill, who was none other than Shanks. "Those beast don''t eat, they don''t drink, they don''t even multiply like any other living being. They just exist, and unfortunately, they seem to absolutely hate the intelligent races and want to exterminate them all." He frowned, making sure that the trigger mechanism isn''t janky. "Eh...? So they don''t eat people...?" Mika''s eyes widened. "Wha...? Eat people? Oh! Like in the stories used in the south to scare the naughty children? No. The titan-ss won''t eat you. They will bite and chew on you if they get a chance, but they''ll spit you out after. So try to keep away from their jaws, alright?" Shanksughed. "Though, it''s not like all of them actually have any jaws, mouth, or teeth to begin with. In the end, titan-ss monsters are just too foreign to us to truly understand them. But back to your original question - yes it is odd. Normally one or two would try and attack the defense lines every few hours or so, but since the -Final frontier- quest of yours begun they would onlye inrge groups..." But soon enough his good mood disappeared. "How much time left...?" He asked, aiming his long rifle towards the direction he expected the titan-ss monsters to arrive from. /05:39:24 "A few seconds under forty minutes." Mika reporters after checking up on the first of three timers in the upper left corner of her vision. "Thank you." Shanks nodded and took a sniping position. "Hey, kind sir, are you sure you should be doing that? Wasn''t it confirmed that even with the maximum output of the guns or whatever? it''s very hard to harm the titan-ss that started showing up since the 7th wave?" Mary asked without as much as looking in Shanks''s direction. "It''s hard but not impossible, but even so... I just exined that this one''s different. The standard ones just take mana, the difference in capabilities of soldiers can be showcased only by the number of times they can fire them. This one is directly dependant on the user''s MAT." Shanks scoffed and shrugged his shoulders, also without taking his eyes off of the horizon. "Isn''t that bad then? Weren''t you weak or something, kind sir?" Mary snorted. "..." Shanks furrowed his brows but even so, he didn''t put down the rifle. "I told the youngdy Mika once before that she is the third strongest person in the Sloth territory right now. The first one is the avatar of Sloth, of course, but the second strongest..." The rat-faced man''s expression became gentler as he rested his cheek against the cold gun of his. "The second one, at least in terms of MAT... is me - after theypletely removed the seal from my stats that is." He added withpleteposure. Chapter 213: Special 5 - a wolf in the fog

Chapter 213: Special 5 - a wolf in the fog

"...raa... (...master...) ...raa...(...I... I''m sorry...)" Therge ck wolf with shockingly long ws and umonly short jaws growled weakly, crawling through the fog while slowly inching forward, dragging her crushed hind legs behind. It was Cinnamon, after leading the 7th wave''s titan-ss monsters away from the second defense line she spent every passing hour hunting them down and killing them all. From the very beginning, she was a special one whenpared to Arion and even to Blueberry. Her determination to grow stronger and surpass everyone wasparable only to Cranberry''s. With each titan-ss monster that she felled, the next one would get a bit easier. The confusing fog was blocking the connection between her and her tamer, but Cinnamon had no time to time to spend worrying - she noticed something amazing! As soon as the EXP from the beasts she ughtered would nurture her, her body would turn slightly less beastly and her resemnce to the werewolf would increase. Cinnamon''s obsession with more humanoid forms had not just appeared all of a sudden. It didn''t even have anything to do with her natural predisposition that she had even before she became Mary''s tamed monster. The efficiency of getting stronger also wasn''t a factor. The only reason she had for that was... Love. The weak brown wolf that got the dig skill in order to survive being bullied by her own pack that abandoned her, fell in love with the blue undead who not only made her grow stronger with the effects of his hidden affinity but was the most affectionate creature that Cinnamon had ever encountered. She adored the feeling of his cold hands caressing her fur and would always try to show off to him to earn more affectionate patting and hugs. If only her brain stayed on the level of the brown frenzied wolf, those feelings would never develop further than those of a pet towards their beloved master. But every tamed monster of certain quality gets a boost to intelligence and self-awareness the moment the pact is sealed making them basically on par with humans. And Cinnamon as well as her pack members took a huge quality jump going from the weakest canine monsters right to shadow fangs, the monsters only a little less feared than dragons. That had nourished the seeds of affection into a straight-up endless forest of love. Being unable to see the object of her one-sided affection didn''t help at all since the idealized vision of him that she carried inside her heart was growing more perfect with each passing day. At first, Cinnamon was happy just as she was, the monster in the monster form. Zombie was a monster, and she was a monster, the only thing that was needed was a chance to get close - those were her thoughts before she ever tried attempting to reshape herself. But then one day, after another level up and increase in intelligence, a realization came t her. She was a beast-shaped monster, but the creature she desired was a human-shaped monster who on top of that belonged to the human that was more monstrous than any beast. Once she realized that, Cinnamon experienced the feeling of inferiority for the first time. Even with all the added intelligence, Cinnamon''s base instincts were that of a wild beast... She realized that after factoring in all the details, she wasn''t a suitable partner for the one that she longed for in her dreams, and there was someone so much more suitable for him right by his side. Because she remembered how frightening creature Zombie''s master was, Cinnamon simply couldn''t imagine herself ever winning against that woman in the unlikely case where she would challenge her for a duel for Zombie. But then an idea appeared in Cinnamon''s mind. If she can''t win a brawl for his affection, why shouldn''t she try to make herself more appealing? Although her instinct was telling her that strength and smarts should be the deciding factor in choosing a partner, her new human-like side told her thatpelling looks are of just as much importance. And so her arduous journey towards the humanoid shape has begun. Maybe if her efforts were in vain and her canine body didn''t change, she would have given up. But they weren''t. After just a few short months she developed a form that would make her bear the resemnce to the feral beastly werewolf, and once she began hunting - the angels at first, and the titan-ss monsters - her shape would be more defined and one could even say elegant. That fueled her desire to be good enough for Zombie to look at her even more. And that in turn would make her act reckless. Confident in her newfound strength and beautiful form, Cinnamon decided to finish off the remaining three monsters at the same time in order to start searching for more as soon as she could. ...that terrible decision had almost cost her her life. Or depending on how you looked at her situation, it straight up killed her. Even though she actually managed to kill the three monsters she aimed at, now, with her hind legs and back broken as well as a big part of her internal organs crushed and/or ruptured, the only thing waiting for her, was a dog''s death. No matter in which direction she tried to crawl, the confusing fog was everywhere, surrounding basically everything with a thick white veil. No matter how loud she whimpered, her tamer wasn''t able to hear her. With straight-upck of visibility of any sort, the chances of the other monsters - at least the ones still alive -?to spot her from above seemed even less than zero. In her current, pitiful state, Cinnamon could only hope for a quick death... *sniff* "...raa... (...impossible...)" Cinnamon shook her head once a certain smell entered her sensitive nose. That sensation... that smell... ...what was that human even doing in the very middle of the deepest part of the sea of mist?! She of all people had no reason to be there! "There she is." But before the short jawed wolf had enough time to think whether it was just a trick or something, three people appeared in front of her from the mist, and the light brown-haired girl smiled at the sight of the crawling wolf as if she expected her to be there. "...raa...! (...you...!)" Cinnamon gasped in shock and her eyes widened once she managed to focus on the girl, who was now crouching in front of her with a big grin on her face. "Ah! You recognize me, don''t you? That will make things a lot easier." The girl smiled and nodded her head a few times after witnessing the amusing reaction of the wounded wolf. "Hey, hey. Little Cinnamon, I have a deal for you, are you willing to listen? Just one whimper is enough to answer." The girl giggled and tilted her head. "...raa... (...why are you here...?)" Cinnamon growled weakly. "I''ll take it as a yes." Of course, the girl had misread the whimper''s meaning and put her thumb up as if congratting Cinnamon for making the right decision. "What if I told you that we could help you achieve your dream?" "...?!" The girl asked casually, making the wolf flinch. "Sorry, I''m not talking about your love life, not directly at least." She hurriedly cleared out the potential misunderstanding. "I don''t possess the power necessary to make him fall for you. But, something really amazing can be done to further your quest towards your dream body..." "...raa, raa...! (...you don''t possess even a single skill that could help with that, you battle crazy freak...!)" Cinnamon scoffed and growled angrily at the girl that seemed to be mocking her. "Oh? You are probably thinking something along the lines of: ''you don''t have any skill that could help me!'' don''t you?" The girl grinned and nodded, pping her hands in amusement. "And you''ll be right about that. I don''t." She giggled and pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the two people behind her - a tall person in a robe with arge hood from underneath which only his piercing green eyes could be seen, and a short, frail-looking androgynous person with very long red hair and piercing blue eyes. "But luckily enough for you - as long as they work together - those two most certainly do." Chapter 214: Let the hunt begin! Chapter 214 - Let The Hunt Begin! /05:11:02 Mika nced nervously at the timer, in the upper right corner of her vision, there was still time... for the first defense line that is. From their current position, the titan-ss monsters should start showing up for them any time now. Mary was crouched down, with one hand on the ground and her eyes closed as if she wanted to sense the tremble of the faraway steps of the gigantic beasts. Mika was standing straight up, clenching her fists and staring at the thick fog in the distance. As for Shanks... "Say, youngdy... I reckon that you don''t really wish to encounter more of the spider-type titan-ss, am I right?" He asked while lying on the ground, sticking close to the massive rifle looking way tooplicated to actually belong into a fantasy world. His eyes and ears were glowing with intense pale blue light instead of the usual white and it seemed that he waspletely still, his body didn''t even budge when he spoke towards the ashen-haired girl. "...! I-I...!" Mika flinched and stuttered. Even though that was already enough for an answer, she did took a deep breath and exined things further. "In my berserk stage, I won''t be able to feel fear so it will be alright, sir! I think..." She tried to make a brave smile and even seeded, but that didn''t change the fact that she basically admitted that without her ss-exclusive skill, she was very much afraid. Getting stomped by one of the arachnid''s legs and waking up over a dayter only to learn about how many people have been killed during the time that she was unconscious had clearly traumatized her. "Can''t have them walking around during today''s wave then, can we?" The rat-faced man smirked in a very nasty way as he tilted his head to aim through the optics of the rifle. "Are you saying that you can already spot the wave approaching, kind sir? Even through all that fog?" Mary did try to sound sarcastic, but instead, she ended up sounding impressed. "I was designed to counter basically every trap and problem that could arise on this very battlefield - and the higher-ups convinced the avatar to unlock all of my powers just until the waves are over and I can show off the utmost of mybat capabilities with this pretty girl right here." He said while gently patting the side of his rifle. "What would make you think that I couldn''t see through the fog?" The amount of smug was off the charts, and the confidence that the deration was spoken would make even Cranberry acknowledge it, so obviously Mary wasn''t going to retort with any snarky remark. "Ah...! They areing!" The brown-haired girl stiffened and took off her hand from the ground, ring at the horizon, a few hundred feet away from the spot that Mika was observing. "They are still slightly out of reach. I know I boasted about my MAT, but the charge cannon skill actually takes a lot of time to get ready and uses an insane amount of mana... and HP... I don''t want to waste even a single shot." Shanks responded in a serious voice adjusting his aim, only muttering through one part. "How many times will you be able to shot it before they will reach us, sir...?" Mika asked unable to hide how much her voice was trembling. "Enough to get rid of the spiders for you, kid - whoops, I meant, youngdy." Shanks smirked and giggled, concentrating all of his attention on a single spot. At that time... "£¤€¡è?>¡ê€¡ê^#"@?" A beastly roar pierced the heavens and a first titan-ss monster broke through the fog. "!!?!?!?!?!!!" Mika shuddered so hard that she had almost fallen down. Even from afar, the beast was enormous, it has had the lower body of a gargantuan spider with thick scales instead of hair and from where the head with many eyes should be, a nightmarish human-like torso without a head but with dozens upon dozens of grabby arms growing out its sides and back, all with a bloodshot golden eye in the middle of their palms, was growing. The disgusting beast''s chest was also covered with thick scales that looked way too sturdy for anything that could be grown naturally by a living body. But those were the titan-ss for you, their very existence went against nature. "Armored demon spider hybrid! Seen only once and from a much farther distance than this! Ah, what a splendid first meal for my little girl!" But when Mika and Mary were stunned by the gross appearance of the first titan-ss monster, Shanks''s smirked grew into a bloodthirsty grin as his whole body and his rifle emitted a blinding pale blue light. The next moment... *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *THUMP* The pale blue ray of light erupted from the rifle''s barrel with a low hum, while a shockwave was emitted backward by its body as it released the energy causing a cloud of dust to raise up. The perfectly visible ray of light reached its targets faster than Mika''s eyes could register it and... Pierced right through it...! "¡Â€$¡À{" The armored demon spider let out a short inhuman yelp and it keeled forward and crashed against the groundpletely lifeless. The tremors and a slight breeze reached the three humans only after a good couple of seconds. "Holly system, and here I thought that you''ve said that it will be enough for us to kill only one! With you here, we can kill every single one of them!" Mary jumped up excitedly, supporting herself on the shocked blue griffin. "...whew... haa... wait... give me a second... to recharge..." Shanks''s winded-up response was a clear enough response as to why the scenario that Mary just said was impossible. The rat-faced man wiped his forehead while gasping for air. "Sir Shanks, are you alright?!" "It''s okay." Mika hurriedly ran to him but he waved at her to stop. "You better be ready for going in... and watch out for that mysterious beam that helps the monsters... you don''t want to get hit by it... I will be fine... I can regenerate health and mana rapidly... It''s just... been a while... since I''ve used charge cannon... I need to get used to... the recoil... and pain..." Shanks''s face was beginning to regain color, but even so, he got out of breath just from speaking for a bit. "Health? Did you say health, sir? Does that skill actually takes not only your mana but your actual HP too?!" Mary was so shocked that she didn''t even try to mock the man on the ground and let his skill influence her speech. "You two don''t have to worry about anything. I''ll be sure to take down two other spider monsters before they will get in the mele range so the youngdy won''t have to be scared... the only problem is my ATK isn''t all that impressive, so closebat is out of the question for me... oh, and I got one other titan-ss behind the armored spider too, though I don''t know what kind it was." He smirked already preparing to take another shot as more and more grotesque giants kept appearing out of the fog one by one. "..." Mary looked at the wall of monsters and then back at the rat-faced man. Then she nodded to herself as if she decided on something and walked over to the short man. "What the...?!" Shanks yelped in confusion once the brown-haired girl grabbed him by the back of his chest piece and lifted him up like a kitten. "Miss Mary...?" "..." Mika stared at her wide-eyed, but the older girl frowned and walked over to her griffin while carrying Shanks and his rifle like a handbag. "Blueberry, let him ride you and fly around for as long as you can, you saw the recoil of his weapon, you can handle it, right?" Mary spoke looking straight into the violet eyes of the blue griffin. "..." Blueberry raised her hair proudly and looked down at her master. Then she looked at the rat-faced man in her arm and... "Skwee." She nodded and lowered her wing so that her master could put the bewildered Shanks on her back. "Well then, kind sir. After you''ll deal with the spiders, continue supporting us from a distance. Blueberry will keep you out of harm''s way." Mary smirked and patted the rat-faced man''s back reassuringly. "...I thought that she doesn''t allow anyone other than you to ride her, that''s why I didn''t even suggest such a thing..." Shanks was looking all around the griffin with utter confusion. "She said she''ll make an exception because you know her parents or something. Anyway, she won''t cause you trouble, right Blueberry?" "Skwee!" Mary shrugged her shoulders and Blueberry screeched in confirmation. "Fly now." The brown-haired girl said and waved her hand. *WHOOSH* Without further ado, the griffin''s wings begun glowing, and with a single p she and Shanks were already high in the sky. Chapter 215: Savage battle Chapter 215 - Savage Battle "Mika, let me tell you one thing..." "...?" Mary suddenly turned to the ashen-haired girl and spoke in a cold voice, making the younger girl flinch. "We were told that there is no need for us to kill a lot of titan-ss, but I need at least ten whole bodies of those monsters, not the shreds that are left of them after the artillery barrage at the second line. It doesn''t have to be during this wave either, so don''t think I will be risking my life or the lives of anyone else - I simply NEED ten whole titan-ss monsters'' bodies toplete a very important quest. Still, we will not be able to get that many by ourselves..." Mary said while patting the head of the massive skinny wolf, salivating by her side as he looked towards the approaching monsters. "Can I count on your cooperation?" She asked looking into Mika''s eyes. "...I... I''ll try..." The ashen-haired girl nodded and ended up agreeing. "That''s perfect then, this quest wasn''t aplete failure and a waste of time then." Mary allowed herself a little smile. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* At that moment Shank''s rifle let out a low hum from above and a ray of a pale blue light pierced right through another massive spider-type titan-ss, killing it in one shot. ... ... "Watch out. For now, don''t try to eat them from the start or the other titan-ss will crush you during your cooldown." Mary instructed her first tamed monster, the ck wolf, Arion, while patting his head affectionately. "Raor. (I know.) Raor. (I''ll try, I do want to break my curse after all.) Arion barked in response and his tail twitched nervously. "Raor. (Also, you didn''t have to lie to that girl.) Raor. (Us three could hunt ten titan-ss in the remaining three waves.)" He let out a low growl while looking up at the soaring griffin. "Maybe, but it won''t hurt to have a backup n." Mary smiled sweetly and patted the side of Arion''s neck. /05:00:01 /05:00:00 /8th monster wave - start /04:59:59 The monsters were still far away, kept at bay by the deadly aim and power of the rat-faced Shanks flying on Bluberry''s back - but the three humans just as the countless ones on the first and second lines all trembled in anticipation. When will the golden ray have its appearance again? Their forces were already decimated multiple times by the very attack that always arrived out of nowhere, will it show up again just like the day before? Who will it hit? Who will be sparred? Those were the questions that everyone was asking themselves. But despite beingunched right at the beginning of the monster wave for two days straight already, the attack didn''te even after the wave officially started. "&@:¡À€$`[??.?%" Funnily enough, the nearest titan ss seemed just as confused as the humans were, as it roared and looked over its shoulder in confusion. "Almost time, better get ready." Mary breathed out and closed her eyes. "Raor, raor. (You don''t have to do this, this skill isn''t for humans to use in the first ce.)" Arion growled and nudged Mary''s side with his cold nose. "I survived it each time we trained before, I''ll survive it now too. I can''t have some side character take all the spotlight from the heroine, can I now?" Mary opened her eyes, nced at her wolf with a smirk, and then winked. Then she looked at the ashen-haired girl who already activated her skills. The air around Mika was trembling. The crimson glow that she emitted was more simr to gas than to light in its behavior, it didn''t just radiate, it was rising up as if it was air on a scorching hot day. The young girl crackled her knuckles staring at the approaching titan-ss monsters - there was no longer any trace of fear or even hesitation in her posture and her expression could be only described as ted. She seemed to be barely containing herself from pouncing in the middle of the enemy group to wreak havoc and destruction, she was constantly clenching and opening her fists as if they were itchy to punch something. If Mary wanted to be her support, she had to prepare fast, or else the young girl would go get herself killed in record time while in fully activated berserk mode. "Fuuu..." Mary closed her eyes again and breathed out... /Begin sharing skills... /Skills selected: Blueberry: Storm talon (level 37) ; Rapid eleration (level 11) Arion: Starvation (level 14) ; Battle instinct (level 20[max]) Cinnamon: [unavable] /... /Skills share activated sessfully /Warning /Starvation skill active All base stats increased by 1400% until yer''s status will change to satieted *CRACK* *RIIIIP* "URGH!" As the messages had popped up, every bone in Mary''s body begun to crack, and each muscle got torn from the insane stat increase and she spat out blood. "MEND!" *CRACK* "GHHRGH!" She managed to shout and with an even more disgusting sound, all the injuries were forcibly healed without even a bit of anesthesia, which caused the brown-haired girl to growl out in unimaginable pain. But once the pain subsided, the short girl straightened her back and looked up at the closest titan-ss monster over thirty times her size. It had an almost fully humanoid shape, with the only exception being a whole another grossly animated face where his torso should be. It was of course naked, but thankfully it also boasted a long beard that conveniently protected the bystanders from any unwanted sight. ...could it really be called a beard though...? Anyway, thanks to the second skill she shared with her wolf, Mary had a feeling that if any monster had to be taken down first, it would definitely be that one, the mocking expression of both of its faces was just too annoying. And who knows? Maybe the monster was actually using taunt too? *BOOM* And just as Mary expected, as soon as Mika shattered the ground with her mad charge, the first opponent she chose was the two-faced giant. *SMASH* The ashen-haired girl''s fist hit right in the middle of the giant face and the monster faltered but hadn''t taken a step back! Instead, its body released a muddy glow and the eyes in his proper head begun shining with a golden light - an eerily simr color to the gigantic golden beam that decimated so many of the Sloth soldiers... And it was aiming straight at Mika who was about to punch it again. *SQUELCH* Before Mary even finished thinking about it, her body already reacted and sheunched herself at the two-faced monster. With enough strength to make her calves explode into a bloody mess, she arrived at the monster''s head just as fast as if she teleported, and tore at the beast''s glowing eyes with her right hand glowing with intense light. *SLASH* "?¡ê€???^>?%" *RIIIP* Her fingers, just as powerful as an emperor griffin''s talons cleanly cut through the titan-ss monster''s eyeballs and the monster howled in pain while Mary gritted her teeth as her fingers got ripped off one by one by the power of her own skills. *SMASH* "...¡À..." Mika, who didn''t even notice Mary''s assist, delivered another hit on the monster''s giant face and this time she managed to cause it to cave in and the beast fell. Meanwhile the airborne Mary... "MEND! ARGH!" She shouted and screamed in pain once the broken bones, flesh, tendons, and skin didn''t regenerate but instead returned to their ce and got welded together in a process more painful than getting wounded in the first ce. "One down! Ahaha!" Mika eximed happily watching the lifeless two-faced beast keel over lifelessly. "Eh...?" She tilted her head looking at the yellowish blood pouring out from the monster''s head. "I didn''t do that..." She grumbled to herself as if disappointed that she got helped. "MIKA! BEHIND YOU!" *SHING* *RIIIIP* Mary roared as she unleashed the storm talon skill from a distance, ripping off her newly reattached fingers just to cut off the tentacle-like tail of a beast-type titan-ss that was about to pierce through Mika''s back. Chapter 216: Tearing through Chapter 216 - Tearing Through "IF YOU GET TUNNEL VISION AT LEAST FACE TOWARD YOUR OPPONENTS, IDIOT! MEND! UGRRH...!" *WHAM* *CRACK* Mary howled furiously at Mika, while hitting the ground and jumping away from the foot of a three-legged titan-ss. No, take that back, that monster had legs instead of arms too so it was a five-legged beast instead. *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* And it continued stomping at the brown-haired girl with all of its feet even while the girl was suffering through the excruciating pain of her fingers getting reassembled from splinters and reattached without any anesthesia while also constantly breaking the bones in her legs to jump away far enough to not get crushed by the feet the size of two dump-trucks put together each. "...I will... rip out your intestines... you screwed up freak...!" Mary gritted her teeth and howled jumping away and leading the multilegged beast away from the rest of the approaching titan-ss monsters - she wasn''t just running away blindly, she could just jump away so far that the monster would simply lost the track of her, but instead, she chose to hop to steadily guide it to where she wanted it. "KILL THAT DAMNED THING ALREADY, ARION!" *CRACK* "MEND! GHAAARGH!" Finally, after just a few seconds that extended for a whole eternity - for Mary at least - the girl shouted and jumped away into the fog, shattering most of the bones in her lower body and instantly healing it in the roughest way possible. "..." The five-legged titan-ss tilted its tiny mouthless head and blinked with all three beady golden eyes in rapid session, just as if it understood what Mary had said but had no clue why she had said it. Then... *CHOMP* The titan-ss monster''s tiny head got encased with a ck mass and coupled with a horrifying sound got ripped off together with arge chunk of its torso. /Titan-ss monster defeated Participation percent increased The headless body took a few steps and even swung one of its additional legs as if it wanted to finish Mary in itsst moments, but in the end, the beast just ended up twitching for a few more seconds before it crashed against the ground. "Rhoah... (That damned thing barely fit in my mouth...!)" The ck wolf that appeared behind the fallen titan-ss monster had his jaws full of unidentifiable mass oozing with yellowish goop. *CRUNCH* *GULP* "Raor. (It tastes weird.) Raor. (I prefer Angels.)" Arionined but still licked the yellow goop off of the side of his mouth. "...damn it... that pain nullification skill is worthless, I still feel every single fiber that gets reconnected..." Maryid on her back and sighed, covering her eyes with her arms. "..." Arion looked at her in silence. "...is that berserk idiot still alive?" She asked even though she knew that if Mika died she would receive a message about the quest failure. "Raor. (She''s holding on surprisingly well.) Raor, raor. (I think your words had an effect on her.)" The wolf reported sounding impressed and surprised in equal measure. "...fine, if that''s the case I''ll go back there." Mary sighed and got up. *BOOM* *RIIIP* The next moment she already exploded her legs and was flying through the foggy sky, leaving a trail of blood behind. Mika was holding on quite well, but that didn''t mean she was winning. The monsters attacking her were far tougher than those from the previous wave and she couldn''t just finish them off in one punch, she needed at least two or even three clean hits. And for that, she needed to not be constantly interrupted by other titan-ss monsters trying to kill her. Unluckily for her, the intelligence of the gigantic monsters was increased with every wave and now they were fully capable ofing up with a n to counter her power on the spot - a simple but devastatingly effective hit and run. Only not in the way humans would do it. Those beasts retreated attacked relentlessly until they were hit once - just once - and when they did, they would get away from the girl and charge towards the first defense line with reckless abandon. Mika couldn''t stop them, because she had to constantly watch out for the new ones that kept showing up from the fog, and even Shanks couldn''t do much while recharging between shots - in this situation Blueberry woulde in handy but it wasn''t like the air waspletely safe either. *?¡è?????¡ê€?€$€* *%^???¡ê£¤€¡À[`* *^|¡À¡ê]€£¤¡À* The titan-ss monsters waiting for a chance to get Mika were shooting the downsized versions of the golden beams from their eyes in the meantime, all aimed at the emperor griffin and her rider. Blueberry had no other choice but to concentrate on dodging and keeping the rat-faced man on her back safe, she couldn''t counter even if she wanted. "ARGH! YOU DAMNED BEASTS! STOP RUNNING AWAY!" Mika roared when the cancer-bear hybrid skulked away after a hit that should have most definitely kill any ordinary living creature and threw herself after it just to be tackled from the side by a gigantic eyeball on feeble-looking stick-like legs. *SLAM* As the ashen-haired girl was smashed into the ground, the giant eyeball focused its iris on her and begun glowing with a bright golden light. *RIIIIP* *CRACK* "MEND!* *CRACK* "URRRGH!" But before the abomination could either blink or properly unleash its additional attack its stick-like legs got severed by Mary who appeared out of nowhere followed by a bloody mist. "?¡À€£¤¡ê¡À¡è¡è>.^%%??¡è¡À¡Â" The girl lost her whole right arm in the process, but it was worth it - the castle-sized eyeball monster unleashed a pained roar as it got toppled revealing a tiny mouth at the very bottom of its freaky body. "GET IT NOW!" Mary growled at Mika who was just barely beginning to stand up. "Eh...? A...ah! Yes!" The ashen-haired girl flinched and hurriedly nodded. She thenunched herself in the air just to stuck the iling eyeball titan-ss monster with a meteor-like fist that ended up splitting the beast''s body revealing that the eyeball was in fact full of gooey yellowish intestines. "Mend. Urgh...!" Mary arrived at Mika''s side and activated her skill which caused her wounds to close up as if it was a video yed in reverse. "Don''t get distracted kid! You don''t have to kill them all! If they want to be weakened and die under the artillery on the second defense line - let them do that!" She scoffed, looking down at the ashen-haired girl. "But... you said you want me to help you kill at least ten of them...!" Mika clenched her fists and spoke through her teeth. "In total! That''s including the next two waves! I already got one and we still have more than four hours Don''t rush it, or you''ll die!" Mary frowned and shook her head. Chapter 217: 8th wave completed

Chapter 217: 8th wavepleted

/00:02:41 "I-it''s almost over..." Mika gasped, breathing heavily while sprawled on the ground, all tired and beaten up. Summing up the monsters who died from Shanks, Mika, Mary, Arion, and Blueberry''s joint effort, nine in total fell before they''ve even reached the first defense line. As for all the others, as soon as they were even nicked by any of the five, they would rush forward,pletely focused on getting to the second defense line as if they didn''t want to give even a slither of experience to the forward group. In the end, the three humans and two monsters - more than simply exhausted -id in wait by the possible retreat route for the monsters - though, with how keen all of the 8th wave''s titan-ss monsters were to run headfirst into the deadly artillery fire, it was doubtful whether there will be any titan-ss that would be even able to retreat. "Their behavior is really odd... even those freaks of nature never acted in such crazy way before..." Shanks shook his head, resting his giant rifle on his skinny shoulder after jumping off of the blue emperor griffin. Out of everyone there, the rat-faced man was the one in the worst state. As he revealed after some questioning, the sloth''s charge cannon was ridiculously overpowered but at the cost of chipping away not only at the user''s mana, but at their health too. Even with health and mana regeneration, there was no way to continuously use it for a prolonged time. "..." He began patting Blueberry''s side with a cloudy expression. ...but while staying on the subject of the powerful attacks that could only be used sparingly... /00:00:00 Up until the very end, the terrifying golden beam that became the nightmare of each and every human on the battlefield for the past few days never arrived. /Quest update *push back the 8th monster wave (00:00:00) pleted) Reward: Calcting the reward... (8/11pletion - rank upgrade) /Reward granted Human ?? Human(+) [Level cap upgraded Status point cap upgraded Skills cap upgraded Affinities cap upgraded Titles cap upgraded] What came instead was a message for the two girls showing them something rather ridiculously over the top. "Human(+)...? Did... did you two got the same reward as I did...?" Mika''s eyes widened and she even forced herself to get up and looked at the others amongst who the brown-haired girl was no less shocked than she was - but that wasn''t the same for the rat-faced man. "It didn''t even show us the participation percentage this time..." Mary tilted her head in confusion, staring at her messages - since she was a tamer, she also saw the messages that popped up for Blueberry and Arion. "Sorry, I don''t have that quest active - remember? But I will check it for you in with Sophia." Shanks shook his head and smirked, before closing his eyes as his body begun glowing pale blue. "What are you...?" Mika and Mary looked at each other in confusion, but the rat-faced man didn''t pay them any mind. "...nothing... Sophia knew nothing about such thing! Nothing showed up even when I directly asked about human(+)...!" Shanks clicked his tongue and clenched his fists on his rifle. "Hey, kind sir, sorry to disturb you, but didn''t you say that you will be keeping an eye on any stragglers that would try to get back into the mountains?" Mary groaned and pointed behind her with her thumb. "What stragglers? Every titan-ss chose to be the mincemeat under the artillery fire on the second line. Those beasts truly are crazy, why would theypletely changed their pattern sote into the quest?" Shanks shook his head in disbelief and red behind Mary''s arm - where the thunder of the artillery and shes of the explosions were piercing through the fog. Up until this very wave, with the exception of the 7th one where the monsters were all led away, the titan-ss monsters would all retreat once the quest timer turned to zero - the beasts wouldn''t even react if someone attacked them from behind, the surviving ones would simply ran away to return at the forefront of the next wave. ...yet all monsters of the 8th wave chose death... "...there was something really weird about it... that none of them tried to back away... as if they had no reason to return anymore..." Mary furrowed her brows and pinched her lips deep in thoughts. "Raor. (They seemed just mad to me.)" The ck wolf, Arion, looked away and growled with indifference. "Skwee. (There was no pride in today''s big uglies.) Skwee. (The ones before felt like they were having a purpose.) Skwee. (Those today just seemed desperate.) Therge blue griffin, Blueberry, had a slightly different, more insightful, take on the situation. "Raor? (Desperate?) Raor, raor? (Like what, do they know that the quest is about to end and want to win at all cost or something?)" "Skwee. (Yes, especially the fast one that arrived at the very end.)" "...!" Hearing the exchange between her tamed monsters, Mary ended up flinching as she realized something. "Your familiars seem very talkative, what do they think about this whole mess?" Shanks asked curiously looking at the two monsters and their master. "..." Mary red at him but in the end, she sighed and exined. "They suspect that the titan-ss monsters are aware that the end of our quest is near and are getting desperate to break through our defenses..." She groaned and startedbing her hair with an uneasy expression. "Oh, isn''t that good then? If they are getting desperate that means that our chances are pretty good, right? That''s why they are panicking!" Mika smiled and pped her hands. "..." Sadly, she was the only one there who saw their position as a favorable one. "Young miss, this wasn''t the final wave - as always, there will be more titan-ss monsters toe. What if the ones from the next wave willpletely ignore us and just rush straight for the third defense line?" Shanks asked with a sour expression. "Then they will get blown apart by the artillery... isn''t that what you told me, Miss Mary?" "...so you haven''t noticed... ah, right, you were incapacitated for most of the 7th wave..." Mary furrowed her brows and nced at the rat-faced man. "Noticed what?" The ashen-haired girl tilted her head in confusion. Shanks looked back at the brown-haired girl and nodded. "The number of the defense and attack-oriented titan-ss monsters that we fought today disproportionately smallerpared to the ones from yesterday''s wave that Cinnamon had led away. And as you could see, or would see if you paid attention, most of the ones that showed up were more agile and speedy." He exined turning towards Mika. "What will we do if the next wave is made out of only the speed-oriented ones? And faster ones than those today?" "...!" He added and Mika understood what he and Mary were implying. "And we can''t forget about the golden beam either. Why hasn''t it arrived today? What if - and I hope to the system that I am wrong on that - what if whatever is shooting those beams can stockpile the charges and is preparing to unleash two at once for tomorrow or even three during thest wave...?" Shanks''s words send chills down the spines of everyone else... Chapter 218: At night

Chapter 218: At night

After the end of the 8th wave, no one could truly rest easy. The tension in the air was so thick that it could choke anyone who dared to breathe in too deeply. The fear of the unknown was slowly creeping its way into the hearts of even the bravest Sloth soldier who spent their entire lives on the front line. Was it even necessary to mention how the fresh new soldiers and recruits pushed into the first line of defense were feeling? Let''s just say that the Dandelions were literally swarmed by the younglings looking for any kind of support. And it wasn''t just because of Shank''s presence either. "You know Ure-ure? This really affirms my conviction that I would like to create a ce for kids without a home." The ck-haired elf, Lairs, smiled gently as she made sure that thest child is tugged in, and whispered to the big woman who was checking up on the other children in the meeting hall that got turned into one big bedroom since none of the young soldiers were able to fall asleep in their cramped quarters. "Lairs, I''m happy for you but that still is a pretty rude thing to say... they all do have a home." Therge woman made aplicated expression and whispered back. "True... fine. I want to make a ce where kids wouldn''t have to be so scared for their lives that they won''t be able to fall asleep at night." The elven mage shrugged her shoulders and muttered. "...yes, that would be nice..." That made Uresha sigh and nod. "...I can''t believe that this is the ce where our Shanks grew up. Well, not here exactly but you know what I mean." She fidgeted and made an awkward smile as she changed the subject. "Yeah... though I found it crazier that he managed to escape this ce when he was still a child! Could you imagine that?" Lairs shuddered at the thought. "Yes, after seeing what is going on in this ce, I can finally understand why he was so twitchy and careful for the first few years in our vige." The big woman rubbed her forearm and looked down dispirited. "I wish I knew earlier..." She added. "Well, I don''t." Lairs shrugged her shoulders and responded bluntly. "...?"" Which made Uresha raise her brows in confusion. "Hey, I''m not a softhearted girl like you, Ure-ure. I''m not going to bullshit you, if Shanks told me back then that he was a runaway noble from the territory where the weakest monster can kill the strongest person I knew back then with ease, I would have noped the fuck out and never tried to talk to him again!" Lairs once again shrugged her shoulders and opened her arms with an expression that clearly stated that how things were. "Lairs, you are cursing again." Uresha sighed and pointed out. "I am? Fuck... no! I meant fudge...!" The elf flinched and clicked her tongue. "...this whole kids-friendly way of speaking might be over my capabilities after all... not to mention that trying to be an elf who doesn''t curse reminds me of my bitch of a mother to boot!" She clenched her fists with a scowl. "You want to talk about it? The boys should be able to manage the situation without us now, right?" Uresha asked and looked around with a smile. All the young soldiers were asleep, and in fact, the same went for the male half of the Dandelions'' group. Both Shanks and Rotte looked like they were deep asleep whilepletely surrounded by the youngest and most clingy children. Rotte was the one surrounded by most kids, but whether it was because he wasn''t as intimidating as Shanks with his right to rule passive, or simply because Rotte''s built was more simr to a cuddly teddy bearpared to the skinny Shanks - it was hard to say. The two women smiled at each other and left the crowded meeting hall. "Do you think that after their special quest is over, the Wraths will start looking for youngdy Cranberry and Zombie again?" ...but as soon as they made sure that no one is listening in on them their conversation topic and the tone of their voices shifted into very serious ones. "Yeah, Ure-ure, that''s more than certain. Their family reputation is at stake." The women looked at each other and let out a synchronized sigh. "I''m quite happy that youngdy didn''t tell us anything about where are they nning to go, at least I can''t identally let it slip." Uresha let out a weak embarrassed smile. "Whether we know her whereabouts or not isn''t the problem! I was pretty calm about those royal investigators looking for them because I was sure that if worsee to worst, the two of them would be able to deal without any problem. But that ashen-haired girl... you''ve seen her fight off all those enormous monsters, right? Would youngdy Cranberry be able to do the same? What if the two will end up fighting?" Lairs furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "...honestly, after what Shanks, miss Mary, and young miss Mika showed us today, I am no longer certain about youngdy Cranberry''s chances..." Uresha made a worried expression and breathed out. "If they will catch her and bring her to the capital, there will be a huge uproar... we shouldn''t have listened to her and burn the guilt confession she wrote instead of giving it to the adventurers guild..." Lairsined and clenched her fists. "Yes..." Uresha nodded. "We might have started on a bad note and she ended up ckmailing us but... for fuck''s sake it''s thanks to her that I am here... fuck me.. youngdy Cranberry might be fucked up in the head like no other, but the one thing in which she is better than anyone else is keeping her word... fuck, am I going crazy? When we were traveling together I always wanted her to just fuck off, but since she''s missing I''m worried about her as if she was one of us..." Lairsined and ducked by the wall shaking her head in disbelief. Chapter 219: Right before the 9th wave

Chapter 219: Right before the 9th wave

Far in front of the first defense line, Mary, Shanks, and Mika were preparing themselves for intercepting as many titan-ss monsters from the 9th wave as they could. While Shanks''s and Mika''s preparations were rather peaceful when it came to Mary... *CRUNCH* "MEND...!" *CRUNCH* "...urgh...!" ...even listening to her made the other two flinch, needless to say, looking at her while her body was ripping itself apart from the insane stat boost. "...sorry for the disgusting performance. Though, I must say, it wasn''t as painful as usual... I guess that being human(+) is actually doing something useful." The brown-haired girl smiled, wiping the faint trail of blood from the corner of her mouth. "Right? I also feel slightly different! My body doesn''t fight back against my strength anymore!" Mika hurriedly jumped on the subject that allowed her to not talk about near-death experiences even before they face any enemy. "But is it wise to do it half an hour before the wave starts...? It is very taxing on your body right?" She fidgeted nervously, ncing at the brown-haired girl. "Oh, it''s the other way around, actually. It''s better for me to adjust in peace instead of jumping straight into the action - even with the improvement that the rank-up did to me." Maryughed and waved her hand dismissively. "Speaking about the rank up, maybe I should tell my senior about it, I bet she will be interested. Or I better not... she would die for a chance to get stronger like that and would try and get her rank upgraded too, and end up getting herself in trouble. Don''t you think so too?" Mary tilted her head and turned to her two monsters. "Skwee. (I don''t care, either way, I don''t like that woman at all.)" "Raor. (She is way too bossy and annoying...)" Neither the massive emperor griffin nor therge but horribly skinny ck wolf did seem to like the person that Mary mentioned and just looked away after short, dismissive answers. "Oh, I doubt that anyone would actually want to trade ces with us if she knew what is going on here, unless they werepletely crazy... Who is that senior of yours anyway?" Even Shanks joined the conversation - with that it was clear that every single one of them was nervous about the next wave and tried their best to take their minds off of it for as long as possible "Oh, she''s one of the students of my adopted father, she''s a really crude girl but her strength is really something. Well, at least for the southern standards..." Mika exined with a sour even expression. "I can think about someone who''s just like that too." Shanks nodded to himself and shrugged his shoulders, thinking about a certain red-haired girl. "No. I don''t think you can. My senior is really something else. She is a really odd person, when I asked her about the reason for what she needs to be that strong, she said that there are two reasons." Mary tilted her head and put up her index finger. "First of all, apparently her younger brother got killed by some nobles a few years ago - nobles who never got punished for what they''ve done, and there wasn''t even a body left to bury, so you know there was some really suspicious business going down- my senior wants to be so strong that she can get her revenge and get away with it." "What noble would do something so horrible?!" Mika gasped, filled with a wave of righteous anger. "I think that my senior knows the answer for that, but she never revealed it to me." Mary shook her head and then raised her middle finger. "Second, and oddly enough, more important reason - ording to my senior herself at least - somewhere in this world lives a reincarnation of her most beloved person from her previous life, and she has to get stronger than anyone else to save him." She sighed and rolled her eyes as she spoke as if even she herself was fed up with her senior''s shenanigans. "...alright... So, she fits the crazy part after all... reincarnation, huh... it seems that someone has their priorities set in an... intriguing order..." Mika looked away taken aback. "Putting aside the oundish stuff like previous lives and reincarnation, what is she supposed to save that person from...?" Shanks asked slightly curious. "That she didn''t exin. She''s really secretive at times, and her timing for that is really odd - she''s not very good at the role she got from the system either, you want to know what that is?" "...?" Mary asked making the other two look at her patiently. "She''s the heroine support character. So, you know, my support character. But I don''t really recall her ever supporting me - though she did make me drop using the whip as a tamer should, although unintentionally, because of how much she was pushing into training it and scolding me for training in any other way than she devised. Something about min-maxing and meta or whatever. Still, it''s also because of her that I know proper manners, even though she herself never bothered to learn them. She''s weird like that." Mary ended her speech with a defeated sigh and shook her head from side to side. "...we still have time but the monsters are already approaching..." /05:19:57 /05:19:56 She added with a sour expression - reacting to the tremors that were shaking the earth underneath their feet - looking at the upper right corner of her vision right at the first of twost timers counting down relentlessly. "Whew, that was... interesting." Shanks scoffed and smirked, picking up the enormous rifle that didn''t belong to the fantasy setting of their world at all. "Now, Miss Mary, young miss Mika, with your permission miss Blueberry and I will take to the skies to assure that none of you will have the chance to check whether the reincarnation that miss Mary''s senior believes in so strongly, is real or not." He giggled and approached the blue griffin. "Will you lend me your help today too?" The rat-faced man asked the emperor griffin with a serious expression and bowed his head. "Skwee. (Just don''t fall off, scrawny human.)" Blueberry screeched proudly and lowered one of her wings so that Shanks could have an easier time getting on her back. "Well then..." After safely assuming his sniping position, Shanks nodded at the two girls on the ground and smirked without much positivity. "Let''s hope that we were wrong about our predictions about this wave." *WHOOSH* He sighed and Blueberry chose that moment to take off with just a single p of her powerful wings. "..." "Lets." As Mary nodded in silence, Mika voiced her confirmation, and her body began glowing red the next moment. Chapter 220: 9th wave (1) Chapter 220 - 9th Wave (part 1) ... Most of the titan-ss monsters didn''t even pay attention to the forward group and just ran straight ahead. Even though many of the beasts didn''t mean to trample them, they sure came close... "Why are none of them humanoid types?!" Mary growled furiously shing the tendons of yet another gigantic beast looking like a crossbreed between a wingless moth and a tiger with enormous human-like arms instead of legs. "?¡è??>¡ê€€" The beast screeched as its hind arms lost their strength but even so the creature still tried to crawl forward with its many bloodshot golden eyes staring at the defense lines where the Sloth soldiers were preparing for them. *CHOMP* Out of nowhere, a terrifying mass of darkness engulfed the beast''s head and chopped it perfectly clean - with all the steaming yellow insides perfectly visible. "Raor... (Ugh, disgusting...)" Arion gulped down the massive bite as he jumped out of Mary''s shadow and then shook off as if getting rid of some filth that stuck to his fur. "You caninter, I spotted one with a humanoid torso, maybe it will be enough to count!" Mary clearly wasn''t in the mood for the culinary discussion since she just straight up jumped on the wolf''s back and forcibly turned his head towards the monster of interest. "RAOR! (AH, AND THAT''S WHAT I''M TALKING ABOUT!)" Arion roared and his eyes glowed with an insatiable hunger and his body let out a faint orange light right before he charged at half humanoid titan-ss monster, while his master was hitching a ride on his back. With the borderline insane amount of agility, the two of them had no trouble with maneuvering between tens of gigantic paws, feet, and hands stomping all around them during a mad dash. "They killed another one with ease but instead of getting the next weakest one, or helping the little Mika, they are off to a strong titan-ss. Are your friends trying to aplish some other quest during this mess?" High up in the sky, just low enough to still see the earth and the monsters down below, Shanks aimed his rifle at the ground and asked the blue griffin he was riding on "Skwee." The indifferent screeched sounded just as if Blueberry shrugged without any interest... *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* "¡Â$€?¡è%??¡ê" *WHAM* ...right before unleashing a flurry of storm talons right at the humongous reptile with jaws full of eyes instead of teeth, and sessfully making the monstrosity trip and fall down face first right under the hooves of the one-eyed deer with antlers made of humanoid hands - which said monster crushed the reptile-like titan-ss without even trying to dodge its brethren. "Nice one! But if I may, please try keeping a steady flight for the next twenty seconds." Shanks whistled impressed and patted Blueberry''s neck. "...I need to save the little miss..." He sighed while carefully taking aim. Mary and Arion had an overwhelming speed and reaction time. Blueberry and Shanks were in the air, and with the monsters concentrating on the blind charge, it was apletely safe space with no golden beams shooting everywhere like it was during the previous wave. That would left Mika... The ashen-haired girl with overwhelming status points and a body that could bear with the status modifiers of her skills. Unluckily for her, one of the main skills she used was a berserk''s ss enrage, more well known as simply going berserk. While it halved the damage she received while doubling her attack power, it certainly didn''t do anything good for Mika''s perception and awareness of her own position... "GHUAH...! YOU DAMNED BEAST! I''LL RIP YOU TO SHRE- KHUGHUAH!" Mika was shouting furiously and breaking limbs as many titan-ss monsters as she could while being kicked around like a rubber ball. If it wasn''t such a horrible sight to behold, the act itself could be even considered as funny. Unfortunately, that rubber ball bouncing around and getting more and more damaged to the point of bleeding from her nose, mouth, ears, and even eyes, was the only person who couldn''t be allowed to die under any circumstances - which she seemed to be getting closer and closer by each second. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* But then a low hum resounded through the skies and a ray of death descended from above, piercing right through the humongous centipede-like titan-ss monster and making its crumbling body ount t like a cushion or a catching glove for the ragdolling girl. "...kuhah...! Took you long enough...!" Mika spat out a mouthful of blood and red angrily at the blue spot high above her in the foggy sky. Certainly, her situation wasn''t making her any kinder. Thankfully, the thunder of the artillery strikes resounded just at the right moment so that Shanks didn''t hear her since he hurriedly deactivated the detection skill that relied on his ears to protect himself from going deaf. Still... "Already?!" The rat-faced man didn''t have the time to consider Mika''s feelings. While still lightheaded from his HP and MP getting rapidly drained to fuel the powerful ranged skill, he looked back towards the first line of the defense in utter shock. The titan-ss monsters were running like mad, true, and he knew that their little group wasn''t really enough to stall even half of them even if they were incredibly lucky - but it literally took no time at all for the monsters who blew past them to tear right through the first defense line! Were the soldiers there even trying to even slow down the oing monsters?! Because it certainly looked like they just let them right into the second line! With no consideration for their brothers in arms behind the third line who had to aim the cannons at the approaching monsters! "The three-defense line system was devised for a reason, system damn it!" Shanks let out his anger by growling through his teeth and clenching his shaking hands on the rifle still scorching hot from the previous shot. "Skwee!" The blue griffin screeched and shook her head so that the tips of her feathers smacked against Shanks''s face. "WHAT?!" The rat-faced man asked angrily but the answer came instantly, though not from the Blueberry... "GHUH!" Mika grunted as she became airborne - swatted away by the feline titan-ss monster with teeth instead of fur and a single eye instead of the mouth, which she missed while attacking the horse-like titan-ss with multiple grabby arms growing out of its eye sockets - and flew by close enough for the griffin and her rider to hear her cry. "Oh for the love of system! WHY ISN''T MARY WATCHING HER AS SHE PROMISED?!" Shanks shouted furiously and felt his lifeforce being sucked away as he overdrew his power in order to use the charge cannon skill twice in the span of a few seconds to shot the beast with a jaw like a meatgrinder already spread open - that was clearly anticipating for the ashen-haired girl. Chapter 221: 9th wave (2) Chapter 221 - 9th Wave (part 2) *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* The low hum of the rifle reverberated through the air, killing the monster that then crashed to the earth with great force... "NO! Blueberry! Catch her!" Shanks screamed in desperation, weakened to such a degree that he could barely hold on to the giant weapon. The monster he killed... wasn''t the beast with the meatgrinder-like jaws but another one, that THREW ITSELF IN THE WAY OF THE ATTACK AND BLOCKED IT WITH ITS OWN BODY SACRIFICING ITS LIFE. "SKWEE!" The emperor griffin screeched with affirmation and her body glowed violet. *SWOOSH* *CHOMP* With the burst of eleration, Blueberry managed to swipe the falling ashen-haired girl from literal jaws of death. "Gah...! I would have survived that!" Instead of gratitude, the first words that left the mouth of the young girl were aint. "Bullshit. Even your skill won''t let you survive with all your limbs torn off. Did you forgot that you need to be alive for the sessful questpletion?" Shanks wasying t on Blueberry''s back, pale as a ghost, as he scolded the ashen-haired girl who was glowing red while embraced by strong talons. "..." Mika looked away and gritted her teeth. "Maybe you should stay with us for a while, deactivate your skills and cool off... Good job miss Blueberry." Shanks advised the berserk girl and patted the side of emperor griffin''s neck, grateful for her quick reaction. Then he concentrated on the mayhem down below. With his empowered skills, it was easy for him to spot Mary and Arion... They didn''t seem to be doing too well... Somehow the titan-ss monster that they chose to fight turned out to be far more resilient than they could ever anticipate and Mary was constantly losing the short bouts and retreating to restore her broken body while Arion''s all-devouring darkness would just leave very shallow wounds on the half-humanoid beast''s body. "Idiots! What are they''re trying to aplish?! Out of every single freak in this wave, that thing is one that should definitely be left for the artillery to deal with!" Shanks shook his head in disbelief and already started taking aim at the abhorrent monstrosity to help the duo. "KGH...!" But as he wanted to prepare for the next shot he suddenly coughed up a scary amount of ck blood and his body trembled. "Damn it...! Too much too soon..." The rat-faced man growled to himself and clenched his fists on the rifle. He had to wait, if he tried using the charge shot in too quick session, he risked dropping dead at any given moment. "Skwee...?! SKWEEEE!" Suddenly, Blueberry screeched greatly disturbed, and almost threw Shanks off. "WHOA! Are you alright?! What happened?! Did you got hit by one of the distance att...?! MIKA, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" The rat-faced man gasped and managed to hold on to the griffin''s back by pure chance, and as he ducked and grabbed on to Blueberry''s feathers as hard as he could, he noticed the reason for the sudden violent and unpredictable movement... It was all because the ashen-haired girl not only didn''t listen to him telling her to cool off but instead ended up prying Blueberry''s talons open - going as far as BREAKING OFF one of them and causing the griffin''s blood to spray all around in the air - and after freeing herself in such a disgusting way, she jumped straight down at the titan-ss monster that Mary and Arion struggled with. "I''LL HELP!" The ashen-haired girl shouted as the shining condensed mana coiled around her fist before she smashed it against the gigantic monster''s shoulder - missing the head due to the inability to maneuver in the air. "¡è?^|¡À¡ê¡ê€$>¡Â?`£¤" The monster howled as its right arm fell limply to his side and yellow blood poured out from the horrible wound caused by the broken bones piercing through its muscles and skin. "MISS MARY! NOW WE CAN FINI- GHUAH!" *CRUSH* Mika shouted happily with a bloodthirsty smile a mere second before Mary jumped up towards her and pped her face so hard that the ashen-haired girl momentarily lost all of her senses and once she regained them, she found herself at the bottom of a small crater. "YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! TOUCH BLUEBERRY AGAIN AND I WILL RIP OUT YOUR INTESTINES AND LEAVE THEM FOR MONSTERS TO FEED ON!" Mary growled at her from the edge above and instantly disappeared, leaving a faint cloud of bloody mist behind. "Ah...!" The impact made Mika deactivate her skills so in the moment of rity she gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. She felt something wet and looked at her palms, there was blood on her swollen cheek - but it wasn''t her own, instead, it was Mary''s from when she burst her hand on Mika''s face as well as the blood from Bluberry''s wound. "...what am I doing...?" Mika''s chin trembled and her eyes begun stinging with tears. In her berserk state, she hurt one of her allies. Suddenly she clenched her fists and shook her head. "No! I can''t be distracted by things like that! Even if it''s an ally, it''s just a monster! There is a much more important thing to take care of now!" Mika frowned, unknowingly stepping on a very dangerous path... /Role specific achievement (ultimate route''s exclusive) unlocked Justice is blind /Justice''s Wrath skill upgrade Enrage (level 11) ??? Righteous Wrath (level 1) Base status points increased "...!" Mika flinched and her eyes widened. "That''s right... I am in the right... I''m Justice''s Wrath! I am not in the wrong here!" She nodded to herself and clenched her fists. She reactivated her skills, the special upgraded version of the enrage made her feel much more powerfulpared to before and she didn''t felt that her head was all foggy anymore either! This was perfect! Mika face twisted in a confident smile - she felt like there was nothing that could stop her now! "WHO''S NEXT?!" She jumped out of the crater and roared. *?¡Â€¡À?|¡è?.?>^ ?€`_€?]??%?¡ê$?.* "...eh...?" ...just in time to witness when a silhouette of something that had to be a living mountain - because nothing else could exin its gargantuan size -unched a swiping golden beam from high above, so high that it was impossible to tell which was the exact point of origin of the attack due to the amount of mist... "What is going on?" Mika asked dumbfounded - the beam wasn''t aimed at her nor any other of the forward attack force, instead, it looked like the silhouette of the monster was aiming somewhere far behind them... So far that its target could only be... "THAT THING DESTROYED THE WHOLE THIRD DEFENSE LINE! THE ARTILLERY IS COMPLETELY GONE!" Only Shanks''s horrified shout full of desperation let her know what truly happened. ...there was no backup anymore... The realization dawned at Mika and even her improved skills couldn''tpletely drown the fear that grasped her heart. ...no safety of the lucky titan-ss monsters getting blown to shreds while charging through the second defense line... /02:29:56 /02:29:55 The proper procedure of dealing with the titan-ss monsters that was seemingly set in stone for hundreds of years gotpletely decimated by a never seen before beast in a little bit under two and a half hours before the end of the -Final frontier- quest''s 9th wave. Chapter 222: 9th wave (3) Chapter 222 - 9th Wave (part 3) For a moment the world seemed to stop. The three humans, the two tamed monsters, the tens of titan-ss monsters - even the mist itself - becamepletely still. They all just stood there, stunned out of their mind. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Then the sound of an enormous explosion resounded thorough the area, followed by a shockwave that stirred the mist as it blew past all the beings still unable to grasp the situation. That attack, that beam - it was pure insanity, it was nothing like all the previous golden beams that killed so many Sloth soldiers in the past days. It was far, far stronger, far more horrifying... and the destruction that they''ve brought couldn''t even bepared. "...it''s over..." Shanks''s weak gasp was perfectly audible in the heavy silence that befell the area. The rat-faced man himself almost fell off the blue griffin slowly descending towards the earth. ...the thing was, he wasn''t looking back trying to see through the fog to confirm with his own eyes what the sophia skill had already told him... No. He was looking forward, in the direction where the titan-ss monsters wereing from. Why? *THUMP* "%¡è¡è{¡À¡è¡À¡ê`{_" Because the outrageous monster that dwarfed all the others stepped out from the fog and its bellowing roar made the stomachs of all the living churr. As if that was amand, all the stagnant up until then titan-ss monsters restarted their mad charge towards the first defense line. "...that thing is even taller than the tower of Patience..." Shanks spoke unable to pull his eyes away from the creature whose height could only bepared to the skyscraper''s from Zombie''s previous life, he didn''t even notice the beasts passing below them. "Hurry! We need to bring that thing down as soon as possible!" Mary sounded as desperate as Shanks was feeling but instead of giving up, she dodged the oing titan-ss monsters - which all looked like toddlerspared to the gigantic monster sluggishly making its way towards them. "Hey! Kind sir! We have no time to waste! Shoot that thing''s legs as soon as you''re ready! Blueberry, try to hold on for a bit longer! We can''t back out now!" But she didn''t just end on that, she jumped toward her griffin and the rat-faced man and once she grabbed onto Blueberry''s healthy front paw she pointed at the gigantic beast with a single tremendous golden eye taking up three-quarters of its face. "It shoot its once per wave beam just now, right? We have to make it fall!" The urgency in her voice wasmendable but itpletely didn''t make sense to Shanks. "What is the point anyway?! Look at this!" He emerged from the depths of despair just to turn around and point at the tens of monsters running straight ahead through the first defense line and into the second defense line and not being shot at since the artillery no longer existed. "We''ve failed! Without the artillery, the monster wave will break through!" He spat out angrily and looked away with a bitter expression. "You''re talking some bold things for someone who doesn''t even have the right quest active!" Mary shouted back to him and pointed her index finger at her right eye. "Once that thing showed up I got an emergency quest telling me to kill it - that emergency quest stopped the -Final frontier- quest''s timer!" "...!" She eximed urgently, pointing at the overwhelming monstrous beast, causing the rat-faced man to flinch and stare at her wide-eyed. "So what you''re saying is...!" He gasped. "That if we just incapacitated this abomination - but not kill it - we will gain time to hunt down all the other titan-ss monsters that passed us! The artillery is gone but the mist is still working! It will confuse them, right?! There is still hope for us!" Mary grasped Shanks by the armor and shook him up with eyes glowing not with the light of the skill but with the strong conviction and the will of iron. "...if it''s like that, then your n might work... If you didn''t receive the message about failing the quest... We still have all the Sloth soldiers on our side...!" The rat-faced man gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his beloved weapon. "You try to cut its tendons, I will shot at its ankles and knees, and if those injuries won''t be enough, Mika should be able to knock it off bnce with her Justice''s punch!" Mary''s hope was highly contagious and got Shanks rearing to go back into action. "Right, that idiot... where even is she right no..." "DIE YOU BASTARD!" Mary''s words got interrupted by a blood-curling shout. "What, in the name of the system?!" "Oh, for FUCK''S SAKE!" The two of them shouted - Mika still somehow minding her manners while Shanks showed that he spends too much time around the potty-mouthed Lairs - and looked toward the direction it came from just to witness the tiny, ashen-haired dot pulsating with a blinding red light while flying upwards towards the colossal cyclops''s head. "WHAT IS THAT IDIOT DOING?!" It was hard to say who hurt their throat more shouting at the young girl who didn''t even nce at them - though it was hard to say whether she actually even heard them in the first ce considering how much the air had to be howling into her ears due to the speedy ascend. "If we don''t coordinate our attacks, that thing will never...!" Mary gritted her teeth, ring at the faraway Mika but then... ...the unthinkable happened... Mika ended up not reaching the cyclops''s head, her jump only allowed her to reach the monster''s chest, which was already an insane feat - so instead of punching its head, the ashen-haired girl naturally settled on punching the chest... *CRUSH* "??$€?<%.?¡è?¡À|?" The horrible sound of bones getting smashed into splinters and of flesh getting ripped apart resound and the enormous beast cried out in pain as its chest caved in and it lost its bnce and begun falling back. "Dear system...!" Shanks gasped staring at the miracle happening right before his very eyes. "She did it! Now we can start hunting the monsters that...!" "Wait! Look! What is she doing?!" Mary breathed out and rxed but then felt Shanks''s hand on her shoulder, as the rat-faced man pointed her in the ashen-haired girl''s direction. The berserk girl wasn''t stopping her attack at all...! "I GOT YOU!" Luckily for Mika - but unluckily for everyone else - thanks to how the monster was falling down, she found herself in a perfect position to punch right at, or rather right through, its giant eye - and she was going to take that chance! Her body was glowing with a more intense light than ever before. "NO! YOU IDIOT! YOU WILL RUIN EVERYTHING!" Mary cried and jumped down so that she couldunch herself at the ignorant girl without hurting Blueberry. But before she could do that, the falling gargantuan titan-ss monster''s golden eye begun glowing... "IT CAN SHOT THAT BEAM AGAIN?! MIKA! RUN!" Shanks was the first to realize what was going on and he shouted as loud as he could but it changed nothing... *?.?¡è?¡À€¡ê?}^%?}???.¡À€£¤_¡À|?¡À* The golden beam shot right up, tearing through anything that got in its way without exception. *CHOMP* Wait... what...? Chomp...?! Chapter 223: 9th wave (4)

Chapter 223: 9th wave (4)

As the golden beam reached the heavens, piercing through the fog and clouds alike... *CRUSH* Mika''s body smashed into the ground, causing an explosion and a crater five timesrger than when Mary pped her for hurting Blueberry. ...? "What...? Why is she there...?!" Shanks gasped looking at the dust settling from the crash site to his right. Just a second ago Mika was right in the path of the beam, but now she was more than a few hundred feet away from the humongous titan-ss monster shooting it...! There was no logical exnation, even sophia has drawn nks as for the reason of such urrence. "Arion, no!" Still, the answer that the rat-faced man was looking for was right by him. Just a few steps away, the brown-haired girl was embracing the swaying ck wolf, that was getting skinnier and skinnier as the orange light was fading from his body. "Skwee! (Brother Arion!)" Even Blueberry flinched and screeched in panic and almost threw the rat-faced man off. If before Arion wasrge but terribly skinny, now it looked like there weren''t any muscles on his bones at all - the wolf had be a literal skeleton covered with skin and mangled fur. In Mary''s desperate embrace, Arion was shivering, barely able to stay conscious. "You idiot...! Why did you do that?! Your curse isn''t removed yet!" Mary cried desperately, gently hugging the trembling wolf. "R...aor... (The quest... she cannot die...) ...raor, raor... (...with titan-ss monster running around, you won''t be safe...)" Arion growled weakly resting his head against the girl''s neck and closed his eyes. "...! You idiot...! I would be fine! I swear if you''re going to die I''m never going to forgive you...!" Mary''s shoulders shook and she gritted her teeth. "Skwee! (Brother Arion, don''t give up!)" The griffin encouraged the wolf, walking closer so that she could also support Arion. "..." "Ugh... why am I here...?" Shanks was looking at the two in shock so he didn''t even nce at Mika crawling out from the crater she created herself, groaning in pain while holding her head. The rat-faced man was staring intently at the wolf, or rather at the color of the light that the wolf was giving off. Orange. It waspletely normal for monsters to have the light produced by the skill be colored in many different ways depending on the monster''s species... ...but... If it wasn''t just a coincidence - there was a skill that both produced the orange light and had an effect that could exin how Mary got transported such distance without losing any of her speed and momentum... "You... wait, what...? But how?! That''s impossible...!" Shanks gasped staring wide-eyed at the wolf. "You...! Just now! You used jaws of gluttony! You devoured the space between Mika and yourself...!" The rat-faced man raised his hands to his forehead in disbelief. Jaws of gluttony were said to be able to devour everything that the user desired - as long as it was of a high enough level that is. It was the most powerful and the most fearsome skill out of the repertoire of the gluttony-based skills. ...and coincidentally it was also the skill that only the purest-blooded direct descendants of the progenitor of the Gluttony family could inherit and manifest. It was something that a mere monster could never recreate. "..." Arion opened his pained eyes and red at Shanks without making a single sound. "...!" But that was enough for an answer to the rat-faced man. "A curse... you''ve mentioned something about a curse...! Oh, dear system, you meant the curse of starvation...! But that means he''s not just some wolf, he''s a...!" Shanks put his hands down from his forehead and covered his mouth in utter shock. "It''s not a good time to have an in-depth talk about your allies, kind sir." Mary frowned and leaned past the trembling ck wolf just so she could re at the rat-faced man. "...you''re right..." After a moment of hesitation, Shanks nodded and clenched his rifle. "Arion, do you think you will be able to stay on Blueberry''s back by yourself?" Mary turned back and asked her wolf that seemed to be barely breathing. "Skwee! (That''s right!) Skwee! (It will be okay, brother Arion, I will carry you to safety!)" Blueberry nodded vigorously. "...raor... (...sure...)" Arion responded with a faint groan that might as well be a sigh. "...raor... (...ow...)" It was clear that he was in no state to move by himself - even when Mary let go of him for a moment so he could get closer to the blue griffin, the weakened wolf almost immediately plopped to the ground and whimpered in pain when Mary caught him again. "What was that?! Hey! Was it one of you who messed up my attack?!" Mika''s annoyedint was so out of ce that for a second none of the other defenders reacted to it. "I had it! Whoever it was, they have just messed up everything! UGH! It really looks like only I, the Justice''s Wrath, truly understand the severity of what''s going on here!" The ashen-haired girl, still glowing red with all her skills active, groaned and shook off the soil from her armor and faced back towards the twitching humongous monster trying to get up. "Hmph! One more hit will be enough for that viinous monster!" She added, clenching her fists - and got mana instantly coiling around them - ready to deliver the final blow she spoke about... ...and mess up thest chance they''ve got at sessfullypleting their quest... "Skwee?! (Supid human! How dare you?!)" Blueberry spread her wings and screeched furiously - her wound wasn''t bleeding anymore but it was making it hard for her to walk. "...that ungrateful brat...!" Mary twitched and her body begun glowing pure white. "..." Shanks simply clenched his fists and his body begun glowing with an icy-cold pale blue light. The presence he suddenly started to give off was truly overwhelming. Even though the rat-faced man made sure to not select the tamer and her two monsters as the skill''s targets - just being close to him made others feel the insane pressure. "YOU. DON''T YOU DARE TO MOVE UNTIL I WILL ALLOW YOU TO." His voice soundedpletely different than before, it was like the echoes of the system messages were reverberating through it, but not quite - something was slightly off. And the one that he directed those words... "...! Wh-what do you think you''re doing?! Stop it! I''m the one who is in the right!" Was of course the ashen-haired girl who turned into apletely unruly overpowered menace. "I should have used the active ability of the right to rule on you long ago." Shanks scoffed and turned away from the girl who suddenly became unable to take even a single step. "Let''s take Arion to safety and then start hunting down the runaway titan-ss monsters before that thing gets back up." Shanks said - already back to using his normal voice - and motioned at the gigantic monster in front of them with his chin. "...yeah, now I''m starting to see why you will make for a great allyter on..." Mary breathed out and muttered to herself. "...excuse me, so I''m not your ally now...?" Shanks blinked and shook his head. "Don''t mind that, I just remembered one of my dreams. Let''s go with your n, kind sir." The brown-haired girl smiled and gently picked up the trembling weakened ck wolf. Chapter 224: 9th wave (5)

Chapter 224: 9th wave (5)

The blue griffin carried the weakened ck wolf away - hopefully, to get him away from the worst danger - because no one actually knew whether there was any ce that could be called safe, not when the titan-ss monsters were running wild through the second line of defense while there was no artillery to stop them. Mary, Shanks, and Mika stayed behind - Mika was constantly trying to struggle but her body wasn''t listening to her at all - the skill that the rat-faced man used on her was clearly too strong for her to break even with all the system-given bonus status points. Even though the timer for the -Final frontier- quest has been forcibly stopped by the emergency quest, not a single one of them could do something so silly as to go for a rest, the gigantic titan-ss monster that was felled by the ashen-haired girl wasn''t going to stay down for their convenience. "...huuu..." Shanks breathed out loudly and closed his eyes as if he just decided on something. "Hold her for me for a second." He asked Mary while already pushing the absurdly high-tech-looking rifle right into her hands. "...!" The brown-haired girl flinched and raised her brows but didn''t talked back and just took it. "YOU CAN''T BE DOING THIS TO ME! RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT! I AM A JUSTICE''S WRA...!" "Shut up." "MPFGH!" Mika was shouting angrily while sending Shanks murderous res but the rat-faced man just had to scoff lightly with disgust and the young girl had no other choice but to shut her mouth so fast that she almost bit off her tongue. "As someone from the Sloth family, I actually have a lot of skills that allow me to use others for doing my work." "...!" Shanks looked at surprised Mary and exined. "I''m about to use an enhanced version of detection skill to find the exact location of each titan ss and will share the results with you two." He said pointing at Mika and Mary. "We have time to get them, even if the big one will get up, the emergency quest you received mentioned killing it, right? In that case, Sophia is suggesting to me that we still have around an hour between that thing will be in any condition to continue fighting." "Alright, hope that utter idiot of a young miss heard you and won''t try to finish that thing, or we will FAIL THE SPECIAL QUEST." Mary nodded and spoke very loudly and clearly so that her words would reach silently struggling Mika. "..." The ashen-haired girl frowned furiously but was unable to make any sound due to Shanks''s previousmand. "Miss Mika, you are not allowed to kill the enormous titan-ss monster as long as the smaller ones from the 9th wave aren''t taken care of." The rat-faced man red right back at her andmanded as his eyes glowed with a pale blue light. Immediately after, his whole body started glowing too when he began using another skill. "...!" "Oooohh...! That is something else...!" Mika flinched and Mary gasped in awe as the detailed map of their location undisturbed by any fog whatsoever, simply appeared in their brain - and their location was marked with a little green arrow and the glowing red dots - some of them standing still, some constantly moving into all direction - just had to be the runway titan-ss monsters since the biggest problem red dot couldn''t be anything else than the immobilized one right next to them. Still, there was a significant problem... "There are too many...! That''s at least seventy we need to defeat!" Mary bit her lips and her shoulders trembled as she clenched her fists so hard that her fingernails dug into her palms. "Wait, I''m not done yet." Shanks raised his hand without opening his eyes, trying to stop Mary from making assumptions, as the skill he shared wasn''t yet finished with adding more information. Suddenly, the maps in their heads filled with another color, thousands of small yellow dots were surrounding the majority of the red dots, blocking or redirecting their path. "I know that your role is a heroine or something, but don''t underestimate the Sloth soldiers." Shanks opened his eyes and smirked. Just as he said that three red dots disappeared from the map. ...as well as tens of yellow dots in many different locations... "We don''t have to get them all. We just have to make sure that none will pass the third defense line... or what''s left of it." Shanks''s face scrunched bitterly, but he hurriedly shook his head and made a determined expression. "Thanks, I''ll have her back now." He nodded his head as he took the rifle back from Mary and immediately aimed it towards the defense lines and his body begun glowing pale blue. "I''ll take care of the fastest one of the four that slipped by the Sloth soldiers, try to take care of the other three." He said with his cheek pressed against the rifle, making use of the information provided by his skill. "Miss Mika, you can move now, go with miss Mary and listen to her." He added as if that was an afterthought, not even looking in the ashen-haired girl''s direction. "Bastard...!" Mika growled through her teeth. Her body began giving off strong red light as she was stubborn staring at the gigantic monster iling on the ground in front of her. "URGH...!" She grunted as despite her best effort, her body didn''t listen to her and instead of charging at the cyclops, she instead turned around, towards the mostly breached defense lines. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* Though, before she made a single step, Shanks''s rifle''s low hum filled the air and the ray of light erupted from the end of the barrel and pierced straight through the fog. Without another sound, the most forward, fastest-moving red dot, shed and disappeared without a trace from their maps. "...good..." Shanks fell to his knees and groaned, supporting himself on the long rifle. The rat-faced man was horribly pale and was trembling like thest autumn leave on the wind. "What are you two waiting for...? You have the maps, you don''t need the mist itself to clear out, right...?! GO!" He scoffed barely able to hold on to his consciousness - which was already a great feat considering how much energy did he just use to snipe a devilishly fast monster from tens of miles away. "On it!" Mika and Mary had no choice but to follow themand. With an earthshattering explosion, the two of them charged forward, Mika with a furious expression and Mary gritting her teeth from the pain of her calves exploding from the pressure. What they haven''t realized, was that the confusing fog actually WAS thinning out. Rapidly... "Damn it... there goes preserving my life... I suck as the leader of the Dandelions... Can''t even follow our first rule..." Shanks sighed and shook since he was too weak to stand up, heid down on the ground and took aim at the titan-ss monster that was causing the most casualties amongst the Sloth soldiers. "...Uresha is never going to forgive me if I''ll die..." The rat-faced manughed to himself and focused on forcefully activating the charge cannon without taking a required rest. "...but I can''t let all those Sloth soldier kids die like that..." A drop of blood emerged from the corner of his eye and slid down his face like a ruby tear. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* Chapter 225: 9th wave (6) Chapter 225 - 9th Wave (part 6) *SLASH* *SMASH* In a sh, the throat of a crocodile-like titan-ss monster, with humanoid arms instead of legs and tail, got slit and immediately after an insanely powerful blow partially ripped the beast''s head off. "?€" Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough for the creature to die, as it spun around and backed off while roaring in pain, spraying the yellow blood and viscera everywhere around it. "JUST DIE ALREADY!" *RIIIIP* The ashen-haired girl roared from below and shot up at the monster''s chin and finished her job, separating the head and the torso of the beast. "Ahaha! Good! That one next!" Mikaughed, not minding the gallons of yellow blood covering her from head to toe, and pointed at the beast a few hundred feet further. "Mend... UGH!" Mary clicked her tongue and gritted her teeth as the fingers that she tore off got reattached piece by piece at an almost sadistically slow rate. "Sure, let''s go for it, it looks like it would die in one...?" The brown-haired girl nodded and was already prepared tounch herself at the monster when she realized what was wrong with the situation. There was almost no fog whatsoever...! They were in the most important part of the sea of mist and there was no mist! *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* The visibility was so good that the two of them could clearly see the beam from Shanks''s rifle piercing another titan-ss monster that was relentlessly attacking a group of Sloth soldiers. *rumble* The beast didn''t even have the time to let out its final roar and fell down causing a small tremor to ur. "...! Is he insane?! Didn''t he vomited blood when he used that attack so fast without rest before?" Mary got literally taken aback at the sight, but Mika was already charging the beast she decided to target and couldn''t hear her. ...it wasn''t like the ashen-haired girl would even care about the rat-faced man, to begin with... "...that idiot! Wasn''t the whole deal with the Dandelions that they wanted to survive at all cost?! What is this guy thinking all of a sudden?! He''s an important characterter on! Guh...! Whatever!" Mary clenched her fists and shook her head in anger. It wasn''t like she didn''t understand Shanks''s reasons. If they will fail, the world as they know it will end. Even though a few strong people might survive when the titan-ss monsters will start appearing asmon spawns, who would actually want to live in a doomed world? As long as there was a sliver of hope for the better tomorrow, Mary was going to grab onto it no matter what. Determination in the face of deadly adversity That was the quality that all the Hopes'' were known for generations - even if they were just a middle-tier noble house and couldn''t stand up to the seven main families, they were the oldest and most known middle-tier noble house! "Screw the game, those dreams, or whatever, there will be no happy ending if I fail here...!" Mary gritted her teeth and looked at the frenzied Mika, who attacked the titan-ss monster but got swatted away like a fly because she failed to notice how many limbs the beast had. "...I swear to the system, it better be that by the end of this my favorite capture target will love and pamper me forever...!" She trembled, putting her shaking fist to her forehead while feeling the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth. "...all breaks areing off..." She whispered and a bloodthirsty smile bloomed on her face. --- *CRASH* "GHAH...!" Mika mmed into the ground for the third time and created the biggest crater by far. "I am the Justice...! How some mere monster dares to oppose my judgment...?! Those who are against me should all die!" The ashen-haired girl growled, climbing her way up. "...no one understands how important I am...! Only I can match up with those titan-ss monsters without using some stupid toys or whatever...!" She continued mumbling to herself, adding the fuel to the fire of her anger. "...that''s right...! ONLY I CAN...!" *SLASH* *SWOOOOSH* Mika''s mumble that turned into a furious roar got interrupted as the titan-ss beast that smacked her aside before got ripped into pieces as if it was made out of paper. "...defeat them...?" *SMASH* "...!" Mika stared at the pieces of the monster crumbling down disgustingly when suddenly something crashed right by her crater with a squishy sound. The ashen-haired girl got up and inched towards the new crash site. --- *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* A low hum resounded in the air unnoticed, and a titan-ss monster far into the second defense line fell lifelessly onto the uneven ground. --- "?!?!?!?!!! Gh-uguueeeeeeh...! Meanwhile, Mika immediately backed off and vomited to the side when she saw the mangled piece of flesh that was left of Mary. And what was left of the brown-haired girl was now basically just the head with a face mangled from the fall and half of a torso that had the steaming pink intestines spread all around like grotesque confetti. There was no point in looking for the girl''s arms and legs because they were simply not there anymore. There was no way that anyone could survive such heavy damage. --- /You are dead /... /Hope''s unique perk - Last Man Standing activated You are allowed to use 1st skill --- *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* --- "...fuck off..." "...!" Mika flinched, missing another low hum - she could swear that the corpse of Mary just talked...! "...MEND...!" Because it did! *WHOOOOSH* Mika had no choice but to jump away from the tempest of blood and gore pulled in by some invisible force straight towards the mangled corpse of the brown-haired girl... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!" Mary''s furious roar pierced the heavens as her body was forcibly restored piece by piece while she felt every single cell being welded back into ce. After a few horrifying seconds, Mary plopped onto the ground wearing only pieces of the Sloth soldiers'' armor that by now looked like rags. "Ughh... I would like all the high nobles to pull the same trick as I just did...! I bet that not even the avatars of sin have a cheat skill like this!" Mary scoffed triumphantly and smirked mockingly. "What are you looking at? Ptfu! We''re in the middle of the 9th wave! Make yourself useful or get out of my sight, you ungrateful brat!" The brown-haired girl spat to the side and red at the dumbfounded Mika. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* Another low hum of the Shanks''s rifle announced the death of the next titan-ss monster. "...!" Mary froze for a moment and stared wide-eyed at the beast keeling over in the distance. Then she concentrated on the map in her head. All of the monsters that managed to pass the Sloth soldiers on the first and second defense lines weren''t showing anymore...! "....that crazy bastard...! He''s an important character, but not one of the essential ones, he''s just an optional party member! He''s going to kill himself before I will have an option to add him to my party...!" Mary clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* With the next low hum filling the air another red dot that was causing the disappearance of tens of yellow dots, flickered and went out announcing the death of the corresponding titan-ss monster. "That bastard really is as overpowered as in the game in my dream...!" *BOOOOOOM* Mary growled andunched herself towards the closest monster without any dy whatsoever, leaving the bbergasted Mika behind. Chapter 226: 9th wave (7) Chapter 226 - 9th Wave (part 7) *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* Since most of the fog cleared out, and all the remaining titan-ss monsters were engaged in a fight with the Sloth soldiers, it was really easy to locate the next target without any need for looking at the map. This was very convenient because the said map was beginning to slowly fade away - just as if the user of the skill was slowly losing consciousness... ...but that in and of itself was very concerning for the brown-haired girl blowing her body apart just so she could get to the next monster just a bit faster. Although Mary didn''t have any knowledge about the -Final frontier- quest, it wasn''t that hard for her to figure out that what she needed, was a proper army and not just a few strong characters. This wasn''t thest wave - the final one was still ahead of them but the number of Sloth soldiers was constantly dropping. If they were unlucky to engage a defense-oriented titan-ss, their weapons and skills often proved to be insufficient to kill it on the first or second try which allowed the beasts to counter-attack. Simrly with the speed-oriented ones - even though those could die from a well-aimed volley, they often had enough momentum that their lifeless body would end up crushing some of the soldiers in their path. Funnily enough, the strength-oriented ones were the easiest to deal with... as long as they didn''t have a ranged attack skill to their advantage... All in all, Mary knew that she had to do something to make the possess on their side be minimal. *SHING* "Mend!" *SHING* *SHING* "Mend! Mend!" *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* "Mend! Mend! Mend!" *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* "Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend!" As if she was a windup toy, Mary unleashed a full power of the storm talon skill that she was borrowing from her griffin and tore through every limb of a cockroach-like titan-ss with a humanoid face and sharp spike-like ws covering its whole carapace. Even though each ranged strike should be invisible as it cut through the air, the ones shot out by Mary were all faintly red from the blood - with each consecutive use, Mary''s hands would simply blow apart in the geyser of blood and then returned to their normal state with her using her healing skill just to be blown apart again until she was satisfied with the result. ...the result being the fall of the monster, which allowed the struggling Sloth soldiers to swarm it from all sides and finish it off without another casualty. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* --- "..." Shanks couldn''t even keep his head up by himself. The only reason he was able to keep aiming at the monsters ahead of him, was that the amount of blood that he vomited made sliding therge rifle around basically effortless. The rat-faced man was no longer looking like a living being, his body was dried up almost to the bare bones and only the pale blue light in his eyes would allow anyone to notice that he isn''t just some ancient corpse. "...not enough... need to defeat more... can''t allow more of my soldiers to die..." Shanks''s voice wasn''t even audible, it was just a pained sigh created by the barely functioning lungs. The time lost any meaning for him, it could be that only five minutes have passed since the two girls rushed at the monsters, or it could have been a thousand years... That didn''t matter. Even though he could feel his body dying off as the seconds passed, he didn''t stop surpassing every humanly possible limit of endurance. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* The brittle finger pulled the trigger and unleashed another beam that finished off a titan-ss monster without fail. Anyone from the Sloth family could use the charge cannon once per fifteen minutes, but still, they would lose consciousness if they used it over ten times in a single day. Using it twice within the same minute would make the user vomit blood. Using it six times consecutively in the span of twenty minutes was a confirmed death sentence. Only the avatar of sloth was known to have a much higher limit than that. And then there was Shanks... Not the strongest modified human cultivated within the Sloth territory, but certainly the one with the strongest will. Originally he was raised to be the next avatar of sloth, but that strong will of his was determined to be an obstacle to inheriting the position, and hence he was redesigned as the next general of the army... ...and his older brother became the next avatar in his ce... ...that had broken the young boy and made him turn into a deserter and traverse the entire sea of mist and escape the territory. He should be killed off, but instead, the new avatar of sloth decided to seal off his powers and let him roam the kingdom free from the burden of his past. Even though Shanks knew better, he couldn''t help but think about that as his older brother''s farewell gift. ...but look at him now... Out of the over seventy titan-ss monsters that got past the first defense line, he killed neen himself while Mary and Mika had killed six and all the Sloth soldiers got rid of twelve. Altogether, the defenders managed to finish off over half of the monsters. Thirty-seven, such a high number of the titan-ss monsters defeated without the support of the artillery was unheard of thorough the Sloth territory''s history. ...sadly, that didn''t change the fact that there were at least thirty-three more beasts fighting their way through the second line of defense - and the defenders weren''t getting stronger fast enough to keep up with the insane amount of stamina that the titan-ss monsters possessed. ...to put it simply, time certainly wasn''t on their side... *RUMBLE* "???¡è|?¡ê£¤¡Â¡À ?¡À€¡è" As if to prove that point, the earth shook and a piercing inhuman roar let even the barely alive Shanks know that the humongous cyclops has finally recovered enough to get back up and resume their sage. Shanks couldn''t turn enough to face the gargantuan beast, he honestly didn''t even want to in the first ce. He knew it was over for him. "...I hope that Uresha, Rotte, and Lairs will somehow make it out alive... sorry... I love you all..." Shank''s sighed as his dried-up hand fell limply to the side right next to his rifle. "...ah... the tower of sloth..." With the fogpletely gone, the main city of the Sloth territory was perfectly visible on the horizon - mainly due to the singr building that was reaching towards the sky. A pure white tower with an enormous see-through sphere on top of it. The very ce from where the avatar of sloth supplied the energy necessary for the artillery, as well as controlled the sea of mist''s movement and was keeping an eye on the whole territory altogether. *THUMP* *THUMP* The cyclops'' footsteps made Shanks''s incapacitated body jump, and the next one was very likely to crush him... "...big brother... if I may be selfish onest time... if even a tiny bit of your soul is still alive there... please... protect those idiots that chose to be my family..." The dried-up rat-faced man closed his eyes and smiled. ... *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* That''s why he missed the whole tower of sloth lighting up with intense pale blue light as well as thirty-four beams of light shooting out from the sphere at the very top. Each beam of light cut through and rained death on each and every titan-ss monster still alive... The humongous cyclops was no exception, the beam of light shot right through its chest that was indented from Mika''s punch, and send the monstrosity down on its knees. Chapter 227: 9th wave (end) Chapter 227 - 9th Wave (end) Mary felt the tremors and heard the roar of the cyclops getting up, but that didn''t change anything - as long as the emergency quest remained active and was stopping the timer of the -Final frontier- quest, there was still hope! And then, as if a gift from the heavens... *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* "!!!!!!!!!!" The pir of light descended from the sky and blew apart the horrendous titan-ss monster just before Maryunched herself at it. The brown-haired girl stared dumbfounded at the charred ground where a monster stood just a second ago. Then she looked up and saw tens of beams of light shot through the sky and her jaw dropped. With the familiar low hum just like the one Shanks''s rifle made, the volley of beams of light tore apart all the remaining titan-ss monsters in something that Mary could only describe as the Wrath of a God. She turned around and saw an enormous tower shining with pale blue light far away in the distance. "Hey! What the hell is this?! It was my kill! How dare you steal away my prey?!" Furious Mika was probably the only person on the frontline who had the audacity to shout angrily against the blessing from the heavens. "..." The brown-haired girl shook her head with disgust and looked back at the tower. Suddenly, the sphere on the tower''s top shone with a pure white light as if it noticed Mary''s look. "Heroine, please listen to a final wish of a man fading away..." Despite Mika being the only person with a reasonable distance to Mary, the voice that the brown-haired girl heard definitely belong to a male. "Use this and save my younger brother... hurry..." The voice spoke again and... /Heroine receives a one time use skill Wish (level ¡è¡è¡è) "...! W-wait! Who is your brother?!" Mary flinched, seeing the message announcing her obtaining the abnormal skill, and called out taking a step forward. "Who was that?!" She gritted her teeth and clenched her teeth. "Right?! Stealing MY kill! What is that supposed to be?!" Mika shouted angrily as her body continued glowing bright red. "Shut up." "...hmph..." Mary scoffed at the ashen-haired girl and turned away with a concerned expression. Saving someone... The odd voice that was almost like a system message was told her to save his younger brother... "...could it be... did he meant Shanks...?" Mary murmured to herself and looked towards the gargantuan cyclops kneeling down with a gaping hole in its chest where the beam of light pierced through. Shanks was her best bet, with how many times did he used the self-destructive skill, it was clear that he was barely hanging on to life... Which meant that he didn''t have much time! "...!" "Hey! And where are you going?!" Mary flinched and rushed towards the spot beneath the giant where Shanks''s should be, leaving the grumpy Mika behind She concentrated and realized with concern that the map in her mind was barely visible - as if the connection between the user who used the skill on her and herself was about to be broken, and saw that basically all of the red dots were gone except for one. And then it hit her... The message aboutpleting the emergency quest never arrived! Somehow, despite the gigantic wound, the humongous cyclops was still alive! *THUMP* As if to confirm Mary''s thought, the colossal cyclops raised its head and put one of its legs forward, to support itself as it began standing back up - a real live nightmare unfolding right in front of everyone''s eyes. "IDIOT BERSERK! YOU WANTED TO FIGHT?! THEN FIGHT! KILL THAT THING!" Mary hurt her throat shouting over her shoulder at the ashen-haired girl shocked by the turn of events. "...! R-right!" Mika flinched and nodded obediently. "Hey! Don''t order me around! I am the Justice''s Wrath! You can''t just make me...!" But then as the light of her skills reignited brightly, her new attitude also made aeback. "WHO CARES?! GO GET IT IF YOU CAN!" But Mary had nothing of her it and she herself already activated her own skills. Healing Shanks was important but healing him just in time to get crushed by the cyclops was out of the question! That thing had to be dealt with as soon as possible. If someone wanted a reason as to why... The clean-cut gaping hole in the chest of thest titan-ss monster standing was already boiling over with yellow blood and beginning to close itself. That monster''s overwhelming size had to be matched with an equally monstrous lifeforce, or it activated some system-forsaken restoration skill. *BOOOOM* Not waiting for the younger girl to stop making a fuss, Mary blew apart both of her legs andunched herself right into the middle of the cyclops''s chest. *SLASH* *SLASH* "Mend...!" *SLASH* *SLASH* "Mend!" *SLASH* *SLASH* "MEND!" With three sets of fully powered storm talons that blew apart her arms and most of her torso with each use, Mary attacked upwards, aiming to separate the monster''s bust from the rest of its body. "?¡ê.¡Â¡è$<€^£¤¡è¡ê?€?¡è$.¡À?¡Â?>¡Â" She did some damage and cut deep into the beast''s flesh, but not enough to aplish her goal - the monster roared in pain but remained in one piece. "WHY DON''T YOU STEP BACK AND SEE HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE?!" With a loud shout, Mika arrived right after Mary passed through the cyclops''s chest and punched at the monster''s face with her fist surrounded by the coiling condensed mana. *WHAM* "?^ ¡À?|?¡è<" Her attack made the monster sway and the yellow blood splurged out of the guidelines made by Mary''s skill, but not enough to split the flesh apart. "YOU FOUL BEAST! YOU DARE TO OPPOSE ME?!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* "?¡ê¡è?¡è¡À<¡Â^_¡è?¡è?¡è|€|¡ê>$" Mary shouted furiously and followed up with four consecutive enhanced punches, causing the monster to close its eye and growl in pain as more and more yellow blood splurged out from the ever-expanding wounds that begun to actually split apart the cyclops just as Mary originally intended. The creature raised its hands trying to crush or swat the ashen-haired girl away but... "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! A THING LIKE YOU...! A THING LIKE YOU KILLED BRUISER 97-F! I WILL LET YOU TASTE SOME JUSTICE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, YOU DISGUSTING FILTH!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* "?|¡À¡Â|?¡è^¡Â¡À|¡Â" A brutal onught of punches rained down on the humongous titan-ss monster as its wounds deepened and the cyclops''s growl lost its power and its arms fell limply to the side as it started to sway and fall back. "DIE! DIE! DIE, YOU BASTARD!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* It seemed that even with all of her strength and aggression, Mika just couldn''t finish off the monster, thankfully, she wasn''t alone! *SLASH* *SLASH* Two more gale talons skills dug into the yellow flesh exposing naked bones. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* And since that wasn''t enough to shatter the gigantic corbones, two consecutive beams of light shoot out from a ridiculously high-tech-looking rifle cut through the air with a low hum and pieced right through them! *WHAM* *CRUSH* *RIIIIIIIP* Only with all of that, Mika''s final punch separated cyclops''s head away from its body. *BOOOOOOOOOM* /Emergency questpleted /Reward granted /02:29:50 /02:29:49 /... /Calcting... /All of the monsters from the 9th wave were defeated /9th wavepleted /Calcting the reward... /... --- "Thank the system...!" Mary breathed out heavily and plopped on her butt and then instantlyid on her back and covered her face with her arms. "That was such a nightmare... don''t you think so too, kind sir?" She sighed and nced at the rat-faced man standing beside her. "Ptfu! That really was something else..." Shanks - not a dried-up husk but the rtively healthy-looking short man - spat out some blood and rested the massive rifle across his shoulders. "...but, unfortunately, I suspect that the final wave will be the real ordeal..." "Could you not mention that for at least a few hours...? I begin to regret that I healed you, kind sir..." Mary groaned and stomped her feet without standing up. "Speaking of which, I would really appreciate it if you cared to exin to me how in the name of the system did you manage that in the first ce. I thought after losing the shadow fang with the green belly the only healing skill you had was the extremely painful one - but I haven''t felt any pain whatsoever...?" Shanks scoffed and raised his brow, looking down on the brown-haired girl. "First of all, the shadow fang you are talking about - his name was Avocado. Second of all, mend doesn''t work if the target doesn''t have any mana left, and you werepletely out of it when I found you- I will exin the rest to you over some rations back at the outpost - if it is still standing after the monsters'' stampede." "Fair enough." Mary waved her hand dismissively at the rat-faced man who nodded with understanding. *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* "YOU KILLED BRUISER 97-F! YOU KILLED MY BRUISER 97-F!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* He gritted his teeth and nced at the ashen-haired girl shouting furiously while going ham on the already dead cyclops and obstinately turning its head into a yellowish mush. "...so she actually cared that much for that kid who pushed her away from the roof when that beast shot the golden beam... I would have never thought... hmm..." Shanks whistled but then he furrowed his brows and put his hands to his mouth falling deep into thoughts. "...what is it...?" His reaction caused Mary to nce at him with suspicion. "...I''ll tell you after you get some rest..." Shanks frowned and shook his head, but it was clear that whatever he figured out - wasn''t going to be good news. Chapter 228: The dawning danger...!

Chapter 228: The dawning danger...!

"...a final wish of a man about to fade away, huh..." Shanks repeated Mary''s words while leaning far back into his chair while covering his eyes with one arm. "...yes..." The brown-haired girl nodded with a solemn expression. "...say was that really your older brother, kind sir...? Didn''t you say that he was already dead?" She couldn''t help herself and ended up asking. "...I haven''t used those exact words, but, well, he was supposed to be..." Shanks shrugged his shoulders without changing his position. "Do you want to borate on that...?" Mary tilted her head and asked. "No." "...I see..." After Shank''s short answer Mary decided to not pursue it any further. ...after all, the answer didn''t really matter much... /09:44:12 /09:44:11 The final timer was ruthlessly counting down the time remaining for the 10th - and final - monster wave of the -Final frontier- quest. "Hey, I don''t want to sound ungrateful to your older brother or anything, but isn''t our situation just the worst? We were saved by a literal miracle that had no right to happen, BUT, we''re now in the shittiest position imaginable." Mary sighed and tapped her fingers on the table, where two hot drinks were slowly letting out aromatic steam. "ording to the reports, it''s impossible to salvage anything from the remains of the third defense line, well, because there is no third defense line anymore - everything was obliterated." The brown-haired girl closed her eyes and breathed out. "If it only meant that the weapons are gone..." Shanks slowly put down his arm and slowly moved his head to look at Mary with his reddish eyes. "...!" Mary flinched and bit her lips. "All the crews manning the artillery cannons are gone, all the supplies that were stored behind the previously impervious third defense line, which there wasn''t even that much, to begin with, are gone. Even if we somehow repel the final wave, the Sloths'' territory is doomed. It will take years topletely rece everything that was lost yesterday..." Shanks''s clenched his fists in cold anger. "We''re left with just a bunch of fresh recruits back in the facility where you''ve first arrived. No matter how good the instructors are, they won''t make proper soldiers out of a bunch of children that aren''t level 100 and won''t be for the next three or four years." He breathed out and closed his eyes. "We still have more than three-quarters of the Sloth soldiers." Mary pointed out. "Also the avatar of sloth..." "Don''t count on the avatar for the time being. Just believe me that there is no possible way to have a repeat of yesterday." Shanks cut of Mary with a decisive gesture. He was pointing at the small window, or rather, at the world outside. The window wasn''t facing north where the titan-ss monsters woulde from but the exact opposite direction, the south, where all the viges and towns of the Sloth territory were, including the main city with the tower of sloth. But none of them were visible because of the sea of mist. ...a sea of mist should be a good thing, and yet it wasn''t like it should have been. The sea of mist has receded. The huge walls of milk-like fog were creating a barrier tens of miles away from the frontline. "See that? When a sea of mist is condensing in such a way, it means that the current avatar of sloth went into a slumber. Until the next one is prepared we can''t hope for the support like yesterday. What''s worse, with such a high concentration of the confusing mist it is extremely difficult for the inexperienced soldiers - so the only ones left - to travel between the settlements, so we can''t count on new supplies including the brand new or refurbished cannons." The rat-faced man exined in a grim voice. "Such a thing with the sea of mist happened a few times through history, but never before the artillery was wiped out like it is now. Also the condensed mist blocks most of themunication skills, so we can''t even receive the orders from the higher-ups..." He added and looked down with a bitter expression. "Pffft...! What I am even talking about?! Sorry, we need a literal miracle to happen that would let us make it through the final monster wave in the first ce, so worrying about anything thates after that ispletely pointless." He suddenlyughed with self-loathing and waved his hand dismissively. "Hey, with properly distributed forces the Sloth soldiers should be able to engage any titan-ss monster that will appear. With the sea of mist receded like that, we will be at least able to spot the approaching monsters from a far greater distance than before, and therefore coordinate a lot better." Mary wasn''t going to give up and was doing her best to look at the bright sides of their situation. She was showing in full that she truly belonged to the Hope family - and held true to their values. "Cool, cool. That''s the spirit, but please, tell me what will we do about the colossal monster that shot out the golden beams almost every day since the 5th wave?" "...?" Shanks shook his head with a mocking smile and asked something outrageous out of nowhere, causing Mary to close her mouth, taken aback. "What about it? It''s dead, right? You even helped killing it yesterday? Don''t you remember? The cyclops that barely fit in your field of vision? Doesn''t that ring a bell?" She furrowed her brows and smiled awkwardly. "...no, that wasn''t it. The cyclops that we have killed wasn''t the monster that was shooting those colossal beams." "We saw its silhouette through the mist, it shot its beam, destroyed the third line of defense, and then it stepped forward revealing itself - and we killed it." Mary clenched her fists and red at the rat-faced man as soon as he stopped talking. "...did we really got the right one? The cyclops used the beam against the young miss Mika - wasn''t that attack supposed to be a once per day thing?" *SLAM* Shanks''s question made Mary hit the table angrily and jump up from her seat. "Stop saying nonsense! Of course, we did kill the right one! It must have saved that damned beam from the 8th wave and that''s it! Otherwise, where is the gigantic monster that really unleashed that attack?! Where is it hiding?! Don''t you get it?! There are no traces of...!" *RUMBLE* The sudden earthquake interrupted Mary as she and Shanks were barely able to keep their bnce and not fall on the floor. And before any of them could say anything else... *WHAM* "E-EXCUSE ME! SIR!" The door mmed open and a pale as a ghost soldier charged inside and fell to his knees. "What is going on?" Shanks stood up and approached the boy. "Sir...! Sir...!" The soldier trembled, barely able to speak. "..." Mary and Shanks looked at each other, whatever news the boy was bringing, it couldn''t be good. "Are the titan-ss monsters already approaching?" The rat-faced man kneeled by the soldier and grabbed his arm. "Sir...! The mountain...! The mountain had stood up...!" The soldier cried out before he trembled and curled up into a fetal position. "...!" "What...?!" Chapter 229: Something HUGE is coming...! Chapter 229 - Something HUGE Is Coming...! ...a mountain has stood up and looked down on the entirety of the Sloth territory from the height that no bird could ever dream to reach... Unfortunately, the single eye that the mountain had looked at the tiny dots of human beings miles below it, was a bloodshot golden one. "...borrowing the words of Lairs... we are absolutely FUCKING CURSED...!" Shanks screamed his lungs off, squatted down, and hid his head between his knees. "Why did I had to be right, why...?!" He growled, gritting his teeth in denial. The size of the cyclops that they managed to kill during the 9th wave was alreadyparable only to a skyscraper. As for this one... The human brain was literally rejecting the idea that something so huge could be a single living creature - that was why the first thought of anyone witnessing the impossibly huge monstrosity standing up and begin to walk was: a mountain just stood up. Honestly, believing that a formation of rocks suddenly became animated was so much better than facing the reality... "..." Shanks wasn''t the only person who has left the outpost to witness the horror unfolding in the bright sunlight of the surprisingly warm day. Every single person taking shelter inside did too. "...that is the Gravestone Peak... thest expedition lead by the previous general had made it there and disappeared without a trace..." One of the higher ranked Sloth soldiers pointed his shaking hand at the giant spiky growth at the monster''s back. "...oh, so that''s how my father died, either eaten or crushed by that thing, huh..." Shanks looked at the soldier and sighed in disbelief. Everything about the situation seemed so unreal that most people present simply thought that it was a terrible, terrible dream. Some of the youngest Sloth soldiers started crying, honestly, even those in theirte teens did the same. Many were just staring at the humongous beast - sluggishly turning around as if looking for something - while others looked away in denial. ...there were even some people amongst the Sloth soldiers who simply turned around on the spot and started running away without ever looking back - and one of those people was the ck-haired monk 89-F that had many times loudly disyed her absolute disdain towards the southerners, ming them - rightfully - for triggering the quest and the loss of all the Sloth soldiers lost during the waves. And as for the southerners... Uresha, Rotte, as well as Lairs, and Ti were all doing their best to calm down the youngest Sloth soldiers that broke down in tears. Mary and her tamed monsters were looking at the beast with pure disgust and powerless anger - it was hard to imagine even scratching that thing in the first ce. Mika was clenching her fists and staring at her feet, pale as a ghost and trembling like a leaf on the wind - without the side effects of her skills, the fear of death was taking over her, making her lose all faith. Shanks had somehow managed to calm down and already stood up - many of the Sloth soldiers began looking up to him in the few short days and he didn''t have the privilege of despairing over the unfairness of the system. "Peculiar..." But there was one more southerner left, and he certainly didn''t behave like anyone else...! The white-haired young bespectacled man, who somehow managed to get his hands on a dye and fashioned the standard Sloth soldier''s armor that he was given, turned it into a fashionable ck and white set. His calmness was so out of ce that the people around him stared at him as if he suddenly went crazy. "Peculiar?! You''re calling this peculiar?! What is wrong with you?!" Out of all people, Mika was the one to snap and shout at the white-haired capture target, who was supposed to be her crush. "..." Corvus raised his brow at the ashen-haired girl and then pointed at the beast upying a huge part of the scenery unfolding before them with his chin. "As soon as that thing stood up, I got a system message notifying me that I''m within the quest''s area." He shrugged his shoulders and exined just as calm as before. "Tsk! Well, of course you are within the area! We all are within the damned area! Can''t you see?! Half of the damned kingdom is within that thing''s reach!" Mika furiously pointed at the beast, that reached towards something only it could see but then instantly got its hand pped away and some of its fingers got ripped off and flew away towards the distant horizon. "?¡ê¡è?¡è?| ¡è¡À?|¡À>€^¡À?¡À¡è¡Â|?¡ê?¡À?€ ?$?¡À ¡ê?$?¡À>?€?¡À¡è" The inhuman roar of pain that the beast let out was so deafeningly loud that it could as well be a physical attack, and almost knocked out the weakest people there - the three Dandelions trying their best with calming down the youngest Sloth soldiers. *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH* A sudden shockwave blew past the shocked soldiers making them even more confused than they were t begin with! "...fuck me...! What the fuck was that?!" Lairs shook her head trying to get rid of the ringing in her ears. *$??¡è|¡À>[%[?¡À?¡Â?¡À¡è>??[?¡Â?¡ê?¡Â?¡Â)(*&^*%[emailprotected]@#&*(^&?* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* As if to further confuse the terrified audience spectating it, the beast''s eye begun shining and the titan-ss monster unleashed a fully powered golden beam straight down at its feet, causing such huge tremors that barely anyone was able to continue standing upright even hundreds of miles away. "?!?!?!!!?!???!!" No one could even exin what was happening. The attack that could be used to wipe all of them off the face of the earth, was wasted just like that! If someone was naive enough to believe in the divine providence of the system, they would most definitely be kneeling and thanking it for that stroke of luck. ...but even the most devoted person amongst them all - the white-haired Corvus - had a more pressing matter to wonder about. "Why the FUCK did it do that?!" Once again Lairs voiced the unspoken question that everyone was thinking. "Skwee...? (Huh...?)" Suddenly Blueberry, the blue emperor griffin by Mary''s side, flinched and tilted her head staring intently at the ground below the mind-bogglingly huge monster. "Raor...? (What is it...?)" Arion, the horribly skinny ck wolf the size of a small horse - that got a bit stronger over the few hours of rest -looked at the griffin and growled questioningly. "Skwee...? (Can''t you smell it...?)" Blueberry screeched back without looking at him. Instead, she was focusing on the tiny violet dot that showed up suddenly and was glowing with more intensity each second. "As I was saying..." Corvus straightened his back and looked back at Mika. "I got a system message about my quest. MY quest, not the special one we all started, but the previous one. You know which... the one about finding the viiness..." *WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM* Just as he finished his sentence, a massive explosion urred underneath the mountain-like titan-ss monster, and the shining violet dot shoot upwards, followed by a trail of howling fire. *CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSH* In the next second, the yellow eye of the monster burst apart like a giant grape crushed between the two fingers and the back of the beast''s head exploded into a fountain of yellow blood...! *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* As if that wasn''t enough, right after that, a pir of raging fire erupted upwards from the monster''s neck making the beast''s body look like a gargantuan matchstick. "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Forget about the single outpost where the southerners and a part of the surviving Sloth soldiers were stationed - the jaws of every single living being in the whole territory able to witness the scene dropped in perfect unison. "SKWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (IT SMELLS LIKE MOMMY AND DADDY!)" Blueberry spread her wings and screeched in overwhelming happiness, spreading her wings to the full extent. Chapter 230: The REAL monsters return!

Chapter 230: The REAL monsters return!

As the pir of howling fire went out just as fast as it appeared - revealing only pathetic burnt-out wick that was once before the head of thergest monster ever seen in the history of the Sloth territory - and the whole world. Then, the body of the said titan-ss monsters began falling back... *THUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMP* The tremor caused by it crashing against the ground made everyone shoot up five feet into the air as well aspletely level every single structure built by the human hand within the one hundred-mile radius. "...ugh... is... is everyone alright?!" Shanks stood up, looking around at all the fallen people - most of them covered by the dust and debris created by the destruction of the outpost. *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* But instead of a response he was expecting, he suddenly felt the earth trembling with hundreds of heavy steps... "...!" The rat-faced man tensed up and activated his detection skills and stared towards the mountains. ... "THE NORMAL TITAN-CLASS MONSTERS ARE COMING!" He shouted as he managed to notice a stampede of variously shaped monsters - humanoids and beasts alike - charging madly towards the frontline. "...ugh..." "Ow, ow, ow...!" "*Sniffle*...!" Shanks turned back towards hisrades that were beginning to stand up, but basically, none of them looked like they were ready for a battle. "...Blueberry... could you repeat what you said before...?" Even Mary, who was supporting herself on Arion, was more interested in her overly excited griffin than in the oing danger. "Skwee! (It smells like mommy and daddy!) Skwee! (Mommy and daddy are here!)" Therge blue griffin was shaking, unable to stay in ce, and even began jumping up while screeching in awe. "...you can''t be serious...!" Mary gasped and finally looked to where Shanks was pointing. "GET INTO POSITIONS! WE NEED TO GET READY TO INTERCEPT...!" *SMASH* Shank''s desperate orders were interrupted as half of the limbless monster torso sttered onto the ground less than twenty feet away from him. "...them...?!" The rat-faced man blinked in confusion, staring at the monster''s fragment, and looked back up towards the approaching monsters. Once he focused not on the ones in the front but the ones in the back of the stampede... *pop* *crush* *riiiiiiiip* He noticed various titan-ss monsters getting thrown into the air and blown apart by some unknown force...! "...!" And then he realized, that the monsters weren''t charging at them at all...! THEY WERE ALL RUNNING AWAY! The closer the panicked titan-ss monsters were, the easier it was to see for everyone - even people without the sight-enhancing skills - how the monsters are getting obliterated without a chance of fighting back! No matter what the monsters did or tried to do, everything resulted in them being torn apart by...! --- "Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!" A single scantily d woman with blood-red hair, wielding a ck baseball bat shining with mana in one hand and a severed blue arm in the other, was unleashing a devastating skill after skill whileughing in a very peculiar way. "Zombie! How much time are you going to waste on that lump of flesh? You''re missing all the fun!" The red-haired girl shouted over her shoulder as she swung the shining baseball bat andunched a shockwave that tore through giant monsters running away from her as if they were made out of paper-mache, spraying yellow blood and guts everywhere. In answer to her call, a tall blue-skinned perfectly muscr undead - looking even more scandalous than the red-haired girl wearing only a set of bluish-ck underwear because he wore just the bluish-ck trunks and thigh-high boots on ridiculously high heels - appeared out of the thin air. But the undead wasn''t just blue, half of his right arm - including his forearm and hand, was made out of swirling red and ck smoke. "Khahahaha! You''ve said it yourself - just don''t start sulking once I kill more than you!" Heughed at the girl and did a kickflip while his legs begun to glow with a bright light...! *WHOOOOOO* ...which unleashed a torrent of fire right from the tip of his boot, that engulfed all the remaining titan-ss monsters before they could even reach the spot where the first line of defense officially started. "You...! I told you to not use mes!" The red-haired girl gasped deeply offended and red at the blue undead. "Pffft...! Don''t be a sore loser! You''ve told me to not use it in the sea of mist! Which is currently over ther...! oh...?" The blue undead mocked the girl and pointed towards the wall of thick fog far in the distance, before furrowing his brows and tilting his head. "Huh...?!" He suddenly gasped and his eyes widened. "What is it? Did you finally found something strong for us to fight aside from those cannon fodder?" The red-haired girl looked at him and rested the baseball bat on her shoulder. The undead turned to her and then back towards the defense lines, then back at the girl, then back towards the defense lines. "IT''S BLUEBERRY!" He suddenly shouted and his face lighted up. "Blue...?! Like, our Bluebe...?! -WHOA...!" The red-haired girl shook her head in disbelief, but the next moment the blue undead pulled her into his arms and dashed forward, excited like a kid. "Ah! Arion is there too!" The blue undead did a happy little skip as he ran and reported to the girl pressed into his bare chest. "...haa... but what are they doing here...?" The red-haired girl mumbled, using the chance to tightly hug the undead without any restrain. --- /... /All of the titan ss monsters have been eliminated /Calcting... /No monsters avable for the 10th wave to begin /Calcting... /Special exception granted /Quest progression /10th wave sessfully repelled *push back the 10th monster wave (09:34:15) pleted) /11/11 objectivespleted /Reward: Calcting yer''s contribution... /Error /Contribution level beneath 0.01% /Calcting... /Adjusting the reward /Reward granted: +1% to every base stat /-Final frontier-pleted A series of messages like that popped up for the three remaining Wraths and Mary. "...pfffft...! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Dearest system, I survived!" The most overjoyed person was... none other than the white-haired Corvus...! "How do you like that?! 9027 points in LUC! Praise be the system and its will!" He got on his knees and threw his hands into the sky. "...?" "...ah... ekhem... sorry." The bewildered looks of literally everyone else made him calm down, then he stood up and bow his head apologetically. *WHAM* The attention of others would still be on him, if not for the sudden explosive arrival. "SKWEEEE! (DADDY! MOMMY!)" "BLUEBERRY!" The joyful screech of the blue griffin who couldn''t contain her excitement any longer was met with just as happy shout of the tall blue undead as the two ran towards each other and met halfway - the undead picked up the griffin many times bigger than himself and swirled around with her. "Blueberry! Daddy missed you so much!" The undead put the griffin down and instead hugged her and started rubbing her neck and the spot around the base of her beak. "Skwee! Skwee! (Daddy! Daddy! I missed you and mommy so much too!)" Blueberry screeched back, nuzzling against the undead as if she was a small puppy and not a big powerful monster. Chapter 231: The Master-Servant pair is here!

Chapter 231: The Master-Servant pair is here!

Cranberry watched the yful two with a soft smile... "...!" ...until she realized that there was a literal army of people staring all three of them - yes, that included herself as well, her very own self wearing just a set of fireproof underwear and nothing else...! The red-haired girl carefully shimmied first to the side and then forward towards the Blueberry so that the griffin''srge body would cover her from the unwanted attention. The very weed side effect of that action was... *pomf* ...Cranberry being close enough to bury her face into soft feathers of her aerially-inclined daughter. "...hey there little chick, mommy missed you very much..." Cranberry sighed with relief, rubbing her forehead against the griffin''s neck. "Skwee! (Mommy! I missed you so much too!)" Blueberry screeched sounding like she was tearing up and was doing her best to nuzzle against both the blue undead and the red-haired girl at the same time. --- "...!" The scene that was ying out in front of all the defenders - from north and south alike - made them all speechless. For once, it was already borderline insane to even imagine a monster as proud as the emperor griffin to be tamed by someone - but Mary Hope was the living evidence that it was possible. ...but this...? A proud beast that was powerful enough to hunt dragons and true demons alike, even go against the titan-ss monsters to some degree - was acting like the cutest of puppies that have met their most beloved people in the whole wide world. The longer the touching scene was going on, the more people were ncing at the supposed owner of the griffin. ...and her wolf... "Raor...! (Mary...!) Raor...! (I don''t know why but...!) Raor! (I''m really happy to see that undead!) Roar! (I don''t even feel hungry!)" ...her extremely excited wolf that couldn''t sit still, unable to stop his tail from wagging wildly from side to side with enough power to cause a gusts of find. "...? Huh? You can''t be serious! Don''t tell me you actually are like Blueberry and have some twisted memories about knowing them before?!" Mary gasped, leaning in and whispering worriedly into Arion''s ear. "Roar! (No, I don''t!) Raor, raor...! (But...! There is something about that guy that makes the beast part of my brain so incredibly happy...!)" Arion whimpered and started hopping on his front paws unable to contain himself. "...why...?" Mary raised her brows and looked towards the blue undead in utter confusion. She did so just in time to see that the undead let go of Blueberry and turned towards them. *p* *p* But instead of approaching them, he squatted and pped his hands together while smiling brightly. "Arion! Come here, boy!" He called and reached out his arms expectantly. "...!" --- "Arion! Don''t!" The moment that Zombie called out his name, terribly skinny ck wolf with orange luster to his fur lost all self-control and rushed at him without paying any attention to his tamer''s voice, and straight-up jumped into the undead''s arms. "Who''s a good boy! Who is?" Zombieughed, closing one eye when the wolf licked his face, and started patting and rubbing the wolf''s fur affectionately. "!!!" Unable to bear all the eyes focused on her, Mary clenched her fists and did her best to casually walk after her tamed beasts, hoping to at least fooling a few people into thinking that it was all nned and not herpletely losing control over herst two monsters. "Geez, Arion, you were skinny before, but now you achieved something else! Are Cinnamon and the gang stealing your food or something? That won''t do, you''re their pack leader - or did Cinnamon overthrow you already?" Zombie furrowed his brows and said in a worried voice as his hands patted down on the ck wolf''s ribs. "...!" "..." The blue undead''s words caused both Blueberry and Arion to flinch and lose most of their excitement. "Huh? Hey, did I say something bad? Oh, right, where''s the six of them? I missed them too! You two have grown up so much, they all should have too!" Zombie frowned and started looking around as if expecting to see the other wolves approaching any second. His eyes began glowing red... "Oh? Hey, Cranberry, there are some living here that we know too!" He turned around and called to the red-haired girl burrowed in the griffin''s feathers. But then he turned back and continued searching. "Blueberry and you have turned out just as I was expecting, and I''m very proud of you two! You must have worked really hard to get this strong! Can''t wait to see the others, why aren''t theying...? Did you leave them back home or something?" Zombie smiled innocently and said to the frozen ck wolf while rubbing him affectionately behind his left ear. "I bet that Avocado''s healing powers got really strong! Cherry and Fig should be the best at stealth and if nothing changed, Melon and Plum should have developed some really strong offensive magic. Ah! And what about Cinnamon? She must be giving you a run for your money, right, Arion? I remember her character being perfect for a great leader! We should all get together and search for some strong monsters to hunt!" With each word that left Zombie''s mouth, both Arion and Blueberry were looking more and more pitiful. "...!" Mary - who was already close enough to hear Zombie''s words, flinched and gritted her teeth. "Ah! Hey there, Meggie! You look like you got stronger. Maybe you want to be Cranberry''s follower like before the system messed everything up?" "...eh...?!" Zombie saw her and waved at the brown-haired girl, which confused her so much that she took a step back. "You... you can talk normally already...?!" Mary gasped, looking around in panic. "Oh! That''s right, it''s been a while since we talked, right? Khahaha! Sorry, this rotten brain of mine isn''t that good with unimportant details." Zombie knocked on his head with his right - the one made out of the strange smoke - hand andughed. "?!?!?!?!?" Of which both theugh and the ck and red hand made the heroine shook her head and make a double-take. "Pretty cool, isn''t it?" Zombie realized what the girl was staring at and made the red hand expand into a giant whip and instantly retract back into a standard hand-like shape. "Anyway, you have those fancy tamer skills, like the instant summon or something, right? Be a good living and call for the other doggies. Then we can have a talk and you can be Cranberry''s follower again or something so that she can finally stop crying in her sleep about wanting her friend back!" The blue undead lighthearted shrugged his shoulders while continuously patting Arion''s head with his left arm. "?!?!?!?!" "ZOMBIE, STOP TRYING TO EMBARRASS ME!" At his words, Mary went wide-eyed and Cranberry shook her head while peeking at him from behind Blueberry''s body. "Khahaha! What do you want from me? I''m not lying about you missing contact with other living." Zombie shrugged his shoulders dismissively and turned back to Mary. "Come on. Bring out the doggies. I don''t care that you don''t remember it - I helped with their training, I demand a quality ytime!" Zombie wasn''t asking, he wasn''t bargaining either - as he had said himself, he was demanding. "...whoa..." Even Cranberry gasped in shock since even though she knew that Zombie''s act towards her changed during their training, this was the first time they came into contact with living members of the intelligent races therefore it was her first time seeing the blue undead interact with anyone other than her. And it was only the beginning - that moment marked the point in time where the proudest corpse entered the story with all of his snarky glory. Chapter 232: Catching up

Chapter 232: Catching up

"...the wolves..." Mary spoke up while staring down at her own feet. "Yeah. The six cute doggies." Zombie nodded, smiling brightly, and looked at the brown-haired girl expectantly, which only made her, Arion, and Blueberry feel all the more terrible. "...I''m sorry... I can''t do that..." Mary clenched her fists and shook her head. "...? Huh? Ohe on, you don''t think I would do something to them! Even if they cked off and are really weak, there''s no way that I would be angry at them!" Zombie scoffed and assured the girl. "..." But Mary didn''t raise her head. "...skwee... (...daddy, it''s not like master doesn''t want to...) ...skwee... (...she really can''t summon them anymore...)" Blueberry hover nervously and screeched sadly, lowering her head. "What is that supposed to mean?" Zombie furrowed his brows and looked between the brown-haired girl and the blue griffin. "...raor... (...it''s because they are dead...)" "...!" Even so, the answer came from the ck wolf right by his side and caused the blue undead to stood up and re down at the brown-haired girl. "What is the meaning of this?" His body begun glowing violet as he took a step forward. "I didn''t assist in taming them and certainly didn''t help them start their training just so some ipetent living would waste all their potential and let them die...!" "...!" Even though Zombie''s voice never reached the volume of anything louder than a casual conversation, Mary felt as if she was punched in the guts and cowered in fear, and so did Arion and even Blueberry even though the blue undead''s anger wasn''t directed at them. The overwhelming pressure was weighing down on Mary so hard as if she was going to get crushed by it at any moment. "Skwee! (Daddy! Don''t be angry at master!) Skwee! (It wasn''t her fault!)" Blueberry raised her head and screeched pleadingly. "Sweetie, you don''t have to protect her." Zombie nced at the blue griffin and shook his head. "Raor...! (N-no...! Blueberry''s serious...!) Raor! (Mary didn''t want any of that to happen!)" Arion bravely stepped in front of the blue undead to stop him from approaching the trembling brown-haired girl. "..." Out of their small group, Cranberry was the only person who didn''t understand what the wolf and the griffin were barking and screeching about, so without the full picture, she just continued hugging Blueberry and observed how will the situation unfold. "...what happened?" Zombie looked at Blueberry and Arion, sighed, and asked Mary after deactivating his skills. ... ... "..." Zombie - now wearing a dirty set of armor pulled out from the remains of thest outpost of the second defense line - was sitting by the hastily put together campfire and staring intently at the Dandelions huddled together across it. "Lairs." The blue undead sitting between the blue griffin and the ck wolf pointed at the ck-haired elf. "Ha! Fucking told you he would remember me!" Lairs raised her hand triumphantly and cheered. "Not so fast Laii! You''ve said that he will remember only you!" The warrior sitting right by her pointed out, cooling down the elf''s excitement. "..." Zombie moved on to him and tilted his head making aplicated expression. "...Moldde...?" He asked while squinting his eyes. "Pffft...!" Lairs snorted swing the defeated expression made by the warrior. "...it''s Rotte..." The warrior pointed out. "Tsk! Rot! Not Mold!" Zombie clicked his tongue and shook his head. And he moved on to the rat-faced man. "Shiv!" He stated with a lot of confidence. "Quite close actually, it''s Shanks though." Shanks waved his hand dismissively and exined. Then it came the turn for the very tall woman in heavy armor. "..." Zombie full-on crossed his arms and tilted his head in utter confusion. "Marshmallow." The blue undead took a wild guess and failed miserably. "Sorry, Zombie, my name is Uresha, but I am fine with the name you came up with." Uresha fidgeted and smiled friendly. "Oh! Uresha! That''s why! The other three have names that I can connect with negative things!" Zombie nodded to himself, ignoring the fact that the three with negative sounding names all made bitter expressions - even Lairs who had won the bet they made amongst themselves before seating down. "How about our group''s name?" Rotte asked. "Easy. Sunflowers. No...! Wait! Daffodils!" "Dandelions." Zombie''s futile struggle to remember the things he himself called unimportant before, was interrupted by the red-haired Cranberry, now sporting a set of armor just like every member of the Dandelions and Sloth soldiers. Hers was also pulled out from underneath the debris but unlike Zombie, she made sure to clean it first before puting it on. "It''s all flowers, I was close enough." Zombie looked up at her and smiled, very proud of himself despite the rather awful result of his memory test. "With that out of the way. Shanks, why didn''t you told us that you were a noble from the Sloth family? If we knew that beforehand I would make sure to get some advice from you before we would depart three months ago." Cranberry furrowed her brows and stared down the rat-faced man. "Please, forgive me, youngdy. But, truth to be told, even if you knew about my origin and I knew where we''re you going, I would most likely still said nothing." The rat-faced man bowed down his head and apologized. "The elusive Sloth family... say, Shanks, since you were pardoned by the higher-ups or whatever, won''t you be our guide? I would like to greet the famous avatar of sloth at least once given the chance." Cranberry smiled innocently but her eyes shed with rather malicious intent. "That... I would be d to assist you, youngdy, but as you can see..." Shanks shook his head apologetically and pointed at the giant wall of thick mist far in the distance. "The sea of mist condensing like that means that the current avatar of lush went into a slumber and all audiences will have to wait until a new one is selected. Sorry." Shanks bowed his head again. "So right now the spot of the avatar is technically vacant, huh? Isn''t that nice..." Cranberry smirked and muttered to herself and tapped Zombie''s shoulder. "Here." Zombie leaned to the side without standing up or anything and instead tapped hisp - which Cranberry promptly used as a seat without even a moment of hesitation. "...I still think I deserve an apology..." Suddenly, Mary who up until then was sitting by Arion''s other side sulking in silence, pouted and spoke up. "I did my best to help everyone, lost most of my precious monsters in the process, and then not only I was not shown any sympathy - I was almost beaten up because of it, even though none of it was my fault!" Sheined while pulling her knees to her chin and rubbing her feet together. "Arion has told me about his quest to eat ten humanoid titan-ss monsters. I definitely wasn''t in the wrong, but I am willing to go back into the mountains and get you all the remaining corpses that are needed for that quest''s - there should be some in fairly good condition that should count topletion..." "No way?! You will?!" Before Zombie even finished, Mary straightened her back and looked at the blue undead form over Arion''s back. "...only if you agree on bing Cranberry''s follower again." "Could you stop saying that?! You''re making me look pathetic!" Zombie ended his sentence with augh and smiled mockingly at the red-haired girl who frowned and looked away. Chapter 233: A cozy talk wi- WHO DID THIS?!

Chapter 233: A cozy talk wi- WHO DID THIS?!

The Dandelions were invited by a bunch of young soldiers to celebrate the victory with them and left the two girls and three monsters behind with apologetic smiles. "To bear with all of that with your levels and stats..." Cranberry was smiling while looking at Mary like a proud parent. "Your memories might have changed but the pride I saw in you when we were kids is still good after all. I was really worried before when I saw you with Roan back in the woods near our territory." She nodded and rises her clenched fist triumphantly. "Forgive medy Pride, even though some of my monsters may support your story about some other version of the world that got reced because of some reset or whatnot, the only thing I remember about you is that you were always very mean to me." Mary grumbled looking away but nced back once she noticed the red-haired girl flinched because of her words. "Ha! Maybe if you weren''t such a little wimp acting like a damsel in distress instead of...!" *pat* "...?!" "Maryl, call this stubborn girl by her first name and without any honorifics." Zombie used Cranberry''s head as an armrest whichpletely threw the red-haired girl off and confused her more than anything she witnessed up until that point. "What? No! I''ve heard whatdy Pride does to people that are rude to her! I''m not going to fall for that!" Mary shook her head and backed off, putting up both her hands and shaking her head from left to right. "Nah, I''m serious. You probably can''t tell - that cute ball of aggression and violence is only acting tough, in reality she''s sulking right now but is too proud to show that in an obvious way." The blue undead giggled and moved his arms so that now he was tightly hugging the red-haired girl from behind while resting his chin on the top of her head. "...!" Which was an extremely efficient method to stop Cranberry from speaking up since she was too overwhelmed with various emotions ranging from happiness all the way to embarrassment. "Sulking...?! The viiness is sulking because I, the heroine, am not intimate enough with her?!" Mary shook her head in disbelief and asked. "...this takes way too long. Marion, you want to get the titan-ss monsters corpses or not?" Zombie rolled his eyes and frowned. "I... I want them..." Mary lowered her head and nodded. "Then repeat after me." The undead nodded back and propped the unbelievably embarrassed Cranberry to face the brown-haired girl. "Cranberry. It''s good to see you. Let''s train together again." "Cranberry. It''s good to see you. Let''s train together again." Zombie spoke and Mary repeated after him, while carefully watching the red-haired girl''s reaction. "...!" Even though it was staged - for just a split second, Cranberry''s expression changed into a hopeful one, as if she really wanted to believe in the girl''s words... "Haa... this is dumb. Zombie, stop this before I''ll get mad at you, you rotten brain." But then her expression soured and she stood up from Zombie''sp and scoffed at him. "..." Mary also turned away, but instead of getting angry, she fell deeply in thoughts. "Alright. Blueberry,fort your mommy for a moment - I''ll go fetch the monster corpses I promised Morty, and be right back." Zombie patted the griffin''s side and stood up as well. "Skwee...! (Mommy, don''t be sad!)" Given the permission, Blueberry shimmied closer towards the red-haired girl and wrapped around her like a cat looking for affection. "...Blueberry, your daddy is not ying fair..." Cranberry muttered before giving in and burrowing herself in the soft feathers while hugging the blue griffin. "...?" Zombie was about to leave towards the mountain but he stopped in ce once he nced at Blueberry''s talons... ...and realized that one of them was missing and it didn''t look like an old wound either... "...Madison, what is the meaning of this...?" His happy demeanor disappeared and he transformed back into the furious, terrifying monster. "...?! Wh-what are you talking about...?!" Mary backed off and took cover behind Arion. "You can heal your monsters, I saw you healing Arion before. Even if your mend is painful, it sure beats having an open wound like this...!" He growled pointing at Blueberry''s missing talon. "Neither you nor Arion are wounded, it''s only Blueberry... are you bullying my daughter...?!" He red down at the trembling heroine and his body began glowing violet. "...wha...?! No! It''s not like that!" Mary freaked out and panicky waved her arms in denial. "Skwee. (Daddy, it''s not like that.) Skwee. (Master''s skill is just too low-level to affect me.) Skwee. (She really tried her best but it just didn''t work without Avocado aiding her.)" Blueberry hurriedly clenched her talons, hiding the wound, and screeched in an exnation. "...how did you even get that wound in the first ce? It doesn''t look like something caused by fighting arge monster..." Zombie deactivated his skills and asked. "..." The blue griffin lowered her head with embarrassment and didn''t answer. "Raor, raor. (Big brother Zombie, Blueberry got wounded when she tried to keep that girl safe.)" The one who answered in her stead was therge ck wolf. Arion stood up and looked towards the ashen-haired girl talking with some medics. "Her? She seems a bit stronger than the others... so? What happened? Did your talon broke against the armor of one of those big monsters or something?" Zombie nodded after ncing at the young girl with his glowing red eyes. "...skwee... (...not exactly...)" Blueberry screeched silently and shook her head in embarrassment. "Wait! That''s right! If you are going to be mad anyway, be mad at that crazy brat!" Mary gasped and stood up, suddenly realizing that she didn''t have to hide her disdain towards the ashen-haired girl anymore since the special quest was over and they didn''t have to cooperate in order to survive. "Do you two want to know how my Blueberry lost her talon?! She and Shanks were risking their lives to save that snot-nosed idiot over there, but that ungrateful brat ripped off Blueberry''s talon to jump back into the fight with no n!" The brown-haired girl poured out all of her anger out, venting off to the only two other people who cared about the giant griffin just as much or even more than she did. "Zombie. I won''t be able to hold back, so you take care of it. Don''t kill her. Make her suffer." Cranberry lifted her head up from Blueberry''s feathers and ordered in a cold voice brimming with pure hatred as she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "W-wait...! That''s not what I was after...! She''s the daughter of the avatar of wrath and has a unique role in the global event too...!" Mary flinched and shivered from fear, looking at the Master-Servant pair seething with the purest wrath and glowing brightly with the myriad of skills. "Who cares about that? The system is flexible enough - it always adjusted when we killed any esential characters - why would a little punishment be any different?." Cranberry scoffed and went back to showering Blueberry with love and affection. "My poor baby... haa... mommy and daddy should have returned sooner..." She breathed out and nuzzled against the griffin''s neck. "No, seriously! Don''t! That girl might be a brat but she''s extremely stro... -eh...?!" Mary flinched and realized that Zombie was no longer there, and she''s talking to the thin air. His departure waspletely silent but the moment he got to the ashen-haired girl, was not... *BOOOOOOOOM* Chapter 234: Pathetic

Chapter 234: Pathetic

Mika was being appraised by at least half a dozen of different medics. Her status point increase waspletely out of this world, and the higher-ups of the Sloth soldiers were hoping to copy her sess to enhance the offensive power of their underlings... ...without realizing that no such thing was necessary any longer... Of course, the avable medics got to work as soon as they could with the eagerness that would make even the worst workaholic shook their head in disbelief. "It''s truly amazing! Most of your status points are over ten thousand points, your physical defense, and attack in particr! There are no records of status points above twenty thousand for a non-avatar yer character! This is truly spectacr!" A bespectacled man was singing praise while carefully taking notes as his eyes shone brightly. "We need to take you to theb in the capital, as soon as possible! How is your body still holding up together even after receiving thousands upon thousands of bonus points?! If we''ll figure that out we might just...!" "..." None of the male medic''s words were making any effect on Mika. The ashen-haired girl was ring at the group a few hundred feet directly in front of her. Mary Hope and her two tamed beasts were apparently having a talk with the very woman that the Wraths have set out to find in the first ce. Now the honor of the Wrath family could be restored! But Mika wasn''t happy in the slightest... How could she be when the red-haired girl and her corpse puppet have stolen all the glory that belonged to her? She was the Justice''s Wrath! Of course, she should be the one to save everyone andplete the quest! Not some girl from the dishonored noble family and her stinking corpse puppet! "Tsk...! Show off...!" Once Mika saw that the corpse puppet is activating and deactivating its skills time and time again, she clicked her tongue and used her own skills. "Ooooohhhh! Amazing! Those numbers are so over the top! That must be the first time in recorded history!" The medics gasped and began talking over each other excitedly. "Hmph...! That''s right! If I was given a chance I would have done a better job dealing with the monster wave than some..." *BOOOOOOOOOM* Before Mika could register what was happening, the blue undead appeared right in front of her, and the shockwave caused by him abruptly stopping created an enormous explosion that sent all the medics flying tens of feet into the air. Mika was the only one who didn''t move nor made a sound... "!!!!?!??!?!?!?!?!!" ...because the blue undead grabbed her face, blocking her mouth, and held her in ce. Mika tried to back off, but the grip was too strong, she wasn''t even able to budge without feeling like her jaw was about to be ripped off! "!!!!!?!?!?!!!?" She tried to do the next best thing - grab onto the hand that was holding onto her and rip it apart with her overwhelming force! She had her skills active! The medics - who were all crashing against the ground by that point - have just told her that she was the strongest in history! What a measly corpse puppet can do against her?! So she grabbed onto the wrist of the left hand that the undead was holding her, and tore it apart! "!!!!!!!!!!!" ...except that she didn''t. "Pathetic weakling like you dared to hurt my cute daughter...?" The undead stared down at the ashen-haired girl and scoffed with disgust. Mika couldn''t answer, but if the undead wanted to listen to her exnation he wouldn''t have blocked her mouth in the first ce. "!!!!!!!!" "Pffft....!" The undead has lifted the ashen-haired girl up to match his eye-level and snorted...! "Khahahahaha!" ..no, he straight upughed! But since Mika was already in the air, she could attack him! Even if his hand was armored or something, it didn''t mean that his body was too! He was just a corpse puppet after all! Since her arms were too short - her punches wouldn''t reach - so instead she went for a kick! *BOOOOOOOM* Mary''s full power kick caused a massive explosion that shattered the earth and caused injuries in all the people that tried to get over to help her... "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And she wheezed in pain once her shin met with the immovable object and the bone shattered into hundreds of shrapnel that tore through the muscles and skin. "So underwhelming... was that supposed to be a kick...?" Zombie tilted his head and sighed with disgust. Then his head moved and he focused his attention on the girl''s left hand... Especially her fingers... "What do you think hurts more? Being poisoned, or being caught on fire?" He asked and raised his index finger - he moved it around and a drop of translucent liquid floated up. Then, without the undead doing anything else, a tiny ball of flickering fire joined the liquid and they both danced in the air. Despite their meager size, the threatening aura they were giving off was enough to make Mika''s skin crawl... "Honestly... I can''t decide. But do you want to know the fun part?" The blue undead''s smile grew wider as he asked. "I don''t have to choose." He said and both the liquid and the ball of fire merged together and became a violet me burning brightly. Now, it didn''t excude the dangerous aura anymore... The aura it was giving off was the overwhelming aura of death! "And neither do you." Heughed and flicked his finger, sending the speck of violet me at Mika''s and. "!!!!!!!!!!" Mika flinched and started wildly iling her limbs to get away from the attack, but she wasn''t strong enough to free herself from the undead''s grip not fast enough to dodge the attack. As if it had a mind of its own, the violet me followed Mika''s left arm no matter what she did and barely grazed her ring finger before going out and disappearing without a trace... *thump* Satisfied Zombie let go of Mika''s face, making the ashen-haired girl crumble to the ground and turned around and casually walked back towards his master, Mary, Arion, and Blueberry. "..." Mika was curled up on the ground - face down - clenching her left hand close to her body. Her shoulders were shaking. "Mika?! Are you alrig...?!" Corvus ran up to her and touched her shoulder... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!" And as soon as he did that the girl writhed in pain and began shouting her lungs off and wriggling on the ground like a warm. From the ce where the violet mes brushed - the tip of her ring finger - a thick ck web extended, climbing up all the way to her shoulder. "MIKA! SHE NEEDS HELP!" The white-haired man called out and the help arrived without dy, even though they themselves were in a rather bad shape. "...! nothing''s working...!" One of the medics cried once their healing skill had no effect. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH! MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOP!" Mika cried hysterically, thrashing around unable to control herself. "Hey, weakling! It will stop hurting if you tear off your finger!" Zombie nced over his shoulder and smirked. "!!!" Mika''s body flinched, and she grabbed her left hand''s ring finger without hesitation. "MIKA, DON''T!" *RIIIIIIIP* "AAA...! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH...!" Corvus tried to stop her, but the ashen-haired girl twisted her finger, tearing it off of her hand and throwing it away with full force, but that only resulted in even more agonizing pain flooding every inch of her body as the ck web began expanding twice as fast, as her detached finger crumbled and turned into nothingness while still in the air. "Pfffft...! KHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU DID IT?! YOU REALLY DID IT?! KHAHAHAHAHAHA! Haa... how could anyone be this naive?" Zombie burst intoughter and shook his head in disbelief, before casually walking off. Chapter 235: Are you trying to make them angry...?

Chapter 235: Are you trying to make them angry...?

"Zombie, youngdy Pride... that certainly wasn''t a smart thing to do..." Shanks approached the pair as soon as the blue undead rejoined his master. "...? And why would that be? I thought that making that girl tear off her own finger would be quite the smart way of making her pay for what she did to our cute Blueberry." Zombie scowled and pouted, deeply offended that the n he came up with by himself was called not smart. "Shanks." "Yes, youngdy...?" Cranberry spoke up with amusement and made the rat-faced man look at her in confusion. "Look at who are you talking to. Do you think that I would risk showing my face again if I wasn''t absolutely sure that the two of us can defend ourselves?" She tilted her head and smiled brightly - which funnily enough was the scariest face she ever showed to the leader of the Dandelions. "Mydy, that doesn''t sound like you! You''ve said before that there is always someone stronger, right?!" Lairs sneaked up from behind Shanks and popped up her head, looking at the red-haired girl with worry. "Mydy...? Someone seems to have been missing me a lot." Cranberry raised her brows and giggled. The ck-haired elf stepped out from behind the rat-faced man, blushing deeply, and was almost instantly approached by the tinum-haired, copper-eyed woman who Cranberry wasn''t able to recognize right away... until she did. The copper-eyed woman grabbed onto Lairs''s armor and shyly whispered something into her ear while staring at Cranberry with a mixed expression. "Oh....?! Ah! I see, I see! Good for you Lairs!" Cranberry''s eyes widened and she pped her hands in admiration. "It seems that all you needed to find someone nice was a change of scenery..." She nodded to herself, but then her eyes grew colder as she red at all the Dandelions who had gathered back around her. "That said, why are you even here? You might be good at dealing with and selling monster corpses, but Sloths'' territory is hardly a ce where a group like yours could survive. But that means..." As the red-haired girl spoke, her voice was growing harsher and harsher and her ice-cold re moved between the ashen-haired girl wriggling in pain in the distance, the white-haired young man by the girl''s side, and the copper-eyed woman standing with Lairs. "...you were forced toe to this dangerous ce because someone figured out that Zombie and I arrived here, and of all the people who could have a chance of talking with us, you lot were made toply." Cranberry frowned at the copper-eyed woman. "Isn''t that right? Miss Ti, one of the CriTiCal trio of bodyguards protecting the queen herself?" "...!" She asked, making the copper-eyed woman flinch and get pale as a ghost. "If my memory serves me right, that piece of filth who dared to harm our little chick is Mika Wrath, the daughter of the current avatar of wrath, and isn''t that guy by her side the famous lucky prodigy, Corvus Wrath? Quite the search party. Though, I feel a bit offended that the queen didn''t send all three of her bodyguards, but it seems that I didn''t cause enough of an impact or maybe she thought that Roan is severely overestimating our capabilities because of that little charm skill I used on him..." Cranberry scoffed and grabbed the ck baseball bat that she kept close to her feet while ying with the blue griffin, and rested it on her shoulder. "Congrattions, you seeded... as long as your objective was topletely piss me off!" The red-haired girl growled at the trembling copper-eyed woman while clenching her fist on the handle of her weapon so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Youngdy! No! You are jumping to conclusions!" The rat-faced man stepped in front of the utterly terrified copper-eyed woman and spread his arm protectively. "...haa... is that so? Let''s just make one thing clear - if you four have betrayed the trust I''ve put in you, I promise that I will kill you off without hesitation." Cranberry spoke in a low voice, ring down at Shanks, who suddenly felt that maybe having to fight the mountain-like titan-ss monster was a much better alternative to the situation he put himself in. "...y-youngdy P-Pride... our group... we weren''t sent after you because of the queen''s orders..." Surprisingly enough, Ti managed to step up and started exining on her own, pulling the attention away from Shanks. "Ha. Well then, what really happened?" The red-haired girl furrowed her brows and lowered her baseball bat. "Once you have gone missing, the royal family began searching for you. Their investigators came to the wraths'' mansion to inquire your personal bodyguard about your whereabouts..." "Huh?! So there was one after all?! Why haven''t I sensed them before then?!" "Haa... Zombie, let her know talk for now..." Zombie loudly interrupted the bodyguard''s exnation which caused Cranberry to shake her head and breathe out with a tired expression. "Continue, miss Ti." The red-haired girl waved her hand benevolently at the copper-eyed woman. "The thing was, the person who was supposed to be guarding you, hasn''t been keeping an eye on you for months and kept submitting false reports. Once that was brought up, our family name was brought down and dragged through the mud. Every single active Wrath was dismissed from their bodyguard''s position. To counter that, young miss Mika hase up with the idea that if we, the Wraths, and more importantly, the man who was supposed to guard you in the first ce, were to find you - that would help us regain our reputation." Ti continued. "About the thing you''ve said... the three of us... CriTiCal, we had all came to search for you but... my friends have been killed by the titan-ss monsters during the 6th monster wave, doing their best to protect miss Mika..." The woman began blinking repeatedly to stop her tears from bursting out once she spoke about her fallenpanions. "Fig and Melon died the same way too..." Mary spoke up in a shaking voice while hugging Arion. "...I''ll be right back..." Zombie spoke up suddenly and disappeared. "?!?!" "Where did he...?!" The others all freaked out, looking around trying to locate the blue undead. "Haa... My Zombie said that he will be right back, so he will be right back. Move on." Everyone, with the exception of his master, who sighed and nodded at the copper-eyed woman to continue. "Because of an unfortunate series of idents, we ended up confusing the recruitment mission of the Sloth soldiers with a case of serial kidnapping, that''s when we met miss Mary who was investigating the very same thing, and after all that, we ended up in the Sloth territory. We were only able to stay, or rather, we were forced to stay because we all made the horrible mistake of epting something called a special quest and its failure would have meant that the titan-ss monsters would be amon encounter on the whole continent..." Ti obediently continued her exnation. "And the Dandelions?" Cranberry asked. "We were unlucky enough to be in the range of the mass teleportation skill. And then we also got a quest, but nothing as terrifying as they did." Shanks exined, nodding at the copper-eyed woman. "...not terrifying... Avocado and Cherry died during that quest, you know?! I still haven''t received a proper apology!" Mary trembled from anger and red at the rat-faced man. "About that..." *WHAM* "MIKA!" Chapter 236: It was not enough.

Chapter 236: It was not enough.

Mika''s tears were streaming down her face as she held her left hand close, rocking back and forth while sitting on the ground. None of the healing skills used by the beaten-up medics did anything to lessen the excruciating pain that the wound - dealt by the blue undead and then made worse by Mika herself foolishly listening to him and tearing off her finger - was causing her. "Everything will be alright, Mika, we will find someone who can help you..." Corvus was by her side, doing his best tofort the girl, but honestly, he had no faith in his own words. Even if the skills of the medics weren''t too high, their stats should be have been able to make up for it without any trouble. If they couldn''t do anything... "H-how dare he...!" The ashen-haired girl gritted her teeth and cried furiously. "I-I''m a Justice''s W-wrath...! It...! It wasn''t my fault...! I''m not in the wrong...!" She growled, hiding her face in her knees. "Mika it''s... YOU?!" Corvus''s sounded as if he was going to sit by the ashen-haired girl but then he gasped and took a step back. *pat* "...!" Mika felt a cold hand on her head. It was... soothing... But she didn''t want to be calmed down! She wanted to rage and get the blue undead and the red-haired girl who stole her moment of glory away from her to suffer the consequences! She wanted revenge for the terrible wound! A ring finger...! That corpse puppet made her rip off her ring finger...! That''s where the wedding ring was supposed to go! Mika wanted justice! And she was the justice that would bring down the punishment onto the evildoers who wronged her...! "Hey... It turns out I went too easy on you before." A cold voice that didn''t belong to her beloved Corvus spoke up... The cold hand on Mika''s shoulder grabbed her hair in an iron grip and forced her to look up... "!!??!?!!?!?!?!" Right into the cold dead eyes of the blue-skinned corpse puppet. "The previous punishment was adequate to your sin of hurting my precious daughter... but it turns out that all the cute doggies I''ve helped to train have died because of you too." The corpse puppet said and... *WHAM* ... smashed Mika''s head against the ground causing an explosion that has sent white-haired Corvus tumbling back tens of feet. "MIKA!" "Shut up, trash." "...!" Corvus shouted and was about to charge the corpse puppet, but the moment the blue undead nced at him and his eyes shed white, the white-haired man found himself frozen in ce, drenched in sweat from the unimaginable horror. The blue undead has turned into an unspeakable overwhelming monstrosity - at least in Corvus''s eyes... "...uugh..." Mika groaned as soon as the corpse puppet has pulled her head back up from the crater that it created. *WHAM* Just so it could smash it again... *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* "One for each cute doggy that had to die because of you." "...uugh...uuu...! Ughy...!" The corpse puppet exined as Mika cried pitifully with her face all bloody and messed up. "...you will pay for this, you viin...!" *CRUSH* Suddenly, the ashen-haired girl''s body shone with a blinding red light and she threw a devastating, full power justice punch right at the corpse puppet''s unguarded face, causing the strong bones to crack and shatter as if they were made of fragile ss. "AAAAAAUUUURRRRGGGGHH...!" Mika wailed in pain as shepletely destroyed her own hand against the undead''s face without causing him any harm aside from staining his skin with her blood. "You know what? I actually am still angry that a weakling like you dared to raise her hand against my cute daughter." *WHAM* Unperturbed Zombie furrowed his brows and smashed Mika''s head against the ground for the seventh time and after seeing her twitch in convulsions, he finally let go of her and stood up. "That said... you. You were supposed to be my Cranberry''s bodyguard or something, weren''t you, huh?" The blue undead scoffed and walked over to the petrified white-haired man and lifted him up by the throat. "...!" Corvus wriggled like a worm on a fishing hook but was unable to even make a sound. "Let''s make one thing clear, mister bodyguard." Zombie said ring down into the trembling eyes of the terrified man. "Cranberry doesn''t need anyone other than me to watch over her. Understood? You are dismissed from your position, am I clear enough or...?" The blue undead asked tightening his grip even more. "!!!!!!!!" Corvus grabbed onto Zombie''s wrist with all his strength and gave his all to vigorously nod his head, even though he didn''t have a full range of movement. "Oh? That was easier than I expected! What a reasonable living you are!" Zombie smiled and gently put Corvus down. "Good for you!" "Ghuah...! Th-thank you..." The blue undeadughed and patted the white-haired man''s shoulder with his left arm as the man was gasping for air. "...?" "!!!!" Suddenly the undead flinched and his expression darkened, causing Corvus to tense up and raise his arms defensively. *WHOOOOSH* But instead of attacking him, the blue undead turned around and waved his red and ck hand that extended into a whip... "AAAGHH...! NOOOOOOOOO...!" And wrapped around the ankle of the ashen-haired girl who was trying to crawl away. "Who allowed you to leave, you trashy living?" The blue undead scowled and pulled on his right arm, causing it to retract and drag the desperately struggling Mika towards him. "She left punishing you to me, but I bet that my Cranberry has something to say to you too after all." The undead snorted and started walking back towards his master looking at him from afar. "You. Ex-bodyguard. Have a nice day." "NO! NOOOO...! HELP ME...! HEEEEELP MEEEEE!" Zombie smiled and nodded at the utterly confused Corvus, and started dragging the screaming and crying Mika behind him. "...was... was that thanks to my LUC...?" Corvus touched his sore neck and trembled. "Stop!" But even though the white-haired man wasn''t going to do anything, that didn''t mean that no one would try to stop the blue undead. "Release the captive!" The gunners lead by the medics and a few high-ranked Sloth soldiers surrounded Zombie, pointing their guns at him, ready to fire. "...pffft...! KHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Which only met with open mockery of the blue undead. "Put down those peashooters. Even though Cranberry told me to not kill any of you because you are working hard to protect the kingdom or whatever, if you attack first, I will simply ignore thatmand." He smiled and raised his left hand up. With a sudden gust of wind, a massive fireball appeared on top of his palm and instantly grew to a terrifying size. ...and turned violet in the next second, causing the previously keeping it together soldiers, to start visibly panicking. "W-what are you going to do with her...?!" The highest-ranked officer asked though even he couldn''t hide how much his voice shook. "Exactly what I''ve said before." "NOO! NOOOO! NOOOOOOOOO! HELP ME! YOU ARE ALL ALIVE THANKS TO ME! HELP ME!" "...!" After Zombie''s response, Mika cried desperately and the soldiers flinched. "...appraise it..." The highest-ranked officer spoke to the medic by his side. "S-sir...?" The bespectacled woman gasped. "You have the appraisal+ don''t you? Check what we''re going up against...!" The officer had mouthed to her with urgency. "Yes, sir!" The woman nodded, and her eyes glowed for a second... /You do not have the authority to ess the King of Pride''s info "...eh...?" A short system message has shown up in front of the bbergasted medic. Chapter 237: The gift

Chapter 237: The gift

"Don''t ''eh'' me medic 7, report his stats!" The officer urged the bespectacled woman. "Just now, the system... my appraisal was rejected..." Medic 7 raised her shaking hand and pointed at the spot where the message lingered in her vision just a second ago. "...?" The officer shook his head and stared at her in confusion." "The system rejected the appraisal? How is that even possible...?" He asked taken aback. "The message said, you don''t have the authority to appraise the King of Pride..." Medic seven exined while slowly turning back towards the blue undead standing tall and looking down on everyone surrounding him. "The king...? That corpse puppet''s rank is king...?!" The officer gritted his teeth. A corpse puppet can never be stronger than its master - that universal truth was well known even amongst the Sloth soldiers since there have been corpse puppeteers working together with them in the past. From various zombies, ghouls, flesh golems, vampires, and death knights, all the way to liches - not a single corpse puppet has ever been known to have a rank higher than lord because if they did, they would break free from their master''s control and wreak destruction upon all the living as a cmity. "Tsk... why does it seem that a bunch of weaklings like you are looking down on me...?" Zombie clicked his tongue and shook his head with an annoyed expression. "...that said, I did get my title upgraded, haven''t I? It even came with a skill..." The blue undead furrowed his brows and rubbed his chin, straining his shackled brain to remember something. "WHY AREN''T YOU DOING ANYTHING?!" Mika used that chance to scream at the Sloth soldiers, but with the giant violet fireball hovering just above the undead''s head even though he moved his left hand, none of them dared to make a move - not without a direct order at least. "Ah! That''s right! Something about ruling!" Zombie''s eyes widened and he smiled when he vaguely recalled the thing he wanted to. "If I remember it correctly, it''s not an offensive skill at all, so using it won''t count as attacking! Khahaha! That''s so ni..." "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HELP ME!" As Zombie was nodding to himself in satisfaction, Mika has interrupted him with her howls of despair. "Shut your face." "HMFGH...!" Zombie''s eyes shone with a cold white light and Mika''s mouth closed against her will. "Good, it works." Zombie smirked and looked at every Sloth soldier encircling him. "Drop your weapons and step aside." *ng* As soon as those words left the blue undead''s mouth, every Sloth soldier has obeyed them without a hint of hesitation. And they didn''t just lower their weapons, they literally threw them on the ground like trash and rushed away, they even formed lines on the sides of the path that Zombie was going to take, making way for the undead as if he was a guest of honor on a parade. "Good." "MGGPHHHPHH!" Zombie made the giant violet fireball disappear without a trace, then smirked with satisfaction and casually walked off, dragging the ashen-haired girl - who was constantly trying to get away and scream but failing at both of those activities - behind him. "Yo! I''m back. And I brought a gift!" In front of the horrified Dandelions, terrified Mary, shocked Arion, and surprised Blueberry, Zombie raised his left hand and greeted Cranberry with lighthearted cheer. "MGGPPGHH...!" And then he snapped his right arm and made Mika fly and crush right at the red-haired girl''s feet. "Haa..." Cranberry sighed and shook her head. "Zombie, the gesture itself is lovely..." She opened her eyes and smiled warmly at her undead. "...but, this gift..." Then her eyes and voice grew cold when she looked down at the furious girl crawling at her feet. Mika was ring at her with pure hate and her body was glowing with a crimson red light that could only mean the activation of multiple powerful skills. "...I hate it." *CRUSH* "!!!!!!!!!" While Mika was preparing to attack and using all of her strongest skills in order to wipe out the hateful girl in front of her from existence, the red-haired girl herself didn''t bother with something as unnecessary as that. She simply moved her leg and stepped on Mika''s head, smashing it deep into the ground, causing a small earthquake and knocking the wrathful girl out cold. "Yeah, you''re right, it sucks..." Zombie sighed and looked to the side in disappointment. "I''ll just return it." *WHOOOSH* But then he shrugged his shoulders and snapped his right hand back - forcing the unconscious body of the ashen-haired girl to fly... *WHAM* ...and crashnd right at the feet of the white-haired Corvus, who was still frozen in the same spot where Zombie had left him. "You two wentpletely insane!" Shanks grabbed his head and shouted, his whole body shaking. "Really? I just think we just spend too much time surrounded by monsters so our good manners might be a bit rusty." Cranberry looked at him and raised her brow doubtfully. "Have we even done something wrong though?" Zombie titled his head in confusion at the rat-faced man as if he was the one out of his mind. "You must realize what you are doing! You are threatening the Sloth soldiers on their home ground, you are smacking around the daughter of the avatar of wrath...! Don''t you want to return to the society?! Because everything you are doing is making your situation worse!" Shanks took a step forwards and exined feverishly gesturing with his hands. "Like... can our reputation even get any worse after we killed off all those Envys while rescuing Lairs...?" Zombie tilted his head even more and crossed his arms. "..." The Dandelions and Mary looked at each other... "Yes! Yes it can! And you, youngdy, should know exactly why!" Shanks waved his hands and turned to Cranberry. "The fact that you two were the ones who did it was not revealed to the public! Only a very small group of people knows what happened! The actually useful and important branch of Envy family - the one doing the spying and the one you did NOT eviscerate - is strongly pressuring the royal family to not pursue you since you''ve essentially got rid of the nuisance ruining their reputation and stealing their achievements left and right." He took another step forward. "Youngdy...! If I may...!" "...?" But he wasn''t the only only one. The copper-eyed bodyguard, Ti, let go of Lairs''s hand and also stepped towards the red-haired girl and her undead. "From what I''ve learned before we were forced out of the pce, the queen doesn''t bear any ill will towards you!" Ti spoke up timidly at first but then her voice grew more confident. "Ha! Is that so? That''s odd. I would assume that after the charm skill I used on...! oh no..." Cranberry scoffed and smirked mockingly, but then she furrowed her brows and finally ended up wide-eyed from realization. "The Greed''s greed knows no bounds..." She sighed and started massaging her forehead. "...yes..." Ti nodded. "Yes, sure, don''t exin anything to me! Because that never got us into any trouble!" Zombie clicked his tongue and scoffed angrily at Cranberry. "Haa... I''ll tell you when the time is right. Right now we need to hurry and get to the avatar of sloth and not bother with the royal family." The red-haired girl breathed out and dered. Chapter 238: Step by step

Chapter 238: Step by step

"..." Zombie pouted and looked away all grumpy but didn''t pursue the matter. "Anyway... haa... this will be a mess one way or another. Zombie, please, make sure that none of them will talk about us... no. Wait. Make sure that none of them will be able to leak anything about what we did here - it will be more interesting if the south doesn''t know our capabilities just yet." The red-haired girl decided after considering things for a while. "So kill them all? With pleasure!" That made the blue undead perk up and activate his skills even before he turned towards all the people gathered there. "Zombie, no!" Cranberry shook her head. "ZOMBIE, YES!" The blue undead grinned excitedly and raised his hand, aiming at the panicking Sloth soldiers. "Haa... alright. Then, if you kill them, who is going to lead us to the avatar of sloth?" Cranberry massaged her forehead and asked. "..." Zombie didn''t lower his hand but his expression soured. "You told me that you can''t detect life essences through that concentrated fog..." She pointed towards the tall walls of the sea of mist and frowned. "...so? Was that a lie?" Now she sounded like she was sulking. "...fine..." Zombie scoffed and stopped aiming at the remains of the army. "You are all forbidden from ever mentioning,municating in any way - verbal or nonverbal - and even hinting at what you''ve seen the two of us do in this territory. When asked about it, just say we merely taking shelter here, hiding from the threats." Instead, he red at every single Sloth soldier as well as at Mika and Corvus and ordered them in a voice that brought to mind the aura of the system message. "That was actually a well-thought-outmand, good job." Cranberry hasplimented the blue undead sounding slightly surprised. "That...! That was a right to rule skill, wasn''t it?!" But then Shanks had butted in and asked, staring at Zombie. "That''s what you did to the soldiers before too, right??How did you get it? Receiving it should be impossible without borrowing the power of Patience!" The rat-faced man approached the blue undead frantically. "Shiv, what are you talking about? Right to rule? But I''m using king''s rule though?" Blinked in confusion and tilted his head. "...!" Shanks flinch and froze two steps before reaching the blue undead. "But thank you for outing yourself as someone who knows more than he should... care to exin, mister I know about the workings of the skill granting by the system?" Cranberry straightened her back and red coldly at the rat-faced man. "..." Shanks closed his eyes as if he was trying to calm down. "...youngdy, first of all - I want to make clear that I was banished and exiled and never expected to return." He opened his eyes and exined. "...? would it kill you to speak clearly?" Zombie frowned, ring at the rat-faced man. "...haa... great, just great. Zombie, use the samemand on him... Actually, use it on everyone except for our Blueberry, Mary, and Arion." "You are all forbidden from ever mentioning,municating in any way - verbal or nonverbal - and even hinting at what you''ve seen the two of us do in this territory. When asked about it, just say we merely taking shelter here, hiding from the threats." Cranberry sighed and nodded at her blue undead, and heplied immediately. "Alright. But why did I do that?" Only then Zombie turned to the red-haired girl and asked. "Because our sneaky-inclined friend has just told us that he is a faithful member of the Sloth family." "He is?!" Cranberry exined in a t tone. "I was disowned." Shanks corrected them and instantly turned back to Zombie. "What the hell are you?! Just now I received system messages that my magic defense is too low and I don''t have the authority to oppose your skill! How is that possible?! My MDF is in five digits realm and I have titles and affinities that should prevent anything like that ever happening!" The rat-faced man raised his hands wing at the air. "Well, that just means your stats, titles, and affinities aren''t all that great." "...!" Zombie just shrugged his shoulders and made Shanks''s jaw drop with his casualment. "...just to be sure... Shanks, what did you see us two doing here?" Cranberry muttered to herself and then asked the rat-faced man. "What did I see? We found you by ident while you were taking shelter from the monsters... - holy shit that skill of yours is something else!" Shanks dered in a single breath ending with an impressed nod towards the blue undead. "Ha! Though, Shanks, I must say - you being an active Sloth means that you will be able to get us the audience with the slumbering avatar, right? So we don''t have to make a Sloth soldier lead us to the avatar of sloth... Isn''t that''s perfect?" Cranberry smirked and nced at him. "You are too caring for those weak living, what other use do they have now that there are no titan-ss monsters left?" Zombie scowled and waved his left-hand dismissively. "What...? Wait, what did you say...?!" *smack* Shanks looked as if he was just struck by thunder and he ran up to Zombie, trying to grab onto the armor the undead was wearing but got his hands smacked aside. "Don''t try to touch me with your filthy living hands." Zombie scoffed, ring at the confused rat-faced man who ended up t on the ground. "The things you said to the youngdy! Were you serious?! How could you be sure about it?!" Shanks got up to all fours and stared intently at the blue undead. "How could I know? Because she is too caring! The fact that she doesn''t want me to kill any of them is proof enough!" Zombie snorted and waved his left hand to demonstrate all of the Sloth soldiers that he wasn''t allowed to decimate. "Not about that! The titan-ss monsters! They are gone?! How do you know that?!" Shanks shook his head dismissively and asked feverishly. "Because once we killed thest few just now Cranberry and I both unlocked an achievement called Exterminator of the species [titan-ss]...? What, should I draw you a picture of all the empty, lifelessndscapes from the mountain ranges back there? No, wait, paintings don''t work like photographs in this case... never mind that." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and confused himself with his own choice of words. "That...! If that''s true then it changes everything...! If you wish, I can take you two to the capital as whenever you like!" Shanks got up suddenly all rearing to go. "Alright, isn''t that perfect?" Cranberry smiled, nodded benevolently, and then nced past Zombie and squinted her eyes. "You know what? We should grab the lucky prodigy and take him with us. We will need an excuse to go see the avatar of wrath anyway, so we''ll just go to the Wrath territory straight after dealing with the avatar of sloth." She decided and pointed at Corvus with her chin. "Of course, the other one should be sent back to her home straight away." The red-haired girl added not sparing Mika even a single nce. "Yeah, sure, a lucky charm sounds like a good thing to have." *WHOOOOSH* Zombie agreed with her and she instantly waved his right hand around and turned it into a whip that cut through the air. "Lucky charm...?" Cranberry tilted her head and asked. "Yeah, like a rabbit''s foot. What? Are you telling me this guy doesn''t look like a rabbit to you?" "OH, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and asked the moment that the red and ck whip coiled around Corvus and the white-haired man himself had shouted in shock. Chapter 239: Walking through the fog

Chapter 239: Walking through the fog

"...just to be clear, even though you kept your word and got my Arion the titan-ss monsters'' corpses we required toplete the quest, and you seem to trust me for whatever reason, I never agreed on actually be your follower, alright?" It took Mary seven full days of travel towards the misty capital of the Sloth territory to finally spoke up to Cranberry and Zombie about what was bothering her. "And since when did I started to trust you?" Zombie made a sour face and looked at the brown-haired girl as if she went crazy. "Not you! Her!" Mary scoffed and shook her head, then she pointed her finger at Cranberry. "You told Zombie to use his skill on every human except for me! That means that you trust me, right?" She said staring at the indifferent face of the red-haired girl. "Oh really? For me, it seems more like I set up a trap." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smirked mockingly. "A... a trap...?" Mary flinched and asked, lowering her hand, full of the sudden doubt. "If any of the information leaks out to the rest of the kingdom before I or Zombie decide to reveal it ourselves, we will know exactly who is responsible for it - and who we should punish." Cranberry smiled lightheartedly and looked into Mary''s eyes. "That is so evil! What is wrong with you?!" Mary flinched and gasped, taken aback. "What did you think that I would do? I am the viiness, you know?" The red-haired girlughed mockingly in response. "Hmph! And I''m a heroine! Aren''t you worried that I will do as the heroine does and conquer a capture target?" The brown-haired girl puffed out her already incredibly well-defined chest and nced rather obviously at the blue undead by Cranberry''s side. "Ha! I would like to see you try. After all, we''ve been through, he won''t leave me just like that!" In response Cranberryughed and crossed her arms, giving support to the ample chest that wasn''t losing to Mary in either volume or shape. "Oh...? And what makes you so sure? If I decide to go along his rou..." "Stockholm syndrome." Before Mary could finish her sentence she was interrupted by the indifferent sounding undead. "I''m... sorry...?" The heroine shook her head and looked at him utterly confused. "Stockholm syndrome. I won''t leave her because of the Stockholm syndrome. Either because I spend too much time with her already, or because the rotten brain title actually did make my brain rot, I don''t see myself ever leaving that psycho anymore." Zombie exined with an innocent smile. "What''s a stock-holm syndrome?" Mary blinked in confusion and looked at equally surprised Cranberry. "I... don''t know... that''s the first time he has said that... But more importantly - what''s a psycho? You aren''t making up words just to insult me, are you, Zombie?" The red-haired girl shook her head and then frowned and red at the blue undead. "If someone else will call you that, it would be an insult, but since I''m the one calling you that, it''s an expression of fondness." Zombie shrugged his shoulders with apletely straight face. "...haa... is that so... Fine. I''ll believe you. You can call me that if you like." Cranberry nodded and faced away to hide the blush that covered her whole face... "Pfffft...!" ...so shepletely missed how Zombie turned to the side and shook heavily from the barely held back outburst ofughter before returning to a deadpan expression. "...?" Still, even if Cranberry didn''t saw his reaction, Mary totally did and got even more confused than she was before. "By the way, are we sure that we''re not lost or something? I''m quite sure that before the magic fog became too thick to let my life signature detection work, I swear that thergest city wasn''t so far away to take us that long to reach it." Zombieined and red at the back of the rat-faced man''s head. "That''s because you looked in a straight line and we are not traveling in a straight line." Shanks rolled his eyes and answered. "Why?" Zombie frowned and inquired. "Because the sea of fog doesn''t work like that - if we won''t travel exactly along the specifically marked path, we will be lost forever." Shanks made the exnation short and concise so that there could be no further questions. "Pretty inconvenient if you ask me, right, ex-bodyguard?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and scoffed, turning to the white-haired Corvus walking slightly behind him. "I...! I don''t think I''m in a position to answer that! I''m sure that sir Shanks is doing his best!" Corvus flinched and hurriedly assured the rat-faced man leading their small group. "Khahahaha! Sir Shanks! I will never get used to that!" Zombieughed and shook his head. "You won''t have to deal with it for long - as soon as we''re done with the audience, I''m going to have my powers re-sealed and everything will be back to normal." Shanks shrugged his shoulders without looking back at the blue undead. "Oh...? Huh... is the one doing that whole re-sealing supposed to be the avatar of sloth...?" Zombie raised his brow curiously. "Yes. That should be obvious." The rat-faced man nodded. "Hmm... sucks to be you." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and scoffed indifferently. "...?" Shanks nced at him in confusion before stopping. "Alright, it''s enough for today. Let''s set up a camp." He dered putting down the giant rifle he was carrying the whole time. "Already? Why does it seem we traveled far shorter than yesterday?" Mary asked and jumped off of Arion''s muscr back - since theypleted his quest and removed the curse of starvation, the ck wolf became truly massive so riding on him was now quite afortable experience. "That''s only what your brain is telling you. Inside the condensed sea of mist, the day and night cycle doesn''t work. If we were out of the mist, you would realize that it was already dark and that we traveled for over twelve hours." Shanks exined patiently. "...! This fog is insane!" Mary gasped and clenched her hands on Arion''s fur. But why was she been riding on the ck wolf and not her go-to stead, the blue emperor griffin in this situation? --- "Good job, little chick." Cranberry got down from Blueberry''s back and patted her neck affectionately. "Skwee! (Yay! Mommy praised me!)" The giant griffin screeched happily and nuzzled against the red-haired girl with her whole body. "Hey. I want to try something." Zombie approached the two of them and tapped Cranberry''s side so she would move away. "If you want to y with her, we can do it together, but okay...?" The red-haired girl looked at him in confusion and stepped aside. "Blueberrye here." "Skwee...! (Okay, daddy!) Zombie reached his hands up and the griffin trustfully lowered her head for him to grab. "What are you doing to my griffin?" "..." Mary asked grumpily but Cranberry only shook her head with a confused expression while Zombie just straight up ignored her. The blue undead gently guided the griffin''s head even lower until it was roughly on his eye level. "Skwee...? (Daddy? What it is about?)" Blueberry asked curiously. "Daddy will try to heal your wound, sweetie." ""Wait, what?!"" *peck* Both Cranberry and Mary gasped in perfect unison, but that didn''t stop Zombie from kissing the very top of Blueberry''s beak. "...!" The griffin''s body got momentarily enveloped by the dark red light and once that faded away, it revealed perfectly healthy Blueberry! No - she was even better than before! Not only did the talon she was missing got restored, but all of her talons and her beak too were now dyed in a beautiful golden color that made the griffin look even more regal than ever before. "Skwee! (Ehehe, daddy kissed me!)" Blueberry screeched happily and tapped her talons against the ground. "Skwee...? (Eh, my leg doesn''t hurt anymore...?)" She screeched in surprise and looked down. "Skwee?! (Whoa, what happened?!)" She spread her wings from shock and let out a short shocked screech. Chapter 240: Setting the camp

Chapter 240: Setting the camp

"Skwee! (Mommy, look, look!) Skwee! (My talons turned pretty!)" The first thing that the excited Blueberry did after shaking off the initial shock was to turn towards Cranberry and show off her golden talons. "Yes, yes, don''t worry I can see it too, your talons and beak look amazing." The red-haired girl stopped ring at Zombie and effortlessly guessed what the blue griffin tried tomunicate. "Skwee?! (Eh, my beak too?!) Skwee?! (Really?!)" Blueberry screeched in disbelief and tried to look at her beak - she acted like a baby chick and climbed onto her hind legs as if that would help her see it and waved her wings to keep her bnce and almost flew up. "Blueberry, calm down, we will get you a mirror or something so you can check it for yourself." Mary got to her bickering griffin and patted her side. "Skwee! (Ah, okay, master!)" The winged monster obediently got down and looked expectantly at the brown-haired girl as if she was supposed to have a griffin-sized mirror on hand. "A mirror, alright, we will figure something out." Surprisingly enough it was Shanks who rushed into action without even being asked to. "Skwee! (Thanks, short human!) Skwee, skwee! (Mommy, daddy, I like this human, he even smells a bit like you two!)" Blueberry screeched happily and screeched to Cranberry and Zombie. "She said that Shanks smells a bit like us." And the blue undead tranted it for the red-haired girl. "Ha. It must be about that right to rule affinity or whatever, that really seems like something from the domain of the sin of pride." Cranberry pondered on it for a while but then settled on the first possibility that came to her mind. "...um... sorry to bother you..." Suddenly, the white-haired Corvus - who was acting rather timidly for his looks - approached their whole group and bowed his head to everyone, even to Blueberry and Arion. "Ha. Now I see what you meant about him being simr to a rabbit." "Right?!" Cranberry smirked and nodded at her blue undead, and the blue undead happily smiled back. "I''ve been wondering, is there a way for us to check up on Mika? Truth to be told I''ve been having a bad feeling about her for a while, and I''m rather anxious about her safety... and mental health..." Corvus nervously rubbed his forearm without even trying to make eye contact with anyone else, fully aware that the majority of their group didn''t like the ashen-haired girl in particr. "Pshh! She''ll be fine! Take me as an example! She only lost just a single finger, I lost half an arm and didn''t even blink. And once, that red-haired psycho over there beat me up so much I couldn''t move! And honestly, that was only mildly annoying. That overconfident trash will be fine. Although..." Zombie waved his hand dismissively pinging at the apologetic-looking Cranberry, but then he furrowed his brows and looked up. "Wait... I''ll take that back, I''m an undead who doesn''t care about his body... and can''t feel any pain, to begin with... and when my psycho over there messed me up I was, like, almostpletely brainwashed by the system and could barely feel any emotion... hmm... you know what? Maybe you should worry about that trash after all!" Zombie counted up on his finger and somehow managed to show up a great deal of sensitivity as well as apleteck of sensitivity at the same time. "..." That, of course, had only made Corvus''s anxiety grow exponentially stronger. "She will be fine, not only is she extremely strong herself but also threepanies'' worth of veteran Sloth soldiers were delegated to escort her. Even if they encounter dozens of seraphims, they will be fine." Shanks returned carrying a big shield polished so much that it could as well be a mirror and assured the white-haired man right after putting the shield up for the blue griffin to check out her reflection. "SKWEEE! (I LOOK SO COOL!)" Blueberry screeched and jumped up excitedly, checking out her reflection from all the different angles. "Sorry for that, kind sir, it seems like it will take a while, I can take it from you." "It''s okay, I don''t mind." Mary apologized to Shanks and offered to you take the shield off of his hands but the rat-faced man shook his head and refused the offer with a smile. "Emperor griffins are known for their pride - and pride includes vanity. It''spletely normal that she''s interested in her looks." Heughed and nced at Blueberry who was in the middle of raising her front left leg to check how her talons look next to her beak. "...I''m not worried about any monster, Mika can definitely deal with that, what I am worried about is her running off and getting lost in the fog... why couldn''t she be just teleported back to the Wraths territory...?" The white-haired Corvus spoke up, reminding others about his existence. "..." "...!" His words made Shanks expression darkened which in turn caused the rest of the Dandelions and even the copper-eyed Ti, to flinch. "Corvus...! Those soldiers with the teleportation skill... fisherman 1 got killed during the 7th wave and fishermen 2 and 3 got severely injured during the 8th one! There''s literally no one else capable of using that high-level skill left in the territory!" Ti became pale and spoke in a strict voice as if she was scolding a child. "...! I... I must have forg... umm... I''m sorry..." At least the white-haired capture target had enough sensibility to apologize right after he outed himself for not caring about the Sloth soldiers who sacrificed themselves time and time again to protect the same girl he was now worried about. "Rotte, it''s your turn to set up the camp, right?" Shanks turned away from him and looked at his friend. "That''s right! I''m on it!" The plus-sized warrior nodded vigorously and began unpacking things from the bags that all the Dandelions put down just a minute before. "It''s my turn to cook!" Lairs was just as eager to change the subject and get rid of the grim atmosphere as Rotte. "I''ll help!" Ti easily read the situation and joined the ck-haired elf. "Miss Mary, do you mind if I''ll groom miss Blueberry? I might not look like, but I have been born and raised on a quite prosperous farm!" Uresha got rid of her sturdy helmet and heavy chestte and picked up a thick brush from her bag. "I use this sometimes to clean my armor, but it will do just fine tob a griffin. Ah! Of course, I kept it clean, so you don''t have to worry!" Therge woman hurriedly assured the surprised heroine. "Ah, umm... well, of course, you can do that, Mrs Uresha, I''m sure that my Blueberry will love it." Mary nervously rubbed the back of her head and then shrugged her shoulders giving therge woman with an evenrger heart a green light. "...Zombie...?" "...?!" Hearing the confusion in Cranberry''s voice made Mary look her way just at the right time to see the blue undead leaning down towards her and carefully examining her face, neck, and arms - basically every part of her exposed skin. "Your mend isn''t good with little things like skin, right? That''s why you are left with so many scars." "U-umm, we''ll, yes." Zombie didn''t ask, he stated the fact, but even so, Mary still confirmed it. "Stay still, I want to check something." *peck* Zombie dered, and without any hesitation, he grabbed Mary''s chin, gently turned her head slightly to the right, and kissed her cheek. "!!!!!!!" *thump* It was hard to tell who was more bbergasted - Mary who found herself being enveloped in a dark red smoke that seeped into her body and then got suddenly sucked out leaving her feeling refreshed, or Cranberry who literally lost all power in her legs and fell on her but right where she was standing. "Ah, so it works. Good." Zombie examined the result of his skill - the spotless skin of the brown-haired girl, now without even a single scar or blemish, and straightened his back, nodding to himself in satisfaction. "W-w-wh-wh-wh-wha...?!" Mary blushed heavily and got so bashful that she couldn''t even say a single word properly. "Hey, Arion. You must have also get wounded, right? Come over." Zombie turned away from the stuttering girl and beckoned therge ck wolf. "R-raor...?! (B-big brother Zombie...?!)" Arion backed off and yelped seemingly in fear, but his wildly wagging tail betrayed him. "Oh, get over here, it''s just a healing skill." Zombie scoffed and beckoned him again. Chapter 241: Stupid idiot

Chapter 241: Stupid idiot

Sometimeter, when the food was already eaten and all the tes and utensils were cleaned, everyone was about to go to sleep or at least tried to - since with the state of the confusing fog as it was, it was impossible to determine whether it was a day or a night with the exact same amount of light sipping through - or rather, being produced - by the confusing fog at all times. "Alright, as for the order of keeping watch..." Shanks, as the leader of the Dandelions, spoke up and... "Oh, just go to sleep you stubborn living! You got a perfect sentinel who doesn''t need to eat, sleep, and never gets tired, readily avable, and you still go with the shift bullshit. Come on, that''s actually insulting!" Zombie interrupted him mid-sentence and scoffed, crossing his arms with a dissatisfied expression. "What? Is it that hard to say - hey, Zombie, us living need the sleep to function, please stand on guard so we will get enough rest to finish this long ass journey within the next day - or is it not?" Heined in annoyance. Funnily enough, even though he was the supposed perfect sentinel who never gets tired - was the one who was the most tired and annoyed out of them all because of their overall slow progression. "Sir Zombie, could you please do us a great favor and be on the watch while we all go to sleep?" Shanks definitely changed the words that Zombie used but kept the feeling of the request. "Yes. Sure, no problem. Now go to sleep, you annoying living!" The blue undead scoffed and looked away, clearly agreeing but somehow showing a bodynguage that would suggest that he refused. "Thank you." "We''ll be in your care." "Fuck yeah, thanks!" "Big thanks!" The Dandelions all loudly expressed their gratitude and dived into the Sloth soldiers'' issued sleeping bags. "Go-oo-od night everyone." Mary yawned andid down in between Arion and Blueberry. "..." Completely silent Cranberry hadid down on the other side of the blue griffin and Zombie sat right by her and pulled out a sketchbook that was one of the things the Sloth soldiers managed to salvage from the remains of their outpost and gifted to the blue undead... ...though they didn''t really have a choice in that matter since he simply demanded it once heid his eyes upon it. He also took out a pencil - yet another gift - and started drawing while watching the surroundings vigntly. Truth to be told, his life signatures detection wasn''t unusable even in the concentrated sea of mist, he still could urately detect a life signature up to a thousand feet away, so it was good enough for keeping watch but not good enough for finding out which way to go in case of getting lost. Zombie made sure that nothing was near while doing a basic outline for the sketch and... *thump* Suddenly his elbow got pushed forward and a giant ugly line showed across the whole page ruining the progress... "..." The blue undead made a sour expression and looked behind. Cranberry had apparently moved in her sleep and smacked his elbow, and was now on her side breathing calmly. Zombie sighed and slowly turned the page of the sketchbook and began drawing from the beginning. He was at about the same point as previously before when... *thump* Exactly the same happened and his elbow got pushed forward, making him ruin yet another page. "..." Zombie turned around and looked at the red-haired girl whose sleeping position got noticeably worse than it was before. "I know that you are not asleep. What''s your problem?" Zombie sighed without putting the sketchbook away. "..." Cranberry didn''t budge, looking very much asleep. Zombie frowned and turned back around, he moved his pencil a lot but when about the same amount of time as before has passed... *thump* Another push on the elbow, making Zombie slid the pencil across the sketchbook''s page. "..." Zombie looked right back at the sleeping red-haired girl. "...got you!" Then he snorted and raised the sketchbook showing off the empty page where he only pretended to draw just a short while ago. "Now, will you tell me what''s bugging you or do you want to continue pretending to be asleep?" He asked the sleeping girl. "..." *thump* At first, it seemed like the girl really was asleep, but then she raised her hand and bump it on Zombie''s back. "...I would be able to forgive you kissing Blueberry because she''s our daughter..." Cranberry suddenly opened her eyes and red all grumpy at the blue undead. *thump* ...and bumped Zombie''s back again. "...but then you went and kissed Mary!..." *thump* The bumping strength increased. "...I told you to use that skill only with me but you went ahead and used it on another girl!" *thump* Cranberryined, smacking knocking on Zombie''s back with her fist. "...and then on a male!" *thump* "...a dog too no less...!" *thump* "...you have no shame...!" *THUMP* Thest hit was strong enough to make Zombie drop both the sketchbook and the pencil. "..." The blue undead gritted his teeth in annoyance, ring at the few pages that got crumpled from the fall. Then he red furiously at the pouting red-haired girl. "Ha? What will you d-...!" *grab* "KYAAH!" At first, Cranberry confidently mocked the undead,pletely certain that he won''t raise his hand against her, but then she got taken by surprise when Zombie grabbed her by the chestte - crushing the high-quality armor as if it was just some cheap fabric - and pulled her out of the sleeping back, causing her to let out an embarrassing high-pitched shocked yelp. "What do you think you''re do-HUMPFH?!?!?!?!!!!?!!!" As soon as Zombie put her in hisp, Cranberry raised her voice angrily but then got her mouth blocked by his lips. As his eyes glowed red, she felt the sensation of the dark red smoke sipping inside her and then being sucked out with great force. "!!!!!!!!!" Cranberry trembled and clenched her legs together before falling limply onto Zombie''s chestpletely out of breath. "Hey! Could you two be a bit quieter?! It''s hard enough to sleep outside when it''s this br-HOUP...!" Mary stood from her spot and scoffed at the pair, peeking from over the griffin''s torso - but then she gasped loudly and shut her mouth the moment she noticed blushing Cranberry looking extremely fragile in the strong arms of the annoyed Zombie, who coincidentally was ring at Mary for daring to be another nuisance for him. "...sorry...! Don''t mind me at all...!" Mary blushed just as heavily as Cranberry and slowly hid behind Blueberry while apologizing. "...I just want to draw in peace! Is it that difficult not to bother me?" Zombie scowled, picked back the sketchbook, tore off the ruined pages, and threw them into the remains of the small campfire. Then he put his knees together, put the sketchbook against the created surface, grabbed the pencil, and hugged Cranberry with the other hand. "No one is going to steal your spot, you stupid idiot, so don''t throw a hissy-fit when I''m enjoying myself. Dumbass. Go to sleep." *peck* Zombieined and then lightly kissed the top of Cranberry''s head before beginning sketching again. "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And although he seeded in perfectly pacifying the red-haired girl, hepletely failed in making her rest since his actions made her heartrate skyrocket for the rest of the otherwise calm night. Chapter 242: Epilogue (1/3)

Chapter 242: Epilogue (1/3)

The stench of blood was nauseatingly thick in the stagnant fog-filled air. Threepanies worth of soldiers were littering the ground with their eviscerated corpses. "...praising that bitch and her stupid undead...! Viins...! All viins...! Every single one of them! I can''t allow such evil to exist...!" Mika mumbled to herself as she pulled out her clenched fist from the exploded torso of thest Sloth soldiers. "Tsk...!" She clicked her tongue as her hand trembled - she opened her palm and looked at the empty spot where her ring finger should have been and gritted her teeth feeling the scorching anger burning inside her small body. Her armor, her skin, even her ashen hair - everything was thoroughly stained with the blood of the ones she considered to be the evildoers. The young girl put down her messed up hand and looked around at the carnage and smiled with satisfaction. "The justice and order were brought back." She nodded to herself, clenching her fists. "...but... which way should I go now...?" She furrowed her brows and groaned. Before the Sloth soldiers have made the mistake of revealing their sin of admiring the strength of the disgusting viiness, they were all traveling down a certain path that would safely lead them out of the sea of mist - then Mika was supposed to be escorted with all splendors that the guest of honor of her status should have, back to her home territory. Apparently, the said path was marked in such a way that only humans could notice it, but the ashen-haired girl never bothered to inquire what was that about... ...so now she was stuck with no clue about where to go... "Who cares, I am an ally of justice, no, the justice herself! I won''t get lost like some measly viin!" Mika shrugged her shoulders and confidently stepped into the thickest fog, stomping on the still-steaming intestines and other various organs and loose body parts of the dead soldiers. ... ... It felt like she only walked for a few minutes and nothing in the environment has even suggested anything contradicting that observation. "...what is going on...?" But then why Mika was already out of breath? "...I must have tried to go too fast... yes... I need to slow down my tempo..." The ashen-haired girl breathed heavily and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. But could something as boring as a few-minute sprint really push someone as strong as the Justice''s Wrath to that miserable state? Weren''t her stats supposed to be the strongest in history, at least for a human? Even so, Mika didn''t let such weak-willed thoughts get her down, and simply adjusted her speed to a casual walk and continued on her way. ... ... *GROAARGH* After an unspecified amount of time in the milky-white mist, Mika''s stomach grumbled like a giant monster. "...that''s odd... It surely hasn''t been an hour yet... since when I''m such a glutton...? So embarrassing! Bruiser 97-F and Corvus would surelyughed at me!" The ashen-haired girl blushed and massaged her stomach with an embarrassed expression. ... ... "...! Where is it...! Where is the exit...?!" Mika was clenching her fists and growling through her teeth, pushing forward through the fog like apact wrath-fueled bulldozer. The blood of the evil Sloth soldiers that was covering her not that long ago has dried outpletely and crumbled into dust due to the girl''s vigorous movement. "I must be on the right path! I must be! Otherwise, I would have already met some monsters, right?!" She scowled to herself looking around, trying to pierce the walls of mist pushing down on her with her not enhanced sight alone. ...and as if that was a magic spell that brought change into the stagnant world... *WHOOSH* Eight pairs of enormous pure-white wings stirred and pushed away the fog revealing a towering figure of the angel-ss monster who could easily bepared to the titan-ss cyclops from the end of the 9th wave, at least in terms of height. The enormous angel-ss monster was different from the ones that Mary have seen before not only because of its size and number of wings alone - while seraphims that were supposed to be the strongest highest-order angel-ss monsters had three faces, this one had at least seven - all the way around its head. "AHA! So I was lead here by fate to deal with a dreadful evil beast!" Mika''s face lighted up with a wide grin - her body began glowing - and she clenched her fists beforeunching herself at the new opponent. "DIE!" She roared and punched at the gigantic angel. "..." *SLAP* *CRUSH* The monster swatted her away like an annoying fly with just one hand and then proceeded to turn towards the crater that her body created - revealing not one or two, but five pairs of arms. The monster had taken a step forward and wind up two arms back readying itself to finish up the girl before she could get back to her senses after the initial hit. "Radiance, stop!" A strong voice called out and made the humongous angel-ss flinch and look down over its shoulder. "...she started it..." Not only the monster knew how to use humannguage - it had a soft and pleasant female voice! "Aren''t you interested in who is it? Because she survived one of your hits, right?" The voice called loudly from around the height of the angel-ss monster''s foot. "...she did... you are right, I am curious about who is she..." All seven of the monster''s faces furrowed their brows and ended up agreeing with the voice. "Good! I''ll go check up on her!" The voice called up to the monster and then the voice''s owner - the tall girl with light brown hair hurried towards the edge of the crater and peeked down. "Ah! Well, would you believe that! The key to unlocking the ending we want! One lucky encounter after another!" She pped her hands together and a wide smile bloomed on her face. "Why, but isn''t that miss Mika Wrath in her own, S+ tier person?" The light brown-haired girlughed and jumped down to the ashen-haired girl that was just beginning to stand up. "...wh-who are you...?! Are you working together with that evil monster...?!" Mika tried to keep her bnce but her legs were still too wobbly, so she just shook her head and red at the newly arrived girl. "Evil...?" The light brown-haired girl smiled tilted her head in confusion. "Ah! Sorry, I''m not very good with all those manners and customs, I should greet you properly first, right?" The girlughed and although she wasn''t wearing a dress, she curtsied to Mika - poorly, since she clearly wasn''t used to doing that, but with enough respect to shock the ashen-haired girl. "Miss Wrath, you must have been in the confusing mist for too long. Neither I nor the Radiance, or any of our allies for the matter, are on the side of evil - the exact opposite in fact!" The girl exined that in a friendly voice. "...you''re saying that the giant monster that hit me is an ally of justice? I am the justice! Why did it attack me then?!" Mika scoffed and confined ring at the older girl - or rather, the young woman - in front of her. Chapter 243: Volumes 4 Epilogue (2/3)

Chapter 243: Volume''s 4 Epilogue (2/3)

"That was obviously some terrible mistake. Radiance must have been startled by your sudden arrival, that''s all! We''re all a bit anxious you see - we are on a mission to gather allies to deal with a world-threatening disaster! Although I think that you might know what disaster I am talking about - the greatest of all evils, the viiness!" "...!" The light brown-haired girl used just the right words at just the right time to make Mika jump up in shock and make her cease any hostile actions that she nned on initially. "You... you are against that evil woman...?" Mika gasped and walked up to the older girl. "Yes, I and my friends are all against her. But let me exin something first... that woman, no, that wretched being is more than just any run of the mill viiness... she''s a threat not only to the system but to the world itself! She needs to be dealt with or everything will be destroyed!" The light brown-haired girl nodded vigorously and grabbed Mika''s hands while speaking feverishly. "Let''s get out of here, I''ll introduce you to my friends and you will decide by yourself whether we are trustworthy or not!" "...!" The young woman dered and jumped out of the crater, pulling Mika with her. "!!!!!!!" The first thing that Mika saw, was the terrifying close-up of one of the gigantic angel-ss monster''s faces - since the monster itself was crouching down by the crater keenly observing the two girls. "Radiance, you need to learn to respect the personal space of the little creatures like us." The light brown-haired girl smiled and lightly shook her head. "...ah...! Sorry..." The monster flinched and pulled back as if it got embarrassed. "Miss Wrath, first, I''d like to introduce you to your strongest ally." The young womanughed, let go of Mika''s hands, and walked over to the still crouching monstrosity. "This is the Radiance, the angel-ss king-rank monster and the direct proxy to the will of this world." She waved her hands presenting the unbelievable beast. "King-rank angel ss...? So...! A god-ss monster?! Wait! Will of the world?!" "...nice to meet you..." Mika was so taken aback by the monster''s greeting, that she almost fell right back to the crater she just got out of - but somehow managed to keep her bnce despite the shock. "See, aren''t you two a pair of besties already? Radiance is probably the second one of us all in terms of how much she wants that awful viiness gone!" The young woman nodded excitedly. "Hey, Radiance, be a doll and blow away some of that annoying mist, okay? I want to show miss Wrath the rest of ourpanions!" She looked up at the giant angel-ss monster and called loudly so that she would be heard. "...okay..." Radiance nodded and stood up. "...!" Only then Mika realized that the enormous monster was speaking in such a specific way most likely because it was whispering - its actual voice would have probably made them all go deaf if the beast spoke on its full capacity - it was such an amazing show of consideration towards them that Mika instantly felt that Radiance couldn''t be a truly bad creature. ...and as the ashen-haired girl''s expression became softer the light brown-haired girl in front of her smirked triumphantly already knowing that all of her lies worked and she had already won Mika over... *WHOOOOOSH* With just a few ps of its massive wings, Radiance had cleared out a cathedral-worth of space from the presence of the mist, revealing four other human-sized silhouettes that the light brown-haired girl hurriedly approached and waved at Mika to follow her. "This one is another person we came here to pick up." The young woman had pointed at a tall, beautiful dark-skinned woman with long wild spiky hair and mysterious dark eyes, d in light armor with two long daggers strapped to her belt on both sides of her waist. "Miss Nomannic joined us because the viiness is keeping her beloved hostage and she understandably wants to set him free." "..." The light brown-haired girl exined and Nomannic nodded at Mika without changing her indifferent expression. "...! That''s sounds just like something that this vile woman would do!" Mika growled and clenched her fists angrily. "This hooded guy over there isn''t anyone suspicious, don''t let the hood fool you!" The young woman moved on and was now introducing a menacing-looking person who was hiding their face under a big hood of their traveling coat. "Actually, you might have heard about him already..." The young woman smirked mysteriously. "Because of the viiness, he lost his parents, his family, his status, and was dragged into the literal grave before wing his way out of there. Mason Envy, the fallen half-elf in person!" "...!" The introduction had already left Mika wide-eyed, and when the person themself had put down their hood and revealed the handsome face of the young man with piercing green eyes but the unnatural ashen-grey skin, the ashen-haired girl was left speechless. In the report on Cranberry Pride that Mika read together with Corvus and the three bodyguards when they first left the Wraths mansion, Mason was clearly listed as one of the casualties of Cranberry''s ughter. "Would you stop with the circus... we are not some attractions." Mason frown and scoffed at the light brown-haired girl. "Oh, don''t be like that, Mason, you know me best, right?" "...yeah..." She winked at him which made the man furrow his brows for a moment but then nod in understanding. "Then, believe it or not, we have another member of the Envy family - but the hidden branch one, not the one Mason was a part of." The young woman moved on yet again and presented the short androgynous person with long red hair and piercing blue eyes. "They''re Kopia Envy, shape-shifter extraordinaire. They joined our ranks with a simr reason as miss Nomannic, and that is love!" She smiled while ignoring Kopia''s annoyed re. "Though, I bet that their reason will resonate with you much more than Nomannic''s." "...?" Her smile disappeared and the young woman became serious which caused Mika to furrow her brows in confusion. "You see, the viiness is following something called the ultimate route. Funnily enough, or rather, the thing not funny at all, is that said route, is a bug-filled mess that wasn''t supposed to activate, andpleting it will lead to basically the world blowing itself up." "!!!!!" The young woman nodded and after seeing Mika''s horrified face. "But the viiness is hell-bent onpleting it, and one of the steps that need to bepleted for that is getting rid of all avatars of sin. All of them." "NO!" Mika gasped shocked to the bone by the new information. "Yes. Kopia here wants to save their beloved avatar of lust from a terrible end at the hands of the viiness, and I expect that you also don''t want your father to be in danger like that. Because that woman will stop at nothing!" The young woman dered with a grim expression and approached thest person, but stopped half-step. "...and this one..." She frowned and rubbed her chin. Thest person was a girl around Mika''s age, she had her short hair cut in a functional way so that they would fit under the helmet, and was wearing Sloth soldiers'' armor. "Monk 89-F...?!" Mika gasped, taken aback by the unexpected reunion. Chapter 244: Volumes 4 Epilogue (3/3)

Chapter 244: Volume''s 4 Epilogue (3/3)

"...!" Monk 89-F red at her while keeping her arms crossed and even opened her mouth but no sound came out of it. "Oh? So you know each other? That''s really sad..." The young woman made a mournful expression and shook her head. "...?!" "And why is that sad...?" Monk 89-F flinched and looked at the young woman in confusion and so did Mika. "You see. This girl is actually a secret follower of the viiness, we''ve tried to make her talk, but she used some odd skill and made herself unable to make a sound..." The young woman sighed powerlessly. "...! ...!" Monk 89-F shook her head and even waved her hands in denial, but wasn''t acknowledged by anyone, not even Mika. "Still, maybe there is a way to make her speak... and one that could help you too, miss Wrath." The young woman said to Mika and dered after a short consideration, then she turned towards the grey-skinned Mason. "You noticed that too, right? Our new friend seems to be troubled by a pain that cannot be dealt with the normal way... why don''t you do something about it?" She added, ncing at the confused Monk 89-F. "...! How did you...?!" Mika flinched and defensively grabbed her left hand. "Was it done by the poison of some true demon-ss monster...? You got it rough too." Mason stepped towards the young girl without any hesitation and nodded with understanding. "...!" Mika furrowed her brows but was otherwise unable to correct the wrong assumption - the king''s rule skill worked perfectly, disabling her ability to mention or even suggest she had known or seen something more about the master-servant pair. "It''s alright, you don''t have to worry about a thing." The gray-skinned Mason smiled friendly and nodded his head to calm the girl. Then he reached his hand forward and his whole body began glowing green and the light started flowing towards Mika and ended uppletely surrounding her. "Wh-what are you...?!" "You can rx, miss Wrath. Mason isn''t doing anything bad... to you." The ashen-haired girl flinched and took a defensive stand about to activate her skills but the young woman raised her hands and calmed her down with her gentle voice. Then the fallen half-elf moved his hand towards Monk 89-F and the green light surrounding Mika floated towards the ck-haired girl and connected them both. "Eh...?" Once that happened, the constant pain in Mika''s left arm subdued at first and thenpletely disappeared, and when she raised her hand to check on it, not only was it no longer covered in ck web, her missing ring finger had returned! ..though it didn''t look exactly the same as it originally did... Still, it was there and Mika no longer felt any pain! Mason smiled and released his skill, the green light faded and the two girls were no longer connected. "!!!!!!!!!!" *smash* *crush* But even if Mika didn''t felt any pain, the same couldn''t be said about monk 89-F. The ck-haired girl was thrashing on the ground clenching her left hand, nowpletely covered in ck web and missing the ring finger. "Now! Tell us what the viiness is nning!" The young woman approached the pitiful girl and demanded in a domineering voice. "...! ...!" The young girl looked like she was trying to say something through the tears, but s, no sound was actually made even though she was moving her mouth. "I see, so be it..." The young woman sighed and looked away. "...will it be okay...?" She nced at Mason and asked cautiously. "Yes, the fallen half-elf title got rid of that problem, that''s the only good thing that came out of my life''s tragedy." The two had an exchange that no one else could understand. "As you can see, even with all that, that girl still refuses to turn towards the path of rightfulness..." The young woman breathed out with great sadness and faced Mika. "She leaves us no choice but to deal with her as the faithful follower of the viiness... miss Wrath. As the person who is one with the Justice... as the one who was granted the Justice''s Wrath role, I beg of you... Pass the judgment on this evildoer." She said and bowed to Mika. "Judgment...?" "!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" Her words came as a shock to the ashen-haired girl, but it was much worse for monk 89-F - she froze in ce, staring with horror and disbelief at the back of the young woman. "Please! You are the only one with the right to do that!" The young woman cried without raising her head. "...only I...?" Mika flinched and looked down on her two healthy palms. "...only I... yes... that''s right... I have the right to pass the judgment onto any and all evildoers..." "!!!!" Mika nodded and clenched her fists swing that monk 89-F trembled and turned away - she was trying to run away! "...I am the Justice''s Wrath... and all the evildoers that will get in my way..." Mika''s body started glowing with a bright crimson light, she raised her head and red at the stumbling monk 89-F who was tripping over her own legs constantly because she kept looking back at the ashen-haired girl, as if she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, the ashen-haired girl won''t chase after her. "...will DIE!" *BOOOM* *WHAM* *SPLASH* As Mika shouted her verdict, sheunched herself forward to the sound of the massive explosion and instantly got to the running monk 89-F. With a single devastating punch from her, the body of the ck-haired girl exploded and blood and gore sshed all around the ground. "Ugh... disgusting savagery." Kopia whispered shuddering and looked away, clenching their arms close to their body. "Ah! Miss! You introduced the others, but what about you? Who are you?" Mika went back to the group, shaking off the blood from her fist, and asked the light brown-haired girl with a lighthearted smile. "Me? Oh my! I really am bad with my manners! Mary would get angry at me for my double standards!" The young womanughed and bowed her head apologetically. "Pardon me for that rudeness, miss Wrath." She said and straightened her back. "I am the reincarnated person - who knows everything about the system, the story, and all the characters, that is necessary to save this world - who was sent here from another world by a bored god, who decided to abandon this world,? for that exact reason." She dered without a hint of hesitation or falsehood in her voice. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, miss Wrath. My name is Caramel." Chapter 245: Entering the city veiled in mist

Chapter 245: Entering the city veiled in mist

The ragtag group of humans and monsters entered a silent city sleeping within the mist. "Interesting. That guard was way too eager to let you in before even asking you to identify yourself." Cranberry, proudly walking right by her blue undead while holding hands, looked at Shanks and smirked. "Did that weapon give you out, or was your face that well known that everyone can recognize you?" She asked curiously, ncing at the massive sniper rifle that the rat-faced man was carrying on his shoulder. "If I told you that those kinds of weapons aremon, it would be a lie." Shanks shrugged and affectionately tapped the gun. "You see, this girl here isn''t like the guns used by the soldiers. This beauty can work only when paired with a direct descendant of the Sloth family, someone who can use a charge cannon. Then it stabilizes it and enhances it into something absolutely devastating. The weapons that you''ve seen themon soldiers use are just vastly inferior copies that work only because the avatar of sloth is constantly using a certain skill that bends the rules of the system a bit... think of it as them holding a small hatch open. But again - this girl ispletely different." Shanks started going on and on about his weapon even though the original question was about something else entirely. "Haa..." Cranberry expression soured and she looked away disinterested. "Hey, Marshmallow, you''re his wife, aren''t you? Isn''t it annoying to have him gush over another girl?" Zombie turned back and asked therge woman enjoying the calm atmosphere of the city drowned in fog. "Eh? But that''s not really a girl though, right? And why would I dislike something that makes Shanks so happy?" Uresha flinched, surprised that the blue undead decided to talk to her while he used to ignore the Dandelions as a whole whenever he had the chance. "...that is a very nice take. Hey, can you tell me how are you able to keep up that behavior? Do you, like, have a routine or something that makes you not flip out and start kicking his shins to pay attention to only you and not anything else? Or not to start wreaking havoc to get his attention?" He asked the tall woman with such innocence that no one would be able to doubt his pure intentions... ...unless that someone has been an unwilling witness to yesterday''s scene between the master and the servant... ... Of which everyone in the small group was such witnesses. "U...umm... uuummm... AH! s-sorry, that''s just how I am...!" Uresha had a hard time, and things got even worse once she spotted that Cranberry is staring daggers at her. "...I can be nice too, you know...?" Cranberry stopped silently threatening Uresha and spoke grumpily to Zombie. "...?" The blue undead tilted his head and stared at her in utter confusion. "Yeah, I know. But that doesn''t help me with my problem at all!" "!!!!!!!!" Zombie sighed and shook his head making everyone else flinch from shock. Wasn''t Cranberry''s possessiveness the whole point of him starting the conversation?! "Spending three months in the wild with just the two of us must have done some bad things to me because I get really pissed off when you just... when you just start talking to some random trash living all of a sudden! I am right here, you know?!" The blue undead exined, trembling from the bottled-up anger, and shook his free hand, pointing at the bbergasted Shanks. "No offense, Shiv, for a living you four are all surprisingly bearable." Zombie hurriedly added, looking between all Dandelions, making an expression as if he was giving them the greatest of allpliments. "..." Cranberry blushed and closed the gap between her and the blue undead and cuddled up to his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "What. What did I do?" Zombie raised his brow in utter carelessness. --- "Arion. I need you to memorize Zombie''s words." Mary leaned down and whispered into the ck wolf''s ear. "R-raor...? (Wh-why should I...?!)" The wolf flinched and yelped, suddenly abashed. "After we''ll be done with your quest line, you definitely need to use that kind of line at least once!" Mary dered with sparkling eyes. --- "..." Shanks flinched and looked back at the tall woman more than a few steps behind. After a moment of hesitation, he walked up to Uresha, and slowly offering her his hand. "...here, you said you would like to act more like lovers in public, right...?" He muttered looking away to hide his embarrassment. "I-I did, but you said that you don''t like holding hands because with our height difference we look like a parent and a child and not a married couple..." Uresha fidgeted and stopped herself from instantly grabbing Shanks''s hand even though it was very obvious how much she wanted to. "What kind of husband I would be if I only cared about myself and wouldn''t entertain my lovely wife in such a small thing?" The rat-faced man straightened his back and grabbed the hand of his hesitant wife. "...thank you, my dear." Uresha fidgeted and blushed cutely while returning the grip of the much shorter man. --- "...this is a perfect fucking opportunity to confess something." Lairs straightened her back and looked at very awkwardly fidgetting Ti. "I am not a jealous type nor do I find the overly jealous types attractive - fuck that. Fuck... I''m sorry if that makes things awkward between us!" The ck-haired elf bowed her head to the copper-eyed bodyguard. "...!" Ti flinched and stared wide-eyed at her. "...oh thank the system... Neither am I! And I thought I wasn''t keeping up with the mood...!" The copper-eyed woman breathed out in relief and bowed back to the elf. "Hey! Laii! Ti! You''re staying behind!" Rotte called the two women who didn''t even realize when the rest of their group started moving again. "...! Ah fuck! Let''s go, Shan-shan said that with the fucking mist like that we can get fucking lost even in the city!" "Yes!" Lairs gasped, grabbed Ti''s arm, and hurried after the rest. --- "So, anyway. Why exactly was that guard so eager to let you in? Was it really that special gun of yours?" Cranberry returned to her original question and asked Shanks without pulling away from Zombie. "Oh, right, that." Shanks nodded, looking back at the red-haired girl while walking together with Uresha. "It''s because most of my unsealed skill passively give various buffs to everyone possessing the Acedia skill. The soldiers don''t have to know the faces of the Sloth family members - as long as they''ll receive a system message about being strengthened." The rat-faced man exined. "But also, yes, my rifle was most likely the deciding factor after all. That guy experience the buffs and after that, he recognized that this girl wasn''t a mass-produced model - that''s why he was so eager in greeting me while letting us in." He confirmed. "Ha! Isn''t that convenient! By the way, why does the city looks so deste? Aren''t there any citizens?" Cranberry nodded in approval, and looked around the empty foggy streets, and asked another question. "It''s because the avatar of sloth fell into slumber. With the mist so thick it''s not wise to wander the streets. Don''t worry, the people here are well prepared for such a situation, they don''t need to leave their houses until the new avatar is selected." Shanks assured her. "Ha ha! I wasn''t worried about them." Cranberry smirked maliciously, carefully studying their surroundings, and she marveled at how easy it will be to escape the city once the need for that arises. Chapter 246: Tower of Sloth (1)

Chapter 246: Tower of Sloth (1)

"This is it. The tower of sloth, the permanent residence of the avatar of sloth." The group stopped before a tall, menacing-looking tower that pierced through the fog all the way to the cloud level - though that wasn''t really visible from the group''s position. "Depending on the progress of the preparation of the new avatar is, we might or might not encounter a member or members of the Sloth family. I can be here, there''s no problem with that - but- whether or not someone would raise a ruckus over me bringing outsiders, is all up to luck." The rat-faced man tapped the wall of the building, looking up at it as if he could see through the fog. "That''s why we got this guy." "...!" Cranberry smirked and motioned at the panicked Corvus. "Huh... that''s a big building... How fast do you think that it will crumble if I kick it seriously?" Zombie casually leaned toward the red-haired girl and asked in a t voice, not bothering about whispering or anything. "...! Please refrain from destroying any buildings in the city! Especially this one!" Shanks stepped towards the pair and requested in a hushed voice. "Haa... Zombie, we''re keeping destruction to a minimum. Shanks, rx." The red-haired girl looked between the blue undead and the rat-faced man and sighed. "Yeah, sure... then I''ll be keeping venom cannon at the ready." "Definitely do not do that either!" The blue undead simply shrugged his shoulders and hisment caused Shanks to gasp in a panicked voice. "Shanks... you are not a stupid person, are you?" Cranberry nced at him with a mixed expression. "You must at least suspect why the two of us are here... we won''t be ending this audience with just a talk." She smirked and menacingly rested the ck baseball bat on her shoulder. "..." Shanks flinched and gritted his teeth. "Wait! You won''t?! Then I don''t want to be a part of whatever you are going to...!" "Rabbit, no one asked your opinion." Corvus''s tried to turn away but Zombie''s right hand extended and rested on the white-haired man''s shoulder, securing him in ce. "..." Shanks became slightly paler than he was before but kept eye contact with Cranberry. "Youngdy, do you swear that the titan-ss monsters are no more...?" He asked in a very serious voice. "That''s right. That''s not all. Make use of that Sophia skill of yours and check for yourself what is the requirement of the extinction achievement." The red-haired girl snorted and shrugged her shoulders. "...it''s the annihtion of the entire species and its spawn points... that''s why I''m okay with whatever you are nning, youngdy. Since there is nothing to protect the rest of the world from, the Sloths should be finally allowed to have some rest." The rat-faced man had an answer already prepared. "It''s just that... well, thest body of the avatar of sloth belonged to my older brother - the same one who made this gun for me - I guess I''m just a bit... sentimental." He sighed while resting his head against the beloved weapon. "It''s alright. As long as those feelings won''t make you try to stand in our way - you''ll be fine." Cranberry nodded benevolently and turned to the rest of the group. "Mary, Arion, Corvus, and Shanks will enter together with me and Zombie, the rest of you should stay here and don''t stick out, we will be leaving immediately after we''ll be done with this small errand." She spoke carefree as if speaking about the weather. "Skwee...? (Why can''t I go in too...?) Skwee... (You are even taking Arion...)" Blueberry hoofed nervously and screeched in a low voice. "Raor, raor. (It must be because I can mask my presence to some degree, while you are very recognizable.)" The massive ck wolf barked and reassuringly brushed his back against the griffin''s back front leg. "It''s because we might need a trashcan just in case." "Raor...?! (T-trashcan...?!)" Zombie confirmed but his choice of words didn''t really meet Arion''s expectations. With all said and done, the group split in two and the one selected beforehand entered through the unlocked front door. /You have entered the tower of sloth /All skills disabled /All affinities disabled /Status points reduced to 10 points each "Weakening seal of sloth. Feels like home..." Shanks sighed, looking at the system message that popped up for him as it did for everyone else who stepped inside the building. Every single one of them - no exception this time. "That''s... not something that I have expected to see..." Cranberry furrowed her brows looking at the pop-up. "Tsk...! How is it possible that it got past your rotten brain and superbia? Does that mean that it''s not an attack? That changes everything..." She clicked her tongue and leaned close in order to whisper to her blue undead. "That said... Shanks told us that the avatar of sloth went into a slumber... All we need is to take them outside..." She added in a hushed voice. "Seems like the legend about the first Sloth fusing with the god wasn''t false after all... Setting up something like that... The first Sloth''s cunningness really was something else..." Then the red-haired girl turned around and dered in her normal voice. "True, he was." The rat-faced man agreed. "Ha. Let''s see..." Cranberry muttered looking up, instead of reacting to that, and followed after the others who were already beginning to climb the seemingly endless spiral staircase leading straight to the top. "Thank you for the good work." "A-ah...! Thank you, youngdy. It''s nothing, really." Cranberry greeted the man cleaning the railing who others ignored and begun the ascend. Even though the tower itself was massive, it consisted mostly of the staircase and only a few small spaces whererger groups could rest or pass each other on their way up or down. It looked like the only people other than Cranberry and Zombie''s group present in the building were the servants keeping the inside clean. "Youngdy Pride, I thought that you don''t want us to be remembered, why are you greeting them all...?" As on their way up they passed another servant who Cranberry greeted and thanked for their hard work, Corvus couldn''t help himself and ask. "I have blood-red hair and am carrying a ck bat and a severed hand, Zombie is a blue corpse puppet wearing high heels, and Arion is a giant dog - do you actually think that we wouldn''t be remembered if I ignored the servants?" "...!" The red-haired girl asked and shook her head, causing Corvus to flinch. "As long as I receive due respect, I will be just as respectful." Cranberry exined - and truth be told, each and every servant up until that point had bowed their head deeply as the group was passing them. "We''re almost there, be on your guard, even if the current state of the avatar of sloth is called a slumber - their brain is still active so you better be careful." As they''ve reached the top of the spiral staircase, Shanks warned the rest before putting his hands on the hatch that could only lead to the top level of the tower - the giant sphere from which the avatar of sloth was watching over their entire mist-covered territory. "Pffft...!" All of a sudden the brown-haired heroine snorted and hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was toote to cover for anything. "I-I''m sorry... it''s just, doesn''t the avatar of sloth sounds like a reverse Zombie...?" Mary apologized and exined. "No, it does not." Zombie grumbled though it was hard to say whether it was because the rotten brain title was dulling his sense of humor or just that the joke wasn''t that funny, to begin with. "Zombie." "Huh...? Yes, what is it?" Cranberry whispered tugging on the undead''s armor, getting his attention. "There are twenty-seven servants in total. If we will be forced to kidnap the avatar and get him outside the tower so that I could use my skills on him - will you be able to take them all out while under this whole weakening seal?" She asked with a serious expression. "Sure - but will it be necessary? I can take out the avatar for you. Look, the seal blocked skills and stats but not titles..." The blue undead smirked confidently and discreetly raised his index finger - for an instant a drop of translucent liquid appeared above it and instantly ignited into a flickering violet me surrounded by a deadly aura. "Venomancer and the Heir of mes." He shrugged his shoulders indifferently before making the violet me go? out the next second. "Ha! Isn''t that perfect!" Cranberry nodded in approval, making an evil smile. Chapter 247: Tower of Sloth (2)

Chapter 247: Tower of Sloth (2)

The hatch in the ceiling opened without making even the smallest noise, proving how well cared for everything was. Soon, the whole group got onto the top level - even Arion who needed a bit of help with thedder - and could marvel at... Mostly nothing. The giant sphere was made out of some transparent material to allow for the effortless observation of any given spot at any given time therefore its insides were empty to prevent any obstruction. The only furniture - if that even was a proper name to call it - was a very high podium made out of ck wood, very simr to Cranberry''s baseball bat. "...brother..." Shanks''s pained whisper slipped through his lips the moment heid his eyes on the being huddled into a fetal position on the top of the podium. "...ha..." Cranberry let out a short sigh. Just by looking at that person was enough to confirm that they were dead - the spots of skin not covered by simple clothes looked dried up like a mummy, the hollowed eyesockets were staring into the distance as the dried-up husk seemed to keep itself from crumbling down into dust only by some inexplicable miracle. The atmosphere surrounding it felt almost... sacred... After the initial reactions, the whole group became silent - they were ncing between Cranberry and the mummified corpse on the pedestal, waiting for her the girl''s next move. "Something''s wrong... Hey, this guy doesn''t have any life signature... If it''s a slumber, it is the eternal one, isn''t it...?" Well, almost all of them at least. Zombie tilted his head and crossed his arms, looking at the corpse while his eyes glow red - and didn''t lower his voice at all, causing the others to flinch. "That''s wrong. The avatar of sloth is alive and they are in that very body." Shanks shook his head and strongly refuted Zombie''s words. "Ha...? Are you sure about that? ...haa... Don''t tell me that you''re lying to us to give the new avatar of sloth the time to escape. I really thought you had more brains than that..." The red-haired nced at him and breathed out with a disappointed face, waving her hand at the dried-up corpse. "Youngdy, I''ve seen what you are capable of. I wouldn''t dare lie to you if I could help it!" The rat-faced man raised his hands defensively and assured her. "...ha...? If you could help it?" Cranberry furrowed her brows... "...!" Then suddenly a terribly bad feeling punched her in the gut! "Impossible...!" She gritted her teeth and clenched her hand on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white, taking a step towards the mummified corpse. "Wait...! What are you going to do with that thing?! That guy''s clearly dead!" Mary shook her head and shouted after Cranberry. "I''ve said it before - the avatar of sloth is not de..." *crack* "Ah-hah... That''s truly annoying. Why are you here?" Shanks''s words were proved to be true even before he could manage toplete his sentence - the dried-up man at the pedestal didn''te alive all of a sudden or anything, instead, his mouth got torn open with an unpleasant dry sound, and the surprisingly pleasant voice came out of it. "!!!!!" "Tsk...!" Everyone was shocked, even the blue undead, just the pale red-haired girl was angrier than anything. "Haa... I''ve been under the impression that Saint was the only living administrator left...!" Her body stiffened as she shook, barely holding herself back from pouncing at the husk. "And you were correct but that''s beside the point. You. You shouldn''t be here." The dried-up body answered without any sort of movements - just the words left the open mouth without the need to be articted by the tongue and lips. "Ha! Don''t mess with me. If Saint and Wing''s legends were real then so is yours! God of wisdom, Patience." Cranberry scoffed angrily and pointed the tip of the baseball bat up, right at the motionless remnants. "?!?!?!" The overall confusion was enough for the others to miss Shanks''s soft sigh and smirk. "Little miss recement-viiness, who will never have her chance for unlocking a secret route and getting your wishe true, because of her misced violence... Won''t you shut up for a moment and give a chance to answer to the one I asked?" But the next words that left the husk weren''t bothered at all and caused Cranberry to flinch in shock. "Ha?! Won''t have? my chance for what...?! No, wait...! You weren''t talking to me...?" She furrowed her brows and asked in suspicion. "I was not. Now. You. The one who our creator sent to this world as a hostage so that our savior wouldn''t try to oppose us. Why are you here?" Patience''s voice boomed inside the sphere - as he ignored all but thest of Cranberry''s questions - yet his body on the podium remained stagnant. "...sent to this world...?!" Cranberry flinched and looked back at the blue undead standing directly. "A hostage so that some savior wouldn''t oppose you? What is that supposed to mean?" Zombie stepped forward with a furious expression - as he raised his hand a violet fireball instantly appeared above his palm, crackling threateningly. "Indeed. You shouldn''t be here. You shouldn''t have that much power. The seal inside of you should not be so close toing undone. You were especially put into that corpse puppet''s body just so you would be easier to control and don''t act up. How dare you take part in this farce and actively take part in messing with the system that is working hard to fulfill my creator''s will? You, a mere failsafe!" Patience''s spat out the usation with enough strength to his agitated voice to make the whole tower vibrate. "Who are you calling a mare failsafe, you damned raisin?!" The blue undead scoffed and threw the violet fireball at the fragile body. *WHOOOOOOO* It instantly got set on fire and break into ckened ash... "!!!!" "...what did you expect to achieve with that, exactly...?" From the pathetic pile of dust, a peerless being of pure light emerged, blinding everyone with its glory, and asked ncing at its freed luminous magnificence, unaffected by the violet mes still enveloping the ashes. "I-it''s you...!" Zombie gasped taking a step back in utter shock. Chapter 248: Tower of Sloth (3)

Chapter 248: Tower of Sloth (3)

"A lesser being like yourself was able to witness my creator''s glorious form with your very eyes but you still somehow confuse his grace with a lowly copy like myself? Pathetic." Patience clicked their tongue in disgust, and with a single flicker of their light, the violet mes beneath them disappeared as if they never existed. "What are you? You look nothing like Saint did!" Cranberry stepped in front of Zombie as if she wanted to block Patience''s words. "That''s because I am nothing how Saint or the other administrators were. I am a copy of the creator of this world itself, brought to life and granted power by his infinite might and wisdom. I am able to use all the administrator''s privileges but I am so much more than they were!" Patience boasted with overwhelming confidence leaving everyone else speechless. "Lesser beings such as yourselves dare to rebel against the story prepared for you all by my creator for hundreds of years already. The system was never made to deal with so many free-willed individuals and began breaking apart - that''s where my creator decided to send in a savior, someone who as a yer would be able to push the story back to the right course. But then that fool refused - that''s why you had to be brought in." Patience began exining all on their own without needing any questions and turned towards the blue undead. "Ha...?!" "Bullshit! I got killed by an ident and sent to this world as an afterthought! Even with this rotten brain of mine I still remember that clearly!" Zombie grabbed Cranberry''s shoulder and pushed past her, walking up to the being of light. "The only reason why you experienced it like that, was because my creator wanted you to experience it that way. I don''t expect a lesser being to be able to understand his ns, though." Patience sounded as if they shrugged their shoulders even though it was difficult to tell whether they had arms or shoulders, to begin with. "YOU BASTARD!" Zombie growled and tried to shoot a slew of violet fireballs but each one he ignited got instantly extinguished before he couldunch any of them. "Haa... I expect that now, to aid the grand n that your creator has for steering the world on its correct path, you will get rid of us, is that it?" Cranberry once again stepped in front of the agitated Zombie and asked Patience, while massaging her forehead. "No. I won''t do a thing." ''Ha?!" But the next words of the being of light caused Cranberry - and most of the other spectators - to gasp in confusion. "Foolish lesser being. You truly don''t understand a thing, do you?" Patience shook their head in disappointment, even though it was hard to say whether they really had the head or not. "My role in this world is to be the acting avatar of sloth and aiding the Sloth family in defending the northern border from the titan-ss monsters invasion. I am not allowed to use the administrator''s privileges unless the core system, and by extension, the whole world, is in direct danger of destruction. Although you and your actions, recement-viiness, have cost the system a great deal of stability and even required a soft reset, that was still within the eptable margin. You are just a nuisance, annoying nuisance, but not one requiring my attention or action. After all, that is thezy savior''s job. Well, with this hostage here, she''s notzy anymore, though." Patience continued with a mocking tone. "The titan-ss monsters are no more. We killed them! Are you still that confident about that savior of yours?! We will crush her in one go!" "Zombie, no!" The blue undead showed off that the effects of the rotten brain title were affecting him even more than usual and shouted angrily at the being of light in front of them. Cranberry tried to stop him but it was already toote. "This doesn''t change my role at all. Honestly, that only makes everything easier - I can now enjoy my time inhabiting the bodies of the people of the Sloth family - while watching out for something that would never happen - the end of the world. Meanwhile, the savior will deal with all the nuisance and steer the world on the right track with the help of the proper events ording to the grand story that the system follows. Because you have no chance - she works with the system, you two are going against it. That will be your downfall." Patience waved his hand dismissively, even though it was hard to tell whether he had any. "As for myself... I will continue observing your mundane struggle in the meantime, recement-viiness. And as for you, hostage. Know your ce." Patience mocked the master-servant pair. "Do you think that your words alone will stop us? I willplete the -road to rule - quest, gain the administrator''s privileges, and remake the world to my liking! Then, the two of us will get that savior of yours and destroy her before she will be able to do anything about it! Same with that beloved story of yours! How would you like that?!" Already knowing that she would be ignored as a lesser being, Cranberry went ahead and challenged the being of light. "Trying toplete a single quest from a buggy iplete route is truly fitting for a pathetic failure like you. Go for it. I am so sure that you will fail miserably that I will even throw a bone to a mongrel whose bark is far more threatening than their bite. Here." Patienceughed, and although it seemed impossible at first, the lightprising his body grew even brighter for a second before... /special exception granted /road to rule quest progression update /road to rule 4/7pleted "HA...?! Cranberry went wide-eyed, staring at the messages that popped up in front of her eyes "See? This quest that you put so much baseless faith in, is so bad that it can be bypassed like that. Go on, try toplete the rest of it. I can assure you that you will never get that reward. You will be dealt with just as the story event demands. Now off with all of you. Don''t disturb my rest, my next host body will arrive here in a few minutes." Patienceughed and shooed them away. "Why would we lis...?" "Get the hell away from my territory." "!!!!!!!!!" Zombie tried to argue but the pressure of Patience''s next words caused everyone, including Zombie and Cranberry, to turn around and go to the hatch in the floor. "Oh, right. You, the descendant of the Sloth family - you can tell those with you about me. I grant you the permission." The being of light called out before the group could jump down. "Understood." Shanks gritted his teeth and nodded. Chapter 249: Tower of Sloth (4)

Chapter 249: Tower of Sloth (4)

"...let me preemptively answer some of your next questions, youngdy. First of all, every single member of the Sloth family is under Patience''s influence and cannot share a thing about the truth of the avatar of sloth." As soon as the hatch closed, the rat-faced man bowed his head to Cranberry and exined in a deeply apologetic voice. "..." She red at him with cold fury for a few seconds. "...haa... I can rte to being unable to oppose the head of the family, and with that thing the pressure it gives you all must be truly horrible. Continue." The red-haired girl sighed and epted the apology while also asking for more details. "Patience is like a parasite. One day that being appeared before my ancestor as he was struggling to keep the titan-ss monsters at bay, and proposed him a deal. Help and protection of a god-like being in exchange for bodies to host them so that they could fulfill the purpose bestowed to them by their creator. Of course, that seemed to be too good to be true. Shanks allowed himself for a self-deprecating smile and exined in the dead silence that ensued. "Haa... Of course." Cranberry sighed and nodded. "Indeed. It''s as you would expect. It was too good - even though my ancestor came up with a whole mountain of security measures, it turned out that none of them matter since Patience could just overrule it all with a single decision." Shanks nodded and continued. "Even though they are this powerful, they seem to be blindly following whatever orders they were left with by their creator. Us Sloths have tested it and it turns out that Patience doesn''t actually need a host to survive or have ess to the so-called administrator''s privileges - they host on members of our family solely because that''s the role their creator left them...!" The rat-faced man clenched his fists and his shoulders trembled from the held back anger that couldn''t have been shown ever before to anyone outside the noble house of Sloth. "Damned parasite!" Cranberry cursed, clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Sorry, Arion, it seemed that you came here with us for nothing." "...?" Zombie looked at the confused ck wolf and smirked, nodding his head apologetically. "Haa... we were going to have your dog devour the remains of the administrator so that some crazed-up Sloth-born scientist wouldn''t try to bring them back to life or something... Ha! Since when was I so optimistic?! FUCKING HELL!" *thunk* The red-haired girl started her speech with a mocking smirk but ended it with a furious shout that carried around one-fourth of the tower''s height, and smashed her ck baseball bat against the wall - but with all the stats reduced to 10 and her skill blocked by the weakening seal, the hit ended up being just a pathetic tap that couldn''t do any harm. "I understand how you feel..." Shanks let out a deep sigh as the group began descending the spiral staircase. "Patience has been both the blessing and the curse of the Sloth family for hundreds of years." He continued since no one was going to stop him talking - Mary, Arion, Corvus, and especially the agitated Cranberry, were all listening to him in silence. "Sir Shanks, if I may..." Corvus shook his head in confusion and raised his hand. "Why didn''t you even hint that the avatar of sloth is in fact the God of Wisdom, Patience?! That would have been a big deal, you know?!" He scoffed. "Did... Did youpletely missed what I said, and what Patience themselves had said...? I was ordered not to reveal anything - ad if not for the permission I received, I would not be able to do that, ever." "I...! Umm... hmm. yeah, sure, if you say so... Still, any tip on that would have been useful information before we came here." Corvus furrowed his brows and shrugged his shoulders, clearly not believing Shanks''s words. "It''s not about the usefulness of the information, it''s about the trust betweenrades." Surprisingly enough, Mary spoke up sharing Corvus''s doubts - although from a slightly different perspective. "If we trust each other enough to reveal ourselves our secrets, then our performance during battle would be much greater!" "...ha...?" The brown-haired girl puffed out her chest proudly and dered, causing Cranberry to shook her head and stare at her, bergasted. "...haa...?" "..." The red-haired girl exchanged shocked looks with the rat-faced man and they both looked back at the heroine. "Even if we disregard THE COMMAND OF THE LITERAL GOD, I don''t remember you saying any of your secrets before each wave, miss Mary, and besides, I was ordered by Patience themselves - you know, the very same being of light that justpletely overwhelmed us all - to not ever disclose any information." Shanks snorted and gestured wildly with his hands. "I''m the heroine, I''m supposed to be mysterious anyway! And don''t give me that high and noble - I was ordered to not tell a thing - you could have just ignored the order or let the info slip and it would be fine!" Mary''s response was rather peculiar... "...let the info slip...?" "Ha? ...ignore the order... Ignore the order of the acting avatar of sin of his own family? And a super-powered one at that?!" Both Shanks and Cranberry couldn''t believe their ears, hearing such an outrageous im. "What...? What did I say...?" Mary flinched and looked between the two. "Haa... it must be so nice to not know what it means to receive an order from the avatar of sin that rules your family..." "It makes me jealous for those of the lower birth..." The red-haired girl and the rat-faced man sighed simultaneously andined dispirited. "Mary, every avatar of sin has basicallyplete control over anyone sharing their blood. It''s not like the family members can just ignore or reject the order on a whim." Corvus hurriedly exined to the surprised Mary. "...eh...? But isn''t that just awful then?!" ""It is."" Cranberry and Shanks nodded and confirmed at the same time. "I''ll exin it once again. I am only able to tell you anything about Patience because they gave me direct permission. Without it, I would be physically unable to say or mention, or let slip, anything at all." "...this really is terrible then..." The brown-haired heroine lowered her head and rested her hand on Arion''s massive back for reassurance. "Speaking of terrible things... As a Sloth, there''s one thing that Patience said that bothers me..." Shanks grumbled furrowing his brows. "Ha? Only one?" Cranberry scoffed, shaking her head with a sour expression. Chapter 250: Tower of Sloth (5)

Chapter 250: Tower of Sloth (5)

"Patience basically said that now without the need to worry about the threat of the titan-ss monsters, they will no longer need to bother with anything except watching out for the world''s end - right? What about the skills they were using to allow all the sloth-made mass-produced weapons to be usable? And what about sharing the acedia skill that allowed Sloth soldiers to go over level 99 and gain tremendous stats?" Shanks was too worried to react to Cranberry''s question. "...you''ve mentioned something about that before right?" Mary nodded while furrowing her brows. "Without the acedia, no human can go over level 99... what will be the consequences for someone who was above that level when the skill that allowed for that would suddenly disappear...?" Shanks breathed out with a cloudy expression - looking like a kindhearted general worried over his soldiers. "Not sorry to interrupt your conversation, but there''s a group of other living approaching from downstairs. No one I know or recognize. Their skills and stats and skills seem to be blocked just like ours, but their life signatures suggest that all of them are around as strong as Shiv. With our current tempos, we should meet each other around the tform around three-quarters of the tower''s height." Zombie reported suddenly, interrupting Shanks and reminding everyone that they weren''t this wasn''t the best time to discuss things. "...raa...? (...did he just said that he''s - not sorry -?)" Arion growled to Mary in confusion. "That shouldn''t be too problematic. After all, what did we achieved here?" Shanks shrugged his shoulders and sighed, ignoring the undead''s way of speaking. "Since you all already know about the Patience, you are all basically in the same boat as all of us Sloths. That group you spotted bringing the new host for Patience to take over... which means all of them are most likely from the main branch of the Sloth family who shares the burden. Just don''t be aggressive and everything will be fine." He exined. "Ha. There''s no reason for us to do anything inside the tower." Cranberry shook her head and didn''t even try to raise her baseball bat. "...thank you for understanding and your consideration, youngdy..." Shanks breathed out and bowed his head to her. "If they are from the main family, that means they are like me - unfortunate prisoners to the power of the being far beyond our reach." Shanks smiled sadly. "What if they will see things differently and try to punish you for letting the outsiders learn about the terrible secret of the avatar of sloth?" Mika pointed out. "...haa... you never experienced abuse, we get it, now hush." Cranberry sighed and rolled her eyes at the brown-haired girl. "Miss Mary, as long as you won''t do anything outrageously stupid, nothing bad will happen. So just keep your mouth shut and just let me speak with them." Shanks red at the brown-haired girl and dered. "Are you sure that they won''t get angry about you bringing us to see the avatar and ask us what we''re doing here...?" Mary asked, questioning the actual convenience of the n. "Miss Mary, did you not heard me when I have said multiple times before that the previous host of Patience was my big brother? If you would shut up about punishment for five seconds, you would realize that the group of Sloths below us doesn''t actually know that we met Patience! They will first assume that I was visiting the remains of my brother! Those people below are basically a funeral procession leading the next host towards their sad fate, why wouldn''t there be someone returning from the top after paying their respect to the remains of the expired host? Or do you think that I wouldn''t be allowed to do that in the first ce? Being selected as the next avatar of sloth - so a host for Patience - isn''t a glorious asion for the members of the Sloth family. It''s a painful duty forced on us by Patience themselves! But it was also something necessary to protect the rest of the kingdom so the Sloths have been silently bearing with it for hundreds of years! Showing the next host that their sacrifice will be remembered and they will be deeply missed, is the final thing the rest of the family can do for them! So please, stay quiet!" "...sorry..." Shanks''s words spoken in a harsh tone made Mary cower and apologize in a small voice. The awkward silence followed them all the way to the tform where they indeed met the funeral procession. The descending group walked on a tform and respectfully made a ce for the ascending group. Shanks, standing the closest to the stairs, nodded towards the person leading the group. Without a doubt, it was the host themselves. She must have been in her mid orte teens. She had short, dark hair and pale blue eyes, her face was somewhat simr to Shank''s face but her features were much more gentle and instead of being reminiscent of a rat, like in Shanks''s case, it made her look like a cute mouse or a rabbit. But even with a friendly face like that, the strong, determined look in her eyes showed that she was no pushover that would try to cry or ran away from their fate - she knew that would only lead to another member of her family be forced by the Patience toply. "...!" Once the next host saw Shanks''s face, she instantly nced up towards the top of the tower and her eyes shook slightly. "...ah...!" Someone from the back also gasped, clearly recognizing the rat-faced man, but even with that nothing else was spoken. "He fulfilled his duty splendidly, I''ll do my best to not bring shame upon the legacy that he and those who came before him left behind." The next host bowed her head towards Shanks and spoke up with great respect. In response, the rat-faced man stepped forward on put his hand on the girl''s shoulder. "...I know you will..." Shanks gritted his teeth and his shoulders trembled. "I was banished for a long time. Before you go, could you tell me your name so I will remember you?" He breathed out and asked. "I''m Almond. Daughter of Cherry and Apricot. That would make us cousins, Shanks." The short-haired girl smiled gratefully and nodded. "..." Shanks closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. "Everything will be alright." He opened his eyes, put his hand on his cousin''s shoulder, and assured her. "No, it won''t. But I am ready. Please remember me. Thank you." Almond shook her head and smiled before moving past the rat-faced man. "..." Each and every person from the host''s group bowed their head to Shanks and then continued on their way up. "...it is so messed up...!" Mary, green in the face, trembled and said in a weak voice. "Yes. It is. Now let''s get out of here as soon as possible." Shanks nodded andmanded. Their group began walking down the staircase twice as fast a possible - no one wanted to stay in the cursed tower any longer than necessary. Chapter 251: Tower of Sloth (end)

Chapter 251: Tower of Sloth (end)

While the increased tempo didn''t affect the blue undead or the big ck wolf, it really messed up with Mary and Corvus. "No running." Shanks nced over his shoulder and warned the wheezing pair. "Oh... shut up, kind sir....!" Mary groaned, holding her side and ring at the rat-faced man. Before the procession they passed halfway the tower reached three-quarters, they were already by the entrance. *nk* "...!" The door opened at the exact moment Shanks was reaching for it, causing the rat-faced man to flinch and instinctively prepare for an attack. But as soon as the daylighting from outside got blocked by the silhouette of the staggering soldiers stumbling inside, even Zombie realized that something wasn''t right. "Sir...! Sir! The sea of mist is gone! The confusing mist faded away!" The soldier gasped in panic, trembling and scrambling around to salute to Shanks who was giving off the feeling of the grand general. "The sea of mist too, huh...? Soldier, how about you? How are you feeling right now?" Shanks clenched his fists and asked in a worried voice. "I...! I... weak, sir. Very weak. It feels like all of my strength has been sucked out... but, sir! The mist! We need to check if...!" The soldiers slouched down and yelped before flinching and pleading in a desperate voice, but even so, he managed to stop himself while looking at the people behind the rat-faced man. "...to check if everything''s alright with the avatar...!" The soldier ended up changing what he was going to say at thest second. "The higher-ups must be a mess right now, they''ll need someone to pull them together! Soldier, go check on the avatar and report back to me as soon as possible - I''ll be at themand center." Shanks dered with unwavering confidence. "Sir, yes sir!" The soldier instantly straightened his back and saluted. With clear and concise order given, the soldier rushed past the rest of the group and charged at the stairs. "..." The rat-faced man watched the soldier for a few seconds before he turned back and walked out. "...!" Zombie and the others might have stepped outside casually, but the rat-faced man flinched and took a step back the moment he hadid his eyes upon the clear blue sky high above. The whole city was basking in the bright sunlight even though when they were still on top of the tower, the confused mist was everywhere. "Haa. You weren''t expecting the mist to go away?" Cranberry sighed heavily and asked him from over Zombie''s shoulder. "I... this is not a good time or ce to discuss it. There''s no need for us to do anything, Patience will do whatever they want anyway.." The rat-faced man wasn''t taken aback for long - he shook it off and looked around for the rest of their group that stayed behind. "Skwee! (Mommy! Daddy!)" Blueberry was the first one to run at them happily. "The mist...!" The blue emperor griffin was followed by the confused members of the Dandelions and the copper-eyed Ti, way more shocked and worried than anything else. "Not now. The whole army is in disarray, anyone who is not blood-rted to the Sltoh family has lost all the levels above the 99 limit and all the status points gained through the shared acedia skill, so they are probably going crazy over there. Not to mention that since even the mist disappeared, the mass-produced guns should all be useless at best or horribly dangerous for the user at worst." Shanks hurriedly exined with disgust, ring at the top of the tower, now clearly visible for everyone looking. "No. Wait." Cranberry raised her hand to stop him and also turned towards the tower - but instead of looking up, she was focusing at the base of the tall building. "The weakening seal should be gone now, right?" She asked and raised her baseball bat. The weapon began glowing with pure white light and the same happened with the red-haired girl''s body and eyes. "!!!!" *}^&|(((&#%$^%* Before anyone could do anything, the viiness swung at the tower of sloth and an ungodly sound erupted as the shockwave had thrown everyone far away from the tower. /immune object "...skwee... (Ow, ow, ow...)" "It''s okay, Blueberry, daddy got you." The system message had popped out for both Cranberry and Zombie just as the invisible wallpletely blocked the red-haired girl''s strike - but the blue undead was far more focused on protecting the blue emperor griffin. The others had it better, most of the power of the shockwave got reflected upwards and the humans go away with just being blown away - the big griffin didn''t have that much luck. As Blueberry was excited because of seeing her parents return, she put her wigs up - which caused them to be caught by the power and broken apart. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU''RE DOING?!" "...ha...?" Zombie''s roar caused Cranberry - who was already raising her baseball bat to strike at the tower again - to flinch and look at him with an angry expression. "...AH...! Blueberry!" *thunk* But the angry expression turned into a terrified one once she saw the state that the emperor griffin was - Cranberry instantly dropped her weapon and rushed to her side. *peck* The blue undead used that chance to lightly kiss the crying griffin''s beak which caused the damage absorption to activate and healed the named monster back to perfect health. "Blueberry! Mommy is sorry! I''m sorry! I don''t know what came over me...!" The red-haired girl apologized, panicking and clinging to the griffin''s side. "Yes, you were. What the hell was that?! We havee across the invisible walls of the system MULTIPLE times! Even I figured out that that light-freak will protect themselves with that since they have the power of the system!" Zombie shook his head with disbelief and red at the trembling viiness. "Sorry...! I''m really sorry...! I just...!" "...?!" Cranberry bit her lips and made a broken-hearted expression - which caused Zombie to raise his brows in utter shock. "Skwee...! (I-it''s okay, mommy...!) Skwee (Look, daddy healed me!)" Blueberry screeched and raised her healed wings, but it still took Cranberry a good while before she pulled herself together. Chapter 252: Departure from the Sloths territory

Chapter 252: Departure from the Sloths territory

"Alright, time is of the essence. Blueberry, Mary, Arion, you three should help the Dandelions - is that okay?" Cranberry, who seemed to regain just a tiny bit of her spunk, looked up at the tamer and her monsters and asked, apparently already counting the copper-eyed bodyguard as part of their team. "Skwee! (Of course, mommy!)" Blueberry proudly spread her wings, clearly trying to make her stop worrying. "...fine, but that doesn''t mean that I''m agreeing on bing your follower, not after the thing with Blueberry." Mary scoffed and turned away, unable to just shrug it off like her monster. "Skwee! (Master, don''t be like that!) Skwee! (Mommy didn''t mean it!)" Blueberry screeched all hyped up and scratched the earth with her strong front talons. "Raor? (Blueberry, can you carry all of them?) Raor (I don''t want Mary to be stuffed between all of them, she far too delicate to be stuffed between all of them.)" "...?" Arion sensibly changed the subject? - but truth to be told, he had an ulterior motive for doing that - and growled slightly ticked off, ring at the four adventurers - which earned him a confused look from the blue undead standing by. "..." Zombie proceeded to take a look at the brown-haired heroine. Although she no longer had the scars from constantly ripping apart her body and meaning it back in ce, suggesting that she couldn''t handle the difort of just sitting together with other people seemedpletely out of ce to the blue undead - which would showcase his density if only he spoke about his doubts out loud. "Skwee, skwee! (Ah! Someone is jealous and doesn''t want master to be touched by others!) Skwee! (Sure, no problem!) Skwee, skwee, skwee! (I''ll show mommy and daddy that I can be relied on, and don''t throw off my rider anymore!)" Blueberry screeched excitedly - correctly recognizing what the massive wolf actually had in mind - and proudly approached the appointed group. That left only the white-haired man looking between the master-servant pair and the Dandelions and Ti. And since no one seemed to pay attention to him, he shrugged his shoulders and turned towards Blueberry. "And where are you going?" "Huh...?" When Corvus started walking towards the griffin - that was lowering her wing for the adventurers and the bodyguard to have an easier time climbing on her back - he suddenly got stopped by Cranberry''s question. "...am I not supposed to go with them? You surely don''t mean that I have to run by myself? My stats aren''t that much higher than theirs, to begin with... I''m only level 61." The white-haired man slouched and pointed at Uresha, Rotte, and Lairs getting onto Blueberry and sitting down behind Shanks while Lairs was extending her hand for Ti. "Haa... No. There is a chance that we would have to split up - in that case I don''t want to waste time looking for you - we need you to get us into the Wrath estate, remember? You''re going with us." Cranberry breathed out and shook her head in disappointment. "Zombie." She added and rested her head back on the blue undead''s shoulder. As if that was a call into action, the blue-skinned capture target raised his head and turned towards the white-haired capture target with a big intimidating smile. "...!" That alone, not supported by any skill whatsoever, made Corvus flinch and take a step back. "Say, Rabbit, how low is your physical defense?" Zombie asked nonchntly. "M-my what...?" Corvus tensed up and raised his hands defensively. "Your DEF, Rabbit. D. E. F." The blue undead even spelled it up for him, fully convinced that the problem lied with the white-haired man not hearing him properly. "I know what a physical defense is! I''m asking why the hell do you need to know it right now?!" Corvus shuddered and questioned, getting just a little bit angry. "Oh, you know, reasons. So? How low is it?" Zombie waved his red and ck arm dismissively and asked again. "...it''s 532, and it''s not low but high! I''ll have you know that it''s very good for a bodyguard of my level!" He responded, a bit hurt by the blue undead''s phrasing. "532... understood. You should survive." Zombie furrowed his brows and then smiled and nodded happily. "Wait what? Survive?! Survive what?!" Corvus flinched and get even further away from the blue undead and the red-haired girl. "...~" *whooosh* Without a word but with an adorable smile, the blue undead swung his right hand that extended into a whip and wrapped around Corvus''s waist. "What the...?! Release me! I do not...!" *WHOOOSH* Before he could finish his sentence a gust of wind caused by the blue griffin lifting off almost swiped him off his feet. "Skwee?! (Mommy! Daddy! Where are we supposed to meet?!)" Blueberry screeched, looking down at the pair below. "She''s asking where should we meet." Zombie tranted for Cranberry. "How about we regroup in the capital of the Wrath territory?" The red-haired girl looked up and called. "HUH?! Youngdy, do you have any idea how far that actually is?!" Shanks leaned over from behind Blueberry''s neck and shouted down in disbelief. "Have a nice flight!" Cranberry ignored the-rat faced man''s objection and waved them goodbye. Without further ado, the blue emperor griffin pping her wings in the air, activated another skill, and flew away with extraordinary speed - but not too fast so that her passengers wouldn''t fall off. "Can you take this off of me? I can ride on the wolf with Mary, right...?!" Corvus clicked his tongue, struggling with the red and ck whip draped around his waist but all of his attempts to achieve freedom ended up a failure. "Roar. (Don''t even dream about it, white-hair.)" Arion let out an angry growl, baring his fangs at the young man and his fur became all bristly. "That''s a no." Cranberry nced at the massive wolf, then back at the desperate white-haired capture target, and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, Arion, do you want to race?" "Raor...? (Huh...?)" Zombie smirked and asked the wolf out of nowhere, cashing him to flinch and stare in disbelief. "Don''t worry, you''ll have a chance. I need to adjust my speed so that guy wouldn''t die, so there''s no telling who''s going to win." The blue undead giggled and nodded at the wolf. "Raor! (Don''t get so cocky!) Raor! (I don''t need any handicap to defeat you!)" Arion scoffed proudly, already swept into Zombie''s pace. "...haa... do what you want..." After watching the two monsters - of which only one was using words she could understand and the other barked - Cranberry breathed out and sighed, still very much troubled over what had happened... "What can we do? Boys will be boys." And the brown-haired girl let out a soft sigh and shrugged her shoulders, sharing the excitement of two monsters but clearly not sharing the red-haired girl''s concerns. "Could you at least not ignore me?!" Corvus cried out angrily, disying the futility of his skills against the red and ck whip. "You can call out to signal the start of the race, we will make things more impartial that way!" Mary, already on Arion''s back, leaned forward grabbing onto the wolf''s fur to reduce the initial air resistance, and called at the struggling white-haired man. "NO!" *BOOOOOM* Corvus refused in a loud voice - which the two monsters took as the sign to begin - and both monsters kicked off the road sending pieces of crushed pavement everywhere. Poor Corvus got all of the air squeezed out from his lungs within an instant and was unable to even scream as he got suddenly pulled by the blue undead. Chapter 253: Wraths territory (1)

Chapter 253: Wraths territory (1)

"Miss Blueberry, see those lights on the horizon to the southeast? That''s the ce." Shanks leaned forward and tapped the griffin''s neck while pointing in the right direction with his other hand. "Skwee." Blueberry screeched in approval and adjusted her flight. From their point of view, the sun was just setting but for the people down below it would be already hard to walk through the streets without the citynterns being lit, and the rows of saidnterns served as a fine guideline. After a few more minutes of intense flight, the massive blue emperor griffin hasnded at a proper distance that should assure the city guards that it wasn''t just some stray monster attacking their city but rather a tamed one bringing travelers. "It was scary at first, but flying sure is fun!" Ti spoke up energetically after getting down. "I''m happy you liked it... fuck..." Lairs didn''t jump down, she basically fell down, sliding off of the griffin''s back, green in the face and with no strength whatsoever. "...if we were meant to fly, the system would give us wings..." Rotte wasn''t any better than the ck-haired elf and fell on his butt as soon as his feet have touched the ground. "We should have some stamina potions left... wait a bit you two, there should be antern somewhere..." Uresha,pletely unaffected by the lengthy flight hurriedly got to the ground and began rummaging through their bags in the dark. "Pffft...! Dear system, is that how the three of us usually look after a night of drinking?" Shanksughed out loud and jumped down energetically - he, the copper-eyed bodyguard, and the blue emperor griffin had no trouble with seeing in the darkness. "Thank you very much miss Blueberry, the flight was amazing. I''ll definitely tell your parents how great your skill mastery has be." He turned around and started patting the blue griffin''s neck with a bright smile. "Skwee!" Blueberry puffed out her chest and screeched, visibly proud and very content with the praise andpliments she received. "Still..." The rat-faced man''s expression soured as he looked toward the city where the main residence of the Wrath family was. He didn''t stop patting the emperor griffin but he was clearly in distress. "What is it Shan-shan... ugh... fuck..." Lairs asked and tried to lift her head too fast which caused her to fight off a wave of nausea. "Well, for the starters, youngdy Pride have told us to met in this city... but where exactly?" Shanks sighed and voiced his problem with the situation. "In front of the city? If so, then which gate? Inside of the city walls? Then where exactly? One of the city squares? One of thendmarks? Some specific inn?" His voice was getting more and more annoyed as he talked. "And what about the timing? Miss Blueberry flew us here with such an amazing speed, I would have never predicted how short it would take, but weren''t she, Zombie, Mary, Arion, and Corvus to boot supposed to go by foot? How much time will we have to spend here before they arrive? She mentioned that she needs Corvus to help them get inside the Wrath''s mansion without causing a scene, but she never borated on that! She clearly was unhinged by what happened inside and outside the tower of sloth - did that changed her ns? Are we even still needed?" The rat-faced man stopped patting the emperor griffin and instead started pacing back and forth making a concerned face. Since Patience''s permission to talk about them extended only to the ones who were inside the tower of sloth and no one else - the rat-faced man couldn''t really exin to his dearpanions what he meant, but they still understood at least a part of his worries. "Well... fuck..." Lairs frowned and nodded. "The two of them spent three months without any contact with anyone else than themselves and our youngdy was never that good withmunicating when ites to her ns... And we''ve seen her be a little off, trying to bring down that tower and all.. So, you know... Ah, thanks." Rotte shrugged his shoulders and gratefully took the small green potion offered by Uresha who came back with the lightntern in her hand. "Uhh... damn it, both of you are right...! I should have tried asking about more details...!" The rat-faced man gritted his teeth and put his fist to his forehead in a gesture of defeat. *growl* "...!" The sudden sound caused everyone to flinch and look around for its source, which thankfully turned out to be... Uresha''s stomach. "...maybe we''ll think about our next move over the dinner in a cozy inn...?" Therge woman blushed only a little as she covered her stomach with her arm and asked in a slightly embarrassed voice. "Fuck yeah, I''m starving!" "Same!" "Y-yes, me too." Lairs and Rotte instantly supported the request and even Ti joined in as well. "You''re all right. Instead of worrying, we should take it easy for now." That allowed Shanks to stop thinking about the things that were impossible to change by that point and even smiled. With that newfound resolution, the whole group including Blueberry walked over to the northern city gate. "Alright, I''m not sure how the guards will react at the sight of miss Blueberry, a tamed griffin is already something unthinkable, but let''s just say I''ll use a bit of persuasion to make them ept it - and by all means, no one needs to know that she''s an emperor griffin, we don''t want to cause panic, even a weak tamed griffin is something to write a book about after all... " Shanks warned the rest as they were getting closer to one of the gates. ...that the guards were already closing... "Tsk, let''s go a bit faster...!" Shanks clicked his tongue and waved at his friends. "Sorry! Sir guardsman! Could you wait a bit with the gate?!" He then took thentern from his wife and put it up so it would illuminate his face and called. "...! Who''s there?!" Four men by the gate raised up their weapons and turned towards the voice. "Sorry for troubling you! We are just a group of adventurers that had some troubles on the trail! Oh, we have a tamed griffin with us too, but don''t worry, she''s a very gentle girl!" Shanks hurriedly exined making sure that to make it sound like not a big deal while adding just a bit of the pressure from his right to rule - but only just a bit in case the guards had some sort of defense artifacts on them. If they did, such action would be undoubtedly read as hostile. "G-griffin you say...?!" All of the guards flinched at the words and looked at each other, while one of them, the oldest looking one, called out in shock. "Umm... is there a problem...? Don''t worry, as I''ve said, she''s tamed and very gentle! We are supposed to meet with her tamer and a couple more friends!" The rat-faced man furrowed his brows at the guards'' reaction - he didn''t want to cause a scene. "N-no...! Not at all! Please,e closer to the light...!" The old guard shook his head and beckoned the group. "Blueberry... if those guys will try something - knock them out, or just push them away from us, just don''t kill them, alright?" Shanks tapped the griffin''s neck and whispered to her when she leaned her head towards him. "Skwee?" Blueberry screeched confused. "Something''s off... there should be only two guards, but there are four... and the gate looks like it''s been freshly repaired. I don''t like it - but let''s not get ourselves in trouble by recklessly killing anyone, alright?" "Skwee." The rat-faced man exined his concern and the blue griffin shrugged her wings but ended up nodding and screeching in agreement. With that their group entered the circle of light cast by thenterns above the half-closed gate. Chapter 254: Wraths territory (2)

Chapter 254: Wraths territory (2)

"Good evening." Shanks greeted the guardsmen with a smile as every member of their group entered the light. "...!" The old guard quickly nced at all of them and his eyes widened the moment heid them upon the massive blue griffin with violet eyes and golden beak. "I hope we''re not causing you any trouble. Since it''s sote I bet that you put away the scanning artifact, I assure you that none of us has the ruthless title, but it is understandable if you want to check anyway. If that will be faster, we are willing to pay for the appraiser to check us too." Shanks dered, showing off the goodwill and readiness for cooperation but... "Ah! No, no, no...! We can''t possibly waste the precious time of your lordships...!" The guard became pale as a sheet and got onto one knee and bowed his head showing off his neck,pletely surprising the rat-faced man who expected the exact opposite kind of behavior. "..." Shanks flinched and looked back at his no less confusedpanions. "Your lordships friends are already waiting in our lowly city''s best inn, please, we cant'' allow to make them wait...!" A clear fear and desperation echoed in the guard''s voice as he hurriedly stood up... "What are you waiting for?! Can''t you see it''s the group the youngdies are waiting for?!" ...and shouted at the other guards who started hurriedly operating the gate. "...youngdies...?" Shanks repeated after him and nced back at the others... "..." Literally everyone, including Blueberry, was making a shocked expression. Because... they flew here... They took the shortest way across every possible terrain that could have slow them down. There were basically no monsters in the skies that could pose even the smallest threat to the massive emperor griffin, while on the ground it wasn''t hard to stumble across something, anything, that would require talking at least a bit of time to deal with it...! There was simply no chance that the youngdies the guard was talking about were...! "...oh, system damn it...! How?!" As the Dandelions, Ti, and Blueberry all came through the gate opened specially for them, they could take in the first view of the busy city life. Brightly lightnterns illuminating the fronts of still opened shops and restaurants, peopleughing and enjoying themselves... ...therge crater in the middle of the road with imprints of the soles of boots on high heels in the very middle - that a group of workers was doing their best to fix as soon as possible... "Skwee?!" The blue emperor griffin screeched in disbelief and spread her wings in full the moment she saw the crater. "...that only confirms it... how in the system name did they get here earlier than us?!" Shanks groaned and covered his eyes with his hand, causing more than just a few bystanders to went silent and stare at him. "Excuse me, sir, where is the inn that you''ve mentioned?" Uresha turned around and asked the old guard who was fearfully peeking at them from his spot behind the gate. "A-ah...! I-it''s called King''s apple - it''s a beautiful building right by the main square. If the royal family is visiting our territory, they would always stay there. J-just go straight down this road - you can''t miss it...!" The man hurriedly exined and even added some trivia. "Thank you, have a nice day." Uresha bowed politely to the guard and their group moved forward, carefully walking around the crater. "I was sure that whatever the fuck they have in mind they will try to be fucking stealthy about it, just like in the fucking north...! What the fuck are they thinking?!" Lairsined and started massaging her forehead with both hands as they walked and each and every person they walked past was staring at them fearfully. "Let''s just be grateful that there are no signs of civilians getting decimated..." Shanks pointed out. "That might be because the guards organized a team of cleaners to deal with that first." Rotte pointed out with a heavy sigh. "Wait. No way. Those two would actually do something like that in the middle of the city, right...?!" Ti flinched and hurriedly looked between the Dandelions hoping that someone would admit that she''s right. "..." "...you do know that youngdy Pride challenged a group of adventurers called the Brave Swords on a duel and then killed them off together with Zombie, right? They did it in front of the adventurers guild in the kingdom''s capital. I don''t have anything against the Wrath territory, but if they did that in Salmagundi, what''s stopping them from blowing up this whole city?" Shanks sighed making a defeated expression and shrugged his shoulders at the horrified Ti. "I...! I need to...!" The copper-eyed woman fidgeted nervously. "Don''t. You''ve seen how the guards acted - they were scared but more of in an I-don''t-want-to-get-beaten up sense and not everyone-is-going-to-die sense - so we can safely assume that no one was killed. Yet. So try to rx. It should be okay." Shanks waved his hand dismissively. "...!" But that only made the bodyguard tremble. "Shanks, you aren''t calming her down at all." Uresha sighed and lightly brushed against her husband. "Well, that''s because I didn''t want to lie." The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulder. "Oh! Look, that must be the ce!" Rotte''s words ended up finishing the conversation. And indeed, their group arrived at arge expensive-looking inn with a masterfully painted sign of a red apple in crown above the door. But there was something disturbing about the ce... Even though all the other restaurants and shops were full of people, there was literally no one sitting by the tables put outside for the guests. As if no one dared to approach the ce. "..." "Skwee!" Out of everyone, Blueberry was the one to confidently trot towards the suspiciously looking inn, and since no one from the group could understand her, no one could be sure why was she so happy. It could have been because she was just happy that she will see the pair that she considers her parents... Or maybe she might be excited because she smells the blood of the people ughtered by the very same pair, for making some inappropriate remarks. "...only one way to find out..." The rat-faced man breathed out and clenched his fists. Without further ado, he stepped forward towards the main door and opened one wing of therge door -rge enough for the Blueberry to walk in without instantly hitting her head against the ceiling once inside. "...?" The inside was definitely that of a high-ss inn, the only problem was, it was almost empty. The only exception of that was the best table at the very center of the whole room by which the four very familiar silhouettes were sitting nonchntly. "Ha! Took you long enough!" The red-haired Cranberry breathed out and waved her hand towards the entering group. "Skwee! (Mommy! Daddy!)" The blue emperor griffin ran towards the table, cking her talons on the broken hardwood floor. "Hello sweetie. How are you do...? Ha...?" Cranberry weed the griffin but then she suddenly flinched as she was looking at the people behind the griffin. "One is missing... haa... don''t tell me, you took so long because you lost that bodyguard woman and tried to retrieve her but were unable to?" She asked in a worried voice. "...eh...?!" Everyone flinched and gasped especially Lairs, and only then did they realized that the copper-eyed bodyguard wasn''t with them anymore! Chapter 255: Wraths territory (3)

Chapter 255: Wraths territory (3)

The best inn in the city, King''s apple, the inn that hosted the royal family whenever they were visiting the Wrath''s territory, was reserved for the night for very special visitors. ...though, there was a more fitting word for the situation... Rather than being reserved, it was being upied. Soon after a considerably big explosion reverberated through the city and many patrons went outside to check what was the cause of it - whether some adventurers were having trouble with a subdued monster or maybe someone has pissed off one of the people from the Wrath family. Still, the answer was far more surprising. "That''s not fair! You cheated!" A loud voice came from outside even before the person showed up at the door. "Haa... and since when wasn''t it allowed for us to help the guys? Ha? You were clearly using some skills the whole time - all the way since the very begging." Another voice responded dismissively. "I was only using an eleration skill to boost Arion''s own speed! That doesn''t count! You straight-up used blink to gain an unfair advantage when it became clear that we will be the one to win!" "Ha! Look at you, getting angry that you lost even with the advantage of Zombie limiting his speed not to kill Corvus." The two voices were having a friendly banter, but once the name of the well-known white-haired adopted son of the Wrath family was mentioned, everyone inside the inn went silent. "We didn''t lose! It doesn''t count because you''ve cheated!" "Ha ha! Since when this friendly race even had any rules?" "Ah! Arion! Zombie! Did you hear that?! She admitted that she didn''t follow the rules!" And soon enough the owners of the voices showed up right at the very door of the King''s Apple. It was two young women, one tall and the other one short, both endowed well enough for it to be visible even with all the strange high-quality armor they were wearing. The tall one had shoulder-length red hair, not the pretty kind of red but rather one that was eerily simr to the dark blood. She also had many freckles on her face and overall couldn''t be described as conventional beautiful no matter how one looked at her features. Even though she was smiling, or rather because she was smiling, her whole face was giving off the impression of a mean, overly confident girl. As for the short one, the one who was far more agitated, she had slightly longer brown hair and a childish face that was giving off a youthful and innocent feel. Even though she was frowning and arguing with the red-haired girl very ferociously, with a face like that the threatening effect was extremely meager and basically close to none. "??!!!??!?!!?!" Which couldn''t be said about the next pair, or rather a trio, that followed right after the girls. There was a huge wolf with bristly ck fur with orange glint walking silently behind the innocent-looking brown-haired girl. It was truly massive, basically, the size of a small horse but two or even three times as wide, and its intelligent eyes were ring at anyone who dared to stare at the girl in front of him too much. Though what was more important for all the bystanders, there was a very unconscious white-haired young man who was well known to everyone in the territory. "..." People started whispering to each other in concern and ended up ignoring the other monster - a tall blue corpse puppet with ck hair and ck eyes, wearing the same kind of armor that the two girls in front while also sporting the high heel boots, although it was hard to say that they were boots since it put the armor on its legs on top of them. "...Tsk..." The amount of living surrounding the corpse puppet certainly didn''t sit well with it, since the puppet clicked its tongue while ring around making a disgusted face as if it was forced to step into the whole field of putrid manure. "And...!" "Mary, pardon me for a bit." The brown-haired girl looked like she wasn''t going to let go of the whole cheating, but the red-haired girl raised her hand to stop her for a moment and stepped towards the corpse puppet. "...!" And to the shock and even disgust of all the citizens in the inn, she proceeded to grab the puppet''s left hand rather intimately and intertwined their fingers while looking up at its face. "Zombie, try to rx. Think about them as some filth on the side of the road. If I can stop myself then so can you, right?" "!!!!" Her calming voice caused the angry murmur to arise and circte amongst the more intoxicated patrons. "I want to turn them all into the filth on the side of the road...! This is so infuriating! I thought that after I regain my free will the urge to kill the living will subside, but it got so much worse instead...!" The corpse puppet bared its teeth and its eyes began glowing murky red as it stared down at any living who dared to met his re. "But you told me that it gets better if you are by my side, so don''t bother with some trash and just focus on me." *peck* The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and confidently got on her tiptoes to lightly kiss the corpse puppet''s cheek. "Better?" She asked with a slight blush. "..." The blue corpse puppet didn''t respond straight away, instead, it leaned down and... *peck* Kissed the girl''s cheek right back. "As long as you are fine, I''m good." The corpse puppet said with a soft smile, observing as the red-haired girl''s face gets brighter and brighter from a cute blush. "Kyaah! Wait, since when are the two of you like that?!" The brown-haired girl covered her eyes with her hands but looked at the two with sparkling eyes through the spaces she left between her fingers. "Ha? What? Are you jealous? He''s a capture target so of course I captured him~!" The red-haired girl hummed happily and hugged the corpse puppet with a triumphant smile. "Pssh! Capturing the capture target is the heroine''s job, miss viiness!" The brown-haired girl instantly moved her hands from her face right to her waist and proudly puffed out her chest. "Yeah, about that... you better not aim for my Zombie, I will kill you if you try to take him away from me, you have my word." The red-haired girl''s voice and eyes grew so cold that the temperature inside the inn seemed to drop below the water freezing point as she looked at the brown-haired girl without releasing her embrace on the corpse puppet. "...duly noted... after thorough consideration, I''ve decided to not aim for the harem route anyway..." The brown-haired girl nodded while discreetly backing off behind the ck wolf that although shaking in fear ended up stepping in front of her defensively. "...harem route...?" The red-haired girl didn''t look convinced and hugged the corpse puppet a bit tighter giving off an aggressive aura. "No! I''m serious! Just look at what I would have to deal with if I attempted making a harem!" Mary waved her hands in denial and then pointed at the unconscious Corvus sprawled at the wolf''s back. "Pffft! That was so rude! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!" In an instant, all the anger disappeared from the red-haired girl''s face and she busted intoughter that sounded more like dog''s barks than anything else. "Haa... I will believe you, but my promise still stands, no one can take my Zombie away." The red-haired girl breathed out and dered while shamelessly nuzzling against the corpse puppet. "With that said, let''s get ourselves a table." She added with a lighthearted smile. "Excuse me, but we do not serve freaks that get chummy with some stinking undead." In response to the red-haired girl''s remark, one of the waitresses walked up to their group and dered with confidence. Chapter 256: Wraths territory (4)

Chapter 256: Wraths territory (4)

"..." At first, Mary blinked a few times, unable toprehend what that suicidal waitress has just said. "!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But just a momentter, when the meaning of the words have sunken in, she went wide-eyed and hurriedly grabbed Arion and started pulling back as fast as she could. "Ha?" Cranberry shook her head lightly as if shaking off an annoying fly and asked while stepping away from Zombie. "Hmph!" The waitress scoffed and her body begun glowing - she clearly knew that she pissed off the red-haired girl and was preparing for taking care of her or maybe was attempting to cool down the eventual outburst of aggression by showing her readiness to pick up a fight. ... The poor girl obviously had no idea who was she dealing with. ... "I''m the younger sister of one of the high-ranked officials of the system''s church! You should know that any illicit rtionship with the undead is strictly forbidden as it may affect the quests you will receive! Disgusting freaks like you should just...! The waitress pulled up a pendant with the sign of the system''s church from underneath her clothes and started preaching, but that was the exact moment when Cranberry swatted her hand at the air just as if she was shaking off a bug. *WHOOOSH* *BOOOOOM* *WHAM* The shockwave that this slight movement created crushed against the waitress with a deafening explosion and send her right at the wall at the other end of the inn where she sttered like a bug and then slowly slid down leaving the bloody trail. When she reached the ground she dropped down like a broken bag of flesh as if there were no bones left in one piece in her whole body anymore. "That''s an annoying way to waste the ten seconds that I gave you to drop on your knees and beg for forgiveness for calling my Zombie a rotting undead." Cranberry scoffed ring at the sack of flesh on the floor that was somehow still breathing. And then in the confused silence, she took a step towards that very broken waitress. *THUMP* *CRACK* That single step not supported by any skill caused the whole building to tremble as well aspletely shatter the whole hardwood on the entire floor. "GUARDS! SOMEONE CALL THE GUARDS!" "DON''T LET HER GET AWAY!" Both the staff and the patrons all begun making a huge ruckus, some of them rushed to help the half-dead waitress, some of them ran outside calling for help, and then there was a third group, the one clearlycking in the brains department, that tried to apprehend Cranberry. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out, ring at the approaching people that looked somewhatpetent - possibly some well-off adventurers having a drink in a fancy ce. "Get? Get my Cranberry...? YOU?!" But as she was getting ready to deal with them just as she did with the rude waitress, she felt the cold hand touching her shoulder. Blue left hand that was glowing with intense violet light. "All of you filthy living. Shut the hell up and kneel." Zombie growled furiously using one of his newest skills, the king''s rule. *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *CRUSH* *thump* *thump* In an instant, everyone in the voice range of the blue undead shut their mouth and got on their knees before him. And that included the ones who had already ran away from the inn as well as those who went into offensive - that included one unlucky fellow who jumped up for the better angle and ended up crashing the hardest, with splinters from the broken hardwood prating his arms and legs. "Worthless trash. Anyone who isn''t a part of the staff, get out." Zombie ordered pointing at the open door. But as soon as the people started getting up and walking obediently walking away... "Who the hell allowed you to stand up? Get the hell out of here while on your filthy knees, you repugnant living trash." Zombie growled causing everyone to smash against the ground once more and begin to slowly crawl away. Then the undead turned to the people that didn''t move from their spots the first time. "And what are you waiting for? You have guests. Can''t you even do your job properly?" He looked at them from above and scoffed in annoyance. Before the staff began scrambling frantically. "...I mean, I''ve seen you two taking down that living mountain and other titan-ss, but... damn..." Mary shivered as she slowly stood up - even though Zombie didn''t include her or Arion into the hostiles that would get affected by the skill, the pressure that it gave off was simply on another level. "That was very considerate of you, Zombie, I would have broken all of their bones before letting them go." Cranberry smirked and nodded with approval. "And suffer through having to deal with the living meatsacks? Nah, no way, if we are holding back on killing trash I want to at least be done with them as fast as possible." The blue undead continued showing off why exactly his act didn''t have anything to do with what could be considered kindness. "That said, Molly, can you use your mend on others?" Zombie added, motioning at the sack of flesh by the wall. "...It''s Mary, by the way... and yeah, sure, but with the severity of the damages she suffered, I''m sure she would prefer being dead." The brown-haired heroine furrowed her brows and nodded dismissively. "Even better." Cranberry snorted and smirked evilly. "D-d-d-dear g-gu-guests...! I-I-I Will show you to y-yo-you seats...!" Another trembling waiter arrived and invited them in a voice terribly shaky panicked voice. "..." Zombie red at him from above causing the young man to tremble terribly and bow at the ny-degree angle. "N-n-noble guest...!" "Good, do that." The waiter managed to correct his mistake so that there was no need to instruct him any further and the red-haired girl waved her hand dismissively. Mary walked to the side and approached the pitiful waitress that didn''t know any better and touched the spot that was the shoulder at some point. "Oh dear system, you did that with a shockwave? What kind of crazy skill is that?" The heroine turned to the viiness and asked taken aback. "Skill? You think that any of those people would actually survive my skills?" Cranberry snorted and shook her head from the amusement before taking a seat by the best table they were lead to. "Oh dear..." Mary breathed out, looking away wide-eyed. "Mend." Without further ado, she then closed her eyes and channeled her skill into the flesh sack on the floor. "!!!!!!!" The pain that the waitress has felt coursing through her body must have been unimaginable - and Mary as the one the most acquainted with her own skill knew that best - and that''s why she raised her brows when the woman getting healed didn''t let out even a single sound. Only after she saw the streams of tears and the nails broken off from scratching the destroyed hardwood floor did the heroine realized that the waitress is simply still obeying Zombie''s first order - shut up - and once every piece of her broken body was forcibly welded back together she had no choice but to obey the othermand - what are you waiting for? You have guests. Can''t you even do your job properly? - and went back to work, shaking terribly on her wobbly legs without a word of gratefulness towards the brown-haired girl who healed her. "That''s pure madness..." Mary shook her head in disbelief and stood, turning towards her seatedpanions. "...!" Just to witness another shocking image. Chapter 257: Wraths territory (5)

Chapter 257: Wraths territory (5)

"Say, do you like this armor?" Before taking a seat Cranberry turned around and asked Zombie while tilting her head and pointing at the cheastpiece he was wearing. "Not really. It''spletely useless for me anyway, and it''s kind of annoying to wear honestly." The blue undead raised his brow and shrugged his shoulders. "Good, then let me just..." The red-haired girl nodded and grabbed onto the armor and... *RIIIIP* Split it in half straight from the front turning it into something akin to a rigid jacket. "Oh, that''s making it better!" Zombie nced down at his mostly bare torso and smirked. "Definitely." Cranberry agreed, looking intently at his muscr torso and even ended up putting her hands on his chiseled stomach. "Much better." She nodded to herselfpletely immersed in the act. "Pffft...! Khahaha! Aren''t you too interested in it? Weren''t you the one who said that we should rest for today and pay a visit to the avatar of wrath tomorrow?" "...!" Zombieughed and caressed Cranberry''s face making the girl break from the trance and blush heavily. "True, I did." The red-haired girl muttered and stepped away. That allowed the blue undead to take a seat by the table. "Here." ...and right after he did, he leaned back, put his feet up at the table, and patted hisp looking expectantly at the girl. "Even when we ce our order, they will need some time to prepare it." The blue undead exined with a bright innocent smile that could even melt an iceberg. "Ha!" Cranberry smirked and nodded benevolently, ending up taking the offered seat and leaned back against Zombie''s chest and putting her feet up against the undead''s legs, closing her eyes with satisfaction. "...!" To that sight what was Mary witnessed as she was done with healing the waitress. The brown-haired heroine slowly walked back towards the table and sat down, unable to hold back from stealing envious nces at the pair on the other side. "..." Then she nced at the ck wolf that walked over and sat on the floor by her side - letting the white-haired Corvus slid down his back and fell on the floor like a sack of potatoes - and was obediently waiting, looking like a very polite and proper big dog. "..." Mary pouted, reached out her hand, and lightly pushed against him. "Raor...? (Huh...?) Raor? (What was that about?)" Arion tilted his head and whimpered in confusion. "...make that timer go faster..." Mary looked away and grumbled. "Raor?! (Huh?!) Raor! (But that is something imposed by the system!) Raor! (You know I don''t have any power over it!)" Arion fidgeted and growled in shock. "...hmph..." Mary only scoffed, pouting even harder, and continued looking away from her wolf. "Raor...! (Mary, don''t be like that...!)" Arion stepped nervously with his from paws and whimpered. When that didn''t have any effect, he put his head on the brown-haired girl''sp and look up at her making puppy-dog''s eyes. "...haa..." Mary nced down at him and sighed, unable to stay angry - after all, the timer she was talking about really was out of anyone''s control - and started scratching therge wolf behind his ears. "...raor... (...hehehe...)" Arion let out a triumphant giggle while his tail was wagging like crazy. They all ced their orders to the terrified waiter and ended up with some more time on their hands. "Oh, right, Cranberry." Mery perked up and looked at the red-haired girl enjoying her pleasantly cool spot to the fullest. "Mhmm...?" Cranberry hummed without opening her eyes. "You seemed a bit off after we left the tower of sloth, are you better now?" Shepletely disregarded thefortable mood and asked a rather heavy question. "Truth to be told - no. But I will manage. I am a Pride after all." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and answered with a weak smile that neither Mary nor Zombie had ever expected to see. "...eh...? But...!" "INTRUDERS OCCUPYING THE INN! IF YOU DON''T SURRENDER WE WILL GET YOU OUT BY FORCE!" Mary''s voice got drowned by a threatening shout undoubtedly amplified by some skill. "The guards...?" Zombie tilted his head and looked down at the red-haired girl. "...or some overly helpful adventurers, or maybe even someone from the system''s church. That trash did say something about having a brother in a high position or something." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders withplete indifference. "Ah. I see." Zombie nodded and looked toward the entrance. His whole body began glowing violet and raised his right hand up to his mouth... "Get inside and let me have a look at you." His low voice reverberated thorough the whole inn. "..." For a second, the waspletely no sounding from the outside. Until a momentter at least three dozen of people, all pale as freshly fallen snow, entered the building in an orderly line - it was more than obvious that none of them had done it because they wanted to. "Kneel." *thump* At anothermand all the newly arrived people dropped on the floor with the looks of absolute despair on their faces. Most of them were obviously members of the city guards, but some were clothed in robes and big pendants that outed them as the priests of the system''s faith. To make things worse - for those new people that is - they all arrived there after learning that someone with control skill appeared in the city and they gathered as a force to get rid of them - everyone present had put many years of hard work to upgrade their MDF exactly for such situation, and that was more true for the priests than to the ex-adventurers guards. Some of them were even maxed level and did not receive any more stat-boosting quests - clearly shoving that they have maxed out their potential. How humiliating it was for those people to get their defenses broken through with a single sentence? No, it wasn''t even humiliating, it was straight-up scary - such strength was already on par with the avatars of sin, and now they realized that it was in the hands of a single corpse puppet that looked as if itpletely wrapped its corpse puppeteer around its finger. "Not a single one on Shiv''s level? Disappointing." The corpse puppet clicked its tongue and sighed, then it proceeded to hug its puppeteer - the red-haired girl lying on top of him - and frowned. "Their life signatures have stagnant energy, some of them are level 99 but are still so disgustingly weak. Pathetic. Worthless. Come on, let me extinguish them." The corpse puppet nuzzled against the girls and asked in a voice as if he was asking a friend for a handkerchief. "No, I want to rule the world, but not an empty one, you know? Besides none of them had insulted us." The red-haired girl shook her head and refused with a smile. "...fine..." The undead rolled his eyes and reluctantly agreed. Then he red at the kneeling people and frowned. "If you''ll see a group of adventurers with a cute blue girl griffin, don''t you even think about stopping them - send them straight here." He scoffed and shook his head. "Now get the hell out of my sight and don''t try to approach us unless you have a death wish." He added and shooed them away with a flick of the wrist. *RUMBLE* That was enough of the signal to send every terrified human scrambling away fearing for their dear life. Distinguished members of the church and the veteran guards alike were all pushing and trampling over each other just to get away faster. Then the food arrived for the Cranberry, Mary, and Arion, and they proceed to eat it as Zombie was observing the red-haired girl with much interest. When they finished and the trembling waiters and waitresses cleaned up their table - the door to the inn opened. "Ha! Took you long enough!" The red-haired Cranberry breathed out and waved her hand towards the entering group. Chapter 258: Wraths territory (6)

Chapter 258: Wraths territory (6)

"I see, so that happened..." Shanks nodded ncing at the still unconscious Corvus. "By the way, is his health the reason why you didn''t go straight to the avatar of wrath?" He added pointing at the white-haired young man, who lost his sses somewhere along the way to the city. "Ha? No, why would you even ask that? It''s literally has been over three months in the wilderness, killing monsters and eating monsters. No matter how good Zombie''s cooking is, I wanted something normal." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and exined offhandedly. "Oh. True." The rat-faced man flinched and nodded after hearing such a normal response. "Wait, you are able to cook?!" Rotte flinched and stared at Zombie in disbelief. "Always has been." The blue undead smirked and pointed a finger gun at the warrior... "...?" But sadly there was no one there who could understand the reference. "Still, with the sudden disappearance of the Lairs''s girlfriend, we can assume that she will either go to warn the current avatar of wrath or leave to the capital to snitch on us right to the queen." Cranberry picked the subject as if nothing was said and looked at the Dandelions on the other side of the table. "...fuck me..." The ck-haired elf sitting by the corner sighed over a half-empty tankard of beer and sighed. "..." Cranberry nced at her and furrowed her brows. "Hey, it doesn''t mean that she lied to you or anything. It is kind of understandable that she would go report everything that happened to her superiors it was within my expectations at least." She lightly shrugged her shoulders and tried to lift the elven mage''s spirit. "...then why didn''t she said anything and just fucking vanished...? She probably used me as fucking cover to gather information on you, youngdy, or something fucked up like that..." Lairs cried and downed the rest of her bear in one go. "Oi! Waiter! Fucking...! Bring me another round!" Lairs raised the empty tankard and called at the staff hiding behind the bar counter. "Whoa, Laii, that''s your fourth one, you''re going too fast!" Rotte flinched and pointed out. "...Rotte, your sister is fucking heartbroken, can''t you just shut up and keep her fuckingpany while she drowns herself in booze?" The ck-haired elf put her forehead against the table and sobbed. "Laii..." Rotte sighed and pulled his chair closer to the elven mage and started massaging her back. "Alright, it''s drinking time! I''ll be sure to keep up with you!" The warrior dered and grabbed his own tankard. "Shanks! You too! we can''t abandon Laii in this situation, right?!" He added looking at the rat-faced man. "Of course not, but first...! Youngdy, I think we need to have a talk about what happened in the tower of sloth." Shanks raised his hand to stop his friend and instead turned towards the red-haired girl. "Maybe tomorrow, all that happened today has tired me out. We will talk tomorrow - don''t go overboard and it will be fine." She waved her hand dismissively and instead went upstairs together with her blue undead... ... ... "This is insanity...!" *WHAM* Shanks groaned and mmed his head against the table so hard that the beer in his tankard spilled over. "...ugh... you''re telling me...? I just wanted toplete Arion''s quest and have a single happy ending...! Howe we get into a mess with some freak made out of light?!" Mary groaned in response, halfying on the table and waving her empty tankard around. "It''s bullshit! Did you hear what they said about our young miss?! They called her a failure?! I bet you that if not for those whole invisible walls protecting them, our youngdy would destroy Patience!" The rat-faced man dered and down the remaining beer in a few big gulps. "They called the titan-ss monsters trash and cannon fodders... like, what the hell are they even?! Of course, they would win! Patience is a scam!" Mary cried and mmed her tankard a few times against the table. "...here..." That was taken as a signal for the trembling waitress toe and serve the two of them the next round of drinks. It was alreadyte into the night and the rat-faced man and the brown-haired heroine were the only guests left in the dining part of the King''s Apple - everyone else from their group - followed the red-haired viiness and the blue-skinned corpse puppet''s example and left to rooms hurriedly prepared by the staff, leaving thest two to drown their anger and anxiety in alcohol. "I hope that she won''t get discouraged or something!" Shanks sighed and took a sip of the newly arrived beer. "Whaat...?! No way! Cranberry is cool! She won''t be scared or some adnis-adminish-administrator''s privileges bullshit...! She the besht...! Even though she was only a backstory character in the game I''ve seen in my dreams!" Mary cried, hugging the tankard instead of drinking from it. "...huh...? What game? What dreams? What, don''t tell me that now you wille out and start talking about some evil scheme or secret you''ve had harbored all this time?!" The rat-faced man rolled his eyes andined before taking another sip. "Nooo...! It''s not like that...!" Mary cried and shook her head wildly from side to side. "It''s just since I was little, I kept having those really weird dreams - I would always see some kind of a t box and on its surface, there will be images ying - it was as if I was spectating someone interacting with those images - and that was supposed to be a game..." She exined while holding back her drunken sobs. "...sounds crazy to me..." Shanks raised his brows and shook his head, clearly too intoxicated to pay any actual attention to what the heroine was saying. "...uuuu.... you, you want to hear the really crazy part?" Mary sniffled and raised her head just enough so she could suck a bit of the beer from the tankard. "That game that I saw was literally about this world, about all of us! I''ve seen Zombie, Arion, ymore, Roan, Mason, Corvus - all the capture targets, their routes, and how to seduce them and all! But! The viiness in that game wasn''t Cranberry, it was Mason''s older sister that was stealing the good looks from an elf!" She frowned and started drinking the beer by putting her face into the tankard instead of raising the tankard to her face. "But that''s impossible, right? I mean, I''ve learned that Mason''s sister died in her childhood... no, wait... maybe that''s one of the things that changed after the system reset that Cranberry was talking about before...?" The brown-haired girl suddenly straightened her back and stared in the distance with foggy eyes. "Hey...! Hold up for a moment! What''s with this tant injustice...?! You just basically listed names of all the guys with connection to every main family but with the exception of someone from my Sloth family! Why is that? Huh?! Do you think that we are worse or something?!" Shanks got angry and mmed his hand against the table while ring furiously at the brown-haired girl. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...! It''s just my dream! Kind sir, why do you have to get so mad? I didn''t have any control over what I dream about! I think there was something about the Sloth family - but it was about it being avable as something called a post-game content!" Mary backed off and raised her hands in surrender. "Post-game? What the hell is that supposed to be?" The rat-faced man grumbled andid down on the table. "How am I supposed to know? There was no exnation provided in the dream!" The brown-haired heroine scoffed and leaned back in her chair. "..." Shanks didn''t answer to that, he fell asleep with his head and both arms - one still holding onto the tankard - on the table. "...huuu... such a lightweight...! Just like in that game! Just so you know, this night drinking was one of the requirements to get you as my... party... membe... *suuuuuu*" Mary emptied her tankard andughed at the knocked-out man, but not even ten secondster, she herself fell asleep as if someone flipped a switch inside her head and turned off the lights. Chapter 259: Wraths territory (7)

Chapter 259: Wraths territory (7)

In the royal suite on the top floor of the King''s Apple, right on the king-sized bed, the red-haired Cranberry lying in the arms of the blue-skinned Zombie, opened her eyes and flinched as the light enveloping her ears slowly faded away. "Haa..." She breathed out with concern. "Say... You told me once before that you need to keep up the appearance, that your pride will not allow you to stand being looked down upon - and that''s why you will never show any kind of weakness - showing intimate affection included." The blue undead spoke curiously, looking down at the sad girl desperately seekingfort in his embrace. "I did. What? Did you stop liking that part of me after youpletely regained your free will?" Even though the red-haired girl''s voice was sounding confident, her body stiffened,?and with the nonexistent distance between them, she couldn''t hide it at all. "Yeah, right, as if that was possible by this point." Zombie scoffed and shook his head with augh. "It''s just that... with all that, you should have known that showing that much affection will cause the exact reaction it did. Because it had to with how this world is." "...are you trying to make me feel bad for hitting the waitress? I thought that you hated all living beside me." Cranberry smirked mockingly but. *pomf* "...eh...?" She got lightly bonked on the head with the side of the Zombie''s palm. "Don''t try to use the side effects of the rotten brain against me. You know what I mean." The undead frowned and shook his head again. "You are extremely worried about what Patience has told us, aren''t you? They got to you so much that you can''t keep up your high and mighty attitude." He pointed out. "...haa..." The red-haired girl breathed out and rubbed her forehead against his chest. "...I don''t know what to feel about the fact that someone with a rotten brain title has managed to figure me out..." She sighed and shook smirked. "Don''t change the subject." Zombie furrowed his brows and nudged her side. "..." Cranberry flinched and suddenly rxed, as if she has given up. "...yes. I am worried. I am worried about the fact that in this world there is a being that can still order us around and do everything they want with us despite how strong we got. I am also worried that they were speaking the truth about my -road to rule- quest. Its description does look warped as if there was something wrong with it! Should we actually try toplete it? It does sound too good to be true... I''ve been trying to figure out a way so that we could destroy the title itself without killing the avatar - I don''t want to kill ymore, they are my only friend except for Mary! But what if I will have to kill them after all, I will, and then the reward will turn out to be a lie?! Then there''s that savior that''s supposed to deal with me. The two of us gained our strength bypleting quests, but let''s be honest, most of the events that we''ve encountered - we probably didn''tplete in the best way possible. What if that savior knows how to use the future events to her advantage? And has been messing with us from the very beginning?!" "..." As it turned out, Cranberry really had a lot on her mind, making Zombie''s brain overload with to much potential problems. "Let''s slow down first. Alright? With ymore - we have four more avatars of sin titles to go through - we don''t have to go to them first - we can experiment on the others beforehand." He proposed. "...! That doesn''t sound half bad..." Cranberry finched and agreed. "And about that savior - is it just me or did you sound a bit too specific for some reason... Do you know anything? Or do you maybe have someone in mind that fits the role?" The blue undead tilted his head and asked. "Well... Let''s just say that Shanks and Mary had a peculiar conversation downstairs..." The red-haired girl touched her ear with a concerned expression. "Oh? What is it? Heard something interesting?" The undead looked down at the girl and asked, furrowing his brows. "Rather than interesting, it was something disturbing..." Cranberry frowned and cuddled up to him with a worried expression. "Do you remember when you told me about your past life? And that this world is the world of something called an otome game, but you have no idea about the details surrounding it?" She asked while putting her hand on his chiseled stomach and tracing each muscle with her fingers, deep in thought. "Yeah, of course, I do. You called me crazy when I did that - even though Patience had literally confirmed my story." Zombie scoffed and tapped on Cranberry''s forehead after he put his left hand on her head. "Say, are those games by any chance something like a series of images showing up on the surface of a t box?" The red-haired girl asked with a frown. "t box...? Oh! Do you mean the TV or a monitor? Yeah, sure, that description sounds like something someone who never had any contact with technology would describe it, but it isn''t wrong. Wait... I haven''t told you about the monitors or anything when we talked about my past life..." At first, Zombieughed, but then a realization managed to pierce through the wall of the rotten brain title and dawned on him. "Yeah, you didn''t... haa... but none other than little miss heroine was just talking about it with Shanks over the drink." "She did WHAT?! We need to get her here immediately!" At Cranberry''s words, Zombie wanted to jump out of the bed immediately, but the red-haired girl stopped him. "Cranberry...?" The blue undead nced disapprovingly at the hand pushing him down into the mattress. "Give it a rest for today. Mary passed out dead drunk, we won''t get her to say anything. Also, it sounded like she knows the details about this whole game - but the way she described her memories about it ispletely different than how you exined it. It''s like she was just shown particr memories instead of experiencing it all herself..." "Huh? What does that mean? The viiness voiced her concern and tightly wrapped herself around her confused corpse puppet. "I''m notpletely sure just yet, but I have a really bad feeling about it..." She added looking up into Zombie''s eyes. Chapter 260: Wraths territory (8)

Chapter 260: Wraths territory (8)

"Haa... well, there will be a few things that I want to exin to you all." Right at the beginning of the breakfast at the King''s Apple, Cranberry sighed over her te and looked at the people and monsters gathered by the table. "I want you to have a look at something. I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts about it. Honestly, I''m at a loss whether it''s trustworthy or not - maybe you will be able to figure out the obstructed parts..." She sighed and pulled out the sketchbook that Zombie ''borrowed'' from the Sloth soldiers a while back, opened it at the right page, and pushed it to the middle of the table. Road to rule In the world abandoned by its creator, the )((*&X%^X%ve usurped the power fr--)(**&X&X(*X^XX&*?"<{[emailprotected]#$<>"}| the righteous ones. ^$%#% Heretic, )*((*^%X%^&XXXX%X": world. Erase the [emailprotected]#$%^~#$ titles? )(*&*(^%: im the power of XX)(*^[emailprotected]#$%X for yourself, to lead %^X^*&X. Win(?) condition: Erase the title of the avatar of pride pleted) Erase the title of the avatar of greed Erase the title of the avatar of lust Erase the title of the avatar of envy pleted) Erase the title of the avatar of gluttony Erase the title of the avatar of wrath Erase the title of the avatar of sloth (exception grantedpleted) [emailprotected]: receive all of the administrator''s privileges "...Youngdy, please don''t get angry for what I''m about to ask but... How fucking drunk were you when you wrote this...?" Lairs asked after staring at the barely legible text written neatly on the page. "...!" At her words, Cranberry flinched and hurriedly took back the sketchbook. "Youngdy, is that the quest you are following...?" Shanks asked cautiously. "Forget about it. I shouldn''t have shown you it anyway." The red-haired girl looked away and hurriedly torn off the page and hid it in her armor after crumpling it. "Let''s talk about something else. Zombie,e up with something, please." She added, picking up the fork and started shoveling the food in her mouth. "So, Makao, about the otome game that you remember...." Zombie leaned away from the eating red-haired girl and focused on the hangover heroine who returned to suffering a headache over a tall ss of homebrew medicine for that exact illness. "Wh-wha...?!" *thump* The brown-haired girl got so surprised that she slipped and fell from her chair, smacking her but on the cracked hardwood floor. "...uuugh...! No, wait! What did you just say?!" Mary groaned, massaging her back but then she flinched and jumped back up ignoring nausea. "...Zombie..." Cranberry put down the fork and sighed. "I want to talk about the otome game that you remember." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and exined. "From everything happening so far, it''s clear that it isn''t just a normal visual novel. With the quests, monsters, and level-ups it must have been some action RPG or a turn-based RPG- otome game hybrid. Was it some big studio project or just a niche one-off? No, wait, that doesn''t actually matter, does it? Never mind thatst one." The blue undead went off on his own but also stopped himself when he started straying from the actually important details. "Now, since there are so many monsters, does that mean there are bosses too? What are they? Where will they spawn? And when will they spawn?" He ended up asking while pping his hands together with each question he asked. "Bo-bosses...? What are you...?" Mary flinched and fidgeted in confusion. "No bosses? Odd. Alright, maybe it''s not that heavy on the battles... alright, main story points? Those otome games have something like a condemnation event where the viiness is punished for all the shit she did to the heroine, right? Because that is what is really important. My Cranberry is worried sick about the danger even despite our strength you know? Help me calm her down." Zombie demanded with a serious expression, staring intently at thepletely confused heroine. "Zombie... this is the first time I''ve heard about anything like condemnation event for the viiness... Why haven''t you started with saying that such things exist in the first ce...?" Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white and she made an expression as if her stomach suddenly cramped. "...! Wasn''t that the reason you were worried...?!" The blue undead gasped in disbelief. "...the bad feeling that I mentioned was about the way Mary has experienced this so-called game, not the about the game or the events themselves...!" Cranberry cried out in panic and started massaged her forehead. "Oh." Zombie spoke up and nodded with a remorseful expression "Sorry to burst your bubble but I have no idea what a condemnation event is... And how do the two of you know about my dreams in the first ce?!" Mary backed off and asked, clenching her hands together. "...you told us... Yesterday you got dead drunk and told us everything when we went and brought your drunken butts back to your rooms." "...?!" The blue undead flinched and stared at his master, failing to realize why was she lying, but thankfully Mary was too busy being shocked herself to notice that. "Wait, I did?!" Mary grabbed her head in confusion and disbelief. "If not then howe I know about it?" Cranberry shrugged her shoulders, but at the same time, she was desperately clenching Zombie''s hand in urgent need of mental support. "..." Mary calmed down a bit and got back on her seat and then down the entire hangover drink in one go. "That''s what I get for drinking way over my limit..." She sighed and slowly looked up at the master-servant pair. "My dreams and the game inside of them is one thing, but then do you care to exin all of the questions you''ve asked me? I certainly didn''t mention anything like bosses and arpeegee." She asked, furrowing her brows and squinting her eyes at the blue undead. "That''s because in my past life I lived in the world where those games exist and are a hobby or just a way to pass time for many people." Zombie revealed without a single bit of hesitation and looked down at the wide-eyed girl. Chapter 261: Wraths territory (9)

Chapter 261: Wraths territory (9)

"But more importantly - the condemnation event - it''s an event where the viiness''s sins are brought up and she is getting stripped down of her power and position. Anything like that rings a bell for you?" The blue undead hugged the red-haired girl reassuringly and asked the brown-heroine on the opposite side of the table. "There... there was something, I guess... Prince Roan was rejecting to dance with his fiance and that caused her to shouting and making a scene that cost her her position - but you need to remember that in my dreams Cranberry wasn''t the viiness!" Mary exined after a short pause, looking between Zombie and Cranberry. "Well, then... that shouldn''t be too bad then. If that event even happens with me in ce of the original viiness, I''ll wee the rejection, I never wanted to be wed in the first ce." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders, actually reassured. "With Zombie''s questions out of the way. Mary, the way you described how you''ve experienced..." "Stop right there Cranberry! We''re definitely not over with talking about Zombie!" The viiness started asking but the heroine stood up vigorously and mmed her hands on the table. "...ha...?" Cranberry backed off and pushed into Zombie''s torso, staring at the agitated Mary. "Zombie! You just said that you are the reincarnated person, right?! Then that means that you must know my support character - Caramel - she''s a reincarnated person too!" "..." Zombie blinked a few times in utter confusion staring at the brown-haired girl as if he suddenly forgot how to speak. "Right? She went on and on about trying to save her beloved person who got thrown into this world as a hostage so that she...! AH! HOSTAGE! that light-freak had literally said that about you too! How could I be so dumb and not connect that?!" Mary gasped in excitement and then gasped a second time in shock as she realized what she was missing. "Did you just said that Caramel is a reincarnated person too?" Zombie shook his head in disbelief and asked. "Yes! Yes, she is! Oh! Do you already know her by any cha...?" "She was my sister when I was still alive in this world." "...!" Their exchange caused everyone to pull back in shock. "One question... Mary..." Cranberry asked, slowly closing her hand into a fist, surrounded by a dreadfully dangerous aura. "Y-yes?" The brown-haired girl blinked a few times and asked cowering fearfully unable to understand what did she do to anger the red-haired girl to that extent. "Haa... Is that Caramel a light brown-haired girl that used to call herself your guardian...?" Cranberry slowly breathed out and asked, without opening her eyes. "Eh? Y-yes, but how did you know?" Mary nodded and... *WHAM* *CRUSH* "!!!!!!!" Cranberry suddenly clenched her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white and immediately smashed their table into nothing but dust showing an enormous amount of precision and self-control despite being clearly unhinged by something. "...I knew I should have killed thatmoner wench the moment I saw her...! Then she must have done that...! And it must have been because of her that...! It must have been her all along...!" Cranberry growled, baring her teeth as if she truly went feral, making everyone else freeze in ce in fear. "Zombie! We''re going straight to the avatar of wrath! Now! We''ve wasted enough time already, and we need to start experimenting!" Shemanded and jumped up at her feet, spraying the dusty remains of the table all around. "...O-okay...?" The blue undead was stillpletely confused about this whole development, but he wasn''t going to leave the red-haired girl when she was acting like that. "Wh-wait! What do you mean?! What does Caramel has to do with anything?!" Mary called out after the leaving pair. "My sister''s hidden affinity is influencing other people''s dreams - Dream giver - you can figure out the rest I guess." "...!" Zombie turned around and answered her with a cloudy expression. No matter what, that information shouldn''t have caused Cranberry topletely lose it as she did... Even the blue undead with thought process partially blocked by the rotten brain skill managed to connect the dots and figure out that his master must have not told him everything about what was bothering her - and clearly, it must have been something big... As he thought that, the red-haired girl was already by the door. "Ah, isn''t that youngdy Cranberry!" Yet the moment that she opened said door, a tall older man in splendid full armor showed up blocking her way with a jovial smile. "Youngdy, my name is Apple Zest and Ie to you on behalf of her majesty, the queen Mi..." *BOOOOOM* Without even letting the gentleman finish his sentence, Cranberry outstretched her hand and pushed him out of her way -pletely tearing apart the expensive armor and sending the man flying, crushing, and destroying what must have been the most expensive carriage in the entire kingdom. "I have more pressing matters at hand than dealing with some greedy schemes! Tell her I''ll get to her when I''ll see fit!" The red-haired girl scoffed at the brutalized but somehow still alive man twitching amongst the broken remains of the carriage, before turning right and rushing up the street. "I can carry you to the Wraths mansion in less than a second, you know?" The blue undead pointed out carefully. "I know...! I... Haa... I just need some time to cool my head down! This whole situation has turned out to be even worse than I ever anticipated!" The red-haired girl shook her head and exined with an angry scowl. "What about the white-haired rabbit. Aren''t we going to take him with us?" Zombie epted the answer without prying about more details and asked, following right after the agitated girl. "To hell with him!" "..." Cranberry''s short, furious answer certainly didn''t ease Zombie''s worries about her behavior. "You don''t have to carry all the burden by yourself you know?" "If I won''t be able to handle that much - I will prove that I am exactly that kind of failure that both my mother and Patience dered me to be!" He spoke reassuringly, but his words met with a desperate answer spat through the gritted teeth of the viiness. Chapter 262: Wraths territory (10)

Chapter 262: Wraths territory (10)

Although simr in size to the Envys mansion, the Wraths mansion was built in the very center of the city, with manymercial and entertainment districts surrounding it from every side. ...or rather, themercial and entertainment districts WERE surrounding it from every side. Howe there was such a sudden change? Well... --- "It''s so damn annoying! She might know every major event and plot point that would happen! Still, there should be still hope for us!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and turned to Zombie. "She knows what happened in the game, but weren''t we changing the story basically from the very moment that we met? I clearly remember multiple messages showing up to inform us that the story is adjusting to the changes we''ve caused!" The red-haired girl smiled triumphantly grabbing onto the blue undead''s arm. "And I am not the viiness she knows about! I was originally supposed to be the backstory character who should have died long ago! There literally shouldn''t be anything she could use against me!" She dered feverishly. But she was faking that excitement. She was clinging to Zombie''s left arm with her whole body - and she was trembling from fear. The blue undead had seen her like that only once before - when he almost killed a frenzy rabbit and risked gaining a level, the little red-haired girl almost lost her mind from fear about what her mother would do to her if she disgraced her family with breaking the rules of the high society and arrive at her first kill party with a level higher then 1. Butdy Raspberry, Cranberry''s mother, was long dead - so seeing the red-haired like that again was many times more shocking than back then. There still was the other thing. A small detail. Back then Cranberry didn''t trust him, she thought that the blue undead was secretly on her mother''s side - that''s why it wasn''t strange for her to keep him in the dark. ...but then why was she acting like that again...? "Cranberry. Please, don''t act like that. I will kill everyone that may harm you. You can trust me. Tell me what bothers you - with this rotten brain of mine I am unable to figureplicated things on my own...!" He spoke, gently touching her face as they walked. "No. No killing. You''ve heard what Patience has told me...! Misced violence made me lose my chance...! Now my option is toplete the road to rule quest and get the reward...! It''s not about the trust!" "...But I won''t understand a thing unless you exin it to me..." She shook her head and denied his request, causing the blue undead to lower his head and sigh. "Hey, let''s do the sense link skill. I have a feeling you''ll like whates next." Cranberry grabbed onto his sleeve and pull on it, suddenly making a cutesy expression. "...don''t force yourself like that. I will help you no matter what." Zombie lowered his head with a sorrowful expression and put his right arm on the girl''s back. And as his eyes begun glowing red - so did hers! "As I thought." Cranberry looked around with a smirk. "Not a single child or weak adult in sight - Ti really did go straight to the avatar of wrath and snitched on us." "...!" She didn''t bother to lower her voice, so a few of the so-called innocent passerby''s that were in truth the highly skilled members of the Wrath family flinched in shock realizing that their cover was blown. "Didn''t you said that we should not kill anyone? Why did you get their attention?!" Zombie furrowed his brows and asked. "Zombie, they are here for us, it would be rude not to treat them seriously... And I am not going to kill them... Though they would probably prefer that I did after I''m done." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and raised her baseball bat. "!!!!!!!!" She chose a skill and her body began glowing, but it didn''t look like she was going to swing with her weapon which caused a small confusion amongst the Wraths. No. She was winding up for a throw...! "All the fools who stand in my way! See what such stupidity is rewarded in kind!" She shouted and threw her weapon, aiming it straight at the Wrath''s mansion down the street. *BOOOOOOM* *¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À¡À* The sound, shockingly simr to a jet engine from Zombie''s old world, followed the flying bat. This makeshift missile ended up creating a sonic boom by breaking the sound barrier and caused every single Wrath in its path to be sted away - some even went as far as to smash into and destroy parts of the buildings that they have mmed against with their bodies. *BOOOOOOOOOOOM* ...not to mention the explosion that the actual missile has caused once it hit and blown apart more than a half of the Wraths mansion. "Haa... That made me feel a tiny bit better..." Cranberry exhaled and smirked, straightening her back. "As long as it helps you." Zombie nodded with a worried expression, carefully observing the red-haired girl. "..." Even though she said that she was feeling better, she didn''t rx her clenched fists even for a single second... "As long as it helps..." The blue undead repeated his words and waved his right hand - which extended into a ck and red whip and shooter right at the destroyed building. *whoooosh* After a second or two, Zombie pulled on his arm and it came right back - wrapped aground the steaming baseball bat! "Here. Throw it as many times as you''ll need. Just stop forcing herself to act like that." The proudest corpse shrugged his shoulders and offered the baseball bat back to the viiness. "...no, that would be a waste of time anyway.... and I am not forcing myself to do anything - besides focusing on countering any ns that that reincarnated menace could havee up with!" Cranberry picked the offered baseball bat, rested it on her shoulder, and started walking the destroyed road. "...that''s a lie..." Zombie sighed, shook his head, and followed after her. ... ... "...?" Inside the clothing shop, the light brown-haired girl flinched and looked toward the window with a concerned expression. "Mika...! Hey, Mika!" A cute white-haired young child tugged on her sleeve, ran by her - straight to the short ashen-haired girl "I don''t like these clothes, they are weird to move in...!" The childined in a small voice. The clothes that they were talking about were just elegant shorts, a white shirt, and a vest, but the childined as if they were a full suit of armor or something. "...what is this bad feeling...?" Caramel didn''t even look their way and just muttered to herself while continuing to stare at the window with a confused face. "Mika...! Could you do something about them, please...?" The white-haired child fidgeted cutely and pulled on the girl''s arm, making her almost lose her bnce. "Radiance~ you have to be brave! I''m sure you''ll get used to wearing clothes in no time! I believe in you! Because you remember, right? We all need those fancy clothes to not stand out at the ball. If you want, you can try out a dress like mine - I''m sure you would look very cute!" The ashen-haired girl smiled at the child and patted their head, and then she twirled around showing off her red ballroom dress. "...I know... okay... I''ll bear with it because you told me to. But my back feels weird." Radianceined, spreading their arms and turning around to show the bumps around their shoulder des. "Miss Caramel, can''t we cut holes for Radiance''s wings? Having them stuffed like that must be really uofortable." Mika looked up at the absentminded light brown-haired girl and asked. "No. Aside from you, we all need to blend in and stay hidden since none of us should be there - especially Radiance - a child with tiny angel wings would cause an uproar and that''s thest thing we need... We have to y along with the existing events - and the ball event doesn''t include a huge battle or a panic caused by a monster... The thing we have nned is already pushing it, but as long as we get rid of the viiness, it should all be fine." Caramel exined and then nced at the white-haired child and shook her head. "Don''t be such a wuss, even in that form you''re plenty strong, the clothes definitely aren''t that bad. The others don''tin! Not even Nomannic!" She added, pointing at the tall dark-skinned beauty in a stylish ck dress checking herself out in the mirror. "I agree with Radiance though, clothes are a bother." But instead of backing Caramel up, Nomannic sighed and pulled on the fabric with a sour expression. Chapter 263: [Bonus Chapter] Zombies day off [volume ???]

Chapter 263: [Bonus Chapter] Zombie''s day off [volume ???]

Once upon a time, in a different future or maybe some random past... "Say, Zombie. Don''t you think that we spend too much time together?" The red-haired viiness, Cranberry put down her book and looked up at the blue-skinned corpse puppet whosep she was using as afortable cooling chair. "No." Zombie''s answer was instantaneous and definite. "...ha... me neither actually... well, but you know, if we''re with each other twenty-four hours a day, every day. Won''t we eventually get tired of each other?" The red-haired girl continued even after the initial response. "Cranberry, you have literally told me somethingpletely opposite many times already. What got into you all of a sudden?" Zombie furrowed his brows and tilted his head in utter confusion, staring at the red-haired girl. "...you must promise me that you won''tugh at me first..." Cranberry suddenly blushed and looked away in embarrassment. "Sure...?" ...causing even more confusion to her undeadpanion, who still ended up agreeing nheless. "Alright, so... haa... the thing is I''ve read in this book that sometimes the distance can strengthen a good rtionship, and that we start appreciating each other more if we spend some time apart and I kind of want to try that out..." Cranberry fidgetted innocently on Zombie''sp and mumbled out without raising her head, too bashful to check for Zombie''s reaction. "...I''ll need to have a talk with ymore, they''ve been feeding you some really cheezy romance novels... but yeah sure let''s try this." The blue undead ended up sighing and shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "No, they were not...!" The girl denied, hurriedly covering the title of her cheezy romance novel with both hands. "Oh, and that reminds me - didn''t Martin invite you and ymore for a day out in the city?" Zombie suddenly remembered and asked. "Yes, she did... but could you stop calling her by different names at least while she''s not around? What''s the point of teasing someone who''s not there?" Cranberry nodded and asked with a cloudy expression. "Nah, no way - I''ll get used to calling her Mary and slip out once we actually meet and the whole joke will be ruined - she''s seriously convinced that I can''t remember her name, let''s not ruin the magic for her." The blue undead shook his head vigorously and waved his hand dismissively. "...haa... you act like such a kid sometimes..." Cranberry sighed and shook her head with a soft smile. "Alright. Mary said that if I''ll be up for some shopping, she will be waiting by the side Respite until ten o''clock - since I''m going after all, I''ll better get ready." Sheughed and jumped off of Zombie''sp and hurried to the closet by the other side of their bedroom. After some time, she was standing by the door ready to leave and was looking expectantly at the blue undead. "Khahaha." Zombie giggled, stood up from his seat, and approached her. "Have fun." *peck* He leaned down and kissed the girl''s cheek. "I will, I will - I''m only worried about you. Can you even find something to do while I''ll be gone?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and tilted her head. "Hey, don''t get too cocky, why wouldn''t I find something to do in those few hours?" *poke* "Nnn...!" Zombie snorted and poked at Cranberry''s forehead, causing the girl to let out a cute sound. "Ha ha! Enjoy your day off! See you in the afternoon!" Cranberryughed back, hugged him quickly, and then walked out after waving at him before closing the door. Zombie waved back and after the door closed, he straightened his back and breathed in. "Well then. A day off, huh... that gives me a lot of opportunities to do all the things I..." ... ... "...''m so booooooooooooooooooooooooooored...!" One and a half hourster the blue undead pushed his face into a blue griffin''s soft feathers and let out a pained cry. --- "Umm, Ro, don''t you think that we should go and ask him what''s wrong...?" Cherry, a man who had cheerfulness and kindheartedness written all over his face, froze with the hammer raised above his head ready to strike the red hot iron, as he looked at the undead in anguish. "He''s been petting Blueberry for over an hour and now he started screaming into her fluffy wings..." He added with a worried face while checking if the intricate silver and gold wedding ring he was wearing as a pendant attached to the thin metal chain was still in ce. "Hmm...?" Rotte, a muscr man slightly on the clubbing side, poked his head from inside the smithy and had a look for himself. "Mmmh. No, he will be fine. He has his monsters." Rotte shook his head causing the intricate silver and gold wedding ring to shake on the thin metal chain it was attached to. --- "Skwee...! (Daddy, don''t be sad!)" The blue emperor griffin Blueberry hooved and screeched trying to cheer the blue undead up. "(Master, we could always go for a flight, that usually cheers you up.)" Baron''s bellowing voice resounded in Zombie''s and Blueberry''s heads. "...you know what...? That doesn''t sound half bad. Let''s go, you two." Zombie nodded with a smile and nimbly jumped on top of his ride. --- Two shadows passed the group of ying children, getting their attention instantly. "Ah! It''s mister Baron and Blueberry!" One of the older kids jumped up with joy and within instantly the whole group was waving and happily screaming towards two shapes, one blue and one red, soaring high in the sky. "Hey, hey you all, watch your steps or you''ll fu... ehem... or you''ll fall over." The ck-haired elf, Lairs, who was making sure that all the children were safe, hurriedly warned them - carefully to not let any curse word slip. "Rx, they''ll be fine." The copper-eyed Tiughed and waved her hand dismissively while passing by with a big bag of groceries in her arms. "Kiddos, there''s going to be a stew for dinner!" She turned to the children and dered. "Eeeh...?! Ti''s stew...?! Can''t Mrs. Lairs make us something else? Please?" "Oi!" The children cried out causing the woman to blush. --- The flight was rather uneventful, the view was gorgeous but Zombie felt that it would be much better if he could''ve seen it together with Cranberry. He jumped down from Baron and patted his massive side. But then, all of a sudden. *hug* He felt familiar arms locking him into an embrace. "Hey there, Cranberry. Weren''t you supposed to be away all-day?" Zombie asked, looking back and seeing the red-haired viiness nuzzling her face against his back. "...half day''s worth of separation was more than enough... I missed you..." She confessed while hiding her blushing face. "And I missed you too. Next time let''s just go somewhere together." Zombie breathed out in relief and hugged her back. Chapter 264: Wraths territory (11)

Chapter 264: Wraths territory (11)

The red-haired viiness and the blue-skinned capture target were standing amidst the destroyed mansion. "..." Cranberry nodded at her undead, and the blue monster reached down into the debris and pulled out a middle-aged terribly sickly-looking ashen-haired man by the scruff of his clothes. "...haa... there''s something about him that bothers me..." She shuddered and stiffened looking at the unconscious man. "His life signature looks very simr to how your mother''s was. Most likely he has the same illness she did." "...ha...?" Zombie lighthearted answer caused Cranberry''s jaw to drop. "What? Is it that surprising?" The blue undead raised his brow at the girl''s reaction and lightly shook the avatar of wrath in his grasp. "..." The red-haired girl furrowed her brows and put her fist to her mouth. "...mother... why does she have to haunt me even now...? Haa..." She shook her head and sighed. "...?" Zombie raised his brow and tilted his head to get a better look at the muttering girl, but she turned around, set on ignoring him. "Anyway... I really want to try whether or not it is possible to erase the title alone without harming the one who possesses it before we confront ymore - if possible, I would prefer to left them alive - but the number of potential tests subjects seems to go lower and lower... I mean, this one here doesn''t have superbia skill to boost all his defenses and resistances like my mother did, so he must be way worse off than she was." The red-haired viiness groaned and tilted her head struggling to keep up an indifferent expression. "But you can try, right? You don''t want to kill your pen-friend - it''s okay to say it. No one will shout at you for doing that." Zombie calmly reassured her with a soft smile. "..." Cranberry furrowed her brows even harder and gritted her teeth so hard that they''ve made an unpleasant sound. "...I don''t know what you are talking about, but I don''t expect you to understand my worries. You don''t mind people dying even with your free will back in order. You are unable toprehend why I am so scar-ugh! ... so annoyed about!" She shook her head and bit her tongue the moment she made a blunder and spoke about her real feelings. "You aren''t wrong about me not caring about the death of some living trash. But you are the one I do care about. This guy isn''t the only avatar left that we can test things out, remember?" Zombie flinched exined with a slightly annoyed expression. "You are wrong about that. We''re only left with two others. To get the queen and not kill her immediately upon picking her up, you would have to limit your speed and that would open you up for potential attacks and with your leveled up superbia... well, you know what would happen to anyone who would go against you." She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white and ended up shaking his head with disappointment. "S-still! For the queen, we will just have to find a chance for getting a private audience or something...! Same goes for that gluttonydy!" The blue undead was desperately using every avable brain cell not affected by the rotten brain title toe up with something - anything - that would help the red-haired girl to get some peace. "Haa... yeah... sure..." But she only ended up crossing her arms and looking to the side with a sour expression. "Tsk! It really would be best if he was healthy enough to receive at least a few practice hits..." She suddenly clicked her tongue in annoyance at the unconscious avatar of wrath. "Oh. Then I can always try this." Zombie brightened out happy that there is something that he can do and put his index and middle fingers of his left hand to his lips and pulled them away - as he did, a thin trail of dark red smoke followed them, and with that the blue undead touched the avatar of wrath''s forehead, connecting himself with him. "HA?!" Cranberry''s eyes almost bulged out from their eye sockets at the never witnessed before sight. "..." The dark red smoke suddenly expanded and encased the unconscious man like a chrysalis. As for the unperturbed undead, he simply waited for around five seconds and then simply sucked back all the dark red smoke as if it was nothing. "...!" As he did, he ended up experiencing some odd sensation - his insides suddenly felt as if they turned into mush, and if he could feel the pain he would undoubtedly be writhing in agony on the ground, screaming his lungs out. But he couldn''t, so he wasn''t. Instead, a familiar message popped up for him and his master. /Warning /Servant became damaged /Servant has insufficient mana to heal /Permission to use Master''s mana required "Oh, hey look! That''s something we haven''t seen in a while!" *sluuuush* Zombieughed staring at the window taking up his vision as he swayed his hips from side to side as his broken intestines sloshed inside of his torso with an unnerving and extremely disgusting sound. "It must have been some actually scary disease if my own mana is not enough to heal the damages it caused, right?" He added, raising the man in his grasp a bit higher to look at his now surprisingly healthy face. "Stop there for a second, Zombie! What was that?! That skill you just used?!" *thump* Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white and she took a step towards the blue undead with enough force to cause a small tremor to reverberate through the city. "Huh? What skill...? Damage absorption of course, what else?" Zombie raised his brow and waved his left hand in confusion. "If you could do it like that then why did you went ahead and kissed everyone before?! Did you lie to me?!" *thump* Cranberry got even more agitated and took another earthquake-inducing step. *plop* "Everyone...? Oh, for the love of...! You are still jealous over that?!" Zombie dropped the unconscious avatar of wrath and approached the angry red-haired girl, shaking his head with disbelief. "Well, maybe I am! After all, if you could do it like that, why did you chose to kiss them instead?!" Cranberry wasn''t going to back off and pointed at Zombie''s face with the usation. "Because I didn''t know I could do it like that! I''ve only discovered it through practice just the other night!" "What practice?! You''ve been with me the whole time, who did you prac...! Ah...!" Cranberry instantly inquired about his exnation but just as fast did she realized the answer, which made her blush so hard that her face''s color began resembling her hair''s color. "I''ll give you a hint - you waking up so refreshed today wasn''t because of the fluffy bed." The blue undead spread his arms open and frowned - as if readying himself for continuing the quarrel,pletely missing the fact that he had already won. "B-but...! D-does that mean that when I''ve told you that you can practice that skill with me anytime you want, you actually were interested? But you looked so indifferent back then! You should have told me sooner...! If it''s with me, you can do anything you want!" "...? Huh...? Okay...?" Cranberry''s act did aplete one-eighty degree turn and she suddenly transformed from the unhinged goddess of ire right into a flirty maiden as she fidgeted bashfully in front of the extremely confused undead. "...ugh...? H-huh...? Why am I...?!" Suddenly, lord Pomegranate Wrath, the healed avatar of wrath groaned, and slowly got up, making a bewildered face. "Tsk! ...haa... back to that I guess...!" Cranberry''s joyful expression disappeared in an instant as she nced at the now conscious man and she clenched her hands with a bitter expression. Chapter 265: [Bonus Chapter] Caramel...? No, someone who she was before...

Chapter 265: [Bonus Chapter] Caramel...? No, someone who she was before...

Before Zombie was brought to the world of an otome game that he didn''t know, there was a girl who was obsessed with both the game and him... ¡­ ¡­... "...found you~..." The girl giggled observing a certain boy... ...with her binocrs... ...from the top of the high-rise apartment building two blocks away... The boy might have deleted his social media ounts, moved to another part of the country, change schools, and change his looks, but honestly, that didn''t work at all! After all, true love knows no bounds! To hell with the restraining order! It was a bit hard to get the information necessary to localize him, but with enough money, everything is readily avable for those who know where to look... Even the GPS tracker that was revealing her exact location to the assigned monitoring person waspletely tricked within a week after she was forced to wear it. Even now it showed her location to be her house - many hundreds of miles away - instead of the top of the building. "...ah~ he''s still limping, his legs must have not healed up properly, I must have gone too hard on him... My sweet poor thing, this time I will be more careful~" The girlughed to herself from behind the expensive military-grade binocrs, focusing on the boy down below. "...fufufufu~..." She giggled while enjoying herself. "...hey, hey, are you trying to walk so fast because of the new game that you are ying...? I''m ying it too, you know? Once I''ll get you, we will be able to do whatever you want~ I promise that I will not leave you tied up and lock in some stinking old basement - this time I have everything nned out... I''ve been studying you see, I know what boy''s like!" Without taking her eyes off of her unaware victim, the girl reached out and took out a handheld game console that sprung to life with a push of a button - showing a locked screen with the icon of the currently paused game in the middle together with the title - Breath of Romance - Story of magic and sword. "It''s really useful, you know? I never expected that I need to raise your affection level before making a move~" She hummed happily but then her expression soured. "It must have been so weird to be approached so suddenly, and then electrocuted! You must think that I''m such a weird girl! Oh my... I''ll have to clear up so many misunderstandings!" She sighed and shook her head in embarrassment. "Ah! You stopped to buy a snack! if nothing changed then it should take you at least five minutes to decide on the snacks! I''ll be able to set things up!" The girl gasped in awe and sprung up, she hurriedly pushed both the game console and the binocrs into the duffel bag by her side and rushed towards the fire stairs on the side of the building after she hung it over her shoulder. She made sure to protect her face while running down - even though she checked beforehand whether there were any security cameras nearby - which there weren''t - it was always better to be safe than sorry. After all, the police found where she kept her beloved exactly because she wasn''t careful enoughst time... ...and the girl was someone who never made the same mistake twice... After less than a minute on full-on sprint down the fire stairs - which honestly had to be some record - she ended up in a dark gross alleyway in the back of the apartment. *wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* someone was riding on a motorcycle nearby because the sound of the revving engine was much more clear than any of the noises from the main street. "..." The girl nced back, but she saw no one. Satisfied, she rushed towards the main road, she had at least a few minutes until the boy will leave the shop but she didn''t want to waste even a single one - there was a perfect spot for an ambush a few blocks before the boy''s home- a nice unguarded construction site with no camera but a few signs that would keep the pedestrians away- but it was almost impossible to set prepare a few hours earlier because of the workers... "...fufufufu~ everything y''s out perfectly for me, that means we must be destined together after all~" The girl giggled checking the time - while she was checking out the ce she learned that the workers would end their day early - with howte it was already, she was sure that no one should be there. What a perfect series of coincidences! She hummed, and... *WRRRRRRRRRRRRR* "EH?!" A way too loud sound of the engine has rmed the girl - she turned around just to see an unmanned motorbike flying straight at her! "GHAH!" *CRUSH* She gasped and rolled out of the way at the veryst second - dodging the motorbike that ended up wheels-up on the pile of neatly stack trashbags. "OI! WATCH IT, YOU DAMN FOOL!" The girl shouted furiously back towards the alley... ...an empty alley... "HMPH!" She shook her head and rushed between the crowd of people going about their own business. "...what a dork... what with those reckless motorcyclists these days... It''s like the seventh time I was almost run over!" The girl scoffed to herself and focused back on her primary target - she hurriedly checked whether the new modified stun gun was readily avable and fully charged before cutting through the traffic just to gain another bit of time... *WRRRRRRRRRRRR* "WHAT THE...?!" Which almost cost her her life as some idiot doing the wheelies on his motorbike almost crashed into her! "Tsk! What if he saw me...?!" The girl clicked her tongue and hurriedly ran away without pursuing the matter, worried about her beloved spotting her and calling the police... That would be the worst...! after few minutes of intense run, the girl finally reached the spot and... It was a jackpot - literally, no one was around! She hurriedly walked past all the warning signs and put her bag away. Before she took out the stun gun, she grabbed the burner phone and made sure that the high-quality kitten noises were still loaded up - as well as whether the extremely shady taxi''s service number was safely stored in the phone''s memory. Her n wasn''t perfect, but it didn''t have to be... The boy she was targeting had a huge soft spot for animals - as long as he heard meowing of small kittensing from the construction site, he would get worried and definitely checked up whether the little things weren''t in danger - then the girl would knock him out with the stun gun, and call for the taxi and pose as a friend of the boy who ''suddenly copsed'' or something - their drivers never asked questions anyway, that''s why they were very expensive but how could the girl be stingy with money when it came to reuniting with her beloved. *WRRRRR-* "ARGH! SCREW THIS! I''VE BEEN ON THIS STUPID MISSION THE WHOLE WEEK! JUST DIE AND GET YOUR SOUL TRANSFERRED ALREADY YOU PSYCHOTIC STALKER BITCH!" A sudden noise of the motorcycle''s engine got interrupted by the loud scream of a furious woman. "EH?! WHO''S...?!" The girl gasped, hurriedly hiding the stun gun behind her back and facing the voice''s owner... "...there...?" ...just to be faced with the rear wheel of the motorcycle flying right at her face! *SPLAT* The girl''s body fell onto the ground, her heels dug into the ground for a few seconds before stopping forever... "Whew... that was tough... so Kawasakiko didn''t lie that some humans can give us so much trouble... that said... her story about actually fighting with a human still sounds way too farfetched, damned delusional ninja wannabe..." The unmanned motorbike sighed and slowly backed off from the bloody body. "Time to go report to the impatient clinent~ tehehe, I will surely get a nice bonus for the difficult job~!" The motorbike giggled to herself before disappearing into a sh of light... "Huh...?!" ...just to appear a few feet away - right above the boy hurriedly walking back home, excited to y his game... *SPLAT* "NOOOO! No, no, no! The blood! The brain...! MY BONUS...!" The bike cried out after falling and crushing the innocent boy''s head - and didn''t even realized that the malfunction in her teleportation was caused on purpose by the very client she got the girl''s soul for. Chapter 266: Wraths territory (12)

Chapter 266: Wraths territory (12)

"What is going on here...? What happened here?! Wh-why do I...? Why do I feel like I''m back to normal?!" Lord Pomegranate Wrath shook his head, looking around the devastated mansion and part of the city before ncing down at his own body. "Did it really work?" Cranberry tapped Zombie''s chest and asked him while motioning at the confused middle-aged man with her chin. "It sure looks like it did, his life signature got a lot stronger - still weak though, if youpare him to us that is." The blue undead nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Good enough for me. Say..." She nodded back but then furrowed her brows. "If you can heal him like that, maybe I don''t need to hold back as much as I thought...?" She added and a tiny relieved smile showed up on her face. "Haa. I actually had nned out how to get around trying doing something so outrageous as erasing a title when we were going for the avatar of sloth, but it all gone to hell once it turned out to be that wretched creature all along...!" The red-haired girl''s good mood disappeared almost as fast as it surfaced and she scoffed before walking towards the nobleman still too confused to be aware of the danger. --- "How is that possible...? What... who did this...?" Lord Pomegranate Wrath shook his head while clenching and unclenching his fists, not even trying to get up. It felt like the sickness that had been gnawing on his life for so many years waspletely removed and he was reverted back to his prime - but who and why did that? As far as he was aware, there was no cure for the disease, and the only other person beside him who suffered the same fate -dy Raspberry Pride - was murdered almost four years prior before any real breakthrough could be achieved. Still, it wasn''t like anything changed since her death. For many years already, the only thing that could alleviate some of the symptoms were the scarce special story quests that popped up for lord Pomegranate seemingly without any schedule or pattern. The most recent example was the quest telling him to assure the meeting between a certain group of people with unique roles - including his very own daughter - in exchange for the additional full year to live. ...but going along with it was a mistake... The quest only mentioned a year of life, not a year of a healthy life - in a few short days beforehand, lord Wrath had experienced death multiple times but each time a message -soul transfer disabled, attempting revival- would pop out and he would be forcibly reanimated by the system right back into the same sickness-devastated body. But, scarily enough, that wasn''t the only or the worst reason for regretting going along with the quest given by the system. And just as with the one mentioned before, he learned about the consequences only after the fact - or more urately, he learned about the terrible consequences from one of the people who he sent out to assure the quest''spletion. Just the previous night, Ti, one of the famous CriTiCal trio of the strongest people in the whole Wrath family - aside from lord Pomegranate himself - showed up at the mansion''s doorstep in a terrible state. The story she told to lord Wrath was a blood-chilling story that could only happen in a nightmare. Even though the avatar of wrath knew that the copper-eyed woman was a trustworthy person, he had a hard time believing most of her story. The loss of Cri and Cal was especially something that the ashen-haired man simply didn''t want to believe. Thankfully, it also looked like his daughter, Mika, was safe - she suffered many wounds, but her life wasn''t in danger. But also, there was one intriguing part - Ti told him that amidst all the hell they had to fight through together with the brave Sloth soldiers and a random group of adventurers, they managed to meet the one girl that the royal family was doing everything in their might to find. Cranberry Pride. From what Ti has told him, the red-haired girl spent all three months hiding away in the sea of mist, struggling to escape the powerful monsters inhabiting the ce just to tire out the royal investigators sent out by the queen. Yet that wasn''t the intriguing part - because what Ti seemed to be most terrified about, was that the supposedly scared girl was in their city right at that moment, and she was aiming for him, the avatar of wrath - although she seemed to be unable to exin what would be the girl''s objective in doing that in the first ce... "It''s nice to meet you, sir Pomegranate Wrath." "...!" The cold voice brought him back from the depths of his own thoughts. The very girl that the copper-eyed bodyguard has warned him about with such desperation was standing right in front of him...! "Although, for you, it might not be our first meeting but... haa..." The words, that even despite the semi-polite voice used, had so much underlining worry that it was impossible to not feel anxious...! "Since you''ve been healed by my Zombie, you don''t mind to return the favor and help us out with something very important, isn''t that right, sir Pomegranate?" The threatening aura that made every single danger detection skill go off inside the avatar of Wrath''s head before he even raised his head to have a proper look at the talking person... "I never wanted to bully someone who never wronged me, but desperate times call for desperate measures..." "...!" Her voice sounded actually sad - but the baseball bat that she had rested on her shoulder was already shining with pure-white light of some unknown skill that she had already activated - suggested rather strongly that she couldn''t have any good intentions towards the ashen-haired man. Next to the girl stood a blue-skinned corpse puppet with every bit as overwhelming aura. All corpse puppets should be soulless husks without any emotion, only able to function because of themands of their master, but there was something outrageously different about this one...! With the looks that could put the most handsome of men to shame, the only thing that this one seemed to have inmon with its soulless brethren, seemed to be the absolute hatred towards the living clearly visible in its glowing red eyes. "!!!!" Lord Pomegranate Wrath, the avatar of wrath himself - trembled and lowered his head to the young woman in front of him...! That girl...! It definitely wasn''t the Cranberry Pride that he knew! But! For whatever reason, he could tell for sure that there was some insanely heavy burden that this girl was trying to carry all by herself...! "Don''t worry. I''m sure this living understands." The blue corpse puppet reassured the red-haired girl and nced at the ashen-haired threateningly - making sure that the avatar of wrath understands that nothing good awaits him if he refuses. "Haa... you know? I actually feel envious about the naive spoiled girl that lives in the minds of people after the system reset filled their heads with false memories..." "...?!" Lord Wrath flinched at the next words spoken by Cranberry, as he had no idea what she was talking about. "Apparently you had a favorable opinion of me for some reason - haa - I will do everything I can to make things work in one go, but if something goes wrong my Zombie will heal you, so please, bear with it." "...w-wait...! What is going on? What happened to you?!" Her next words - which were basically a pitiful cry - finally made lord Wrath speak up. Unfortunately, since even the blue undead was unable to breach the walls that the viiness had build around her heart, someone like him didn''t stand a chance. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Brace yourself, sir Wrath." The red-haired viiness bit her lips and closed her eyes as she readied the baseball bat. Chapter 267: Wraths territory (end) Chapter 267 - Wraths Territory (end) *WHAAAAM* The clean hit caused a massive cloud of dust to shoot up into the sky.?? /Warning /Ultimate route active /Road to rule active /Heretic title detected /Annihtion bash skill avable /Master and servant engaged in a fight with the avatar of sin /Attack exceeds the system''s calction /Unable to calcte the damage /Error /Error /Error /Cal€¡è?¡À€%%%... /Targets title reduced Avatar of wrath (+1) ??? Avatar of wrath "On no! I got him too hard! Zombie, heal him!" Cranberry stopped half her step and trembled, staring at the broken twitching mass of flesh. "Right away, don''t worry. By the way - that message doesn''t look too good, just like your road to rule quest,..." Zombie assured her and then furrowed his brows, shaking off the dust from his shoulders before he crouched, but the index and middle fingers to his lips and then lead the thin trail of smoke from his mouth all the way to the forehead of the massacred man right by his feet. "Ha? Ah! R-right!" The red-haired girl gasped and nodded as if only now did she realize that multiple system messages had popped up in her vision. "It does... Oh...! I-it worked! Zombie, it worked! The level of his title got reduced and he''s still alive!" The red-haired girl gasped and a hopeful smile bloomed on her face as she lowered her ck baseball bat while the dark red smoke surrounding the avatar of wrath got sucked in by her blue undead. /Warning /Servant became damaged /Servant has insufficient mana to heal /Permission to use Master''s mana required "...ghaaaa...!" ...and soon she got the confirmation in form of both the system message and the loud gasp of freshly healed ashen-haired man. *SLUSH* "Whoa! Did you hear that? Completely broken! Maybe try hitting him a little softer next time or he might die before I''ll heal him." Zombie moved his torso around causing a plentiful of liquids inside of him to slosh as he turned towards Cranberry. "...true... do I even need to hit him in the first ce? I wonder if a tap would be enough... system, heal my Zombie." The red-haired girl nodded, furrowing her brows gave the system permission. /Permission received /Healing in progress... /Healingpleted The ck and red smoke left her body and sipped into the blue undead restoring any and all damages to his body. With that done Cranberry activated her skill again and her ck baseball bat turned white from the intense light. She then approached the avatar of wrath held up by the serious-looking blue undead and lightly touched the man''s stomach. ... But nothing happened. "Haa... well, I should have expected that it needs to be an attack after all... I will try again." The red-haired viiness sighed in disappointment and slowly raised her hand just a bit. *tap* ... Nothing. "Haa..." *bonk* /Attack exceeds the system''s calction /Unable to calcte the damage /Error /Error /Error /Cal€¡è?¡À€%%%... /Avatar of wrath ??? -erased- /Calcting... /Warning /Title of the avatar of wrath was deleted from the system database /The avatar of wrath has been %-erased-% With a soft whack that could barely be called a hit by even the most sensitive person, the attack got registered and a whole series of messages popped up. "I...I think we have our solution...! There is a way for is a toplete the quest without killing...!" Cranberry''s face lighted up and she looked at Zombie with an overjoyed smile, resting the baseball bat on her shoulder. ...but then... /Administrator entered a consolemand /Error /Adjusting the story "Aargh...! AAAAAAUUUURRRRGGGGHH!" "!!!" With the arrival of new messages, it became clear that the red-haired viiness had celebrated far too early, as lord Pomegranate Wrath suddenly spat out blood and started screaming, wing at his chest in terrible pain. "What the...?!" "Zombie, do something! HEAL HIM!" The blue undead gasped and stared at the ex-avatar''s agony and only the red-haired girl''s shout pushed him into action. "On it...!" He put his index and middle fingers to his lips and hurriedly lead the thin trail of dark red smoke to... *SPLAT* Before the blue undead could touch the man''s forehead, lord Pomegranate Wrath''s body EXPLODED into a fountain of blood and gore at their very eyes. /High-level yer defeated /Error /Administrator''s interference caused the system to be unable to grant Master the experience points /The avatar of wrath has been in /Title transfer impossible The wheels of fate continue to spin Road to rule quest progression 4/7 The new series of messages popped up after the system detected and dealt with the unwanted variable. "..." *catch* Cranberry''s eyes widened in shock and she would have fallen to her knees if not for the bloodied blue undead who hurriedly stood up and supported her. "It looks like the experiment has ended up in a failure." Zombie sighed watchfully observing the silent girl in his arms. "...y-yes..." Her voice trembled and rested her forehead against his chest. "...and it ended in the worst way possible. But it wasn''t your fault that he died...! You didn''t miscalcte the strength or anything... it was that damned Patience - he has done something! You''ve seen the messages! This is the absolute worst..." Zombie breathed out and locked the red-haired viiness into a protective embrace. "..." Cranberry said nothing, she simply clung to Zombie with all her might while her shoulders continued to tremble. "I... I don''t want to kill ymore...!" Cranberry''s weak voice barely reached Zombie''s ears. "Say... it looks like the avatars will have to die anyway... but that doesn''t mean that your friend has to too... "...wh... what do you mean...?" Zombie''s unexpected suggestion was strange enough to make Cranberry flinch - but even so, she didn''t show him her face. "We just have to transfer the title to someone else, we know it''s possible right? Why don''t we ask your father for help?" Zombie nodded and asked casually. "!!!!!!!" ...making Cranberry flinch in shock as if she was struck by thunder. "You-you''re right...! My father was the original avatar of pride of his generation, but he useddy Goji''s help and transfer the title to my mother! And when she died and the title of avatar of pride got eresed, the system didn''t do anything to him! If we do the same thing as he did and transfer ymore''s title to someone else someone without an essential role, we won''t have to worry about a thing!" She gasped, looking up at Zombie with her reddened eyes while clinging onto his shirt-turned-armor. "We were supposed to go back to our mansion anyway! Zombie! Let''s go right now!" She asked, shedding all of the weakness and hesitation she showed up just a moment ago and grabbing onto the new option as if it was a lifeline. "That''s more like it!" Zombie smiled brightly, and since he already had her in his arm, he just needed to lift her up before he could activate his skills and... *BOOOOOOOM* ..unch himself in the correct direction to the sound of the deafening explosion. --- Two of the seemingly unconscious bodyguards from the Wrath family that got knocked out by the initial attack suddenly stood up, dusting themselves off. Both of their bodies begun glowing with a faint green light and after a second their faces changedpletely. "...that was... something..." The shorter man sighed and shook his head. "Do you think that the queen would stop trying to get that girl on her side after we''ll report what had transpired here?" The taller one asked. "Are you crazy? The greed of Greed knows no bounds - the girl is strong and we basically have an idea about her weak point." The shorter one waved his hand dismissively and refuted the question. "Whew... I''m relieved that we''ve confirmed that this girl isn''t just killing everyone because she''s crazy." "Yeah, sure, she just wants to get rid of all the avatars of sin - it''s not very reassuring if you ask me..." "..." "...: The two of them went silent for a moment. "...well, we better get back and report regardless." The sorter one sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Wait. That one. It''s Ti, isn''t she?" The taller one pointed at the tinum-haired woman lying amongst the rubble of the broken mansion only a few steps away from the gory remains of the former head of the Wrath family. "Let''s take her with us before the others arrive to cover up this whole mess." "Fine, she should have some useful information." Chapter 268: [Bonus Chapter] Who did they got...?

Chapter 268: [Bonus Chapter] Who did they got...?

An androgynous short person with long red hair and piercing pale blue eyes was sitting by the edge of the cliff, looking horribly tired. Their scruffy clothes only added to the overall effect too. "Good work, Kopia we wouldn''t have got him without you." A tall dark-skinned woman with long wild ck hair dressed up in a hunter''s garb walked over and sat by them - she didn''t look even a bit tired for a change, but her clothes were ripped in a couple of risque ces. "Oh, thanks, Nommanic, you too... but also, no, you would have got him yourself, you have that glitch going on for you - and you were much faster than him. One hit and it would be over." The androgynous person denied with a shake of their head "..." "..." The two of them went silent and just sit without even moving... "Do you need something from me...?" Kopia asked. "No... it''s just that... the rest of our group reeks of human blood... You know what was my origin before you and Mason gave me this looks - even though our fallen half-elf has stolen the bond I share with that girl, it doesn''t mean that it was never there. Protecting humans from monsters had been kind of hardwired into my brain by the system I guess, so smelling so much death is making me ufortable." Nommanic confessed with a light shrug. "Oh... and here I thought that you dislike something about your appearance and want to have a look at other options." Kopiaughed awkwardly and turned into an exact copy of the dark-skinned woman next to them. "Eh...? I thought that Mason stole that look from you, howe you can still change into it...?" Nommanic gasped, looking at herself in disbelief. "You''s glitch is an offensive one, my is more of a supportive type I guess... That''s what Caramel has said, at least..." Kopia sighed and leaned forward staring into the distance with a sour expression. "Something''s bothering you...?" Nommanic asked in a worried voice and patted Kopia''s back. "..." They looked back at her and shrugged their shoulders. "It''s just that... I don''t want to kill people and I don''t want to see people getting killed. Hell, I don''t even want to see anyone getting hurt... But..." Kopia turned away and waved their hand at all the destruction they have caused while chasing after a surprisingly troublesome target that Caramel has marked as having one of the essential traits and powers to make their n work. As it turned out, even though their target wasn''t even level 99, they were ridiculously skilled with using their powers and almost got away. Almost - if not for Kopia showing up in the key moment changed into a form thatpletely threw off their target - making them hesitate for just a split second, which allowed the hot-headed ashen-haired Mika Wrath to swoop in and knock them out. Now the only thing left was for Mason to steal whatever trait was necessary... ...and get rid of the unnecessary target... "...If ymore knew what I''m participating in, they would get really upset..." Kopia turned back around and sighed making a pitiful expression. "Maybe, but still, you''re not doing that because you like it - you are trying to protect your beloved person. There''s a huge difference." Nommanic shook her head and assured them. "...maybe... I don''t really feel that way though..." Kopia lowered their head. "Well, didn''t you said before that your master has ordered you to kill someone? Maybe you are thinking too hard about it..." ''They didn''t mean it! I''m sure that it was just because ymore saw something really horrible!" Nommanic tried her best to cheer Kopia up, but they ended up interrupting her in a tearful voice. "Of course, of course... Eh...?" Nommanic raised her hands trying to calm down the agitated shapeshifter, but then she suddenly flinched and turned around furrowing her brows as she was listening in. "Nommanic...? What''s wrong...?" Kopia tilted their head, surprised by the sudden change. "Shh..." But the dark-skinned woman raised her hand to shush them and stood up. Without taking her head away from one specific direction, she walked straight towards the light brown-haired young woman and tapped her shoulder. "Yes...? What is it?" Caramel raised her brow and looked at the woman. "Say... you have that map skill and all, right... What is in that direction..." The dark-skinned woman asked motioning with her chin. "There...? That would be..." Caramel furrowed her brows and her eyes began to glow up as she activated one of her skills. "The capital of Wraths territory. What about it? Is something wrong...?" But the one who ended up giving the answer wasn''t her but the ashen-haired Justice''s Wrath, looking more than slightly worried. "Whoa, Wrath''s territory? Did we really chased after him so far?!" Mason joined in the conversation as his eyes widened." "Aww, you''re so cute when you''re cueless like that, Mason. He might have abandoned his house, but he did that only because he was strong enough - better be grateful that we managed to separate him from the werewolves or we might have been forced to reveal Radiance''s or Nommanic powers early..." Caramel giggled and slid her hand down the half-elf''s back. All the way down. "...I don''t remember having a good enough rtionship with you for such behavior to be appropriate..." Mason stepped aside, not even trying to hide his anger. "Aww, you''re so cute when you''re acting like that~!" Caramel waspletely unmoved by the clear rejection and stepped closer to the young man. "Could you two stop for a moment?! Nommanic, what happened?" Mika scoffed at herpanions and turned to Nommanic while clenching the tiny hand of the white-haired child by her side. "...I... I think I''ve heard an explosion. A really strong one..." Nommanic answered. "...! I-it must be the viiness!" Mika''s face became pale as a ghost. "What if she got to my father?! We need to... to... ugh...!" She gasped and was ready to rush all the way to the city on foot, but at that exact moment a green light surrounded her head and she lost her conscience. "What did you do that for?!" Kopia ran over and looked between the unconscious girl and the gray-skinned Mason. "Don''t ask me, ask that creep." But mason only shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the light brown-haired girl by his side. "Ah, you see..." And she was all too keen to answer. Chapter 269: The ruined mansion Chapter 269 - The Ruined Mansion "Why is there smokeing from behind the walls...?" As soon as Cranberry''s feet touched the ground after Zombie stopped a few hundred feet before the Prides mansion, she noticed that something was off.?? The outside of the walls was slowly getting reimed by the wild nts, and one wing of the main gate looked like it has been broken down and restored by someone with no skill or taste whatsoever. Simrly, instead of the propped guard standing in front of the gate, there were two pathetically armored unshaven, drunk-looking ruffians, barely able to hold themselves up thanks to the DIY spears in their hands. "..." The temperature around the red-haired girl dropped as her ice-cold re seemed to have affected her surrounding. "Zombie... that damned parasite did say that my actions don''t matter, right? So it doesn''t actually matter who I''ll kill..." She asked without actually turning to the blue undead and just confining to re at men at the gate. "If you ask me, the less living in this world, the better." Zombie shrugged his shoulders with a clueless expression. "Funny. That''s the exact same thing that I was just thinking too..." The red-haired girl nodded her head with not even a trace of a smile on her face and instead clenched her hand on her baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white before she stepped towards the gate. --- "...uugh... uh? Huh?! Who goes there?!" One of the guardsmen shook his head and was even able to focus his eyes on the approaching red-haired girl. *WHOOOOSH* *SPLAT* "Huh...?" The girl didn''t activate any skill or anything, she just waved her weapon in the direction of the gate as if threatening the two men, causing the one one who noticed her to tilt his head in disbelief. "Oi. Grape, look at that..." *squelch* "HUH?!" The guardsman scoffed and tried to nudge hisrade to bring his attention to the weirdo approaching then but only ended up pushing his elbow into the bloody piece of meat stuck to one of the gate wings instead. *WHOOOSH* *SPLAT* But before he could do literally anything else, the red-haired girl waved her weapon again and the insane shockwave crushed against the remaining guard and turned him into mincemeat embedded into the other gate wing. --- /Low-level yer characters defeated Master receives EXP "Low-level... Low-level...? My family mansion was taken over by some low-level TRASH?!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and growled, barely able to hold herself back from leveling up the whole estate just to cleanse that disgrace. "Maybe those two were the only low-level ones?" Zombie pointed at the mutted corpses slowly sliding down the gate and shrugged his shoulders. "That''s not my point! What the hell is my father doing?!" *WHAM* Cranberry growled and turned the entire gate into splinters with a single angry kick. "...!" "!!!!!!!!" Which of course caused a huge uproar amongst all the bandits camping out in the courtyard - but their panic was nothingpared to the shock and disbelief that Cranberry experienced. The barbaric bandits were gathered in the courtyard and cooking food by arge pyre they put together by salvaging anything mmable from the mansion itself. The main ingredients fueling the happily crackling fire were... Books. Cranberry could only recognize them because some of the priceless ancient tomes she and Zombie got from the hidden elven vige were more resistant to fire than the rest - but even so, all the pages were already ckened beyond the saving point, a proof enough that this wasn''t the first day of the genocide of the priceless tomes from the Prides'' library. "..." Zombie nced at the red-haired girl and even he felt a chill of fear seeing the deathly pale face of the viiness. "Zombie, is my father here?" She asked, barely opening her pale lips. "No. I don''t see his life signature anywhere within twenty miles. And the same goes for anyone we know if you care about that." He said after looking around with reddish glowing eyes. "That''s a shame. I should definitely kill that brainless idiot for allowing this to happen...!" She trembled from pure aggression coursing through her veins. "Get away from here for a minute. This ce isn''t the Prides mansion - my home wouldn''t fall into the hands of some trashy bandits... this fake mansion needs to be destroyed." She added ignoring the approaching bandits while gripping her ck baseball bat with both hands as her body and eyes began glowing with increasingly blinding light. "Sure. Just don''t overdo it. I''ll wait for you by the old goblin nest we destroyed when we were kids." Zombie nodded and dered. "No. That''s too close." But the red-haired girl shook her head and rejected his proposition. "Huh? Too close? What do you n on doing here...?" The blue undead waved his arm in disbelief and asked in confusion. "Wait for me by the spot we got Blueberry at." She instructed him instead. "There?! That''s not even in Pride''s territory anymore! You''re going to hurt yourself!" Zombie frowned and shook his head in protest. "Good. Then I will have an excuse so you would kiss me. Go. Now." She shrugged her shoulders and shooed him away. "Tsk...!" *BOOOM* The blue undead clicked his tongue before disappearing to the sound of the explosion. "Huh? Wait! Did she finally admit to wanting to kiss me??" Zombie realized while flying through the air. *?''?¡À|¡Â$¡Â}?>]^{%|.€?$ $?¡Â¡è* But in the next moment, an explosion so huge that even his tremendous leg power couldn''t carry him to safety fast enough shook the world as the earth beneath fell down into a seemingly bottomless chasm. Thankfully for the blue undead, the shockwave that followed immediately blew him just beyond the void. /Multiple low, mid, and high-level yer characters defeated Multiple low, mid, and high-level monsters defeated Master receives EXP "Wow... that was something else..." Zombie whistled in shock looking past the slew of system messages that popped up in his field of vision down the newly created canyon. "Huh?" His eyes began glowing red as he searched for the red-haired girl''s life signature somewhere below, ready to go rescue her, but to his great surprise, he found her already waiting for him by the very spot she told him to wait for her! Zombie didn''t waste any time and got to her within a second. "Are you okay? I hope you know that even I know that this was reckless." The blue undead shook his head, walking up to the red-haired girl staring at her feet as her arms were hanging down her sides with no strength whatsoever. *thunk* Even with that she somehow managed to hold on to the ck baseball bat until that point, though as soon as Zombie spoke up, the weapon had slid out of her hand and bounced off the ground with a heavy sound. "Hey, what''s wrong? That''s not like you - I''ve never seen you lose control like that aside from that one time when you beat me up. But that was when you were scared to death about your mother punishing you..." "...haa..." The blue undead tilted his head cautiously as he approached the red-haired girl - that slid right into his arms and sighed heavily. "Everything is wrong. Everything." Cranberry''s shoulder trembled as she ruined her forehead against Zombie''s chest, hiding her crying face. "Maybe I can offer you a helping hand then...?" "...!" A new voice joining in surprised the master-servant pair. Chapter 270: A messenger

Chapter 270: A messenger

As it turned out, the new voice belonged to a distinguish-looking middle-aged butler kneeling down at an appropriate distance. "Youngdy, sir puppet, I am a member of the eleventh unit of the royal guards. My name is Persimmon and the queen has sent me as a mediator between herself and the two of you." The man spoke with his head lowered, without showing even a bit of hostility. "How did you get here? There was no trace of your life signature within miles when I checked a few seconds ago." Zombie scoffed, ring down the butler, as he locked the red-haired girl in a protective embrace. "Sir puppet, that is because I teleported here. I am queen''s personal transportation man... if I can describe my function so boldly." Persimmon exined in a calm voice. "Zombie, the eleventh unit of the royal guards is a special unit that does a lot more secret missions than guarding... that said, sir Persimmon, it''s not a good time to approach us. I am very much not in the mood for a leisure conversation and neither am I going to discuss some undoubtedly bold demands from the royal family." Cranberry straightened her back and responded in the mostposed voice she could muster, without turning around and showing her face. "Demands? Oh, it''s not at all what you might expect, youngdy. Even as greedy as she is, the queen isn''t stupid. She wouldn''t even dream about trying to make any sort of demands upon someone of your... strength..." The butler raised his head slightly and nced towards the edge of the humongous chasm that marked the edge of the former Prides territory. "Oh...? Then it isn''t about the engagement between me and Roan? I was sure that she will try to coerce me to join her family as soon as possible." "...!" Hearing Cranberry''s mocking exnation, Zombie unleashed a threatening aura, causing the butler to flinch in panic. "L-like I said! The queen isn''t stupid! How could she ask for something so outrageous from someone so powerful...?!" Persimmon hurriedly shook his head and exined. "Haa... Zombie, I guess you can rx for now." Cranberry sighed and put her bloody hand against the blue undead''s stomach. "...same to you, you''re shivering..." Zombie looked down at her and whispered before breathing out and releasing the pressure. "...thank you for your understanding!" Persimmon bowed down so low that his forehead touched the ground. "Haa... Enough with that. Tell us what is it about." Cranberry sighed, not reacting to Zombie''s whisper whatsoever, out and turned around. Her eyes were still a bit red but her attitude was back... or as much of it as she could force herself to show. The butler straightened his back but didn''t get up from his knees. "Youngdy, the royal family is hosting a grand ball in a week''s notice and every single member of the main noble families is invited..." "Ha..." He dered and Cranberry let out a slightly mocking gasp. "Sorry to break it to you - I am not a social butterfly that you all seem to remember me as. I really thought that I made it clear with killing so many people already - I don''t like parties, too many people." The red-haired girl scoffed mockingly but at the same time, she kept clinging to Zombie as if her life depended on it. Only a mention of the ball that would undoubtedly be the condemnation event has caused her to tremble. "Most of the members of the other main families wouldn''t want to see me here either after I''ve dealt with the main Envy house... and the head of the Wrath family..." Even though the first part of her deration was spoken quite mockingly, her voice shook slightly at the mention of the freshly killed man. "Those are just some trivial details, whenpared to what you have to offer, there is no reason to pursue the matter." The butler calmly corrected her in a reassuring voice. "Ha! The real Envy family that supports the kingdom seems to have put quite the pressure on you all." Cranberry scoffed and nodded, doing her best to not sound worried out of her mind about the possibility of the reincarnated savior using the event to her advantage. She definitely didn''t want to go - but did she even had a choice in that matter...? "They dered your actions as long-overdue cleaning and went as far as dering that if you will suffer any unpleasant consequences, they will defect to one of our neighbors. But, that alone was most certainly not the only reason for he highness''s decision." Persimmon admitted but rified to cut any possible misunderstanding right in the bud. "Certainly, after all, losing your best spies certainly isn''t that much of a problem, right?" The red-haired girl nodded with a convincingly mocking smirk. "Youngdy, I have said that it wasn''t the only reason, not that it wasn''t a reason at all..." The middle-aged butler lowered his head and once again corrected the girl with exact same amount of courtesy as before. "Then, what the rest of them might be?" Cranberry asked, calming herself by keeping herself in close contact with her blue undead. "We can use the ball as an excuse to getdy Goji and young ymore in the same building as the queen - with that it will be easy to organize the transfer of the avatar of sin titles over to some insignificant people, criminals preferably, which would enable you to deal with them without the need to worry about your dear friend ymore''s life." "...ha...?" Whatever exnation did Cranberry expect - that one was certainly not the one! The red-haired girl stepped aside from her blue undead and stared at the kneeling butler. "Of course that would also assure queen''s survival so you should see that it''s not just some suspicious freebie. Yet of course, at it ismon when dealing with the Greed family, there is a catch. Before such things could be done, the queen would like to have a talk with you - I was not given the details, but I was ordered to assure you that the deal our queen has for you will most definitely be to your liking." "Cranberry! Did you hear that?! Isn''t that amazing?!" Zombie gasped and looked at the red-haired girl in his arms. Even though even he got a feeling that the offer was literally too good to be true, even without the secret deal that the queen herself wanted to strike with Cranberry - he stayed quiet about it because he wanted the girl to stop forcing herself to ct unnatural. "...fine... We can listen to what she has to say." Cranberry didn''t even sigh as she used to, she just pondered a little bit and agreed as if she didn''t found anything particrly weird about the proposition. Chapter 271: The offer accepted

Chapter 271: The offer epted

"If you allow, I''ll teleport you to the royal castle at once." Persimmon stood up and offered his hand toward the master-servant pair with a respectful bow. "There''s no need to. I can carry my Cranberry whenever she wants just as fast." Zombie scoffed, raising his head, and red down at the middle-aged butler. The blue undead went as far as to pick up his red-haired viiness and turn away so that the other man couldn''t even look at her properly. "...." Persimmon lifted his head and showed his surprised expression. "But... isn''t your full eleration so powerful that it can create explosions and shockwaves...? I understand that you don''t mind wreaking havoc, sir puppet, but please reconsider, the cost of the repairs for the potential damages would make the queen rip all of her hair out. Once again, please reconsider." He bowed his head right back and pleaded. "And why would I ca..." "Zombie, calm down. We will go with him." The blue undead scoffed and was even in the middle of denying the butler''s plea but the red-haired girl in his arms shook her head and decided on somethingpletely different than what Zombie had in mind. "Once again, thank you for your understanding, youngdy!" Persimmon hurriedly got back on to his knees to show off his gratitude - but he was the only one with such a warm reaction. "Cranberry... do you really want us to let that guy teleport us whenever he wants?" Zombie furrowed his brows and lowered his head so that he could whisper into the red-haired girl''s ear. "...haa... we can just treat it as the test of the queen''s intelligence - if she asked this guy to get us into some dangerous ce, we will know that she was just plotting against us. But before that. If by any chance her offer is real, I want to give it a try. What other option do we have?" Cranberry smiled softly and whispered back, nuzzling against Zombie''s face. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth. There actually was something bothering him, but instead of it being a concrete thing, he was just feeling that both he and his viiness were missing something important. "...fine..." Instead of voicing his vague concerns, the blue undead sighed and nodded. "I will protect you no matter what, so you trust me just a bit more, alright?" He added before pulling back just a little bit and leaning back down just so their foreheads were touching. "Z-Zombie...?" Cranberry looked up at Zombie with her still slightly reddened eyes and asked hopefully, closing her eyes in preparation for what woulde next. "Your hands must be hurting. Let me fix that for you." The blue undead smirked a little bit mockingly. ...and then they kissed. "...!" A gentle act of touching each other''s lips caused the middle-aged butler watching them from the side to flinch in utter shock - he was made aware of the rtionship of the two but hearing about it and seeing the interaction between ady of the noble house and a corpse puppet of all things, were twopletely different things altogether. Meanwhile, the ck and red smoke slip its way inside the viiness''s body, seeping into her every cell before being sucked out together as the damage absorption skill had done its work and restored the damages that the red-haired girl had caused to herself while obliterating the entire territory. "Haa... thank yo-" *peck* "...eh...?" Once healed, Cranberry sighed with relief and smiled at Zombie, but her blue undead wasn''t quite finished. Zombie kissed her forehead. "Everything will be alright." *peck* And her nose. "Even if the queen is plotting against you." *peck* And her cheek. "You are strong and smart, you will win." *peck* "Ah...!" And her neck - which caused her to let out a surprised voice. "And if you worry about something you think you may not be able to oppose with your strength and wits alone, like some unknown future events, or Patience, or even the memories of your mother... just remember that I am and always will be by your side. Forever." Zombie ended his speech resting his forehead on Cranberry''s corbone. "...haa... my rotten brain..." The red-haired viiness breathed out with delight and wrapped her arms around the blue-skinned capture target. "..." That left things considerably awkward for the middle-aged butler waiting for them on their side. Needless to be said, Persimmon was a clever man, he would not have be an important member of the prestigious and important group like the eleventh unit of the royal guards if he didn''t know how to read the mood and keep his mouth shut when needed - even if he saw that the person he was ordered to bring with all the VIP treatment was doing something widely considered as repulsive by the majority of the poption. After all, he has heard a quick report about what happened to a waitress who dared to point out the faults in the youngdy Pride''s act - and he certainly wasn''t keen on experiencing the same thing on his own. "Well then, Persimmon. Take us to the queen - let''s see what other things she has in store for us." "....!" Once the middle-aged butler raised his head he saw a red-haired girl and the blue-skinned corpse puppet standing side by side waiting for him to get up and teleport them away. "Ah! At once, youngdy!" --- "...father...!" The ashen-haired girl was kneeling by the pile of bloody meat and bones as people around her were searching through the debris to look for anyone still trapped in the destroyed Wraths mansion. "Mika, don''t be sad..." A white-haired child approached the ashen-haired girl and hugged her, but the girl continued crying as if she didn''t realize a thing. "Caramel, don''t you think that making me steal her anger was a bit too much? It is her right to be furious about her parent''s death." A hooded man standing a few feet behind the crying ashen-haired girl leaned towards the light brown-haired young woman and whispered. "If she could feel anger right now, she would destroy the entire city and we don''t need any of that." Caramel shook her head and responded. "Your improved skills can now hold onto anything you''ve stolen without the need to keep it or push it onto someone else, right, mister fallen elf?" She asked. "That''s right." Mason nodded. "Then just hold onto her anger - if things go wrong and the condemnation event won''t y out as we want - you will just return it to her and make her deal with that wretched woman." The young woman shrugged her shoulders. "What about keeping the system''s bnce and saving the world? Wouldn''t going overboard make us as big of a menace as the viiness?" Mason raised his brow and smirked. "Oh, please. You''ve seen my memories. The system will survive everything - what''s fragile is Patience''s ego. As long as we appease that sad overseer abandoned by their creator, we can mold this whole world to our liking, right? That''s what I''ve been told by the very creator who sent me here. I''ll ''save'' this world and live happily ever after with my beloved man." Caramel snorted and shook her head with a malicious smile while stepping closer to the hooded man. "...and I''ve told you that I''m not the man you are looking for. I''m not a reincarnated person." Mason shook his head and took a step back to regain the distance that the light brown-haired girl closed. "But you''ll do in the meantime." Caramel''s smile became even more unsettling. "Keep away from me, freak." Mason clicked his tongue and took another step back. "See? You even talk to me just like he did~!" Despite being insulted, the young womanughed and blushed - which caused the hooded man to shiver. Chapter 272: In the royal castle (1)

Chapter 272: In the royal castle (1)

One of the pce''s chambers suddenly lighted up with a bright violet light once three humanoid shapes appeared out of thin air. "It''s not a prison cell - lucky them." The blue undead nced around the room without deactivating his skills while his eyes kept glowing with a reddish light. "Sir puppet, if the queen had any ill intentions towards you I assure you that she wouldn''t send me." The middle-aged butler, Persimmon, furrowed his brows and shook his hand dismissively looking at the blue undead, slightly ticked off by the undead''s tone of voice. "Yeah, I don''t care about what you living are thinking. So? Where''s the queen?" Zombie scoffed looking down on the butler. "The queen is in the middle of an audience. I''m terribly sorry for the inconvenience but truth to be told, no one suspected that you two will actually agree so fast..." Persimmon lowered his head towards the silent Cranberry and apologized. "Since we''re such important guests, I''m sure that the queen will want to see us immediately, wouldn''t she? Now Percymon, on you go. Tell the queen that she''s alreadyte to the meeting she has with us." Zombie smirked mockingly and pped his hands together to hasten the unresponsive butler. "...yes, you are right sir puppet. I''ll do just that." Persimmon flinched but ended up only nodding politely in response before walking out. A few seconds after he left, the red-haired viiness tugged onto the blue undead''s armor. "Zombie, I have decided to depend on you a bit more." She dered with a slightly brighter expression. "A bit more...? Oh well, good enough, I guess." The blue undead raised his brow and smirked before shrugging his shoulders and proudly puffing out his chest. "Haa... Anyone hostile?" Cranberry breathed out and walked straight to the most expensive-looking armchair in the room and sat on it without any hesitation. "Not openly. No one within my reach is preparing a skill and Persimomomon is talking to someone right now, though his conversation partner doesn''t have the life signature that an avatar of sins should... oh... Peroperoromon is talking with the weakling prince." The blue undead reported with a slightly surprised voice. "Roan? Oh. True, Ipletely forgot about him! Wonder how he''s been - I think that the charm skill I used on him before has hit him quite hard." Cranberry snorted, leaning back on the armchair while Zombie walked over to her side. "Oh, you''ll be able to ask him about that in a moment - Pekoreromomon just went straight to the life signature that must belong to the queen since she''s the avatar of greed, but it looks like the weak prince is approaching this room as we speak." He reported while positioning himself on Cranberry''s right side and taking on an arrogant, menacing pose. "Is that so?" The red-haired viiness smirked smugly, crossed her legs, and observed the door with an expectant look in her eyes. ... ... *knock* *knock* Only a short whileter a polite knock on the door announced the arrival of the prince. He didn''t bust inside, he didn''t loudly call out to the red-haired girl and the blue-skinned corpse puppet even though he could and no one would me him. Instead, he just knocked and politely waited for the response. "Ha. Hey, it looks like the prince had actually learned some manners." Cranberry smirked grew more smugly and she nced at her blue undead. "I had a feeling he wasn''t that bad." Zombie smirked back and nodded. "Alright. Let''s not keep him waiting too much, it is his home after all." The red-haired girl snorted and faced the door. "You may enter." She announced benevolently and observed the door slowly open. The blond prince entered the room - his face was slightly flushed and it seemed like he had a hard time keeping his breath steady, so maybe Cranberry wasn''t just mean with making him wait but rather showed consideration by allowing the youth to pull himself together after he hastily ran all the way there. "Youngdy Pride. Zombie. It''s my great pleasure to wee you to the royal pce." The blond prince bowed his head deeply and greeted the two without even a moment of hesitation. "You pass." Zombie looked at him and nodded with a satisfied smile. "...? Pardon...?" Roan raised his head slightly and looked at the blue undead with confusion. "Hello, Roan. A member of the eleventh unit of the royal guards had passed on a message from your mother. Apparently, she has an offer for us, and since I would have to pay her a visit sooner rather thanter, the two of us decided to take up the invitation." Cranberry tilted her head and gave a sidelong nce at the bowing royalty. "I-I don''t know the details, but I can assure you that my mother does not have any malicious intent towards any of you!" Roan straightened his back and hurriedly assured with a serious face. "Of course she doesn''t, with how we are now, it would be a pretty stupid move to try to force us into doing anything. Especially me." "!!!!" To the blond princes''s great surprise the one who responded to him with such overwhelming confidence was the blue corpse puppet! "Zombie can talk now?!" Roan gasped in shock and looked between the blue undead and Cranberry as if he expected the red-haired girl tough and announced that she''s secretly a master ventriloquist. "Yes, aren''t you happy? I liked bullying you even when I didn''t have my free will, that''s why I expect that teasing you now will be much more satisfying!" "!!!!!!!" To Roan''s great shock, Zombie dered with a bright smile and approached him with great familiarity. Even if the blue undead wasn''t donning the boots of the phoenix with their ridiculously high heels, the difference in the height between the two was already more than a few inches - since the blond prince was just about an inch or two taller than the red-haired viiness watching the scene y out from her seat. But with the added height... "Sorry to break it to you, but the titan-ss monsters no longer exist. Following in your grandfather''s footsteps and visiting the Sloths territory to fight them is no longer avable." The meaning blue undead stopped a mere inch away from the shocked Roan and stared straight down into the prince''s widened eyes. "But, if you will be a useful living, I''ll take you to hunt down some of the other big monsters, like angel-ss ot true demon-ss. How about it, Roan?" Zombie asked, raising his hand up to Roan''s face and almost touching his cheek, stopping his red and ck right t hand just a fraction of an inch away. "Ha ha! That confirms it!" "...?" Suddenly, Cranberry pped her hands andughed out loud, making her blue undead to furrow his brow and face away from the absolutely stunned royal first prince. "You actually remember every name - there''s no way that you remember Roan but can''t remember Shanks!" The red-haired snorted and shook her head in amusement. "Shhh... let me have my fun." Zombie grinned wildly, put the index finger of his left hand up to his mouth, and winked at theughing girl. Chapter 273: In the royal castle (2)

Chapter 273: In the royal castle (2)

"Youngdy Pride, I''m terribly sorry for being unable to help you with the request you made during ourst meeting." The royal prince bowed his head and apologized. After some time together in the room, the trio ended up talking about were various subjects while they waited for the queen to show up. Their seating arrangement was quite amusing to look at from the side. The red-haired Cranberry was sitting on the best seat that was undoubtedly meant for the queen to take, then there was a the blue-skinned Zombie on her right side sitting on one of the other chairs, and right next to him was the blond Roan, timidly cowering under the pressure of the red and ck right hand of the blue undead over his shoulders. "Haa... There''s nothing to apologize for - if my guess is correct, once you went straight for your concealed bodyguard, they recognized that you were under a charm skill and instantly got you away from us just so the medics could deal with it." Cranberry breathed out and waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, that is exactly what happened..." Roan sighed and admitted while nodding his head with a pitiful expression. "The skill effects weren''t that much of a problem...!" He waved his hands around while hurriedly exining. "What was worse is that even after I was back to normal, no one wanted to believe me about what I was telling them about the two of you!" The blond prince furrowed his brows and clenched his fists. "Could you imagine that?! Some of the medics went as far as to im that your charm skill was so strong that it basically fired my brain!" Now it sounded as if Roan was sulking - mainly because that was exactly what was happening - and he looked at both Zombie and Cranberry looking for words of sympathy. "Truth to be told, I myself had also assumed that was what had happened." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and confessed lightheartedly. "...!" "...?" Zombie felt Roan flinch so he tilted his head and looked at the dispirited prince at his side. "The medics thought that was the case because I kept talking that we definitely get you two to join the Greed family so that you the Fruit Sd would enter the most prosperous era - but I guess it was too much for them to believe." Roan sighed, losing a lot of the excitement that he still had just a second ago. "And not even mother believed me - not until she received a report about what happened to the Envy family." The prince continued, visibly sulking more and more. "Only then did she ordered the royal investigators tounch an investigation and look into you, youngdy Pride, and you Zombie - only when the reports werepiled was I released from under the house arrest. It was really humiliating to be treated like a love-struck idiot for only saying the truth." He shook his head and sighed as he finished talking. "Aww. Poor weakling prince, it must have been so hard - living in luxury for all that time! Did the servants snickered at you behind your back as they were delivering you gourmet food?" Zombie nodded with understanding and started patting Roan''s shoulder with an understanding expression... "...pffft...!" Yet it was Cranberry who broke first and snorted before hurriedly covering her mouth with one hand and looking away. "...Zombie... I was under the impression that the rotten brain title dulls the owner''s sense of humor as well as the ability to recognize sarcasm and irony..." Roan closed his mouth and nced at the blue undead, making a sour face. "Oh, yeah. It''s basically impossible to know when others are joking and whatnot, but that doesn''t mean that I lost the ability to mock others." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and dered. "You were mocking me?!" Roan gasped. "You thought I wasn''t?!" Zombie gasped back. "Ha ha! Haa... alright. Enough of that." Cranberry let out one genuine burst ofughter and then she sighed and pped her hands to calm down the prince and the corpse puppet. The two of them instantly stopped bickering and turned to the red-haired girl. "Roan, how much longer do you think that your mother will make us wait. Is her meeting really that important? I mean... haa... Zombie wasn''t lying when he said that we hunted the titan-ss monsters to extinction. If your mother is discussing some military alliance but makes two weapons of mass destruction just sit by and get annoyed, ha, let''s just say that she doesn''t seem as greedy as I expected her to be." The red-haired viiness scoffed and leaned back on the armchair, looking down at the blond price taken aback by her summary. "No! Youngdy Pride, my mother would never let...!" "Now that you''ve said that. The life signature of the avatar of sin is sitting in the nearby room together with another living for a while now. That other living is using some skill, but since it''s not an offensive one I didn''t bother to mention it before." Roan flinched and started hurriedly exining but got talked over by the shrugging Zombie calmly reporting to Cranberry as his eyes were glowing redishly. "Ha. So she''s spying on us...?" Cranberry raised her brow and scoffed. "No... I guess she''s just letting her son catch up with his fianc¨¦e after almost four months of separation and is simply checking up when will be the best time to make an entrance to not interrupt something..." Suddenly she changed her mind and shrugged her shoulders - or rather that''s what it would sound like if not for the copious amount of open mockery in her voice. "The greed of Greeds knows no bounds. It''s honestly quite reassuring that this is something that we can always count on." The red-haired girl nodded before frowning. "You, the person using the detection skill to spy on us. Tell her that she made us wait long enough - if she won''t arrive in the next minute, I''m going to raze this whole castle to the ground - and she can ask her transportation man whether I''m capable of that or not." She said coldly, ring at the wall in the direction that Zombie was facing towards. "!!!" "It''s okay, the life signature of the avatar got up and began approaching us the moment I spoke about them listening in on us. Roan stiffened at the deration, but Zombie only waved his hand dismissively towards the red-haired viiness. "Good. That proves that she isn''t stupid." Cranberry nodded and smirked. Chapter 274: In the royal castle (3)

Chapter 274: In the royal castle (3)

"Young miss Cranberry." The queen entered the room without any of the courtesy that her son showed when he arrived, she just straight up entered and spoke up from the position of power - already used to people kneeling at her sight. She was a tall, slim woman, with long and straight dark blond hair, sharp gray eyes, and we''ll defined facial features that made her look like a marble statue of an ancient beauty. "Madam Greed." But what the said beauty wasn''t expecting, was the wee given by the young red-haired freckled girl with a mocking smirk - there were so many things wrong with her greeting that it was almost impossible to believe that this girl was brought up in a noble household... Or maybe it was actually expected since she was a Pride. First of all, the red-haired girl didn''t even stand up. The blond-haired queen never expected the Pride''s to kneel or even curtsy or bow - not after she learned that all the reports weren''t overestimating but rather severely underestimating her - but to greet her, the queen while seated? And then there was the way the Pride''s the girl addressed her. Not your majesty. Not my queen. Not even justdy Greed. She called her madam Greed. Madam. Calling someone lord ordy was a sign of respect reserved for those of higher social positions. It could be used for those of equal standing if the person saying that respected the other one a great deal too. And then there was sir, madam, and miss. Amongst the nobility, it was a way to address someone of equal status, but moremonly it was used when speaking to the nobles of lower status. With that in mind, the tone of voice that the red-haired girl used while speaking to the queen didn''t suggest that she had even a slight bit of respect for the acting ruler of the country she was brought up in...! "Mother!" At least Roan, her son, was trying to get up from his seat. ...trying was a keyword there since he was unable to because of the red and ck smoke hand of the robust blue-skinned corpse puppet weighing down on his shoulders. "Oh! I remember her now! She was trying to give us a hard time during the first kill party but got outwitted! Khahaha! Good times!" And said corpse puppet raised its brows andughed in amusement. "That said... kneel." "!!!!!!" *thump* ...that said, all would be fine and dandy if not for that the next moment seemed to get annoyed over something and frowned, ring at the queen, and pointed his index finger at the floor while growling out amand. Amand that made the high and mighty fearsome queen of the kingdom of Fruit Sd drop down and m her kneecaps against the cold hardwood floor. "MOTHER?!" Roan shouted in shock - never in his life did he expect that there was someone who could force his mother to bend her knees in front of them! "Oh, shush it, weakling prince. It''s not like I asked her to lick my shoes or anything..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders. "...though, now that I''ve mentioned it, they could use a bit more polish..." He furrowed his brows and nced at the already shining heels of his boots of the phoenix. "...haa... Zombie." Cranberry sighed and started massaging her forehead. "Yes?" The blue undead tilted his head with a bright innocent smile stered all over his face. "It''s okay, you don''t need to try to make me feel any better. Madam Greed is looking to be our ally, so hold back a bit." The red-haired girl gave a benevolent smile to her blue undead and waved her hand as if she was swiping a bit of dust from the armchair''s armrest. "Oh, that was just a little test of who is stronger. You know - just a little royal rumble." Zombie dropped the innocent act and his smile changed into a mocking grin. "Haa... Zombie, your king of pride title was given to you by the system after you met the specific condition, madam Greed received hers by seeding her parents. There were no doubts that you are more powerful at any point." Cranberry sighed deeply and smirked back at the blue undead after shaking her head at him. "...Z-Zombie is a king-rank monster now?!" Roan flinched and suddenly started sweating profusely, only then fully realizing that maybe being so casual with the blue-skinned corpse puppet wasn''t such a good idea after all. "...oh... well, I guess you''re right - you can get up." The blue undead furrowed his brows and nodded before turning to the speechless queen - who just continued staring at the floor. "Interesting... you two really are proving yourself more and more incredible - fellow king, would you be able to do the same thing even to someone with MDF in the four digits?" Surprisingly enough, once the queen was able to stand back up, she didn''t seem angry at all. Quite the opposite. She gracefully turned towards the blue undead and asked in a very polite tone. "Four digits... how strong that would be? It certainly worked on that trash who hurt or daughter..." Zombie tilted his head and answered truthfully. "Da-daughter?!" "...!" At his words both the mother and son''s eyes widened, though probably not from being impressed since they had no idea who Zombie was talking about. "Yes. Our daughter. You''ve met her already, Roan. The cute blue girl griffin, Blueberry." "...!" The blue undead exined without batting an eye, while the red-haired Cranberry fidgeted and blushed on her fancy armchair. "Haa... enough with the small talk. Madam Greed, what exactly is the deal you have prepared for us? I hope it''s not something annoying - and just to be sure I''ll tell you outright. I am not going to marry anyone with a pulse." But the red-haired girl wasn''t going to just sit on tight on her spot and say nothing, she breathed out and dered, ring down at the blond-haired queen. "Oh, miss Pride, I had no intention of forcing you into anything, but as you''ve said - I do have a deal for you that I hope you''ll find eptable." "...!" The queen lightly shook herself and smiled softly, ignoring her son who looked down in disappointment at the mention of Cranberry not intending to marry anyone. Chapter 275: In the royal castle (4)

Chapter 275: In the royal castle (4)

After hearing the queen''s offer, the master-servant pair decided to stay at the royal castle until the day of the royal ball - the ball that they actually chose to attend even after knowing full well that it has an unsettlingly huge chance to turn into a condemnation event for Cranberry, who was the viiness after all. The two of them also showed some benevolence and didn''t take over the royal chambers and settled simply on the second-best guest rooms prepared in case the foreign royalty would be visiting - as a sign of their goodwill. "Haa... the greed of Greeds knows no bounds." Cranberry breathed out softly whileying on the king-sized bed and turning the pages of some rare book straight from the castle''s precious secret library. "I don''t know, that living was surprisingly cooperative. Too cooperative if you ask me. As soon as she learned about us wanting to take over the world she offered to deal with all aftermath - what does that suppose to mean?" Zombie wasying on his back next to the red-haired girl, staring at the ceiling - the only spot where he could look at without seeing the life signatures of all the annoying living he hated so much. "She''s taking a risk - a huge risk - by betting on the two of us." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and exined, though she wasn''t very clear in her exnation... "There''s a risk? We will take over the world and crush everyone who stands in our way, simple as that. Where''s the risk? Could it be that you are still worried about my sister being this whole savior that''s supposed to make things right or whatever?" The blue undead rolled over to his side and looked at the red-haired girl whose expression suddenly turned dark. "...ha... it''s annoying that even with your rotten brain you were able to figure that out so easily. I must be a real failure of a simpleton to be that easy to read..." Cranberry gritted her teeth and buried her face into the pillow she used for supporting her chin as she read. "...!" Hearing that Zombie flinched and furrowed his brows. "That sounded like something your mother would say. What came over you to call yourself that?" He asked while moving himself close to the unresponsive girl. "..." "It''s not a good time for the silent treatment, you know? How many times already had things went awkward because you forgot or had no time to let me in on your n? It''s just like that, tell me what''s bothering you." "...haa..." He nudged her in the side but the only response was a long sigh. "Sorry for being a failure atmunicating." The red-haired viiness finally said something, but what she spoke was just more of the self-loathing stuff. "You are not a failure, Cranberry. A way too prideful, cunning, short-tempered girl with some psychopathic tendencies - sure. But definitely not a failure." The blue undead reached over, got his arms onto the red-haired girl''s waist, and pulled her into his calming, pleasantly cool embrace. "Haa... the only thing I take from that, is that psycho and psychopathic are the same word and are definitely not an expression of fondness as you tried to pass them as. You rotten brain." Cranberry grumbled, with her face against Zombie''s chest - but she certainly didn''t seem to mind her position, and she sounded quite pleased despite the words she used. "Really? I have no idea what you are talking about." Zombie tilted his head and stared innocently at the girl in his arms. "Haa... It''s kind of amazing how once the system control faded, you''ve suddenly be such a convincing liar." Cranberry breathed out and nuzzled against him and closed her eyes with a calm smile. "Not became, I always was a good liar, both during the short time that I was alive in this world as well as during my life in my previous world - at least as far as my memories are telling me." The blue undead shrugged and rested his chin on the red-haired girl''s head. "Say, Zombie... there is one thing I would like to ask you about your past life." Cranberry fidgeted nervously in Zombie''s arms, making him furrow his brows. "Oh? Only one? Sure, I don''t mind answering whatever question you have. I''ll answer as long as I''ll remember it. Honestly, it''s all quite fuzzy, doesn''t really feel like it was my life anymore." He gave her permission with a smug smile. "Well, it''s actually something that might help us with dealing with the so-called savior." Cranberry didn''t answer straight up but rather picked and chose the roundabout way. "Alright, ask away." Zombie nodded, still on with the idea. "The thing that Mary said about her senior, so your sister in this world, Caramel... Mary, she said that Caramel is looking for her beloved man from her previous life... and even Patience had said that you were brought as a hostage for the savior, so once again Caramel, in order to force her to save this world..." "Stop right there." "...?!" Cranberry''s words were interrupted by Zombie suddenly standing up, leaving her alone on the bed. "Eh...? Wh-what is it, did I say something wrong...?" The red-haired girl also stood up and then she trembled as she asked. "Listen, Zombie, you wanted me to talk about my worries then here I go. I''m worried that this whole savior is actually someone like your lover from your previous life and I am worried sick that now with your free will back you will choose her over me and-mpfh...?" She wanted to say more but suddenly two cold fingers gently pressed into her lips stopping her from talking. "...?" The red-haired girl tried to look at them, they were undoubtedly a part of the blue left arm that was unmistakably connected to the rest of her blue corpse puppet''s body. But then she looked up at the face of her undead and. "!!!" She shuddered, as for the first time since their first meeting, she saw the blue undead as terrifying. "Don''t jump to conclusions, Cranberry." Zombie''s voice was much colder and much scarier than ever before. "Let me just tell you one thing... if that girl is actually the one who had the guts to call me her beloved in our previous lives..." Zombie bared his teeth in pure fury and his body began glowing with an intense violet light while his eyes turned red. "Then I will be the one to tear that fucking freak limb from limb and then spit on her remains." Chapter 276: In the royal castle (5)

Chapter 276: In the royal castle (5)

*knock* *knock* It was already morning and the sun was timidly shining into the windows of the chambers prepared in case of the foreign royalties'' visit, ad a polite knocking on the door got the attention of the blue undead sitting right by the king-sized bed. "..." He nced at the door, using his life signature detection, and smirked. "You may enter, Roan." He called out to the person politely waiting in front of the door, just as his master has done the previous day. Only that he betrayed that he was aware of the identity of the visitor. "I... I hope that I don''t interrupt anything...! Oh!" The blond prince opened the door very slowly and only peeked over it just the tiniest bit as if he expected to be the unwilling witness of some unspeakable debauchery, so when he saw just the blue undead sitting right next to a big pile of nkets and pillows, he ended up letting out a surprised - but at the same time relieved - gasp. "Go on, don''t be shy." Zombie waved his right hand, beckoning the royal prince to enter. "S-sure." Roan nodded and timidly walked inside. "By the way, about my mother''s proposition..." The blond young man got to one of the chairs and sat down before asking, curiously observing the blue undead''s reaction. "Oh, yeah, we talked about it with my Cranberry. She is liking the idea - it seems she wanted to outsource the local governments anyway since when she talks about ruling the world she actually means conquering it. She said that holding all the power over all the races is far too much of a problem to deal with without a proper proxy and whatnot. In short, we''re definitely on board." The blue undead waved his right hand dismissively and shrugged his shoulders. "...outsourcing...? Wait! You two agree?!" At first, Roan furrowed his brows, taken aback by the new terminology but once he got over it, he jumped up and eximed. "But, wait... you don''t seem too happy about that though...?" The blond prince suddenly stopped his cheers and looked at the blue undead with a confused expression. "I''m just in a bad mood because I was reminded of something extremely unpleasant. Don''t mind me. Anyway, is there something else that you came here for?" Zombie shook his head and asked. "Actually, I''vee to ask if the two of you would want to join me for a breakfast, but I see that youngdy Pride has already left to somewhere...?" The prince responded opening his arms as if he was trying to show that he has nothing to hide and looked around curiously. "Left? In the morning? My Cranberry...?" With each question, Zombie was tilting his head more and more. "Sh-she didn''t...?" Roan stopped in confusion and blinked a few times staring at the blue-skinned corpse puppet. "Pffft...! Seriously... here, look." Zombie snorted, covering his mouth with his right arm - and immediately after he pulled out his left hand that up until now he kept under the pile of nkets and... "...nnnnnnng...!" Once his left hand appeared outside, it did so with a pair of freckled arms wrapped around it, as well as a low dissatisfied growling from the stacked pile. "...nnnnnnn...!" After another growl, this one a bit angrier, the arms began pulling Zombie''s left arm back under the pile of nkets. "...what in the name of the system...?" Roan watched the whole thing y out with his jaw dropped in disbelief. "Once she is rxed, my Cranberry turns into an extremely heavy sleeper with just as extremely low blood pressure in the morning. As long as I don''t forcibly take away my hand from her, she will not wake up for at least another hour or so." Zombie exined, looking at the pile of nkets with a gentle smile. "Then what will happen if you do take your hand away? Will she just wake up suddenly?" The blond prince asked curiously after finally closing his mouth, and looked at the blue undead as if he expected him to do another demonstration. "If you think that I will do that and ruin probably the calmest sleep that she had in a few days, then you are either out of your mind or want to make me your enemy." Zombie looked up at the prince and shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent voice, looking at Roan as if he expected him to be better. "No, no! I would never...!" The royal prince hurriedly denied, shaking his hands and backing himself up to a wall, clearly worried that the blue undead would instantly charge at him or something. "If you want to have a meal with us so badly, you can wait for her to wake up whenever she wants, if not, then you can go. Unless you have something else that you want to talk about." Zombie exined surprisingly politely - considering his yesterday''s behavior. Roan fidgeted nervously and even make a move once or twice that suggested that he''s actually about to leave but in the end, he just got back on one of the chairs and sat there. "I''ll wait. There''s also a thing about the wardrobe for the ball. Since the two of you will be participating, mother had given me the mission to escort you on your shopping as well as cover for all the possible purchases you will make." Roan exined to the blue-skinned undead with a bright expression. "Oh! That''s nice! Congrattions, you got promoted from a useless prince to a wallet! Good job getting up in the hierarchy!" Zombie closed his eyes and nodded at the blond prince with a benevolent smile. "Oh! I almost forgot! There''s one more thing I wanted to pass to youngdy Pride!" Suddenly Roan became a bit more lively and began talking again. "While our people are still experiencing a bit of trouble with getting tody Gluttony, we did contact and exin the situation to the avatar of lust! We are expecting them to arrive at the royal castle three days before the ball so..." "Ha?! ymore?! more will visit us?!" "!!!" Suddenly the pile of nkets erupted and the barely clothed red-haired girl emerged, looking half asleep but surprisingly happy - which made Roan go wide-eyed. "Yes, yes they will. Aren''t you d?" Zombie instantly stood up and covered the girl with one of the nkets that just so happened to end up by his head, protecting her from Roan''s sight. "Of co-oo-ourse! I wonder how they''ve been!" Cranberry yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes while stretching, and then she nodded her head with a big smile. Chapter 277: Silence before a storm (1)

Chapter 277: Silence before a storm (1)

The four-monster-drawn carriage with the Lust family Crest on the door entered the royal castle''s courtyard ording to the upfront schedule and to the surprise of no one from amongst servants and guards. "Someone looks very happy, it feels weird being the one to say that but, remember to stay calm. ymore will most likely not remember you as you remember them." But aside from the castle''s staff, two more silhouettes were already prepared and awaiting the guests. A tall freckled girl with shoulder-length hair the color of dark blood, wearing some exotic and expensive looking armor, and a towering blue-skinned corpse puppet wearing the same kind of armor but with the chest-piece torn in half making it into a rigid jacket that showed off his muscr torso - it was hard to miss that the blue undead was wearing boots on extremely high heels, well, it was hard to say they were boots - a thigh-high boots to boot - since he was wearing the leg armor on top of them - but the ridiculous heels were definitely taking the attention away from the long and thin package neatly wrapped and hanging across the blue undead''s wide back. It was also the blue undead who leaned down and whispered a cautious reminder into the red-haired girl''s ear. "I know, but it''s ymore, from what we''ve been told, there was literally nothing that changed about them - though apparently they have been showing up as a male whenever they went out in public, so maybe they prefer it over the neutral or female form in this version of the world. Haa. I wonder how they''ve been. I hope that in this version they were happier than previously." Cranberry nodded as a sign of understanding that things have changed and her pen-friend most likely isn''t the same person that she remembers but was happy to see them nheless. "Oh...?" The handsome coachman jumped down his seat and for whatever reason that caused Zombie to furrow his brows in surprise. "What is it?" Cranberry asked without taking her eyes off the carriage containing her friend. "That guy. He looks just like the one who brought ymore to the Pride''s mansion before, but his life signature ispletely different. Odd." The blue undead exined with a concerned expression. "...ha... so maybe the royal family put a spy from the Envy family on ymore just in case. No matter which branch they are from Envy with their skills they can steal the appearance of others. It shouldn''t be a problem. Ah, finally." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders but then she perked up as the coachman got to the carriage''s door and opened them while bowing down splendidly. "...!" Cranberry flinched once she saw the person inside. It was most definitely ymore, but instead of the male self that they seem to prefer after the system reset or even their neutral form, they arrived as a girl... ...A very sad-looking, petite girl in a simple white one-piece dress... "...ymore...?" Cranberry paled and took a step forward, letting go of Zombie''s hand. "...!" At the sound of her voice, ymore flinched and raised her head. Her eyes were slightly red, betraying that she had to be crying - most likely all through her journey. As she looked up and her eyes met with Cranberry''s, ymore''s chin trembled before... "Cranberry...!" The pitiful girl burst into tears and ran up straight into the arms of the shocked viiness. "Cranberry! It''s Kopia...! I got taken over by anger and sent them away on a stupid mission and they''re missing! Cranberry, what am I supposed to do?! I saw that a horrifying monster will show up at the ball and Kopia was there too! They will die! I can''t let them die...!" ymore cried in a trembling voice while sobbing into Cranberry''s chest. "Wha... Kopia...? That bodyguard of yours who fell for you that you mentioned in our letters...? Wait, what do you mean you saw a monster at a ball? Do you mean the ball is in three days?" The red-haired girl shook her head, but only after hugging the crying girl back with reassurance. "Y-yes... I was trying to get a skill that would let me find where the two of you had been gone, but as soon as I did, it got changed into a future sight and I saw a vision about...! A vision that made me so angry that I''ve ordered Kopia to go and kill a certain person, and then I came to myself and realized that it was bad, so I used the future sight again and saw another vision but this waspletely different and there was Kopia at the ball and there was this weird horrible monster made out of red and ck smoke and...!" ymore was exining everything at once, looking up at Cranberry from the height of her chest when he looked at Zombie and his eyes slid down and ended up on his right hand - and her irises shrunk in utter shock. "This is certainly not something we should discuss in a ce like this." The red-haired girl hugged ymore a bit tighter and looked around at all the servants and bodyguards chowing to curiously peek and listen in on them over their own work. "Yeah. Definitely. Let''s go." Zombie joined their conversation while ring down at the shocked ymore and covered the two girls from the nosy looks with his body. "You might not remember anything, but just so you know - I am the jealous undead, the moment I see your tuff of hair standing up, I''m separating you from my Cranberry." The blue undead squinted his eyes, looking suspiciously at the top of ymore''s head. "...don''t remember...? Ah! I knew it! You two do remember the world before the reset! But then why didn''t you contacted me at all! You are both such meanies!" ymore pulled away from Cranberry and sniffled while wiping her eyes with her hands. "Wait, what? You know about the reset?" Zombie shook his head and stared at the pitiful girl now sobbing alone. "Haa... this is not what I expected, but anyway. Let''s go inside. We will talk everything out." Cranberry sighed and put her on ymore''s head and started patting the girl''s hair. Chapter 278: Silence before a storm (2)

Chapter 278: Silence before a storm (2)

Back in the chambers prepared for the foreign royalty, the trio sat on the edge of the king-sized bed. ymore sat in the middle with Zombie on her left side and Cranberry on her right side. "Alright. First things first. How is it possible that you remember how things were before the reset? Up until now, everyone we''ve met had their memories altered by the system." Cranberry asked, leaning down and looking into ymore''s face. *sniffle* The petite girl wiped her eyes one more time before she opened her mouth. "Are you sure? Because I think that you are just making things up to cover for the fact that you didn''t even try to contact me after it all happened - and I was worried sick when I''ve learned that you two had gone missing! Hmph!" ymore scoffed at her with usation and then pouted at the end of her deration. "Hey, you little punk, who the hell do you think you are? The only beings that could remember things how they were before the reset were monsters. What are you telling us that you were secretly a monster all along?" Zombie scoffed back at ymore while leaning down to see her face just as Cranberry was already doing, which resulted in an image of two thugs shaking down an innocent girl. "Ha! No way!" "...?" Suddenly the red-haired girl gasped and put her hand to her mouth, making Zombie and ymore look at her. "Yes, that makes sense...! All the legends are more or less true. Lusts are actually the descendants of the god of chaos, Love! And since the so-called gods were in fact administrators, it makes sense that you have at least some immunity against the system''s influence! All members of the Lust family are like that too, right? They remember everything?" Cranberry straightened her back and nodded to herself before turning back to the petite girl. "Ooh...! I get it now! That must also be a reason why I don''t feel as much hate towards her as I do towards the other living!" Zombie raised his brows and nodded his head vigorously towards the red-haired girl. "...administrator...? Not a god-ss monster...?" ymore tilted her head and asked with suspicion. "Answer the question." The blue undead squinted his eyes and poked at ymore''s puffed-out cheek. "...! Y-yes! We all have both sets of memories, the ones where the world got suddenly engulfed in darkness for system knows how long and the other one where everything is slightly altered and things about Cranberry and you are straight-up changed. And also, I haven''t realized before but... YOU CAN TALK NOW?!" ymore gasped and jumped on her spot staring in utter confusion at the blue-skinned undead casually ordering her around. "Ha? Oh, right, I keep forgetting that we haven''t even met once after the reset... yes. As you can hear, he can." Cranberry furrowed her brows taken aback but she instantly realized the problem and nodded to herself. "That''s right! You haven''t even tried to contact me! What is the meaning of that?! I thought we were friends!" ymore pouted and turned to Cranberry, ring at her with usation. "..." Cranberry looked at her and then turned away to stare at the ground without answering for a while. "Eh...? We''re no-umpfh...?" "Shhh. Give her time." ymore''s eyes widened and she started to tremble but before she finished her sentence, Zombie blocked her mouth with his left hand shook his head from right to left. "...haa... well, I didn''t contact you because I was afraid that you won''t remember me. Since everyone else didn''t remember the real me, I didn''t want to hear you ask me why did Ie to see you as if it was our first real meeting." Thanks to that, Cranberry could properly gather her thoughts and exin it. "Pretty pathetic for a Pride, isn''t it?" She added with an awkward smile and instantly looked away. "Cranberry!" Zombie took his hand away so that ymore could throw herself at the red-haired girl and lock her in a tight hug. "It''s not pathetic at all! Just because you''re a Pride doesn''t mean that you can''t have doubts or normal feelings! I''m sorry that I''ve said something so mean!" The petite girl sniffled and apologized, nuzzling her face against Cranberry''s shoulder. "...thank you..." The red-haired girl smiled softly and leaned against the petite girl. "Haa... that said. Tell us more about that vision of yours. Future sight is a powerful tier 3 skill... I''ve read about it before just because I thought that it could be useful but the process of acquiring it was just too much." After a minute or so, Cranberry straightened her back and began talking in a matter-of-fact voice. "The problem with it is that... well... apparently the future it shows is something that cannot be changed even if you try. Or rather, even if you try to change the future you saw, it will turn out that in the end, you were doing exactly what was necessary to make that very future happen." She frowned and tilted her head to the side while making a sour face. "That... that sounds horrible! So what, we can''t do anything to stop that thing from appearing?!" ymore gasped and trembled, letting go of the red-haired girl. "I''ve said apparently, what I''ve just said is simply something I''ve read in some old books. It might just be something that happened a couple of times when the user was unlucky and it''s not an actual rule." Cranberry raised her hand, stopping the other girl, and added, though truth to be told there wasn''t much conviction in her voice. "What I''m more interested in is the appearance of that monster. You said that it was made out of red and ck smoke, right? And you looked really shocked when you saw Zombie''s right hand." The red-haired girl added and pointed at the blue undead - who raised his red and ck smoke right hand and waved it at the petit girl with an innocent expression. "..." Just one look at the constantly swirling smoke that somehow continued to keep itself in a shape of a humanoid hand was enough to give ymore goosebumps all over her body. "This might prove to be problematic..." The red-haired viiness sighed and started massaging her forehead. "Tell us about that vision. What exactly was happening and where. Every detail that you can remember." She asked with a serious expression. Chapter 279: [Bonus Chapter] Patiences anguish

Chapter 279: [Bonus Chapter] Patience''s anguish

"This is terrible, simply terrible..." A young rabbit-faced woman was walking back and forth inside the giant transparent sphere at the very top of the tower of sloth. With no more confusing fog covering the area below, she had a perfect view for basically all of her territory, but she was in no mood for enjoing the scenery. "What is that girl doing...why has she began ignoring all the quests I''ve been giving her? Has she realized that I''m influencing the system...? No, impossible... She might have known this world from the game that my creator based it on, but she surely realized that it''s not exactly like it... right...?" The voice who spoke those words was undoubtedly the voice of Almond ¨C Shank''s cousin that the Cranberry and the others passed on their way down, but judging from the meaning of said words, her body waspletely taken over by Patience by that point. Her eyes were glowing with white light as she was using the miracle lense skill to peek at the group gathered by the savior her creator brought into this world. Each of them was amongst the strongest character in the game, literally the best possibleposition ¨C but at the same time, they all were like that? because the bugs and glitches in the system! It wasn''t like that was forbidden or anything, since Patience''s creator recreated the game he liked down to the tiniest detail, but it certainly wasn''t something that would be good for the world as a whole in the long run. Especially problematic was the angel-ss king rank monster, Radiance ¨C the Will of the World. When paired with Justice''s Wrath, Radiance had ess to a game-breaking attack that could prove actually dangerous to the bnce of the system... "...what is she doing...?" The avatar of sloth murmured again, looking with concern towards the Wraths'' territory. Everything would be so much easier if only her creator had talked with her at least once after he moved on from this world he created on a whim... The creation of a brand new world isn''t something that should be done without a purpose, but her creatorpletely disregarded the rule made by the other gods and fooled around anyway... Once he realized that his design was wed, he wanted to scrap the whole thing but got stopped and scolded by the higher-ranked gods ¨C if he would destroy the new world, his rank amongst the others would reach rock-bottom. The destruction of the world that they govern over is absolutely disgraceful for the respective higher beings known as gods and hence once they realize that something wrong is going on with even one of those, they reach out for the help of the saviors from the base world ¨C Earth. "...why did you have to choose someone like her... the failsafe you have sent right after her would be so much better..." The mouse-faced woman sighed deeply, putting her hand on the translucent surface and looking at her faint reflection. What she saw was a pitiful, miserable girl unable to cope with the amount of work her neglective father has left her with. "It shouldn''t be like that... but it''s my fault too..." She sighed again and lowered her head while clenching her hand into a fist. "...I knew that my creator doesn''t think things through... I should have known that the savior that he will find won''t be trustworthy at all, but I put my trust in them anyway... am I a faulty creation too, after all...?" She let out a self-mockingugh and shook her head with disgust. Then she turned away and walked over to another spot and focused onto something at the Greeds'' territory, the main area of the Fruit Sd kingdom. "...they got so strong... is it my fault too? I should have just let the system chose different magic for that crazy girl to awaken to. My own first and worst mistake was to force the system to use the master of the eternal servant magic... I even worded it as if it was created just for her, ridiculous... as if something new could be created in this failing world with a failed overseer such as myself..." Patience continued to insult themselves while her physical face was smiling softly. *WHAM* "NO! That''s not my fault! It''s their own fault for killing all the essential characters that could have been used to push the story towards a different ending! It''s all their fault that I had to overwrite the game set in the middle to try and salvage what was left!" Suddenly the smile disappeared and got reced with a furious grimace as the woman mmed her hand against the transparent wall. "I was just fulfilling my duty! Why couldn''t YOU do even one thing properly! YOU USELESS FAILURE ¨C ah...!" She roared and cried and fury and desperation were mixed in her voice ¨C but as she red towards the Greeds'' territory, she once again looked at her own reflection. "...I am not the failure here...! I definitely don''t see an image of myself in that failed recement-viiness either!" Patience pushed themselves away from the wall and turned around as if to escape the look in the eyes of the body they took over. "Why can''t someone save me... why does some failed recement-viiness got herself someone who will always stay by her side while I am stuck in here all alone... If only I just...!" Patience clenched their fists and red at their feet. "...what am I even talking about...? My creator left me in charge so I have to continue the ythrough he started... If I decided on restarting everything from the scratch, I would have betrayed him... I''ll prove myself that I am worthy only by leading whatever is left of this scenario topletion... the world won''t be destroyed, the hard reset won''t be necessary... I am not a failure... I will show father that...!" They flinched and shook their head as if they caught themselves saying something that they shouldn''t have. "I will show my creator that creating me wasn''t a mistake...!" They dered with a determined expression. "...eh...?" Suddenly they stiffened and slowly turned back towards the Wraths'' territory, with their glowing eyes wide open in disbelief... The thing was, not only their eyes were glowing, their ears did too. Miracle lense was an amazing vision-based detection skill ¨C and as such, it had an equivalent when it came to hearing too ¨C the spy''s ear, and it just so happened that the body that Patience was inhabiting happened to possess both. "...shape the world to your liking...? Your liking...? As if an outsider like yourself has any right to decide the fate of the world that I govern, you...!" Patience gritted their teeth in a sudden burst of fury. "..." But just as fast as they got angry, Patience suddenly calmed down, or rather lost all will to rage and instead got on top of the podium in the middle of the sphere, where theyid down on their back and stared at the clear blue sky. "...that should not affect me as much, who do I think I am, a god...? As long as the story reaches one of the correct endings, the world will stabilize... That should be enough for me... maybe even my creator will praise me..." Patience smiled to themselves and raised their hands towards the sky. "...who am I kidding...?" But their smile didn''tst long and in turn changed into a tearful expression and they had their face in his hands. "Please... somebody force me to restart everything and make me correct the mistakes of my father... I''m too scared of disappointing him to do that by myself...!" They whimpered weakly, but only silence responded to them. Chapter 280: Silence before a storm (3)

Chapter 280: Silence before a storm (3)

"A thing like that is supposed to happen huh..." Zombie tilted his head and frowned. "And are you sure that you didn''t see me anywhere near that area?" Cranberry crossed her arms and asked ymore. "Y-yes... I mean - when I used that skill I was fully concentrated on Kopia and not on any one of you so, you know..." ymore fidgeted and looked down apologetically. "No, no. It''s fine. Haa... The problem is that it kind of looks like you''ve seen Zombie there, right?" Cranberry shook her head and sighed, waving her hand dismissively. "Huh? I was? Where?" Zombie leaned away, taken aback by the calm deration. "...well..." ymore fidgeted on her spot and nced at his right hand. Red and ck smoke that wasprising it certainly did look just like the same substance that the terrifying monster in ymore''s vision was made out of, it honestly wasn''t that hard to figure out... "So what? I am supposed to turn into some screeching beast?" Zombie raised his brow and looked at the two girls in front of him with doubt. "Do you know anyone else that fits the description? Don''t you remember that after you got beheaded by the holly attribute skill that ck and red smoke came out of your wound and reced it?" Cranberry pointed out with a worried face. "But if I remember correctly I couldn''t make a sound. At least that what you''ve told me." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Zombie, we should be focusing on figuring out what happened. You don''t need to get so defensive, no one uses you of anything." The red-haired girl reached out and grabbed onto Zombie''s left hand and assured him. "Yes, you are. If that monster in ymore''s vision is me, then that means that someone managed to destroy my physical body! I''ll have you know that I remember that you shared the elemental immunity skill with me! And I have the bonus resistances and immunities of the king of pride title! With that, there is no way that I got turned into some screeching mindless monster!" Zombie scoffed and turned away deeply hurt. His role wasn''t the proudest corpse just for nothing, his sense of pride truly skyrocketed since he regained his free will. "That screeching part is really getting to you, isn''t it?" Cranberry snorted and smiled softly at the grumpy undead. "But can''t you put it aside just for me? I know that it''s annoying to have someone say that you didn''t win but let''s focus on what might be happening there. Because if, just if, that monster is you, then where am I in this whole situation? I don''t believe that I would want to leave you if I could help it." Cranberry squeezed his hand reassuringly and asked without changing her gentle expression. "..." Zombie frowned even harder but ended up turning back towards the two girls. "Alright. But if that''s the case things might be easier than you both think." He sighed in said while shrugging his shoulders. "Eh...? What do you mean?" ymore flinched and stared at the blue undead. "Cranberry and I were entering the ballroom and I spotted my sister and got super angry at that reincarnated waste of a human being so I left Cranberry and went straight at that filth. I activated one of the fire skills I now have thanks for the boots of the phoenix, but not therge-scale one since Cranberry surely told me to not kill any of the nobles present. But thinking about it now, if that dumpster fire of a human really is the savior brought into this world then she must know the game it''s based off in and out. That means that she had both time and opportunity to get as strong as possible and would surely be strong enough to block one of my weaker attacks. She might as well have multiple attribute skills maxed out and would definitely use an appropriate one to deal with me since she should still be unaware about who I actually am and would probably consider me just another capture target. With that, I would end up evaporated and end up in that smoke form." Zombie didn''t actually need to breathe so his exnation wasn''t paused even for a moment no matter how long it got. "With what you''ve said that vision didn''tst that long, Cranberry probably didn''t show up only because she was shocked by my initial reaction. You know, I can talk so calmly now but I kind of doubt that I''d be able to just keep it down if I finally see that pile of living garbage in person while actually knowing about who she really is. If it is the person that I suspect her to be, at least." Zombie ended the exnation with a light shrug and leaned back as if he himself had got rid of a heavy weight off of his shoulders. "..." Cranberry and ymore looked at each other inplete silence. "...reincarnated person...? Game...? Savior that is a trash...?!" ymore asked bbergasted, looking between the blue-skinned undead and the red-haired viiness. "Oh. Right. That is another thing we will need to talk about. But not now." Cranberry nced at her and nodded her head dismissively. "Your deduction sounds really nice. I wouldn''t mind if it was true." The red-haired girl smiled and nodded at her eternal servant. "What is that supposed to mean? It surely is true." Zombie raised his brow and red down at the master of the eternal servant. "Don''t you think that with all that you said about that savior girl, she ended up killing me and that''s why you were so angry?" "...!" Cranberry''s smile grew a lot sadder and she looked away from the stunned undead. "No! That is definitely wrong! If you died I would kill every single living in the vicinity, not just screech like some dumb monster!" Zombie gritted his teeth and red at the red-haired girl. "Haa... yes, that''s true." Cranberry shook her head and then smirked at her blue undead. "Oh. Actually... ymore, did you see Roan anywhere in your vision...?" Suddenly she furrowed her brows and turned to the petite girl by her side. "Roan...? Oh! The royal prince! Umm..." ymore gasped and closed her eyes focusing on the memory of the vision. "No... that''s right. I definitely didn''t see the royal prince anywhere. But what about it?" ymore eximed but then tilted her head, unable to find the connection. "Oh! Then Zombie''s exnation might be correct after all, considering that Roan begged me at least seven times already to allow him to apany the two of us so I ended up agreeing. It actually sound usible that you didn''t see neither him nor me because we were actually at the ballroom door...!" Cranberry smirk became a genuine smile and her expression lighted up. "Hey! You totally didn''t trust in my exnation before!" Zombie raised his head and eximed in disbelief. "Well... you know, even with your free will back and all, you still are under the heavy influence of the rotten brain title so..." The red-haired girl fidgeted awkwardly and looked to the side. "...!" "You two move at your own peace no matter what, huh...?" ymore scoffed and shook her head with an awkward smile. Chapter 281: Silence before a storm (4)

Chapter 281: Silence before a storm (4)

The royal castle was shaking from all the hustle and bustle of the preparation for the grand ball. Only a few hours remained before the start of the party and the servants were literally running back and forth to make sure that everything was done perfectly since no one wanted to believe face the wrath of the royal family because a detail there were responsible for weren''t up to the highest standards. "Haa... this is it, huh..." Cranberry leaned against the window frame, looking outside at the guests who already begin to arrive. "So many living... that''s annoying. Can''t I kill at least half of them? Three-quarters?" The blue undead walked over to her and leaned down, resting his chin on her shoulder, and looked at her with a hopeful expression. "Pffft...! Ha ha! No! Of course not!" The red-haired girlughed at the thought that the blue undead somehow mixed up which is a smaller quantity, and raised her hand to pat Zombie''s head while shaking her own. "Fine. Still..." Suddenly Zombie''s lighthearted expression turned dark and his eyes begin glowing red. "It''s annoying. I never saw how Caramel''s life signature looks so I can''t recognize her no matter how hard I try..." He sighed ring down at the people swarming below. "It''s not your fault. If I didn''t keep you away from her on purpose when we were kids that problem wouldn''t happen." Cranberry denied him and gritted her teeth. "That said - how is that possible that you knew who she was? You said that you met her once during the first kill party and the other time was when she arrived at the Pride''s mansion as Mary''s guardian but you never asked about her name, right?" The blue undead asked curiously. "Well... I could feel that there was something simr about you two... you kind of sound alike, and you even looked simr, the only real problem with spotting it was your skin and hair color." Cranberry exined with a shrug. "I had a feeling that you two might be rted since you''ve mentioned having a sister." She added. "Tsk! Now that I know it might be the filth I knew back in my past life, being simr to her in any way makes me want to rip off my face and melt it with my venom." The blue undead clicked his tongue and shuddered. "Ha. What did she do to you to earn such hate? Because that sounds kind of excessive even for the standard of the living-hating undead." Cranberry raised her brows and asked. "I haven''t told you before and I don''t intend on telling you that now. I want to leave that past dead and buried, just as I intend to deal with that human waste." Zombie scoffed and made a disgusted face. "Then I suppose that you will be happy to learn that during my first meeting with her I made her kneel down and broke her nose by stomping on her head?" The red-haired viiness smiled and asked yfully. "Khahahaha! You did?! That''s amazing!" *peck* Zombie let out a mockingugh and then gently kissed the red-haired girl''s cheek. "I also threatened to kill her if she dares to take even a single step into the Prides mansion." Cranberry added while a slight blush covered her whole face. "Oh... well, that''s a bit of a shame that you weren''t able to follow up on that promise. But it''s not surprising... even with all the negative traits that that human garbage represents, stupidity sadly isn''t one of them." With the new revtion, the blue undead became slightly more annoyed than he already was and even activated some of his skills, including superbia, which caused the room to be flooded by intense violet light. "That bad, huh..." Cranberry looked at her blue undead with wide eyes. "Worse. Much, much worse." Zombie scoffed and smirked with disgust. "Hey, if it helps you, there''s nothing stopping you from killing her as soon as you see her tonight." Cranberry smiled and reassured him. "Oh? Really? Just like that, you''re giving me your blessing? You won''t try to pry any further?" Zombie smirked with amusement, looking at the serious face of the red-haired girl. "Of course! I am not that kind of a nosy woman - I know when to back off!" Cranberry scoffed and proudly raised her head. "Pffft...! Sure, sure. Anyway, I''m happy that you say that. It makes things easier. But still, I want to check whether it really is the person I have in mind. It would be extremely awkward if it turned out to be just someone from my family that I forgot or something." "...! Ha... true. I didn''t think about that..." Cranberry flinched and fell deep into thought, tapping her chin with her fist. "Everything will be alright." Zombie assured her and hugged her from behind, locking her in a pleasantly cool embrace. "That said, shouldn''t we start getting ready? I never participated in anything like a royal ball, no matter this life or the previous one. How long will the preparations take?" The blue undead perked up and asked. "Well... not that long I suppose." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders looking at the splendid ballroom dress and an elegant tuxedo waiting for the two of them to be put on. "What I''m worried about is thatdy Gluttony couldn''t be contacted even by the royal family... haa... I hope that everything will end up fine. I really don''t want to kill ymore - especially after learning that she actually remembers me properly..." The red-haired girl sighed and started staring at the ceiling. "Everything will end up fine, you''ll see!" Zombie smiled and touched Cranberry''s face with his left hand. "You''ll see. Soon enough we will conquer this world and be put into history books just as you''ve always wanted." He dered and smiled reassuringly. "Haa... I wish that you''re right about that..." Cranberry closed her eyes and let the natural coldness of the blue hand calm her nerves. Seeing that, Zombie''s smile gt wider and he activated his life signature detection skill just in case and... "Hmm...?" He raised his brows looking towards the castle''s gates. "What is it?" Cranberry opened her eyes and asked curiously. "It''s Mary. But she didn''t bring Blueberry. Odd..." Zombie exined, tilting his head. "No way, no one is allowed to bring any monsters into the royal pce during today''s ball, well, except me, no matter how well behaved they are. Sorry to say that but we won''t be seeing Blueberry or Arion today. It''s more odd that Mary even came here in the first ce - from what I''ve heard the only member of the Hope family who was invited - Mary''s adopted father - has rejected the invitation outright." Cranberry furrowed her brows and shrugged her shoulders. "...hey, let''s go see them!" Zombie perked up and grabbed Cranberry''s hand before pulling her towards the door. "Ha? Them? What them?" The red-haired girl gasped in shock but let herself be lead anyway. Chapter 282: Silence before a storm (5)

Chapter 282: Silence before a storm (5)

With Zombie''s life signature detection, it wasn''t too difficult to find and get to Mary. The surprising thing was who she came with. A tall young man with tanned skin and long wild ck hair with an orange glint to it was the one to wave at the master-servant pair as soon as he spotted theming towards them - as if he was already familiar with them even though it was definitely the first time that Cranberry has ever seen him. She didn''t remember his face from multiple hours spent on memorizing the pictures of every single member of the important nobility that she was put through when she was a child, so this man shouldn''t have been anyone that important... Or should he? "Youngdy Cranberry, big brother Zombie!" The tanned young man bowed towards the red-haired girl and the blue-skinned corpse puppet with extreme satisfaction as if he wished to have done that all along. "Hello... nice to meet you, sir...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows at the strange familiarity that the unknown young man had allowed himself for and nced at Mary, expecting her to introduce herpanion or remind him to introduce himself. "We... we better find some ce we could talk in peace." But instead of that, Mary went ahead and hurriedly asked the master-servant pair while holding onto the muscr hand of herpanion. "Sure..." Cranberry nodded with suspicion but still ended up leading the two to the most suitable ce - back to the exquisite chambers usually meant for the foreign royalties. So, basically, Zombie and Cranberry had returned right where they left just a couple of minutes before. As soon as the door closed once the four of them were inside, the blue undead left the red-haired girl''s side and approached the tanned young man, raised his hands, and...! "Who''s a good boy...?!" Zombie grinned wildly and started patting the tall man''s head. "Z-Zombie what in the world are you doing?!" Cranberry momentarily lost her cool, taken aback by the shocking behavior of her eternal servant. And looked between the embarrassed Mary and the overjoyed tanned young man... Wait...! Overjoyed...?! "Hehehe! I knew that big brother Zombie would recognize me!" The tanned man eximed happily, lowering his head to provide the best headpat-able angle possible. "Recognize...?!" Cranberry shook her head as if she thought that she misheard what the young man has said and turned right towards the increasingly red brown-haired heroine. "...I seriously hoped it wouldn''t y out like this..." Mary sighed heavily, covering her face, shielding herself from Cranberry''s confused eyes. "Cranberry, don''t you recognize him? It''s Arion! The cute doggie, Arion!" "...!" Zombie looked at the red-haired girl and dered happily without stopping the affectionate patting. "Arion?! But Arion was a wolf, ri...?! Ha?! So this was what that quest was about?! You needed ten corpses of the humanoid titan-ss monsters to make yourself a boyfriend?!" Cranberry shook her head in disbelief and waved her head at the human Arion and stared at the brown-haired girl, demanding an exnation. "F-first of all, I would want to point out that Arion wasn''t originally a monster, he was a human, a member of the Gluttony family, who was born with something called a curse of starvation that has forcibly turned him into a wolf when he was eight years old. He got chased away from his family since children with the curse of starvation were always said to bring bad luck for the rest of the Gluttony family and were also considered as weaklings that lost to the sin of gluttony. Normally the children who got turned into wolves would die within a year but Arion happened to survive a lot longer because he was in fact very strong for his age. Then he ended uping across the group of adventurers hired by my father to look for a suitable monster for my first kill during the first kill part and... well, you apparently know the rest." Mary exined everything so fast that she almost forgot to catch a breath and almost fainted. Still, whether or not she exined everything properly, she did earn a judgemental look from the red-haired girl. "So... you''re telling me that this is your kink, huh..." Cranberry looked at the handsome, well-dressed, tanned young man who was happily getting patted by the blue undead and then back at the crimson-red Mary. "Hey! I don''t want to hear that from you! At least Arion is alive, okay?! Ah, no offense, Zombie, I don''t have anything against you being an undead!" The brown-haired heroine scoffed at the red-haired viiness before hurriedly facing towards the blue undead and bowing down apologetically. "Huh? Oh, sure, yeah, no offense taken... who''s a good boy?!" Zombie only nced at her once before returning to the overly excited young man who had clearly spend way too many years as a wolf. "..." "..." The two girls looked at each other... ""...haa..."" Before sighing in perfect sync. "Alright, so Arion is actually a human and a member of the Gluttony family. Haa... surprising, but still, I guess this is what you meant about not choosing a harem route - you had your choice by your side the whole time. I respect the dedication." Cranberry smirked and nodded to the brown-haired girl. "Don''t even get me started, at first I was kind of against it, you probably can understand why. And I even tried to go for the royal prince since he''s cute too, but thanks to you his route got locked up for me extremely fast. But I guess that all well that ends well." Mary shrugged her shoulders and pointed at the tanned man who looked like he was just a single bad decision away from going on all four and start barking as when he was still a monster. "Zombie. That''s enough. Arion is a human, not a wolf anymore, you can''t act like that in public." Cranberry pointed out to her blue undead, which earned her a grumpy look from the very same undead. "...!" ...but he has also stopped moving his hands which caused Arion to get visibly sad even though he no longer had big ears or tail that would usuallymunicate his mood much better than human expressions. "His life signature didn''t change at all. It''s still Arion that I know." Zombie pouted but took a respectful step back from the presented man. "Haa... I wonder if this changes anything..." Cranberry tiled her head and murmured to herself, carefully observing the heroine and the wolf who got reverted back into a human. *knock* *knock* "Cranberry? Zombie? Can I enter? I want to talk about what we have nned for the... oh! Hello there!" After a quick knock, ymore, already dressed up in a beautiful white ballroom dress, sneaked up inside the chamber and was stunned by the appearance of the unknown tanned man right in her face. "No, no, no! Not you! I''m not giving Arion to anyone!" As soon as Mary saw ymore, she paled and hurriedly walked in front of her to cover the tanned man from the avatar of lust''s sight with her own body. "Haa... Mary, rx. ymore is a friend." Cranberry breathe out and waved her hand dismissively. Chapter 283: Silence before a storm (6)

Chapter 283: Silence before a storm (6)

"...?" ymore took a step back, looking at the brown-haired heroine with confusion. "Is she now?" Mary nced back at the red-haired viiness and then back at the petite girl in front of her. "What happened to you killing the avatars of sin? You did aplete mess out of the lord Wrath back in their territory." Mary furrowed her brows and asked. "ymore is apletely different case." Cranberry shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. "The difference being...?" Mary raised her brow and asked. "The difference is that she is my friend and I don''t want to kill her. So could you give that up?" Cranberry gritted her teeth and her re got noticeably colder once her failure with dealing with the avatar of wrath was mentioned. "...sure..." Mary sighed but ended up nodding. But instead of stepping away, she just got closer to Arion and wrapped herself around his muscr arm. "But don''t try to take him away from me,dy Lust!" She added, continuing ring at the confused girl in a white dress. "Umm... I wasn''t intending to...?" ymore raised her hands and waved them around in denial. "Marlene, what got into you?" Mary''s behavior was odd enough to even earn Zombie''s confused question. "Nothing..." Mary nced at him and pouted, hugging Arion''s arm a bit tighter. "...it''s just that in those dreams about the game that I had, whenever ymore appeared as a girl it was because she wanted to mess up heroine''s rtionship with a capture target - even though she was a capture target on her own!" But only a secondter, the heroine ended up folding up and ended up confessing what was bothering her. "...ha...?" Cranberry gasped, wide-eyed, and turned towards the petite girl. "Umm... could it be that I never mentioned my role before?" ymore blushed and lowered her head just a bit. "Love-blessed disruptor / capture target." She blushed even harder and looked to the side fidgeting awkwardly. "But I assure you that I do not intend on disrupting anything! I swear!" But then she raised her head and hurriedly assured the red-haired girl. "Haa... yeah. I know. Rx." Cranberry smiled and smiled reassuringly to the trembling girl. "Mary, it really is alright. ymore doesn''t intend on going around seducing people left and right today - she wishes to find her bodyguard that she sent out on a reckless mission in the heat of a moment." The red-haired girl turned to the brown-haired heroine and assured her too. "Oh. Alright." Mary stared at Cranberry for a dozen seconds before giving up and stopping to cling so hard onto the tanned young man''s arm. "Maybe I can help then. As long as that bodyguard was someone important in the game, their mission could have shown us as an event that I''ve dreamt about." Mary sighed and looked at ymore without her previous suspicion and even did her best to give her a friendly smile. "...umm..." That was probably the reason why ymore started fidgeting and nervously backing off. "...? ymore?" Cranberry raised her brow, looking at the petite girl with confusion. "Oh, that''s right. You haven''t even told us about who you ordered them to kill, right? So?" Zombie nodded in realization and asked. "Whoa! Wait! You ordered your bodyguard to kill someone?!" Mary flinched and looked at the avatar of lust in disbelief. "..." ymore stared down at her feet in embarrassment and then slowly raised her trembling hand, and pointed her index finger at the heroine. "..." "..." "..." For a moment, the room became so silent that they could easily hear the sound of the fabric of ymore''s dress rustling as she fidgeted more and more under the pressure of the heavy silence. "That''s it. That settles it. I''m definitely noting into contact with any other capture target, Arion, after this party we are going to run away far into the mountains up north and live out our days in seclusion where no one will be able to find us." Mary crossed her arms and turned away furiously, showing her back to the dispirited ymore. "Haa... now I understand why you looked so relieved when you saw Mary here, all fine and well. If bodyguards of the nobility could get away with murder, this world would certainly look a whole lot different." Cranberry sighed and began massaging her forehead. "Hey! I am your follower, right?! Could I get some more sympathy here?! She just confessed that she sent someone after my life! That''s not something that can be forgiven that easily, you know?!" Mary stomped her foot andined to the red-haired viiness. "Oh? So now you are Cranberry''s follower? Nice!" Zombie raised his brows in surprise but then he smiled and pped his hands together. "...hmph...!" Mary pouted and looked away, angry that she dropped her guard in the spur of a moment. "Say, ymore. Do you remember seeing Mary or Arion in your vision?" Cranberry asked pointing at the brown-haired heroine and then at her tannedpanion. "Hmm..." The petite girl furrowed her brows and squinted her eyes, looking at the pair. "No... no, I don''t think so..." She tilted her head and denied in the end after some reflection. "Good. Zombie''s answer actually looks better and better with each new fact. It might not be so bad." Cranberry nodded and smirked triumphantly. "Eh? And what is this about?" Mary flinched and shook her head at the red-haired viiness. "I''ll exin to youter." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders dismissively and turned to back to ymore. "See? Since I would most likely be there, I''ll be also able to heal Zombie''s wounds when necessary - even if he turns into a wild monster, as long as I heal him he should get back to normal in no time. We won''t let Kopia die." The red-haired viiness smiled and put her hand on ymore''s shoulder with reassurance. "Ah...! Then! Then I will try extra hard to keep you safe!" ymore puffed out her chest and dered. "Ha? So you weren''t going to give your all before? I see how it is." Cranberry crossed her arms and scoffed at the avatar of lust. "That''s not what I''ve meant!" ymore hurriedly shook her head and denied what she just said. "Ha ha! Don''t worry. I know. Now. It''s high time to start getting ready, don''t you think, Zombie?" Cranberryughed and shook her hand, showing that she didn''t mean anything serious before, and looked back at her undead. "Sure." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and nodded with agreement. Chapter 284: The beginning of the storm

Chapter 284: The beginning of the storm

The splendid music was flowing through the air enhancing the grand atmosphere of the pompously decorated ballroom where tens of high nobles were indulging themselves in exquisite food, magnificent alcohol, and the pleasant small-talk appropriate for the asion. Usually, the royal family would organize a grand ball like that to announce some joyous asion, like the date of the wedding of the next heir to the throne. Though, what was unusual this time, the security of the royal castle was so high that no one actually knew what was the asion this time. After all, this time it shouldn''t have anything to do with a royal wedding... No matter how one looked at it, the girl who was the fiance of the current royal prince was just some violent girl from the noble family that although was considered as one of the seven main families of the kingdom - was a ruined family with no prospects of recovery whatsoever, not while the current head of the family, lord ckberry Pride, was missing. If anything, many people present suspected that the ball is only meant to be used as a chance to officially break off the engagement between the Pride''s girl and the young Greed and announce either another candidate or that the position of the fianc¨¦e is open. What else would the greedy queen spend a huge amount of money on anything else...? "!!!!" That line of thought was the exact reason why so many people got either taken aback or bbergasted at the sight of the group that entered. Not pair. Group. A group of people entered the ballroom through the wide door in a spearhead formation. The very first person was...! The tall freckled red-haired daughter of the Pride family! She was wearing an exquisite ck dress with red highlights that even though showed a loot of skin somehow ended up looking menacing. ...or maybe that was because of the person wearing the dress and not the dress itself... Why? Well, because youngdy Pride wasn''t holding herself up like a properdy. She entered the ballroom with a ck wooden weapon that was too thin to be a mace - but was giving off a fearsome aura - rested across her shoulders, and she was looking around with an annoyed expression as if she was not only pissed off, but ready for picking a fight as well. The person at her right wasn''t a person at all - it was a blue-skinned undead with ck hair and reddish eyes, dressed up in a splendid tuxedo... with the exception of not actually wearing any shirt and not buttoning up the jacket making it show off its chiseled torso, and with the audacity to still wear a tie around its bare neck. As if to make things even more scandalous, many of the shocked guests realized that the puppet''s massive height wasn''t actually his natural one, but one boosted by the ridiculously high heels of his ck boots - boots that for whatever reason were giving off a dangerous fiery aura only recognizable by the ones with the affinity for fire. Further on the right side ofdy Pride, none other than the handsome blond-haired royal prince was walking with a prideful expression, as if being able to walk next to the pair was some sort of achievement. With the right side done - on youngdy Pride''s left side, the closest one was the timid but overwhelmingly beautiful head of the Lust family, ymore Lust, who had chosen to show up as a girl for the first time in forever and decided to wear a refreshingly innocent white dress that contrasted with most of the values represented the by her house. Further on the left, was another pair. A short brown-haired girl that some of the present quests have remembered from her debut at her own first kill party when she received a tamer ss at level 1 and even tamed the monster that she was supposed to kill. Mary Hope. For the asion, she chose to put her long brown hair up and wear a pastel orange dress. Some might have wonder what a girl from a well-respected, but nevertheless a mid-tier noble family was doing at the ball meant only for the high nobility... ...but people who would have thought that would prove themselves to bepletely blind and not paying attention to the girl''spanion. Tall, muscr, with wild ck hair with orange glint, his eyes sharp like those of a hunter, with tanned skin and the aura of a wild beast - in the elegant tuxedo he looked as if someone had tried to dress up monstrous wolf into the official clothes. Someone like that could only be a member of the Gluttony family, there was no ce for doubt. But... who was he...? Surprisingly enough, even some of the members of the Gluttony house were unable to answer that question - they had no doubt that the young man was one of them, but... who exactly...? --- "...there''s something odd going on here..." Zombie furrowed his brows and leaned down in order to whisper into Cranberry''s ear. "Odd...?" The red-haired girl asked indifferently but even though she managed to keep her voice in check, she ended up clenching her fist holding the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "There are four life signatures that look distorted mixed amongst the other living." The blue undead reported with a bothered expression. "What do you mean distorted? Your life signature detection is something that cannot be blocked, the only reason to escape it is to be as close to death as physically possible, or just dead...!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and tensed up. "All the books I''ve read up until now support the idea that it''s the only ability that cannot be fooled!" She added and started looking around at the gossiping nobles ncing at them from every direction, but didn''t spot anyone suspicious. "It seems like the books were..." /The ball of joyful celebration - start A sudden system message interrupted Zombie''s words. "...!" Cranberry straightened her back and stopped in ce. *bump* *push* "Haa...?!" Or rather, she tried to but someone had the audacity to touch her back and push her forward - so she turned away with the full intention of obliterating the audacious fool but... "...!" She was faced with thin air, even though she felt the pressure on her back continuing to propel her forward...! "What the...?!" She gasped and tried to oppose the pushing force and take a step back, but once again... *bump* She was stopped by the invisible wall... /Unable to leave the area Story even in progress Another message had popped up in front of both the red-haired viiness and her blue-skinned corpse puppet. "..." The two looked at each other. "Haa...! Zombie, this is clearly the worst-case scenario - we''re switching to n F right away." --- "What is she doing?!" --- Cranberry scoffed and shook her head, activating her skills without caring for the reaction of the shocked bystanders. Chapter 285: The storm begins

Chapter 285: The storm begins

"Cranberry?" Mary looked at the red-haired girl in confusion. "Haa... all of you, try whether the invisible walls are forcing you to move." Cranberry sighed and asked, in annoyance. "..." Mary, Arion, ymore, and Roan, all stopped and managed to stay in ce without any trouble while Cranberry and Zombie were being pushed forward even though they weren''t actually trying to walk. "What is going on? What are those invisible walls?" Roan furrowed his brows and asked. "Hey, wallet, don''t act dumb! Invisible walls, the same thing that showed up during the first kill party and closed off the adults when Cranberry and I were facing the dragonewt." The blue undead scoffed at the blond prince with disbelief. "Zombie, he can''t remember it. The reset happened, tight?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and shook her head. "You better watch those four distorted life signatures instead of ying around teasing Roan. What are they doing?" She scoffed at her eternal servant and started looking around herself. "They keep on circling around, hiding from my normal vision. It''s annoying. It''s like they know about life signature detection." Zombie frowned and grumbled in annoyance. "Haa... That''s because they most likely do know about it, or at least know that abilities like yours exist and they doing their best to counter them." Cranberry breathed out and exined, gripping her baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...it really is the worst option, huh...?" Zombie''s expression turned dark as he folded his arms and red intently at the distorted life signatures within his line of vision as if that would help in this situation. "Yes. Haa... Caramel didn''te alone." Cranberry breathed out and moved her bat so it was now resting on only one of her shoulders, in a position from which she could strike at any moment. "Zombie, check whether the invisible walls cover the entire area, but do so without going so far that you would have to cause damage to others to make it to my side." The red-haired viiness instructed her blue-skinned corpse puppet and flicked her wrist as if she was shaking off a speck of dust. "I''ll try no check on at least one of those people with the odd life signatures - actually, one of them is oddly familiar. Too familiar..." He added, squinting his eyes and tilting his head. "Oh, also. That weakling trash who dared to hurt Blueberry is attending this party too." The blue undead added lightheartedly, without actually paying much attention to his own findings. "Ha? She is? Already? That''s a bit odd..." Even if Zombie wasn''t taking the ashen-haired girl''s presence seriously, Cranberry flinched and tilted her head. "What''s so odd about it...?" Zombie stopped himself half-step and turned curiously towards the red-haired girl. "If she traveled with conventional methods, she should have arrived just yesterday. Therefore she should have learned about her father''s death around the same time - what is she doing here while she should be mourning? Ha...?" Cranberry spoke slowly, looking around - and ended up flinching once she saw the very recognizable ash-colored hair of the only daughter of thete head of the Wrath family. The girl was standing by one of the walls - staring right back at the viiness. "...ha...?" Cranberry frowned and pushed forward her chin almost subconsciously, challenging the ashen-haired girl to approach her. "..." But there was something odd about the young miss Wrath. ...she wasn''t feeling wrathful at all... It was so odd that intrigued Cranberry didn''t even realize when Zombie left toplete her firstmand and check whether the invisible walls simply follow the two of them or rather are encircling them. But back to Cranberry''s confusion about Mika''s act - not only did the ashen-haired girl didn''t show any signs of hostility at the sight of the red-haired girl who undoubtedly brought forth the demise of the avatar of Wrath - she didn''t even look bothered by that very death either! Her dress was crimson for system''s sake! Both the color and the style of the ashen-haired girl''s clothes were as far from the rules of mourning practiced in their kingdom as possible. Still, it was possible that Mika''s feelings towards her father were simr to Cranberry''s feelings towards her mother - but still, there was this feeling in the aura surrounding the ashen-haired girl. The aura of something being off. It was... unsettling. "Haa... Maybe I should have killed her back in the north, after all." Cranberry sighed to herself. "Maybe you should have, youngdy Cranberry." "Ha...?" Funnily enough, someone answered her mutter. And that someone turned out to be none other than the ex-wolf monster turned back into a human, Arion. While Mary was fidgeting nervously at his side, the tanned young man was standing tall, and his wild ck hair with orange luster bristled just like the fur of a cautious wolf. "This whole room is reeking with blood. And I''m not talking about the blood of monsters - because you and big brother Zombie could be smelled from another continent when ites to that - it''s human blood. Way, way too much." Arion frowned, ring at the calm ashen-haired girl standing by the wall. "And it alles from her - she wasn''t like that when we left her in the Sloths'' territory..." He squinted his eyes and growled cautiously. "That''s so wrong though...! In my dreams, Mika was just a heroic side story character that could be used as a party member afterpleting her questline. Heroic! Not murderous!" Mary cowered and hugged Arion''s arm a bit tighter. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out, making eye contact with Mika. The ashen-haired girl didn''t seem to be bothered in the slightest - there was absolutely no anger in her eyes, she even ended up smiling and raised up her left hand and waved towards the red-haired viiness... "HA?!" "!!!!!" Cranberry tensed up and activated all of her skills at once, causing many nobles to gasp in panic and get away from her as soon as possible. That hand! Mika''s left hand! She had the ring finger back! The very finger that Zombie poisoned and tricked her into tearing off! There should be no way for the ashen-haired girl to recover naturally, no matter what healing potions, salves, or skills that she should have ess to! And that meant one thing - she had someone helping her. "..." Seeing the furious reaction of the red-haired viiness, the ashen-haired Justice''s Wrath''s smile became much wider, and she started walking towards her as if intending to meet up like two good friends who agreed on it beforehand. Chapter 286: The first thunderstrikes

Chapter 286: The first thunderstrikes

"It''s a dome or at least a cylinder that goes all the way to the ceiling." Zombie appeared behind the red-haired Cranberry and reported with an annoyed expression. "Not good. Haa... let''s just hear what little miss Wrath has to say to us after all that happened." Cranberry sighed, shook her head, and motioned at the approaching girl - or at least at the direction she wasing from since with her meager heights, it was actually kind of hard to spot her actually moving behind the other people. "And why is that trashing here exact... huh...?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and frowned, rolling his eyes but once he actually looked in the right direction, he stopped his act and furrowed his brows in shock. "What is it...?" The red-haired girl asked, locking arms with the blue-skinned corpse puppet even though that caused a great deal of animosity to arise for the ashen-haired girl. Such a close rtionship with the undead was frowned upon by both themoners and nobles alike even without additional fueling it by the members of the system''s faith church. "That trash ising here together with one of the four distorting life signatures... but I could swear that this signature wasn''t there when I was testing what area do the invisible walls epass..." The blue undead turned to the red-haired viiness and spoke with an unnatural cautiousness. "Ha. So, a blink, or a teleport even. Interesting. Seems like Caramel brought someone who she thinks is capable of dealing with us." Cranberry hung onto Zombie''s arm, squinting her eyes, looking for the mysteriouspanion - but no matter what, she couldn''t spot a thing. It was either some really short person walking with the ashen-haired Justice''s Wrath, or someone invisible... Already prepared with all kinds of skills active, the master-servant pair followed by Mary, Arion, ymore, and Roan, walked forward, there wasn''t even a speck of hesitation in the leading pair''s act - as if they didn''t care about the damages they are doing to their opinion. ..well, the damages that Cranberry was doing to her opinion - as a corpse puppet, Zombie''s opinion was already at the very bottom, and basically, no one present knew that his rank was that of a king monster. With all that, they thought that they were prepared for whatever might being, no matter how strong. "...ha...?" That''s why once the ashen-haired Mika appeared in Cranberry''s field of vision, holding hands with a cute white-haired child, the red-haired girl flinched and gasped in confusion. "Youngdy Pride. It''s a pleasure to see you here in good health today." Mika approached their group and curtsied to the frowning Cranberry, without letting go of the white-haired child''s hand. "Radiance,e on, you too. Say hello." The ashen-haired girl tugged on the child''s hand and encouraged them with a soft smile. "..." The child called Radiance looked at her with innocent eyes and... "Okay." ...nodded without hesitation before lowering their head towards the master-servant pair. "Hello." Radiance said with their head down. "...!" "...?" There was something about the child''s voice that made Arion flinch, and Mary tilted her head looking up at his handsome face. "Ha..." But for the red-haired viiness, the detail more important than the child''s voice, were two bumps on the child''s back just around the shoulder des. "I''m sorry for her, Radiance is a bit shy with strangers, she must be baffled because everyone is bigger than her now." Mika straightened her back and exined calmly, before turning to the white-haired child and smiling at her. "...maybe..." Radiance fidgeted and pouted adorably while looking away in embarrassment. *BOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOM* "AAAAAAAAHHH!" "KYYYAAAAH" "WHAT, IN THE NAME OF THE SYSTEM...?!" Two consecutive explosions resounded and caused all of the high nobility to panic - no one came here expecting any trouble, so no one brought weapons for self-defense. Still, everyone had at least one defensive skill that they could use so the entire ballroom instantly lighted up with bright white lights. "What the hell?!" Mary gasped, staring at the cube of smoke and dust that appeared around the master-servant pair right when the explosions resounded through the ballroom. "Are, are those the invisible walls...?" The blond prince Roan gasped and raised his hand towards the unnaturally shaped dust cloud. "...!" And his eyes widened once his hand stopped an inch before reaching it, held back by some invisible boundary that felt as if someone made the air turned solid. "Wh-who cares about some invisible walls?! Why aren''t you more worried about Cranberry and Zombie?!" ymore raised her voice and started hurriedly walking around the cube, looking for an opening. "Youngdy Cranberry, there''s no need for any rush, your end is already set in stone." "...!" That''s why she could see the ashen-haired Mika facing the dustcloud, touching her face with a mocking expression, while the white-haired Radiance was reaching her pale hand forward... A hand surrounded by a distinct glow of the active skill. After a few more seconds the dust settled and revealed the furious Cranberry, glowing with every skill she had with her hand and baseball bat still mid-air, less than ten inches away from Mika''s head. Same with the blue-skinned corpse puppet by her side. The high heel of his boot was separated by the exact same distance from the head of Radiance. /Unable to leave the quest area /Unable to leave the quest area "Tsk...!" Cranberry clicked her tongue with disgust, ring at the two messages that popped up for her and her undead the moment their attacks were stopped and rebounded causing the dust could to raise up. "We don''t want other important ones to get involved in this. Radiance, could you be so sweet and get them away? Maybe to another end of the kingdom?" Mika smiled and asked the white-haired child, crouching by her while smiling encouragingly. "Alright, I can do that for you." Radiance made a cute serious face and nodded. "Let them g...!" ymore was stepping forward, her body glowing with a pale-blue light but as soon as Radiance raised her head and looked at not only her, but also Mary, Arion, and even Roan, they all vanished into thin air as if they were never there. "..." Cranberry watched it all while gritting her teeth and clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. *BOOOOOOOM* /Unable to leave the quest area Then another explosion resounded - it was the blue undead who tried to attack the white-haired child once more despite already knowing the oue. The invisible walls didn''t falter and the only result was for more of the avatar dust to raise up. "Now then. Shall we begin...?" "!!!!!" A soft voice spoke, but it didn''t belong to either Mika or Radiance - another person hase out from in between the crowd. A tall, light brown-haired young woman with a satisfied smile. "Well, well, well, we met again, youngdy Cranberry. It has been a while." The young woman snorted and touched her nose as if there was something wrong with it. "..moner trash. I would prefer if you had never tried to face me again, but oh well." The red-haired viiness smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, how curious... anyway. Up until now you never gave me a chance to introduce myself. I am Ca..." The light brown-haired girl didn''t get discouraged and even attempted a mockery of a courtsy but... "I don''t give a shit about your name,moner trash, I didn''t care about it when I crushed your nose and I still don''t care about it now." Cranberry didn''t let her finish and instead scoffed at her with a mocking smile while pointing her baseball bat at her. "...haa... guess I should just crush your whole head this time." She added with a sigh and her body glowed briefly before disappearing once she used the blink skill and vanished! Chapter 287: The baseball bat meets the system wall

Chapter 287: The baseball bat meets the system wall

"...!" For just a brief moment it looked like Cranberry''s action would end the whole thing and she will kill the system''s savior - even Caramel herself flinched and became pale as a ghost as she turned around expecting a glowing baseball bat to appear out of nowhere and aim at her head to pulverize it into nothingness. /Unable to leave the quest area "...tsk...!" But the first one to realize that such a thing would not happen was the blue undead who saw the system message pop up in front of him, even though he did not make a move. There was only one exnation for such a thing to happen... "..." Cranberry reappeared just a few feet away, right where the boundaries of the invisible walls were set up. Her furious face said it all. "Pffft...! Ahahahahahaha! You really thought that it would work?!" Another person walked out of the crowd, pping their ash-colored hands andughing joyously after watching Cranberry''s failed attempt at attacking. The person was tall and their face was hidden underneath a hood. "Do you remember me? Dear big sister?" The hooded person stoppedughing and instead pulled down their hood and revealed the handsome face with piercing green eyes ring down at the shocked red-haired viiness, perfectly covering for the speechless Caramel. "...howe you''re alive...?" The authentic shock on Cranberry''s face made Mason frown. "Oh my, surprised that one of your victims actually returned seeking justice for what you did to them?" Mason tilted his head and asked in a mockingly innocent voice. "Today is the day of your trial when the viiness will be judged for all her sins!" The green-eyed young man spread his arms and announced to the confused crowd. "...?" "..." Zombie tilted his head in confusion while Cranberry squinted her eyes and red at the all too happy ashen-skinned young man. "And although I feel like I''m the one she hurt the most, I at least wasn''t enved by her and forced to do her biddings through the years..." Mason sighed and shook his head from left to right. "It''s time to announce miss Cranberry Pride''s first crime! The murder, corpse desecration by turning him into an undead, and envement of the poor viger boy that everyone can see standing by her side! Her first victim, Kiwi!" Mason''s voice raised as if the ashen-skinned young man expected the blue-skinned corpse puppet toe forth with some sort of incriminating speech against the ashen-haired viiness. "..." And considering how Cranberry simply gritted her teeth and lowered her head, it seemed like she shared the thought. "Ugh! Shut up, you dumb fuck, Kiwi was such a stupid name, to begin with - Zombie is so much better!" "!!!" Zombie''s annoyed response raised bbergasted reactions from the crowd mainly because he concentrated on thepletely different thing than they expected. "Some of you might say that the murder part couldn''t be med on her, since she was so young and didn''t have any control over the carriage... Mason didn''t even blink at the blue undead''s response and just continued his incriminating speech in a calm and steady "And with that, I agree. That fault falls on her father ckberry Pride, who had the proper skill to stop the said carriage." "...?" That calmness alone was enough for Cranberry to notice that something was off but coupled with the mention of her father, who was currently missing together withdy Goji, made her flinch and raise her head to re at the gray fallen elf. "And he was already punished for his crimes before this party even started." "!!!!" Mason responded to the shocked Cranberry''s re with the brightest smile and raised waved his hand towards her. His gray hand was shining with a bright light and the skill that was used caused the grand chandelier above Mason''s head to sway in the same exact rhythm. "...haa..." Cranberry breathed out, barely able to keep her anger at bay. "Oh, and just so you know, dear sister, we''ve also hiddendy Goji away so you wouldn''t be able to harm her." "Bastard." Mason continued even after Cranberry scoffed an insult at him... The calmness that the fallen elf had stolen off of Lord ckberry just as he did his skills surely dide in handy because otherwise, the green-eyed half-elf would fly off the handle at anything that could be connected back to his parents - including the insult. "Hey, green-eyed trash, how did you survive being bathed in my venom? I''m pretty sure that I submerged the Envys mansion in it... your life signature wasn''t there - because you had died." Zombie put his left hand against the invisible wall and tilted his head, ring at the ashen-skinned half-elf. "This speaks for itself, Cranberry Pride had corrupted this poor soul to such a degree that it became her blind follower." Mason smirked and turned to the other guests. "Are you an undead now, is that it? No, even if distorted, you do have a life signature..." The blue undead furrowed his brows at the young man leading an event-worthy show instead of moving on. *?¡À¡À{Chapter 288: Glitched characters *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* *BOOOOOM* The inside of the cube made out of the system''s invisible walls turned blinding white as the unrelenting onught of superpowered attacks unleashed upon it. At first, there was no effect. Then, as the chain of strikes continued, everyone present in the castle felt the vibration rising up as if it was fine-tuning into the violent chaotic melody of each hit. "Youngdy Cranberry''s second sin would be..." Even with all the deafening noiseing from the shining cube, the fallen half-elf, Mason, was going on with the persecutor''s speech. Was. "GHUH...!" "Radiance?!" Because just as he was going to calmly list another fault of the red-haired viiness, the white-haired child, Radiance, trembled and coughed up a mouthful of blood which caused the ashen-haired Mika to gasp in panic and protectively hug her from behind. "...Caramel, what is going on...?" Mason frowned and nced at the light brown-haired young woman - who already was staring at the cube in disbelief. "I... I don''t understand...! She''s not supposed to be anywhere near this strong! Is this a glitch that I haven''t heard about?!" Caramel gasped, taking a step back in panic, staring at the shining cube that was slowly but surely losing its original shape...! The violent thrashing of the viiness was bending the system''s invisible walls out of shape!" *...* Suddenly the hits had stopped and as the light faded, revealing the bloodsoaked red-haired viiness smiling wildly, staring right at the trembling white-haired child controlling the system walls. "Fascinating...! And here I was afraid that you all had the actual system on your side, but you are clearly just using some measly proxy that has the finite amount of stamina, isn''t that adorable...? Thinking that you can get me with something like that? ME?! CRANBERRY PRIDE?!" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "GHUGHHGUGH...!" She roared, rising up her hand before bashing the invisible wall in front of her so hard that the Radiance bent in half and vomited a fountain of blood - able to remain on her feet only because Mika was holding her tightly from behind. "BITCH! How is your body able to withstand such power?!" Caramel shouted, baring her teeth in an outburst of aggression. "Haa? Is little miss reincarnation not know something about the game?" Cranberry shook off the blood from her hand and wiped off even more blood from her forehead. Even with all that bleeding, she seemed perfectly fine, ecstatic even. It all would remain a mystery if not for a thin trail of red and ck smoke connecting her nape and the mouth of the blue undead kneeling at her side with closed eyes absolutely concentrated on maintaining whatever skills he was using. "...! THAT''S NOT HOW YOU''RE SUPPOSED TO USE SKILL COMBINATION!" A vein had popped up at Caramel''s neck ash she shouted her lungs off once she realized the secret behind the impossible stamina of the red-haired viiness. "Ha! You see, the girl you sent system knows where used a future sight skill and her second vision warned us about what would happen. With that, there''s no way I would havee unprepared!" Cranberryughed mockingly, looking down at the red face of the young woman boiling with anger. "BULLSHIT! WHO DO YOU THINK MESSED UP WITH CLAYMORE''S VI... did you just said second vision...? Second?!" Caramel''s eyes almost bulged out as she stopped shouting and became pale as a sheet after she repeated Cranberry''s words. "Ha? Did we somehow end up messing with your ns, miss reincarnation?" Cranberryughed with a triumphant smirk while her baseball bat was shining in readiness. "..." The light brown-haired young woman didn''t respond, bit her lips, and lowered her head. "Caramel...?" Mason looked between the two girls and took a spot towards hispanion. "...if ymore didn''t get so angry that he sealed off the future sight and was using itter then it means we aren''t following the correct route and we''ll get the wrong ending..." "...!" Caramel''s murmur made Mason flinch. "I won''t allow this! KOPIA! Get over here! I need you to...!" She spat angrily to the side and turned around, making her dress whirl dramatically. "Wh-what am I supposed to do?! I''m not going to do anything unless you tell me where exactly did you senddy ymore! Is she safe?! What if that thing had sent her to the heart of the volcano or something?!" But the ready response that she was expecting wasn''t what she received - the small red-haired androgynous person stepped back into the crowd and crossed their arms while shaking their head in the act ofplete denial of any request that Caramel mighte up with. "You...! You filthy glitchy bug! Without me, something like you have no chance of ever protecting that annoying capture target!" Caramel growled and bit her lips to blood. "Screw this! As long as we kill the viiness we can salvage the better endingter! We don''t need your shapeshifting anymore anyway! Nomannic!" She turned to the other side, furiously spewing the drops of blood everywhere before shouting out another name. "Alright." And this time. She got the response she wanted. A tall dark-skinned woman with wild ck hair, dressed in a skin-tight ck dress pulled out the daggers from the sheaths on both sides of her waist and lunged forward. As her body shone with a bright light, her reflection in every reflective surface instead of showing her as a tall woman with twin daggers showed arge ck wolf with extremely long ws getting enveloped in darkness while charging at the closed-off pair. And as did her beastly reflection, Nomannic turned into a shadowy figure and charged straight at the red-haired viiness. "HA! GIVING UP TRAPPING US ALREADY?!" Cranberry scoffed andughed, expecting that the system wall in front of her will disappear so she readied for the counter and was already prepared for using the blink skill right away. ... But then Nomannic in her shadow form reached the barrier of the system walls.... "TOO PREDICTABLE!" *BOOOOM* With perfect timing, as soon as Nomannic had passed the point where there should be no system wall now since it would be cutting her in half, Cranberry swung her bat with a triumphant roar and caused... ...the whole cube to light up with her skill... "WHAT THE HELL?!" "?!?!?!?!?!!!?" Even though Zombie shouted loudly in shock, no one could have been more shocked than Cranberry herself. Her hit got blocked by the edge of the system wall! The system wall had no right to be there since Nomannic was passing through it as if it was simple air and not an overwhelmingly powerful barrier! But s, the woman d in shadow somehow managed to pass right through those very system walls and ended up embedding two of her daggers right in the middle of Cranberry''s chest, before passing through her and through the other invisible wall as if she really had no physical form whatsoever! "..." For a moment, there was silence. The red-haired viiness stumbled back and raised her hand towards two daggers which des were fully embedded inside her chest. But, there was no wound, no blood. It looked like the daggers were simply a part of the viiness... "...ha...?" Cranberry frowned and tilted her head before faltering as her HP began dropping rapidly with no regard to the damage absorption skill that her blue undead was constantly performing. "CRANBERRY!" Zombie raised up from his knees just in time to support the blue red-haired viiness before she would fell to her knees. "Viiness, meet the infinite damage glitch only possible with a bugged-out character like Nomannic." A smile returned to Caramel''s face as she breathed out in relief and exined. Chapter 289: JUDGEMENT

Chapter 289: JUDGEMENT

*STOMP* "...!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and stopped Zombie from supporting her, taking an earthquake-inducing step forward and raised her head - showing a face twisted in disgust and hate - which caused Caramel to flinch and take a step back. "Who the fuck do you think I am...!? HAA?!" She growled and grabbed onto the two daggers merged with her body... *RIIIIP* *SPLASH* And tore them out of her chest with the disgusting sound and a fountain of blood. "...haa... what about... this...? Haa...?" *ng* The red-haired viiness smirked mockingly, crushing the daggers and throwing them onto the ground before swaying on her feet. "Cranberry! You idiot!" Zombie gasped in a panicked voice and grabbed onto the unsteady girl. "Ha...? Oh, Zombie... a... a little smooch, maybe...?" With blood constantly pouring out of the gaping wound she caused herself by removing the glitched weapons, Cranberry was drifting into unconsciousness with each passing second. "Idiot...!" Zombie sighed with a horribly worried expression and touched the face of the red-haired girl locked in his protective embrace. And then their lips locked together. Zombie could barely hold back his anger when he noticed that Cranberry''s body was nearly as cold as his own. How much blood has she lost, will the damage absorption skill really be enough to heal that? The hurricane of worries raged inside the blue undead''s head as he concentrated on the skill and guided the dark red smoke into the terribly wounded body of the red-haired viiness. "...the Nomannic glitch might not be enough. Mason, continued with the persecution, but make it quick." ...but it wasn''t like the master and servant actually had any time to spare while in the middle of the horrible event and surrounded by enemies. "Ah. So it seems that we won''t need this? Good. I had other ns for this amazing concoction anyway." "!!!!!" To the surprise of everyone, with the exception of every single guest with the exception of Caramel''s persecution group, those words were spoken by none other than the queen herself, as she entered the ballroom in a splendid golden dress encrusted with precious stones. "Take it away." The queen nodded and snapped close the golden fan with the engraving of golden coins. *rustle* As if this was a signal, an odd sound of something being dragged away came from the ceiling, picking the attention of a few guests. "My queen, it might be too soon for celebration, let''s not get rid of the backup n so easily." Mary curtsied awkwardly and smiled at the blond monarch. "..." Zombie tensed up and the light of skill shone so brightly that it dyed half of the ballroom in violet light. Still, he didn''t do anything else since his damage absorption was having trouble with healing Cranberry''s woundpletely - it almost looked like the wound itself is cursed and would reopen the moment that Zombie''s skill closed it up. The only thing he cared about was to heal the red-haired viiness whose life signature was weakening and flickering like a candlelight in the wind, so he only left off the treacherous Greed woman with just a vicious re. "You, corpse puppet. Don''t you give me that look. The two of you might be somewhat strong, but how could you measure to someone who knows the future andmands someone who can influence the system itself? Choosing the side was incredibly easy." The queen looked back at him with pity and shrugged her arms. "And you chose well, my queen." Caramel bowed her head with a smile before turning to the gray-skinned half-elf. "Mason, my love, continue." She said with a benevolent nod. "...talk to me like that again and I will turn against you, you freak." Mason shivered and faced back to the confused crowd. "Her sins are as follows...!" Then he proceeded to list a whole bunch of usations, of which basically all were true... --- "...haa..." Yet none of that bothered the blue undead since his viiness had finally breathed without choking on her own blood as the multiple damage absorption in a row finally yielded the result. "...this looks bad..." Cranberry smirked softly, even though the wound in her chest looked as if it closed up, it didn''t mean that it was healed. "Hey, it''s alright, we can do it. The two of us will conquer the world, remember?" Zombie smiled back, without letting go of her. "...haa... I should have known that the queen will betray us... sorry for being a failure..." "...!" Cranberry sighed, looking at the queen listening in to the talking Mason, and caused Zombie to flinch. "Hey, hey. You might be a stupid idiot but you are not a failure, you never were!" The blue undead delicately shook her shoulders and refuted her words. "You probably are still a bit dizzy because my skill hasn''t recovered all of the blood that you''ve lost. Here, I''ll use it again." Zombie held her close and lowered his head, leaning in as his eyes glowed red. "...mph...?" But to his great surprise, Cranberry stopped him by weakly pressing the fingers of her right hand to his mouth. "...Zombie... could we just... kiss...?" She asked in a weak voice and rested her head against his shoulder. "...haa... you know... without the healing skill... Like, if you really loved me..." She breathed out and murmured. --- "With all of that, there should be no doubt that Cranberry Pride''s, the viiness''s existence is a sin and needs to be judged by the will of the system!" Mason ended his fiery speech and met with the approving murmur. No one knew what exactly was he going for with it - if they had the queen on their side, why not making this an official trial in the royal court. But they had no idea, that as long as two characters were present, every room was a courtroom ording to the system. "That should be enough, all of us are requesting Justice''s Wrath and the Will of the World to pass the judgment onto that foul being!" And without anyone asking for more exnation, the fallen half-elf called out to both of those characters. --- "Cranberry, it''s not time for that. I will kiss you as many times as you want once we''ll deal with all that trash!" Zombie grabbed her hand and gently removed it from his mouth. "...haa... so now you want to kiss me too...?...rotten brain... you make it sound like you actually love me... that''s unfair... you''re an undead... your kind cannot feel love... it''s all my wishful thinking again..." Even though Cranberry kept on smiling, she was getting weaker and weaker with each word... "What are you talking about?! You are the rotten brain here! Of course I love you!" Zombie scoffed at her in disbelief. "...you''re lying... since you regained your free will you never said that you love me... that''s how I knew it was all made up... but I couldn''t stop my own feelings..." Cranberry slowly shook her head from left to right in denial. "Wha...?! Made up?! Where did you get that idea?! And, after what we''ve been through, I didn''t think that repeating it was necessary anymore..! No, wait! Stop! You''re doing the same thing as during the night of the hungry wolves again! We can talk about it after I''ll heal you!" Zombie gasped in disbelief, but then he immediately shook his head and dered, kissing the red-haired viiness and activating the damage absorption skill while embracing her like the most precious thing in the world... --- "As a Justice''s Wrath I request the Will of the World to pass the fair judgment onto the viin that threatens the peace of thisnd!" Although the normally the skills didn''t require any incantations that did not mean that there weren''t any that did - and the ashen-haired Mika was showing off the proof of that. The light of the skill she activated was strong enough to bathe the whole ballroom in a blinding pure white light. "Request received." The white-haired child in front of her straightened her back and spoke up in an almost mechanical voice. "Calcting the evidence..." The child spoke up. "The viiness Cranberry Pride has been deemed guilty of all of the crimes she was used of... the penalty for which will be..." ""Death."" Radiance dered alone in the robotic voice but thest word she spoke together with Justice''s Wrath. Once they did, the already bright ballroom became the center of the creation of the new sun. The cube in which Cranberry and Zombie were locked in by the system''s invisible walls erupted with the glow so bright it could burn the eyes of whoever was foolish enough to look straight at it. *?>?.^?¡è|?¡À)(&^%$#@#$%^&* The whole castle shook and the brightness caused the bottom of the cube to explode with an ungodly sound and create a crater in the middle of the ballroom''s floor. "I think we got your younger brother together with that wretched woman..." Mason didn''t have a good look into the bottom of the crater so he shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the edge. "It''s disappointing, but as long as you will help me fill the void in my heart that his loss has created, everything will be alright." Caramel tilted her head as if she was considering her answer before saying it with a bright smile. A bit too bright of a smile. "...disgusting..." Mason shuddered and turned away from her, just so he could see the aftermath of the most powerful skill in the game thatpletely ignored any and all defenses, no matter how strong, and caused unimaginable true damage. "WHAT, IN THE SYSTEM''S NAME...?!" He gasped and stumbled back the moment heid his eyes upon the bottom of the crater. /Warning Servant became damaged Servant has insufficient mana to heal Permission to use Master''s mana required /Error /Master had died /Calcting... /The seal of the eternal has been broken prematurely /Initiating the anti-cheat protocol Chapter 290: The seal of the eternal has been unlocked

Chapter 290: The seal of the eternal has been unlocked

In the grand ballroom decorated so pompously, it must have cost a fortune... The crowd of splendidly dressed people - many of whom someone with a high social position would have no trouble recognizing as the members of various noble houses, big and small, from all across the whole Fruit Sd. Amongst them, a group of five rather unusual characters was sticking out like a sore thumb. The confused light brown-haired girl, Caramel, the reincarnated person from another world with the knowledge about the system and every event and glitch in the game. The scared tall gray-skinned man in a tuxedo, Mason Envy, the fallen half-elf and the only survivor of the massacre at the mansion of the main branch of the Envy family. The horrified dark-skinned woman in a ck dress with two long daggers on both sides of her waist - the daggers that simply reappeared in their sheath after she thrust them inside the viiness - Nomannic, the glitched character. The panicking ashen-haired girl in a crimson dress, Mika Wrath - Justice''s Wrath with the ability to request the Will of the World to pass the judgment onto the sinners. Andstly, the Will of the World in a changed form, the white-haired child - Radiance - who was reaching her shaking hand towards the steaming crater that should be still surrounded by the invisible walls of the system. Those five weren''t the only ones with such expressions - despite the marvelous location and the beautiful clothes, the people gathered there weren''t dancing nor enjoying themselves. They were all standing around a giant ckened crater - the very same crater that the white-haired Radiance was reaching her tiny hand towards - right in the middle of the ballroom, staring in horror at something at the bottom. "...dear system...!" "...wh-what is that thing...?!" "What happened to those two...?" The people were king to each other in scared, confused voices, many didn''t even want to go have a look at the crater. But those who were, including the group of five mentioned before, were staring at... A monster. A monster that almost none of the present unwilling audience had ever read nor even heard about... The monster surrounded by such an immense aura of hate, violence, and death, that it simply couldn''t have been a creature from this world. The monstrosity looked as if it was madepletely out of the red and ck smoke which was constantly swirling around, ceaselessly contracting and expanding but somehow staying in a clearly humanoid shape. The creature didn''t have any facial features or anything, but its bodynguage was showing that it was in denial... The smoke monster had its head down as if it was staring at its empty hands... Its aura filled up with despair and sorrow... It looked like there was supposed to be something there. Something that the monster had to protect, wanted to protect at all cost - but failed... The red and ck aberration slowly raised its featureless head, and even without recognizable eyes, it stared straight at the five people responsible for unleashing its form. "I-it cannot be...! Why... WHY IS THAT THING IN THIS ROUTE?! IT''S ALL WRONG! IS IT BECAUSE I USED GLITCHED CHARACTERS?!" Caramel grabbed her face and stumbled backward with an absolutely horrified expression. ...and she wasn''t the only one to scream... The smoke monster focused on the light brown-haired girl and... ")(*&*&^*%#@%$**&*(&(^$#$^@^%^()*)(*^$%^#%#@%$&*&)*^%^$%" *CRUSH* "AAAAAAAAHHH!" "KYAAAAAH!" The creature that didn''t even have a mouth unleashed a deafening inhuman roar that alone had enough power to shatter everything beginning from sses with wine, through the beautiful stain-ss windows, and ending on the crystal chandeliers high above the ceiling - of which every single thing ended upunching sharp shards at the shocked people in the proximity. Some of them even forgot to activate their defensive skill only showing that not all nobles were properly honing their abilities. "... (Cranberry...) ... (..where is my Cranberry...!?)" "!!!!" then, without even giving the audience the time to shake off the shock from the roar, the monster spoke. No. It did not actually make a sound - it had no mouth and yet it screamed - its desperate voice merely reverberated in the minds of the terrified people. "Radiance! Show me his status right now!" Caramel demanded from the white-haired child in a high-pitched voice full of panic. "...nn..." Radiance trembled, and turned around, leaning into Mika''s embrace, but ended up nodding regardless. Her eyes shone with bright light but instead of showing the monster''s status just to Caramel, she showed it to everyone in their group. Name: Zombie Race: Eternal Servant (?) Role: the proudest corpse / capture target Level: 867 HP: - MP: 118765 ATK: 876549 DEF: 97999789 MAT: 766667 MDF: 94899764 HIT: 329806 EVA: 540241 AGI: 1000081 LUC: 351 Skills: Unable to view (seal unlocking in progress) Unlocked Affinities: Unable to view (seal unlocking in progress) Titles: Unable to view (seal unlocking in progress) "...what...?" Even with all the stolenposure, Mason gasped, covering his mouth with trembling hands in denial. "!!!!!" *plop* Kopia straight up fell to on their butt and started backing off as fast as they could. ...if only that was the end... Before the others could react, the status of the monster in front of them began changing and distorting... Name: ___(Zombie) Race: Eternal [emailprotected] t ?) Role: the _destu_ cor_ od_se / capture t) _ ~t? / ________ _--- Level: 8?7 HP: ??? MP: 1?8 65 ATK: 8 _549 DEF: 97_ _789 MAT: 7 _ -67 MDF: 9 _- 9764 HIT: --_ 9806 EVA: ? ~1 AGI: 10--__ ? LUC: 3?1__ Skills: Unable to view (seal unlocking in progress) Unlocked Affinities: Unable to view (seal unlocking in progress) Titles: Unable to view (seal unlocking in progress) "No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! YOU CANNOT BE HERE! IT''S IMPOSSIBLE, I DIDN''T CHEAT AND IT''S TOO EARLY FOR YOU TO SHOW UP IN A NORMAL ROUTE!" Caramel started tearing off her own hair in crazed-up rage mixed with denial. ...and then the monster''s status changed for thest time and settled... Name: Eternal (Zombie) Race: Eternal Role: primordial god of destruction / lunatic level super secret endgame final boss(+) / anti piracy measure Level: 99999 HP: 999999999999999 MP: 9999999999999 ATK: 9999999999999 DEF: 9999999999999 MAT: 9999999999999 MDF: 9999999999999 HIT: 9999999999999 EVA: 9999999999999 AGI: 9999999999999 LUC: 666 Skills: Magic creation [max] Skill creation [max] mes of the end [max] Data drain [max] Consolemand disable [max] LoadSave game interruption [max] Resurrection interruption [max] Magic cancel [max] Skill cancel [max] Damage limiter [max] Unlocked Affinities: Only one try Essential character erasure pass Titles: Invictus End The ultimate challenge Bane of cheaters "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* Caramel fell to her knees and started smashing her head against the floor. "Wh-what are you doing! Stop! You know everything about the game, right?! You need to tell us how to deal with that thing...!" Mason rushed to the light brown-haired girl gone crazy and grabbed her shoulders while pointing at the red and ck smoke monster. "DEAL?! YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH THE FUCKING ETERNAL?! THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE A CHANCE WITH IT IS TO COMPLETE ALL 7 SECRET MISSIONS FOR THE CAPTURE TARGETS WHEN THEY END UP INHERITING THE AVATAR OF SIN TITLES AND GET RID OF HIS INVICTUS TITLE! DO YOU HAVE THE AVATAR OF ENVY TITLE?! NO! IT''S ALL FUCKED UP BECAUSE OF THAT CRAZY VILLAINESS!" Caramel cried out pushing the half-elf away. "There must be the other way!" Mason insisted, massaging the sore spot where the girl had hit him. "YES! HARD RESET OR REINSTALL THE GAME! YOU''VE SEEN ETERNAL''S AFFINITIES?! ONLY ONE CHANCE! YOU GOT ONLY ONE CHANCE WITH IT OR IT WIPES OFF ALL YOUR SAFE FILES! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS IN THIS WORLD?! WE''RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Chapter 291: The Eternal (1)

Chapter 291: The Eternal (1)

"WE WILL NOT DIE! For the system''s sake, Caramel! Get a grip of yourself!" Mason shouted back, at the screaming girl. "It''s over! I knew that this whole world was fucked the moment I realized that there''s no real avatar of sloth but just some damned parasite that is responsible for watching over the system! Because of that, we got thrown straight into the challenge scenario instead of the main story! But why is Eternal here?! I didn''t cheat! The glitches and bugs I used were all left in game by the creators! That never happened when I yed it before...!" The light brown-haired girl seemingly calmed down a bit since she at least stopped screaming and began rapidly mumbling under her breath instead. "Don''t go crazy on us now! Quick! While that thing is still not moving! What''s the n!?" The gray-skinned half-elf hurriedly nced at the red and ck smoke monster and tried to hasten the mumbling girl. "What n!?! Are you deaf?! It''s not possible to defeat that thing without getting rid of the Invictus title and reducing those ridiculously high sta...!" "...(you...) ...(You know what happened to my Cranberry.)" "H-HIAAH...!" As she was exining, Caramel''s words were interrupted by the nonverbal growl of the red and ck primordial god of destruction. The monstrosity was facing the girl and even without anything resembling eyes, it was clear that it was ring right at her, causing the reincarnated girl to scream in panic. "...r-run...! WE NEED TO RUN!" The light brown-haired girlpletely lost her head and bolted away as fast as she could." "RUN?! HAVEN''T YOU SEEN ITS SPEED STAT?!" Mason shouted after her, but before hisst word even reached the running girl... *??????????* With the indescribable noise, a thin red and ck whip pierced the air and flew after the escapee. *STAB* "Ugh-hyyyh...?!" ...and pierced right through her chest as if it was the strongest of spears. "CARAMEL!" Mason shouted in horror when the red and ck whip raised the trembling girl up to the high ceiling. "...(...let''s see...)" Eternal sighed and its body began glowing with a murky red light. "AAAAAAUUUURRRRGGGGHH!" Caramel wright in pain and screamed horribly while grabbing onto the whip in an attempt to tear it apart but her hands met with no resistance whatsoever, just as if the red and ck smoke was... Just smoke. And so her hands passed right through it. "KH...! GUUEGHUEEEHU...!" As something alien was scraping the inside of her brain, the light brown-haired girl began throwing up bile mixed up with crimson blood in a ridiculous amount and proportions. ---- A flood of foreign memories flooded Zombie''s brain... if any part of his current smoke self could even be identified as a brain, that is. He saw his old world. He got the confirmation that indeed the one to get reincarnated was indeed the girl whom he hated the most in the whole world. He saw countless hours she spent on a single game, her obsession with it was almost impressive. And what she knew, he now knew too - all thanks to the data drain skill that allowed him to acquire any and all information that he could ever need from his target. ...but he also saw what was that light that took Cranberry away from him... Judgment - a special skill only avable if both Justice''s Wrath and Will of the World are in the yer''s party. As long as the target''s sins could be proven - the world itself will deliver punishment for the sinner - which simply meant that any and all defense would be diregarded... ...although he had already seen the message that popped up right before the seal of the eternal had opened, now he had yet another proof... Cranberry was dead... --- "... (...you...) ...(YOU FILTH!)" "!!!!" The eternal took a step forward and roared inside everyone''s brains causing the gathered people to block their ears even though no actual sound was made. "N-noo...! Let me gho...!" *RIIIIP* Caramel wriggled in the air like a butterfly pierced by a needle but then the red and ck whip piercing through her chest extended even more and wrapped around her body - before ripping out her left arm and crushing it into nothingness. "AAAAAARRRRGGGGHH!" Caramel whizzed in agony but it wasn''t the end - before herpanions could even move, the red and ck smoke mist tightened around her body and... *CRUSH* Ripped her apart and sent her limbs flying through the ballroom. "...(...burn, you repugnant waste...)" Eternal scoffed, tilting its head. *WHOOOOOOO* The violet mes erupted from thin air and turned every single piece of the reincarnated girl into ash before any of her scraps could fall onto the ground. "NOMANNIC! What are you waiting for?! You have infinite damage! KILL THAT THING!" Mason, pale as a ghost, roared at the dark-skinned woman. "B-but that''s big brother Zombie...!" She flinched and took a step back. "WHAT BROTHER?! IF YOU WON''T KILL IT WE WILL ALL END LIKE CARAMEL!" The half-elf waved his hand and growled, baring his teeth as if he lost his mind. "!!! R-right!" Nomannic flinched and nodded, unsheathing the daggers that magically reappeared in their sheaths before, andunched at the monster who was slowly making its way out of the crater... "...wh-what about the system walls...?!" The ashen-haired Mika gasped and looked at the trembling white-haired Radiance that was clinging to her in desperation. "...it... it broke them... it broke the system''s walls with its first scream..." The white-haired child whispered - while the blood was pouring out of her ears, mouth, nose, and scared eyes... "R-Radiance?! NOMANNIC, STOP!" Mika gasped and shouted at the dark-skinned woman who already was fully enveloped in the darkness of her skill. But the monster merely raised its hand and... "GHHHH...!" The next moment Nomabnic was already held by her throat - no skill or magic in sight - only the red and ck smoke monster choking her at its arm''s reach. "B-brother Zombie...! I-it''s me...! Cinnamo...!" Nomannic cried out while her throat was getting crushed. "...(I know.) ...(I saw the memories of that disgusting garbage.)" Eternal responded indifferently. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! STAB IT!" "!!!!" Mason hurt his throat in a desperate scream, causing Cinnamon to flinch and actually attempt to attack the red and ck monster. "B...rother Zombie...! For... give... me...!" She cried pushing the des of her daggers inside Eternal''s chest. "?!?!?!?!?!" ...but she met no resistance as her action didn''t even register as an attack...! "...(...and I have already mourned you as a precious friend...) ...(...not a traitor...)" *WHOOOOO* With the next indifferent sentence spoken by the Eternal, the violet mes lighted up and burnt the wolf-turned-human into ash before she could yelp another word. "...(...next...)" Eternal''s voice grew colder as it moved its featureless face and stared at all the remaining people in the ballroom. Chapter 292: The Eternal (2)

Chapter 292: The Eternal (2)

"YOU...!" Mason gritted his teeth and reached his hand towards the strongest boss in the entire game. His gray arm glow with intense green eyes and the same green light surrounded the smoke monster. "...(no)" /Skill has been canceled At the monster''s sigh, the green light disappeared as if it was never there, to begin with... "GHRGH...!" ...but still caused a great deal of mental damage to the gray-skinned half-elf, who stumbled back and bit his lips. "...ah...!" Suddenly he came up with an idea. "Kopia! Turn into that wretched woman and ask it to stop!" He called out to the red-haired androgynous person, frozen with fear on the floor, and pointed at the indifferent monster. "Wh-what...?! Are you insane?!" Kopia gasped looking between the half-elf and the primordial god of destruction. "DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA?! DIDN''T YOU HEAR WHAT CARAMEL SAID BEFORE SHE DIED?! THAT THING WILL KILL US ALL! THAT INCLUDES YOUR DEAREST CLAYMORE!" Mason roared furiously at the unwilling Kopia and clenched his fists. "!!!!" That was enough for a reason to push them into action. The green light enveloped their body and began melting and molding it like y until it became a perfect copy of the dead viiness. "Zombie! Look it''s me! Those fools weren''t able to finish m..." *STAB* "KHGHUGH...!" "...WHA...?!" Before Kopia could finish their sentence using the perfectly recreated voice of the fallen viiness, the red and ck whip pierced right through their stomach causing them to fell to their knees and choke on the blood bubbling up from their throat. "...(do you all think that I still have the rotten brain title...?)" Eternal tilted his head and asked with anger echoing in its words. "...(...just perish already, pitiful marite...)" "Mashther ym...!" *WHOOOOOO* With a shrug of the smoke shoulders, the sh of violet fire evaporated the shapeshifting bodyguard before they could finish calling out for their master through the blood and tears for thest time... --- "Wh-what is this?! Why do those doors not open?! Your majesty what does it mean?!" "Let us out!" "Somebody do something about that monster...!" Meanwhile, all of the high nobles didn''t even think for a second about facing the horrid monstrosity that effortlessly killed the people who were supposed to be chosen by the queen for whatever reason. They all tried to evacuate, including the queen, but none of them could even reach the door - their hands were all blocked by some unknown invisible barrier - same with all the window, and even when someone tried to break down the wall using their skill, it ended up in aplete failure. "That''s the same thing that happened to youngdy Pride, isn''t it?! The invisible walls! That''s the white-haired child''s doing!" "Your majesty! Order them to let us out this instant!" The nobles demanded from the horribly pale queen. --- "...(...what is it...?) ...(Feeling trapped?) ...(Good.)" The cold voice resounded in everyone''s minds at the same time. "...(once I''m done with that trash, it will be your turn, so wait patiently just a bit longer.)" The red and ck aberration dered calmly as if it was talking about the weather. "Who do you think you are talking to...! You freak! Mika! Radiance! Begin the judgment!" Mason was clinging to his life with all his might and wasn''t going to give up just like that...! "Ladies and gentlemen! The sins of that foul creature shouldn''t even be...!" "...(...green-eyed.) ...(...look.)" Yet his words were interrupted by Eternal that was pointing its finger down at the ground. No, not at the ground. It was pointing at a thin trail of red and ck smoke extending from his foot, coiling through the floor, and climbing up the thin leg of Radiance - and ending up stabbed deep into her side. "!!!!!" "RADIANCE?! Why didn''t you said anything?!" Mika panicked and tried to tear the smoke out, but it was just that - a smoke - her hands passed right through it, and to make things worse, the smoke was digging deeper and deeper into Radiance''s body causing her overwhelming pain - yet also rendering her unable to even make a sound the same time. "...(...skill creation - strings of the puppeteer.) ...(It''s allowing me to use the same powers you cowards cheated my Cranberry off of her rightful win...) ...(...say, you filthy living, how does it feel to experience being trapped like rats...?) ...(...you killed the only person that could stop me from erasing your annoying life signatures...) ...(...so it must be the oue you wanted...)" Eternal exined calmly, turning around to have a ''look'' at the bbergasted people. "...(...I''ve changed my mind about the time of your demise...)" It suddenly scoffed and shook its head. "I...!" The queen opened her mouth, most likely to make some offer to the red and ck smoke monster. "...(...perish right now...)" *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* "!!!!!!" The violet light engulfed the entire ballroom, once it faded the only ones left in thepletely charred room were the white-haired Radiance controlled by Eternal, the ashen-haired Mika holding onto Radiance, the brown-haired Mason, and of course, Eternal itself. Everyone else turned into a thinyer of gray ash on the walls. "...(...brings back memories, green-eyed trash...?) ...(...no, I guess not, your family melted under my venom, so they turned into puddles after all...)" Eternal mocked the half-elf in a cold voice. "How dare you?!" Mason gritted his teeth and tensed up, activating all his skills, ready to throw himself at the monster... /all skills have been canceled "GHUH...!" ...but instantly coughed up a mouthful of blood once Eternal''s body glowed with the murky red light and its skill interrupted his own. "MIKA! I''M GIVING YOU BACK YOUR RAGE! DESTROY THAT THING!" Mason spat out and only his eyes shone green for a split second. "..." The ashen-haired girl flinched and straightened her back. "...Mi...ka...?" She let go of the crying Radiance and stepped aside... "YOU! I''LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME AND MY FATHER!" Her whole body let out a crimson light and she let out a bloodthirsty roar. "...(...)" Eternal didn''t even turn to face her - which only made Justice''s Wrath that much angrier. "I''LL LET YOU TASTE JUSTICE, YOU VILLAINOUS MONSTER!" She roared and charged at the primordial god of destruction... Chapter 293: The Eternal (3)

Chapter 293: The Eternal (3)

...which was exactly as insane foolishness as it sounded like... Nevertheless, the girl gained enormous speed thanks to her high-level skill multiplying her stats many times over - she got to the red and ck smoke monster so fast that it could be already counted as using the blink skill, and she threw a devastating punch with her fist surrounded by the coiling mana. Eternal simply stood there and waited for her. "DIE!" She roared with a wicked smile as the hit was about to connect. *shing* "?!?!?!" Yet the sound that came out of it couldn''t be equated to a punch. *plop* ...and then Mika''s arm - still with condensed mana coiling around her clenched fist - fell to the ground a few feet behind the monster. "...e-eh...? H-how is it possible...?" The ashen-haired girl stared wide-eyed at the stump of her right hand spurting blood everywhere "...(...so versatile...) ...(...who knew that the system walls could be used like that...?)" Eternal tilted its head to the side and tugged on the thin trail connecting it to Radiance. "....Mika... run...!" The white-haired child cried - but she was toote. *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* "...!" *squelch* The next second, tens of the paper-thin invisible walls appearing one after the other chopped the Justice''s Wrath''s body into fine pieces that all fell onto the floor with a disgusting wet sound. "...(...not as refreshing as I hoped for...)" Eternal sighed. *WHOOOOO* ...and evaporated the mincemeat that was once the ashen-haired Mika Wrath out of the existence with its violet mes. "...!" Mason couldn''t get any paler so he turned green instead. "...(...do you want to know why I''m tormenting all of you instead of going straight to that pitiful system overseer who ruined everything with their presence alone...?)" Eternal took another step forward - and even though it had no mouth, Mason and Radiance knew that it was smiling. "...(...because truth to be told...)" It took another step - and surprisingly enough, it freed the white-haired child from its control skill! *riiiip* "!!!!!" Without even a single moment of hesitation, Radiance turned right back around, the back of her shirt got torn apart revealing two small wings that spread out, and she flew towards the window as fast as she could. "NO! RADIANCE COME BA...!" "...(...it''s because, in truth, I''m a bit of a sadist...)" *WHOOOOO* Mason roared but his voice was interrupted by Eternal''s confession, and then the violet mes lighted up the remains of the ballroom and the only one left, was the small white-haired child desperately pping her tiny wings... *SMASH* ...or it would be if not for the fact that her small body suddenly expanded into a humongous body of an angel-ss monster with eight pairs of enormous pure white wings, five sets of arms, and at least seven faces all around its head, breaking apart the royal castle as if it was a house of cards. The sudden appearance of the gigantic monster exploding the royal castle from inside was already shocking enough for any unlucky bystander, but it couldn''t bepared with what came next. "...(...just die already, puny god-ss wannabe...)" Eternal sighed and shook its head watching Radiance trying to get as far away as it could, causing tornadoes to appear with each p of its wings. *shing* "...!" With the unassuming sound, the body of the massive angel-ss king-rank monster got vertically bisected in perfect halves... *WHOOOOOOOOO* ...before getting incinerated in seconds, sending literal tons of ashes to fall onto the Salmagundi like some sort of warm ugly snow. "...(...Patience...) ...(...you pitiful maniptive liar...) ...(...the two of us needs to have a talk...)" Eternal dered facing towards North and vanished in a sh of violet light ¨C and said light spread around bringing theplete annihtion to the city, and started spreading through the entire territory, and the whole kingdom... ... ... "No...!" The thin mouse-faced woman flinched and looked towards the south ¨C where a violet glow was getting more and more intense, swallowing everything in its way - from the pedestal situated in the middle of the see-through sphere built atop of the tower of sloth. "...(...it was never Cranberry''s fault...)" The woman blinked and once she opened her eyes there was a horrid red and ck aberration with a humanoid form standing in front of her. "Who allowed you to release the seal, you useless failsafe?" The woman sighed and shook her head in disgust. "...(...shifting the me must have been hard all this time, wasn''t it...?) ...(...even with that little memories that the repugnant trash had about you made me feel bad for you...) ...(...speaking aboutpleting your creators will while in truth doing everything to cover up for his fuck ups...) ...(...why do people around me keep tormenting themselves about their worthless parents...?)" The red and ck monster sighed and waved its hand dismissively. "You didn''t answer my question, you failure!" The woman clenched her fists and stood up, looking down at the monster from an even greater height. "...(...your words never meant shit for me, you failure of a failsafe that actually broke the world''s bnce as soon as it was brought into it...)" The two of them were both talking, but it was as far away from a proper conversation as possible, each of them was simply speaking out without ever listening to the other one. Well, almost without listening... "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT?!" Hearing her own insult hurled right back at her, the mouse-faced woman roared furiously and extended her hand towards the monster. *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* With a low hum, a ray of blinding light erupted from her hand and pierced right through the head of the red and ck monster... ...as well as the walls of the tower and a couple of buildings down below... "...(...it''s truly annoying that there is something linking you to my Cranberry...)" The attack had no effect whatsoever - the head of the smoke monster was made out of the smoke that simply swirled around while the light mana passed through it, nothing more nothing less. "I do not have any connection with that failure of the recement-viiness...!" The woman''s shoulders trembled from overwhelming anger as she spat through her teeth while the veins in her eyes popped dying the whites in crimson red. "...(...you and she both tried too hard to please your parents, even though those disgusting trash never cared about you, to begin with...)" The monster shook its head and raised its spread open its arms. "DON''T YOU DARE TO TALK ABOUT MY CREATOR LIKE THAT!" *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* --- *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The sphere on top of the tower of sloth exploded into a blinding light that expanded and swallowed the entire city in the terrifying explosion on an insane scale before the violet glow could even reach it. The tower itself still remained thanks to the protection of the invisible walls of the system, but when it came to the poption of the city... It instantly fell to zero - but the same was happening in real-time to the whole world because of the violet glow. Chapter 294: The Eternal (4)

Chapter 294: The Eternal (4)

"...(...and what exactly were you trying to achieve with that...?)" Completely unharmed Eternal tilted its head and asked the dried-up mouse-faced woman that looked as if she aged hundreds of years within the past few seconds. "You...! Bastard...! I''ll erase you...!" The woman growled, weakly raising her terribly skinny hand. "...(...no, you won''t...)" The monster shook its head and shrugged its shoulders indifferently. /the use of the consolemands has been disabled "...huh...?!" The woman flinched and faltered, staring at the system message that appeared in front of her eyes. "...(...what''s wrong...?)" Even though Eternal had no mouth, it smiled menacingly and took a single step forward. *WHOOOOOO* As soon as his foot touched the floor, the violet mes erupted from underneath the half-mummified woman''s feet and burnt off her physical body leaving only the parasite that took control over her and erased her original self. The being of pure light, Patience, the overseer of the system that was also the copy of the very same being who sent Zombie into this world of an otome game, was standing still, covering their head in a very human-like gesture. "...(now, much better, right?)" Eternal asked mockingly facing the confused overseer. "Who do you think you are, failsafe?!" Patience put down his arms sounding in equal parts as angry as embarrassed. "....(me...?) ...(who do you think that you are, failure of a failsafe?)" Eternal returned the question without even flinching. "...(...I have memories of that repugnant savior of yours, you know? I know what your most favorite creator has told her...) ...(...you are the problem...) ...(...your own creator wanted to destroy you but you begged him for a chance...) ...(...you are a mistake that breaks this world...) ...(...if you didn''t cling to your life so hard, the system would just adjusted...) ...(...but you just had to start messing things up and influence everyone''s free will...) ...(...you messed up everything...)" Eternal sighed and confronted Patience with a calm voice. "SHUT UP!" The being of light shouted and raised their hands about to unleash some devastating bnce-breaking attack but... "...(...no...) ...(...I don''t feel like allowing you to do that...)" "!!!!" After getting calmly refused, Patience''s body - although it was made out of light - trembled horribly and they were almost forced to their knees while whatever skill they were using got canceled and the rebounded mana resonated in the reverse order than normally causing a huge damage to the user''s body. "So did youe here to kill me as revenge for that recement-viiness...?" Although they should be severely hurt, Patience asked rather calmly... "...(not exactly...) ...(...not right away, at least...) ...(...I''m here to torment you...)" Eternal shook its smoke head and responded indifferently. "As if that was possible! Whatever you have nned, you can forget it - this body does not have the ability to feel pain in the first ce!" Patience scoffed, slowly straightening their back. "...(...Yes, I know...) ...(...otherwise you would have realized what was happening...)" "...?!" Eternal nodded sounding just a tiny bit amused, and that has rmed the being of light - something must have been not right... /You have been granted multiple passive skills Pain receptors (self) (level 999[max]) Pain amplification (self) (level 999[max]) All immunities decrease (self) (level 999[max]) Mental resistance decrease (self) (level 999[max]) "Wha....?! But how can you give me ski-URGH...!" Patience gasped in shock before they whizzed in agony. "!!!!!" They looked down and realized all toote that a thin trail of red and ck smoke was extending out of Eternal''s foot and climbing up their own leg before digging itself inside of their body inducing overwhelming pain. "...(...data drain...) ...(...strings of the puppeteer...) ...(...do you like to the new experience, my poor abandoned child...?)" "!!!!!" The cold voice inside Patience''s head made them shiver uncontrobly for two reasons - anger, and overwhelming fear. "Why don''t you try reviving your precious recement-viiness, you abomination?!" They tried to hide it and attempted a mockery, but it fell t against the indifferent primordial god of destruction. "...(...saying that after making sure that you permanently erased her files from this world...) ...(...honestly, I would have done the same to that repugnant trash if I could, so I can''t really me you...)" ...or did it...? Just a barely noticeable speck of anger did appear in Eternal''s voice. ...but was it actually a good thing though...? "...(...is what I would say if I wasn''t a huge hypocrite...) *WHAM* "GHURGH!" *CRUSH* /Unable to leave the area Suddenly Patience''s body bent into a ''<'' shape and they flew all across the sphere and mmed against the transparent wall causing the invisible walls of the system to tremble. If the being of light had any digestive fluids or blood inside of them, they would surely be throwing up all over. *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area "S-stop... it...! Please..!" Patience cried out once they slid down the wall and fell onto the floor and curled up into a fetal position. Honestly, they were keeping up quite well considering that it was their first time experiencing physical pain - but whether it was because they were that tough or simply not having a proper flesh and blood body was making them naturally better at handling it, was a different thing altogether. *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area At first, there were no visible changes in the overseer''s appearance of the humanoid being of light *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area But soon enough parts of their body became slightly dim and even go very murky making it look like patience''s original version of bruises and internal hemorrhage "GH...! ...sthop... stop it...! ...please...!" Patience started begging but... *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area That only made the attacks that much moremon. ... ... *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* Chapter 295: The Eternal (end)

Chapter 295: The Eternal (end)

/Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area "..." After some more time has passed, Patience could no longer be called a being light. "...(...it really is a lot less satisfying after knowing what happened to you...) ...(...not that I will stop, though...) Eternal shrugged its shoulders and sighed at the fallen overseer. There was no longer a shiny spot on their previously blinding body, making them look like some sort of dirty mannequin. "...my creator... won''t... let you... get away with... this...!" Patience raised their trembling head and mumbled. "...(...your father will do shit...) ...(...who are you trying to fool...?)" Eternal scoffed mockingly and poked its own head with his red and ck finger. "...(...I have your memories...) ...(...I know that this piece of shit made up this world for fun...) ...(...that they wanted to show it off, but also wanted to control it however they liked...) ...(...so they created you as an overseer, they turned you into a parasite and made the Sloth''s be your host...) ...(...and it that fucked up the entire story that they wanted to work out so badly...) ...(...they wanted to erase the whole world, but it would bring down their status amongst the other gods...) ...(...you truly are a pitiful existence...)" Eternal began exining while slowly walking towards the slumped Patience. "..." "...(...why were you listening to them...?) ...(...why were you trying toplete that idiotic story so badly...?) ...(...all the adjustment to the story...) ...(...all the ridiculous quests that didn''t make any sense...) ...(...even the whole system reset that changed the setting of the world...) ...(...it was all your attempts to salvage whatever was left from the original story...) ...(...because of you the events triggered even when there was no reason for them do so...) ...(...only to get the recognition from someone that was just a fucking overpowered bum...) ...(...you''re such a pitiful fool...)" Eternal sighed before... *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area *WHAM* /Unable to leave the area "URGH!" Another three strikes fell onto Patience''s beaten-up body, making them fell limply onto the floor. "...(...say...) ...(...how does it feel knowing that not only your creation was a story-breaking mistake, but also your first decision to tinker with the free will and the system itself has brought you to this conclusion...?)" Eternal crouched by and asked, reaching its hand forward. Then it grabbed Patience''s head and raised them up to their face level. "...(...if only you didn''t insist on continuing the story how your father wanted it to be, you wouldn''t have offered my Cranberry the Master of the Eternal Servant magic disguised as some original magic...) ...(...despite what your father has told you, you weren''t born a failure, but at the moment that you chose to listen to him, you became one...)" "...site..." Patience whispered. "...(...hmmm...?) ...(...you have to speak louder, you self-made failure...)" "...you seem to not realize that it wasn''t the system that made me a parasite, but my creator himself... you cannot block that ability..." "...(...)" *CRUSH* Patience''s mocking voice grew louder, causing the Eternal to crush their head like a ripe watermelon without a single word - causing it to explode into a fountain of sparkling particles... "...(...oh-ho...)" Of which each and every single one darted straight into the Eternal''s smoke body and instead of passing right through it like all attacks up until that point did, they all stayed inside. The red and ck smoke and the sparkling particles began to mix regardless of Eternal''s will. "It''s over for you! The little power you had over the system has no...! Ah...!" The triumphant voice of Patience turned sour the moment he gained ess to Eternal''s thoughts... "...(...you''re right, that little power I had has no point if I can''t actually cause the hard reset of the system...) ...(...thank you for giving me ess to the power given to you straight by your dearest father...)" Eternal didn''t flinch, it didn''t writhe in anguish - the angered Patience didn''t outsmart it at all, and medley fell right into Eternal''s scheme. Though... could it be called a scheme when it was in fact more of a favor to the tormented overseer...? "...(...you''re just like my Cranberry...) ...(...so smart, yet once you are reminded about your parent, youpletely lose your head...)" The red and ck monster scoffed as its body was slowly merging with the shining light. "YOU DAMNED MONSTER! DON''T YOU DARE RESTART IT! THIS IS THE PLAYTHROUGH STARTED BY MY CREATOR! A FILTH LIKE YOU HAS NO RIGHT TO OVERWRITE ANYTHING!" Patience roared but had not enough control over the Eternal''s body yet to do anything... ...or did they...? "IF YOU DARE TO START A NEW GAME I WILL MAKE SURE TO ERASE THAT WOMAN''S FILES BEFORE IT STARTS SO THAT YOU WILL NEVER MEET HER AGAIN!" Patience struggled to speed up the process of taking over but Eternal''s mind was too strong to give up so easily. "...(...no, you won''t do shit...) ...(...stop being so hysterical about it...) ...(...we are connected, you know my thoughts and I know yours...)" "!!!!" Eternal spoke with a satisfiedugh, making their merged body flinch. "...(...it''s toote already...)" /Are you sure you want to start a new game? Your current save file will be erased/ / Yes/No "...(... system, yes...)" "NO!" Patience wanted to refuse but wasn''t fast enough... /Warning /The file has been corrupted, starting a new game on this save slot may cause unforeseen problems in your ythrough... Do you still wish to proceed? / Yes/No Another message popped up for the two consciousnesses in a single body. "NO! NO! NO! NO! MY CREATOR WOULDN''T WANT THIS! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!" Patience roared desperately trying to refuse before it even properly showed up just to be first this time... but conveniently forgot to use a proper method of confirmation... So it should be obvious that their voice was ignored. "...(...system, yes...)" Eternal nodded just before the red and ck smoke perfectlybined with the light. /Confirmation received /Beginning the new game A message popped up and the whole world disappeared. ... ... ...ah... finally... I can make everything right... See, was it that hard...? Drama queen... Chapter 296: Volume 5s epilogue (1)

Chapter 296: Volume 5''s epilogue (1)

"Uuuuuuueueueueue...! Ugue...?" The first cry of life came out of my mouth without my consent, well, it was my second time being born after all... No, technically speaking it was third, but it was the second time that I was aware of what was happening. That reckless n I came up with out of sheer fucking anger has actually worked! The only problem is... Why do I remember anything...? I''m pretty sure that I chose to erase all the save data... ...was it because the save slot was corrupted...? I remember pretty much everything... No, wait... I do not... I''m sure that the memories I drained from that pile of waste before killing her included every single tidbit of information about the game, but for whatever reason, the only thing that I can recall are the events... Ah... there is also another exception... I can''t recall most of Patience''s memories, but oh well, when ites to them I probably could only have ess to them because the two of us were connected or something. ...Huh... it feels so weird to not be blocked by the rotten brain... But theck of knowledge about anything else besides the events is worrisome... Ugh... everything is blurry and everything hurts... how could I ever withstand this before? Being one of those repugnant living really is disgusting...! "What a healthy cry! Congrattions madam! It''s a beautiful baby boy!" ...oh, right... I was hearing voices. And someone was carrying me around without my permission... Well, it''s not like it was possible for me to be born without having at least one person around... why couldn''t I just spawn into this world as a monster... "Ah! He''s so much bigger than his sister was!" "That''s why you had such a hard time, Nectar! But him being big is a good thing, it means that he will be healthy! Isn''t that right, sir healer?" "Look! He looks so serious! How adorable!" ... The living who birthed me are doing fine I guess... ¡­ Damn it... me having memories is even better than perfect ¨C but ¨C does that means that Patience has retained their own too...? I would expect that they wouldn''t allow me to be born even if they actually did... While I was deep in thoughts I was bathed, wrapped into a nket or whatever, and got fed... ...disgusting... Can someone turn me into an undead right now, please? I really hate it here...! Soon enough my body has given up on me and I fell asleep despite my best efforts. Still, that also made me wake up a few hourster in a crib in my parents'' room because my infant''s stomach was rumbling ¨C I guess I should cry to let my living know that I require being taken care of... ...I am consciously avoiding thinking about the state of my diaper too, so please bear with me... But since it''s night and my tired living are cautiously asleep by the side of my crip, that gives me some time to think things through... What should I do, how should I y my cards? It''s different now than it was on my first ythrough ¨C now I know things... honestly, I know probably way too many things. But will I be able to make any of them useful... First of all, I''ll have to somehow check whether Patience is still praying on the Sloth family ¨C if yes, basically everything is screwed from the beginning unless I somehow find a way to deal with them... ...That... won''t be necessary... "Agugu...?!" I unintentionally cried out in shock once a very familiar voice called out from somewhere inside of me! "Nectarine... Kiwi has woken up... feeding time..." "Ngh...?! Ah... yeah, yeah..." Who the hell is Kiwi...! ...ah, right... that''s me... The living that''s my father flinched and nudged the living that was my mother and she nodded half asleep. "Uwah...! It''s something else besides feeding too..." ...damn it... why did I have to rm them...! They are too vignt! To get my mind off of the thing that proceeded to happen I focused on the strange voice that I heard resonating inside of me. Could it really be...? ...If you suspect that it''s anyone else than me, you''re an utter fool after all... Without the need to be called out, the voice resounded again! "Alright, you''re nice and clean. Now, eat up little one." I quickly looked at my living''s face to check whether she heard it too or not, but she only smiled at me and spoke in a soft voice. No, no one else can hear me, you thick-headed fool ¨C how is that possible that a blockhead like you has actually managed to outwit me...? ...I can''t believe this is happening... Alright... I''m going to ask it once... Patience. Why the fuck are you still attached to me? Wasn''t this whole new game supposed to start everything from the start? Why are you here and why do I still have memories from the first ythrough?! Tsk! Of course, a simpleton like you wouldn''t be able to figure that out. Look''s who''s talking, a great overseer of the system who fell right into this simpleton''s trap. ¡­ ¡­ ...I walked right into that one... alright, let me entertain your toddler''s brain for a moment while your mother is putting away your shitty diaper whilst you suck on her breast. Or we might talk about your abandonment issues or your need to prove yourself to your father. ¡­ ¡­ I hate your guts, failsafe. It''s mutual, failsafe. You didn''t have that much sass while we fought each other... That''s because my seething rage didn''t allow for anything more than a few jabs ¨C on the other hand, you seem way too calm nowpared to your panic attack before... Having a conversation with some foreign entity all inside one''s brain was a truly bizarre experience ¨C but it wasn''t all that bad ¨C as long as they were here, Patience wasn''t messing with the system and therefore weren''t threatening Cranberry... or were they...?! Chapter 297: Volume 5s epilogue (2)

Chapter 297: Volume 5''s epilogue (2)

As amusing as it would be to torment you and lie, fooling you into thinking that I actually managed to erase her files in this ythrough or mess with her in any way ¨C sadly that didn''t happen. Oh...? I mean, knowing that she''s fine is an insanely huge relief but... why are you so nice to me...? I couldn''t help but ask, and honestly, I had more than enough reasons to be suspicious. Do you remember that the whole Eternal thing you turned into was inside of you all along, but merely sealed by a powerful seal? Yes, I was able to create and use that red and ck right arm since that whole seal partially unlocked at one point ¨C but what about... oh... wait... Once everything went ck and the world had started anew, you got sealed inside of me too...? I realized halfway through my own question. No, not too. Eternal and I switched ces ¨C which funnily enough is very simr to how it should have been in the original story, as you of course know after seeing the savior''s memories. Yeah... still, the Eternal is supposed to be just a sealed entity dormant until thete game ¨C or until someone cheats, you know, with my character being the host of the sealed monster and the capture target from the Sloth family being the embodiment of the seal trigger, the Master of the Eternal Servant. There''s a whole damn questline for that. Comparing it to you, a parasitic being that erases the host''s personality is a bit too much. ...anyway... There seems to be a bit of a problem ¨C not for just me mind you ¨C since even if I''m sealed inside of you now and locked out of my powers, my presence doesn''t put any strain on the system whatsoever and the story should actually follow the scenario that my father wanted ¨C but in that scenario, your precious recement-viiness dies early. ...Cranberry will manage, she is strong. I don''t doubt her, mind you, the problem is that with the Eternal being a separate entity than you means that when any of the key events get skipped, it will be registered as cheating which will automatically unleash the lunatic level monster straight into the world and destroy everything. ...what the hell?! Can''t I just die and be the Eternal servant again?! That''s cute. But howe after all you''ve said yourself, you forget that Master of the Eternal Servant magic is actually reserved as the subss for the capture target from the Sloth family? It was only because of my interference that it was granted to that recement-viiness once she refused her destined necromancy magic? ¡­ ...fuck... Does that mean that this world will be fucked up in a different way this time...? Seems like it ¨C but herees the reason why I chose to reveal myself and speak to you in the first ce. Once I saw what the so-called savior that my creator send here was truly up to, and after unwillingly witnessing what she had done to you in your old world, I came to the conclusion that my creator must have been tricked by her. That woman isn''t what this world needs ¨C hence, I have an offer for you, as the one who has obtained the same kind of knowledge about the game that she has. Be the real savior. Make sure that the story will reach one of the happy endings that my creator wanted originally. ...and prevent Eternal from appearing in full power and destroying the world... And if you do so, I will guide you through the most efficient way to be strong enough to protect your viiness. ...I see... somehow you''ve managed to take the portion of that filth''s memories... pretty annoying, not going to lie... But then, you are saying that it will be alright if we change who will get the role of the viiness? You know the answer to that, the secret true ending is only achievable on the second ythrough. If we go that route, the recement viiness will actually naturally turn into the original viiness. ...you fucker, why didn''t you try to push the story into that route during the first ythrough?! I trembled from anger and... "Burp!" "Ooh! That was a big burp, good boy! Now back to sleep!" The living stopped patting my back and put me back into the crib. ...you... you''re seriously asking me that...? Tell me who was it that killed all those essential characters!? It was the two of you! Even with my full power, I could only resurrect a character a few seconds after they died AND the savior girl clearly wanted to follow a ssic true ending! Once I realized that everything was falling apart it was already toote for the secret true ending route! ¡­ ...so that''s what you meant back then in the sloth tower when you told Cranberry that she will never have her chance for unlocking a secret route and getting her wishe true, because of her misced violence... What else was there for me but to sigh deeply inside of my brain after finally connecting the dots. Yes. That is exactly what I''ve meant. Patience sounded truly annoyed. ...and as hard it was for me to admit it, rightfully so... Well then...? What is your answer? Do you want to work together with me and make sure that your viiness and the whole world will not evaporate because the system will count skipping the events as cheating and unleash Eternal unto this world? Listen, Patience, do you really have to ask...? I reached out my little hands towards the ceiling and clenched them into tiny little fists. Huh...?! For just a split second I could swear that they shed with violet light...! Oh, that''s right ¨C you didn''t just retain your memories from thest ythrough ¨C you actually somehow managed to be reborn with one single skill, unlike your first time. Are you telling me I still have superbia...? You do ¨C after all, it is a requirement for the secret true ending route to even trigger ¨C If my calctions are correct, with its help, you will be able to start properly training when you''ll be around three months old. It sounds great, doesn''t it...? With my guidance, you will be able to get the best results and properly protect your viiness. There''s still a lot of things we need to discuss but, hell, let''s get to the ending that will force your father to gasp in awe! Don''t get too cocky, failsafe. Oh,e on, you know you want to, failsafe. Chapter 298: Volume 6s prologue - a dream

Chapter 298: Volume 6''s prologue - a dream

XXXX was just an ordinary middle-schooler. One day he helped out a girl wearing another school''s uniform. What did he do? He pulled her away from a barrel that someone had light a fire inside. For whatever reason that girl, YYYY, was desperately trying to pull something out from the fire, disregarding the horrible burns that she was giving herself. In his stupidity, XXXX had assumed that the girl was being bullied by someone from her school and the things in the burning barrel were some important things that the awful bullied took away from poor YYYY and set on fire. So with that in mind, he hurriedly took out a handkerchief and a bottle of water he had on him and did his best to treat YYYY''s wounds before taking her to the hospital. XXXX did that all without taking even a single good look at the YYYY''s expression. Because what XXXX didn''t know was that the things burning inside the barrel were the belongings she had stolen from her previous obsession and was getting rid of because the police were about tounch an investigation against YYYY after multiple charges about stalking and sending multiple death threats to her target''s friends and family were pressed by the actually poor victim. YYYY was trying to retrieve some of the evidence because one of them was a doll made with her previous target''s hair. ...if only XXXX wasn''t so blind... Maybe, just maybe, things would have turned different if only XXXX realized that by showing YYYY anything resembling human kindness he would put a great red target on his back for her disgusting obsession. XXXX left the girl in the hospital forgetting to ask for her name or even reveal his own... ...but it only took as much as him returning home for ALL of his social media ounts to be folded by the messages from YYYY. With that gargantuan red light shing right in front of him he made the mistake of not instantly blocking her and instead responded. XXXX and YYYY started talking. YYYY made an effort to seem normal. Funny, their age was basically the same with only a month or two of difference but if someone were topare the mentality of the two it would be like putting a new notebook next to a cesspool. Only after a few days of exchanging messages, XXXX agreed on a meeting, after all, he had already seen the person he would be meeting with... ...the two of them met in a normal location - in front of the train station. Then they went to some fancy cafe. But on their way to another ce, YYYY pulled XXXX to the side and told him she wants to show him something special. XXXX''s imagination had run wild and he agreed without a single doubt in his mind and followed the girl through some back alleys into a secluded location and... ...before he knew it a high voltage of the stun-gun brought him to his knees and a telescopic baton smashed against his head knocking him out... XXXX woke up a few hourster, gagged and strapped to a chair in some moldy basement, just in time to see YYYY returning with a sports bag making out an unpleasant metallic sound. XXXX tried to scream, but the gag waspletely blocking his mouth. XXXX tried to free himself, but multipleyers of duck tape could as well be heavy metal shackles. Seeing him awake YYYY smiled and let out a creepyugh. She was incredibly excited, it was the first time she went as far with her obsession but she certainly did prepare well. Because, as it might have been already clear, YYYY wasn''t just some poor bullied girl, but a full-on offender with an unstable mind that refused to get better no matter how expensive therapists her rich parents hired. Some people are simply beyond any help. XXXX had the poor luck of experiencing meeting such a person and attracting her attention. Because taught by her previous experiences, YYYY realized that only stalking her target, sneaking little pieces of herself into his food, and making sure that no one else dares to approach him isn''t nearly enough to truly take him into her possession. That put an idea into her head to get her target somewhere where no one would look for him and made sure that he will no longer be able to escape her ever again. After affectionately greeting the shocked XXXX, YYYY put the bag down and unzipped it showing a disturbing amount of gardening tools that should have no use in an empty basement with only a chair and a boy strapped to it... And then YYYY pulled out a pair of sheers and snipped it before a wide smile bloomed on her face. *snip* *snip* *snip* Went the sheers cutting through the air. "Yes... I need to make sure that you won''t run away from me." YYYY dered and approached XXXX. No matter how much he struggled, XXXX couldn''t get away, the duck tape was holding him down securely even when he began ripping apart his skin with his futile struggle. That damned duck tape... YYYY simply smiled and kneeled down by XXXX legs. *snip* *snip* *snip* Went the sheers cutting through the air. Then YYYY took off XXXX shoes and socks. *snip* *snip* *snip* Went the sheers cutting through the air. ...then the YYYY shuddered in excitement and... "SNAP* *SNAP* *SNAP* Went the sheers cutting through the skin and tendons of XXXX''s left leg. XXXX almost choked on his own saliva as the gag blocked most of his scream of agony. That pain was too much for a boy who never even sprained a single bone in his body. But that wasn''t the end... *snip* *snip* *snip* Went the bloodstained sheers cutting through the empty air, hungry for the taste of flesh. XXXX cried and wailed and tried to escape but the only thing that this brought him was more pain from the multipleyers of duck tape digging deeper and deeper into his flesh. YYYY clung to his right leg and moaned from the excitement, she put the cold, slippery sheers to XXXX''s right leg and... "SNAP* *SNAP* *SNAP* Went the bloodthirsty sheers cutting through the skin and tendons, crippling the other leg of the boy. "Now you can''t run away from me... with that, we can be together forever!" YYYY moaned shivering from excitement as she licked the scarlet blood off the sheers. ... ... Chapter 299: The plan for the future

Chapter 299: The n for the future

"...!" Two years old boy woke up with a start, drenched in sweat in his bed. He instantly threw away his nket and touched his shins to check whether the thick scars were still there or not ¨C but of course, there weren''t there. After all, the high schooler who got his tendons cut with the gardening sheers was long dead ¨C his head crushed under the motorcycle wheel in a different world. |Well then... I guess that those nightmares are a standard now...| "...!" A voice inside of the boy''s head sighed, making him flinch and grit his teeth. |True... but it''s all because you told me that I can''t kill that pile of human waste...| The boy responded, sighing internally as his face twisted in a terrible grimace of pure hatred that no two years old should be even capable of making. |Like it or not, she''s an essential character and we need her to be alive so that the secret true ending route could work out.| The voice reminded the boy. |I know...| The boy shook his head, getting rid of the fearsome expression and recing it with indifference. |Still, it''s alright, it''s only less than five years before I turn into an undead and will be free from the need to sleep whatsoever.| He ended up even shrugging his shoulders before looking outside the window ¨C it was still some time before dawn, but a bright line of the horizon was indicating that it wasn''t that far off. |Patience, you should have woke me up sooner, we almost missed the morning training ¨C or do you want me to get caught and stopped from getting outside again by my living parents?| The boy tilted his head and mockingly asked the voice inside of him. |Ah! I''m hurt, little Kiwi, you and I share the same goal, even if for different reasons... You getting into trouble isn''t on my to-do list, you know?| "..." Patience responded with augh, but the boy only furrowed his brows as he was putting on his clothes. |...alright, that was a low blow, you dislike your current name, right, Zombie?| Patience actually sounded a bit apologetically. |It''s the name of a filthy living who will perish in a few years.| The boy looked at his hand and clenched his fist so hard that his fingernails punctured his skin and a few drops of blood emerged and slid down his wrist. |I am Zombie, that''s that.| The boy thought licking off the blood before it stained his clothes or fell to the floor. |Of course, you are.| Patience agreed and went silent. "..." Zombie looked at the wound he caused himselfpletely unnecessary and grabbed a bandage from inside of his nightstand''s drawer and wrapped skillfully wrapped his hand. "Time to go..." He spoke out loud and opened the window before jumping out into the refreshingly cold outside. The vige that he was living in was more prosperous than some of the medium-sized towns by the looks of it, and it actually was rted to his father''s store with magic stones that allowed for the measly vige to be an important trade point on the map of many travelers. Of course, travelers like that needed a ce to eat and sleep so inns were a must ¨C there had been some murmurs about making the vige an actual town too with all the rights that came with it, although his father was strongly opposing that since the towns are required to pay a higher tax directly to the royal family of Greeds. Yes, the truth was that Zombie was originally born in a vige on the outskirts of the Greeds territory. Nheless, the very young boy didn''t care about any of the inns or themerce going on or the ongoing discussion regarding the taxes. What he cared about was the little training area in the back of the houses of the self-appointed vige guards Capitan. It had training dummies and it had training swordsying around, and most importantly, it was basically open to the public ¨C blocked off only by the measly wooden fence that even a normal six years old child could easily scale. Zombie walked hurriedly, most of the vigers were already awake anyway, but most of them were too busy with their own early tasks to care about a small child stubbornly making his way through the vige ¨C and in the first ce, many of them didn''t even see him as even the loves fence was enough to hide the child. Zombie wasn''t even that bothered to be spotted in the first ce ¨C not until it came to jumping over the fence of the training area that is. Because no matter what, a two-year-old boy should not be able to make it through such an obstacle. "..." Zombie carefully looked around, making sure that no eyes are on him, got on his tiptoes to reach for the top of the low wooden fence, and activated the only skill he was reborn with... His body lighted up with a dim violet light ¨C a clear sight that his superbia skill is still low level and not added on top of many other skills ¨C and he jumped through with ease andnded softly and safely on the other side. "...whew..." The boy breathed out and wiped the sweat off of his forehead as the light faded from his body ¨C it wasmon knowledge that a child under four years old shouldn''t be using any skills because they are too dangerous for them in that phase of growth. |Superbia takes up too much mana for now... I need to get the strong kick skill as soon as possible...| Zombie sighed andined internally. |It will be useful, but it will do better for you to just concentrate on getting the sword affinity or sword fighting skill. You still want to get the other strongest undead ss that this world has to offer, right?| Patience responded without fail and pointed out to theining boy. |It''s good that you are so keen on bing the undead anyway, but things won''t be so easy as they were the first time. Eternal Servant race ispletely locked up for you as of now so we need to make do.| Patience started exining once more the same thing that both of them talked over countless times over the two years that they''ve already spent together. |If everything goes as it should, once you''ll get killed by the Pride''s carriage, your favorite viiness will turn you into her undead ¨C and herees the first hurdle.| |Bing an undead has some quirks in this world ¨C your level will reset to 1, your stats will reset to those of a level 1 undead BUT you will retain all of your skills, unlocked affinities, and titles ¨C of which every single one will be taken into consideration by the system while deciding in which direction your rank up should go.| |Since you were the eternal servantst time, you have no idea about the real rank up basically all monsters go through.| |You only ever experienced the growth because your affinity with your viiness grew.| |Now it won''t be the same ¨C you will have to go the standard growth route.| |Lucky for you, that route can be greatly influenced without rming the anti-cheat part of Eternal.| |Since I have the knowledge of the strongest types of monsters and their evolution trees and all the necessary steps required to achieve it.| |You agreed with me that the most suitable route for you is to be the Death lord, so the rank ups you will be aiming for are as follows:| |Basic undead > level 10 + sword rted skill > Undead page > level 10 + sword skill on at least level 6 + shield skill > undead squire > level 30 + sword skill mastery + shield skill on at least level 6 + poison skill on at least level 6 + title of the monster yer > Undead knight > level 45 + sword skill mastery + shield skill mastery + poison skill mastery + the title of the champion yer > Undead champion > level 50 + magic skill mastery + leadership skill > Undead lord| |If possible it would be best to get you up to the Undead King rank, but that one is really tricky, so we shall see...| |Not to mention that leveling up will be much harder as the more you rank up, the harder it is to gain levels.| |It won''t be as easy as you remember it.| While Patience was talking, Zombie was relentlessly hitting the training dummy with the wooden sword. /proficiency level reached you receive a skill Sword proficiency (level 1) |¡­| |So now I only need the actual offensive skill and we can finally go hunt some monsters to make everything faster, right...?| Zombie asked after fixing his stance and began calming down his breath. |...right...| Patience agreed with a sigh of defeat. Chapter 300: The peaceful family life~

Chapter 300: The peaceful family life~

"KIWI! Get back down here! Don''t you think that I can''t see you!" Nectarine, Zombie''s mother, called out after him when he failed to run up the stairs fast enough. "...!" The young brown-haired boy flinched and slowly turned around to face the woman ring at him while crossing her arms. "...I was going on a walk..." Zombie mumbled without even attempting to make eye contact. "It''s barely past five in the morning, what does a three-year-old have to do outside so early?" His mother asked with a stern expression, pointing at therge clock standing nearby the staircase. "...I just wanted to get some fresh air..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders, looking away with a frown. "Fresh air? Tsk..." Nectarine stared at his wrinkled, disheveled, dirty clothes and clicked her tongue. "I want you to know that your behavior is very concerning! You are constantly bullying your poor sister, you disappear in the middle of the night and return in the morning... Do you know how much your father and I are worried about you?! Recently something has been killing Melon''s chickens and Caramel told us that she saw you sneak around Melon''s chicken coop!" She sighed while closing her eyes and massaging her forehead. "Wha..?! I would never do something like that! Are you an idiot?! Believing that filth''s word!" Zombie flinched and snapped back at his mother, sounding so furious that he made her back off taken aback. "Kiwi! How dare you speak like that to your own mother and about your own sister! Where did you even learn to talk like that?!" Nectarine quickly realized that she actually got intimidated by her three years old son''s outburst and got angry to hide her embarrassment. "...why do you care? You''ll forget my existence if your beloved system will as much as suggest it..." Zombie scoffed and turned away and started walking back to his room as he originally wanted before getting stopped. "...you...! Go change out of those dirty clothes ande right down! Your father and I need to have another talk about your terrible behavior!" Nectarine trembled from anger and shouted at her son''s back in an attempt to make it seem like she was the one who sent him away. *Creak* The silent sound betrayed the short light brown-haired girl, with bandaged hands and bruised face, peeking at the whole scene from the safety of her room. "..." *STOMP* "HIIIIIH...!" *WHAM* Zombie red right at her and took an aggressive step in her direction, which made the girlpletely lose her head in panic and hurriedly shut the door while squealing in fear. "KIWI! IF YOU DO SOMETHING TO CARAMEL AGAIN I WILL PUNISH YOU FOR REAL!" Nectarine''s furious shout from downstairs clearly showed that she heard everything and wasn''t happy with it either. |If you act like that towards your parents just because I told you that on your first ythrough they didn''t even try to look for you because I made the system show them a message about it, then I''m sorry, okay...?| Patience spoke awkwardly inside of Zombie''s head, sounding less thanfortable. |Don''t bother with that. If you have time to worry about my familiar rtionship with some living, you better use it oning up with a better way to level up... Or on how can we get that damn monster that keeps on killing Melon''s chickens! We''ve been looking for it for several days all in vain!| Zombie shrugged his shoulders and scoffed internally while getting changed from the clothes that got dirty while he was searching through the nearby forest in search of the new predator that showed up out of nowhere. |...fine...| Patience sighed and sounded as if they nodded. |It''s annoying, that''s obviously just some minor monster that isn''t connected with any event, but it does kill the domesticated chickens which we are using to awaken your beast master affinity early on, making things really inefficient... And it seems that you were spotted even though we were trying to keep it a secret... The failed savior seems to dislike you about as much as you dislike her now...| They pointed out. |No. Comparing our hatreds is stupid, how can you even measure up an ant to a living-mountain titan-ss monster...?| Zombie snorted and smirked mockingly while folding up the dirty clothes that he actually wanted to use the next day since they finally lost the foreign smell and would allow him to set up an ambush the next day. |One would think that you lose some pride since you got reverted to a weak child, but damn... Someone has been drinking a lot of sassy juice recently, huh...?| |For me, it sounds like someone has been getting overly familiar just because they are sealed inside of me.| |Wah! So cold!| The banter inside of Zombie''s head has already be a normal part of his life. Soon, with all fresh-smelling clothes on, the boy exited his room... "...?" To spot the short six-year-old light brown-haired girl sneaking towards the staircase still in her pajamas that managed to hide most of her injuries. |Zombie, I know what you are thinking ¨C and don''t. You will end up eventually killing her, and she is needed alive for the special true ending to happen.| Patience instantly warned his host before the boy could even make another move. |She has been training her skills in her spare time too, right? Not as efficiently as we are, considering the benefits of level-ups, but still ¨C she ought to have either toughness or some other damage mitigation skill at level 1 at least...| Zombie shook off their warning and out sneaked the sneaking girl who was definitely trying to hide from him. He got behind her back and... *shove* "KYAAAAAAH!" *rumble* Caramel screamed after being pushed down the stairs by a pair of thin arms and tumbled all the way down. "U-ugh... Uuuu...!" The girl twitched and sobbed while her brain wasn''t caught up yet with the full extent of her new injuries. |See...? She''s alive.| |¡­| Zombie grinned while descending the stairs, making Patience speechless. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Nectarine''s voice carried from the kitchen, and Zombie knew he had little time ¨C he could have run up the stairs and hide, acting as if he had nothing to do with the ''ident'' or... *WHAM* "UG-HUGHU...!" A full-on anime-style ser kicknded on the unguarded stomach of the reincarnated girl, causing her to choke up on her own vomit. /proficiency level reached hidden affinity unlocked leg power "Ah! Isn''t that perfect? Hey, filth, you''re so useful today!" "Wha...?! GET AWAY FROM HER!" A message that Zombie honestly didn''t suspect to see for a long time showed up with perfect timing ¨C making him cheer out loud exactly as his mother arrived at the scene... Chapter 301: The talk with the parents

Chapter 301: The talk with the parents

Usually, Zombie''s father, Pear, would open his magic stone''s shop bright and early as if it was an inn or a tavern serving breakfast for the workers ¨C but he didn''t do that on this day. Instead, he was sitting in his dining room with his wife, Nectarine, standing by his left side while both of them were looking with grave expressions at their three-year-old son. "Kiwi. I''ll have you know that your sister broke three ribs and twisted her ankle, not to mention the light concussion and some really ugly bruises." Pear spoke in a cold voice, carefully observing his son, waiting for the remorseful act of any sort... "Oooh! A new record, isn''t it? But do you think that it hurt her more or less than when I broke her arm?" But instead, the child''s face lighted up and he asked while his eyes shone with excitement. "...!" Nectarine by Pear''s side flinched and clenched her fists. "It''s alright, Nectar." The man grabbed her hand and spoke calmly. "What''s alright?! This child almost killed his own sister! Again!" The woman trembled with fury and looked at her husband as if he went mad since he didn''t seem angry at all. "She deserves it." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and looked away, visibly bored with the whole situation. "HOW DARE YOU! SHE NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO YOU!" "Nectar, stop!" Nectarine blew up, and tried to lean across the table and p him, but got stopped by her husband. "Nectar, you are going to wake Caramel up... why don''t you go check up on her? She will probably be scared if she wakes up alone." Pear patted her back while pulling her away from the table and Zombie. "...you''re right..." Nectar red at Zombie onest time before sighing and nodding in agreement. "It''s alright, I''ll talk with him. Go." Pear gently pushed her towards the door and she ended up walking out with a cloudy expression. "..." Once she was gone, Pear returned to his chair and focused on the young boy. "Kiwi. Tell me what''s going on? Why is such a good child acting like that?" He asked with a worried expression, which honestly was exactly what Zombie had expected... "You are so gifted, you have learned to speak while you were three months old, you took your first step while you were four months old, and you learned to read even before your first birthday! It''s clear that the system has something amazing in store for you!" Pear listed all of his son''s achievements ¨C at least the ones that he was aware of. "It''s my fault... I''m too preupied with my shop and didn''t pay you enough attention... Is that where your anger ising from? Do you think that my mother and I love Caramel more than we love you? I assure you that we love you both just as much!" The man began a heartfelt speech that would have definitely pull on the strings of a love-starved child... ..unlucky for him, Zombie wasn''t someone like that at all... "You are overthinking it. Also, if you want to use something more rtable next time, the third parenting guide you''ve bought, the one written by Lychee Lust feels the most genuine, Plum Greed tries too hard to sound grand and ends up sounding really condescending in some parts. But I apud your efforts." Zombie leaned back on his chair and shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expression. "...you already read all three...?" Pear straightened his back and asked in shock. "Yeah." Zombie simply nodded and sighed. "Listen... you are not a bad person and definitely not a bad parent. You are trying your best, and it''s really admirable. But your biggest problem is that you ended up with me as your child." Zombie''s expression turn cold and he leaned forward, staring right into the confused eyes of his father. "Someone like you won''t be able to change me. The reason I hate that filth doesn''t have anything to do with anyone else, nor you nor the other living." The boy dered, and hearing something like that from the mouth of a three-year-old child was a truly bizarre experience... "B-but if you could tell me that reason then maybe I..." "Pear. There are some things and people that are better left alone ¨C I am someone like that." Zombie interrupted his father''s attempt at conversation and simply dered. "I only want to make that filth''s life as miserable as possible. Don''t try to pry into my business too hard, or I might decide that she will suffer the most if she suddenly bes an orphan." "!!!" Zombie climbed down his chair and left the stunned Pear with a ridiculous threat that rightfully caused the warning lights to light up in his father''s brain. "I''m going to y around in the vige, I''ll be back before dusk." The boy dered leaving the dining room without asking for permission and leaving the house ¨C leaving the crestfallen man hiding his face in his hands alone by the table. |...I just want to remind you that even though ording to my knowledge Pear does have a friend in the Envy''s territory who''s an ex-adventurer that sometimes picks up difficult children from the desperate parents and makes them into upstanding citizens ¨C it doesn''t mean that you absolutely need to be that extreme to force your father''s hand...| Patience pointed out. |Did Ie out that bad?| Zombie asked with genuine confusion. |You literally threatened to kill both of your parents in their sleep ¨C even you have to realize how wrong that is.| |...really? But I just repeated one of the examples of behavior that was listed in one of those parental guides that he has bought ¨C the one for the hopeless cases.| |¡­| |Aww... Patience... Are you finally admitting to having daddy issues? You can''t help but feel jealous when someone''s father is trying so hard to reunite with their kid while your own ditched you?| |I get it. Just stop bringing my creator into this.| Patience cut off their exchange sounding ticked off. |...I went too far, sorry...| Zombie apologized in his head. |It''s fine. Just don''t do that again. Let''s get to the chickens first ¨C if we''re lucky as with your first hidden affinity, we might unlock beast master and even get a leadership skill to boot.| Patience sounded as if they shrugged their shoulders and hurried Zombie. Zombie smirked to himself as he walked towards Melon''s house. "Ah! Little Kiwi! You need to see this! All my hens look like they are waiting for you! It''s so adorable, you have to see it!" Melon, an older man kindhearted man with a captain''s beard,ughed and beckoned him from afar. Chapter 302: Training the chickens

Chapter 302: Training the chickens

The chickens were indeed waiting for Zombie ¨C and they were doing it by standing in a straight line right by their pen''s gate! It was honestly really cute, and had another positive effect ¨C it took Zombie one nce to count them all without any trouble. "Two are missing." His expression soured as he pointed out before he entered. |Patience, how the hell did we miss a whole monster...? Does it have a high-level sneak skill or something?| Zombie asked inside of his head. |No. It''s more likely that it got here after we already left... It looks like it isn''t nocturnal after all. Good, that crosses out all of the most dangerous options.| Patience answered calmly. "Yes... whatever bastard is, it got one hen." Melon nodded with a dissatisfied frown and red towards the treetops visible from above the fence. "One? What about...?" Zombie tilted his head and looked back at the old man when... *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *p* *p* *p* Arge rooster with colorful feathers rushed out from the coop, making it seem like he waste for an important meeting, juped up, helped himself with hisrge wings ¨C and ended upnding on Zombie''s shoulder. "Khahahaha! There you are!" Zombieughed and patted the rooster''s puffed-out chest, making the animal close his eyes from satisfaction. "Hmmm...?" Then, Zombie''s attention turned to the rooster''s feet, or rather his talons... Some of them were broken, two were missing altogether... "He fought with the monster?!" Zombie''s eye''s widened and he turned to Melon without stopping giving pats to the bird on his shoulder ¨C that honestly, he shouldn''t be able to carry asfortably as he did. "He sure did! I was making fun of your little training sessions but it actually looks like they are paying off!" The old man nodded vigorously and started exining. "Today I was woken up but a loud noise from the outside, just a little bit ago I got up and saw this guy marching back and forth alongside the back of the pen with his talons stained green ¨C there was even some fur stuck to it! Whatever damned bastard snatched another hen, this guy got them good this time!" Melon said sounding as proud as if he chased away the mysterious monster himself. "Fur? What color it was? Can I see it?" Zombie twitched and asked. "Sure. I took it so I could show it to Gooseberry or some other hunter." Melon nodded and went inside of his house for a moment and returned with a scuff of stiff yellowish-gray fur tainted with some greenish fluid on his palm. |Can you tell what we are dealing with?| Once again Zombie asked the being sealed inside of him. |Yeah, sure.| Patience sounded as if they nodded, and made Zombie smirk with satisfaction ¨C which he had to hurriedly hide by looking away, making it seem like he was put off by the sight. |First of all, that is not fur. Those are pieces of a small insectoid monster''s carapace. Judging by the color, we''re dealing with a worm centipede. Funnily enough, they are usually low-level monsters on which the birds, like the chickens, feed in the wild. Killing them is not worth the hustle since they hide quite well while being generally harmless. Still, this one somehow got between level 5 and 8 if it started hunting chickens instead, but it''s definitely below level 10 or it would have ranked up and lost the fur-like carapace.| Patience exined, putting the memories drained from the so-called savior from the first ythrough to good use. |A worm is hunting the chickens...?| |Ironic, right?| The two of them scoffed at each other. "Ah, sorry, sorry, go and have the morning routine with them already! You have a knack for dealing with animals, maybe you have a hidden affinity or something? Haha!" Melon closed his palm and waved his other hand dismissively before making a joke and walking away ¨C most likely to see the vige''s hunters and ask for their opinion. |Hey... you''ve said that they normally are the food, howe it only takes getting up to level 5 to start winning instead?| Zombie asked while watching Melon walk down the road. |That is what I was talking about so many times before. You were a unique monsterst time, so you have no idea how difficult it is to level up normally, especially for some fodder monster. Getting to level 5 is hard ¨C and you should realize it by now since you are stuck on level 4 for six months already, and you''re still a living human that doesn''t have the worst growth rate of all creatures... Though not getting any quest is surely slowing down your potential by a lot.| Patience sighed, sounding as if they were shaking their head in disbelief. |I would be on a much higher level if you didn''t nag so much about me being careful.| Zombie furrowed his brows andined. |You need to understand that there is no one watching over the system now and the story event will simply activate whenever unlike it was on your first ythrough ¨C there''s also no one who could revive you if you would die. I was the one blocking the souls from getting transferred and whatnot and making sure that the story will adjust to the changes. There''s nothing like that now. If you''ll die outside an event you are supposed to die and get resurrected, that''s it. The night of the hungry wolves is one of the unskippable events that will trigger anyway and there will be no one to protect your favorite viiness from the trap set up by the Envy family using the Gluttonys as a cover - or in case that she the event will be skipped, the Eternal with the Invictus title will activate and destroy the world.| "Well, isn''t that annoying..." Zombie let out an audible sigh and red down. "Bock...?" The rooster on his back made a confused noise and lowered his head, looking at the young boy with confusion. "I''m fine, don''t worry." Zombie waved his hand at him andughed it off. *p* "Alright! this guy here showed his worth! Now we will work on youdies! If you work together, you can get rid of some worm monster, no matter how strong did it got!" Zombie pped his hands together and turned to all the hens obediently waiting still in a perfect line. "You have talons and strong beaks! Today we''re going to..." The boy was speaking confidently while making his way towards the middle of the pen - he picked up a long loose board that must have been there for who-know-when - and stuck it vertically into the ground. "Now. I will show you how to use them properly. This is your practice target!" Zombie dered while smacking the board and making the dried-up soil - and other stuff - fell off inrge chunks. "You! You will help me demonstrate!" "Bo-bock...?!" The boy pointed at a white hen that instantly bocked in confusion, looking around as if she thought that he was pointing another one. "Up we go!" But hen''s confusion didn''t change Zombie''s ns at all. He walked over and picked up the animal and carried it towards the practice bard. "Alright, everyone, watch carefully!" Zombie grabbed onto the hen''s paws. "When you have a target, you need to attack it like this!" Zombie raised the hen up and then moved her paws so that her talons would scratch against the board in long swoops. "It might seem weak, but with how many of you there are, it will definitely be so effective that even a certain courageous hero would be defeated by it!" He cheered, making sure to build up the hen''s self-esteem. |...howe you are so nice to animals but absolutely hate other humans...?| Patience couldn''t help but sigh. Chapter 303: A monsters apperance

Chapter 303: A monster''s apperance

"You know, it''s really annoying that we live in such a peaceful spot... Pride''s territory was bustling with monsters but here we need to search for a couple of hours just to get a lone goblin straggler..." Zombie sighed to himself, shaking the blood of a long dagger that looked like an appropriately sized one-handed sword in his small hands. There was still more than an hour until sunrise but with no fog, there were no troubles with visibility whatsoever enabling Zombie to move around without the need for a light source or a night vision skill. |Not really... even for this particr region, having absolutely no native monsters is unheard of. I mean, even though we are responsible for meticulously destroying their already small poption for the past two years ¨C a situation like that should not happen.| Patience spoke up sounding concerned. |What do you mean exactly...? Is there anything suspicious in your portion of memories...?| Zombie instantly closed his mouth and thought furrowing his brows, and clenched his hand on the weapon''s handle. |Nothing is directly stated but... call it a bad feeling. The absence ofmon spawns in the area can mean one thing... Something stronger came and killed them all.| Patience sounded way more concerned than Zombie ever expected them to get. And it wasn''t like the little boy had a skill like a rotten brain that would stop his intelligence in any way... |So you''re saying that the worm centipede got a lot stronger.| He sighed internally. |Yes. If it really killed the other monsters in the area, it must have got close to a rank-up or gone through a rank-up. We should go check on the chickens. Now.| There was no longer hesitation in Patience''s voice, only urgency. |On it.| Zombie nodded and started running immediately after sheathing the long dagger. Annoyingly enough, he still hadn''t received anything like the strong kick or another type of leg-based attack, so he couldn''t use the trick that he had figured out in his first ythrough, but with the leg power affinity his running speed could match up to even that of an adult. /proficiency level reached hidden affinity unlocked Beast Master /proficiency level reached you receive a skill leadership (level 1) |What the hell does that mean?!| Zombie asked in shock, without losing any speed, careful not to trip on some exposed roots or fallen branches. |Both of those need the monsters you''ve trained to actually put your teaching into practice ¨C your feathered friends must be putting up a fight against the centipede!| Patience exined sounding both shocked and impressed in equal measure. *booom* "...!" But then, even though their vige was still a good distance away, a sudden sound of an explosion echoed between the trees, making Zombie tense up and sped up greatly while gritting his teeth. Even with all that, he wouldn''t have made it all the way to the vige for more than fifteen minutes. *RUSTLE* But the thing was, he didn''t even have to... "SCRUHIIIIIIIIIIIIII! (HUUUUUUUUUUUURT!)" With the rustle of the leaves and branches, a giant ck and red centipede burst through the bushes in Zombie''s way, screeching horribly while trampling everything in its way. With how it was charging, it was as tall as an adult human while at least three times as long ¨C its red carapace and ck legs had many wounds and scratches as well as multicolored feathers of ughtered hens stuck all over. ''¡­!" Zombie stopped right in ce just as the monster appeared, and simrly, the beast froze as if it didn''t expect to see anything in its way, The monster''s beady ck eyes focused on the small, merely three-year-old boy, and its mandibles moved around vigorously to get rid of the pieces of colorful feathers of a rooster stuck between them. Yet somehow, the most disturbing thing in this whole image was a bright red oddly shaped sign burning right in the middle of the centipede''s head segment. |It ranked up right into a demon centipede?! GET AWAY FROM HERE, NOW!| Patience''s shout echoed in the void... "..." Zombie didn''t even flinch, speechlessly staring at the wounds left on the centipede''s carapace by the measly talons of the domesticated chicken monsters he attempted to train just the previous morning... |Zombie...? Zombie, you can''t freeze up like that! You need to run!| Patience sounded as if they flinched and spoke up in confusion. |That mark is the sigil of the Eternal! That''s what happens when the surplus of power of the primordial god of destruction slips through the seal of the Eternal and pollutes the world! You never encountered something like that in your first ythrough because you were the Eternal all along, but with your two entities being separated, it all returned to how it should have been originally! You saw Caramel''s memories about the events! Those sigil monsters show up from time to time and are treated as minibosses!| Since their initial response had no effect whatsoever Patience tried to exin everything desperately fast just to get the boy away from the monster that was slowly regaining itsposure and was already readying itself for a strike. "..." Zombie finally moved ¨C but instead of running away, he pulled out his weapon while ring into the beady ck eyes of the centipede. |Zombie! Listen to me! Even if that thing is still low-level, it is at least as strong as a gray frenzy wolf, maybe even a young white one! And you are level 4! 4!| Patience shouted inside of Zombies head, but the only response was from the boy was the light of an activated skill suddenly brightening up his eyes and enveloping the de of the long dagger he was using as a sword. |Think about your viiness! She will die if you don''t push the story on the right track! The secret true ending is only achievable for someone who knows what should be changed and you know full well that Caramel won''t lift her finger to help her! You can''t die here trying to avenge some chickens!| Patience resorted to pulling Cranberry into the argument but simrly as before ¨C their argument failed to move the proudest corpse in the body of the three-year-old boy. "Forsaking one''s pride for achieving their goal isn''t wrong... But if I did that, could I really look into Cranberry''s face with a clear conscience when we finally meet in this ythrough?" "...scruhiii...? (...humanrva, not running, not afraid...?)" Zombie smirked, taking a stance while the centipede let out a cautious insect screech, confused by the different response than it expected. |You..! You utter fool! If you don''t escape this fight there will be no meeting that girl, ever!| Patience shouted desperately. "Then I just need to kill this bug, don''t I?" Zombie''s smirk bloomed into a bloodthirsty smile and heunched himself at the monster. Chapter 304: Sigil monster (1)

Chapter 304: Sigil monster (1)

"Scruhii...? (...kill...?) SCRUHIIIII! (KIIIIIIIIIIIL!)" *swoosh* The shining de cut through the empty air as the centipede monster screeched horribly and climbed up, raising more of its body segments - dodging the initial swing with - ease and instantly charged at the small child. |Dodge it!| "Tsk...!" *CRUSH* Patience roared inside of Zombie''s head, making him click his tongue as he rolled away, making the sigil monster unintentionally dig its head into the forest soil. |Stop distracting me.| The boy scoffed in annoyance as his weapon''s de started shining again. |WATCH OUT FOR ITS BODY!| Even with Zombie''s angry request, Patience shouted again, once the centipede''s body segments leashed out like whip using the buried head segment as an anchor. "I''VE TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP WHILE I''M FIGHTING!" *SHING* *SPLURT* "SCRUHIIIII! (H-HUUUUUUUTS!)" Zombie cleaved at the approaching monster''s body and used its eleration and weight to add to the power of his own attack - ending up cutting off three of the lively ck limbs causing the ckish blood to splurge everywhere as the centipede freed its head and screeched in pain while backing off in heavy shock. /Proficiency level reached You receive a skill Counter (level 1) |Huh?! Counter?! After just one hit?! How good was your technique?!| |How many times do you think I saw my Cranberry use it? Now shut up.| Patience got scolded by Zombie again while the boy was getting into a stance again, ready to either strike or dodge depending on what his opponent will do next. "SCRUHIII! (HUMAN LARVA HURT ME!) SCRUHIII! (HUMAN LARVA JUST LIKE FEATHER-FOOD!) SCRUHIII! (ME HATE! ME KILL HUMAN LARVA TOO! AND EAT!)" The demon centipede screeched horrible, letting a yellowish drool drip down its mandibles, as it curled up in a ball preparing for another attack. |What the...! That''s poison! You better not get hit by it!| Patience warned Zombie again. "...are you a damned unskippable tutorial or something?! You think that I wouldn''t recognize what it was?! Just shut up, I remember everything Cranberry and I''ve learned about different types of monsters!" The boy couldn''t help himself and scoffed out loud, gritting his teeth and raising his sword-like dagger. "Scruhii...! (humanrva, annoying...!) SCRUHIIIIII! (ME KILL! WON''T EVEN EAT! JUST KILL!)" The demon centipede uncurled and shoot straight at the young boy, spewing yellow poison everywhere. At first, Zombie didn''t move as ifpletely taken by surprise by the horribly fast vicious attack... "...!" Until, at the veryst moment, when the centipede''s mandibles were already closing to chop the child''s fragile body right in half - when a faint white glow enveloped the boy and his body twisted and bent in a way that was hard to call possible, and the boy dodged both the mandibles and the poison sshing around! *STAB* "SCRUHIIII! (HUUUUUUUURTS!)" Not only that, as soon as the head segment passed him, Zombie swiftly charged forward and stabbed his weapon right into the biggest wound in the centipede''s segmented body dealt by chickens'' talons - with already wakened carapace the de met little to no resistance and dug deep into the burgundy flesh, causing another pained shrill to leave the monster''s maw. *THUNK* But with a weapon stuck like that, it was impossible for Zombie to retrieve it fast enough - the monster coiled and jolted away in pain - and since the boy refused to let go of his cheap long dagger, its de gave out and broke unevenly causing the sword-like dagger to turn into a pitiful short dagger-like trash. It was still sharp and pointed trash though, and Zombie wasn''t going to let go of the only weapon he had on him, no matter how much its reach has decreased. The only other way was to fight using his own body, and that was out of the question - he didn''t train to specifically increase his status points at all since he would be losing those once he would be turned into an undead, and instead focused on training skills necessary for his future rank-ups as a monster - most of which had something to do with weapons. |SEE?! IT WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!| "Tsk...!" Patience showed that they can''t keep quiet for more than a few seconds and shouted in panic. "SCRUHIII! (HUUUURT!) SCRUHII! (ME HATE HUMAN LARVA!) SCRUHI! (ME KILL IT!) Constant pain from therge piece of the de being stuck inside its body made the monster enter the enraged state and its body release a red and ck smoke instead of a light as it should normally happen - the one thing that began glowing much brighter than before, was the sigil of the eternal burning in the middle of the centipede''s head segment. "SCRUHIIIIII! (KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!)" The demon centipede attacked again, but somehow in its enraged state, it actually went for a much smarter attack. It didn''t charge headfirst in a straight line, making it easy to dodge with the right timing, but instead, it began curling itself around the boy, making use of its superior size and trapping him within its coils - making all dodgingpletely useless. "SCRUHIII! (ME GOT YOU!) SCRUHIII! (ME GOT YOU! ME SMARTER!)" The monster shook from an ugly giggle that didn''t sound righting out of an insect''s mouth, as it used its lively limbs to push Zombie''s body upwards. It was clearly taking pleasure in ying with its victim as it made sure to inflict as many wounds as possible without killing the boy - hence, once his head and the right hand still clenching the broken dagger, popped up, the monster giggled again when it saw that it managed to rip vertical wound at Zombie''s forehead. The boy could barely see and had to move his head so that only his right eye was being flooded by blood just so he could see anything. "Scruhii... (Soft humanrva, good...) Scruhii... (You annoying, you hurt me...) Scruhii...! (But now shining stick broken... ) Scruhii!(Me will chop through you, one bite!)" Monster''s mandibles moved around as it let out a series of low screeches. It even moved Zombie up a bit just so his body could really be torn in half, not just his head. |You are going to die from a centipede four years before you could even see your viiness! Are you happy now?!| "SCRUHIII! (NOW, ME KIIILL!)" Patience sounded as if they were gritting their teeth at the same time as the demon centipede screeched triumphantly and locked its mandibles on Zombie''s torso in a deadly bite. *clink* Chapter 305: Sigil monster (2)

Chapter 305: Sigil monster (2)

"Scru-hii...?! (Humanrva... hard...?!)" /Poison attack detected /Superbia skill activated /Poison attack negated A metallic-like noise sounded out and the demon centipede basked in a violet light let out a confused screech when its mandibles didn''t even prate the boy''s skin, much less cut him in half. "Funny you''ve asked, Patience - indeed, I am happy. Ecstatic even...!" Zombie''s face twisted in a wild bloodthirsty grin as he raised his hand up high and both his eyes and the broken dagger began shining with a white light of a skill. *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* "SCRUHIIII! (HUUUUUURTS!)" As continuous attacks fell onto the monster''s head and gouged out one of its eyes, it screeched furiously and began thrashing around relentlessly, smashing its own head against the ground in order to get rid of the boy, but it was basically impossible. Instead of trying to free himself, Zombie was holding onto the mandibles clenched on his torso with all his might while keeping the superbia skill nice and active while continuing the unrelenting assault. /Proficiency level reached Skill upgrade Stab (level 3) "KHAHAHAHAHA! WHO IS A LARVA NOW?!" *STAB* Zombieughed maniacally and unleashed the newly empowered skill right onto the annoying sigil burning in the middle of the centipede''s head, piercing right through it. "SCRUHIIIIIII...!" Sometimes an anguished screech was just an anguished screech that didn''t carry any deeper meaning behind it... *CRUNCH* "...III-GHH...!" And then it suddenly stopped once Zombie twisted the broken dagger and turned the centipede''s brain into a gooey mush. *WHAM* /Sigil monster has been defeated You receive the EXP /You level up Level 4 ?? Level 14 All status points increased All skills upgrade All affinity upgrade You receive a title Sigil hunter The series of system messages popped up in front of Zombie''s eyes while the monster''s body uncurled and fell limply onto the ground with its many legs still twitching for a few more seconds, unaware that the rest of the body was already dead. *whooooooooooooooo* "..." The boy didn''t even flinch when the centipede''s body around him suddenly spontaneouslybusted into red and ck mes and began crumbling into ashes within seconds. That was something he knew would happen - he had the knowledge of the events and activities the encounters with sigil monsters were counted amongst the minor and bonus events but events nheless, so he knew that they would leave no loot except for the experience - a massive amount of experience as proved by the system message informing him of skipping ten whole levels in one go. This one centipede was worth more than a dragonewt that Cranberry and Zombie killed off on their first kill party during the first ythrough... "...whew..." Zombie let out a deep sigh and wiped off the blood constantly flowing from his wounded forehead while the violet light of the superbia went out and the white light faded from his eyes and the broken dagger in the same manner but much slower. "!!!!!" That was the exact sight that the five men who suddenly came from the vige''s direction witnessed. Some of the body parts of the centipede were still in the middle of getting cremated, so it was still possible to make out the monster''s shape before it turned into unrecognizable gray dust. Three in the front were the vige''s hunters, they had proper equipment and weapons, but the other two were different. One of them was the old man Melon, clenching an old hoe, wide-eyed staring at the boy. And thest person was... "K-Kiwi...? What are you doing here?!" Pear, Zombie''s father. The man who came rushing once he was woken up by the loud noise - expecting to find his son ughtering all the chickens. ...but what he had found out was much more terrifying for him... |Lie to him.| |Was going to do that anyway.| Before Zombie opened his mouth, he had a quick exchange with Patience inside his mind. "What does it look like? I thought I could get rid of the monster that had been attacking mister Melon''s chickens. So I tried to set up an ambush but I''ve missed it. I was going back to the vige when I''ve heard the explosion and then that thing came right at me, so I''ve killed it... but I''ve seen that the monster was covered in blood, which means that it killed the rest of the chickens, didn''t it..." The boy looked down with a sad expression and threw aside the broken dagger - no longer necessary - before putting his hand to his forehead to mitigate the flowing blood, but from the adult''s perspective, it looked like he was hiding his tears. "Kiwi! You reckless boy!" The one crying out and approaching and hugging him wasn''t his father - it was the old man Melon, who passed his hoe to one of the shocked hunters the moment it was clear that there was no need to be on guard anymore. "Come, we need to have someone look at your wounds - Mrs. Apricot should be up already, she''ll patch you up." He said, effortlessly picking the child up. "Mister Melon, it''s alright, I can walk on my own." Zombie smiled reassuringly, but Melon wasn''t having any of this. "No, definitely not. You just fought with a monster! A real monster! It''s a miracle that you survived! You only think that you are feeling fine, but the moment you rx you might straight-up faint!" The old man refused his request. "Pear, I''m taking him to Mrs. Apricot, and then I''ll get him back to your house. You have your shop to attend to, right? It''s okay." He turned to the shaken man and smiled reassuringly. "...ah... that''s a good idea. Thank you." Pear flinched and nodded... "...!" Just to flinch again once he met his son''s cold gaze piercing right through him. |I see. Even though you threatened him before, he didn''t have any reason to worry, or so he thought considering your age.| |But now with this whole mess, he realized that you are in fact capable of sessfully murdering him in his sleep.| Patience realized and gasped in understanding. |Now he should start panicking and will try to get rid of me as soon as possible, he will try to spin everything in a positive light, as if he is doing something good for me to protect his good opinion amongst the other vigers, so it really leaves him with only one option - getting his friend from Envys territory to pick me up.| Zombie smirked internally, observing his sweating, pale as a ghost father. "The size of that thing... It must have been a vine centipede, right?" As Melon was carrying him away, the boy managed to pick up the exchange between the rest of the men. "Definitely, probably somehow hatched with a fire-based skill. The vine centipedes are weak to fire, once it got pressured by the kid, it must have used it in desperation and caught itself on fire - that''s why it burnt to a crisp." The other hunter pointed out, and honestly, it wasn''t a bad exnation,pletely wrong, but not bad for a shot in the dark. "Vine centipedes are stronger than chickens, but not by that much, still for a kid that small to actually put up a fight! How old is he, like five, six years old...?" The third hunter turned to Pear and asked. "He''s three." Zombie''s father corrected him in a weak voice. "Three?! His potential is incredible! A shame though, he surely leveled up at least twice - losing on the easy early quest isn''t good..." "Yeah..." One of the hunters pointed out and everyone else nodded. With that Melon got far enough for Zombie to be unable to overhear anything else. |Now we wait, I guess...| |Now we wait...| Patience pointed out and Zombie agreed, resting his chin on Melon''s shoulder as a wave of exhaustion actually did hit him just as Melon warned him before. Chapter 306: The guests arrival

Chapter 306: The guest''s arrival

Zombie''s wounds were healed to the best of the local medics'' abilities, but most of them ended up leaving pale scars anyway. |Curious, I never before got wounded like that. Not in this world that is.| Zombie thought to himself while looking into the mirror, tracing the thin pinkish line going across his forehead. |Better get used to it, since the eternal servant''s option is blocked for you, you can kiss goodbye the perfect regeneration.| Patience pointed out. |That only means I need to try harder to get the HP regeneration skill.| The boy shrugged his shoulders and nced at his exposed forearms at countless small scars left by Zombie himself in order to procure the skill - which up to this point remained only pointless self-harm since it looked like the boy had no talent for healing. |But changing the subject to more positive things, a carriage looking as if it traveled a long way arrived at the vige not long after we''ve returned from the training. Do you think it''s finally our ex-adventurer?| Zombie smirked, looking into his reflection''s eyes. |Hopefully. It''s been almost two weeks since you''ve dealt with the sigil monster. Plenty of time for your father to send out a letter to his friend, not sure about the response though. The carriage might bring them or it might have brought a letter from them.| Patience sounded as if they responded while shrugging their shoulders. |True.| Zombie nodded with a sour expression. There are some things you shouldn''t rush. There are still more than three and a half years before you met Cranberry for the first time. The n we came up with is good, it will be alright. Just remember to not over-level your skills or they might be dangerous for you once you be undead and your stats and level drop. "...yeah. I''ll try to keep that in mind..." Patience reminded him, which made the boy nodded with a solemn expression. *knock* *knock* *knock* "...?" Zombie picked up a silent knock, not to his room''s door, but to the front door of the house, and tilted his head. |Guess we will find out right away, huh.| Patience sounded as if they smirked. The noises of people bustling downstairs - with a voice that the boy didn''t recognize mixed in with his parents - prevented Zombie from going down immediately as he decided it would be too bothersome. Finally, after the few initial minutes, things seemed to settle down a bit and with no sound of someone leaving the house, the visitor must have stayed for a longer talk. Though, this might have been just his father''s business partnering from faraway to discuss another deal too... |We won''t know for sure unless they call you or we check on them.| Patience pointed out encouragingly, which made Zombie open the door and walk out. "...me wrong, it''s just I find it hard to believe that a child of you two would turn out into such a rascal." The unknown voice that wasing from the dining room belonged to a woman, and she didn''t sound convinced. "Rascal? That''s putting it lightly! That little demon almost killed our poor Caramel! We''ve tried to talk with him multiple times but it was like talking to a wall!" The other voice belonged to Zombie''s mother, Nectarine, who sounded very tilted. "...Kiwi is... a bad person..." "...!" And it was followed by the barely audible voice of Zombie''s most hated person in the entire world, Caramel herself - which caused the staircase-descending boy to be flooded by an ice-cold fury. "...?" "Laura? Is something wrong?" Zombie''s father''s surprised voice made the boy remember where he was and instantly calm down. "....nothing... I must be still on edge after that stray griffin attacked my carriage yesterday, I thought I''ve sensed a monster''s bloodlust just now..." The unknown woman breathed out and exined with a dismissiveugh. |Laura? So an essential character?| Zombie stopped on thest step and asked the being sealed inside of him. |Oh! So your father was in fact a friend with her! Laura is an instructor that can teach the characters from the yer''s party many useful offensive skills around the mid-game. She has a questline about avenging some of her students and if that''spleted correctly, she can even be a party member for a limited time. Still, Caramel didn''t try to recruit her during your first ythrough since she is considered only a B+ rank character ording to the yermunity and the fake savior was going for the S and S+ ones.| Patience had an exnation readily avable. |So what, she was just chilling in the Envy territory the whole time during thest ythrough?| Zombie asked, tilting his head. |Yes. She really does help the troubled youths find their path. If you and your viiness took your time in the Envy territory, you would have encountered her in one of the northern cities. Though she would most definitely be hostile since the Brave Swords were once her students before they''ve be the adventurers.| |Lucky her.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders dismissively at the casual jab from Patience. The boy proceeded to walk towards the dining room and stopped in the doorway once he saw the muscr back of a tall woman with braided reddish-brown hair. "...say, she seemed to sense my anger just now, it will be alright if I test something...?| Zombie smirked to himself while already reaching for the kitchen knife justying on the cupboard in the hallway, most likely left there by Nectarine who was in the middle of preparing breakfast right when the guest arrived. |Just don''t get yourself killed identally. Laura is strong and has good senses, she also tends to rely on her reflexes first, so if she''ll mistake you for a threat, she will strike you back before she even properly looks at you.| Patience warned him, but the boy didn''t seem worried at all... |That''s what I want to check. Will she be able to help me get stronger or not, I want to know...!| ...it actually had the exact opposite effect. "..." Zombie breathed out and took a stance. With the kitchen knife held like a sword, his eyes and the de began giving off a pale white light as Zombie focused on the sitting woman''s neck. *SLAM* "LAURA?!" And as soon as he did that, the woman rapidly stood up and turned around, pushing her chair out of the way - which caused Zombie''s father to shout out in shock - and reached for her own sword strapped to her waist, pale as a ghost, but otherwisepletely battle-ready. "EH...?!" Which is why the expression she made once she realized that the ''enemy'' she reacted to, was just a skinny three-year-old boy holding a kitchen knife while grinning with excitement. "Khahaha! You are a real deal, huh...?" Zombie snorted and nodded his head with a satisfied expression, deactivating his skills and putting the knife back where he found it. "...eh...?!" Laura, which turned out to look much younger than Zombie expected after hearing that she was a retired adventurer, shook her head from shock and blinked repeatedly while watching the child that had to climb on his tiptoes juts to reach the top of the cupboard to put back the big knife that was shining with the light of a skill just a moment ago. "Laura, what happe... Kiwi!" Then Pear approached the shocked woman from behind and touched her shoulder with a worried expression, before turning to check what she was looking at and noticing his son. "What were you trying to...?! No. Nevermind. Since you are already here,e join us at the table, this whole thing is about you anyway." At first, it looked like he would get angry, but then Pear seemed to change his mind halfway and instead let go of Laura''s shoulder and beckoned his son to enter the dining room. Chapter 307: Lets show off to Laura!

Chapter 307: Let''s show off to Laura!

"...!" Zombie entered the dining room and walked towards the table, which already caused the light brown-haired young girl to almost had a panic attack. The boy also did sit directly opposite to her, just to make sure she won''t have a chance of slipping by and ignoring him. "..." But that also meant that he just took a seat right next to the former adventurer that he literally just tested for awareness. Laura looked at him with concern and then turned to his father Pear. "...I was under the impression that the two of you were such devout believers of the system faith that you wouldn''t let your children learn any skill until they are ten years old just so they can be yer characters and have their future determined by the first quests they''ll get...?" She asked with a slightly troubled expression. |The ''what the hell is this then'' is heavily implied here.| Once it was clear that Zombie won''t get his head chopped off, Patience rxed and even made a little joke. |Khaha! Yeah. Also, what she''d said really clears things up. My skills were so pathetic at the beginning of the first ythrough exactly because my parents were idiots.| Zombieughed internally and sighed taking a sidelong nce at Pear and Nectarine sitting on both sides of the ufortably fidgetting Caramel. |Don''t be that harsh. What they did is a viable strategy for the wealthy and prosperous people who don''t expect their child to awaken to magic. After all, quests really do help out with basically everything, making gaining and leveling up skills much easier amongst other things. One could even say that wasting time on learning skills that don''t suit the future that the system has in store for a person is a sin... ording to the system''s faith that is.| |Cool, still, that''s not true at all, right? The system doesn''t give a damn about good or bad things.| Patience calmly exined, but that didn''t quite cause the reaction that they''ve hoped for. "That''s because we are... the thing is, Kiwi is developing horrifyingly fast. Before we knew it, he already started to sneak out of his room and going to train." Nectarine spoke up with an angry expression. "Before you knew it? Since when exactly?" Laura furrowed her brows and asked. "...! Since.. Since he was barely two years old..." Zombie''s mother flinched at the question and preemptively lowered her head to hide a shameful blush. "You two allowed a TWO-YEAR-OLD to wander alone at night?!" Laura looked even more shocked than when she first saw the little boy. "I know that this is a peaceful neighborhood but where, in the system''s name, were your heads?!" She asked in disbelief. "Once we''ve realized what was happening, we began locking up his room but..." Pear joined in, taking the attention off of his embarrassed wife. "The windows don''t have locks, also, it''s not that high anyway, a simple rope made out of the bedsheet was enough to get me in and out." He was interrupted, or rather his part of the story waspleted by Zombie''s input. The little boy shrugged his shoulders and looked at the former adventurer with an indifferent expression. "...for now, the only thing I see is that the two of you should have paid better attention to your kid..." Laura sighed and red scornfully at the pair in front of her. "W-we should...! We know we should have! But nothing exins what he''s doing to his poor sister! This can''t be even called a sibling''s rivalry, he almost killed her multiple times already! On purpose!" Nectarine cried out while protectively hugging the light brown-haired girl who looked especially pitiful cautiously watching the younger boy as if she expected him to attack her at any given moment. "...maybe we should hear what Kiwi has to say about it too? Some children react differently when they think that their parents love their sibling more than them, sometimes it shows as aggression towards their sibling. Usually not to that degree but..." Laura sighed and straightened her back with a tired expression. "Kiwi. It''s alright, you can be honest with us. Why do you bully your older sister?" She turned to the little boy and asked. "..." Zombie fidgetted and didn''t respond right away. "Can I really say how I feel...?" "...?!" He asked sounding almost shy which caused his family to go wide-eyed in shock. "..." Laura sent them a scornful re before turning back to the child "Of course you can. We all just want to help you." She assured him. |Do you think I can actually tell them?| |Wha...?! Like the ACTUAL story?! Of course not!| |No, not the whole story, do you think I still have a rotten brain or something? I mean just my feelings towards this filth.| |Ah, that what you meant. Sure. Why not? Laura is supposed to take care of troublesome kids, why wouldn''t you show off how troubled you are?| A whole lengthy exchange took ce in Zombie''s brain before he smiled cutely, and opened his mouth. "I absolutely hate this pile of human waste. She doesn''t deserve to be alive and she definitely doesn''t deserve anything like happiness. Actually, to hell with happiness, she doesn''t deserve a moment of respite. I will use any chance that I have to make her life as miserable as physically possible and will most definitely kill her once that option bes viable for me... though I will settle for someone else killing her too as long as it will be as painful and or shameless as possible." "!!!!!!" Zombie''s calm and happy voice made for such an outrageous contrast with the venomous words he spoke, and the only one who realized what would happen next was Caramel herself, who started desperately trying to get out of her mother''s embrace. "Khahaha...!" Zombie busted out intoughter as his body began glowing with pale white light and he jumped across the table reaching for the trapped light brown-haired girl. "Oh, no you don''t!" Laura shouted reaching out to grab him by his clothes and pull him back just as both Pear and Nectarine were trying to cover Caramel with their won bodies. But none of them were prepared for Zombie to twist and weave in the air like a snake, while Laura did manage to caught him, she only grabbed his little ankle and foot while the boy somehow managed to grab onto the girl''s hair just as the former adventurer pulled him, using a bit too much of her strength than she should. *WHAM* *CRUSH* "...uuu..." This resulted in Zombie using the surplus force to pull Caramel with him and smash her face into the edge of the table, which in turn resulted in a horrible noise of bones and cartges getting broken. "UUUUUUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH....!" It actually took Caramel a while to start screaming her lungs out ¨C at first, she barely registered what happened to her but once the hot blood from her messed up face started sshing against the table, she let out a cry so loud that it wouldn''t be weird if she received a skill for that. "Ah~ Say, is there something more beautiful than the sound of your most hated person in the world wailing in agaony~?" Zombie, hanging head-down in the air, asked mockingly as the utterly shocked Laura was staring at Pear and Nectarine running of the door carrying their daughter to the medic. "Hey, you will be taking me away from here, right? I''ve overheard my parents talking about it the other day. If you let me down, I will get my things and we can leave immediately." "..." He added smiling brightly at the wide-eyed woman. Chapter 308: Towards Envys territory!

Chapter 308: Towards Envys territory!

*whoosh* *whoosh* *whoosh* "Hey... are we there yet...?" Zombie asked while kicking up his feet, sitting on the hard seat of a worn-down carriage. His question was partially excusable, after all from what he knew, it took two weeks for his father to write a letter to Laura, sent it, and then get her to arrive ¨C then why their travel was already two weeks long?! It wasn''t like they were making lots of stops or anything, they basically only stopped for the night to rest. Also, Laura wasn''t allowing him to wander off or go hunt monsters a night at all. While it was understandable, it didn''t mean that Zombie would ept everything without a word. |You are traveling towards the Envy territory alright, it just takes longer because Laura felt responsible for the injuries you''ve caused to Caramel and sold off the carriage and monsters she arrived with, paid for the proper medic to take care of her, and then bought whatever best carriage and monsters she could using whatever was left.| Patience sounded as if they shrugged their shoulders and exined. |And who asked her to do that? It''s not like my parents didn''t have the money. Also, I''m not going to forget that they rushed to the so-called proper medic and made that piece of filth look like nothing happened while I had to be patched up by the shocked olddy Apricot after we killed the demon centipede, poor granny almost had a heart attack when she saw me. But that pile of waste? Best medic avable right away! They should just leave that filth messed up like that.| Zombieined internally while turning to stare through the window once he got no answer from the woman dozing off next to him. |You know that they would do the same for you if you weren''t such a little piece of work. The fake savior knows how to y the victim... not to mention that she''s actually scared of you by now.| Patience sighed and pointed out. |Good. It would be perfect if she was so scared of me that she would think twice before approaching me in the future.| Zombie scoffed and crossed his arms. |Oh? Ah! You''re talking about those few bonus events? They are not necessary for the route we''re aiming for, so if any of them triggers you can just get away without a care in the world.| |That said, those are still far into the future so you don''t have to worry about a thing.| Patience reassured him sounding as if they smiled. *whoosh* *whoosh* *whoosh* |Alright... With that out of the way, say, do you think that if I started kicking the opposite seat or the door, I would gain the strong kick faster? Or any leg base attack for the matter? Not having one is really bothering me, I miss my old speed.| Zombie changed the subject seamlessly and sighed while continuing to kick up his legs. |Wouldn''t a normal skill like charge or sprint do the same job?| Patience asked curiously. |Pffft...! You might have memories of the game that the pile of human waste yed, but I have the experience ofbining different skills in practice. Acrobatics added to strong kick have much better control and allow for incredible flexibility for an attack. The charge is just rushing in a straight line and the number of times you can change direction depends on the skill level. Thebination I used during the first ythrough allows for as many adjustments as I need when I need them.| |So that is how it was, interesting... Still, to answer your earlier question ¨C do not hit this shabby carriage, that things barely hold together, look, see this crossroad? We''re only a few hours away from the destination and Laura''s ce. You don''t want to walk there without your skills, right? On your short legs, it would take you five days to reach it by foot.| "...tsk..." Patience once again sounded as if they were shrugging their shoulders indifferently, causing Zombie to click his tongue. |Calm down, there''s no need to rush. Remember the n, we need you to get registered at the adventurers guild and use one of the missions as an excuse to get to the forest where the elves are hiding ¨C but with how you look now, there''s no way that anyone would agree to register you no matter what trick or bribe we try. You need to be a bit taller for our n to work.| Patience reassured the young boy and reminded him about the things they''ve nned for the future. |Until then just continue training your skills diligently, and maybe not give Laura too much trouble or she will never let you leave her sight ¨C and remember, even if the n regarding the elves will fail, you need to get run over by the carriage in less then four years or else there will be no one to protect Cranberry during the night of the hungry wolves.| They added a warning. |I know, rx.| Nodded in agreement and smirked. "...still, it''s so boring... what happened to all the bandits...?" Zombie went ahead and let out an actual verbal sigh, shaking his head in annoyance. |Most of them aren''t even bandits yet, that''s why. The next few years will be especially tough for themoners so many bandits groups will form ¨C and everything will be how you remember it. But that''s for the future.| As it turned out it was also one of the questions that Patience had and answer. |Besides...| They''ve added. "Bandits? Where?!" Laura jumped up from her seat, with her hand already at her sword''s handle. |...annoying...| Zombie''s expression turned sour. "I was just saying that we were lucky that never encountered any bandits. I''m sorry for waking you up." But almost instantly that expression changed into an innocent smile as Zombie exined politely. "By the way, could you teach me some of the sword skills once we finally arrive at the destination?" He added putting his hands up to make it seem like he was much more excited than he actually was. "...sure... IF your behavior will improve that is!" Laure sat back down and dered, raising her index finger as a warning. Chapter 309: Lauras farm

Chapter 309: Laura''s farm

The estate that they finally arrived at the end of their journey turned out to be just an ordinary farm on the outskirts of one of the cities in the Envy territory. "I''ll take care of the rest, you go introduce the new kid to the other two." The scrawny coachman ¨C who turned out to be Laura''s helper and not just some random hired guy ¨C dered after Laura and Zombie get out of the carriage. "Thanks, Papaya. They sure were excited to get a new friend after the older ones went back to their families." Laura smiled thankfully and reached her hand towards Zombie as if expecting that he will grab onto by pure force of habit. "..." Unfortunately enough, the boy hasn''t developed such a habit in this life, so instead, he began walking towards the main building without waiting for the woman. "Aren''t you interested in who were we talking about...?" Laura easily caught up to him and asked, trying to get him to talk. "No." Zombie shook his head without even looking her way. "Where is your training ground? I''ve wasted enough time already and want to refresh the basic moves before noon." Instead, he began looking around with great interest. "...I will take you there right after you met with your new friends." Laura instantly tried a different approach, unbothered by the initial cold response. "I don''t want t..." |Zombie. Meet those two she''s talking about. Elves are not the only characters of interest we should have our eyes on. We can really set up a few nice situations for the future if we y our cards right ¨C that is, if you won''t be trying to rush things like you are doing right now.| Zombie was in the middle of refusing once more but then got interrupted by Patience. "..." The boy gritted his teeth before rxing his muscles and turning to face his new guardian for the foreseeable future. "Will they be nice to me?" Zombie thought about a question that a child his age could ask and spoke up making a worried face. "Of course they will! As long as you will be nice to them, that is. That''s how it works." Laura exined with an encouraging smile as if she was happy that she saw a glimpse of hope for Zombie''s redemption, and lead him to the front door of the medium-sized house. "We''re back!" Laura called out loudly instead of knocking and simply pushed the door open. "..." With the only exception of the fact that they were locked. "Sorry for that." Lauraughed and began rummaging through her clothes in search of the key ¨C which she found rtively easy ¨C and then unlocked the door. "Mia! Luke! It''s me, Laura! I came back with a new friend just like I''ve said I would!" She called out into the empty hallway. Meanwhile Zombie... "...?!" |She did NOT just say those names! Durian''s ves, the woman that knocked me down, and the annoyingly hard to kill prodigy healer guy?!| Gasped internally with great disbelief. |Oh, Laura most definitely did call those exact pair. What, did you not expect to meet those two in the Envys territory?| Patience asked with amusement, sounding as if they were tilting their head and smiling. |Those two are the two essential characters that you personally killed, while not as important as someone else, those two do have an important role to y and are absolutely necessary for aplishing the secret true ending. ording to the game knowledge I possess now, those two will be here for around four to five years, so hopefully not as long as you. Make sure to leave them with a good impression or the event at Durian''s mansion will be almost impossible toplete the way we want it to go.| They went ahead and gave a scolding in the guise of an exnation. |...I''ll try my best, but I can''t promise anything more than a mediocre first impression. I don''t know how to talk with kids.| Zombie sighed and shrugged internally. |Good enough. Just don''t make them hate you and we will somehow manage in the future.| Patience sounded as if they nodded, sealing the deal. "Mia? Luke?" Laura called out again, and this time her voice turned cautious with worry. "...teacher, is that really you...?" "...!" A cautious voiceing from the end of the hallway got the attention of both the woman and the boy by her side. And that voice belonged to a dark-skinned girl with shoulder-length curly hair looking cautiously from behind the corner while grabbing onto what looked like a makeshift mace made out of a broken chair leg. "Mia! What is going on? Why are you acting like this? Where''s Luke?!" Laura moved past Zombie and hurriedly walked towards the girl. "STOP! DON''T COME ANY CLOSER!" "...!" But the dark-skinned girl shouted out with panic mixed in her voice and stepped out from behind the cover while pointed her weapon towards the bewildered woman. As it turned out she was holding hands with a scrawny little boy that looked around five or six years old. "Prove that you are not one of those people from the Envy family that came here three days ago...!" Mia tried her hardest to act brave but both her voice and her mace were shaking. "Envy family...? But I have a deal with the avatar of... Wait, are you saying that some low-level branch family Envy scums tried to do something to you two?!" What at first was just a confusion turned out into an outburst of anger ¨C Laura''s body began to shine with a bright white light and she reached for the sword strapped to her wais while already turning around as if she was going to rush into the outside world to chop some heads. "Teacher!" *clung* Apparently, such a reaction was exactly what Mia was waiting for since she dropped the makeshift weapon and ran over to the tall woman and hugged her, while Luke timidly did the same thing. "...!" That made Laura calm down a little and she deactivated her skills and hugged the children back. "I''m sorry that I took so long... tell me what happened while I was gone!" She said with a pale face while making sure that the kids weren''t hurt. |Seems like we have a peculiar situation on our hands.| Zombie pointed out in his mind. |Whatever it is, it''s not important for the ending that we want, so do whatever you want... As long as those two won''t actually get abducted or killed. They need to be alive and well to WILLINGLY join Durian a few yearster.| Patience pointed out and instructed the boy. Chapter 310: What suits you the most?

Chapter 310: What suits you the most?

As it turned out, while Laura and Papaya were away, their little farm was harassed quite a few times by the increasingly bold people calling themselves the members of the envy family. At first, they were just asking a few questions, without taking any actions but just three days prior they actually tried to abduct both Mia and Luke but ran off once Mia screamed that Laura will being back soon and will find them. Since they left ¨C it meant that they weren''t actually members of the main Envy family, maybe they weren''t even members of the Envy family at all, since those wouldn''t have backed off as easily as that. "The audacity of those people!" Laura clenched her fists and growled. "I''m going to report them straight to lord Pomegranate! Such actions can not go unpunished!" She eximed getting red in the face. "...as they were leaving, one of them shouted that they will sell me off to a brothel... And that I will surely be popr because of my skin''s color..." "...!" Mia added in a hushed, embarrassed voice, making Laura''s red face turn pale as a sheet. "How many were there?" Zombie suddenly joined in the conversation that took ce in the small but cozy kitchen. "E-eh...?" Mia flinched and looked at him in shock, for the first time noticing his presence. "Opponents, how many were there?" Zombie repeated his question looking straight into the confused eyes of the dark-skinned girl. "Th-three..." She answered reflexively, not really sure where the conversation will go from that point. "Three, huh... and you had a kid to worry about too... good call not engaging them. Still, I think that if you focus on leveling thrash or maybe some other area of effect skill, you will no longer be in a position where you would have to restore to lying. The opponent may call out your bluff next time and things might get really bad. It''s best to kill off people like that right away." Zombie nodded and gave his advice with a serious face. "Eh...? Um... Wh-who are you...?" Mia fidgeted ufortably and asked looking at the strange bloodthirsty boy who spoke like an adult. "Oh, right. This guy is Kiwi. A troublesome son of a friend of mine. He''s simr to the two of you but he''s a bit more... angry..." Laura had a hard time exining Zombie''s situation without outing him as a serial bully with a history of severely injuring his older sister, which already revealed her goodwill and trust that the boy won''t try to hurt the other two outright, while also not realizing herself that she didn''t refer to him as ''child'' or ''kid''. "Oh... I see... H-hello Kiwi, my name is Mia, and this is..." Mia nodded towards the boy and then patted the shoulder of the scrawny boy sucking on his thumb. "Luh. Niche to meech chu." The boy older than Zombie introduced himself without taking the thumb out of his mouth. "He''s Luke and he said..." "It''s alright, I understood him. Hello Mia, hello Luke, my name is Zombie, it''s nice to meet the both of you." Mia was going to exin the gibberish that came out of Like''s mouth, but Zombie raised his hand and smiled at her with understanding, saving her from wasting the effort. "Zhombhi...?" Luke asked in confusion, looking first at the younger boy and then at Laura who introduced him with a different name. "Yes, Luke, Zombie. My parents gave me a different name but it''s not important at all. I will be very happy if you two will call me Zombie." Zombie exined with a gentle smile. "Ohay. Hewwo Zhombhi." Luke said and reached out his left hand for a handshake as his right hand was preupied with having its thumb firmly stuck in Luke''s mouth. Zombie''s smile became a little bit more sincere and he reached out his left hand too, which resulted in the two boys exchanging a friendly handshake. |Hey, that wasn''t bad.| Patienceplimented Zombie''s action while sounding as if they nodded with content. |He''s lucky that he offered the left hand, if he tried to touch me with his right hand covered in his disgusting living drool I would flip out and kick his head off.| Zombie responded without a moment of hesitation. |...don''t do that...| Patience asked sounding a lot less confident than before. "But going back to those potentially fake Envy, though I wouldn''t put it past the scum from their family to act like that, the best option would be to get you strong enough so that you could confidently defend yourself. Might start on it right away. Laura, let''s go to that training ground you promised to show me." Zombie took the reins of the conversation without giving the others a moment to think things through. "Hold up a minute. We should at least eat something. It has been a long journey, you especially must be starving." Laura spoke up, not bothered at all about the sudden informal way of addressing her by the boy. "The food will taste much better after we break a sweat, also, at least for Mia''s sake, it would be best if we could take her mind off of the unpleasant situation." Zombie shrugged and countered her proposition without even batting an eye. "Well..." Laura furrowed her brows and rubbed her chin deep in thoughts. "I''ll prepare a meal, Zombie has a point, moving around should help Mia and Luke cheer up." Surprisingly, Papaya joined Zombie''s side and encouraged the hesitant Laura. "...well... Sure, let''s go. But not for long, just a few practice swings or something. Mia, you go grab the practice swords from the back." She nodded and motioned with her chin at the door. "Yes, teacher!" The dark-skinned girl agreed instantly and stood up. "Hold up. You shouldn''t be using a sword." But got stopped by Zombie suddenly speaking up.'' "Eh...?" "And why is that?" Mia flinched in confusion and Laura furrowed her brows and asked. "Huh...? What, you seriously don''t know...?" It was Zombie''s turn to flinch and ask in bewilderment. "When she was scared, she didn''t go for the practice swords you had hidden in the storage or whatever, and she didn''t go for a knife either. She went for a blunt weapon, a mace, to boost her confidence. That''s a sign that she might be more suited for those weapons." He exined as if it was the most obvious thing in the world even though he knew it because during the first ythrough Cranberry found that advice in some obscure long-forgotten book in the back of the Pride''s library when they were still children. "But she has already leveled up her sword affinity to level five and she''s barely thirteen, she''s clearly talented with that." Laura disagreed with him... "But she still went for a blunt weapon when she was scared. Just let her try it for a bit. Geez." Zombie scoffed and rolled his eyes as if Laura was a difficult child in this situation. "...fine, it''s not like it will be a problem if she waves a mace around for a few minutes. Mia. Try using the chair leg you had with you when we arrived." Laura sighed and gave in in the end. Chapter 311: Training and then training some more

Chapter 311: Training and then training some more

A few days had already passed since Zombie stepped inside the little farm ran by the retired adventurer Laura. The young boy''s behavior waspletely different than the woman ever imagined. He wasn''t aggressive at all, he tended to be bossy and certainly spoke like an adult, but literally none of the problems that Pear, Zombie''s father, listed in the letter he sent her, ever surfaced. Yet, that didn''t mean that the boy suddenly became an ordinary child either. Another problem was worrying the kindhearted woman. *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* "Z-Zombie...! You should stop doing that already...! Your hands are bleeding!" Mia, the dark-skinned teenage girl stopped her own training and called to the boy swinging the wooden sword at the vertical log with a hay sack tied to it. *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* The problem was ¨C it was impossible to stop him from practicing his skills on the dummies in the training area. *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* *sh* The haystack was already torn apart and all the hay got blown over by the wind and the boy was just repeatedly attacking the log thicker than his own body without any hesitation even though the blood from his wore down palms was getting sprinkled around with each swing as well as making the sword grip dangerously slippery and definitely hard to use. "Zombie! Please!" Mia cried out in panic, staring at the ground at the boy''s feet getting more and more red with each passing second. "..." But Zombie didn''t even nce her way ¨C it actually seemed like he didn''t actually hear her either, he was so focused on getting faster and faster and stronger and stronger with each consecutive hit that he lost contact with the world besides himself, the wooden sword, and the log. "...!" Mia clenched her fists and looked between the terrifying child and Luke who was grabbing onto her hand, staring at Zombie with big scared eyes. "Luke! Go and bring Laura over here! I''ll try to make him stop!" She finally decided and squeezed Luke''s hand to get his attention. "O-okay...!" The scrawny boy nodded and instantly started running towards the house where Laura and Papaya were busy preparing the meal. "Zombie! You need to stop! Can you hear me?" Mia tried to speak to the silent boy again, but just like before the only answer was more sounds of the dull wooden de digging into the log. "..." Mia gritted her teeth and looked around trying to figure out what she should do. "...!" Her eyes ended up on the mace she was practicing with. She slowly reached for it and picked it back up before stepping towards the ridiculously focused boy unleashing a flurry of attacks on his target. "Z-Zombie, I am not going to attack you, okay...? Don''t get mad, I''m just going to lightly tap your back so you wake up from this weird trance...!" The girl warned him while making sure that she is in his vision, and reached out the mace held in both hands just so it was as clear as possible to understand that it wasn''t something she did with malicious intent and started the approach. "I-I''m going to poke you...! This doesn''t have the spiky end so it will be fine, just wake up already ¨C you''re scary...!" Mia called out loudly and did an awkward stabbing motion while closing her eyes. *SLASH* *thunk* "...eh...?" Mia gasped when she suddenly felt that her mace became much lighter than it should be... "EH?!" And when she opened her eyes and checked for the reason, she let out a scared and confused yelp when she realized that her weapon got cut in half...! /proficiency level reached skills level up Concentration (level 3) Cleave (level 7) Sword proficiency (level 8) Pain resistance (level 6) HP regeneration (level 2) /proficiency level reached you receive a skill de storm (level 1) |Ah! I got a new skill too!| Zombie grinned from excitement and shouted internally while wiping off the sweat of his forehead with one arm to not smear blood all over himself. |You sure did. You''ve also managed to scare the kids.| Patience pointed out with a sigh. |I did what...?| Zombie raised his brow and looked up. "Oh." To find the shaken Mia clenching the broken piece of wood that up until a moment ago was a part of her makeshift mace she continued using as a weapon... While the rest of the mace was on the ground right by his feet, cleanly cut off as shown by the smooth surface. |Huh, I thought that since it''s a cleave and not sh or strong sh then it wouldn''t leave such clean marks. Neat.| Zombie nodded while lightly kicking the piece of broken chair leg away. |That''s not the point. You have to make a good impression, remember? Not traumatized those two into obedience. That could make a negative impact on future events!| Patience sounded as if they were shaking their head in disbelief over Zombie''s recklessness. "Sorry for that. We should get Laura to buy you a proper mace, don''t you think? What level in blunt weapon affinity did you get already? 3, right? And you''ve been using it for just a few days ¨C which proves my point that swords didn''t suit you, you are just overall talented with weapons." Zombie dropped the steaming wooden sword he was using and reached out his hand towards the dark-skinned girl to help her get up. "Your hands! We need to get Papaya or Laura to look at them...! But instead of doing so, Mia ended on grabbing onto Zombie''s bloody hand and grabbing onto it with tearful eyes. "Should we? Why? I''m leveling up my skills, this much bleeding should be fine, right...?" He asked innocently while shrugging his shoulders. "No, it''s not!" Mia shook her head from left to right making her hair flutter around. "Oh, dear system...! I can''t get my eyes off of you for five minutes without you hurting yourself!" At that moment Luke brought in Laura and the woman shouted angrily while running up to Zombie. "You are banned from practicing sword fighting for a month ¨C or at least until your hands heal up!" She dered while pulling up the healing salve in a copious amount. "Alright. I''m reaching the limits for what sword skills I am still able to use before putting a strain on my current stats anyway, better change my training regime anyway." The boy smirked and let himself be healed while looking at the log that looked like it barely survived an attack from a vicious beaver. ...or a chainsaw... ...but definitely not a wooden sword. Chapter 312: An enemy at the doorstep

Chapter 312: An enemy at the doorstep

"How in the world did you manage to misunderstood me banning you from practicing with a sword with allowing you to do that to your legs?!" Three days after Zombie changed his training regime, he was already in the farm house''s kitchen getting his legs bandaged. With just a few practice sessions he managed to basically skin himself alive. "It''s training, what can you do about it? I want results." Zombie didn''t even flinch while Papaya was putting more healing salve on his knees, shins, and heels of the feet, before bandaging it, while Laura was standing over him and shaking her head in disbelief. "The world you need to learn, Zombie, is restraint. You cannot continue doing this to yourself!" The woman eximed in agitation and pointed at the wounds that no three-year-old should ever have to suffer through. "You will have a lot of time in the future! You have your whole life ahead of you! What you are doing now isn''t giving you a head start, it will only make you regret not doing things properly in the future!" Laura continued talking, by that point, it was clear that another sermon was unavoidable... "What Pear and Nectarine wanted for you to happen, was to let your body grow naturally, and only after the system would expose your real inclination they would push you in the right direction. While their actions were caused by their faith, they weren''t really mistaken, that is a legitimate strategy for training. Some of the nobles are even following it too, although not all..." |I guess I shouldn''t let her in on our little secret about me getting killed and resurrected as an undead in a few years, right?| Zombie let the woman talk and instead sighed internally, turning to the being sealed inside of him. |I mean, you can tell her everything if you like. Whether or not she will think you''re crazy and decides to lock you up depends on her tolerance level really,| Patience responded sounding as if they were shrugging their shoulders. |She has a point, training like you would end up putting a lot of strains on your body, not to mention you arepletely ignoring the possible bonus rewards granted bypleting the quests. From her perspective you are actually wasting your energy and making life harder for yourself ¨C so don''t do anything stupid, we don''t need her to get really angry and try to stop you. After turning into an undead it will be harder for you to level up your skills because of how the low-rank undead are, so it''s important you''ll get the optimal skillset as soon as possible.| As it turned out, Zombie just traded listening to one sermon into listening to another one. "...and besides that...!" Laura was taking a breath while continuing to point at the boy''s legs when... "Laura. Thest few days had been quite hectic and we''ve run out of the healing salve. We have most of the ingredients but we need the alcohol to put it together ¨C do you mind going for a little shopping?" Papaya turned to the woman and lightly waved the mostly empty jar. "Wha...? Oh! Yeah, sure I can. We are sure running through them really fasttely, better stock up while we can..." Laura flinched and looked at the man in surprise, but then nodded and agreed without making any trouble. "We are not done with this conversation." She turned to Zombie one more time and dered before walking off to grab the money and left the house. "...sorry for causing you trouble, you don''t really need to put all those medicines, I want to train some of the regeneration skills." Zombie watched the retired adventurer leave and after a few awkward minutes inplete silence, he bowed his head apologetically towards the man patching him up. "Don''t worry about a thing. This salve increases the body''s natural healing abilities so it should actually help you with that training." Papaya smiled at him and winked. "Huh...? Really?" Zombie asked surprised. |Really.| Patience confirmed. "Yes, you can trust an apothecary when ites to the medicine you know." Papaya''s smile got bigger and more confident as he finished wrapping up Zombie''s legs. "Did you get the skill you wanted?" The man asked while standing up. "Yes, though it took a lot longer than I thought it would..." Zombie nodded and confirmed with an awkward smirk. For someone with a leg power affinity, it sure did take a lot of effort to actually receive a proper leg-based attack skill from the system. "That''s good. I don''t know why you are pushing yourself so hard at such a young age, but the least I can do is to make sure to patch you up whenever you hurt yourself." Papaya smiled and shrugged his shoulder before patting Zombie''s head once and... "...NOOOO! LET ME GOOoo..." *rumble* A sudden scream and the sound of a struggleing from the outsidepletely threw off the peaceful atmosphere. "What in the system''s name...?! Was that Mia''s voice?!" Papaya gasped and run to the door without a moment of hesitation. "You stay here, Zombie!" He left a hushed warning before busting through the front door... "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU''RE DOING!" And roared furiously as soon as he left Zombie''s field of vision. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows and got down his chair. "...tsk...!" Even with pain resistance skill, he flinched once he put his weight on his freshly bandaged legs. |Might as well check on what''s happening.| He thought to himself while going for one of the cupboards and pulling out the longest knife avable. |Don''t try to act dumb, you wouldn''t be going for a weapon if you didn''t know what was going on.| Patience scoffed mockingly but didn''t try to stop the boy at all. |It must be the same people that harassed the kids here before ¨C they went for Mia as soon as they made sure that Laura left, they must have observed the farm for the past few days.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders while listening to the noisesing from the outside. From what it sounded like to Zombie''s ears, Papaya was furiously arguing with someone. |Papaya''s an apothecary with little to no fighting skills, a good person, but sadly, good people have very little to say in a world where any scum can rise to power with enough dedication.| Zombie sighed internally tightly gripping the knife''s handle. He turned around and started limping on his legs stiff from all theyers of bandages and healing salve. |It sound''s like they are taking quite a long time with talking though... they might be weaker than you give them the credit for, or actually have a conscience?| Patience noticed, sounding a bit curious. "KHAHAHAHAHAHA! Bandits from the Envys territory having a conscience? Are you kidding me?" The hesitation in Patience''s voice made Zombie burst out intoughter. *TWACK* *thump* "PAPAYA, NOO-ough...!" ...but right after that, a sound of someone getting hit with a blunt weapon came from the outside followed by the sound of the body falling to the ground and Mia shouted once more but her mouth got blocked almost immediately. "Patience... Can you determine whether characters will be important to the story by just looking at them?" Zombie''s expression turned dark as he put his hand on the door handle. |...only one way to find out...| Even though their words carried the meaning suggesting as if they were hesitant, Patience''s tone certainly felt like they were absolutely furious that some low-lives tried to mess with the uniquely named character. ...and Zombie went outside... Chapter 313: How we deal with the kidnapers around these parts

Chapter 313: How we deal with the kidnapers around these parts

One step, two steps, three steps... The small boy with a big, big knife came out of the house without an ounce of hesitation or worry, even though the scene ying out right outside wasn''t something that could be called peaceful... "Huh...? Ah, right, it''s the new kid they''ve brought... Pineapple, grab him too." A tall bald man with a scar across his face waved his hand dismissively while holding the limp Luke like a sack of potatoes while talking to a slightly dumb-looking burly man holding a wooden staff above the body of the unconscious Papaya sprawled at his feet. "And stop feeling this one up Grape, we are selling them, don''t undercut the merch''s price." The man with a scar added, ncing with annoyance at the creepy-looking sleazy guy using a physical enhancement skill to hold down the struggling Mia. |Human trafficking? What does this game doesn''t have?| Zombie scoffed internally while carefully observing the trio. |Human nature, in the Envys territory it''s way easier to get away with such things than anywhere else since the ruling family themselves regrly kidnaps the elves, remember?| Patience responded and sounded as if they were rolling their eyes. |Sure, sure... Well. How about those three? Will their deaths be a problem for our n?| Zombie thought to himself as he limped towards the burly Pineapple who smirked confidently looking at him. "Kid, drop that knife before you hurt yourself." The manughed mockingly and waved his staff in front of the boy''s face so that its end almost grazed the child''s nose. |So?| Zombie asked, ring at the burly man with disgust. |I need to double-check every piece of information I have, alright? Although the names of the two of them surely give no reason to be worried.| Patience mumbled hurriedly as if they really were working hard to be extra certain about the matter. "HEY! Are you deaf?! I told you to drop it!" Pineapple roared, trying to scare the child, but the indifferent boy didn''t even flinch. |Then, as long as I don''t kill the bald one until we know his name, I can kill the others?| Simrly, as Patience wanted to double-check their information, Zombie wasn''t going to risk locking out some important events in the future just because he couldn''t control his murderous urges. "Fucking brat! Don''t you know who we are?!" Pineapple had it enough with thepleteck of reaction and swung his staff right at the boy ¨C not using a skill, but otherwise not holding anything back. *THWACK* The wooden weapon ended up mming across the child''s face and forcing him to move his head back. "What the...?!" Pineapple gasped, taken aback by the resistance that his staff encountered in the form of the three-year-old boy. Although blunt, the weapon did cut through Zombie''s face and his red blood was slowly dripping down as he patiently waited for the answer from the being sealed inside of him. |Kill away.| "Khahaha..." The moment that Patience gave their approval, the wounded boy''s face lighted up with an ted smile ¨C and even a creepy mockingugh escaped his mouth, spewing blood that gathered on his lips. "!!!!" The burly ruffian flinched and backed off, instinctively raising his hand to attack, and this time his weapon and body both shone with the light of skils... ...but so did Zombie''s body and knife... *SMASH* *SNAP* "AUGH!" With a single well-aimed kick at the opponent''s shin, Zombie managed to throw Pineapple off bnce, and when the burly man began falling forward with a pained scream, the little boy raised his weapon, that whenpared to his size could be mistaken for a short one-handed sword... *SHING* *thump* *thump* With a single fluid motion, the boy took a step to the side while cleanly cutting off the ruffian''s head that proceeded to lob in the air and fall onto the ground right after the trembling body that - as if it was a chicken ¨C had a hard timeprehending that it was already dead. /Low-level yer defeated You receive EXP "Ahh..." Zombie smiled adorably while looking at the message that popped up in front of his eyes. "Khahaha! Weak! So weak! So useless! You''re big as a troll but you give less EXP than a goblin! Khahahaha!" "!!!!!!!!!" The boyughed, lightly jumping around as if his limping from before was just a diversion ¨C although the fresh bandages around his legs were already getting stained from the fresh blood from the irritated wounds. "THOSE FUCKERS! THAT''S NOT A KID AT ALL! THEY GOT SOME DWARF OR OTHER SHIT TO GET RID OF US! IT''S A TRAP!" The bald man with a scar turned out to be a lot less intimidating than his outwards appearance would suggest and started running without even trying to pull out the heavy dagger from the sheath on his waist, he even dropped the other boy, Luke, just to escape faster. "Wha...?! Mango?!" The sleazy man holding the dark-skinned girl flinched and called after his leader in utter confusion. *SLASH* "Urghghgh...!" ..and that''s why Grape didn''t even notice the small boy with his legs glowing from the skills running at him, and slitting his throat wide open with the glowing knife so effortlessly as if it was just an afterthought, before passing him and chasing after the bald man... "...!" The sleazy man''s head nearly fell off, held only by a sliver of muscles and bone ¨C the only other person more confused about what was happening was the suddenly freed Mia, who jumped away as soon as she felt the man''s grip getting weaker. "!!!!!" But that also allowed her to witness even more violence. /Low-level yer defeated You receive EXP Zombiepletely disregarded the message that popped up again, and fully focused on the man in front of him. The bald scarred guy''s body was glowing with white light, so he was using some sort of skill to boost his speed, if he and hispanions had a chance to attack a day earlier, that would allow him to escape. |So his name is Mango...| |Do whatever you want.| But unluckily for him, Zombie of today had something that the Zombie of yesterday didn''t... *boom* With a small explosion ¨C only an echo of the tremendous sound that it would cause during his first ythrough ¨C newly acquired continuous strong kicks propelled him forward with an amazing speed. "Eat this!" As if the escaping man was waiting for just that moment, he took out and threw the heavy dagger right at the boy. "...?" If Zombie was using charge or sprint, he would be in trouble with the difficulty of changing the direction. But he was using his own method and whirled himself around the dagger flying dagger before kicking the ground even harder and picking up enough speed to overtake his target. After that, it waspletely one-sided... *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* The de storm skill was used immediately ¨C the bald man had no chance to dodge at all... /Low-level yer defeated You receive EXP *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* The third message popped up for Zombie before the cut-off limbs managed to fully separate with the body of the ruffian''s leader. But once they did, it hit against the ground and bounced in every direction spewing blood like some failed gory fireworks. /proficiency level reached skills level up strong kick (level 1) >>> strong kick (level 3) de storm (level 2) |While they don''t give as much EXP as monsters, fighting with living sure helps level up the skills.| Zombie smirked with satisfaction before walking to the torso of the ruffian''s leader and searching through his pockets without any shame. |I think that has more to do with experiencing the danger of the fight with an equally smart opponent than it has to do with some hidden quality of the members of the intelligent races...| Patience pointed out a bit hesitantly. |Rx, I promise that I won''t try to integrate hunting down the living into my training regime.| Zombie snorted internally and shook his head. |...whew.. you got me worried there for a second... Now, let''s think about how to use this situation to our advantage.| Patience breathed out in relief and went on to another subject. Chapter 314: To the adventurer guild!

Chapter 314: To the adventurer guild!

"Zombie, I really think that it''s not a good idea. Could you, I don''t know, think about some different request...?" Mia, now a fifteen-year-old girl, leaned down and spoke to a five-year-old boy wearing oversized armor pieces that made him look like a bipedal turtle. "You were the one who said that as a present for my birthday you will help me out whenever I ask." *squish* The heavily armored boy shrugged his shoulders and made the suspicious bag he was carrying let out a suspicious sound. "Should have made me a card or get me a bracelet like Luke instead of trying to show off as a senior." The boy smirked and raised his right arm, proudly presenting a rather flimsy hand-made bracelet made with various pretty but otherwisepletely worthless stones. "Reaching blunt weapon mastery level 4 has made you a bit too confident, it''s a great achievement, and your pride is justified, but don''t forget that a stronger person may be hiding just around the corner." He added motioning with his chin at the shining spiked mace strapped to the girl''s waist. "...hard to forget when someone like that is right beside me in in sight..." Mia muttered to herself and rolled her eyes a bit ticked off. "Badmouthing me behind my back, huh? Geez, Laura was right, you did enter your rebellious phase..." Because of the hustle and bustle of the shopping district that the two of them were walking through, Zombie didn''t hear what she said but definitely noticed her mumbling, so he sighed and shook his head like a worried parent. "...! I-it''s not like that! And Laura wants to keep me locked in the house forever even though she herself became an adventurer when she was even younger than I am now! It''s not fair!" Mia got embarrassed so she instantly covered it up by letting out an angry remark in a loud voice making a few passersby look their way with furrowed brows. "Good thing you have a friend like me then." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and smirked mischievously. "As if...!" Mia''s voice got a few pitches higher and she looked away. "...so? What do you want me to buy you? I warn you that I don''t have much money to spare since I''m saving everything I earn in the tavern to buy myself good equipment for when I register as an adventurer!" Yet after just a few seconds she turned back to the young boy and asked while pouting. |She thinks we want her to sponsor us...?| |As it would be said in your old world, this gives me a strong onee-shota vibe.| "...!" Zombie couldn''t help himself but flinch in shock after the being sealed inside of him made a really unexpectedment. |Patience... for the love of all that is holy, let''s not set up any gs like that, alright...?| |Hmm? Oh, sure. Sorry.| Patience even sounded as if they were bowing down apologetically, but they certainly didn''t sound like they were sincere. "I knew it! You want me to buy you something expensive!" Mia gasped with usation after she misunderstood the origin of Zombie''s sudden jolt. "No, actually. On the other hand, I think that you will very much like what I have nned." Zombie sighed and shook his head. "..." The girl squinted her eyes and looked at him, full of suspicion. "That said, could you tell me where are we now? Being so short really sucks, I can''t wait to change forms already..." Zombie asked, allowing himself for a sigh at the end of his sentence. "You mean you can''t wait to get taller, right...? Your choice of words is really weird sometimes, you know?" Mia scoffed at him but straightened her back nheless and looked around. "Oh, we are walking quite fast, we''re almost by the adventurers guild. Then? What is that thing that you want? We''re about to move past thest shop with equipment, you know?" She pointed out. Zombie sighed and rolled his eyes. Still, he did check his own equipment to make sure that there was nothing missing for a convincing disguise. |...alright, this is thest time I''ll ask you ¨C will this n really work? I will get mad at you if this is all just your idea of a joke, you know?| He thought to himself while patting the armor that gave him the barrel-like appearance, and making sure that the short sword at his side is strapped properly. |Why would I waste our time like that...? It will be alright as long as you will do as I say... Just make sure to let the girl on it too, or she will ruin everything if she''ll get shocked.| |True.| Zombie nodded after a silent conversation, and reached inside his oversized armor, pulling up a sheet of paper. "Here." "Eh...?" He said while passing it to the confused girl. "Hey! This is my application to be an adventurer! Why do you have it?!" Mia recognized her own handwriting and grabbed the paper out of Zombie''s hand. "Because you will need them to register as an adventurer of course." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and exined with a smirk. "We will both register, to be exact. My request was always simply for you to take me to the adventurers guild without making Laura suspicious. She already realized that I sneak out at night to hunt monsters and I really don''t need to sit through another one of her talks." He exined nonchntly. "Wh-what...? You''re sneaking out at night to do WHAT?!" Mia gasped loudly. "Shhh! What, do you want to get both of us busted or something?" Zombie put his index finger to his mouth and grabbed onto the girl''s hand and pulled her down so that their faces almost touched. "Listen. You will just register normally. There''s nothing weird with a fifteen-year-old starting out as an adventurer ¨C but it will be a bit different for me. I will still go by Zombie, but everything else will be lies..." The boy exined while pulling out a whole set of papers and tapping them. "I only ask you to not freak out no matter what you hear me say or do... I will probably try to pass off as your guardian or something and register us as a party too. Can you promise me that you will act ordingly?" He asked looking into the wide-open and very confused eyes of the dark-skinned girl. "What the hell are you thinking?! Laura will kill us both if she learns about it!" Mia shook her head, clearing her mind, and whispered back. "Then let''s make sure she won''t learn a thing ¨C you know that she said she can''t stand the adventurers from this territory anyway ¨C there''s no one who will tell on us to her if none of us two will let her know." Zombie countered her worries and shrugged. "What''s your answer, Mia? You want to register or not?" He asked with a serious expression. "..." Mia fidgetted nervously in hesitation. She looked at the registration paper in her hand, then in the direction of the guild''s building, and then back at the serious boy''s face. "...alright... But hold on with submitting the party registration, when you get busted for trying to cheat your way in, I don''t want to be dragged down with you." She finally agreed but only after adding a very reasonable condition. "Alright then. It''s not like I need to be in a party anyway." Zombie''s smile grew wider and he carefully hid back the unnecessary papers inside of his oversized armor. "..." And that''s why he missed Mia''s grumpy face as she pouted once she heard that she''s not necessary for Zombie''s n. Chapter 315: Registration process

Chapter 315: Registration process

*SLAM* "!?!??!!!" Zombie opened the double door to the adventurers guild with enough power to make them hit the walls on both sides and shook on their hinges, making everyone inside jump in shock. "...tsk!" The boy in an oversized armor that made him look like a small angry barrel, clicked his tongue and walked inside ring back at every single person that looked his way. "..." Wide-eyed Mia popped her head inside and stared at the boy''s back in disbelief. Wasn''t it his intention to not make himself stand out...?! With the boy stopping in the very middle of the main floor of the small building of the branch guild building, the dark-skinned girl sneaked her way inside and conspicuously joined the first one of the three lines to the counter manned by the members of the guild''s staff, a human male, a human female, and a kobold male. Meanwhile... "..tsk!" Zombie clicked his tongue again after angrily ring at all three staff members and finally joining the queue to the male kobold, even though the other two had fewer people lining up for them. "Hmph!" *squish* Zombie scoffed and put his mysterious bag down ¨C and in the silence that befell the floor, the odd sound that its content made was perfectly clear. After a few seconds of peace, the guild staff members returned to their duties and the lines were slowly moving up. "Hey, kid, what brings you...?" "Haa...?" "N-nevermind!" One of the adventurers tried to start a conversation with Zombie, but the boy red at him coldly, and both his eyes and the hilt of the sword he put his hand on began glowing with the white light, making the overly familiar man back off instantly. Funnily enough, even though the line that Zombie picked was longer than the others, the kobold was far more efficient with dealing with the adventurers than the two other staff members so Zombie ended up getting to the counter around the same time that Mia did. "...and what I might help you, little boy...?" The male kobold standing on the chair in order to see over the counter asked, looking down at the boy while raising his brow. |Get irritated but not full-on angry. Remember to call him coal-digger.| Patience gave the instructions. "Haa...? Who are you calling a little boy, coal-digger?" Zombie asked coldly, somehow managing to re down the kobold, even though he himself was barely reaching the countertop. "...!" That remark made the kobold flinch and back off a little. "I''vee to register as an adventurer." Zombie scoffed and put the filled-out application form on the counter. "...a dwarf..." The kobold picked it up and skimmed through the basic information. "...if I may ask, what brings one of your kind to the Envys'' territory?" He asked looking over the document down at the boy. |Refuse to answer, rub your chin, and act as if you are deeply hurt ¨C no hostility.| With a private prompter like that, acting wasn''t as hard as it would be otherwise, especially if Zombie was forced to improvise. "You can ask, but I don''t wish to answer..." Zombie lowered his head and touched his chin with a mournful expression. "...I understand." |Dwarfs start growing beards from a very early age even though they actually age much slower than humans. Their beards are their pride and joy ¨C being shaved to such smoothness is the greatest shame a dwarf can suffer through. It means that they were banished by their n, cast away to never return.| |Then it''s perfectly normal for a dwarf to actually be baby-faced even though they are adults in human years?| |It''s normal for a dwarf, period. Just remember to change the subject each time the facial hair will be involved from now on.| |I''ll keep that in mind. But remind me if necessary.| |Look at you, getting so spoiled!| "You didn''t add the note from any appraiser ¨C the thing is we do not have one hired on the spot, do you wish to refer you to one of the trusted ones?" The kobold offered while reading through the application. "No. I refuse to fill the pockets of some bribe-fattened human. I don''t think that it would be necessary either. I do have the skills required, otherwise, I wouldn''t survive the journey to this city." Zombie scoffed and shook his head and even crossed his arms even though it was really hard to pull off because of the oversized barrel-like armor he had on. "If that''s the case, we can hold an entrance exam, or rather a test of skill, once at least ten new applicants who can''t afford the appraisers'' service. If you tell me the inn you''re staying in, I''ll notify you when enough newbies will show up so that it will make sense to hold one such exam." The kobold offered to sound as if he spoke with the best intentions. "I''ve said that won''t be necessary." Zombie waved his hand dismissively. "You''ve had a problem with goblins around these parts, right?" He smirked confidently and asked. "There were some requests about it a few weeks back, it sounded like those nasty creatures were getting quite bold even, but as of recently everything calmed down." The Kobold sounded as if he was sorry to disappoint the applicant, but to his great surprised Zombie''s smirk only grew more confident. "Yes, I know, I did say that you HAD a problem." He snorted and picked up his bag ¨C untied it and put it upside down. *Squish* "...oh my..." The kobold, as well as a few adventurers observing the whole scene, gasped watching how tens of cut-off green ears ¨C only left ears ¨C poured at the guild''s floor. "You still pay for each goblin killed, right? I didn''t know if you are in need of the goblins'' parts so I didn''t carry all the carcasses and only stored them safely so that they won''t attract any stronger monsters, but if you will buy them, I''ll deliver them within a day." Zombie shrugged his shoulders, neatly folding the bag and storing it in the pouch by his waist. "Provided that I will have a cart provided with no additional cost by the guild." He added with a mischievous smile. Chapter 316: In the back alley

Chapter 316: In the back alley

|It went easier than I expected... Why exactly didn''t he pressed us for getting appraised though? I''m quite sure that the guild ¨C or some of the staff - have a deal with at least one appraiser that has some ridiculous prices set up for their services.| To not make things suspicious for Mia who was had the proper appraisal results ready, Zombie went out of the guild as soon as his application was approved and he was given a small, cheaply made emblem to signify his new job. Of course, the cost of both the application process and the emblem was covered by the extremely underpriced bounty for the goblins. If Zombie hunted them for money, he would have all the reasons to get upset, but since getting paid was just an addition for training and leveling up he decided ¨C or rather was convinced by Patience ¨C to give it a rest for the moment. |Although dwarfs don''t appear in the game too much, they had some lore sprinkled in about them ¨C apparently, they don''t believe in the system faith and take great offense if someone tries to use the appraisal on them. Kobolds have a much better rtionship with them than humans so the guy we were talking to was aware of that and didn''t felt like testing his luck. You didn''t realize that he was ncing at your sword with a worried expression?| |Khahaha! Oh, right. Good thing I didn''t have to take it out, the handle looks fine but the de is all rusty and messed up... After all, I picked it up from the goblin''s nest.| Zombie''s shoulders shook from the internalughter. Then the boy straightened his back and looked around ¨C he couldn''t see much because of his meager height, but still. |Say... how lucky do you think you are?| "...?" Suddenly, there was a change in Patience''s voice that made Zombie tilt his head in confusion. |I''m not sure about my LUC in this form since we both agreed that getting appraised and revealing my race ¨C which then I wouldn''t be able to hide my age ¨C and both level and skills way too strong for my age would be a very stupid move on my part... But that''s not really what you''re talking about right...?| Zombie squinted his eyes and asked without opening his mouth. |There is a thing with one of the special characters... And we just so happen to be at the right ce at the right time... It''s not a proper storyline event or anything so you shouldn''t have any memories about that, but... do you want to test out your luck on apletely RNG-based chance...?| Patience asked sounding as if they were hiding something. |Would it kill you to say things how they are or are you trying to imitate how Cranberry was...?| The boy in oversized armor who managed to register as an adventurer while posing as a banished dwarf was losing his patience while talking with the being sealed inside of him. |...something will happen in the back alley not far from here, and if the luck is on your side you will lock Caramel out of pulling off the infinite damage glitch without killing any important characters. Are you in or not?| But Patience apparently wasn''t going to either answer or fully exin anything and instead feed Zombie with just a little bit of information. |You win, where should I go?| Still... that bit of information was actually all that it took to convince the boy to stop asking questions. |Good, first of turn right and follow the...| ¡­ ¡­... After a few minutes, Zombie found himself in an abandoned alleyway in the back of the shopping district, hiding behind a corner while a surprisinglyrge group of people were sneaking by on the other end. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows while taking a peek at the group. Only two people there were adults while the rest ¨C around twelve or so ¨C were children. "Remember, a high-level sneak skill is invaluable for a good spy ¨C even if you are confident in your appearance steal, one day you might find yourself in a situation where it will be useless." One of the adults exined in a hushed voice to the children listening to him with great attention. "For example, if you were found out on spying at some important figure and got chased down into a dead-end area ¨C a high enough sneak level would allow you to hide in in sight while appearance skill will get you captured or killed." They exined while they were passing through. |Envy family...?| Zombie asked in confusion. The image he had about Envys'' was rather poor with them being overconfident, lying, beauty stealing,zy bastards, who were weak to boot. But those people in the ally feltpletely different. The focus and dedication were almost palpable. |The branch family of the Envy family ¨C so the ones who actually support the kingdom with their skills. You know, the ones who separated from the main family many years back and only share their family name. Those are also the ones who don''t have to worry about the consequences of taking a saying ''keeping it in the family'' a bit too literal.| Patience was ready to let Zombie in on the game lore as always. |Oooh... So that''s why the ones from the main family were looking like that...? Eww... anyway, those ones here are part of the good ones who pressured the queen about Cranberry and me in the previous ythrough, right?| |Right.| Zombie asked and Patience confirmed. |What''s so special about them then?| |Absolutely nothing. They are just on their way to a lesson about some internal affairs.| |Huh...?| Zombie asked and was taken by surprise by Patience''s voice sounding as if they shrugged their shoulders indifferently. *^$%%%^&^%^&^%^&* The fewst children and the other adult from The Envy''s group were almost out of the alley when an odd hum filled the air. It was quiet yet it was hard to miss since it didn''t really sound like something from this world. "!!!!" |Ah, there it is.| Patience breathed out in relief at the same time as Zombie localized the source of the strange noise ¨C a warped and distorted space in the very middle of the abandoned alley. |What the hell is that supposed to be...?!| Zombie gasped internally staring intently at the distortion. |There''s an interesting bit of information about the game''s development. While developing it, a few lines of code written by an intern somehow managed to cause a glitch where a bugged character taking on the appearance of random people would appear and attach itself to one of the capture targets. There was even a chance that they won''t appear at all. The devs found it interesting so they tested a few things and decided to use some of its unique features and make it into an actual character ¨C of course after imposing a few rules so that the character wouldn''t break the game. But despite their efforts, as long as that character spawned, the yers always managed to use it to pulls off more than a fewpletely unbnced glitches allowing for some ridiculous exploits.| *plop* As Patience was talking inside Zombie''s head, something materialized from the distortion and flopped on the ground. "...?" Zombie raised his brows, looking at thepletely featureless body of a short humanoid that essentially looked like a life-sized version of the body model that artists would use whening up with poses. |Alright... it has the biggest chance to follow the voices of the Envys'' and attach itself to ymoreter on. Go on, approach it now, and try to get it to stick to you instead.| Patience encouraged the shocked boy. |Wait...! You can''t be serious...! Are you telling me that this is...?| Zombie shook his head and stared wide-eyed at the featureless figure slowly getting up at their wobbly feet like a newbornmb. |Yes, your guess it''s correct. This is the character that allowed the failed savior to get both Radiance and Cinnamon, aka Nomannic, into her party. You wouldn''t guess that this is its base form, right?| Patience giggled mischievously while simultaneously sounding incredibly proud of themselves for some reason. |Go on, try your luck and say hello to Kopia!| Chapter 317: Kopia (1)

Chapter 317: Kopia (1)

|This marite-looking thing is Kopia?| Zombie gasped internally, unable to pull his eyes away from the creature looking around in confusion even though it didn''t have any eyes. |Here''s another interesting fact, Kopia isn''t actually treated as a living being by the system.| Patience happily exined. |Cool, and...? What about it?| Zombie tilted his head not quite following up Patience''s train of thoughts. |If you''ll be lucky enough then you will see. Go! Before it will choose to turn into someone from the Envys'' group!| Patience hurried the boy up since the marite-like Kopia was already slowly following the voices of the disappearing people. "..." Zombie looked back to see if no one entered the alleyway and hurried towards the glitchy character. "Hey! Kopia! Wait up!" "...!" He called out loud enough only for the featureless being to pick up on it and flinch. |It seems interested...| Zombie smirked andughed internally. "..." But then just as if the boy in a barrel-like armor wasn''t worth its attention, the base-form Kopia turned right back and walked surprisingly briskly after thest person from the Envy''s group in sight. |Tsk... oh, well... The luck wasn''t on your sight in the end... But since Kopia isn''t an actual essential character, you can just kill it while...| "Hey! Kopia! At least let''s talk or something!" Zombie furrowed his brows and his legs shone with a pale white light ¨C and before Kopia could make another step, Zombie was right by its side, reaching his hand towards its shoulder. |Wh-what are you doing?! Don''t touch it before it transforms!| Patience shouted inside of Zombie''s head, but they were just a fraction of a second toote... *)&^%$#$%^&(* "What the hell...?!| As soon as Zombie''s palm made contact with the glitch character, its body literally bugged out and turned into a distortion of space, making the boy back out immediately. |Why would you try to touch it?!| Patience cried out aint. |Wh-whay did I do?! Did I messed something up?!| Zombie''s face became pale as a sheet as he asked the being sealed inside of him while watching the distortion in space slowly reform back into a humanoid shape. But this time it wasn''t just some marite-like featureless mannequin... |You didn''t mess anything up per se... but... you made it read your mind. No, since I was the most active, you made it read min... No, never mind. It just read both of our minds, alright?| Patience began to exin but then back out immediately. And the being in front of them formedpletely... or rather ipletely. Kopia that stood in front of them, was a short genderless person with long crimson-red hair covering it like a coat and piercing blue eyes. It looked basically identical to how Kopia from the first ythrough looked before their death. But at the same time, this Kopia didn''t act or felt like the previous Kopia ¨C or rather, there was apleteck of any feeling of lifeing from it. Like, they looked like a living breathing human, but they weren''t. While it wasn''t scary or threatening, it was certainly unsettling. "Master." And then it spoke, looking at Zombie with its big, piercing blue eyes. |It did not say what I think it just has said...| Zombie straightened his back and stared at the strange glitched character looking back at him with almost child-like innocence. If a thing could be called innocent. |Why does it seem like you are not beliving your ears surprisingly often...?| Patience asked although they themselves sounded just as taken aback as the undead in the body of a young boy. "Master... I will help..." Kopia spoke and reached out its hand. |Is it safe to touch it now...?| Zombie asked cautiously, staring at the outstretched pale arm. |Oh, now you are willing to take your time?| Patience scoffed at him. |Don''t start getting pouty on me now! What am I supposed to do with them?| Zombie scoffed internally and asked while frowning. "Master... angry...? Kopia... bad...?" Kopia''s voice trembled and its hand dropped. |Now you can do whatever you want, keep it, throw it away ¨C you broke it, then it''s your business!| Patience scoffed back. |Wait, I broke it?!| Zombie straightened his back in shock. |How?! When?!"| He asked in denial. | Its ego was slowly forming after being brought into this world, but when you touched it, it suddenly got flooded by hundreds of foreign memories and experiences that it didn''t actually live through, so it broke. You can tell, right? In the first ythrough, Kopia was a person. This thing here is... just a person-shaped object that happens to be able to talk. It won''t be as useful as I hoped for, but it can still be extremely dangerous if it will just walk away free. So, it''s your choice. Keep it, or get rid of it - permanently.| |Fine. I''ll deal with it then.| Zombie scoffed after hearing all of Patience''s exnation. "...Master is angry... Kopia is sorry..." Kopia bowed its head apologetically. *pat* "...?" ...as it did, it felt a warm hand gently patting its head. "I''m not angry. Don''t worry. Apparently, I broke you, so at least I''ll make sure that you will have a ce to stay." Zombie assured while continuing to pat the crimson hair. |That''s not what I meant when I said permanently.| Patience pointed out. |But you said that it was my decision too. So shush.| Zombie scoffed at them and smiled at the wide-eyed broken doll. |Just admit that you have a thing for red-haired characters!| Patience scoffed with usation. |Shhhhhhhhhhush...!| ...but Zombie wasn''t pulled into their peace. "Master, Kopia will help." The object of their concerns spoke up and reached its hand towards Zombie''s waist ¨C or rather towards his sword. "Whoa! Not you too! I''m not going to kill someone I don''t feel angry at. You don''t have an aura of a living, so you''re good in my books." Zombie grabbed its wrist and shook his head. "Master...?" But Kopia just tilted its head and asked in a confused voice. "...huh... You didn''t mean it like that... sorry. Here." Zombie furrowed his brows and apologized before pulling out the sword with a dull and rusted de that he picked up in the goblins'' nest. |And now you''re even giving it a weapon?| |Shhhhhhh| |Don''t you shhhh me, you little cheeky...!| *chomp* As Zombie and Patience had an intense exchange, Kopia went ahead and bit into the rusted sword as if it was a cob of corn... "...huh...?" |...eh...?| Causing both of them to instantly stop bickering. Not only Kopia didn''t break its teeth on the de, they actually took a big bite out of it... and as if that was not enough, its long hair suddenly sprung to life and gravitated towards the weapon like hundreds upon hundreds of thin, crimson-red feelers. "...!" Suddenly Kopia''s body began glowing with white light and... *ng* It disappeared and in its ce, a brand new shining bastard sword fell on the pavement with a metallic sound. Chapter 318: Kopia (2)

Chapter 318: Kopia (2)

|Is that supposed to happen...?| Zombie asked, slowly approaching the weapon with great caution. |I take back everything I''ve said before. Zombie, you have excellent luck!| Patience gasped and sounded as they jumped up in excitement. |You need to give me more details. Why exactly is this situation lucky...?| The boy tilted his head, calming down a lot despite his words full of suspicion. |This is one of the functions that was programmed by the proper devs and not just a bug ¨C Kopia can turn into objects ¨C specifically weapons ¨C that it absorbed! The more weapons it will absorb the stronger it will be ¨C and it can freely swap the properties of different weapons! For example, you can have a rapier with the weight and durability of the greatsword for the insane downwards piercing power and so on! This is really the best! You not only received an amazing weapon but also ¨C since this feature was created with bnce in mind ¨C it automatically locked Kopia''s ability to shapeshift into living things - humans included! We don''t need to worry about the infinite damage glitch ever again!| Patience exined full of awe. |What are you waiting for! Pick it up!| They encouraged Zombie sounding as if they had a great big smile stered all over their face. |...so it''s a feature and won''t bring Eternal after our heads...?| Zombie asked cautiously before reaching for the shining sword that for some reason appeared as if it was very exciting to be picked up... as weird as that sounds... |I would have warned you if that was a possibility ¨C Kopia has a unique name but only because their circumstances are special, since they are just a bonus character that was marketed as being a fun bonus that will add to the reyability of the game, they don''t actually have any real quest connected to them, so they can do whatever the hell they want. Everything will be fine, I promise you!| Patience sounded as if they were pouting a bit over Zombie''sck of faith in them, but exined things nheless. "..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and picked up the sword. It had the proper weight while both feeling and looking just as a bastard sword should be. But that had brought a bit of problem too. *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* With how it was now, the sword wasn''t toofortable for Zombie to use ¨C it was a sword so with sword mastery ¨C a stronger version of sword affinity ¨C at level 1, he could use it without any trouble, but as he made a few practice moves he found himself a lot slower than he would like to. The attacks were undoubtedly more powerful with the additional weight and length, but with how Zombie was now, he simply preferred to overwhelm his opponents with speed... "Could have use something shorter... like the dagger I used to hunt with back in the vige.." Zombie furrowed his brows. "Master! I help!" As if reading his mind the bastard sword vibrated in his hand creating an odd sound that turned into words while simultaneously a few hair-like crimson-like strings sprouted from its pommel and wrapped around Zombie''s forearm all the way to his shoulder. "..." |You don''t seem fazed about it... I was kind of looking forward to witnessing your freak-out.| Patience sounded as if they smirked while shrugging their shoulders with a bit of disappointment. |Hmmm? And why would I be worried, you just told me that there is nothing to worry about.| Zombie responded while actually smirking and shrugging his shoulders. |...! O-oh... ehehe... I see... yes... Of course! Yes! We trust each other now!| Patience gasped and stuttered while simultaneously sounding really embarrassed but happy at the same time. While the two of them were having a conversation, the bastard sword in Zombie''s sword twisted and turned until it changed into a long dagger that Zombie was using during his fight with the demon centipede. |Hold up! That shouldn''t be possible...! It couldn''t absorb that dagger! You threw it out! Why can it change into it?!| Patience shook of the fluffy feeling and pointed out taken aback just a little bit. *shiiing* *shiiing* *shiiing* *shiiing* *shiiing* "Interesting~" Zombie hummed while testing out the transformed weapon. |It looks like the long dagger, but weights exactly the same, and I can bet you that it has the same durability too ¨C the only thing that changed is the appearance.| He thought to himself with a smirk. "Kopia, you are connected to me with those, aren''t you?" Zombie raised the long dagger and asked while pointing at the red strings. "Only a little bit... I only look at what weapon you want, master. Don''t be angry..." The de vibrated and let out the same odd sound that formed into words. |Oh-ho! Look at how talkative it became!| Patience eximed in exasperation. "I''m not angry, don''t worry. Now, tell me- you can change in whatever weapon I''ll think of?" Zombie shook his head from left to right and posed a curious question. "Yes. But it will be only as strong as the weapons I''ve already eaten." Kopia answered by making its de vibrate at a high frequency. "Oh? And how can you be so sure about that part?" Zombie raised his brows. "Eh...? I shouldn''t know that...? Why...?" Kopia answered with pure confusion on its part. |...curious indeed...| Patience hummed sounding just as confused as the weapon in Zombie''s hand. "Nevermind that. Can you really change into whatever sword or ded weapon that I want?" Zombie decided to let go of his precious question and just asked another. "I can try!" Kopia vibrated enthusiastically and becamepletely still. "..." |...| "...master, what should I changed into...?" After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kopia asked sounding really embarrassed. "Ah! Sorry! I should have concentrated on a particr weapon, right?| |Don''t forget that with how Kopia is now, it is basically only a partially sentient thing, you need to be clear with it to be understood.| Patience instructed the boy as if it was a proper game tutorial. "Let''s give you a challenge..." Zombie smirked and closed his eyes, focusing on a particr weapon that he never actually had in hand and instead only seen it through the screen... |Oooh... this doesn''t seem very useful, but it is impressive.| Patience peeked at his thoughts and sounded as if they were nodding with a mixed feeling. |Shhh... don''t disturb me for a moment.| Zombie ended shushing them and opened his eyes... ...and see that what he was holding is no longer a long dagger but a weapon that could hardly be called a sword, it was far longer, thicker, and cruder than any other de ¨C no matter how one looked at it, it seemed like nothing more than a hulking mass of metal... ...with the only exception that in Zombie''s hand, it didn''t weigh any more than the bastard sword ¨C and it was exactly as durable too. "Patience... remember when you said that we don''t really need money?" Zombie asked looking in awe at the weapon that looked like it could tear through even the fiercest of demons. |Sure...| Patience sounded as if they nodded reluctantly. "I think I must go against you about it... I''m going to feed Kopia with the best swords that money can buy... It''s earning time...!" Zombie spoke with a dreamy voice while gently patting the enormous de that was multiple times his whole height. Chapter 319: The young Dandelions

Chapter 319: The young Dandelions

"For fuck''s sake! Those fucking piece of shit guards have no shame! Check up on a poption of monsters and whether or not a strong monster has appeared! You will be fined if you refuse! Fucking assholes! I swear, we are fucking cursed!" A hooded woman groaned while she and five other people were walking through the woods in full adventurers gear. They were the Dandelions, a group of five friends connected with the bonds stronger than many blood-rted families. The potty-mouth elf hiding her beauty under a hood and the mage of the group ¨C Lairs. The short rat-faced man and the thief carefully scouting the area ahead - Shanks. The eight-foot-tall burly woman and a tank of the party always walking at the front ¨C Uresha. The warrior, slightly on the bigger side as well as the youngest member and simultaneously a leader of the group ¨C Rotte. And the thin, big-eyed healer that had her staff at the ready ¨C In''re. One way or another their rtively new and inexperienced group made their way into the Envys territory where they fell victim to the usual schemes of the cunning natives and were forced to do a reckon mission without being able to properly discuss the details ¨C and they got threatened with both the mary punishment as well as being thrown into prison! "I vote that we fucking beat up that asshole who told us that there''s a lot of well-paid work in this territory!" Lairs added while raising her hand and making a grumpy face. "Give it a rest, Lairs, that guy must have been paid off or simply a real scum... But also we should have done more research too... I didn''t know that they dislike elves so much here, don''t take off that hood." Shanks deactivated his detection skills for a moment and sighed while turning to Lairs before massaging his forehead. "I never intended to in the first ce." Lairs scoffed and pulled her hood over her eyes. "Here..." Suddenly, Uresha took out a canteen with water and bashfully offered it to the short man. "Oh! Thanks." Shanks nodded and gratefully took it off her hands. "Whew... Keeping both of these skills is really taking a toll... seriously, I feel like an old man...!" He smirked after taking a long sip and stretched his neck. "Can I try something? I''ve received the stamina replenishing skill during my recent level up, and I want to test it out." In''re perked up and reached her hand towards the rat-faced man while closing her eyes. Her palm began glowing with white light and soon a simr light sipped into Shank''s body. "Incredible! It feels like I just had a good night''s rest!" "...!" Shanks straightened his back and eximed, smiling gratefully to the healer ¨C which caused Uresha to flinch and look down with a disappointed expression since she didn''t get Shanks to smile at her... "It''s nothing much... Just a healer''s thing. I should have had it way earlier but I guess I''m just not that good. Sorry." In''re shrugged her shoulders and bowed her head apologetically. "That''s not true at all! You are too harsh on yourself! Right?| Rotte slowed down and put his hand on In''re''s shoulder as soon as she caught up to him. "Fucking obvious! Why are you kicking yourself again? Did those fuckers bother you again? Rotte and I will kick their assess when we finally get away from this shithole of a territory!" Lairs leaned down and put her hand reassuringly on In''re''s other shoulder. "...Thanks for the thoughts but you better not... both of them joined the Tiger Lilies recently, and you know how protective Pitahaya is over her teammates..." In''re sighed and waved her hand dismissively while giving both of her friends a thankful smile. "...tsk... I''ve heard that Tiger Lilies are about to be a high-level party, howe some nasty bullies managed to join them?| Shanks clicked his tongue and furrowed his brows. "Maybe being a fucking asshole is a requirement for getting really strong?" Lairs sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "...if so, then I am fine with us all staying as a low-level party forever..." Uresha mumbled while turning away and fidgetting. "Hey! Don''t be like that! Cheer up! I''m sure that if we just put our all into training, we will get just as strong- no ¨C even stronger than them!" Rotte straightened his back and smacked his chest as he did his best to boost his party''s morale. "Pffft...! Such big words for someone who can''t even start a conversation with a guy they like!" Lairs couldn''t help herself and burst intoughter. "...! Said the girl who gets rejected by every waitress she tries to pick up!" Rotte frowned and scoffed back at her. "Hey! You cheeky kid! At least I am trying to do something, and not just mop around over a drink!" "You are older only by one year, that''s nothing!" "Hey, could both of you shut up for a moment? I hear something!" While the warrior and the mage were bantering, Shanks reactivated his detection skills and picked up some suspicious sounds. ""Sorry..."" Both Lairs and Rotte lowered their heads and apologized at the same time. "What is it?" In''re perked up, happy to take her mind off the troubles of her private life, and gripped her staff with both hands. "It''s the sound of a fight... But I can''t quite hear any human voices or noises, so it may be between monsters..." Shanks furrowed his brows, intensely staring forward as if he tried to pierce the thick bushes in front of them. "...Hold up...! So it actually may be a fucking champion or a lord spawning after all?! Those fuckers weren''t just trying to scare us?!" Lairs tensed up and stopped in ce with no intention of moving forward. "That''s what we need to check ¨C don''t worry, we won''t engage in a fight, I''ll just o on ahead until I''ll see whatever it is with my own eyes and get back." Shanks dered with a reassuring smile. "No! You might be good with stealth but what if whatever is ahead has a stronger detection skill?! If you''re going, then we''re all going too as a backup!" Uresha stomped her foot and rejected Shank''s bold idea. "I agree with Uresha, we''re all going. Whatever is going on there, it doesn''t have to be a champion or a lord, it might just be a territorial fight without some native monsters and a bunch of goblin stragglers." Rotte agreed with the burly woman, fastened his small shield, and pulled out his sword. "We''re following you as your back-up, and if it''s just a bunch of easy targets we''ll charge in, and if not, we all retreat, slowly. How does that sound?" He added, looking at his friends. "I agree!" Uresha agreed and raised herrge shield. "...as long as we really back off if it''s too dangerous, then I agree too." In''re nodded. "...fucking... Fine! But only because it''s an area with only low-level monsters! Even if it''s a goblin champion it shouldn''t be much stronger than an orc!" Even Lairs gave in in the end. "I swear, one day you will get us in real trouble, Rotte... I only hope that today is not that day." Shanks rolled his eyes and waved his hand. "Follow me, it sounds like whatever monsters are fighting, they are really going at it so they shouldn''t notice us... it actually might be just a territorial fight and we''ll get a lot of materials..." He said. "Oh fuck yeah! Even if those fucking guards won''t pay us, we should still make some money by selling the fucking monster corpses!" Lairs cheered even though she was the one risking the most by taking a questionable mission from the guards in less than friendly territory. Chapter 320: Unexpected meeting (1)

Chapter 320: Unexpected meeting (1)

The Dandelions were carefully moving forward in a battle-ready formation until they''ve reached a clearance in the forestation... "What in the fuck...?!" ...because as soon as they got there, they saw what was the cause of the battle sounds that have lead them there. It wasn''t a sh between two forces of monsters and neither was it a newborn champion nor a king trying to amass an army of lower-ranked monsters. *SWOOOOOOSH* *RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP* A gigantic ck de was tearing apart dozens of goblins in one swing as if the green humanoid monsters were made out of paper-mache. *SPLASH* "...kghhhh! (Man-thing not child...!) Khhgragh! (Danger..! danger..!) Khhgraghg! (Back! All back...!)" As the vile blood and gore of the bisected creatures from the first line rained down upon goblins in the back, a ranked-up monster, a hobgoblin holding a crystal ball screeched in a high-pitched voice while already skulking away from the ridiculouslyrge weapon that was already in full swing again. "KHAHAHAHAHA! Already?! But you just came here with the backup!" The person wielding the weaponughed maniacally and all of a sudden the weapon in their hand shed white and changed from the enormous two-handed ultra greatsword into a scimitar ¨C a one-handed sword shaped like a dragon''s wing. With its reach massively reduced, it seemed like the person decided to reduce the scale of their attack. *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* ...yet that was exactly what they didn''t do. Instead, they let go of the weapon''s handle and grabbed it by the red strings attached to the pommel, and began swinging it around like a whip, dismembering the nasty green monster from an even greater range. *shing* *plop* "KHHHHGHAAAAGH...! (NOOOOOO...!)" The hobgoblin cried out and tried to cast a magic spell at its opponent but as soon as its crystal ball lighted up and began gathering mes for a fireball, a single stray attack cut off both of its hands which flopped on the soft, goblins-blood covered moss. "KGH...! (YOU...!)" *SPLAT* Whatever the unlucky hobgoblin had to say would forever remain a mystery since as soon as it opened its mouth, its opponent got to it in just a few incredibly quick steps and turned its head into a grotesque version of a smashed watermelon with a single well-aimed kick. With yet another sh of white light, the scimitar turned into a simple one-handed sword just before the small warrior rushed into the remenants of the goblin''s group that came to avenge their nest that got destroyed while they were out to im the new territories. *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* *swing* The high-level de storm ended up working like a blender making a smoothie with the only exception that there was goblins'' flesh and bones instead of fruits and goblins'' blood instead of milk. Also, there were no walls so all of it just freely sshed around covering the moss, trees, and all the other vegetation with a fresh new and thickyer of goblins'' gore. "..." Uresha slowly lowered herrge shield ¨C that had chunks of goblins stuck to it - and had a look at the horror-esque scene of pure carnage. "Holy fuck, what is this kid...?!" The wide-eyed Liars asked while she was the first out of the other four Dandelions to step away from the safety of Uresha''srge body they all used as a barrier. "Shut your mouth, idiot! As if this could have been done by some kid! This guy must be a banished dwarf or something! Don''t get him angry!" Shanks scoffed at the mage while not so keen to get away from therge tank. "A dwarf?!" In''re gasped in disbelief and curiously peeked at the short brown-haired person that dealt with a small army of goblins ¨C at least that what it looked like when judging the number of green corpses, both those finely chopped as well as those merely bisected. "...? Huh...?" Suddenly the supposed dwarf flinched and looked their way with a grim expression. "Ah, he spotted us... Oh well, he has the emblem of an adventurer, he shouldn''t be..." Shanks breathed out in relief spotting the small, flimsy-made badge attached to one of the leather straps of the supposed dwarf''s barrel-like armor. ...but then the dwarf turned to them with a ferocious grimace and pulled his hand back as if he was readying himself to throw his weapon right at them. "...hostile?! EVERYONE DODGE!" Shanks gasped and instantly shouted talking Uresha, nearly twice his height, and pushing her away while the other three spread around like a flock of scared pigeons. *SWOOOOSH* The one-handed sword cut through the air as if it was the perfectly bnced throwing knife and... *THUMP* Burrowed deep into the body of its shocked victim...! "Kkhggghh... (H-how did you... know...?) The hobgoblin that got impaled with the thrown sword through the chest appeared out of nowhere a few feet behind the cowering Dandelions and turned back to ask the supposed dwarf while the bloody foam was bubbling up in the corners of its mouth. "The idiot mage surely wasn''t the leader, he barely had the intelligence necessary to make a coherent sentence, I''m surprised that he could actually use magic." "...?" "Is... is he talking to a fucking monster...?" The supposed dwarf smirked and shrugged his shoulders while the Dandelions looked at each other taken aback. "Sorry to burst your bubble but you weren''t that smart too, using humans as a living shield to get away from me ¨C it was so painfully obvious... if you went in any other direction you would have gotten away - your stealth was surprisingly good." "Kh... (I...)" The supposed dwarf shook his head and snapped his wrist making the red strings connecting him to the sword piercing through the monster contract like a snake and... *SHING* *SPLASH* The wave-like motion caused the embedded de to break free by chopping upwards tight through the flesh and bones of the hobgoblin rogue as soon as he opened his mouth. "..." *thump* The monster with its torso split open like a gruesome flower took a forward before falling down on his knees and dying while letting out a soft sigh. "Hmph." The supposed dwarf caught the sword that came flying right back at him and took out a clean handkerchief to clean up the de from all the blood. "You did a very good job, Kopia. Thank you." The supposed dwarf smiled softly while looking at the simple sword before sliding it into an expensive-looking sheath of the highest quality. "..." Then he straightened his back and squinted his eyes at the five bergasted adventurers, of which two ¨C Uresha and Shanks ¨C found themselves in a ratherpromising position, with the short man on top of the tall woman. "Sucks to be you, Marshmallow, the damned armor, right?" The supposed dwarf smirked mischievously and nodded at the Dandelion''s tank. Chapter 321: Unexpected meeting (2)

Chapter 321: Unexpected meeting (2)

|What the hell are those guy''s doing here?! Weren''t they spending most of their time between the Prides and Greeds territories?| Zombie squinted his eyes at the younger versions of the adventurers he hade to know quite well during his first ythrough. |They are just low-level adventurers at the moment, they aren''t actually bound to any territory ¨C but they sure need money to realize their goals, that is why they traveling throughout the whole kingdom in search of work.| Patience exined patiently. |You know exactly what I have meant! Why are they searching for a job in this awful territory where basically everyone tries to scam everyst penny out of everyone else? They look so naive too, they''ll get chewed out and spat out by the first merchant they''ll talk to!| Zombie scoffed internally and furrowed his brows ¨C which caused the five adventurers to flinch. |If that''s the case then why don''t you gain their favor by helping them out? You surely know thatpleting their questline is necessary for the secret true ending that we are aiming for, don''t you? Even though it''s not time for any of that to happen yet, it won''t kill you to make them ow you.| Patience came forward with a very convincing argument that Zombie had no reason to refute. |Fine. We will do it your way. As long as they''ll recognize meter once I''ll turn into an undead.| Zombie sighed internally and straightened his back, losing the threatening aura. |Guess what, if you introduce yourself to them, it should make things even easierter on too.| Patience was undoubtedly mocking the boy, and while it didn''t sit well with him, it wasn''t also the end of the world so he just let it be. |Go on, start a friendly conversation.| Patience encouraged the boy with a passion equal to a parent making their toddler approach another child. "Sucks to be you, Marshmallow, the damned armor, right?" Zombie took a deep breath and ended up smirking mischievously at therge woman in a low-quality armor best suited for her level at the moment, who had the guy she secretly liked ¨C at least in Zombie''s memories ¨C on top of that very armor. |You could use their actual names, you know?| |Nah, I will mock them relentlessly.| Patience sighed and Zombie giggled inside of his head. "Marshmallow...?" Shanks tilted his head and looked at Uresha in confusion. "Ah! Sorry!" That has also made the rat-faced man fully realize his position, and he hurriedly got off the party''s tank with a bright red face. "Shiv, you could use being a bit bolder too, at this rate the two of you will get together in thirteen years or something..." Zombie turned to Shanks and sighed in disappointment. "Moldde is still a leader too now, I guess? Cool." He moved on to greeting or rathermenting about the others while waving his hand at the person he was talking about. "Huh..." "Oh, fuck!" He leaned forward and since his height wasn''t impressive at all ¨C since he was still under six years old ¨C he had no trouble peeking under Lairs''s hood before she could curse and move away. |She doesn''t look any different.| Zombie pointed out to Patience. |What else did you expect? She''s an elf. Elves age up like humans only until they are around eighteen, up to twenty-one years old, then their aging process basically stops ¨C or so it seems to humans since their lifespans are too short to actually witness any real difference.| |Hah... I see.| Zombie nodded indifferently since he actually wasn''t that interested in the first ce. "Lairs didn''t really change." "...! Hey, he knows my actual name? Why only mine...?" He ended up smirking at the elven mage who instantly turned pale. |Could you be more considerate? You know in what territory we all are, Lairs must be extremely careful or she might get herself and her friends in trouble. Come up with something that will calm them all down or the rest might attack you to protect her.| Patience sighed and made sure that Zombie would realize the why all the others tensed up. "Oh, and there''s Aren''t." "Aren''t? Zombie only scoffed slightly and red at the confused In''re, making her lose focus and gasp in confusion. "You''re the Sunflowers, right? No, Daffodils! You''ve helped out a carriage I was traveling on a couple of months back. I''m still grateful about that." He added and nodded his head with approval, beginning creating his story bying up with just a random lie. "Greeds territory... or was it the Prides one? Did that guy at least pay you extra as he promised?" Zombie added and turned to Rotte. "H-huh...?" Rotte went wide-eyed and tried to back off. "Huh? You say that he didn''t? What an asshole!" Zombie scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. "...?" He somehow made his voice soundpletely sincere too and maybe because of that, In''re flinched and perked up while frowning her brows as if trying to remember something slipping her mind. "Wait... Could it be that you were on the carriage with those merchants...?" She asked cautiously. "Of course I was! What, don''t tell me that you thought I was some human kid back then?!" Zombie nodded but ended up flinching and frowning in the middle of his sentence. "No, no, no! Of course, we did not, right everyone?" In''re hurriedly raised her hand trying to calm down the angered boy she thought was a dwarf. "Now that I think about it... There was a ki... someone simr to him that one time..." Even Shanks was furrowing his head, as he swallowed the bait, hook, and sinker. "But then why do you remember only one name correctly? Why Lairs''s specifically?" ...or so it seemed but in fact, there was still some work to do. "Are you seriously asking me why a constantly cursing hooded girl did get my attention more than every single one of youbined?" Zombie tilted his head and asked in disbelief. "Ah..." Shanks gasped in a realization and looked to the side with a sour face realizing that indeed Lairs does causes a lot of situations when she gets called out by name by the rest of them near other people ¨C which cannot be said about, for example, Uresha, who also coincidentally got her name twisted the most. |You know what? Your LUC stat might actually be incredibly high the way you keep getting away with those things...| |Who cares? It''s not like I''ll be keeping those stats anyway.| Zombie and Patience smirked at each other. The boy looked around the messed-up battlefield and then back at the Dandelions. "Say, you all want some easy money and help me get all the monster parts that still are worth something and get it to the guild?" "Well..." Zombie asked and the five adventurers looked at each other, clearly interested in the ''easy money'' part. Chapter 322: Unexpected meeting (3)

Chapter 322: Unexpected meeting (3)

The Dandelions helped out the supposed dwarf with gathering any monster parts that would sell for something, - as for the copious amount of blood, it was all washed away by the joint effort of Lairs and In''re and their water-based magic attacks. Such actions weren''t strange in the least and were just a natural part of hunting monsters ¨C the less blood and scraps of meat was left to rot on the scene the better ¨C a proper clean-up reduced the risk of luring stronger monsters to basically zero. "Good work. I''ll throw in some useful advice for surviving in this awful territory as a bonus." Zombie smirked with satisfaction, looking at the neat packages full of fresh merchandise ready to be carried and sold off to the nearest guild, trader, cksmith, or tailor. "People of Envy territory are the most cunning people you will probably meet in your lives ¨C not because they are gically different than others, mind you, but because every singlew in here is rigged against them and if they are not fucking someone over that inevitably means that they are the ones getting fucked. Not in a good way." The young boy posing as a banished dwarf began exining while distributing the packages to carry to the five adventurers while making a conscious decision to not carry anything himself. |Not in a good way? Pervert.| |Hey, you were the one who told me that dwarves are usually crude ¨C I''m only ying my part.| Patience and Zombie had a quick exchange in Zombie''s head before the boy continued. "You lot have a good teamposition, your gear is properly maintained, and you clearly have good teamwork and like each other ¨C those are the obvious signs that you are not from this territory. Frankly, aside from you -" The boy continued stopping only for a moment to point at the rat-faced Shanks. "- you all look like some kindhearted fools that will share their money willingly if some pitiful looking scammer just limped your way and reached out their trembling hand. Especially you Marshmallow ¨C you better not talk to any strangers at all." Zombie turned to the towering woman and shook his head at her. "...I don''t think that helping others in need is a wrong thing to do..." Uresha lowered her head and started fidgeting while dodging making eye contact. "See? You are trying to defend a hypothetical scammer!" He rolled his eyes and red back at the rat-faced man. "Shiv, from now on it''s your duty to get Marshmallow away from any strangers while you are in the Envy''s territory. Grab her hand and don''t let her wander off and waste money and goodwill on some scum." Zombie demanded and Shanks actually stepped in and grabbed Uresha''s hand before he himself realized what he was doing. /proficiency level reached skill level up leadership (level 5) |Leadership leveled up? Huh? So what, are those guys my recement for the chickens now?| Zombie scoffed internally, looking at the system message that popped up as soon as the rat-faced man listened to hismand. |Give him a break, Shanks is under the weakening seal of the Sloth family, his stats are really bad and... actually, aside from Lairs and In''re the other three Dandelions have really poor MDF, and since leadership is a passive skill it''s no wonder that they are affected by it to some degree.| Patience hurried with an exnation while both the tank and the thief of the Dandelions adventuring party turnedpletely red from the sudden embarrassment as if they were just some school-kids during their very first date. "This dwarf guy is incredible...! It''s been less than an hour and he caused Shanks and Uresha to make more progress than they did themselves in the past ten years...!" In''re pulled both Rotte and Lairs close and whispered to them with eyes glowing from the excitement. "But that is exactly why he''s fucking suspicious! Why the fuck is he doing that? Besides, he himself said that we shouldn''t fucking trust anyone from the fucking Envys'' territory..." Laris furrowed her brows and scoffed. "And what''s wrong with that advice...?" Rotte raised his brows and asked dumbfounded. "That we are in the fucking Envys'' territory and he is one of the fucking people from the Envy territory! He even said that the people from here are fucking scummy because the environment they live in is the fucking worst ¨C but that means that even though he''s a dwarf he still is a fucking scumbag too because he lives here!" Lairsined ncing angrily at the supposed dwarf at the head of the group already ready to leave. "Yo! Lairs! I''m here just for a few months so I didn''t soaked in the scammer juices, so let me give you another piece of advice. Your conspicuous whisper is louder than your normal voice you know? Good thing that Shiv''s in charge of stealth, you just stick to magic. Now, let''s get going." "Fuck...!" Zombie nced at the three huddled together and sighed, shaking his head in disappointment before raising his hand and waving forward to signal the departure while the potty-mouthed mage cursed loudly and blushed in shame from being called out like that. "Umm... mister dwarf, we were technically ordered to check the area for the unusual monster activity and..." "And you did, a group of goblins lead by two hobgoblins was growing in strength, but since their remnants are safely stored on your back, I would say that this mission of yours ispleted." Shanks raised his hand to voice the slight problem with just walking away, but it was simply shrugged at by the boy in the barrel-like armor. "O-oh, yes, I guess in that case, we can just go with you." The rat-faced man backed off and returned to Uresha''s side. |You could use this chance to introduce yourself, you know? Mister dwarf?| Patience asked and mocked the boy but got no reaction whatsoever, not even a flinch or a bat of an eye. |H-hey, I was just kidding, okay...?| Not even a full thirty secondster the sealed overseer seemed worried about the silence... "..." But nothing could get to the boy whose attention got focused on a small throwing knife attached to one of the straps on Shank''s leather vest. |Ah...! I see how it is... Ignoring me and thinking only about your pet...! Hmph!| Patience realized what was going on and scoffed, sounding as if they turned away. "Say, Shiv, can you show me that?" Zombie,pletely unperturbed by Patience''s behavior reached out his hand, pointing at the small partially concealed weapon. "Oh? Sure, it''s just something I bought it as a just-in-case spare weapon, but it''s actually too light, too flimsy, and inappropriately bnced to be of any other use than just a letter opener." The rat-faced manughed awkwardly and put up an excuse before taking out the tiny throwing de shaped like a knife and handing it to the boy. |Any other use, he says... that clearly is just a letter opener... Buying this as a weapon... this guy might be just as naive as his girlfriend...| Patience sighed, sounding as if they were shaking their head in disappointment. "..." *SHIIING* "!!!!" Both the weapon and Zombie''s eyes shone with a pale white light as it got swung downwards and despite its meager size, the sword-shaped letter opener created quite an impressive sound ¨C causing the confused Dandelions to freeze on the spot. "Since you''re not using it, I''ll take it, alright?" Zombie looked back at the confused Shanks and started ying with the tiny sword that didn''t look that much different from a child''s toy in his small hands. Chapter 323: The right mission (1)

Chapter 323: The right mission (1)

The small adventurers guild seemed as busy as always with all the people going in and out, reporting thepletion of their mission, or picking up the new ones from the posters made by the guild staff, put up on the clipboard on the eastern wall. Usually, the posterspiled from the requests received the previous day were hung up in the morning so obviously, that was the time when the most adventurers gathered to snatch the best job for themselves leaving only the most arduous and least paying jobs for theters. The only exception from that was when someone wealthy offered enough money for the emergency mission to be posted ¨C or straight up offered to a particr adventurer. --- Zombie was standing in front of the clipboard while carefully studying all the missions that weren''t picked up by the others. It wasn''t like he waste and had to make do with the low-paying leftovers, unless he was held back by the increasingly suspicious Laura, he would be the first person waiting by the east wall for the guild staff to put up the new posters each day without fail. |How long have we been doing this? I''m almost six years old already and the appropriate mission never showed up! Maybe we should just run away on our own without oveplicating everything?| The boy''s face soured and he sighed internally. |Zombie, I would love to run away with you, but it''s not really feasible until the game will bepleted and the threat of the Eternal will be gone.| Patience responded with a mncholic sigh. |What...?| |What?| Zombie furrowed his brows in confusion and shook his head, but the response he got was just Patience''s ying a fool. |Ekhem... Putting that aside ¨C we still have more than enough time to set everything up the way we want it. I''m keeping an eye on the timing of everything so you don''t have to worry about a thing.| Patience let out a fake cough inside of Zombie''s mind and hurriedly changed the subject. |Traveling on foot to the forest where the hidden elven vige is would be far too insufficient and time-wasting considering how far it actually is from here. Hiring a carriage to go that far would cost you a house, an arm, and a leg ¨C and that''s if you would be lucky. And you know how much you''re spending on your transforming pet. Finally, Laura will start looking for you as soon as you won''te back for dinner ¨C and with how she is, she will do her best to track you down. It''s best to get on the carriage and disappear before she notices anything. We prepared Mia as a smokescreen to pull the attention away from us, although Laura will surely give you hell once wee back...| |Yeah... Well, as long as we will make sure that she will let us return to the vige once I''m seven years old, everything will be fine. And even if she won''t, well we will have to figure something out then.| With how much Patience started talking over the things they both have already discussed many times, Zombie gave in and breathed out. "..." He turned around and noticed the dark-skinned girl walking in and queuing up in one of the lines to the loot apprisal with a big bag on her back. A few loose green stalks were sticking out of it, betraying that the content was just a bunch of low-grade healing herb that was really useful, but not really that expensive. |Uwah, she never learned that it''s much better to keep that stuff to herself and just ask Papaya to turn it into a simple medicine? Or if she tried, she would eventually get a skill for making it herself, sell that, and it would make her ten times more money.| Zombie frowned and shook his head. |I think that she simply doesn''t have time for any of that? ¨C she is also hiding the fact that she''s an adventurer, just like you, but unlike you, she is also working at the local inn where Laura goes from time to time to check up on her.| Patience sounded as if they shrugged their shoulders and took a guess. |Huh, sucks to be her... well, as long as it won''t affect the future events, it''s none of my business anyway.| Zombie nodded and also shrugged his shoulders ¨C which for the bystanders looked as if he had given up on the remaining posters ¨C and just went to one of the tables by the west wall. While he walked he kept his left arm on his sword, gently caressing the pommel with his thumb out of a recently gained habit. "Living the dream, eh?" As Zombie walked by Mia, he nodded at her, smirked, and shook his head with a disappointed expression, hinting at the recent jobs getting worse and worse. "...hmph...!" But that only caused Mia to scoff at him and look the other way while her hand gripped the bag with herbs a bit tighter. |...and what''s up with that? I thought that we''re friends?| Zombie furrowed his brows and walked away. |You are younger than her, have stronger skills than her, fight better than her, have more time than her, and can go out and actually hunt monsters instead of being stuck between working at an inn and picking up only the crappy leftover missions since her shift at the inn starts early and she can''t get anything better.| Patience responded calmly. |She''s stuck in a vicious cycle... Still, it''s alright, you have nothing to worry about ¨C she is a strong-willed person ¨C so this whole situation is exactly what she needs to be pushed into seeking Durian Greed''s easy way to get stronger. And that is exactly what we need. Also, she doesn''t hate you. She''s just tired.| They added. |And howe you are so sure about that...?| Zombie asked internally, raising his brow while sitting by the wall and observing the hustle and bustle of the guild. |You are just really hard to hate.| |Huh...? What does that mean?| |Figure it out for yourself, hmph!| "...?" Chapter 324: The right mission (2)

Chapter 324: The right mission (2)

Zombie was momentarily stunned after such a bizarre exchange going on inside his head, so he didn''t really pay attention to the front of the line where the guild staff member got wide-eyed at the bag of coins presented to him by a wealthy-looking merchant with a rather sinister smile. Whatever it was about, the guild staff member nodded and hurriedly put up a ''window closed'' sign up and began hurriedly working on a brand new poster... "Huh?! Hey! Don''t bullshit me!" "What the hell is this supposed to be!" "..." ...even though all the people who were behind the wealthy man, all got angry ¨C that included Mia ¨C but all theirints fell on the deaf ears of the guild staff member who despite having very abusive words and threats hurled at him would only point at the ''window closed'' sign without even raising his head. "You smelly bastard! I don''t have time for queueing up all day to sell these damn weeds!" Mia shouted in fury, getting a bit teary-eyed despite her best efforts to stay calm. "Miss, if you want to you can just throw it away, or leave and sell it on the market." The guild staff member waved his hand dismissively and shooed the girl away. "...!" Mia flinched and gritted her teeth... ...and ended up queueing at another line. Laura staying away from the adventurers guild didn''t mean that she would stay away from the market if the former adventurer found Mia selling herbs that could lead to some unwanted questions, so that option was locked up for her. Getting really pissed off she angrily waited for her turn, watching the hands of the clock near the counter move relentlessly informing her about the inevitable passage of time ¨C of her free time until she had to get back to the inn before Laura would show up for a ''talk''. She nced at the boy sitting by the west wall and furrowed her brows, feeling a tingling sensation of regret. If she just went ahead and registered together with him and joined his team, things could have been different... probably not by much but still. But of course, she wanted to show off to the younger boy even more so since he was always the one effortlesslying up with incredible feats! "..." Mia flinched and looked away, feeling ashamed for her own thoughts. Effortlessly? Where in the system''s name did thate from? She herself had witnessed the borderline insane training regime that Zombie had set for himself ¨C she saw him breaking his body time and time again, getting injured so badly that many hardened adults would have broken down in tears; and sacrificing his sleep just to get a bit stronger, a bit better every day. If anything, she should be admiring him, then why did she...? "...ah... I''m just envious..." Mia uttered to herself in realization and sighed, just as it was her turn to ess the counter. She suddenly realized that she maybe spent a little bit too much time amongst the cunning people of the Envys territory... "...but it''s his fault too, why didn''t he approache me to form a team after the registration, like what, am I not good enough for him...?" "Miss, if you have no business here, please don''t hold up the line and step aside." The guild staff member frowned and called out the girl who felt a bit too deep into her own thoughts. "Wha...?! No-no, I''m here toplete yesterday''s mission!" Mia flinched and hurriedly threw the bag of herbs at the counter right in front of the guild staff member. ¡­ ¡­... "...?" Once she received the measly payment for a big bag full of the herbs that she spent so much time gathering, the guild member who closed his window stood up with a brand new mission poster and walked out from behind the counter... "!!!!" The attention of all theters ¨C including Mia and Zombie - focused on him. He was going straight for the eastern wall ¨C it could mean only one thing! An emergency mission has popped up! Mia''s heart began beating faster ¨C was this actually her lucky day...? The poster with an emergency mission was put up and the other adventurers instantly swarmed it. "...?" Although to Mia''s confusion many of them backed out and turned away after just a nce. Even so, that didn''t stop her from at least giving the mission a hopeful look. "...!" And she almost gasped once she saw the content. A rare goods trader needs a capable bodyguard to protect them on an errand to procure exotic merchandise for his shop. Destination: Great northern woods Time of departure: Tomorrow morning Predicted time needed forpletion: between 2 and 4 days Maximum number of party members: 2 Reward: Depending on the mission results (Minimal reward ¨C a single artifact from the merchant''s shop) Mia''s eyes sparkled with amazement ¨C this offer was simply perfect! There was a minimal reward set, so even if the mission is a bust, as long as she gets the merchant back to safety, she will get an artifact! There was the suspicious thing about the wording of the mission''s objective but... An artifact! A real one straight from the actual merchant, not a used half-broken from some pawn shop! She was meticulously saving up the money to buy herself a speed-increasing artifact but even after working as a waitress during the day and gathering the herbs at the side, she was nowhere near the required amount! She had to make this work! If she asked some other girl from the inn to take her shift ¨C using one of the hooks she had on them after working together for over two years, she could easily get away with noting to work for a few days! As for Laura... As nosy and nagging as she was, Laura didn''t soak into the Envys territory''s cunningness and stayed true to herself. Or maybe she was just too straightforward to make any ploy work... anyway, she wouldn''t mind letting Mia stay out if Mia told her that she will stay at her coworker''s home for just four days to recharge or something! Laura still thought of Mia as a child so she could even paint it as a sleepover or something! And thest part... up to two people... If she took the poster and approached Zombie with it saying that it''s always better to fill the maximum amount of people required¨C the two of them could form a party without Mia looking as if she was wanting any help from the younger boy! ...well, everyone in the guild thought that Zombie was a banished dwarf and not a six-year-old human, but it wasn''t about the opinion of others in the first ce! With most of the adventurers backing off, Mia reached her hand for the poster, with a bright, hopeful smile already forming on her face. *rip* "...eh...?" But right as her fingers were about an inch away from the poster, it got snatched right out of the clipboard so fast that a part of it got torn off, causing Mia to unintentionally gasp. "Who dares...?!" She growled, furrowing her brows and ring down at whatever bastard had the guts to... Chapter 325: The right mission (3)

Chapter 325: The right mission (3)

"Zombie?!" As soon as Mia saw who the thief was, she got taken aback more than ever before. Until that point, although Zombie never pitched up the idea of them teaming up, he would always make sure to notpete against Mia when picking up missions because he knew that she could hardly find a time toplete them in the first ce so there wasn''t that many that fit her. A few times Mia even noticed that the boy was preventing other adventurers from snatching missions from her too... Then, what was this sudden change all about?! "I''m taking this one." The boy posing as a dwarf spoke dismissively while carefully studying the partially torn poster while frowning more and more as if something in the wording has really ticked him off. "E-eh...? Wait, what...?" Mia flinched and looked around as if she expected to find some proof that Zombie was joking. "This one definitely isn''t for you. Get another one." Since the boy turned away and his voice grew cold and distant. "FFFGH...!" That got Mia to grit her teeth and let out an angry hiss that she never made before in her life. "What is that supposed to mean?!" "..." She eximed but got no reaction, the boy simply started walking to the counter,pletely ignoring the queue. "H-hey! Dwarf! It says in the description that it''s up to two party members, if you want to take that mission, so be it ¨C let''s form a temporary party andplete it together!" Despite the cold treatment, Mia managed to hold back her fury and came up with a pretty seamless way out of the situation that would benefit them both without sounding as if she wanted to form a party with him ¨C after all, in Envy''s territory it was all about the personal gain and leaving others in the dust. "And why would I team up with you? Get a bit stronger before youe up with such a proposition." Zombie shook his head and ced the poster on the counter. "I''m taking the emergency mission." "Of course, mister Zombie!" He said to the guild staff member, the same human male who made the poster, turned all smiles and hurriedly picked up a book, and started noting. "M-me too! We''re taking it together!" Mia ran to the counter and eximed. "...?" The guild staff member''s hand stopped and he nced at Zombie, waiting for his answer. "No. She''s not. We''re not in a party together. I''m taking this mission alone." "Yes, of course." The boy shook his head and the guild staff member nodded his head in affirmation and wrote the correct information. "Zombie! That is not fair! I wanted to take this mission but you have stolen it from me and you don''t even want to share! Why are you like that?! Like, what, do you think I will be a burden?! I can protect myself, you know?!" The girl has burst into an angry fit and cause everyone inside the guild to look at her in confusion. |Is she for real...? Did she actually not realize what this mission is all about?| Zombie thought to himself, raising his brow at the agitated girl. |Well... you know... The guild staff member did spend a lot of time on wording the poster so that it wouldn''t be too obvious from the start...| Patience responded in an apologetic voice as if they were sorry that this was the best excuse they came up with. |Ha! As if! This guy made it abundantly clear what this mission is truly about ¨C the location, the reward, the time it would take... She sure somehow managed to live a sheltered life to miss all of the red lights!| Zombie was actually getting angry at how angry Mia was ¨C despite all that she''s been through, being so naive as to happily jump on a mission like that while smiling like an idiot, and acting like a spoiled kid the moment someone took the danger away from her ¨C and even went as far as to act unnaturally cold so that she would notice that something was off... |Now I understand why she died so easily during the first ythrough. She got most of her head blown off because she wasn''t using it properly and just jumped to a conclusion without thinking things through!| Zombie scoffed internally and grit his teeth, looking at the girl waving her arms around as if that would help anything. |That''s riching from the person who killed her back then.| Patience pointed out. |I''m saying that exactly because I was the one who killed her.| Zombie responded dead serious. |Ugh, I wouldn''t have taken this mission either if not for the fact that it will lead us to the right exact ce where we want to go ¨C but at the same time, it''s a bit unnerving with how perfect this all is...| He added with a hint of concern. |...? Perfect? A mission about hunting down elves to enve and sell off to Envy family in the area where we do know that the elves do reside... What is perfect about that mission? It''s awful! It means that the guardian of the hidden vige will be on high alert and it will be especially troublesome to get his cooperation! The perfection you are talking about would be a mission to escort a merchant to the human vige nearby the entrance to the Great northern woods that would give us a bit of a time off to stealthily get in contact with the elves before we return - and not this mess!| Patience scoffed at the overly-cautious Zombie, sounding as if they were shaking their head. |Alright, you cheeky little know-it-all, so maybe I am overthinking it, but in that case, can you promise me that nothing unexpected will happen? Huh?| |Hey! I''m just saying it how it is! And if there was anything suggesting that this n would fail, I would have told you instantly in the first ce! I''m the one who wants you to seed the most!| The two of them shouted at each other inside of Zombie''s head. "I''m going to follow you on that mission whether you want it or not so you might as well just let me join in officially!" On top of that Mia''s childish behavior only added the fuel to the fire... "..." Zombie''s face turned grim and without a moment of hesitation, he reached for Kopia strapped to his waist and pulled it out from the fancy sheath in one swift motion. "!!!!" Which made Mia close her mouth and take a step back. Even though it has been almost three years, the memories of the little boy brutally killing three thugs trying to kidnap her and Luke, were still fresh in the girl''s mind. "This is not some childish make belief! If you want to y a make-belief adventurer, go and get Luke to humor you! If you continue spouting the same nonsense about following me on this mission..." Zombie growled, ring down at Mia, despite her being much taller than him, and both his eyes and his sword began glowing with a threatening white light. "...I''ll chop off your legs to make sure you won''t be able to." "...!" His words sent chills down the spines of not only Mia but everyone present. "Go gather your herbs or something." Seeing the dark-skinned girlpletely frozen in ce, Zombie scoffed and hid his sword after deactivating his skills. "Will the client be waiting at the northern gate or did he gave some other meeting point?" The boy posing as a dwarf turned away and asked the guild staff member. "Northern gate." The man nodded, ncing between the boy and the girl. "Alright then, tell the client that I will be there tomorrow, alone." Zombie nodded, leaving the guild after sending onest re towards Mia. |Look at you, knowing exactly what to say to make her start pursuing strength at all cost without me having to guide you! Excellent work!| Patience sounded as if they were nodding their head in approval. |What are you talking about? She just got under my skin so she got what wasing.| Zombie scoffed and shook his head with a furious grimace twisting his face. |Oh...! Oooohhh...| Chapter 326: How should I address you?

Chapter 326: How should I address you?

|Interesting, I kind of expected Mia to tell on us to Laura and reveal everything to get you in trouble.| Patience sounded a bit surprised as no one had stopped Zombie from walking out of the small house and leaving Laura''s farm to head into the city. |It''s because she would get herself in trouble if she did.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders indifferently while looking back on the house to make sure that Mia really wasn''t following him. |Rx, she wouldn''t want her legs chopped off. Although you were a little bit over the top with that threat, from now on she would invest a lot of time into training and getting stronger ¨C so everything''s fine. For us that is. Increasing the intensity of her training will cause her to injure her body more and more but that will make Luke pursue the healing magic, revealing the hidden affinity he has for it.| Patience sounded as if they were smiling and tried to ease Zombie''s bad mood. |Yeah, I just can''t believe that a girl who almost got kidnapped by the Envy family would try to join in on their mission. What exotic merchandise does she think could be procured from the woods that are just a few days away? We are in the Envys territory, that could only mean the elves!| Zombie furrowed his brows andined internally. "Haa..." He even let a very Cranberry-like sigh escape his mouth. "Master... Are you worried...?" In response to that, a muffled high pitched noiseing from the sheath on his side formed into words. "Hmm? No, no. It''s nothing, really." Zombie raised his brows and smiled softly in response. He put his hand on the pommel of the sword and caressed it gently. "...you know what? The limit on the party members is indeed two, why not make use of it?" Zombie asked, and smirked looking at his sheathed sword. "Master...?" The high-pitched noise made by the high frequency of the vibrating de formed into a question, before Zombie pulled out the weapon and smiled at it. |This could be used as a surprise factor, but it could also pull some unwanted attention to you and Kopia.| Patience pointed out, sounding just a tiny little bit jealous. "It will be fine." Zombie''s smirk grew into a full-on smile. He looked around, making sure that no early worker is looking their way, and put the sword in his hand on the ground de first. "Kopia, do you want to go on a trip with me in your humanoid form?" He asked without releasing his grip. "Can I?! I want! Master! I want!" The weapon vibrated excitedly in response and started glowing with a pale light. |Hmph...!| Patience scoffed inside Zombie''s head and sounded as if they turned around. The next moment, Zombie was no longer holding a sword. Instead, he was reaching up to pat the head of a genderless person with very long crimson-red hair and piercing blue eyes. "Kopia. you forgot clothes." Zombie rubbed its hair and shook his head, "Mmm?" Kopia furrowed its brows and looked down. "But I won''t fit in it in this form, I''m too big!" Itined while pointing at the fancy sheath still at Zombie''s waist. "Not your clothes as weapon, silly. Human clothes. You remember, right? We practiced it together." Zombie''s smile grew warmer and he continued patting Kopia''s head. "Ah! I remember!" The weapon in a humanoid form perked up in realization and closed its eyes. "Hnnnnnng!" And it even let out a grunt of very deep concentration. *puff* With a short sh of white light, a set of cute frilly clothes appeared on its body as if they were always there. |Oh-ho! Little Kopia has studied a bit - it didn''t make anything asplicated as those before.| Patience sounded as if they nodded with great interest. |Ah, yes indeed, that gives me a perfect opportunity to ask it something.| |Eh...?| Patience sounded as if they furrowed their brows at Zombie''s unexpected remark. "Kopia, say, how do you want me to address you?" Zombie asked out loud, observing the humanoid weapon''s face. "Address...?" Kopia titled its head and returned the question. "How do you want me to talk to you. If you want, I can stick to calling you ''it'', but truth to be told, this doesn''t really sit well with me. Do you prefer ''they'' or maybe ''he'' or ''she''? Oh, and you don''t have to answer immediately. Just tell me when you decide." Zombie exined to the wide-eyed Kopia. "...master, what do you want me to be...?" It asked suddenly sounding very timid, it even grabbed onto Zombie''s sleeve and lowered its head to nce at him cutely. "Huh? What do I want?" Zombie tilted his head in confusion and furrowed his brows. "I want you to like me, master! I will be whatever you want!" Kopia perked up and its smile was almost blinding, so blinding in fact that Zombie almost had to back off. |...where did it learned that...? It must have been reading our minds while connected to you during training and fights...| Patience grumbled in a barely recognizable murmur. "It''s alright, Kopia. I already like you very much and it won''t change no matter what..." "Master!" Before Zombie could finish his sentence, Kopia eximed happily and hugged him tightly, and nuzzled its cheek against his neck while leaning down. |!!!!!!!!!| Patience exasperated gasp resounded in Zombies''s head, but otherwise, the sealed being didn''tment on this behavior. "Whoa! Hey, you''re acting as if I never told you that before. Khahaha! Hey, you''re tickling me! It''s alright. Just take your time and think about how do you want to be addressed and tell me when you''re ready. It''s just that calling you like an inanimate object feels odd to me - but of course, if you like it, then that''s how it will stay." Zombie smirked and hugged his humanoid weapon back. |...| The silence of the sealed being was heavier than any words they spoke before. "Master! She! Call me she! I''m a girl!" It took Kopia a whopping five seconds to chose and she happily announced her answer to the boy. |...well, someone showed their true colors fast... hmph...!| Patience scoffed sounding really grumpy. "Alright, if that''s what you choose..." Zombie nodded with a serious expression and... "Good girl! Thank you for always helping me with killing monsters, I''ll be counting on you from now on too!" "!!!!" He said and patted Kopia''s head very gently, which made her go wide-eyed and blush for some reason. |Yeah, yeah... your show of affection is very cute indeed, but not very appropriate for the middle of the road! You still need to go get your gear too, remember?| Patience scoffed at Zombie and pointed out. |True.| The boy nodded and pulled away from Kopia. "Alright. we should get going. Here. Remember to stay close, it would be terrible if you got lost." He said grabbing Kopia''s hand and started walking towards the city. "Master!" The girl eximed happily and tightly squeezed the boy''s hand. |I''m a girl too.| "Huh...?!" "Master, is something wrong...?" Patience''s words caused Zombie to stop in ce and gasp, which caused Kopia to tilt her head with concern. |Yeah! You heard me right! I never mentioned it before because I thought that it was obvious! I''m a girl too so you better treat me just as nice as her!| Patience announced and demanded, sounding as if she was crossing her arms and raising her head pridefully. Chapter 327: The suspicious mission (1)

Chapter 327: The suspicious mission (1)

Zombie picked up the barrel-like armor from a secured location and only went inside the city from the opposite gate to the one closest to Laura''s farm, with fancily dressed Kopia by his side. With Kopia''s current form, even though she was short for the standards of an adult, she was still much higher than the six-year-old posing as a dwarf ¨C which was a good thing, Zombie certainly didn''t want any suspicion about him messing around with kids. As for Kopia... She was happily holding Zombie''s hand ¨C not only with her own hand either ¨C a few strands of her hair were coiling around the boy''s hand too, which was a clear sign that even though the humanoid weapon was enjoying the walk, but she was also always ready to turn into any sword of Zombie''s liking if the need arose. The two of them passed the merchants and innkeepers setting up their businesses with sleepy faces and went straight for the northern gate. "Hmm?" Once they arrived, and haven''t seen a carriage of any sort that could be used to transport ves inside or outside the city walls, Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed. He turned around the sun still wasn''t up but the color of the sky visible from above the city walls clearly indicated that the sunrise wasn''t that far off. "Master, you angry...?" Kopia tilted her head and asked, lowering her head as if she thought that Zombie''s bad mood was her fault. "Yes, I am ¨C just look at it, where is our employer? They''ve set up the departure time themselves, but aren''t ready at all, what, do they confuse the departure with meeting time or something?" Zombie squeezed Kopia''s hand reassuringly and then motioned at the carriage-less surroundings. |You know how Envys territory''s merchants are, they want to show off that they are better than anyone else just as much as they want to scam their customers from all their money.| Patience spoke, still sounding a bit fed up with the closeness between Zombie and Kopia. "...?" Zombie raised his brows and looked around a little bit more carefully. |Then, what...? Are you saying that this asshole is just waiting somewhere near and is consciously making us wait for them to make us know who is in charge?| The boy frowned, gritting his teeth, and his foot began impatiently tapping against the pavement. |Most likely.| Patience sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders and nodded. "..." Zombie''s frown grew much angrier, not only because of Patience''s words but mostly because he indeed spotted a carriage that perfectly suited the implied mission parked next to the stall with food ¨C with a slightly plump man with two steaming skewers in both hands, ncing their way from time to time with a self-satisfied smile. "Haa... Hey, can you imagine beingte on the mission you assigned yourself? It must be some third-rate merchant who doesn''t value his time at all. Khahaha!" Zombie sighed and shook his head, speaking loud enough to get the attention of a few passersby and shop owners, including the man stuffing his face with meat from the skewers. "Pathetic!" "...!" Somehow, Kopia perfectly read Zombie''s intention and cheered with a mockingugh, which was met with the face of the self-satisfied man. "Exactly. If he doesn''t value his time, that means he''s just some fool with nothing but empty pride inting his ego. He surely realized that he actually doesn''t have anything of value that he could pay us with, and is too ashamed to even show his face! Let''s just head back to the guild ¨C we need to report a false mission, that piss-poor merchant needs to be fined." Zombie shook his head theatrically and motioned at the road leading into the city with his head. "Let''s!" Kopia nodded happily, leaning on the small frame of the armor-d boy. "!!!!" And they just left, causing the self-satisfied man to throw away his half-eaten skewers and hurriedly climb on the carriage and macked the backs of the horse monsters pulling it, to make them rush towards the northern gate. "Ah! Mister dwarf!" The man called out, waving his hand. "Oh? What is it, good sir? Mypanion and I are in a hurry to report a prankster setting up a false mission to our guild, if possible be quick about your business." Zombie nced at the man over his shoulder and shrugged. "Mister dwarf! The mission is not a prank, I''m the one who hired you!" The man stopped the carriage beside the pair and hurriedly exined, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. |Look at him, acting so tough but getting all scared once he met someone who won''t allow himself to be yed with! What a pathetic specimen.| Patience scoffed and sounded as if she shook her head and frowned with disgust. "Is that so...?" Zombie raised his brow and carefully looked at the man, judging him from head to toe. "I was a bitte because I had to make sure that my employees I''ve put in charge of the shop will do a good job ¨C I am a renowned merchant with a well-known shop by the man square ¨C Jealous eye ¨C you surely have heard about it! We specialize in rare goods and curiosities!" The man exined, giving his best to regain hisposure and show off, but once he showed weakness, there was no recovery. "Jealous eye, huh..." Zombie smirked mockingly. He indeed knew the ce ¨C it was one of the shops that sold insanely overpriced artifacts sometimes trying to pass off used goods as brand new ones... ...it was also a ce being backed by the subordinate branch of the main Envy family... |Ask about his name just in case.| Patience sounded as if she furrowed her brows. "I''ve heard about it, mister...?" Zombie nodded and stepped forward, ring at the merchant with suspicion. "Jackfruit Green." The man introduced himself, sounding a little bit calmer as if he knew that his name would be enough to change the adventurers'' minds - which was already a little bit suspicious. But at the same time, what wasn''t suspicious in the Envys territory, where scams and lies were not justmon amongst, but rather expected out of the citizens. |...He''s of no importance to the story as far as I know... But he indeed is an owner of the ce ¨C in the game, Jealous eye was a shop that would teach yers to be careful with money since the item description was almost always false ¨C with a different font used to indicate the forgery ¨C but with how things are now unless someone has the appraise skill they won''t be able to tell until they tested it out.| Patience came forth with a little bit of trivia on the subject ¨C a bit of trivia that certainly didn''t put Jackfruit and his shop in a favorable light for sure ¨C especially when it came to the value of the potential reward forpleting the mission. Bur, Zombie wasn''t aiming for the reward in the first ce - though if he was, he would have turned right away without giving the man a second look. "Well, then. Mister Jackfruit. Let''s not waste any more of your precious time and move out." The boy posing as a dwarf smirked mockingly, opened the carriage''s door, and let himself and Kopia in uninvited, closing the door and knocking at the carriage''s wall to hasten the stunned merchant. Chapter 328: The suspicious mission (2)

Chapter 328: The suspicious mission (2)

|Say... the Great northern woods are at least one day away, even with how fast the horse monsters are going. Howe this guy put up a minimal amount of time necessary to be two days? That''s just barely enough time to arrive at the ce and then go right back... Is he just that optimistic or...?| Zombie furrowed his brows while looking out of the carriage''s window while gently patting Kopia''s head that the girl ced on hisp with a bright smile. |...| Patience didn''t respond to him, and for whatever reason, her silence seemed to be brimming with contempt... |Miss Patience...? Could you be so kind and bless me with your response?| Zombie furrowed his brows and asked internally. |If you want to talk, talk with that redhead on yourp! And you know the answer anyway!| Patience finally spoke but it ended up being just an angry scoff and not the conversation that Zombie was hoping to start. |You know that it''s not the answer and only a suspicion until it''s confirmed, I would like to discuss the options and possibilities with you... Or I really can try to talk it over with Kopia.| He smirked and looked down, right into Kopia''s face as the girl turned around and smiled adorably back at him. |Don''t get fooled by her! She can read our thoughts just fine since she coiled her hair around your arm! She''s just acting cute and clueless!| "I''m not! I''m just happy that master is spoiling me!" Patience scoffed and Kopia pouted and looked away, outing herself as someone who really can read Zombie''s mind, or rather thoughts going through Zombie''s head. "Shh. It''s alright, " Zombie put his finger to his lips and hushed the crimson-haired girl before continuing to pat her head. |You are literally spoiling her way too much and even she realizes that!| Patience scolded the boy, sounding very angry. |It''s fine. She''s always working hard as my weapon, she deserves at least this much.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders and smirked in response. |What about me then?!| Patience''s voice got high-pitched inside Zombie''s head. |You''re amazing too. Here. I''m sending you the coziest, fluffiest mental hug for the most amazing sealed overseer in the whole world. Here, have a kiss too. *muah* Are you happy now? Let''s talk about what our merchant could be nning next.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders and sighed. |...I hate you so much, you sassy idiot...| Patience also sighed, but she sounded just a little bit embarrassed over Zombie''s words. |There are a few options, first one, the guy is just some overly optimistic idiot, ant thinks that finding an elf roaming cluelessly around the Envy territory ready to get kidnapped is as easy as picking a stone off the side of the road.| Nheless, Patience did end up picking the topic that interested her host. |That would be nice, but since he is the owner of a shop backed by the branch of the Envy family, it means that he has dealt with such things in the past...| Zombie frown and made a sour expression. |Then that leaves us with a few options. Like, someone from the Envy family is already waiting on the spot, as they captured the elf or elves, and we will be just transporting them back, or...| |Or Jackfruit himself is secretly a part of the Envy family.| Zombie finished the thought for Patience, sounding just as bitter as she did. |The Envys of this ythrough are still holding Saint captive and have bonus effectiveness with dealing with the elves, right?| Zombie sighed and red at the wall of the carriage where the merchant was sitting on the driving seat smacking the backs of the monster horses with the reins to make them go faster. |Well... yes, but not exactly.| "Huh...?" Zombie was surprised enough to let out an audible gasp, |Administrators are a one-and-done kind of thing, no matter the ythrough ¨C their death carries over regardless of whether you started a new save file or not.| Patience exined, sounding as if she was thinking of the best way to exin it to the undead in the body of a young boy. |Huh... so that''s how it... Then, what makes the elves fear Envys so much without making them fight back at the same time? Is the problematic main branch of the Envy family that strong...? It doesn''t feel like it judging from the events of Mason''s route...| Zombie furrowed his brows and tilted his head. |Eh...? Wait, so you believe the thing about the administrators just like that?! With no additional information?!| Patience sounded as if she jumped up in ce from sheer shock. |I''ve already witnessed weirder things than that. But you can act like I don''t believe you and try to convince me that it''s the truth if you want. Or just answer my question.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders in response. "Nhehehe!" Their exchange made Kopia snicker so much she put her hands to her mouth to block theughter. |O-oh...! Um, yeah, sure! Why are elves still fearing the Envys even though there''s no Saint anymore? Right. So, the thing is ¨C even if the being known as thest living administrator is dead, that only means that their physical remnant was left in their ce - just like what you and your viiness fought before, you know, the remnant of Wing. The physical remnant does carry most of the power of the original but carries on all the wounds and whatnots at the same time.| |So what you''re saying is, somewhere in the underground bunker-like basement of the Envys mansion, there is a physical remnant of the god of spirits, Saint, that is just as weak as Saint was before my Cranberry finished them off ¨C and that very remnant is still giving the Envy family the partial power over the elves?| Zombie asked to make sure whether he understood things properly. |Exactly.| Patience sounded as if she nodded. |That means that absolutely nothing changes about the rtion between the elves and the Envy family and consequently nothing changes about the events either.| Zombie summed it all up. |Yes.| And Patience once again sounded as if she nodded. |Then it''spletely useless to us right now... Haa... anyway. We have the guy''s name and since you''ve said that he isn''t anyone important for the story - at some point during this mission, it might be that an unfortunate ident will have to happen to our dear employer if the need will arise.| Zombie smirked evilly and spoke to the being sealed inside of him before turning towards the window once more, clearly showing that he was done with the chit-chat. And the wheels of the carriage turned around and around bringing them all towards the Great northern forest where lied Zombie''s hope for changing the story. Chapter 329: The suspicious mission (3)

Chapter 329: The suspicious mission (3)

Their carriage passed through the vige that Cranberry and Zombie interrogated a member of the Envy family during the first ythrough as if it was nothing and hurried towards the one known entrance to the Great northern forest. |Huh... it doesn''t look very abandoned yet.| Zombie noticed, looking at the house in which they first learned about the presence of the administrators. |Hey, Patience, so there really is no administrators left in this world now...?| He posed a question inside his mind, looking up as if he was trying to nce at the overseer locked behind a seal inside of him. |That''s right. The only things that remain are the monsters known as the physical remnants. Like the phoenix, you and your viiness had fought and got rid off.| Patience''s voice made it sound as if she nodded, but her answer wasn''t as simple as it seemed. |Monsters you say... Did all administrators leave the remnant somewhere in the world?| "...?" The boy tilted his head and his hand momentarily stopped caressing Kopia''s head, causing the crimson-haired girl to look up at him expectantly. |Yes, they all did.| Patience confirmed. |Even you?| Zombie furrowed his brows and pressed further. |...| Patience sounded as if she hesitated for a moment before answering. |Yes, in our current ythrough the physical remnant of the god of wisdom, Patience, does exist in this world. It needs to since I wasn''t originally a part of the world and was merely adapted to fit in by my creator. Very poorly adapted, but still.| |Is there a chance for us to fight any of them? I don''t seem to possess any memory about any event that requires their presence.| Zombie''s curiosity was piqued. |A chance, and not a need, huh... well... maybe. If you will be nice to me, I''ll tell you when you will be strong enough to have a chance with the remnants and guide you to them.| |You promise?| |Yeah, I promise.| "Mister dwarf! We''re here!" The voice of Zombie''s current employer interrupted the conversation inside Zombie''s head and knocked on the carriage''s door. "Tsk...!" Zombie clicked his tongue and frowned. "Master, I can cut that human down for you if he makes you angry!" Kopia hurriedly got up after using Zombie''sp as a pillow for the entire ride and eximed in a spirited voice while clenching her fists ready for a fight. "Pfff...! Khahahaha!" Zombie stared at her for a second before busting out into cheerfulughter. "Nah. It won''t be necessary, at least not right now. But thanks for the thought." The boy shook his head while raising his hand to mess with Kopia''s crimson hair. "It''s better for us to see what that guy is nning first. I''m quite curious which option it really is ¨C or maybe he had prepared something even more surprising than we''ve expected him to!" Zombie cackled before getting out of the carriage, while still connected to Kopia by a few strands of crimson red hair coiled around his right arm, and Kopia herself followed him outside right after. The entrance to the forest was nothing special, just that the trees weren''t as thick or tall as the ones further in, allowing for the asional rays of light to pierce through their crowns. The only other being in the area aside from Zombie and Kopia ¨C and the two monster horses that pulled the carriage all the way there ¨C was the plump man, Jackfruit Green himself. It really didn''t look like there was anyone waiting for them there. |I really don''t get it... Olive is the one protecting the elven vige, right? Like, what does this guy think that he can do? Or were we wrong about the true purpose after all...?| Zombie furrowed his brows and thought to himself. |I''m honestly not sure. This isn''t a part of any trivia that was ever essible to me.| Even Patience had to give up on the odd situation. "Mister dwarf. Come with me for a moment, I need to discuss something with you, alone, if that''s alright." Suddenly Jackfruit waved at Zombie and walked behind the carriage. "Huh...? Well, that''s odd." The boy furrowed his brows, but then shrugged his shoulders indifferently. |That human is suspicious... Your level might not be bad for a beginner adventurer, but you''re not raising your stats which makes you susceptible for surprise attacks and Kopia isn''t very smart ¨C stay on your guard.| Patience warned the boy, sounding as if the whole situation wasn''t to her liking. "Hey! You''re mean!" "Shhh." Kopia pouted but was pacified by Zombie putting a finger up to his lips. |Yeah... I agree... Now that I think about it... I''m sure that I told the guild staff member that I will be taking this mission alone. Why didn''t Jackfruit say anything when both Kopia and I showed up... Something is off.| Zombie silently nodded to Patience''s words and grabbed Kopia''s hand. "I know I''ve said that you can travel with me in your humanoid form, but I need you to turn into a sword for a moment." He said to Kopia in a hushed voice after making sure that their suspicious employer walked behind the carriage and was waiting for him there. "No problem, master!" Kopia only smiled brightly, and her body shed with white light for a split second ¨C the next moment, Zombie was already holding a simple one-handed short sword in his right hand and there was no trace of the short girl anyway ¨C aside from the few strands of crimson hair sprouting from the sword''s pommel and wrapping around Zombie''s arm. "Good girl." The boy nodded and sheathed the weapon. "Mister dwarf?" "Don''t worry, I''m going already, human." Jackfruit called out and it looked like he was about to go check to see what is taking the supposed dwarf so long, but Zombie was slightly faster and made sure that the man didn''t notice Kopia''s ''dissaperance''. "Ah, good." As soon as Zombie walked over to him, Jackfruit''s wide face brightened up with a smile, and the man nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, the more I look at you, mister dwarf, the more I am satisfied with the adventurer''s guild fulfilling my request." The man said. |His request...?| Patience sound as if she frowned.| "Your request?" Zombie furrowed his brows, echoing Patience''s question. "Yes." Jackfruit nodded. "I asked them to get me the most innocent-looking adventurer that they can ¨C and here you are!" Heughed and pped his hands, brimming with joy. "Don''t take it the wrong way mister dwarf, but without a beard, you look like a very young human child ¨C and that is exactly what I need to lead out my merchandise..." Jackfruit''s smile turned sinister. "Oh? Is that so?" Zombie responded with a simr smirk, raising his brow with interest. Chapter 330: The suspicious mission (4)

Chapter 330: The suspicious mission (4)

"Ah! I knew it! You surely know what I''m talking about, mister dwarf! Yes, we are going to catch at least one elf. As insane as it sounds, someone from the vige we''ve passed on our way here swears that they saw an elf picking up the wild berries on the edge of the forest during a full moon. And after a little investigation, it turns out that it wasn''t just some hallucination of a drunken backwardmoner, but the truth! Although my men were unable to capture the said elf, they did confirm that there is one hiding somewhere in here!" Jackfruit eximed excitedly. |Wait, someone saw an elf here? Like, actually?! Impossible! The Olive I remember wouldn''t allow any of his people to roam around without extending his illusion to protect them!| Even though Zombie was more than just taken aback by the revtion, he didn''t let it show outwardly. |It might be a traveler trying to sneakily pass through the Envys territory. Remember, elves will do everything to protect their family ¨C but that doesn''t mean that they think that every elf in the world is a part of their family.| Patience pointed out after a bit of consideration. |Hah... Yeah, that makes sense.| Zombie ended up agreeing with her while observing the merchant. "While catching elves, the looks are very important, I''ll have you know. Their senses are better than humans so they can pick up in small details more easily ¨C therefore it is important to look as far from someone from the Envy family as possible." "I see." Jackfruit said, inadvertently pointing out his ties with the ruling family of the territory while gesturing at his own face when mentioning them, and Zombie nodded without showing any surprise. "That''s what brings me to the reason for what I have requested an innocent-looking adventurer." The merchant paused for a dramatic effect... "I want to use the appearance steal on you, borrow your looks for the moment, and once changed like that I''ll go with your lovelypanion and search for the elf in question. You might not be aware of that, but those with blood-ties with the Envy family have a certain level of control over the elves ¨C I''ll be using that to bring them back here, as even though my men were unable to catch our slippery target, they at least confirmed that they didn''t leave the area yet." Jackfruit finished talking and just stood there with his hand extended, without activating his envy-based skill showing at least a little bit of consideration and waiting for approval from the supposed dwarf. |...I want to kill that guy already. I don''t give a damn about the elven straggler ¨C since Olive didn''t let them into their vige yet then it means he either doesn''t want them there or trust them enough for now ¨C but does this bastard thinks he was subtle when he mentioned going into the forest with Kopia while he will have my appearance? He was practically drooling! The nerve! What, does he thinks that trying to do something to her will be some kind of bonus for him?| Zombie''s expression grew colder and his hand twitched and moved an inch closer to his weapon''s grip. |Zombie, if you want to keep this human alive and clueless about who you are ¨C do not let them use the appearance steal on you!| Patience eximed inside his headpletely ignoring his remark. |What...? Why?| Zombie asked, raising his brow, taken by surprise by Patience''s impatient voice. |What do you mean ''why''? You have the superbia skill! It interrupts most sin-based skills in the game! We can''t let anyone know that some random person has the skill necessary to inherit the avatar of pride title! Why are you acting so clueless?! Didn''t anyone try to use any sin-based skills against you in the previous ythrough or something?!| Patience gasped in disbelief sounding as if they shook their head in disappointment. |Only Olive, I guess...| Zombie answered awkwardly, taken aback. |Don''t stand there like that! Tell him that you will go find the elf and lead them here! Don''t let him use appearance steal on you!| "Listen, mister Jackfruit, I think it would be better to..." Patience hastened the boy, and he instantly opened his mouth in an attempt to change Jackfruit''s mind about the n... "!!!!" But he was toote. As soon as he tried talking, Jackfruit''s body began glowing with a green light that radiated onto Zombie''s body, enveloping himpletely. /You are being attacked by an inferior skill /calcting... /attacking payer receives a penalty As the green light faded out, leaving only the socked, ghastly pale merchant with his hand extended towards the unhappy supposed dwarf, a series of short messages had popped up in front of Zombie''s eyes, informing him about the reason for Jackfruit'' reaction. "Wh-what the...?! Su-superbia...?! But that''s the skill of the avatar of pride and their next-in-line inheritor...! Why is some banished dwarf...?!" The man stuttered while backing off. "Tsk. Haaaaaaaa..." "...?" Zombie clicked his tongue and let out a deep annoyed sigh, making the merchant furrow his brows in suspicion. "Now look what you''ve done... Now I will have toe up with an excuse and the reason why did you die during our mission! My credentials as an adventurer will suffer a major blow!" "You lowly dwarf, you wouldn''t dare to hurt me, I am a...!" Zombie scoffed and shook his, causing Jackfruit''s face to turn from pale to red as he shouted in anger. *SHING* Zombie paid him no mind and instead simply took out Kopia and shed at the man''s neck. "!!!!" Just for the merchant''s body to sh white and twist in an impossible manner just in time to dodge the deadly blow! |Emergency dodge! Don''t let him get away!| Patience sounded as if she gritted her teeth and shouted furiously. "Bastard! Envy family will hear about this!" But even if the boy wanted to, the Jackfruit had already charged away from him, right into the forest ¨C literally using a charge skill ¨C and used another emergency dodge to use the trees as a cover from any range attacks that Zombie could have. "Oh, that fucker knows how to run..." Zombie clenched his fist on the sword''s grip and frowned furiously. With the sh of white light, Kopia changed from the simple one-handed straight sword tight into a wing-shaped scimitar. "Hey, aren''t you happy? We''ll get to test out this skill on an opponent who knows that we are after him ¨C isn''t it exciting?" Zombie showed his teeth in a bloodthirsty smile and casually asked his weapon. "Don''t worry master! I''ll cut him down for you!" The scimitar''s de vibrated at a high frequency and the noise that it created turned into words right as both the weapon and her wielder''s bodies began glowing with threatening white light. |Both of you, stop for a moment! Don''t kill him right away!| Patience''s voice resounded in Zombie''s mind. "Eh?! Why not?!" Kopia''s high-pitched voice shrilled through the air. |Elves can recognize if someone is from the envy family, right? And we want to make contact with the elves ¨C Let''s make sure that we ughter this human somewhere where the elves will be watching to gain some goodwill.| Patience exined hurriedly, knowing that neither Zombie nor Kopia are hesitant when ites to extinguishing lives. "Khahahaha! You''ve heard her, Kopia! Let''s torment this stinky living until there is only despair left in him!" "Let''s!" Zombie let out slightly maniacalughter and Kopia happily agreed, before beingunched from the boy''s hand with the help of the high-level throw skill. |I TOLD YOU NOT TO KILL HIM, YOU TWO MORONS!| |...WO MORONS...| |...ORONS...| |...orons...| |...ons...| Patience roared so loud that her voice echoed inside Zombie''s mind. |Yeah, we won''t kill him, only make him suffer.| Zombie''s face twisted with a sadistic smirk. |Also... did you just tried to fake an echo? Aren''t you trying too hard to be cute?| |SHUT UP!| Chapter 331: Olives perspective

Chapter 331: Olive''s perspective

"...fuuuck... this is seriously thest time I''m helping some fucking idiot who thinks he could just go sightseeing in the fucking Envys territory, seriously..." Olive, the oldest elf in the hidden elven vige in the heart of the Great northern forest sighed with exhaustion and stretched his back before leaning back against the bark of a millennium-old tree. The old elf who still looked as if he didn''t reach anywhere near thirty years old for human standards was doing his duty as the sole guardian of the elven vige set up in the very edge of the territory of his species''s worst enemy. Sometimes the ways of the system are truly hard toprehend, and the reason why in the ancient past Olive and the few other escapees of the Envy tyranny received a quest to settle in such a dangerous area was definitely one of those times. Nheless, despite the many hardships, such a location was truly the perfect hiding spot that not even a single human has figured out through the years. Yes, not a single human... That''s why it was so annoying when apletely random stray elf found his way and decided to pass by bringing the unwanted attention of the Envysckeys right to Olive''s enve. Olive didn''t even bother interacting with that traveling elf ¨C judging by their gear, he was an adventurer on a mission, certainly not someone that the old elf wanted to give a hint about the vige''s location. Not that adventurers were bad people in Olive''s opinion, but they do tend to prefer not to stay in one ce, and they themselves are in potential danger of being caught and interrogated by the Envys. Oh, if the news about a hidden elven vige concealed within the borders of their very territory reached the noble house...! Olive shuddered at the mere thought. Therefore he restrained himself only to concealing the traveling elf''s presence and instead set up an illusion that made the humans, who came after the elf almost instantly, lose track of him. The elven adventurer was already gone from the forest, unaware of the danger that he was spared from, but the humans still thought that he was on the premise of the forest. Olive wanted to continue fooling the potential pursuers for at least a day or two more, just to give the elven adventurer a little bit more time, before he would make the illusion escape, sending the Envys'' agents on a wild goose chase after a phantom that never existed. ¡­ Or that was supposed to be the n. "...? the fuck...?" One of the dormant illusions he had set up around a mile away from the forest entrance, off of the path that the lumberjacks from the nearby vige used, has triggered and started draining energy from the elf''s vast mana pool. "...just as I was getting fuckingfortable too..." The old elf rolled his eyes and stood up with a sigh that was not very appropriate for his appearance but more than deserved considering his actual age, and activated a few skills at once ¨C both the mobility and detection ones. "...huh...?" He tilted his head and blinked a few times in surprise. ...and it certainly wasn''t a good kind of surprise... The one triggering the illusion was a fat human was running ahead with all his might while desperately trying to dodge a flying sword that seemed to have a mind of its own bouncing off the ground and trees without ever losing speed! The illusion was rather simple also extremely effective - it created countless copies of the vegetation in the area and reassembled it into a maze that only had one exit, the very same way that the victim entered. Since that skill never affected the actual victim''s mind and relied on the optical illusions of the highest quality, it didn''t trigger the reaction from the victim''s MDF nor any of the defensive skills and was only noticeable if someone used an extremely high-level detection [sight] skill to find the truth. But that alone wasn''t the problem. Even the odd sword was something that Olive could ignore, even though his curiosity was piqued instantly ¨C oh, the possibilities for strengthening the defenses of the vige if he got his hands on the weapon were almost endless! But no, the problem was in the identity of the plump man running for his life! It was most definitely one of the descendants of the Envy family! There was no doubt about it - Olive has spent most of his life protecting his friends and their descendants from that ursed family that held a certain degree of power over all elves, so he could tell without even the slightest chance of a mistake on his part. "Fuck! No! No! No!" *BOOOOM* The elf cursed and sted off from his resting spot causing an explosion to blow off a big chunk of the ancient tree''s bark. That man must have entered the forest with the intention of capturing the elven adventurer ¨C or rather, the illusion that Olive had created to protect the elven adventurer ¨C if something happened to him while he was hunting for the potential ves, it would be way too suspicious for the Envy family to not send more people! The more people came the bigger was the probability of someone skilled arriving and noticing the traps! No! Just no! For the sake of the hidden vige, no one even remotely rted to the Envy family can be allowed to die within the borders of the Great northern forest! Olive gritted his teeth and used the full extent of his physical abilities for the first time in ages. As he travels tens of yards per second, he never stopped observing the situation. The wing-shaped de was actually much faster than the fat Envy and even reached his body a few times, but each time it caused only a flesh wound that didn''t actually prevent the man from running. "..." Olive frowned and gritted his teeth so hard that they made a creaking sound. It was clear that whoever was controlling the sword was either not very skilled with using such an attack, or far too skilled and sadistic at that. None of those options meant well. Who was it?! Who was going after the member of the Envy family?! Olive focused on the detection skills without ever slowing down. The sword... it had some odd red strings connected to its pommel that extended at an outstanding distance and lead straight to a small human child with a very nasty smile, standing by the carriage at the very entrance of the forest... "...who the fuck...?!" Olive gasped in pure confusion. The little human looked like he was at most six or seven years old! No... Impossible... It was actually impossible! "!!!" Olive took another look at the boy and shuddered. That kid''s eyes... Those weren''t the eyes of a little boy! "Fucking exiled dwarf?! Fucking hell, what is going on here?!" The old elf cursed nastily and bit his lips until he felt hot blood gushing inside his mouth. "!!!!!" In a very unfortunate coincidence, that was also the same time that the de of the flying sword cut through the left leg of the fat man, causing him to fall down and tumble right into the illusion of arge tree. The man crushed into the illusion which meant that his MDF wasn''t strong enough and got overpowered by Olive''s skill, but that wasn''t good either ¨C now the sword had all the chances in the world to finish its victim! And Olive was still literal miles away from them! "FUCK! Why haven''t I ever bothered to gain the fucking teleportation skill?!" The old elf cursed at his own ipetence and jumped over a stream, praying to make it in time. ...at the same time, the boy which even the ancient elf mistook for a banished dwarf, made his move and followed the trail left by the crimson strings ¨C straight to the fallen man from the Envy family. Regardless of Olive''s huge speed, the physical distance was still too much to ignore ¨C the supposed dwarf would get to the wounded man much faster than the old elf... Chapter 332: Waiting for the elf to notice

Chapter 332: Waiting for the elf to notice

"Gh...! Wh-why are you doing this...?!" Jackfruit groaned in pain, clenching his left leg, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. "Got your tendons, huh... That sucks, I know how that feels." Zombie nodded with a bitter expression while slowly tapping his shoulder with the de of the scimitar, ignoring the wounded merchant''s words. "Master... I''m sorry. I didn''t want to upset you..." The sword''s de vibrated and let out a high-pitched noise that turned into apologetic words, and of course, the apology wasn''t directed to the actual victim. "Don''t mind, don''t mind. It''s just that this reminded me of my past life, nothing of importance." The boyughed it off and waved his hand dismissively before gently patting the blunt side of the dragon wing-shaped sword''s de. "You won''t get away with this...! I may be just... just a bastard from the branch family, but I have earned myself quite a high position amongst the main branch Envys henchmendder...! Even if you get rid of me, it won''t end up just like that!" Jackfruit''s groans turned more threatening just as the man himself was feeling his life rapidly reaching its inevitable end. "Oh-ho! You girls heard that? A wealthy merchant is actually even bigger fish than we thought..." Zombie scoffed and a mocking smirk spouted on his face. |Isn''t that perfect then? There''s no need to kill him outright, let''s use his life as a bargaining chip ¨C if the elves won''t help us we''ll threaten to kill him which would get them in deep trouble with all the people the main branch of the Envy family would send to learn what happened with him. If he is saying the truth.| Patience pointed out sounding as if she was smiling with satisfaction and nodding. "Master, I''ll kill him whenever you like, so don''t be sad!" The weapon in the boy''s hand let out a spirited shrill. "Who are you anyway...? An exiled dwarf with a talking sword... ugh... doesn''t matter, if you kill me here, no one will be able to help you anyway...!" Jackfruit growled furiously, ring at the supposed dwarf. "Pffft...! Oh well, if your death will cause trouble only to some exiled dwarf, then so be it... Why do you care so much? It''s not like my future will make a difference for your corpse anyway." "!!!!" Zombie snorted and shook his head in amusement, making the already ghastly pale man get even paler. "...urgh... You may not care for your own life, you suicidal dwarf, but what about that redhead you arrived with? Huh? Or were you banished for betraying yourrades and have no shame to do it a second time?!" Jackfruit spat through his teeth ¨C seeing that none of his arguments get through to the indifferent dwarf, he just lost himself in anger and simply tried to wipe off the mocking smile from the supposed dwarf''s face. |Huh? Are the dwarfs in this world that prideful or something?| |Yes, but is it really that different from the image of the dwarf you knew from your old world? Every piece of media that had them in portrayed them simrly. At least that''s what I''ve seen while browsing through your memories.| Patience mentioned innocently and sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders by the end of her sentence. "..." "HA!" Zombie frowned, which got Jackfruit to think that he had made a dent in the supposed dwarf''s pride although in truth that assumption couldn''t be farther from the actual reality. |So you were browsing through my memories, huh... Who even gave you permission to do that?| Zombie scoffed internally, without caring for what the merchant was doing or saying. |You did. When you baited me into merging with you by the very end of the first ythrough.| |...| There was literally nothing that Zombie could say in response to that. Well, there was, but none of them seemed like a good enough response to a wittyeback like that. |That big dog your family had when you were little, Lori, she was very cute. I wished there were creatures like her in this world.| |...!| Patience''s next unexpected words taken Zombie by surprise and made him unable to be mad at the sealed being residing inside of him. |Yeah... she was.| He smirked softly being reminded about the dog from his past life. "Big sis is so smart! Master is no longer angry!" Kopia still in her weapon form eximed in the high-pitched frequency,pletely betraying Patience''s motives for mentioning the past life''s pet. |...and you are really not that smart, Kopia...| Patience sighed deeply. *rustle* "Huh...?" Before Zombie couldment on the exchange between the sealed overseer and the shapeshifting special character, the shrub a few feet away from him shook... "Grrrrrr...!" "!!!!" And a giant pure-white wolf jumped out of it, salivating while bearing its enormous fangs at the young boy. "What the...?!" Even though Zombie got surprised by the sudden arrival, he didn''t back off and instead took a battle stance. "Master...?" Kopia shrilled in confusion. "Just as we were talking about big dogs, khahaha! Just my luck I guess... I don''t reckon that you want to talk it out, huh, pupper?" Zombieughed in annoyance and raised his sword to be ready to either strike or defend at any time and asked the wolf cautiously. |Zombie, what are you doing...?| Patience asked sounding as if she was blinking repeatably in shock. "Grrrrrrrr!" The white wolf took a step forward, leaning to the side, and began circling the young boy. |At least she doesn''t seem to be interested in our bargaining chip.| Zombie smirked internally without taking his eyes off of the monster. "...?" Kopia''s de vibrated silently as she had no clue what was going on. |Still, it''s odd... Why can''t I understand what she''s saying? Is she just that angry that she''s only growling without any other meaning behind it...? Or is there something blocking the beast master affinity...?| Zombie furrowed his brows, making a concerned expression. "GRRRRR...! GROUGH!" The wolf monster roared and tried to feint the boy, but the fake attack didn''t even make Zombie blink, even though the monster''s jaws could easily tear him in half in a single chomp. "Hey,e on, puppy. Let''s talk ¨C why are you so angry about? Are your kids nearby? It''s alright, I won''t approach them without your permission." Zombie dered in a calm voice and smiled in a friendly manner. |...I''m going to check what in the world is he talking about...| Patience sounded as if she frowned and dered. "Master... who are you talking to?" Kopia straight up asked, modting her frequency to sound just as worried as she actually felt. "..." Zombie flinched and his expression grew cold. |Whoa! That''s what you''re seeing?! No wonder you are on your guard! That wolf looks like she could gulp down a griffin in one bite! But, Zombie ¨C she''s definitely not real ¨C I am looking through your eyes but don''t see a thing ¨C same with Kopia. It''s an illusion.| Patience eximed and instantly exined what was going on. |...and that means that Olive is already observing us...| Zombie''s voice was ice-cold even inside his own head. |U-ummm... Zombie...? Why do you sound so angry...?| Patience asked with concern. |This doggy looks really fluffy, but is only an illusion... how can I not be angry?!| Zombie scoffed back gritting his teeth, trying to focus enough to see through the hallucination, but it wasn''t something that affected him directly ¨C Olive''s skill simply created a mirage in the space in front of the boy and didn''t directly affect his brain, which is why superbia didn''t trigger at all. Chapter 333: And she huffed and she puffed

Chapter 333: And she huffed and she puffed

"Haaa..." Zombie sighed and put down his sword even though the giant white wolf didn''t stop roaring and growling at him, trying her best to get him to run. "Wh-what are you doing?! Are... are you actually suicidal...?! Get yourself eaten alone then!" "...?" Out of everyone present on the scene, only Zombie and one other person could actually see the illusion of the white wolf ready to attack at any given moment. Even though Patience was sealed, her being a copy of the god ¨C although a lot less powerful than the original ¨C was still unaffected by those types of skills. And how it was for Kopia? Kopia herself was ssified as a thing by the very system itself, and with that, she was unable to experience any type of mind attack ¨C after all, how could an inanimate object be fooled by an illusion? So that left the wounded mission giver, the oh so influential and prolific merchant, Jackfruit Green. "Khhh! Ghhh!" The plump man was wheezing and groaning trying to crawl away from the snarking mirage despite his wounds getting irritated which caused them to bleed even more. |So that''s what I would see in the first ythrough if not for being the undead...| Zombie turned back towards the illusionary wolf, away from the man who was speeding up his own demise despite his constant yelps about wanting to stay alive. |That and thebination of the rotten brain skill and superbia did the job for you.| Patience sounded as if she was nodding in confirmation. |Well then, I guess the best option to deal with this will be activating the superbia skill to show Olive... He was really shocked when he discovered I had it in the first ythrough ¨C shocked enough topletely change his stance, now should be simr. Or am I missing something? Hmm, Patience?| Zombie asked, staring fearlessly into the jaws of the wolf that was getting more and more aggressive in her attempts to make the boy flee. |Yes. Either way, the superbia is the answer. Even if it won''t force the elf to show up, it will at least protect you from getting killed off by the simple hallucination.| Patience agreed, adding a disturbing detail by the end too. |Huh? And howe an illusion could do that?| Zombie furrowed his brows and questioned the sealed overseer. |An illusion of high level and quality can affect reality to some degree ¨C the mind is a powerful thing you know? If your mind will believe that you are getting ripped apart, your heart may not take it, suddenly stopping ¨C and consequently, make you literally die from fear that cannot be stopped.| Patience exined patiently. |Huh... fascinating...| Zombie nodded before smirking and activating the skill he brought with him into the second ythrough. "!!!!" As the boy''s body began giving off a vibrant violet glow, the illusionary wolf stopped in ce like a statue, frozen in time by the skill user. |He may still be hesitant... Tell him something that may calm him down, but don''t identally make it sound as if you are someone from the Envy family.| Patience hurriedly instructed the boy, once again showing off her tutorial-like qualities. |Sure...| Zombie nodded and took a deep breath. "Olive ¨C I know about the thing in the basement of the Envys mansion and want to help free the elves." The boy posing as a dwarf called out loud enough for his voice to echo through the trees, even though it would be just as effective to whisper it, with the approaching old elf using both the detection [sight] and detection [hearing] skills at the same time. "Mad...! You went mad from fear...!" Jackfruit gasped, turning around and staring wide-eyed at the boy in a barrel-like armor, getting even more scared than when he first saw the giant white wolf jumping out at them. "..." Zombie ignored the crawling merchant and began to look around instead. Even though there was no sight of Olive anywhere, as far as Zombie''s detection went, the illusion of the white wolf remained still like a statue which at least indicated that the old elf was willing to listen. "I came here to make a deal with you, Olive. I know that you picked this ce to hide away, but seriously. How long are you going to let some weaklings who lied and stole their way to the top bring fear to your whole race? Seriously... at least with the Venomancer, that guy was the monarch with actual power behind him." |Oh-ho! Using the bits of lore you and your viiness had found out on your own in the first ythrough? Most interesting.| Patience approved of the boy''s method sounding as if she was smiling benevolently. "O-Olive...? Who are you talking to...? No, wait... Is Olive the name of the elf that was spotted sneaking through this forest?! You bastard! You''ve used me to get in contact with your ally?! You little shit! As if any elf could ever oppose the Envy family!" Unexpectedly even the wounded merchant joined in, adding an unintentional help while cursing at the young boy. "...then, how will it be? You''re willing to hear me out or should I make this guy disappear putting a mark on your back whenever you go?" Zombie nced at the cursing man and facing back at the still wolf. |Good. Make sure to not mention the elven vige ¨C that should really tip Olive that you are an ally ¨C in case we would let the guy go, even after being interrogated by the avatar of envy himself, Jackfruit will only say what he thinks he knows, that it all happened because a stray elf wandered into their territory from the outside to plot against their family together with a dwarf!| Patienceughed with approval... |...good thing I like your voice, or else the unskippable narration would really be getting on my nerves by this point...| ...which caused Zombie to sigh internally andin in a t voice. |Eh...? You like my voice?! Ehehehe... gosh, stop it...! No, you don''t! You''re just saying that to make me embarrassed!| Which made the sealed overseer sound as if she fidgeted bashfully and looked away while blushing. "Ah, it''s you. Sorry for not recognizing you fucking sooner, old friend, I''ve traveled a long fucking way and this foreign system-forsaken ce makes me fucking anxious." "...! Gah...! I knew it!" After a few seconds, the illusion of the wolf opened her jaws and a calm male voice spoke apologetically and made Jackfruit growl |Whew... good, I was slightly worried that he wouldn''t pick up on my act.| Hearing that, Zombie breathed out internally and smiled in relief. |Olive''s an old and experienced elf, what made you think that he wouldn''t realize what were you going for?| Patience asked, slightly confused and still sounding a bit shy after receiving an unexpectedpliment. |Hey, in the first ythrough he attacked Cranberry as soon as I brought him in, that wasn''t a smart move at all, was it?| Zombie pointed out with a scoff. "Show up already. Your illusion is adorable, but it''s kind of rude to not show up yourself to an old acquaintance." The boy looked at the white wolf and his smile grew just a little bit mocking despite his best intentions. "...give me another moment, I was about to leave this area just before you arrived so I''m pretty far away. I''m not that young anymore, you know?" |Pffft...! Yeah, true, he isn''t.| The wolf voiced aint, making Patience snort inside Zombie''s head. Chapter 334: Beginning of the negotiations

Chapter 334: Beginning of the negotiations

After a few minutes, the giant white wolf disappeared and a tall, tinum-haired elf walked out of the very same bushes that the illusion first jumped out of. He was by far the oldest looking elf that Zombie had seen in the game world regardless of the ythrough, but that didn''t really matter since he still hadn''t looked like he reached his thirties. "Ughhhh... fuuck... I''m way too fucking old for that..." Though, funnily enough, Olive''s behavior certainly suited the elderly man that he most certainly was, as he bend down and wheezed, wiping the sweat off of his forehead both looking and sounding incredibly tired. "You won''t get away with this...! No matter what the two of you are nning it won''t...!" Jackfruit growled furiously, ring at both the supposed dwarf and the newly arrived elf, surprisingly brave even though Zombie was right beside him with the de of the scimitar only an inch away from his throat. "Shut the fuck up and go to sleep, you keen fucker." *click* Olive groaned with a dissatisfied expression and snapped his finger at the wounded merchant. "I...! I... nnnh... zzz..." The man mumbled as he started dozing off regardless of his agitation and after two nods ¨C a failed attempt to stay awake ¨C he fell deep asleep and fell on his back and his breath calmed down. "We can now talk, mister dwarf. I intend on healing this man and sending him back wherever the fuck he came from, so could you fucking please get that fucking weapon away from him? I don''t need the fucking trouble that his death would bring on my fucking head." Olive sighed and frown when he saw that Zombie didn''t step away or sheathed his sword but instead adjusted his stance to continuously point the weapon at the vital spot of the sleeping merchant. |What do you think we can tell him?| Zombie asked internally while continuing to stare at the tinum-haired elf in silence. |...that''s a good question... Olive is a character who has seen a lot and knows even more. I guess you could safely tell him our n, and even a lot about your reasons for doing this all ¨C just don''t mention anything about the second ythrough or the new game. And do not mention me at any cost either. And remember, even though Olive is a bit distant, he surely is someone who puts his family and friends above his own life. Just, try to don''t threaten them or it may bring the opposite effect to what you may hope for.| Patience instructed him calmly. "..." Olive raised his brow and discreetly opened his fist he had been clenching all this time. |Oh-ho! You better start talking, he thinks about taking you down with a fast spell!| Patience added hastily. "Haa... Well, since I''ll be counting on the cooperation of not only you but the other elves too..." "..." Zombie sighed and stuck Kopia into the ground de first next to the Jackfruit''s head instead of sheathing her and even walked a few steps away ¨C which caused Olive to scoff silently. ...and since Zombie wasn''t struck down by a powerful fire skill that he remembered Olive was capable of using, it seemed like he was in the clear for now. "Hey, do you have an appraisal skill or something, it would be much easier to exin some things..." The short boy asked in a hopeful voice, looking up at the tall elf. "You''ve already fucking showed me that you have the fucking superbia skill. The things I want to fucking know is how is that fucking possible and what the fuck an exiled dwarf like you want from my kind." Olive shrugged his shoulders and shook his head with a bitter expression. "Well... The appraisal woulde in handy right now. You see, I am not a dwarf." Zombie mirrored Olive''s movement and smirked. "...the fuck you aren''t! Then what, a very young-looking halfling?" The old elf scoffed in disbelief. "What do I look like to you?" Zombie responded with a smirk. "Like a fucking six years old human kid in an oversized armor that you found in a fucking dumpster. Can you get to the fucking point?" The elf rolled his eyes and groaned. "The goblins nest." Zombie corrected him. "Huh...?" Olive frowned, taken aback by the answer. "I''m a six years old human kid who found his armor in the nest of the goblins after baiting them all out and cutting them all down." Zombie exined with a serious face. "Don''t fuck around with me! Stop fucking kidding around!" The old elf clicked his tongue and a lick of me flickered on the inside of his glowing palm. "Fine. In truth, I''m six years, one month, and fifteen days old, but that sounds way too childish." Zombie spread his arms and shrugged his shoulders innocently. "With an appraisal, you would see that I''m not lying about being a human. You would have also seen that my level, skills, unlocked affinities, and titles, are all very inappropriate for someone my age. You would then ask me what the fuck is going on, and that I''m actually destroying my body and ruining my future, at which I would respond that there is someone I wish to protect at any cost..." The boy exined without breaking eye contact with the old elf. "But since you either didn''t want to use it or simply don''t have it, we are stuck in this really awkward situation." He added with a soft sigh and smirked. "Like fuck we are. I thought that maybe you really want to be our ally but you''re just some..." Olive shook his head and said in a disappointed voice as his right arm got engulfed in a bright me before he took a step forward. |GET AWAY FROM HERE!| |Not yet.| Patience shouted inside Zombie''s head, but the boy didn''t even budge. "..." Suddenly the elf had stopped and furrowed his brows as if he realized something. "...your level, skills, unlocked affinities, and titles... What about your stats wouldn''t surprise me?" Olive asked slightly curious. "Because I never trained them. They will be reset once I will be turned into an undead in around a year or so." Zombie answered right away without even a hint of hesitation. "...why would you want to get turned into an undead...?" Olive raised his brow, without putting down his ming hand still ready to strike. "Just because I don''t want the world to end. You know, I really don''t wish to see the message about the wheels of fate starting to turn or whatever, preferably ever." Zombie sighed, thinking back about the messages that showed up for Cranberry in the first ythrough and which he now knew were the sign of the story following the iplete bugged-out route. "!!!!" And his words worked perfectly, with the wide-eyed elf deactivating his offensive skill. "Wait... You fucking know about the Prophecy of the Eternal?! Oh, for fuck''s sake! Of fucking course! You have the superbia skill even though you are not from the Pride family, are you?!" Olive gasped, and there was no trace of his previous doubts or aggression. |Huh... I see that I could have started with that.| |One of these days you are going to make me pass out from worry, you know, you lucky bastard...| Zombieughed internally which was immediately followed by Patience''s relievedint. Chapter 335: Unexected benefits

Chapter 335: Unexected benefits

|That said, what the hell is the Prophecy of the Eternal?| Zombie asked Patience while Olive was healing and modifying the sleeping merchant''s memories. |I''m sure you can figure it out from the name alone.| Patience snickered in response. |Oh, I see. So now you''re acting as if you don''t read my mind whenever you like... Sure.| The boy furrowed his brows and picked up Kopia. As soon as he did, the scimitar changed into a simple one-handed sword, and Zombie could easily put her into the expensive sheath by his waist. |Eh...? EH?! What the...?! That''s unfair! Like what, you can tease me whenever you like but when I y around you get all grumpy?!| |...yeah, I''m a huge hypocrite and that''s how it works.| Patience cried out at this tant injustice and got a stubborn stern answer for her question. |Seriously! You sure are acting ording to your physical age right now, you know?| She added. |Fine! You don''t know about the Prophecy because it''s not a part of any event, and you are only left with the knowledge about the story events! The Prophecy of the Eternal is a questline that we need toplete to achieve the special true ending! Remember when Caramel shouted to Mason that the only way to have a chance against Eternal is toplete seven secret missions for all the capture targets once they inherit the titles of the avatars of sin? This questline is what she was referring to. If weplete it correctly, then Eternal will lose its Invictus title and its stats and skills will get nerfed to all hell and back, allowing the yer to defeat it.| ...but eventually, she ended up giving up and started exining everything properly. |Wait up. Does that mean that no matter what we will have to fight with Eternal?| Zombie flinch while being reminded of the overwhelming power he had at his disposal as the primordial god of destruction by the end of the first ythrough. |Yes, but like I said after weplete the questline, bringing it down will actually be doable.| Patience sounded as if she nodded and encouraged the young boy. |Once again, that''s not what I''ve meant.| Zombie scoffed with a bitter expression. |It just feels like I''ve been cking off too much recently. Since the Eternal needs to be brought down, I can''t just stay within the safe range of strength.| He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, unintentionally releasing a dangerous aura. |This time, I will not let her die...| |...| Zombie thoughts grew cold and distant and Patience decided it was better to notment on that, even though she couldn''t stop having a bad feeling about staying silent. "Done. I''ll set up some illusions that won''t let this fucker leave even if he''ll wake up sooner than expected. Now. I''ll take you to meet someone. I want to confirm a few fucking things and she will help with doing that." Olive stood up and turned to the young boy. "Yeah. Sure. Lead the way." Zombie breathed out, getting rid of the evil aura surrounding him, and nodded obediently without voicing any objections. "Do you have any speed-increasing skill or should I fucking carry you?" Olive offered, and if Zombie still had the rotten brain skill, he wouldn''t have picked up on the thick sarcasm spread all over Olive''s words. Truth to be told, Zombie almost wanted to just y the innocent fool and agree on the fake proposition just to see the old elf''s reaction, but he stopped himself and only activated the appropriate skills in preparation. "Good. It may take a while, but don''t worry about running out of mana ¨C I do actually have an MP recovery skill that will deal with it if necessary." "I will be counting on you with that." This time Olive sounded as if he was serious, so Zombie nodded with appreciation, and the two of them darted away just a secondter. "You have good reflexes for a supposed child!" The old elf looked back and smirked at the young boy struggling to keep up with the amazing speed that wasn''t even one-tenth of Olive''s capabilities. |He... He wasn''t that fast before...!| Zombie gritted his teeth getting more and more annoyed as Olive was running forward and slowing down again to let him caught up. |Nope, you know that''s not how it is. What you''re experiencing right now is the difference between someone who didn''t reach level thirty and someone who is max level. Not to mention the bonuses that the stats give. You never tried to increase the stats alone so they are much lower than they could be ¨C not that I''m trying to bring you down, don''t take me wrong. I was the one who advised you to not waste time on training those since they will all reset once you turn into an undead.| Patience tried to calm Zombie down a bit, but it was a far more difficult task than one could imagine. The run continued for more than an hour, what interrupted it momentarily wasn''t the end of the journey but a system message that showed up for the young boy. /Proficiency level reached affinity upgrade leg power (level 10[max]) /skill upgrade strong kick (level 15) /Proficiency level reached two skills interact with each other strong kick (level 15) & de storm (level 10) secret synergy unlocked you received a skill whirlwind kick (level 1) |Huh?! The hell is a secret synergy?!| Zombie was so focused on the series of messages popping up that he almost crashed into a tree which Olive dodged in thest second whilst he was leading him. |You know, two or more skills or titles thatpliment each other will sometimes create an unexpected bonus benefit for the user. You surely experienced it in your first yth... EH?! You didn''t?! You''re telling me that youpleted a couple of secret achievements but not encountered even a single secret synergy before?!| Patience tried to exin calmly, but then she peeked into Zombie''s memories and eximed in shock. |I''m seeing this for the first time ever! I''ve seen skill level-ups and even rank-ups but this is the first time seeing two skills just spawning another skill without merging! Say, is whirlwind kick strong?| Zombie quickly got over his shock and asked. |Strong kick is a tier 1 skill and whirlwind kick is tier 2, it should be much stronger, though, whenparing a level 1 tier 2 skill to level 15 tier 1 skill is a bit unfair, your strong kick should be better than whirlwind kick for a bit, at least until you will level it up to level 4 or 5, then you should start noticing the difference.| Once more Patience shared her vast tutorial-like knowledge with Zombie. |Is that so...| Zombie squinted his eyes mischievously. "Hey! Olive!" He called after the speeding elf in front of him. "Yes? Do you need me to fucking replenish your mana, or maybe is my speed too fucking much for you?" The old elf asked with a bright smile. "Nope, I just wanted to ask how much longer will we should be running to get to that friend of yours?" Zombie waved his hand dismissively, denying Olive''s words. "We''re about halfway there." The elf responded indifferently. |Khahaha! Isn''t that perfect? Why won''t we try to level this new skill up just a bit?| Zombieughed internally and the white light surrounding his legs dimmed momentarily before bing slightly brighter than before once the strong kick skill got reced with the whirlwind kick. "Well, then ¨C let''s continue, shall we?" The boy asked out loud with a bright smile. Chapter 336: At the entrance (1)

Chapter 336: At the entrance (1)

Olive stopped by the cliff, which Zombie instantly recognized as the very same fake cliff that hosted the Sloth-made artillery cannon in the first ythrough. *Whooosh* Olive''s stop was instantaneous and didn''t cause any damage to the scenery, and surprisingly enough, neither did Zombie''s ¨C instead a strong wind pressure cushioned the boy''s body as he twisted his body into a kick but didn''t actually make any physical contact with either the ground or the fake cliff. "Huh... That''s a fucking neat way to use an offensive skill as a utility one..." The old elf raised his brows and muttered, nodding with a discreet approval. "...ye-yeah... mana, refill... again... please..." Zombie agreed with him, wheezing heavily, focusing on just staying up on his feet after gettingpletely exhausted by the few hours of constant running. As it turned out, even though Olive told the boy that they were halfway before, he had obscured the truth since even though the first part of the travel took them just about an hour, the reststed at least three. |He said that it will be just a friend of his, but didn''t he actually lead us to the hidden vige outright? I get it that he doesn''t trust me yet, but seriously...| The boyined internally, while the old elf put his glowing hand above his head, using the mana replenishing skill that the boy needed more than just a few times on the way there. |This guy... Whew, Olive was definitely using his illusions to make it impossible for you to memorize the actual route. He''s very cautious, remember not to do anything stupid or it will be extremely difficult to stay alive.| Patience pointed out sounding more than just slightly anxious and straight-up worried sick. |Yeah, I remember. Olive and that librarian guy are definitely way above my current level, same with the vige elder. Can''t say the same about the vigers, but it''s not like I will have much chance of survival if they bunch up on me, right?| Zombie sighed internally. |Exactly, so don''t try to start anything, and if by any chance someone will want to start a fight with you, ignore them.| Patience instructed him in a stern voice. |Can''t really promise you that.| Zombie smirked as he felt refreshed since Olive didn''t help him regenerate his mana but also healed him while he was at it. "Thanks." |He doesn''t trust me and tries to be mean but he certainly doesn''t want toe off as mean. A bit odd, but amazingly useful in our situation.| The boy nodded to the old elf and then hummed curiously in his mind. ||It sure is.| Patience agreed just in time for Olive to move aside from the boy and knocked at the exposed root growing out from the exposed cliff. "It''s me, I brought a guest with me. It''s been quite a fucking? journey, so could you just call for Mirabelle really fucking quick?" "!!!!" As soon as the hiddentch moved just a bit to allow an elf stationed inside to peek at Olive, the old elf winked at him and motioned with his eyes to not question anything. |Hmm... Mirabelle... wasn''t she the vige elder or something? She blew my head off and unintentionally helped partially unlock the seal of the eternal...| Zombie kept an indifferent expression on the outside but was rather bitter on the inside. |Why do you sound so annoyed...? It happened in the first ythrough this shouldn''t affect anything now.| Patience turned out to be the voice of reason and sounded as if she tilted her head in confusion. |There are only three people who actually managed to physically hurt me back then... The first one was my Cranberry herself, the second one was Luke who managed topletely evaporate my physical body although surprisingly that didn''t activate the seal, which still confuses me, and the final one was Mirabelle, the elder of the hidden elven vige.| Zombie scoffed and coldly counted down. |Cranberry is someone I want to protect. Luke is an important character and I need him alive. But as for Mirabelle...| |You also need her alive, just in case. Who knows when the elves wille in handy? Give it a rest, please.| The boy slowly drifting into a dark ce, but Patience was having none of it. |Of course it wouldn''t be right away... but maybe a little ident along the way...| Zombie smirked maliciously, taking advantage of the elf ¨C and probably other elves in the fake cliff too ¨C being focused on Olive. |Zombie. Please. Do it for me. No idents. Just leave her alone, you don''t have to kill anyone to prove your superiority to them, you know? Let''s get you so strong that everyone will have to bow down to you instead. How about that?| Patience asked, sounding genuinely worried. |Haaa.... slow and steady wins the race, huh... Fine. I can''t promise you how I will act after turning into an undead, but for now, I promise that I''m withholding the revenge against Mirabelle just as I did with Cranberry and Luke.| The boy let out a deep internal sigh and agreed. |Eh...? There was a time that you wanted to take revenge upon your viiness? Why haven''t I read it in your memories then?!| Patience piqued on the tiny detail in Zombie''s wording and gasped, but it wasn''t the time to continue the discussion. "The el- el... fuck... Um... elegant miss was notified and will arrive shortly." The elven sentinel stuttered and stopped for a moment trying to think of a way to not use the world elder since Olive was ring at him with a very strict expression, but eventually managed to salvage the situation. "...elegant...? Huh, that''s fucking news to me." Still, the hidden elf''s words were enough to change Olive''s expression from the strict right into a light smile. |Wait for a second... There was something about Olive and Mirabelle, wasn''t there? Something about their rtionship...| Zombie furrowed his brows trying to remember a part of the memory he previously decided was unnecessary and let it drift into the abyss of his rotten brain-bounded mind during the first ythrough. |Let''s focus on the matter at hand, shall we? Do you remember what is the bare minimum of stuff we have to negotiate from the elves? It''s really not the time to be getting interested in their private affairs ¨C if the negotiations will fail, we will need to go straight to n B and we will definitely be tight on time toplete it.| Patience''s exmation blew away Zombie''s idle thoughts and brought him back to the things that really mattered. "Just so you know, don''t try anything fucking stupid or I will get rid of you fucking instantly." Olive nced down at the boy and scoffed. "I''m not deceiving you so why would I?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and asked back. Chapter 337: At the entrance (2)

Chapter 337: At the entrance (2)

As both the young boy and the old elf were waiting side by side near the fake cliff for the hidden vige''s elder, Mirabelle, to show up. Of course, Zombie wasn''t supposed to know that Mirabelle was actually the vige elder as Olive only named her as a friend without any details and this was Zombie''s first time meeting the elves in this ythrough, but that actually wasn''t the first ythrough, was it? It was taking Mirabelle a while to arrive, but this wasn''t really her fault since Olive showed up out of nowhere with some stranger no less and called for her presence ¨C as someone in a position of power it wasn''t easy to just drop everything at a moment''s notice despite her own intention. |I don''t like this...| Zombie sighed internally, looking around, waiting for the important elf''s arrival. |It''s alright, everything will be fine. Just try to not think about it. She will be here soon and everything will be fine. You will propose helping them with stoping Envys abuse of their race and negotiate them providing you with the appropriate artifact.| Patience spoke in a soft, reassuring voice, that made it sound like she cared very much about the boy''s feelings. |I didn''t mean it like that. I don''t mind waiting for her. Truth to be told I hope she will take even longer...| |Eh...?| Zombie smirked and exined with a mixed expression, causing the sealed being inside of him to gasp in confusion. |I''m not very strong right now, and I don''t have a lot of believable arguments to back me up. I''m kind of worried that I will have to open up to them even then will get rejected and sent back, even though this n really is the best option at our disposal... I really want it to work...| The boy confessed and his shoulders dropped subconsciously in defeat. |I''m sure that it will be alright. And even if this n will fail, it''s not like we don''t have a backup! Come on, cheer up! You have me and Kopia on your side! We will make the secret ending a reality!| |Yes. You''re right. Thanks, Patience.| Patience did her best to cheer Zombie up and indeed managed to make him smile ¨C it was a weak smile, but a smile nheless. After a bit more time have passed, the hidden entrance ¨C in apletely different ce than the fake cliff ¨C opened, and a tall, fair-skinned elven woman with long flowy hair emerged, wearing a in but sturdy-looking set of travel clothes. |They are going hard on attempting to hide the fact that this is actually the entrance to their vige, don''t they?| Zombie scoffed and shook his head at the redundancy and faced the newly arrived elf without showing any excessive reaction. "...the fuck...? Who the fuck is this banished dwarf supposed to be?" Mirabelle asked, motioning at Zombie with her chin and furrowed her brows. "This one is a human child who fucking knows about the Prophecy of the Eternal amongst other things and is looking to make a deal with us." Olive came forward and exined. "...you''re fucking with me? If he''s human, he looks six at most. There''s no fucking way that he is saying the truth, and even if he is, that''s probably because someone from some assholes had messed with his head or..." "He has the superbia skill." "!!!!!" Mirabelle shook her head and waved her hand,pletely rejecting any positive oue of the situation until Olive''s words made her flinch and stare at him intensely. "Bullshit." She eximed, squinting her eyes at the old elf. "That''s why I fucking brought him to you. You rank up the truth seeker, right? I want to know whether he is fucking trustworthy or not." Olive shrugged his shoulders and waved at the young boy in the barrel-like armor toe forward. "..." Mirabelle closed her mouth and red at the old elf as if she was barely holding herself back from calling him on his bullshit again. |Truth seeker...?| Zombie asked, getting more anxious by the second. |A ranked up version of the lie detection skill, it''s extremely hard to get because that process requires the yer character to stay true to themselves at any given moment for at least a couple dozens of years ¨C something basically impossible for a human, but not so much for an elf.| Patience didn''t fail and delivered a proper exnation within just a few seconds. |As a tier 3 skill, the truth seeker gives its user the ability to instantly recognize whether the information is true or false. It doesn''t just detect when the target is consciously sharing the information he thinks are fake and allows to see right through any deception ¨C even if someone has been lied to or is firmly convinced that what they are saying is true, the truth seeker will see right through it all and let its user know the correct answer.| She added. |Huh... fine, then I must not say anything that''s false as for this moment, or else we will be in deep trouble.| |Basically, yes.| Zombie asked and got an immediate answer. "...fuck... fine! But as soon as it will all turn out to be a trick to find the location of our vige, you will get rid of this guy immediately and have dinner with me, just the two of us, preferably naked!" Mirabelle groaned and dered, pointing her finger at the old elf. |Ah, yes, I remember - she''s a pervert with hots for Olive. Now I see what you meant about staying true to oneself.| Zombie raised his brow and nced between the two elves. "Well fucking then... Start talking." Mirabelle frowned and red down at the young boy, crossing her arms as her eyes began glowing with intense white light. "My name is Kiwi, but I don''t react to this name anymore, if possible, call me Zombie." Having in mind that the truth-seeker checks the validity of the information and not just whether the person was thinking was the truth, Zombie started with a basic test that should prove the skill''s worth. "Like I fucking care about that! Who are you and why did youe to this forest for?!" Mirabelle scoffed and shook her head angrily, but since she didn''t call him a liar, it looked like her skill really gets to the bottom of things instead of just subjective opinion. "Sure, well..." Zombie nodded and took a deep breath. Chapter 338: At the entrance (3)

Chapter 338: At the entrance (3)

"I''m a six-year-old human. I''ve been born with superbia skill and will most likely be the next avatar of pride, even though I''m not from the Pride family. I know about the Envy family kidnapping your kind and stealing your beauty all the way back since whendy Envy first managed to trick and kidnap Saint after she witnessed the benefits of the avatar of sin titles gave the other progenitors of the main families. I know about the basement in the Envys mansion and I know about the basement under the basement where a monster that''s physical remains of Saint is locked away while continuously exploited to grant the avatar of envy a certain degree of power over the elves. I do not work for the envy family nor do I intend to ¨C the only Envys I met were three robbers who were saying that they were from the Envy family, though it was rather doubtful at best, and the merchant who brought me here. What I do want is to make a deal with you. In the future when I will be strong enough I will make sure that the Envy family will get exposed and that the power that lets the avatar of envy keep your mouth shut about the kidnapping will be no more, which will result in setting your kind free after system-knows how many years. What I want in exchange for doing that is the artifact that grants enough magic defense power to the wielder so that they will be able to oppose even the strongest mind control skill that an avatar of any sort would be able to use even if the wielder was a blood rtive to them. I need it to make sure that the person I want to protect will not end up dead and I''m willing to agree to a lot of additional demands on your part as long as you will provide the artifact immediately..." The young boy somehow managed to say it all in one breath, without pausing for long enough to give his listeners the slightest chance to interrupt him. "Yeah... I guess that''s enough for the start ¨C I can get in more detail as soon as you will start preparing the artifact I require s-so... please... I can''t abandon her... I have to make it work somehow..." He added with a slightly flushed face, and his voice broke down while he turned to an utterly bbergasted Mirabelle. "Fuck, alright. He''s against us. I''ll get rid of him." Olive shook his head in disappointment and his arm lighted up on fire since he was already sure that the boy was lying and just trying to buy enough time for some sort of reinforcements or another trap to be ready. "...Olive... Everything he said is true..." Mirabelle whispered, staring wide-eyed at the teary-eyed boy ¨C who was furiously wiping his eyes, furious at himself for showing weakness by the end of his almost perfect speech. "Wh-what the fuck are you talking about?!" Olive gasped and stared at the vige elder in disbelief. "He isn''t with those fuckers, but even so...!" Mirabelle wasn''t able to mention anything that would suggest that the Envy family was guilty of doing anything wrong to the elves, so she just made eye contact with the old elf and looked at him hopefully. "This... fuck... if he really can be our ally, then this is huge...!" Olive clenched his fists and the fire covering his arm instantly evaporated from existence. "Zombie,e with us! This is fucking amazing...! We need to discuss everything in more detail! Right fucking away!" Mirabelle approached the boy leaned down to grab his hand and started leading him back to the hidden entrance she came from before. "Olive! What the fuck are you waiting for?! You''reing too!" She turned around and called out happily to the old elf. "..." Zombie was meekly letting the elf guide him through, and instantly a splendid settlement showed up seemingly out of nowhere, hidden from the unwanted attention of the outside world by the most powerful illusion skills and barriers that the strongest of the elves could create. But the young boy wasn''t really in the mood to watch the city-sized vige that he massacred in his first ythrough. |Wh-why can''t I stop crying?! What is going on?! I refuse! I am not that pathetic to just turn into a faucet the moment I mention protecting Cranberry...!| He sniffled internally, as he was doing his best to wipe away all the tears unceasingly pouring down his face. |Well... this is what happens when you bottle things up for too long... You will be undead in a few months, but you aren''t one now, humans aren''t that strong emotionally ¨C and you are really worried about your viiness.| Patience exined in a gentle voice. |I told you that''s not it, I am not some pathetic crybaby!| Zombie scoffed angrily even though on the outside he looked exactly like a defenseless abandoned child stuffed into an oversized armor and there was nothing that he could do about it. |I know that you are strong. I know. But no one can be strong all the time...| The unusually soft-spoken Patience agreed while sounding as if she was shaking her head. |...I wish I could hug andfort you... but just know that you don''t have to try to do everything on your own. You can ask me more questions about everything. And we can discuss things when you''re in doubt or worried. Since we merged together by the end of the previous ythrough, I''m the one who knows you the best, that''s why I can say that there is no reason for you to worry that much. You will make everything work. We will make everything work. I promise you I will do everything in my might to help you.| |...thank you...| She assured him and promised, and with that Zombie somehow managed to calm down. His eyes were still red but at least there were no more tears flowing when Mirabelle brought him inside a cozy little hut and Olive closed the door behind them. "It''s alright, kid. Since you really are on our side, we will make things work fucking perfectly!" She assured him, with almost overwhelming enthusiasm. "But first, we need to learn a few more details... Like how in the fuck did a six-year-old like you managed to get here with someone from the Envy family in the first ce, and howe you got strong enough to pose as a banished dwarf! And... that''s a badge of a low-level adventurer, right? How the fuck were you epted as an adventurer?!" Although Mirabelle turned trusting almost instantly, Olive kept his hesitation and doubt, although he lost all the threatening aura that he was giving off before. Chapter 339: Zombie in the hidden village (1)

Chapter 339: Zombie in the hidden vige (1)

After a lengthy exnation, followed by only slightly less lengthy negotiations which in turn finished with a meal, Zombie found himself spending the night in the elven vige. Of course, he didn''t forget about the merchant that they left not that far away from the entrance to the forest, but in response to his worries, Olive simply snapped his fingers and dered that Jackfruit will be safely asleep until the boy will go back and wake him up ¨C and with that, there really wasn''t much for Zombie to do. It was already dark outside and Zombie''s presence wasn''t necessary for procuring the artifact that would fit his requirements ¨C or rather his presence would straight up make things nearly impossible to do so. The elves could talk amongst each other about what Envy was doing to them but the system would automatically block their ability to do so the moment a non-elf was able to hear them no matter if that was with the aid of some skill or not ¨C and exining things properly was the only way to convince the owner of the artifact to part with it. Because just as Zombie remembered, there were no spare artifacts, each and everyone was in possession of a different elf, getting passed on through generations. With all of that happening, not to mention every single thing that happened through the span of just that single day, Zombie''s small body was so exhausted that he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow. "...zzz..." His breath calmed down, proving that he was actually asleep... *shii...* As if waiting for that moment, the simple one-handed sword which the boy left by his bedside, pulled out from its expensive, high-quality sheath just enough so it could nce at Zombie''s peaceful face... *shing* ...and then it pulled itself out fully, helping herself with the red strings growing out of the sturdy pommel. Then the bare weapon shed white and changed into a short girl with long crimson-red hair and piercing blue eyes, wearing a frilly dress. With that, it was impossible for the girl to be anyone else other than Kopia. "..." The girl furrowed her brows and closed her eyes, focusing for a second... *pomf* ...and with a soft sound, her clothes changed into a pajama more appropriate for thete hour. "..." Kopia nced at the door, making sure that no onees by, and cautiously got on the bed right next to Zombie. "Ehehe...!" She giggled cutely, but not too loud because that could disturb the sleeping boy, and then she made a strand of her hair coil around Zombie''s right hand ¨C the very hand he was always wielding Kopia in her sword form. |Ah, you really don''t waste any time, do you?| The voice that Kopia heard once she could her hair around Zombie''s arm, did not belong to the boy at all ¨C the one talking to the shape-shifting weapon was none other than the sealed overseer, Patience. "Shh... You''re going to wake master up..." Kopia frowned and put her index finger to her mouth. |My voice doesn''t work like that. If I want to I can make it so that Zombie will not hear me at all.| Patience sounded as of she smirked and shook her head. "Oh. Okay~" Kopia immediately epted her exnation without even the slightest speck of doubt. "Master looks so peaceful... Maybe he won''t have any nightmares today?" She added hopefully. |That would be ideal, and considering that he cried a bit before, maybe he will be able to finally get some decent sleep for once in his life.| Patience nodded in agreement but certainly didn''t sound very convinced. "Master doesn''t really sleep well... I''m worried. Master still growing, he should sleep a lot." Kopia slouched and lowered her head with a downcast expression. |Oh, you picked up some useful knowledge today, didn''t you? You''re right about the growing and sleeping, though in his case, that''s not really a priority.| Patience sounded as if she nodded benevolently and began exining. |In Zombie''s case, his growth as a human doesn''t really matter, the thing that''s important is his rank ups after he will die and get resurrected as an undead, but even so, sleeping right now would be good for his mental hea...| "Master will die?! No! He can''t! I will protect him!" In the middle of Patience''s exnation, Kopia flinched and raised her torso up with a terribly worried expression. |Kopia, get down. We had this conversation close to one hundred times, it''s already high time for you to memorize what will happen in the future. Zombie will get mad at you if you suddenly attack someone he needs or likes at your own ord. And as for him dying, I literally said that he will be resurrected, which means he wille back to life almost immediately, so stop freaking out.| "Eh...? We talked about it?" Kopia went wide-eyed and asked in a shocked voice. |Yes, we did, don''t you remember?| Patience sighed and sounded as if she shook her head, being a little bit done with the conversation. "I don''t, I remember that I need tofort master if he has nightmares so he won''t wake up!" Kopia dered while carefully returning to Zombie''s side. |Well, at least you know that... though since Zombie has nightmares constantly, it probably has something to do with that too.| Patience sounded as if she frowned and rolled her eyes. |Our cute Zombie has to relive either getting tortured by the crazy psycho-stalker or the time when he couldn''t save his viiness during the condemnation event, every single night... I''m not surprised that he can''t wait to be an undead and be free from having to sleep ever again.| The sealed overseer sighed bitterly. "...n-noo... Why... I should have been stronger...!" As if Patience has timed her words precisely for that moment, Zombie yelped quietly and his body shivered as he curled up defensively. |Ah. It''s the loss of the viiness.| Patience nodded sounding as if she made a bitter expression and nodded, at which Kopia slowly slipped into Zombie''s arms and hugged him protectively. "Master, everything will be alright." The crimson-haired girl spoke softly, gently caressing the boy''s head. "..." Zombie seemed to calm down a bit, but Kopia certainly didn''t stopforting the sleeping boy even for a second. |Just make sure to get away from him before he''ll wake up. You saw how angry and defensive he got when he couldn''t control his emotions the way he wanted to earlier today?| Patience pointed out and instructed the crimson-haired girl. "To me, it sounds like you are jealous that I can hug master and you don''t!" Surprisingly, Kopia went ahead and decided to chose conflict, as she poked fun at the sealed overseer. |Yes. I''m so jealous that your small brain can''t evenprehend it, you simpleton! Are you happy?!| Patience called out sounding really, really furious... and scoffed at Kopia. "But everything will be alright when master will meet that viiness again, right?" Kopia asked, changing the subject. |...| "Right?" She asked again but didn''t get the answer. Chapter 340: Zombie in the hidden village (2)

Chapter 340: Zombie in the hidden vige (2)

"..." Zombie woke up feeling physically rested, but very miserable mentally. He looked around and saw that Kopia was still in the high-quality sheath by the bed he left her in yesterday and his already bad mood worsen even more as the feeling of guilt punched him in the gut. "...hey... it''s okay for you to turn into your humanoid form if you like, you know? I should have told them about you too and ask to prepare a separate bed..." He rolled over and reached his hand to caress the pommel and grip of the sword. "Eh? Why? Master, I like it here! It''s superfy!" Kopia''s de vibrated with a high frequency and let out a sound that turned into enthusiastic words, partly muffled by the sheath. |Don''t forget that in this ythrough Kopia is a thing, she''s a weapon with a humanoid form and not a human who can turn into a weapon - there''s a big difference between the two. Isn''t this also why we went and ordered the best quality sheath to be custom made for her?| Patience pointed out, joining in the morning conversation. "You sure it''s alright?" Zombie asked softly as if he expected that both Patience and Kopia were just saying things to not make him feel bad. "Yeah! Master! Let''s go train! I want to cut something!" Kopia moved around and jumped a little bit in her sheath, showing the sharp de ready to tear through the flesh. "Maybe we will encounter a monster on our way back to the forest entrance before picking up Jackfruit..." Zombie squinted his eyes and frowned. "Though if he really won''t wake up before we will get to him, then maybe we will have some time to practice before leaving the vige. Either way, I''m not promising any live targets, sorry." The boy added cautiously, not wanting to set his expectations too high. "Ehhh...? Uuu... okay..." Kopia flinched and let out a disappointed shrill. |See?| Patience sounded as if she smirked. |Also... it''s a bit annoying seeing how much you two are in sync...| She added in a tiny voice. |Somebody sounds jealous~| |Sh-shut up! No, I''m not! Hmph!| Zombie closed his mouth and smirked which caused Patience to instantly scoff in denial, sounding as if she turned her back at him. With that, Zombie got up and left the room that the elves prepared for him in just his undershirt and thin trousers he always wore under the barrel armor - after the previous day''s jog, the smell of the rust grew in intensity, but since he had nothing else to change into, well, he preferred staying in it to parading around naked. Once he left the empty house unnoticed he turned around and went down one of the routes without the slightest bit of hesitation. "...?!" A few passing elves were shocked enough to need a double-take on the boy, surprised by his hair as dark-brown hair were almostpletely absent from their race usual color scheme, and were even more shocked while realizing that the child wasn''t even an elf in the first ce since there was aplete absence of pointy ears on him - but even so, the boy''s fast pace improved by the well-executed use of the whirlwind kick was astoundingly useful for getting out of their sight before anyone could have a proper second look. Zombie''s behavior begged the question - where was he going? And the answer to that was rather simple. To the training ground or more like a yground for the young elves. Even though in this ythrough zombie was visiting the hidden vige for the first time, itsyout from when he scoured it while killing off every single living being was burnt into his memory as he was incredibly furious and didn''t want to miss a single person - and the training/yground was the ce where surprisingly many vigers gathered at the time. ...anyway... Regardless of the source of the knowledge, Zombie was going for the yground with the full intention of doing his usual morning routine, expecting to have the spot all to himself since the only Olive was the acting guardian of the vige, being so good at it that he singlehandedly rendered the need for training a group of guards useless, and it was still far too early for any children to show up there to y around. ...or it was supposed to... "Eh? Hello!" "...oh crap..." Hence the situation he has found himself in... Face to face with an eleven-year-old-looking boy elvish boy with powder-pink hair, big round gray eyes, upturned nose, and generally female-leaning facial features. The powder-pink-haired boy lowered the training bow he was doing the target practice with, and turned to Zombie with an innocent, trusting smile. "Did youe to train too? I haven''t seen you before... ah!? Could it be that your family just moved to our vige?!" The boy gasped excitedly and instantly approached Zombie before the younger boy could retreat, or even respond for that matter... "My name is Cranberry! What''s your name?" "!!!!" |Zombie! Zombie, calm down! It''s natural that with the finite amount of fruits in the world that name would repeat - breath! Breath and calm down!| As soon as the boy introduced himself, Zombie turned green in the face and he felt as if someone grabbed his heart and ripped it out of his chest - which prompted Patience to start calming him down without even a second of dy. "Oh no! Are you not feeling well? I''ll go call for help!" Cranberry called out, very worried about the sudden change in the new boy''s appearance. |Zombie, rx, this doesn''t mean any... EH?!| Patience was doing her best to help Zombie deal with the sudden panic attack... ...until she went ahead and read his mind and realized that it was not a panic attack at all... "You... how many kids your age are in this vige...?" |ZOMBIE, DON''T! YOU CAN''T! THE ELVES WILL TURN AGAINST YOU!| Zombie spat through his teeth, barely able to hold himself back, while Patience was screaming inside his head. "How many...? Oh. Um... It''s a funny thing, really. There''s ten years difference between any older or younger people than me... my mom told me that''s because sometimes our kind is really susceptible to the changes of mana in the air and it''s really difficult for little elves to be born. I was really lucky..." The elven boy exined, fidgeting awkwardly as if it was something embarrassing. |ZOMBIE! PLEASE! THINK OF YOUR VILLAINESS! JUST FORGET ABOUT THE PAST! YOU ALREADY KILLED HIM IN THE FIRST PLAYTHROUGH!| Patience cited out in absolute horror, but Zombie was deaf to her words. "...I see..." "?" Instead, the brown-haired boy whispered, with his head down, and put his hand up on the powder-pink-haired boy''s shoulder, making him tilt his head curiously for the new boy''s intentions. "Umm...? Hey, what''s wrong with your ears?" Then Cranberry noticed that something was wrong with the new child... |Zombie! Please!| Patience tried onest time but already knew that it was in vain, instead, she started thinking about a n that would allow Zombie to escape the vige... "You are that fucking idiot who shot those warning arrows and then tried to kill my Cranberry..." Zombie muttered, tightening the grip on the elven boy''s shoulder. "Ah! I forgot about cursing! Mom would scold me for... wait... what did you sa-URGH...!" *WHAM* Cranberry gasped in realization just before the Zombie''s knee hit him in the sr plexus so hard that his feet lost contact with the ground for a good four seconds, taking the child''s breath away. "...!" The elven boy tried to cry out as the wave of pain crushed against his body when he fell face-first onto the ground but was unable to catch a breath after the sudden attack. "Olive and even Mirabelle are one thing..." Zombie muttered gritting his teeth as a bloodthirsty grin slowly took me over his face. *wham* The young boy kicked the powder-pink-haired boy over and stepped over him, staring straight into his tear-stained face. "Ghu-ugh...!" Then he proceeded to sit on the elven boy''s stomach, pushing whatever air managed to get in the child''s lungs back out. "...but you... a fucking idiot like you needs to be taught what''s their ce...!" With a sadistic smile in full bloom, Zombie raised his fist... *WHAM* *crack* ...and brought it down right at the elven boy''s face, breaking his nose in a single strike. |Please... please, just try not to kill him, and maybe we will manage to salvage it...| Patience sounded as if she was shaking her head in defeat, doing her best to not watch as the hail of punches rains down on the terrified elven boy... Chapter 341: Zombie in the hidden village (3)

Chapter 341: Zombie in the hidden vige (3)

|This... is a much better oue than I expected...| Despite the words she used, Patience didn''t actually sound relieved in the slightest. Even with the rather horrifying beginning, Zombie''s unrelenting beating of the elven boy who happened to share the name with the only daughter of the Pride family stopped just after around half a minute mark. Zombie''s fist stopped over the powder-pink-haired boy''s face, right before delivering another hit. "Uuuugh...! Uuu...! I''m sorry...! I don''t know what I did wrong, but I''m sorry...!" "..." And that was the reason why. Cranberry, the eleven-year-old elven boy was sobbing while desperately trying to protect his head while continuing to apologize. "I''m sorry...!" He cried out pitifully. "Fuck... I feel like such a piece of shit... what am I even trying to aplish here...?" Zombie sighed, all of his aggression gone. He got off the elven boy and sat heavily next to him. "I don''t have any attack skills that rte to fists, you know...?" Zombie scoffed and raised up his trembling bloodied fists with both middle and ring fingers dislocated from losing against the other boy''s cheekbone in terms of durability. "I''m sor..." "Don''t apologize. I''m the fucking bastard here. I attacked you even though current you haven''t done anything wrong... Curse at me or something, get angry... please..." Cranberry tried to apologize again but got stopped by Zombie''s miserable voice. |Where did this change of behavior came from, if you don''t mind me asking...?| Patience asked curiously. |He reminds me of some small scared domesticated animal... He has no idea what he did wrong but even so, he doesn''t retaliate... Beating him up doesn''t feel good at all... and killing him would probably feel even worse.| Zombie gave up and sighed internally, facing away from the confused boy slowly getting up. "I''m the one who''s sorry... hit me back or go tell on me to your parents." |Whoa! Stop right there! You may be feeling bad but don''t encourage him to go mess up our original n!| Patience gasped in disbelief at Zombie''s words. "...*sniffle* N-no... I-it''s alright... My mom told me that everyone has their own problems and a hero is supposed to help everyone... *sniffle* you are actually really hurting inside, right? I know. I was born with a hidden affinity called heart read so I can tell." Cranberry dered, giving his best trying to keep it together, but his speech ended up as jumbled sobs. "Hero? Heart read?" Zombie furrowed his brows and looked at the elf in disbelief. |I don''t know about that hero business, but heart read affinity allows its user to perceive the true feelings of anyone theye in physical contact with.| Patience exined sounding just as confused as Zombie. "Wait... you read my heart while I was punching you? That''s why you kept apologizing, insead of fighting back?" The young boy flinched and asked while gritting his teeth. "...yes... *sniffle* ...ow...!" Cranberry nodded and tried to wipe his nose and cried out in pain since it was broken and extremely sensitive. "Huh..." Zombie nodded with an awkward expression, unable to find the right words to express the odd feeling inside his chest. "...what''s the deal with the hero business...?" So instead, he asked the first question he came up with. "*sniffle* A hero is a hero... Like in the stories that my mom read me since I was little. A hero is someone who protects everyone. Someone who can bring happiness to everyone! I want to be someone like that!" The powder-pink-haired boy sniffled one more time before proudly puffing out his chest and dering... ...which looked rather pitiful coupled with the bleeding broken nose and a big ck eye that was getting darker and darker as the time passed. "...you''re a good kid, aren''t you..." Zombie looked at him and smiled softly. "H-hey..! Don''t call me a kid! My name is Cranberry and besides, aren''t you a lot younger than me!" Cranberry frowned andined while pouting. |Zombie, elves just so happen to put a lot of attention to the age difference, you are on track to make up for your little freakout, don''t mess it up, please.| Patience sighed, sounding as if she was closing her eyes and shaking her head at the boy. |Yeah, you''re right... Hmm... my Cranberry mentioned something about that too... And if I remember correctly, it had something to do with how Lairs addressed Shanks and Uresha...| Zombie nodded internally and concentrated on the memory from the first ythrough. |Just don''t overdo it.| Patience warned him. "Yes, you are. Once again, sorry for attacking you, Cran-cran." "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zombie ended up smiling apologetically and bowed to the elven boy ¨C which resulted in the said boy blushing heavily and hiding his face with both hands. "...?" |Hold up, did I overdid it just with that?| Zombie asked internally, taken aback by the unexpectedly strong reaction. |...that''s up for debate... The way you called him is really special for the elves. I think that you might have done exactly what needed to be done to save our original n, but we need to wait and see...| Patience sounded hesitant but leaning into positivity. "Cran-cran...? Are you okay?" "!!!!!!" Zombie leaned to the side to peek at the boy''s face and asked, which resulted in Cranberry fidgeting and blushing even harder. "Cran-cra...?" "W-wait a bit...!" As Zombie was calling out to him for the third time, the powder-pink-haired boy reached out his hand to stop him. "My heart isn''t ready... I never had a younger sibling...! Wait, let me just... Mend!" *crack* "Urgh...!" ''!!!" The elven boy said and his body shed with white light and the sound of cartge being reassembled left Zombie in shock. |Umm... why does he have the most painful healing skill ever...?| Zombie asked in confusion. |Not everyone is suitable for using holy magic and mend is the only healing skill that doesn''t require an affinity with it.| Patience responded, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders. "Ugh... Hey, it''s not very pleasant but do you want me to heal you too?" Cranberry groaned and showed up his face again ¨C there was just a very thin pink scar on his nose but other than that there was no other visible evidence of getting beaten up, even the ck eye and any trace of nosebleed had disappeared! The elven boy also reached out his hand and pointed at Zombie''s dislocated fingers that were swelling up despite the HP recovery skill working in the background. "Sure." Zombie nodded and leaned forward. "Hey, if me calling you Cran-cran is too embarrassing, then maybe you would prefer if I called you Cranbie?" He asked as soon as Cranberry touched him. "Cranbie...?" The powder-pink-haired boy asked, tilting his head. "Cranbie... Yes. That would make it a bit easier on my heart. Sure!" Cranbie repeated a nickname one more time and nodded with a relieved smile. |Why is he talking so much about his heart...?| |No idea.| Zombie asked and got an immediate answer from the being sealed inside of him. "Alright then. Better brace yourself, getting healed with mend hurts more than getting wounded." Cranbie warned Zombie and closed his eyes to better focus on the skill. "Mend." *crack* He said and instantly a jolt of sharp pain spread through Zombie''s hand followed by the dry sound of flesh and bones returning to their rightful ce. "..." Zombie blinked a few times and frowned. |That''s it...?| He asked, sounding almost disappointed. |You just dislocated two fingers, did you expected to level up your pain resistance or something?| Patience sighed in response *crack* Suddenly another dry sound resounded through the training area... ...but it wasn''t anything caused by the skill of either of the boys. Instead, the sound came from the middle of the field ¨C right from the growing mound of dirt that just appeared all on its own... "What is that?" Cranbie tilted his head in confusion, staring at the mound. "SCRUHI! (BLOOD! FOOD! ME EAT!)" Right after that, the earth exploded and the head of a giant ant appeared from underneath the ground with a bloodcurdling screech and the click of mandibles the size of a grown man''s arms. "No way...!" Zombie jumped up on his feet, all tens, staring at the monster crawling out of the ground. "SCRUHI! (FOOD!) SCRUHIII! (ME EAT, ME EEEEEEAT!)" The insect''s shrill pierced the air and its carapace unleashed a torrent of red and ck smoke that spread through the training ground and formed walls around it while a burning mark appeared on the top of the monster ant''s head. |A sigil monster?! Here?! Why?! And how?!| Patience was every bit as shocked as the two boys. "SCRUHIIIII! (ME EAT, HUMAN LARVA, ELF LARVA, YOU DIE!)" The monster ant shook its head to get rid of the remains of dirt covering its carapace and instantly charged at the children, hungrily snapping its mandibles. Chapter 342: Sigil monster (1)

Chapter 342: Sigil monster (1)

"A monster?! W-we need to run away! Hurry!" All blood seemed to drain from Cranbie''s face as the giant ant was closing in on the two of them. Without much thinking, the powder-pink-haired boy grabbed Zombie''s hand and tried to pull him away from the beast, but he met with a rather unexpected oue. "Hu... EH...?!" One moment the elven boy was trying to run away from the monster together with the younger human boy, and the next one, he was picked up ¨C princess-carry style ¨C by the very same human boy much smaller than himself, now glowing with vibrant violet light and flying through the air many feet away from the hungrily clicking mandibles of the giant ant. *thump* As Zombie was about to leave the training ground area with Cranbie safely in his arms, the walls that formed from the red and ck smoke, released by the sigil monster once it came out of the ground, turned out to be impossible to break through, even though they were half-transparent and the rest of the elven vige was visible past them. "Tsk...!" "Kyaaah!" The barrier that the red and ck smoke walls created, caused Zombie to bounce off of them, making him click his tongue in anger while Cranbie let out a scared high-pitched noise and clung to the younger boy, closing his eyes. |What the hell is this supposed to be, a new iteration of system walls?!| Zombie growled internally, gritting his teeth with fury. "Scruhii...? (Softrvas got away...?) SCRUHIIII! (WON''T GET AWAY! ME EAT!)" And as proven by the bloodcurdling screech of the monster ant, he wasn''t the only one pissed off being there, although their reasons differed greatly. |This one is still not as powerful as the sigil monsters that will show up once the global event starts, but it''s still far more powerful than the demon centipede you''ve dealt with before. That barrier is not a system wall, but it might as well be since it was created by using the fraction of Eternal''s power... Sorry to say that, but not even Olive or the hidden boss librarian will be able to pass through those unless the ant is dead.| Patience exined, sounding a bit anxious and apologetic. |What?! But they are max-level and had hundreds of years to boost their stats and skills weren''t they?!| *CHOMP* "Kyaaah!" Zombie scoffed while hurriedly jumping away from another charge and bite from the giant ant, making Cranbie scream again,pletely terrified. |You seem to be forgetting that in the previous ythrough you managed to kill their entire vige, librarian included, using just the fraction of the powering out of the partially unlocked seal of the Eternal. Eternal really is the strongest thing in this world... Thankfully, judging from the fact that our demon-ant here isn''t making the barrier any smaller, its sigil allows it to create a barrier but not to control it at will, so that is good news.| Patience pointed out, looking at the bright side. |Easy for you to talk! This ant gives off a much more threatening feeling than the centipede was, and I have to worry about this kid here too!| Zombie scowled internally while dodging and jumping away from the ant''s constant unrelenting attacks while securely holding the powder-pink-haired boy in his arms. |Aww! So now you''re worried about him?| Even in such a dire situation, Patience snickered at the brown-haired boy. |Shut up! It''s not the time to be messing around!| *CHOMP* Zombie growled internally while the ant''s mandibles nicked his undershirt as the monster was getting faster and more precise with each attack. |Sorry...! Couldn''t help myself...! You''re right though, we can''t let this kid get hurt, if we save him, then forget about being punished for your freakout, you will literally gain the gratitude of the entire vige.| Patience''s sounded as if she flinched and bit her lips in shame, and then her voice turned serious. |Easier said than done!| "Kyaaah!" *CHOMP* |Kid sure can scream, you think that that would rm other elves?| Zombie smirked while drops of sweat emerged on his forehead as he was doing his best to get away from the rampaging ant. |What would that do? Do you want an audience or something? Nothing will be able to pass through these walls unless the sigil monster dies and they disperse.| Patience scoffed, sounding as if she wasn''t in the mood for jokes. "SCRUHII! (STOP RUNNING!) SCRUHUII! (ME EAT YOU!)" *CHOMP* The demon ant screeched and bit right at Cranbie in Zombie''s arms. "KYAAAAAH!" "Fuck off!" Zombie gritted his teeth while lifting the elven boy up above his head in the desperate effort to protect him from the mandibles of the ant that was smart enough to start targeting the elven boy screaming in fear instead of the one carrying him. "Tsk...!" But as he did so, he exposed his stomach and the ant''s mandibles scratched against his stomach, cutting through the thin cloth, and dug a deep scratch in his skin, which started bleeding immediately despite the violet light of the activated superbia still enveloping Zombie''s body. |WHAT THE HELL?!| Zombie gasped, jumping away. |!!!!| Even Patience seemed taken aback and went silent while she focused on finding out the reason. "SCRUHII! (HAHAHA! BLOOD!) SCRUHII! (TASTY TASTY BLOOD!) SCRUHII! (ME EAT HUMAN LARVA!) SCRUHII! (ME SMART!) SCRUHII (ME KNOWS HOW TO HUNT!) SCRUHIIIII (ME WILL EAT HUMAN LARVA AND ELF LARVA!) SCRUHI! (TASTY TASTY)" *CHOMP* *CHOMP* *CHOMP* With its mandibles stained red the ant screeched triumphantly and began attacking with even more ferocity than at the start of the fight. |THAT FUCKER...! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR IT TO PASS THROUGH SUPERBIA?! I THOUGHT IT WAS SUPER HIGH-TIER DEFENSE SKILL OR SOMETHING?!| Zombie shouted angrily inside his head now that the monster ant got excited and more and more of its attack reach their mark - which was the young boy''s body - leaving Zombie with more brand new shallow wounds each time it snapped its mandibles. All those cuts were only on the level of painful abrasions only because of the high agility and good reflexes on Zombie''s part, but they were piling on and on and it wasn''t like the boy had infinite mana and stamina to keep fighting indefinitely while continuously losing blood... ...Zombie was rapidly approaching his physical limits... Chapter 343: [Bonus Chapter] Outside the barrier

Chapter 343: [Bonus Chapter] Outside the barrier

"...and what, you just left a fucking six-year-old all to himself? In a fucking vacant house?" Olive asked in disbelief, shaking his head while walking side by side with the vige elder, Mirabelle. "Don''t give me that crap! You aren''t any better! Without me, you wouldn''t fucking even believe that he was actually that young! I''m running the whole vige, you know? I think I can be pardoned for overseeing feeding one human ¨C that you have brought in, fucking mind you¨C for fuck''s sake! Taking care of him should be a part of your fucking responsibilities too!" She scoffed and red at him in response. "Really? And who will make sure that all the fucking illusions are set up properly? What, did you suddenly forgot who the fuck set it all up and maintains it so that Envys won''t just march in and throw us all into their fucking dungeon to pick and choose the elements of our appearance that they want to steal and made themselves into a fucking aesthetic coge?!" Olive wasn''t to just take it and responded with an equal amount of sass. "Besides, you know I am not good with others, I never spent much time around children before, so how the fuck am I supposed to be prepared for taking care of one, and one so unusual one at that?!" He added defensively. "Oh, so now you fuckinge to a realization that you should have made children with me when I still could, nine hundred years ago? Fucking great, impable timing, you old fuck..." Mirabelle spoke in a mocking tone but at the same time, she clenched her fists behind her back, out of Olive''s sight. "We talked about it, Mira, I''m not a family man, for fuck''s sake! The things I suffered under the Venomancer made me not trust others no matter how close we are. Fuck... I''m not meant to have a happy family, alright? I''m sorry for disappointing you, but on the other fucking hand, you could have chosen literally anyone else. You are a great person, and you could have married anyone you wanted." The vige''s guardian made a bitter expression. "Yeah, sure... fucking idiot... the only one I ever wanted was and still is you..." The vige elder looked away from the old elf and muttered under her breath. "...!" Which made Olive flinch and grit his teeth. "Fuck... Maybe it really is better this way. As you have pointed out, I would be a bad mother anyway ¨C I left a six-year-old alone in a house and didn''t prepare a thing, no set of clothes to change into, no for him to eat... I''m fucking stupid..." Mirabelle sighed,pletely dispirited, and hugged a clean set of hand-me-down children-sized clothes she had borrowed from one of the families in the vige. "Oh, no ¨C no one said anything about your cooking. You fucking suck at it. That one part is something I take full ountability for. I could at least make him a fucking meal ¨C but for our defense, he really doesn''t feel like a child, right?" Despite Olive''s previous words, he was now clearly doing his best to lift up Mirabelle''s damped-down mood with jokes while he raised up a small basket filled with easy-to-digest foods that would please a child''s pte, and shook it with a cheeky little smirk. "Pffft...! Fucking asshole..." Mirabelle snorted and looked away, unable to hold back a smile. The two of them had known each other for so many years, that it was useless to try to measure it in anything less than centuries, both of them knew each other''s boundaries and how to act to lift their spirits, but at the same time that near-perfect synergy was the very same thing that kept them apart all this time. "Hey, you think the little bugger is still asleep? He acts as a dwarven adventurer amongst humans so he probably doesn''t sleep in too fucking much." Mirabelle asked, looking at the window of the house she left Zombie in the previous night and nced at Olive by her side. "Well, I think that since we still can talk about those fucking Envy''s even though we are so close to him means that he is stillpletely out. Must have been dead tired, I was way too harsh with my speed yesterday... but, fucking hell, I really thought he was a dwarf and not a child, all the scars didn''t make it any easier to fucking tell either." Olive scoffed and grinned while shaking his head. "...uck, I must be overworking myself... I thought I saw a human child walking around..." "Huh? You too? So I wasn''t fucking hallucinating?" "Hold the fuck up! You saw him too?!" Because Olive and Mirabelle were taking their sweet time before actually entering the house, they managed to identally overhear the conversation between two vigers passing by on their way to their work. "...no fucking way..." Olive hurried inside the house muttering under his breath while putting the basket with food right next to the door... "Fuck...! You two! That kid! Did you see where he went?!" ...while Mirabelle cursed in disbelief and called after the two vigers, waving at them to stop. "He''s really not here!" Olive opened the window and called out to the woman interrogating the passerby. "His armor is still here so he probably isn''t trying to get out of the vige on his own... for fuck''s sake..." The old elf looked back over his shoulder and added with a worried face. "Pitahaya and Orange saw him near the tavern!" The vige elder called in response. "Fuck! Did he woke up hungry and followed the smell of food or something?!" "What if he will get lost? Oh, fuck...! Olive, what if he will encounter Gooseberry?! We haven''t told him that there''s a friendly human in the vige!" While Olive was wondering with a worried expression, Mirabelle had straight-up panicked once she realized that the guardian of the archives ¨C the second most powerful elf in the vige after Olive ¨C who also happened to be the biggest human hater, could have a rather explosive reaction to meeting the unannounced guest..." "That...! Huh...?" Olive bit his lip and gulped down his saliva ¨C when suddenly he raised his head and looked towards the direction of the old training grounds partially turned into a yground for the younger children ¨C though, the only child using them recently was Goosberry''s son, Cranberry. "What the fuck...?" But before anyone else, even, Mirabelle could say something, Olive himself muttered in disbelief while his eyes spotted a half-transparent red and ck dome forming exactly on the spot where the old training ground was. "...I do not have a good fucking feeling about this..." Mirabelle looked between Olive and the red and ck dome in the distance. "Mira, go get Gooseberry, I''ll check what the fuck is that supposed to be!" Olivemanded, jumping out of the window and rushing towards the newly araised object exuding a threatening aura. Chapter 344: Sigil monster (2)

Chapter 344: Sigil monster (2)

"..." Just to add an insult to injury, with the corner of his eye Zombie spotted a movement outside of the red and ck barrier. The adult elves have finally shown up, rmed by the foreign threatening-looking dome appearing on the edge of their vige - just as Zombie had wished for ¨C but none of them were able to get through - just as Patience predicted less than a minute before. Nothing worked against the red and ck wall that didn''t even let any sound pass through, and the sigh of the utterly terrified elves trying their hardest to break through in order to help but failing, certainly wasn''t uplifting and did not help clear Zombie''s mind. |...it must be the difference in status points...| |WHAT?!| And simrly, Patience''s worried voice as she realized what the problem was, was just as bad... |In the end, superbia is a skill that''s based on the user''s DEF and MDF... If this ant is able to harm you, it only means that its damage output tops whatever value your defense is reaching while you are using superbia...| She exined not sounding very confident. |That is such bull...! Fuck! Fine! I get it! I fucked myself with thinking that I should not waste time with raising the status point because they will be reset in a year! Sure! But why is this damned bug not getting hurt in recoil? I thought that superbia reflects the damage to the attacker too!| *CHOMP* Zombie gritted his teeth while somehow managing to dodge the next attack by the skin of his teeth. |That... That''s probably because...| "Master? Why aren''t we attacking the monster? I want to cut it down!" Patience''s worried voice was interrupted by the high frequency shrill of Kopia,ing from the sheath at Zombie''s waist. |!!!!!| |Eh...?!| Zombie and Patience were momentarily stunned by the very urate questioning from the least experienced one out of the three of them... Why weren''t they fighting back...? Both the future undead and the sealed overseer were so focused on protecting the young elf and getting him out of harm''s way that the thought about retaliating against the sigil monster before Cranbie was safe has never even crossed their minds... |You can just...| |Toss Cranbie to the side and get this monster''s attention by attacking it...!| Patience began the sentence and Zombie finished it for her as he moved around, momentarily distracted. |Then, where should I...?| Zombie nced to the side, unsure where he should throw the scared elf so that the ant wouldn''t get him in the air. ...but the battlefield wasn''t really a ce for a sudden epiphany as no beast would ever miss a chance that presented itself... *CHOMP* "URGH!" "KYAAAH!" *WHAM* ...and that moment of hesitation has cost Zombie the precious fraction of a second and the giant ant''s mandibles had reached him, tearing through his flesh with terrifying ease while he was mid-dodge and made him throw the elven boy all the way to the red and ck wall while he himself mmed onto the ground and tumbled forward almost reaching the edge of the same wall... "U-uugh..! Oww.... Ugh...!" Cranbie cried out, trying to get up and shaking his head trying to get rid of the dizziness caused by the sudden fall. "Ah...!" His eyes regained focus just in time to see the human boy in front of him, sitting on the ground, staring wide-eyed at his own left leg... The ant''s mandibles tore right through his skin, muscles, and tendons and even dug into the now perfectly visible whitish bone as the bright red blood was spraying out the separated pieces of flesh... To make things worse, the giant ant wasn''t going to just pass this opportunity and was already charging right at them! Instead of trying to get out of the way, the human boy was staring at his wounded leg and his face was getting as pale as a ghost''s, his chest rising up and down in short spasmatic breaths that made it look like the human boy would start vomiting at any moment. "L-look ou... HIIIIII!" The elven boy cried out and tried to get to the human boy and push him away, but ended up screamed in terror and unconsciously jumping away the moment the human boy raised his head and his eyes meet with elven boy''s... --- /Condition has been met /You receive a skill Ira (level 1) /Warning /Target is already in possession of superbia (level 1) /Calcting... /Condition has been met /Ira (level 1) has been assimted into the sin of origin nucleus /Skill level up Superbia (level 1) ?? Superbia (level 3) /Condition has been met /You receive a skill Overpower (level 1) /Condition has been met /Registration of the heir to the throne of pride pleted] --- "SCRUHI-HHH?! (NOW ME EAT YO-GHHH?!)" *WHAAAM* Within a heartbeat, the atmosphere inside the red and ck barrier changedpletely as the monster''s screech was cut short when a massive ck de suddenly struck against its head and sent it crashing into the very barrier the monster itself had created. "Who the fuck do you think you are up against, you repugnant filth...?!" "!!!!!!!!" The cold bloodcurdling whisper of the human boy, who not only managed to stand up despite having his foot being barely connected to his shin by a cracked bone mostly stripped off of flesh but was now also wielding an enormous sword that had no right to came out of the slim sheath by his waist and was the one who had sent the monster ant flying, has sent the chills of absolute fear down Cranbie''s spine, as the elven boy was the only being except the monster ant who was able to hear it. "...I''m going to make you beg for mercy before I ughter you... you pile of waste..." The violet light radiating from Zombie''s body had never been stronger, not even during the first ythrough when he reached an insane level for a monster...! "S-scruhii...? (M-me hurt..? How...?) "How, you ask? I will show you how!" *BOOOOM* Zombie''s face twitched as his mouth twisted into a wicked, inhuman grin before heunched himself using just one leg right at the confused monster ant trying to get back up with a weak screech. Chapter 345: Zombie in the hidden village (4) / Sigil monster (3)

Chapter 345: Zombie in the hidden vige (4) / Sigil monster (3)

*BOOOOOOOOM* The deafening explosion resounded in the air and at the same time the temperature has shot up through the entire area, as the impossibly powerful extremely high-tier me skill activated on top of the red and ck half-transparent dome that has cut off the old training ground from the rest of the vige. "Tsk...! FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! *WHAM* Olive clicked his tongue but as that was a far too insufficient method of venting out the fury that he felt once he realized that his most powerful skill didn''t have any effect whatsoever, he let out a furious roar and kicked at the smoke-like barrier. ...but the only oue he achieved was pushing himself away from the dome even though he had the rooted skill active... "OLIVE! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! MY CRANBERRY IS IN THERE!" Well... not really the only oue... there was a secondary effect in form of a tall, purple-haired elf''s, bolting through half of the vige, hurting his throat with a shout that was a mixture of both anger and worry. "Shut the fuck up and help me break through this shit!" Since the purple-haired elf got to Olive''s side within a single heartbeat, there was no need for the old elf to shout back ¨C but merely lowering his volume didn''t mean that he suddenly became calm. Far from it. "The hell?! CRANBERRY!" The purple-haired elf red at Olive before getting all of his attention pulled to what was happening inside the red and ck dome. "THE FUCK IS THAT ANT?! IS-" *WHAM* "IS THAT A HUMAN?! THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! DID HUMANS BROKE THROUGH TO THE VILLAGE AND BROUGHT MONSTERS WITH THEM?! The purple-haired elf shouted, mming his fist against the barrier, but that action brought just about the same result as Olive''s me skill and then the kick ¨C nothing. "...fucking... yeah, right, a fucking six-year-old marched through all of my barriers and even brought a FUCKING SIGIL MONSTER! YOU''RE THE ARCHIVE KEEPER, AREN''T YOU?! YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT THIS BARRIER AND MONSTER WITH A FUCKING BURNING MARK ON THE FUCKING FOREHEAD MEANS?! DON''T PULL AN INNOCENT KID INTO THE MIX! IDIOT GOOSEBERRY!" Despite his age, Olive could not keep his nerves at bay in the current situation and he scream his lungs at the purple-haired elf, stunning him, and every other elf gathered by the red and ck dome, momentarily ¨C if any viger were to pick one man who has had the shorter fuse, they would undoubtedly pick Gooseberry, so such behavior on Olive''s part was strange, to say the least. "...why are both of you scre- OH, MY FUCKING SYSTEM! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! ZOMBIE?!" Mirabelle who only then managed to get to the barrier, since her physical abilities even though enhanced by various skills were inferior to the capabilities of the purple-haired librarian ¨C but then she herself raised her voice to a panicked scream once she saw a giant jet-ck ant with demonic-looking blood-red horns growing out of its carapace chasing a fleeing brown-haired human boy who was glowing with a violet light while carrying a powder-pink-haired elven boy bigger than himself! "WHY IS HE THERE?! WHY IS THERE A MONSTER?!" Panicked Mirabelle grabbed onto Olive''s clothes and shook him back and forth. "I don''t know why the kid is there... And about the monster... there was an anthill underneath our vige but I am sure that I set up illusions and traps under the surface too so that no ant would pass through... But I guess that Eternal''s power can make a monster immune to those." Olive grabbed onto Mirabelle''s wrists, making her stop shoving him around, and exined. "What the fuck is an Eternal?!" The woman asked in confusion. "That..." "CRANBERRY!" *WHAM* Olive was about to exin but he was interrupted by Gooseberry calling out to his son, fruitlessly attempting to break through the barrier again. "!!!!" That made brought Olive and Mirabelle''s attention back to the red and ck dome just in time to witness Zombie''s stomach getting terribly close to being sliced open by the demon-ant mandibles while he desperately raised the powder-pink-haired elven boy above his head to protect him. "I swear if that human will get my Cranberry in harm''s way...!" Gooseberry growled through his teeth and... *SMASH* ''The fuck did you say?!" Mirabelle, without as much as giving Gooseberry a warning, grabbed his head and mmed his forehead against the smoke barrier ¨C it didn''t damage the barrier in any way, but it certainly did cause Gooseberry''s head to gain arge growing bump. "Look at it you facking moron! Look! The human kid is trying to save your son!" The vige elder''s voice was brimming with contempt. "And he''d better seed or the monster won''t be his biggest problem! Now, let me go before I get angry." The purple-haired elf scoffed and moved away from the furious Mirabell, easily freeing himself from her grip on his own. "...you - FUCKING...!" "Mira. Calm down." Olive grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. "Gooseberry ¨C why won''t you finally use some of your strength and break through this thing, or do you actually want your son to die there?" Then he frowned and scoffed at the purple-haired elf, ring down at him provocatively. "...fuck off..." Gooseberry grumbled back and looked away. "What the fuck is going on?! Weren''t you always boasting that your attack skills are stronger than Olive''s? What, don''t tell me you actually want your son to d..." "Don''t say another word or you''re dead, vige elder or not." Mirabelle gritted her teeth and chose to turn to mockery to prompt Gooseberry to action, but the only effect was the purple-haired man''s body to start glowing white, but the activated skills were all ready to be used against the woman. "Don''t you fucking dare." Olive stepped in front of Mirabelle, shielding her from the potential danger. "Exin." He added while activating his own skills, fully ready to strike back. "...No attacks will work on the barrier made out of the overflown energy of Eternal because..." Gooseberry gave up, deactivated his skills, and started talking, while constantly ncing at the deadly chase gong o inside the barrier when... "...!" The ant finally managed to get the human boy''s leg, causing him to fall down, but not before he threw the elven boy as far away as he could. "Somebody do something...!" One of the vigers cried out in panic and closed her eyes, not wanting to witness the human boy getting mangled alive probably only a second before the ant would get to the elven boy... But she was the only one who did that. "!!!!!!!" And that''s why she was the only one who missed the eruption of violet light exploding out of the human boy''s body and the moment that he drew out his one-handed sword that shed white and transformed into a ck de more than three times as long as the boy''s body, hitting the demon ant and sending it crashing against the very wall that all the elves were standing by. "?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Everyone witnessing the scene got so shocked they even forgot to exim verbally and just jolted back and gasped without uttering a single word. But that certainly wasn''t the human boy''s only action. With his foot barely connected to the rest of his leg, he charged at the ant that was slowly getting up, and both his eyes and the enormous sword shed with white light. "!!!!!" The flurry of attacks that followed made everyone aside from the three strongest elves ¨C Mirabelle, Olive, and Gooseberry ¨C to back away in pure shock. Each swing was shaving off different pieces of the ant''s exoskeleton, its parts started flying around and bouncing off of the red and ck barrier as well as the ground, constantly releasing more and more red and ck smoke that would then get absorbed by the barrier. No sound could escape or pass through the barrier, but it wasn''t hard to guess from all the wriggling the ant did that it was screeching from the excruciating pain. Finally, after meticulously cutting all of the bug''s thin legs the boy stepped back and winded up for a finishing blow, the de, and the human boy''s eyes shone with white light while his body was continuously producing a vibrant violet glow that could easily be mistaken for a thick smoke. *SHIIING* While no one could actually hear the de made that sound, somehow everybody watching felt it in the core of their bodies. A destructive cleave that split the demon ant''s carapace cleanly in half, right through the red mark burning bright on the monster''s head. The bisected sigil flickered and in the next moment, all the pieces of the ant exploded into mes, and the entire red and ck dome dispersed as if the red and ck smoke was just an ordinary smoke and nothing else ¨C disappearing into the thin air. "...that was a lot more dramatic than the centipede..." In the silence that followed, everyone could hear the weak voice of the human, swaying on his feet and mumbling to himself. "...yeah... I know this one was... stronger..." *thump* Heined in a dispirited voice and fell on the ground face first. "Zombie!" Mirabelle rushed towards him, closely followed by Olive. Chapter 346: In between

Chapter 346: In between

Zombie''s consciousness was drifting in the void, his body was too exhausted for him to wake up but at the same time, his mind was already well rested - creating the odd situation. |Well... this certainly is awkward...| Zombie thought to himself and his own voice resounded through the ocean of endless darkness. |Yeah, pretty much.| |What the...?!| Even though he didn''t really forget about the sealed overseer living inside of his body, suddenly hearing Patience''s voiceing from behind him instead of, well, inside of him, was a really shocking experience that forced the gasp out of him. The boy turned around and there she was, the bright orb floating freely in the darkness. The first thing that popped to Zombie''s mind at that sight was... ...screen saver... |You''re a screensaver!| The orb of light trembled with anger and scoffed back at the boy, demonstrating that she could in fact still read his mind if she wanted. |Khahaha! As if! You look like an orb, go bounce in the corner - if there is a corner somewhere in this weird ce... umm... Huh?!| Zombieughed and tried to wave his hand before he realized, that he had no hands in his current form. Just as Patience in front of him, he was now just a ring orb too! The two of them only differed in color - Patience was a radiant white just as how she was in her original form while Zombie was vibrantly violet. |Huh... odd... I kind of expected to be blue in my own subconscious...| Zombie frowned or tried to frown but the only difference was noticeable in the tone of his voice as there was no visible change to his sphere-like appearance. |If this was your own consciousness then you probably would have been. But this ce is something very different.| Patience denied and darted from one side to the other giving the best visual cue she could for shaking her head. |Excuse me...? Then where are we and why? And if this isn''t in my head then howe you are here? This doesn''t make any sense, unless... Oh, for the love of...! Don''t tell me I''m actually dead and without you pulling the strings from behind, the system didn''t stop my soul from leaving and I''m about to reincarnate?!| Zombie gasped, floating back from terrible suspicion. |What...? No! Perish the thought! Nothing like that - this ce might be a bit dreadful but even so, there is nothing to worry about.| Patience denied in a calm voice, offhandedly letting him know that she knew exactly where and why they currently are. |...| The boy went silent and even though there was no change in his appearance of the vibrant violet orb, it was rather clear that he was rolling his eyes. |Look around. Carefully. We aren''t here alone, although the others will not be able to hear us, since they don''t even know that they are here themselves in the first ce.| Instead of exining it, as she would normally do, Patience encouraged her host and danced around, enjoying the freedom of movement in her orb form. |...?| Zombie raised his brow ¨C or at least tried, and looked around once more. He didn''t saw them immediately, but there were there all along... ...few lights in the distance, surrounded by darkness just like the two of them... ...different lights, looking like the lonely stars. There was one red one, two green ones, two light-blue ones, one blue, one orange, one yellow, and one other violet just like Zombie. |Anythinges to your mind after seeing them all?| Patience asked sounding as if she was smiling. |All of those share their colors with sins...| Zombie sounded as if he furrowed his brows, deep in thoughts. |...and their number... this can''t be a coincidence either, is it now... In that case, are those the representation of the avatars of sins and their official heirs registered in the system...?| He asked, turning back to the expectant Patience. |Yay! We have a winner! You are spot on with that deduction! Then? Will you be correct twice? How about the ce we are currently in?| Patience twirled and bounced around as if it was some sort of a quiz show and she was the overexcited host, and instantly asked another question. |Here''s a hint ¨C we are not on a physical ne but we still are well within the boundaries of the world my creator has made - and you saw a message about it too!| She generously threw in a hint, though it really wasn''t telling the boy anything. |Ah... right... you weren''t really in any shape to care about the messages that popped up when facing the sigil-empowered ant, were you, mister all-consuming boundless wrath? If not for the superbia you brought with you from the first ythrough, you would be an heir to the throne of wrath right then and there with how strong your anger was!| Patience sounded as if she furrowed her brows in realization and sighed. |Did something like that happened? I only vaguely remember using some new skill to decimate that repugnant thing that had the guts to remind me of what that other repugnant filth has done to me...| Zombie asked and scoffed ¨C if he was in his physical body, he would have massaged his legs, specifically the tendons area, while saying that line. |One thing lead to another, and you got yourself registered as an official heir to the throne of pride. From now on when the current avatar of pride will die, you will inherit the title without any additional steps.| Patience sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders and exined. |And as for our current whereabouts - since I am not cruel enough to keep you in the dark alone - this is the sin of origin nucleus ¨C a separate ne, from where the avatars of sin get their power.| In the end, she gave up on asking questions and surrendered to her role of a tutorial. |...separate ne you say... so, not within the system...?| Zombie asked in surprise. |This ce exists side by side with the system and is intertwined with it, but works on its own rules. That''s why the skills avable for the avatars and their heirs are far more powerful than any magic-based skill.| Patience answered him wlessly. |No, no way. How can they be more powerful? My Cranberry and I killed three avatars ¨C four if you count Wrath, but that was because you interfered so...| Zombie bounced from side to side and pointed out. |No, you are the one who has it wrong ¨C both the Heretic title and the annihtion bash are consecutively a title and a skill that get their power directly from the sin of origin nucleus, same with the soul devouring venom that was exclusive to the wielder of the Venomancer title. Funnily enough, soul devouring venom and annihtion bash were both getting their energy directly from the nucleus without being filtered by the power of the respectable sins so they were even more powerful. You never fought as underdogs nor on equal footing ¨C you always had the high-ground against the avatars - in your first ythrough that is.| |...oh...| After getting something like that revealed to him, Zombie was a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. |That brings us to your newest skill - the pride-based Overpower. It allows you to choose one single concept ¨C be it something like a STR stat or even something like a whole skill of your opponent ¨C if you use Overpower with that something in mind, you will momentarily get something twice as powerful in return.| |HUH?! Hold on, what?!| Zombie gasped in disbelief while Patience continued. |With the ant, you were focused solely on its physical strength that managed to tear through your superbia empowered physical defense, so the moment you subconsciously activated overpower, you found yourself being twice as powerful as it was and hence managed to kill it with such ease... though, it haspletely exhausted you and that''s why we end up here...| The white orb danced around overjoyed, before stopping in ce, suddenly sounding dispirited. |Wait... we shouldn''t be here? And didn''t I gained this skill and be an heir way too soon? What if the system will count it as cheating and will send Eternal right away before we get rid of his Invictus title?!| Zombie twisted and turned around as if looking for an exit from the endless void. |Hold up. You''re misunderstanding a couple of things ¨C first of all, there''s nothing wrong with just being here - a part of your mind simply drifted here since the connection between your power and this ce was still very fresh. Second of all, try to look into the memories of the events that will ur ¨C is your character already an heir or not?| Patience asked the panicked boy. |...it''s...| Zombie sounded as if he closed his eyes, focusing on the intercepted memories... |Ah! Yes, I was!| The boy gasped with relief. |Exactly ¨C we''re not cheating, we''re following the story to the letter.| Patienceughed happily and bounced around Zombie. |Oh, and I almost forgot ¨C Congrattions on taking the real first step on the path to the secret true ending, Zombie.| She dered, sounding as if a big bright smile bloomed on her face. Chapter 347: Zombie in the hidden village (5)

Chapter 347: Zombie in the hidden vige (5)

"He still hasn''t woken up...?" "...?" An unfamiliar voiceing from the other room brought Zombie back from the depths of unconsciousness. "No, and Cranberry was here earlier to check on him too, by the way, you old fuck. What, have you changed your stance about all humans? You not threatening our allies would be fucking nice for once." At first, Zombie jolted up from his bed at the mere mention of the most familiar name, but he almost instantly realized that since the one saying it was undoubtedly Mirabelle, the Cranberry she talked about must have been the powder-pink-haired elven boy, Cranbie. "Master...!" But such movement caused someone else to jump up and throw themselves at him. "Kopia?! Shhh! Not so loud! I want to hear what it is about." Zombie hugged the crimson-haired humanoid sword and put his index finger to her mouth to stop her from making so much ruckus. "The kid you have let in the vige... he is just the exception that confirms the rule. Nothing more, don''t get your fucking hopes up. Though, you two are already dealing with humans behind my back, aren''t you?" The unknown elf scoffed and mocked the others with a generous amount of usation mixed in his voice. "Behind your back? Gooseberry, you''re a fucking archive keeper, what does a glorified librarian have to do with how the vige is managed? You were the one who didn''t want to take any other responsibility besides protecting the fucking books. You can fuck right off with your bullshit now!" "..." Mirabelle wasn''t taking any of it, and theck of response from Gooseberry made it clear that she had hit the bullseye. "Alright, stop fucking arguing now, Gooseberry, what did youe here for exactly?" Olive''s voice joined the conversation, cutting short the possibly oing torrent of insults. *tap* A sound of a small box being ced on a table got picked up even by Zombie in another room than the three elves were talking. "Apricot and Tangerine asked me to deliver those. They said that after witnessing what your human can do at such a young age, they can part with their artifacts in clear conscience since you didn''t joke around before... Fuck, he really is just six?" Gooseberry exined and added a little sigh of disbelief at the end. "He is. There really is hope for us after all... eh...?" Mirabelle confirmed but ended u gasping in realization. "What is it?" Olive asked in concern. "I was just stopped by the system to say something, Zombie is awake." She responded calmly and the sound of the footsteps let the boy know that he would be having visitors in mere seconds. "Kopia, did you show yourself like this to the elves?" Zombie asked the wide-eyed blushing girl in his arms. "Nnn-nn!" And once she shook her head from right to left he hurriedlyid back in bed with her and covered them both with the nket. |So the Envy''smand of not mentioning them in a negative light can be used like that too... That''s pretty useful I guess.| Zombie quickly nced at how their disguise looked to make sure that it seemed as if he had just awakened, alone, and thought to himself while cautiously turning towards the door. |If you say so. Don''t say anything stupid, and let''s get out of the vige as soon as they will give you the artifact.| Patience didn''t share the boy''s enthusiasm and was even leaning into grumpiness, but that was probably because she was locked back in Zombie''s body and couldn''t bounce around as the orb of light as she did in the sin of origin nucleus. |What''s the hurry? I actually wanted to set up a little backup n just in case...| Zombie furrowed his brows and asked back. |And what about Laura? We need you to get back as soon as possible before she will start looking for you!| Patience exined impatiently. |Hold up! Why do you sound as if I was unconscious for a long time? How much time passed since we downed the ant?| The boy flinched in distress the moment and felt Kopia forgetting underneath the sheath as if she had the answer for that. |How should I know? I was connected with your mind the whole time - not your body - I have no idea what day it is or anything like that!| Patience scoffed, sounding as if she turned her back on him. |...? Huh... oh... it better be nothing.| It took Zombie a second to realize that even though Patience was answering his question, she was throwing shade at the humanoid de that was beside him, with her hair coiled around his right hand - and most likely listening to the exchange going on inside his head. "Oh, he really is awake." The first one to open the door to the room that Zombie was resting in, was Olive. He smiled at the pale boy before calling back to the others. "Oho! Look who decided to wake up after a whole week! Slept well?" Mirabelle snuck her way past the old elf and nodded at the boy with a bright smile. |WEEK?! LIKE, A WHOLE WEEK?!| If Patience''s voice worked like the normal sound was, Zombie''s eardrums would get blown off by the volume. "A whole week?!" "...?" And Zombie shared her shock at the moment, jumping out of the bed without thinking, revealing the hiding Kopia for everyone to see... "Since a transforming sword must be some kind of legendary artifact and I can understand that you don''t want to part with it even during sleep, I believe it would be best for you to sheath it first." ...which turned out to not be a big deal at all since she had turned back into a sword as soon as she felt Zombie getting up. "Forget about that! Has it really been a week?" The boy waved his hand dismissively and asked in a panic. "Whoa, hey there, little bugger, rx... fucking... Yes, it has been a week, whatever skills you''ve used during that fight it fucked you up almost as good as you did to that ant!" Mirabelle''s eyes widened and she raised her hands to calm down the agitated boy. "I''ve been making sure that the man from the offshoot of the Envy family that you arrive at the forest with is living through an illusion where you and he both chase down the pesky elven straggler - if it needs to be, he can be going at it for several weeks, so just make sure to rest well." Olive added, waving his hand dismissively. "I''m not worried about Jackfruit! I thought this whole thing won''t take more than four days! Laura will make me contemte my behavior till I''m an adult if she''ll learn what I''ve been up to! I need to go back as soon as possible!" Zombie shook his head and eximed, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Chapter 348: Leaving the forest

Chapter 348: Leaving the forest

It took them way more time than Zombie would have liked, but in the end, the elves of the hidden vige sent him off with Olive as the guardian. "And are you sure that this will work as I specified...? I only wanted one artifact..." Zombie asked in a worried voice while constantly making sure that a tiny blue box is safely stored inside of his chest pocket underneath the barrel-like armor. "It is, you can rx. You can put your trust in this old man, you know? Those are even better than you''ve specified, those belonged to the only pair of elves who were able to speak about everything they wanted." Olive responded, giving the vaguest but at the same the most precise exnation that he could have. "Huh? Were they immune to Envy''s control then? I don''t know if this is better than what I specified, but..." Zombie tilted his head with a mixed expression but then he furrowed his brows and looked back at the very satisfied-looking elf. "Wait... does that mean that you had something like that the whole time and never tried to get rid of the main Envy family?" "..." Zombie asked, but the answer he got was Olive rolling his eyes while his mouth was firmly shut. "...ah... so you did try but it failed, and you can''t talk about it because it would put Envy in a bad light..." "...nonsense, no way that any of it is true..." Zombie made sure, and this time he clearly saw Olive mutter, trying to fight back against his own body, but sadly failing, and being forced to face the opposite way. |The elves sure got it rough, huh...| Zombie sighed internally. |Oh? Are you perhaps feeling bad for ughtering their entire hidden vige in the previous ythrough?| Patience asked, sounding as if she has livened up. |No. Not in the slightest. Did you wait this whole time for the right moment to ask me that or something?| Zombie responded slightly shaking his head. |The elves in the previous ythrough made the wrong choice and suffered the consequences. The ones in this ythrough are different.| He added with a light shrug. |..so you don''t have a problem with differentiating both ythroughs...| |... and what is this about...?| Patience muttered, making the boy feel slightly suspicious. |Nothing important, never mind that.| The sealed being sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders and waved her hand dismissively. "I will most definitely want to hear about what you have tried and how exactly it failed once you will be free." Zombie spoke out loud, carefully looking at Olive''s back while smirking. "..." The old elf was once again to respond to that, but the initial flinch that got forcibly held back told the boy more than enough. "Anyway... you said that it was better for us to walk thest mile or so just in case there were some vigers in the area that could have spotted us but shouldn''t you be able to sense them from some extreme distance, why the additional cautiousness?" "...well..." Zombie asked, changing the topic, but surprisingly didn''t get the reaction he expected. Instead, the old elf looked to the side and looked away on his own. "I... just wanted to make sure that you know not to rush things. You are extremely talented and hardworking, just make sure you won''t try to bite more than you can chew too early and get yourself killed, alright? Mirabelle would be sad if something happened to you." Olive turned back to face the young boy and shrugged his shoulders while smirking slightly awkwardly. |Oh-ho! Someone is more popr than ever! Maybe we should go have you appraised after all whether you secretly have a charm skill too?| Patience giggled inside her seal, pointing out the worried tone of the old elf - it certainly didn''t sound like only the vige elder wouldn''t want something to happen to the brown-haired boy, and not just because he knew about the situation of the entire elven race and promised to help them. |Good, that really is making it easy to set up a backup n... but also... why do you sound so jealous...?| Zombie responded indifferently and focused on following the trail between the trees used by animals. |Eh...? I-I am most certainly not! Shut up! You better tell me what is that backup n you are thinking about?| |Nothing important. Never mind that.| Patience''s gasped but got shrugged off by Zombie the same way she dismissed him before. Shortly after, the human and the elf arrived at the spot where a plump merchant, drolling excessively while his eyes stared nkly into the distance, as he was walking in circles so much that he managed to trample the vegetation alongside his path into the unrecognizable mud. "A moment." Olive stepped forward and reached his hand towards the hypnotized man. "...!" The elf''s eyes shone with a bright white light and the merchant flinched and froze in ce with open jaw hanging loose, staring at the closest tree. "I made sure that your cart is exactly where you left it, from now on there''s no way for you to get lost unless you gopletely off of this path." Olive exined to Zombie, pointing out at the lumberjacks trail leading towards the forest entrance. "This guy will follow you there too, and will go on the cart, my skill will deactivate and he will return to his normal self once he gets on the driver''s seat." He added exining everything carefully. "In his new memories, the two of you, especially you, were going around the forest chasing after the elf and at the veryst day he managed to get away, because of a mess up on Jackfruit''s part - of course, in case of trouble he will try to pin it down on you but it won''t be anything serious, I promise. He should still give you the reward but I can''t promise you that. You know..." Olive shrugged his shoulders and made a sour expression. "Yeah, everyone in Envys territory tries to swindle others. Don''t worry. Thanks for understanding and going along with my request." Zombie nodded with a smirk and patted his chest te in the spot directly over the tiny box containing the artifact the elves had given to him of their own free will. "By any chance, if I will be in the neighborhood, can Ie to visit you, even if it''s too early for me to help you all out...?" Zombie took a step forwards but ended up turning back and shyly looking at the elven guardian. "...!" The old elf went wide-eyed before smiling and looking away awkwardly after realizing that he should act more serious. "Yes, of course! Fuck! I mean, if you want to... No pressure..." He said hurriedly, trying to y it cool. |Any ideas why he acts like that?| Zombie asked internally. |Elves have a weak spot for their family... even the most distant ones. Though you really aren''t someone who understands familiar bonds, are you?| Patience''s snickered in response. Chapter 349: In the guild (1)

Chapter 349: In the guild (1)

The adventurer guild was busy as always, with the adventurers as well as various civilians wishing to put up a mission or directly hire a specific adventurer to help them... *WHAM* That''s why, a certain woman with braided reddish-brown hair smashing one of the counters and scaring all of the guild staff members on duty, wasn''t something well received... "What do you mean a banished dwarf?! Is every single one of you braindead or something?! If he looks like a six-year-old human and sounds like a six-year-old human, then it is well within your interest to make sure to appraise him to make sure that he isn''t actually a six-year-old before epting his registration, you morons!" Laura''s roar, - because she was the very person who broke apart the sturdy counter - resounded through the whole guild''s building. "B-but, madam! It''s impossible for a child to be strong enough toplete even a single mission! And mister Zombie rapidly became our branch''s most efficient hunter within thest first few months since his registration! It is you who must be mistaken!" The brave guild staff member, a male kobold who just so happened to be the same person who attended Zombie''s registration a year before, stood up from the floor and talked back to the furious human woman, while carefully picking up the chair he fell off from and putting it between himself and her for safety reasons. "He also always presents himself with a proper mannerism, adequate for the banished dwarf! I would know!" He added peeking at the woman from behind the backrest of his chair. "Oh, really? Then I request that you show me the appraisal results he submitted with his registration form!" *ching* "Here''s the fee required for doing that." She added after she dropped a small pouch filled with small coins right on the remains of the counter beneath her feet. "I... I... he didn''t submit such form..." The kobold''s eyes darted to the money, but he didn''t dare to move a step away from the minimal defenses that the chair was giving him. "Then why was he epted? Appraisal results are required for the application process at every single proper adventurer''s guild. Are you telling me that the branches at the Envys territory abandoned that rule?" Laura asked coldly. "No!" "Of course not, miss Laura." The kobold, drenched in cold sweat shook his head and denied the usation, and was instantly followed by another, much more confident voice. "...tsk... what do you want, Banana? Can''t you see I''m having a conversation?" Laura clicked her tongue and red at the person that appeared from one of the rooms in the back - a tall but slim middle-aged ck-haired amber-eyed woman with a banana-shaped birthmark on the side of her neck. "What I can see is you terrorizing my employee and destroying the property of my guild... I''ve been respecting you selfishly retiring from the guild and running away from your duties because of ourte acquaintance but this is taking it too far." The woman spoke coldly, ring down at the aggressive intruder. "Don''t even try pulling Plum into this! It''s because of you holding back the information that he died on that mission, you bastard! You will pay for that, but it''s not the reason for my today''s visit..." Laura''s face got crimson from anger, but she somehow managed to held back her anger and breathed out before sending the woman a disgusted re. "Yes, I heard you. You have the annoying ability to make your voice extremely loud and obnoxious without actually screaming." Banana scoffed and reached to her pocket, pulling out a small monocle and putting it to her left eye. "It''s about a presumed child who managed to register himself as an adventurer in our guild posing as a dwarf... what''s the problem with that?" She spoke calmly and raised her brow questioningly. "Wh-what''s the problem?! You are employing a child! A child! Even you soulless moraly-drained money-hungry wench should realize what''s wrong with that!" Laura scoffed in disbelief and took a step forward. "He wanted to be an adventurer and was willing to cheat his way into bing one, while somehow having the necessary strength and skills toplete the missions despite his young age... I call that a shining example of what someone raised in the Envys territory should be. Resourceful, smart, and daring... I can rte to that." Banana opened her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "Grape, tell us why did you allow that supposed dwarf to register." The tall woman turned to the kobold and encouraged him. "He... he brought a whole bag of goblins ears as proof that he could pass the entry exam which is thepletely viable way of bypassing the requirement for the appraisal." The kobold instantly responded, stuttering only a little at the beginning. "You heard that?" Banana turned back to the frowning woman clenching her fists from extreme anger. "Sounds like the boy was already up to some dangerous business even before setting his foot in here. Honestly, with how it all sounds, I would easily ept him as an adventurer even if he didn''te up with a great scheme of posing as a banished dwarf. Haha! What a splendid kid!" "...!" Banana pped her hands andughed, causing Laura to tremble in fury. "But that brings us to you... Everyone here knows that you abandoned the guild and your duties as the strongest adventurer of this branch to help poor lost kids find their calling... truly a selfless and inefficient way to spend your money and time, but that''s beside the point..." The woman smirked and her monocle reflected the light in a menacing way. "...why do you care about that bo... ah... of course..." "..." Banana suddenly realizing what was going on in the middle of asking made Laura clench her fists even harder, and it cost her a lot of self-control to notunch herself at the person she hated the most in the entire world. "I see. You finally epted a kid that requires attention that is far beyond your capabilities, so you came here to unleash your build-up frustration here... honestly, you would do much better to just jump at that apothecary of yours and wrung him dry, one less annoying prude would do the world good." Banana grinned and waved her hand dismissively as if trying to get rid of some nasty smelling from Laura. "Don''t you even dare speak about Papaya, you loose whore!" But with thatment, she clearly went too far as Laura''s body shone with active skills. Chapter 350: In the guild (2)

Chapter 350: In the guild (2)

"Tell me, it seems that this boy had been working as an adventurer for quite some time already... why showing up only now?" "!!!!" But Banana clearly knew how to deal with the danger without actually jumping in and duking it out in a fight she knew that she would lose, and made Laura be pale and take a step back with just a few words. "Grape...?" The tall woman folded her arms and nced questioningly at the kobold. "I-it must be because thest mission that mister Zombie epted was guarding a merchant on a fetch quest to the Great northern forest. It was supposed to take up to four days but it has already been nine." The kobold hurriedly rushed to the leather-bound book and read out the specifications of a mission after moving a few pages back. "Ah... so that''s how it is... it would be a shame to lose a promising newbie like him, say, Laura. Instead of venting out your anger why don''t you put up a rescue mission? The Great northern forest is known for itsplexity and how easy is to get lost in there for weeks." Banana spoke calmly, and that''s exactly why her words annoyed Laura so much... "...maybe that''s what I should do..." ...because the most annoying part about it was that the tall woman was right about sending out the search party. *creak* The tiny sound of the main door opening has escaped basically everyone inside the guild since they were too focused on watching andmenting on the situation ying out between the former highest-level adventurer of their guild and their guild-master. "...?" But it wasn''t silent enough to escape the attention of the said guild master. Banana took her eyes off of the dispirited reddish-brown-haired woman and nced at the new arrival. "...!" And her eyes widened once sheid her eyes upon him. Someone very short, wearing a world down barrel-like armor that must have been a bad fit, with a crossguard of a simple one-handed shortsword sticking out of the expensive sheath at his waist, with short brown hair unable to properly hide the forehead covered in various scars, some of which were going all the way across his soft and childish face... "...?" The newly arrived person raised his head in confusion - the confrontation between Banana and Laura caused everyone in the guild to move towards the walls leaving the middle clear just in case someone would get sent flying, so even with his unimpressive height the new person could clearly see both women - which made him tilt his head in confusion. "...?" "!!!" Banana''s and his eyes met and the woman instantly understood howe anyone could mistake this boy for a dwarf. His eyes. Those weren''t the eyes of a child. "...fine. I want you to put up a mission. I need a rescue party to go search through the Great northern forest to find the boy." Laura gave in and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the triumphant smile on Banana''s face - even though if she did, she would have instantly noticed that something was off. "!!!!" But after hearing her voice and looking at her reddish-brown hair, realizing her identity, the boy flinched and turned around instantly and opened the door to leave without any hesitation. *bump* "Ugh...! Watch it you perv...?! Ah! Mister Zombie!" But that only ended up with him bumping his face against the stomach of the thin, big-eyed woman whom he recognized instantly, and who wasn''t supposed to be there by any means. "Sh-shut it!" "Mpfh...?!" The young boy panicked and climbed on his tiptoes to block her mouth with both hands, but it was toote already, and she wasn''t even alone there in the first ce... "In''re? Huh?! Whoa there! Mister Zombie, what''s the matter?" The thin woman was being followed by the man who was looking as if he was getting a bit plumper recently... as well as the eight-foot-tall kindhearted looking woman, a short rat-faced man, and a tall woman hiding her face under a very deep hood. "Ghuuah...! Mister Zombie! It''s inappropriate to do something like that in public!" In''re, freed from Zombie''s hands, gasped for air andined, with a slight blush covering her face, as she hid behind Rotte. "...oh for...! What the hell are you five doing here?! Weren''t you supposed to not return here after you got screwed over?!" The boy groaned trying to bypass the young Dandelions, but after all five of them stood in the door such thing was easier said than done... "Oh! You know... the mission we were forced toplete was really awful but with you backing us up, the money for selling the monster parts was more than enough to make up for that failure... so, you know... since there aren''t many well-paid jobs avable around our usual ce, we were hoping to join up with you and go hunt down some monsters... apparently, the ce called the Great northern forest has a lot of rare monsters which parts sell for a hefty price!" Rotte fidgeted awkwardly and exined in a hopeful voice. "...wha... BECAUSE I HELPED YOU LAST TIME?! Umfh!" Zombie gasped in disbelief, realizing all but toote that he raised his voice way too much - he tried to stop himself by blocking his own mouth with his hands, but... "...Zombie...?" "...fuck..." Laura called out in shock and the boy sighed under his breath making a bitter face before he turned around, to face his temporary guardian... Laura turned her back on the guild master and was staring at the boy in disbelief. "...umm... it took longer than I expected... sorry...?" Zombie awkwardly raised his left hand in which he was holding a piece of paper with Jackfruit''s handwriting and seal, confirming the missionpletion. "You irresponsible boy!" Laura cried out and ran up to him. "Is everything alright? Are you hurt? No strange people took advantage of you?" "!!!" Zombie was prepared for being carried out outside by his ear or something like that but instead, Laura kneeled by him and grabbed his face with both hands with a horribly worried expression. "...N-no, of course not. They all think that I''m a banished dwarf so they didn''t try anything at all... or at least that''s how it was until now..." Zombie responded as best he could even with squished cheeks. "We''re going home this instant. I was worried sick about you, you know, you silly boy!" Laura didn''t pick up on how bothered Zombie was that she had outed him as an actual child and instead picked him up and hugged him despite all the armor he had on him. "We''re going home. I swear I''m going to scold you for this irresponsible behavior so much your ears are going to fall off!" Laurained while patting Zombie''s head. "Excuse us." She red at the Dandelions. "Umm... ma''am...? Why are you acting like that towards mister dwarf...?" Uresha, who was lowering her head already to peek through the door, lowered it even more and asked in confusion. "Dwarf?! Stop with this already! Zombie is just a six-year-old human boy! He might be way stronger than average, but how anyone with a pinch ofmon sense could get tricked by that story is beyond me! Now, excuse me!" Laura scoffed and pushed past the young adventurers who jumped away in confusion and watched as she walks off, with even greater confusion. "...what can I do...?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and waved to the Dandelions with an apologetic expression. Chapter 351: Plans for the immidiate future

Chapter 351: ns for the immidiate future

|Wow... she really didn''t joke about the length of the scolding...| Zombie sighed internally while going to bed as the sun was already setting. |She was worried. Even if she is overbearing, in the end, everything she does she does with the good of the kids she''s taking care of in mind. Can''t me her for getting really scared when you suddenly disappeared.| Patience responded lightheartedly, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders. |Yeah... I guess. I bet that if it only took four days everything would be fine.| Zombieined, closing his eyes. |It would, but it didn''t.| Patience sighed dismissively. |You are extremely lucky to have her actually allow you to continue the adventuring business, although under her watchful eye. Seriously, your human form must be contesting Corvus in terms of the LUC stat! Just don''t show Laura that you have superbia or overpower and everything should be fine. Goodnight~| She added as if she also was ready to sleep. |...why do you sound so... uninterested...?| Zombie furrowed his brows and turned on his side. |Meh. We basicallypleted everything we possibly could. You made connections with every essible character that will be of importance during future story events. What''s left is for you to hone your skills, but not too much or else you won''t be able to use them once you turn into an undead.| Patience exined while sounding as if she was stretchingzily. |I guess you can say that I''m going to take things easy for the next few months. And you can do the same.| She added making it sound as if she was smiling. |Wait, really?| Zombie opened his eyes and furrowed his eyes in disbelief. |Really.| Patience breathed out sounding as if she was gettingfortable just as if she was on the bed next to the boy. |What about getting in contact with Corvus? Shouldn''t we be able to visit the Wraths territory and meet him in the church he is camping out in?| |Meeting him for the first time is a part of one of the main quests, so no.| |Then the capture target from the Sloth family! The two of us are supposed to have a connection!| |A connection formed thanks to the bounded bard questline avable during theter part of the story.| |How about Mason? We already are in the Envys territory, and his family doesn''t like him so it will be easy to get close to him!| |We do need toe in contact with both him and Filia, but only after Cranberry is with us, making friends with them now would only cause them both to be more distant in the future instead.| |How about ymore? Ah, no, wait...| |As you surely know, ymore is the greatest treasure of the Lust family, they will not allow anyone from the outside to even look at them, much lessing close enough for a conversation.| |Then Arion!| |Although he would most definitely use a friend as he is currently still in his human form getting bullied by his siblings in the Gluttony territory. We won''t make it in time before he receives the curse of gluttony, and once he does, it will take him more than a year to regain his senses. Even if you meet him during that time, he won''t remember you.| |Roan...?| After having every option proposed rejected by the sealed overseer, Zombie gave hisst pick though even he himself already knew that it would end up the same way as the rest. |Yeah, sure, of course. Go ahead, sneak into the royal pce and be friends with the first prince of the kingdom. I''m sure that is a really easy thing to do!| Patience spoke mockingly, sounding as if she shook her head. |Listen, if you really want to do something that much, go and help Mia train. Nothing will infuriate her more than seeing the ridiculous gap in your skill, ensuring that she will join Durian. You can also do something in the background to assure that Luke will follow her. I will make sure to observe everything and warn you if you''re going too far.| Patience sighed deeply, sounding as if she rolled her eyes and shrugged dismissively. "Kopia, were you listening?" Zombie asked out loud and tugged on a single crimson string coiled around his right hand connected to the pommel of the one-handed sword leaning against his bed. "I did!" The sword''s de showed up just a little bit from above the sheath and the high-frequency vibrations of the de formed into enthusiastic words. "This means that we canplete a lot of quests and buy you many swords to eat, aren''t you happy?" Zombie grinned, reached out, and caressed both the pommel and the crossguard of the weapon. "Ehehe~ I will have master all to myself!" Kopia giggled and burrowed herselffortably back into the expensive sheath. |As if! I''m not going anywhere, you know?!| Patience cried out, totally sulking. "Of course you''re not. I''ll continue to be in your care." Zombie smiled softly and bowed his head. |H-hmph! Cheeky idiot!| Patience''s scoffed in embarrassment and went silent after muttering to herself. "Now then..." Zombie''s smile turned into a smirk and he walked towards the window. *thump* *thump* *thump* He had a perfect view of the sixteen-year-old dark-skinned girl practicing tirelessly with the mace on the training dummy in the backyard. "Laura didn''t punish me, so there''s no reason for me to wait with helping Mia train." Zombie cackled before grabbing Kopia and strapping her to his waist, opening the window, jumping out, andnding softly thanks to the whirlwind kick, all in a single fluent motion. "Zombie!" Mia froze mid-swing and turned towards him with a gasp. "Yo! Listen, as an apology for rejecting taking you on that mission..." "Zombie! I am so sorry!" "...huh...?" Zombie came up with an easy way of offering his help without making it seem like a mockery but got taken aback by the older girl suddenly bowing her head down to him. "The girls back at the tavern... they told me about that merchant, Jackfruit! I had no idea that the mission was about hunting elves to turn into ves! And not just that! That bastard is a well-known creep who tries to get his hands on any girl unlucky enough to grab his attention - and what''s worse, since the color of my skin is umon in this kingdom, I could have even ended up as one of the merchandise in his shop if things got really bad! I am so sorry, I was acting like such a brat while you were just trying to keep me away from the real danger...!" Mia eximed it all in a single breath, lowering her head more and more, not even trying to make eye contact with the boy. |...so she caught on that, huh...| |What, did you hope to keep it a secret?| Zombie sighed internally while Patience sounded as if she raised her brow in disbelief. "I don''t need you to apologize and there''s no need to feel grateful. If you were stronger, there would be no need for me to worry about you. Let''s train together from now on." The boy patted Kopia''s pommel and crossguard affectionately while looking at the girl with a challenge. "...so you were worried about me... Let''s!" Mia let out a softugh before straightening her back and smiling at Zombie. |Uh-oh, not another one...!| Patience cried out in a pained voice. |Shut it! We want Luke to follow her, right? What''s better than getting him jealous? For some people, that''s the best way to make them realize their feelings. Now shush for a bit.| Zombie scoffed at the sealed overseer and stealthily nced back at the shy skinny boy peeking at the two of them from behind the corner of the house. |...| And Patience indeed went silent. "I''ve heard from Laura that you decided to quit the job at the tavern and go full-on adventuring, good for you, maybe we can do some missions together." Zombie nodded at the girl and started walking towards Mia. "Here, I have a congrattion gift for finally speaking up your mind to her." The boy beckoned the girl to lean down, which she did with a curious expression. "Although - thankfully - no elves were caught during the mission, that bastard did set up a minimal reward, remember?" Zombie asked pulling something out of his back pocket. "Eh...?! You don''t mean...?!" Mia gasped and almost backed out in surprise but the boy was faster and already had his arms around her neck. "!!!!" "!!!!" Mia was shocked by the sudden action while Luke watching from afar was shocked because from his perspective it looked as if Zombie was kissing the girl. "It''s not really that good because most of his merchandise was a lower-medium quality stuff, but this little thing should be useful for you until you reach the medium-levels as an adventurer." Zombie exined while finishing tying up a thin letter strap behind Mia''s nape without getting even slightly bothered over how close their faces were and that Mia could feel his breath on her skin as he spoke. "...!" As soon as he was done, the girl backed away and put her hand up to her neck, and her eyes widened once she felt a shape of a lightning-shaped artifact and instantly received a system message informing her that she became its first owner as well as a list of benefits the artifact was giving her. "Z-Zombie...! I-I don''t know what to say...!" Mia gasped, struggling to find the right words to express her gratitude. "You don''t have to say anything. I didn''t need anything from his dingy shop so I got the second-best thing." The boy smirked evilly, making sure that the girl realized he meant that he is already above the level of such toys. "Well then, let''s get you nice and strong so I can stop worrying about your safety, I honestly have better things to do than that." He added pulling out Kopia and assumed a battle stance. "Remember, even with that artifact, you aren''t some unstoppable force now. Let''s have a test run - I will be only defending and you will try to hit me once. I have the responsibility to show you that the equipment is not everything!" |Good! Make her realize that she wants to level up as strong as possible!| Zombie boasted as his body lighted up with skills and Patience cheered from within him. Chapter 352: Volume 6s epilogue (The mandatory backstory event)

Chapter 352: Volume 6''s epilogue (The mandatory backstory event)

The simple carriage without any marking stopped at the entrance to the prosperous vige somewhere in the Greeds territory. Although the vige was rtively small, it had a couple of inns, a residential appraiser, and a stationary shop dealing with the most valuable magic stones, which made it far more advanced than many towns and even some cities in the area. "Kids, we''re here." The coachman, who turned out to be Papaya, the apothecary who always helped Laura, knocked on the carriage''s wall and called out. The door opened and a young, at most a seven-year-old brown-haired boy walked out and looked around all the buildings and people moving around busy with their own lives. "...it is finally time..." The boy muttered to himself with a serious expression, before smirking to himself. "Zombie, are you sure you don''t want us to take you all the way to your home?" Papaya leaned down and asked, making a concerned expression. "There''s no need. I don''t want to hold you back - thest thing I want is making Lukete to interview at the temple." Zombie turned to the man and shook his head before waving his head dismissively. "It''s your big day, I know you will get the schrship, your healing magic is amazing, and you are only going to be a yer character in a few months." The boy turned back and smiled at another child, a skinny boy looking at him with tearful eyes. "Huh...? Hey, what is it about, Luke? Shouldn''t you be happy that you are getting rid of your rival?" Zombie giggled and winked at the silently sulking boy. "Don''t even joke like that...! Without you I would never awaken to healing magic! You might be my rival but you are my best friend first!" Luke hurriedly wiped his face with the sleeve of a light-brown robe with green linings and left his seat to approach Zombie. "You will see. I might not be as strong as you, but I will make sure to find a way for my healing magic to make myself invincible! Then the three of us will be able to form a team and go on many different adventures together! I pro...! I promi... I... I prom...uuuuu....!" Luke was almost done with giving a very nice farewell speech, but the emotions won over him and he started sobbing right by the end. "Now, now. It is not like I am leaving forever, I''m just returning home after my reeducation is done. We will surely meet again and who knows? Maybe we really will go adventuring together. That''s why you need to get strong - stronger than any of those scrubs at the temple!" Zombieughed and reached out his left hand for a handshake. "...heh... ye-yesh, for sure...!" Lukeughed through the tears also offered his left hand while sniffling into his right one. "Do you have everything with you?" Papaya asked while stealthily wiping a single tear from the corner of his eye. "Sure, I don''t have many things with me, only the bare necessities." Zombie stepped away from the crying Luke and spread his arms - in one hand he was holding a small traveling pouch filled with some personal belongings, while in the other he held an expensive-looking scabbard with a simple one-handed sword sheathed inside. "The farm will feel empty without you all, especially since Laura wants to take a short vacation away from the Envys territory - and I can''t me her, apparently her old acquaintance, miss Banana, has been visiting her all the time recently." Papaya sighed and smiled softly at the two boys. "The guild master has offered to sponsor me and groom me into their next best adventurer, but I don''t really feel like it, at least not for now." Zombieughed in response, and patted his chest pocket, bulging out because of the tiny box tucked inside. "I have something really important to do before I couldmit to anything else." He added before strapping the scabbard to his waist and throwing the pouch over his shoulder. "You two really should go already - it soon will be the time to serve dinner, and there is still a bit of the way for you, isn''t there?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and started walking while continuing to look back at the simple carriage, the thin coachman, and the scrawny kid unable to hold back his tears. "Yes, you''re right. Don''t overdo your training. You can keep it slow for a while longer." Papaya nodded at him and gave him onest piece of advice. "Khahaha! You know that I can''t promise you something like that! Good luck with Laura!" The brown-haired boyughed and shook his head cheerfully. "Zombie! Bye-bye! Don''t forget us!" Luke closed the carriage''s door but was leaning out of the window while waving at the other boy. "There''s no way that I could even if I tried! See you, Luke!" Zombie smirked and turned his back on the other two, raising his hand in a final wave while walking into the vige. *click* He didn''t turn back when he heard Papaya clicking his tongue at the domesticated monsters making them move and neither did he nce at the carriage turning right and following a road that didn''t run through the vige. |That kid likes you way too much. But, at least, even if the jealousy won''t spark hispetitive spirit, we can still count on his yearning to catch up to you to stand by your side, so everything should be fine.| Patienceined a bit but ended her sentence with a relieved sigh... although a relieved sigh that wasn''tpletely free from sarcasm. |Yeah, can''t me him for that though, since both he and Mia are important for achieving the secret true ending, I might have been a little bit too lenient with them... maybe even doting... oh, well.| Zombie responded internally with a smirk and a shrug. |It is almost time, are you ready?| |Even though I can''t wait to be an undead, being ready for my own death isn''t as easy as I thought.| Patience''s voice became serious while Zombie''s response was just as serious but somehow lighthearted at the same time. |Getting cold feet? Don''t tell me you want to call everything off?| |Pffft...! Are you crazy?| Patience asked but Zombie only snorted, barely able to keep himself from bursting into loudughter. |You know, we could... ah...! They''re here!| For a moment Patience sounded as if she wanted to propose some alternative n, but that got scrapped as soon as a luxurious carriage with the crest of the Pride family appeared in the cloud of dust, speeding through the road as the coachman lost control over the horses. "Right on time." Zombie smirked softly while positioning himself right in the middle of the road, just as he was forced to do in the first ythrough. "...the way...!" Just as in his memories, the pale as a sheet coachman was shouting and waving his hand at him from the distance. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, KID!" The panicked coachman roared, but Zombie only smiled and closed his eyes, rxing his body and making sure he won''t activate any defensive skills out of reflex. "It''s time for everything to begin." The boy muttered as the shadow of the horse''s hoof loomed over his face and... *CRUSH* Chapter 353: Enter the Cranberry?

Chapter 353: Enter the Cranberry?

"...Haa... The prince already has a fiance, mother will get angry that the engagement proposal was rejected..." A small seven-year-old girl sighed, looking down and clenching her fists on he knees so hard that her knuckles turned white. Her shoulder-length hair was darkish red, a not-so-pretty color that inadvertently made others think about blood. Her face and shoulders, now hidden underneath the red sleeves of a frilly crimson dress her mother picked for her, were covered with freckles. It was, without a doubt a youngdy of the Pride family, Cranberry Pride in her own, tiny person. "Don''t worry about that sweetie. I''m sure that mommy will understand." Cranberry''s father, a handsome bespectacled man, ckberry Pride, smiled and reassured her in a calm voice. "She won''t. Haa..." Cranberry''s shoulders trembled for just a moment before she breathed out and raised her head with a stern expression. "Why doesn''t she ever listen to what I want?" She asked while observing the scenery visible out of the carriage''s window. "Sweetie, your mommy only wants the best for you, you are such a smart child, try to understand her." Lord ckberry asked with a soft smile, leaning to the side, in an attempt to make eye contact, but his daughter wasn''t budging at all. "Haa..." She only sighed with a cloudy expression, having realized that she had no allies in her own family - which certainly wasn''t a pleasant experience for such a young child and yet that was exactly what the little girl was feeling right now... All that was left for her was to try to hold back all the emotions by ring at all the fields they were passing. Cranberry only wanted for her mother to tell her she loves her, or that she is proud of her, but she never was good enough for such kind words. Even at such a young age, Cranberry was ready to give up and stop trying to appease her mother and try to walk her own path... If only she had someone whom she could call her own... like the princess in the novel she was reading before her mother found and confiscated it since Cranberry was already spending too much time reading. That princess had a knight who always stood by her side no matter what. The book was taken away, but Cranberry had no doubt that the princess and knight would go hand in hand together on endless adventures... maybe even take over the world! Ah... such cute childish dreams... "...!" A sudden tree passed by the window in a sh, momentarily startling the girl. "Ha...?" She blinked and shook her head as if she couldn''t believe her eyes. "What''s the matter?" Her father asked with concern. "The carriage... isn''t it going way too fast? What if we ran into something?" Cranberry asked, pointing at the outside with a concerned expression. "Now, it might just look like that, but our coachman would never... umm... huh...?" Lord ckberry smiled reassuringly and nced at the buildings they were passing by rapidly at way too fast speed. "sted horse! GO SLOWER - you darned beast!" "!!!!" ...and then the two of them heard the voice of the coachmaning from the outside. "Dear system...! KID! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Suddenly the coachman''s voice grew more panicked and he started screaming. "OUT OF THE WAY, KID!" The coachman screamed in desperation before... *CRUSH* *WHAM* "!!!!!!" With the sound of the wheels breaking, the whole carriage gotunched in the air and toppled over! Lord ckberry had barely any time to jump over and grabbed his daughter in a protective embrace - he was level 79 and had no reason to worry but she was just a sheltered child at level 1, such ident as crashing the carriage could easily seriously harm her or worse! "Dear system...! Sweetie, are you alright?!" The man with his sses tilted over in aical way gasped and asked the child in his arms. "Y-yes...! Daddy, what happened?!" Cranberry was shaking her head, trying to get away from her father to try and exit the toppled carriage. "I don''t know... it sounded as if someone got on the road, and our coachman tried to dodge them. We must have been unlucky and hit a stone thatunched us or something. Wait here, I''ll check what it was exactly." Lord ckberry spoke with a worried expression but his daughter was already opening the upside-down door. "Daddy, the horses are acting weird, and the mister that drove us isn''t moving." Cranberry peeked outside and reported. "WHAT?! Wait a bit sweetie, I''ll see what I can do!" Lord ckberry eximed in shock and hurriedly passed his daughter and jumped outside. "...!" He flinched once he saw the person unconscious coachman bleeding from the head, sprawled on the roadside right under someone''s home, as the fallen horses neighed desperately, trying to get up while tied up in the reins. Lord ckberry hurriedly fixed his sses and rushed to the wounded man. "...ha..." Meanwhile, Cranberry also got out and dusted off her dress crumpled by her father''s embrace. Then she straightened her back, she noticed how terribly broken the wheels of their carriage were... but there was no trace of any metal beam or a boulder that would exin such damage... Nothing aside from... "Ha?!" She looked around at the site and, searching for any clue when her eyes ended up on a figureying down in the middle of the road. "...!" Cranberry flinched and her eyes widened. It looked like the kid that the coachman was shouting at didn''t dodge in time and got ran over... "...haa..." The red-haired girl looked between the damaged wheels and the body and furrowed her brows. It didn''t take long for curiosity to take over and she carefully approached the unmoving shape. "...!" Her brows shoot up once she realized that she was standing over a body of a boy that must have been around the same age as she was. He had short brown hair and his face was really cute, there was no doubt that he would grow up to be a handsomed... well, or at least he would if not for the carriage that ended his life journey. "Wait... Ha...? Is that how someone ran over by a carriage should look like? Aren''t you a bit too good-looking?" Cranberry asked out loud in confusion, leaning down over the corpse. "...ugh..." "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A corpse that suddenly let out a pained grunt! Cranberry jumped away as if she was struck by a lightning, ghastly pale and with a heart rate of a rabbit who just finished a marathon. The handsome brown-haired boy rolled over on all fours and shook his head like a dog that came out of a bath and then he slowly looked up. "...Cranberry...?" He asked in confusion, his mind still foggy. Then he looked down and saw his hands, still in the color of the living being. "H-huh...?! HUH?! What the hell?!" The boy shouted and jumped right back up at his feet. "What is this supposed to...?!" "NEIGH!" Heined but his voice god drowned by the horse''s neigh so loud that it must have been heard in the entire vige. Of course, such a loud noise got the attention of everyone present... And what they saw was the massive jet ck horse monster with crimson eyes standing up from over the carcass of the other horse... Its jaws now filled with sharp fangs were drenched with the blood of its dead brethren and its body was getting covered in rapidly growing horns - two especially big grew straight from its forehead... ...right above the brightly burning mark... "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" The boy roared in shock mixed with fury... "NEIGH!" ...and as if in response, the horse monster snorted back and an unbelievable amount of red and ck smoke shot out from its nostrils and formed a dome-like barrier that pushed out the remains of the carriage together with Lord ckberry and the wounded coachman but epassed the two children and the horse monster itself. "NEIGH!" The beast''s voice sounded as if itughed as it kicked up the ground with its wed hoof, staring hungrily at the soft defenseless bodies in front of it. Chapter 354: Something went wrong... or did it...?

Chapter 354: Something went wrong... or did it...?

|Zombie...! Zombie wake up! We screwed up!| Patience''s voice was echoing in the boy''s head... he heard it, but it was so hard to wake up... But he had to. Cranberry was waiting for him. "...ugh..." "!!!!!!!!!!!!" He muttered in spite of himself and he heard the sound of someone hurriedly backing off, so he rolled over. |Get up! Open your eyes! We messed up! Hurry! We need to fix it as soon as possible!| Patiencemanded him in an urgent voice. |Alright, alright...| Zombie agreed feeling waves of strong pain crashing all over his body. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up. Right in front of him, he saw a young blood-red-haired freckled girl in a red dress, staring at him with scared, wide-opened eyes. "...Cranberry...?" He asked in confusion, his mind still foggy. Then he looked down, just to see his hands, still in the color of the living being. "H-huh...?! HUH?! What the hell?!" The boy shouted and jumped right back up at his feet. |That''s what I''ve been talking about, idiot! You''re still alive! I knew that you shouldn''t have leveled up reaching level 3 of superbia! The passive modifiers must have multiplied your DEF stat so much that the speeding carriage wasn''t able to kill you! Hurry! We must get you killed or our n will be ruined!| Patience cried out in a panicked voice "What is this supposed to...?!" "NEIGH! (IT HURTS! BLOOD! KILL! I MUST KILL HUMANS!" Heined but his voice god drowned by the horse''s neigh so loud that it must have been heard in the entire vige. Of course, such a loud noise got the attention of everyone present... And what they saw was the massive jet ck horse monster with crimson eyes standing up from over the carcass of the other horse... Its jaws now filled with sharp fangs were drenched with the blood of its dead brethren and its body was getting covered in rapidly growing horns - two especially big grew straight from its forehead... ...right above the brightly burning mark... |Eh...?! Well, isn''t that a ridiculous coincidence! Zombie, it''s one of your favorite sigil monsters!| Patienceughed in relief. "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" The boy roared in shock mixed with fury... "NEIGH! (HUMAN FOALS! YOU SHALL BE MY FIRST MEAL!)" ...and as if in response, the horse monster snorted back and an unbelievable amount of red and ck smoke shot out from its nostrils and formed a dome-like barrier that pushed out the remains of the carriage together with Lord ckberry and the wounded coachman but epassed the two children and the horse monster. |No fucking way! Are you telling me that this is how the meeting between the two of us was supposed to happen?!| Zombie growled internally. |There''s nothing about it in the knowledge I have ess to! This meeting is a mere backstory, it wasn''t properly exined or showed in the game! Everything will be fine as long as you end up dead... I guess...| Patience exined hurriedly but didn''t sound very certain, especially not by the end of her sentence... |YOU GUESS?!| Zombie roared furiously. "NEIGH! (HUMAN FOALS, I SHALL FEAST ON YOUR FLESH AND THEM IS HALL DEVOUR EVERYONE ELSE! BE GRATEFUL TO BE THE FIRST OF YOUR KIND TO BECOME MY PREY!)" The beast''s voice sounded as if itughed as it kicked up the ground with its wed hoof, staring hungrily at the soft defenseless bodies in front of it. |You heard that? This one is way more talkative than the previous two! Must be a difference between the mind of a bug and the mammal.| Patience pointed out with interest. |I don''t give a damn about how well-spoken it is! It wants us dead all the same!| Zombie gritted his teeth, ring at the confident monster looking with amusement back at the barrier it created - or rather at Lord ckberry giving his best but failing miserably to break through it. "NEIGH! (FULLISH HUMANS! ONLY DEATH AWAITS YOU ALL! WITNESS HOW I DEVOUR YOUR FOALS AND WAIT YOUR TURN!)" The horse monster neighed mockingly and more red and ck smoke escaped its nostrils. "Hey! You dumb horse, aren''t you forgetting about someone?!" "HA?!" Zombie scoffed and stepped in front of Cranberry, protecting her with his body - which made the girl gasp in shock and disbelief. |Yeah... if you only needed to die here, there would be no problem, those horns look really sharp - little horsie ranked up all the way to a bicorn - the thing is, you need to die but make sure that your viiness will survive. Are you up to it?| Patience asked sounding as if she was stiff from worry. |Do you even have to ask? I won''t fail her the second time.| Zombie scoffed back, watching as the bicorn slowly turns its head and focuses its crimson eyes straight at him. |Ugh... creepy, horses aren''t supposed to have front-facing eyes like those...| Patience muttered in disgust, but this time she was ignored, even though Zombie was one hundred percent agreeing with her. "Neigh... (Cheeky human foal, why does it sound like you can understand me, food isn''t supposed to talk back...)" The bicorn neighed mockingly, but its voice didn''tck surprise. "Food? Big words for a mere prey!" Zombieughed back as his face twisted with a mocking smirk. "Neigh...?! (Huh, you do understand me! What magic is this...?!)" "Ha?! You, you understand that monster?!" Both the bicorn and Cranberry were equally shocked by the realization. "..." Zombie''s smirk turned from a mocking into a confident one as he turned back and nced at the red-haired girl. "Miss, you don''t look like you are ten years old, you must have not be a yer character yet, have you?" He asked in apletely different tone. "Ha...?! Um... yes, but, that''s not the time to...!" Cranberry flinched and took a step back, ncing between the smiling boy and therge beast staring down at them with an unprecedented fury. "It would be a shame if you missed on the benefits of the early quests just because of some measly monster..." "NEIGH?! (A WEAK FOAL IS CALLING ME A MEASLY MONSTER?!)" The bicorn foamed from anger at the boy''s words and lowered its head for a charge. "...leave it to me. I will make sure to protect you until you will be able to stand your ground on your own! Then... we will take on the world together, my princess." Zombieughed and winked at the baffled girl turned back to face the enraged sigil monster. |Wha...! Where did thate from?!| Patience gasped in disbelief. "Ha?! Who is your princess, you...!" "Kopia, it''s time to y." "Let''s!" Cranberry gasped and pouted, although her face did turn slightly pink for some reason, but then the words got stuck in her throat once Zombie pulled out a one-handed short-sword from the expensive-looking scabbard - and the sword responded to him in a high-pitched voice before shing white and turning into a scimitar! Then, three more thin crimson threads sprouted from the scimitar pommel and wrapped around the boy''s right hand, joining a single thread that was there from the very beginning, adding to the girl''s confusion. "I can imagine that you are eager to fight too, but leave this one to me..." Zombieughed, ncing at Cranberry one more time. "...now... let''s do this, stupid horse!" "!!!" Then heughed and his body began glowing with a vibrant violet light that left Cranberry speechless. "NEIGH! (YOU WILL REGRET MOCKING ME, HUMAN FOAL!)" The bicorn neighed andunched straight at the boy, kicking up a fountain of soil. Chapter 355: Sigil monster (1)

Chapter 355: Sigil monster (1)

"We need to dodge it!" Cranberry called urgently jumping away from behind Zombie. "Khahaha! Good call!" The boyughed but instead of following the girl, he instead charged straight at the iing bicorn. *WHOOOSH* "HA?!" His legs shone with a bright light and each step released a strong torrent of wind that blew past the confused girl making her gasp in utter disbelief. Meanwhile, the boy was already by the charging beast, swinging his sword. *stab* ...and he burrowed its de right into the ground! *WHAM* Before Cranberry had the time to shout in confusion at what was the hell was he doing, Zombie jumped up, using the sword as an anchor, and unleashed a devastating kick right onto the monster horse''s head lowered for a headbutt. *SLAM* "NGHHH...! (URGHHH....!)" The beast whizzed in pain as the hit has knocked itpletely off bnce and almost tripped over its own hooves but somehow saved itself from crashed against the ground by slowing down and changing its direction. "...ha...?" The red-haired girl froze in ce wide-eyed and gobsmacked. |This... might be harder than I hoped for...| Zombie thought to himself in confusion, propelling himself away from the cautious predating beast, with the continuous use of the whirlwind kick, gripping Kopia a bit harder. |You''re using both superbia and overpower on its STR at the same time, not to mention your sigil hunter title that grants you five percent more damage to sigil monsters for each sigil monster you have ever killed... and you have your leg power affinity on top of that - but the bicorn somehow didn''t get knocked out from a clear hit....| Patience sounded as if she was frowning with concern as she exined. |The longer a monster bears the sigil, the stronger it gets. This horse just barely got it and it has been injured when the carriage toppled over... Zombie, this one is really tough, you better kill it as fast as possible or things will only keep getting worse for us!| She added urgently as the boy was turning around following the monster horse to never show it his back. |You think I don''t know that?!| Zombieined while readying himself for another strike. |Stop whining. We need to get you killed but if Cranberry dies before or right after you do, it will bepletely pointless.| Patience scoffed at him. |Geez, thanks for the advice miss unskippable tutorial.| Zombie responded, rolling his eyes at the sealed being.. |Shut up! You are the brawns I''m the brains, it''s not my fault when you underestimate an opponent!| The sealed overseer sounded as if she stomped her foot, fuming from anger. |Who underestimated it?! I''m going at it with full power from the start!| Zombie roared internally. "Neigh...! (Human foal, I won''t forgive you for this disgrace...!)" The bicorn neighed furiously while focused solely on the boy. |Watch out, the longer it is alive the stronger it will be, that''s how the sigil works, do something already!| Patience called out as the bicorn charged at him again. "..." Zombie squinted his eyes - Kopia shed white and changed from a scimitar into a bastard sword allowing for a double-handed grip. Although the boy was the most confident in his legs, there was no doubt that Kopia was his best weapon by far. And if the bicorn wanted to test the durability of his flesh against her - well, Zombie certainly wasn''t going to miss a chance like that! Just like before, the bicorn charged straight at the boy, with its head lowered for a headbutt aiming to skewer him with its horns. Zombie''s eyes shone with a bright white light and as did Kopia''s de, with a perfect stance they waited for the right timing and...! *SHIII''* *CLANG!* As Zombie was already mid-swing, the bicorn dug its front hooves into the ground, stopping itself right before the boy and shook its head as its horns shone brightly with the red light - and with a sound of metal shing against the metal, Kopia and Zombie were pushed back! |IT CAN USE PARRY?!| Zombie gritted his teeth, trying to regain his bnce. "NEIGH! (IT''S TIME FOR YOU TO DIE, HUMAN FOAL!)" The bicorn neighed with a morbidugh as it climbed on its hind legs and was about to tramble the boy with its front wed hooves...! "...AS IF...!" Zombie roared with a mocking smile and as he was falling on his back he unleashed the flurry of swings. *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* Yet again the bicorn surprised the boy - the monster was just as capable of using parry not only with its horns but with its front hooves too, consecutively rendering each attack of the de storm skillpletely useless. "NEIGH! (DIE!)" The monster horse neighed triumphantly and rammed one hoof into the boy''s face while the other one ended up smashing against his shoulder. "NEIGH...! (FOOLISH FOAL! NOW, I SHALL FEAST ON YOUR...!)" The beast let out a mocking voice before it realized that something was wrong. Although it was firmly pushing against the human child''s body with all of its weight, there was only that much that the child would bend backward - no matter what the bicorn couldn''t push the violet glowing boy to the ground...! "...a bicorn... why don''t we make you into a gory kelpie?!" Zombie moved his head from under the heavy hoof and grinned wildly as his eyes shone white. Kopia in his hand also shed with a blinding light and instantly transformed into a massive ck de - which the boy swung around from the unbelievably awkward angle and... *SHIIIING* *RIIIIP* *SPLURT* "NEIGH! (AAAAAAARRRGGHHHH!)" The de sang morbidly as it sunk into the bicorn''s flesh, tearing apart its stomach andpletely separating the monster''s hind legs from the rest of its body, pulling out the tens of feet of the steaming pink intestines and making the mutted beast whiz in pain, m against the ground at the boy''s feet, and start thrashing around in excruciating pain. |Now. Almost done.| Zombie nodded to himself and raised the enormous de to chop the beast''s head off like a guillotine. "NEIGH!" With a sound that was only the animalistic roar without any meaning and spat a red and ck smoke-like blood right into the boy''s face. "FUCKING BASTARD!" Zombie growled furiously, shaking his head, trying to keep the liquid away from his eyes while bringing the sword down on where the bicorn''s head should be... *WHAM* But instead of the clear sound of the de cutting through the flesh, the only thing he heard was the sword smashing against the ground, causing a small explosion. |YOU MISSED IT!| Patience called out in panic. "Master! It''s charging at the girl!" "!!!?!?!?!!!!| Although he ignored the sealed overseer, there was no way for the boy to ignore a high-pitched warning like that! In the same second Zombie let go of Kopia, wiped off the sludge blocking his vision the best he could while alreadyunching himself using the whirlwind kick, andunched right at the grotesque half of the monster horse charging at the red-haired? young girl while dragging all of its intestines that fell out along. "AS IF!" Zombie roared and threw himself between the beast and the girl who tried to dodge but was far too slow. *STAB* "KYAAH!" Cranberry let out a panicked screamed just as the bicorn''s horns pierced the flesh. Chapter 356: Sigil monster (2)

Chapter 356: Sigil monster (2)

"GHUH...! Hey... I told you that I will protect you, didn''t I...?" Zombie coughed up some blood and asked the horrified girl, while two long horns were sticking right out of his chest. "Y-you are crazy...! Why would you do something stupid like that...?!" Cranberry trembled and backed away, falling on her butt and staring at the smiling boy as more and more blood was gushing from the wounds on his chest - only a fool would not recognize that such a wound was fatal. "Oh... you know... I told you that I will protect you and I will keep my word... khaha... ugrgh...!" "NEIGH...! (DAMNED HUMAN FOAL! I WILL RIP THE TWO OF YOU APART TOGETHER...!)" "..gha...!" The boy winked andughed dismissively, or would have if not for the bicorn''s deafening roar, as the beast was using what left of strength it had to try to lift him up and throw aside to have an easier time devouring his wound riddled body. "...stupid horse...! Can''t you see that I''m talking with a youngdy of the Pride house?! SHOW SOME MANNERS, YOU UNCULTURED FILTH!" *CRACK* *RIIIIIP* "NEIGH...! (AAAAUUUUURRRRGHHH...!)" Zombie roared with a furious frown as he grabbed onto the bicorn''s horns and tore one of them right out of the monster''s skull and pulled it through his own body together with a part of the bicorn''s scalp, making the monster howl in agony, "GHUH...! Ptfu! Now, will you shut up, you dumb monster?" More blood-filled Zombie''s lungs and the boy coughed it up and spat to the side so that none of it would fall on the frozen ghastly pale girl in front of him and asked back. "NEIGH?! (WHAT ARE YOU?!) NEIGH?! (WHAT ARE YOU?!) NEIGH! (YOU''RE NOT A HUMAN FOAL!) NEIGH! (LET GO OF ME!) NEIGH! (LET GO OF ME!)" The bicorn broke down and cried out in utter terror. Forgetting about its own terrible wounds it tried its best to get away from the boy, but no matter how much it stomped and dug into the ground with its wed front hooves, the only result that got it was more blood and intestines gushing out of its cleaved body - as the boy didn''t even budge. "H-how is this possible...?" Cranberry gasped, staring wide-eyed at the desperate struggles of the monster while the boy in front of her threw the ripped-off bloodied horn to the side while securely holding onto the other one still sticking through his chest. "Rooted skill is reliant on the user''s physical strengths stat... while using it the only way for the opponent to make someone using it move is to output more strength than the user..." Zombie smiled as even his lips were growing paler and paler from the constant blood loss and exined. "...ghhh...! Right now I have twice as much STR as this beast, there''s nothing that it can do anymore... GHUH...!" His smile grew to a pained but still confident grin and he even went as far as to tap his chest with pride, but that only resulted in more blood escaping his lungs through his mouth so he hurriedly faced the other side. "NEIGH! (LET GO OF ME!) NEIGH! (MONSTER!) NEIGH! (MONSTER!)" The bicorn was crying while desperately trying to pull itself away but the little boy was just like a sturdy fortress, absolutely immovable with what strength left the monster had... "I... I can kill it! You just hold on a bit longer! I''ll get your sword, finish the beast and we will get you help...!" Cranberry shook her head and dered, gulping down her saliva after staring at the blood trickling down the horn sticking out from the Zombie''s flesh. "Nah... it''s way toote for that..." Zombie scoffed and shook his head. "...besides, killing that thing would boost you to level 20 or 25 in one go... can you imagine so many lost quests...?" He added with a softugh. "NEIGH...! (LET ME GO...!)" "WON''T YOU EVER SHUT UP?! GHUH...!" Zombie roared furiously at the annoying neighing of the terrifying monster before he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then he waved his right arm and the red threads attached to it pulled on the sword he left in the distance. *thunk* With a soft sound, the one-handed short-sword flew right into his hand as if it was its rightful ce. "HA?! What are you even talking about?! You are talking nonsense! What, you want to just die on me like that?! I''m from the Pride family! The strongest out of every single main family in the kingdom! I always pay off my debts! You will not get away from me that easily!" Cranberry shook her head and scoffed at him. "Oh, I know... that''s exactly what I am hoping for... now then, my princess..." Zombie smiled brightly at the bbergasted girl and pointed the de of his sword towards his own chest, right next to the bicorn''s horn. "Let me just quickly get rid of that nuisance for you... khahaha..." "!!!!!" He let out an amused giggle, winked at the girl, and... *STAB* ...pierced the de through his own chest without a moment of hesitation! "NEEEEIIIIGH...! (GGHHAAAAAAAUUUUUUURRGGHHH...!)" Just as he was doing that, his one-handed sword shed with white light and turned into a demonic-looking longsword with waved de that pierced straight through the burning sigil on the monster horse''s forehead and the other right through the monster''s head too, making it let out a final horrifying howl - before its body got set on fire with the red and ck mes, disintegrating into ashes in real-time. /Sigil monster has been defeated /Sigil hunter title - enhanced /You receive the EXP "...khahaha... it finally shut up..." Zombie swayed on his feet and took a step forward ignoring the messages that started popping up for him. *ng* His giant weapon turned into a tiny sword-shaped letter opener that fell to his feet with a soft sound. *grab* "You idiot! Youplete braindead idiot!" Cranberry cried out and held onto the boy, not letting him fall. "Calling me a princess, acting as if you''re my knight - all on your own...! I don''t even know your name and you are already dying?! Who do you think you are?!" She cried out while the blood of the boy was adding more vibrant red to the already crimson dress she was wearing. /Level up /Error /You sustained too much damage /Unable to level up "Ah, right... you know... My name is... Zombie..." /You are dead The boy managed to whisper to the girl''s ear before the light faded from his eyes and his body went limp. "Zombie...?" Cranberry raised her brows in confusion. "Wait...! Zombie?! Zombie!" Before she realized and called out his name in panic, her knight was already unable to respond... /Soul transfer impossible |YES! It worked!| Patience eximed while sounding as if she jumped up in joy as the message popped up despite Zombie''s physical body being dead. /Story event in progress /Please wait |Khahaha...! Dying in Cranberry''s arms, even if she won''t follow the event, at least well be even!| |Don''t even try to jinx it, you idiot!| Zombie''s consciousnessughed in enjoyment and got instantly scolded by the sealed overseer. Chapter 357: Awakening

Chapter 357: Awakening

The iprehensible red and ck half-transparent dome burst like a bubble, turning into normal smoke and getting blown over by the wind. "...ombie?! Zombie!" With the barrier gone, everyone could hear the desperate voice of the young red-haired girl. "Cranberry!" Lord ckberry called out and rushed to his daughter supporting the body of the fallen boy. "That... that wouldn''t be the son of Pear and Nectarine, would it...?" One of the vigers that gathered around the dome and saw the whole fight whispered in unease pointing at the lifeless body of the brown-haired boy. "No, impossible, Kiwi was sent off to the Envys territory to study!" Someone said hurriedly. "Could you even imagine him doing something like that?! No, besides, that girl is calling him Zombie or something. It can''t be Kiwi." Another one added. "..." But amongst them, two hunters who saw the boy killing a monster while he was still a three-year-old looked at each other with mixed feelings. "Sweetie, it''s okay already. Are you unharmed? The scary monster is gone, you can let go of that boy...!" Lord ckberry got to his daughter and reassured her, trying to pull the corpse out of her embrace. "NO! DON''T TAKE HIM AWAY! HE IS MINE...!" The girl cried out shaking her head and backed off almost falling over because of the lifeless body''s weight. "Sweetie, watch out! HUH?!" *WHOOOSH* Lord ckberry gasped in worry, reaching his hand after his daughter, but before he could grab either her or the boy''s corpse both of them got enveloped by a powerful white light that unleashed a shockwave that pushed the man away. "Magic awakening?!" Someone from the crowd gasped out loud. "!!!!!" "But it looks so powerful! What magic is she awakening to?!" Someone else called out in disbelief. At the same time inside the pir of light, the little red-haired girl saw a series of messages... /Initiating magic awakening Type: Necromancy The first one said. "Necromancy...? Ah! I will be able to resurrect him?! Yes! Yes! I want it! Hurry! Give it to me!" As soon as she read it, Cranberry''s eyes widened and she called out while hugging the unresponsive body. "Hurry up and let me bring my knight back, you stupid system!" ...she might have gotten a little too heated over it too. That might have been a reason for the next couple of messages to be like... /... /Calcting... /Magic type adjusted Necromancy ?? Dark Arts "H-haa?! What is this Dark Arts?! You stupid system, you better not try to take him away from me too! Mine! He is already mine!" Cranberry hunched down, burrowing her face between the boy''s shoulder and the base of his neck, clenching her hands so hard that her knuckles turned white. /Awakeningplete /Please select your familiar "Ah! Him! Zombie! I want Zombie!" As soon as the red-haired girl saw the new message, she perked up and called out, shaking the boy''s body. /Familiar selected... /The selected target is dead /The Dark Arts user requested the familiar''s species to be assigned as undead monster, subtype ''zombie'' /Request epted /Reanimating the target "Ha?! What exception? Wait, I meant his name, not his species!" Cranberry gasped and called out but she did not revive any message in response. Instead, the color of the body of the boy she held close turned blue and his brown hair be jet-ck... /Reanimationplete "...?" The same happened to his eyes, now ck like a starless night - open and looking at the girl''s face from a very close distance. /Initiationplete Familiar selected Name: Kiwi Race: undead (zombie) "E-eh...? Your name is Kiwi...?" Cranberry blinked in confusion and furrowed her brows looking at the boy''s blue face as if she was cheated. "Absolutely not. You can change it so please make it Zombie... Whoa..." The blue boy frowned and shook his head before realizing that the two of them are surrounded by the white light instead of the murky red one that he remembered from the first ythrough and gasped in surprise, looking around. "!!!!" But while he was doing that his eyes suddenly widened and he put his hand to his mouth, as if the words he spoke shocked him... Or rather, as if he was shocked that he could speak normally from the start... "Make it Zombie...? System, change his name to Zombie." Cranberry made seemed slightly confused but did as the boy requested her to do. /Request approved Name changed sessfully Familiar selected Name: Zombie Race: undead (zombie) "It worked." The girl scoffed to herself slightly surprised. "It did? It looks like I stopped receiving system messages since I got turned into a basic undead... Anyway, thanks, I don''t know what I would do if even you would start calling me Kiwi." Zombie breathed out and smiled at the girl. "Ah...!" Who only then realized that she was still hugging him so she blushed deeply and hurriedly let go and stepped away. As soon as she did that, the light surrounding the two of them faded and they were able to see everyone gathered around them and vice-versa. "Sweetie! Are you feeling alright?! What magic did you awaken to? Huh?! Is that a corpse puppet?! Have you be a corpse puppeteer?!" Lord ckberry was with his daughter at the moment''s notice, grabbing her shoulders and looking between her and the blue boy. "Ha?! N-no. I was about to get the necromancy but for some reason, it got changed to dark arts." The red-haired girl shook her head and exined. "And he isn''t a corpse puppet, Zombie is my familiar!" She added with a grumpy face and wiggled her way out of her father''s arms to step closer back to the blue boy. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Lord ckberry, my name is Zombie, I''ll be protecting your daughter from now on." Zombie nced at the girl and then turned to the bespectacled man and lightly nodded his head while introducing himself. "!!!" "It... it can talk?!" Lord ckberry only raised his brows but the vigers behind him were utterly gobsmacked. "It is nice to meet you too, Zombie." The bespectacled man responded and turned to his daughter. "Dark Arts, you say... Something sounds familiar about that name - I will check it out in archives as soon as we''ll get back home..." He said furrowing his brows and nced at Zombie. "A corpse puppet shouldn''t be able to talk, but if you are saying that he is your familiar... curious... incredibly curious..." Lord ckberry''s eyes light up with interest as he observed the undead next to him from head to toe. "We will call for the appraiser as soon as possible, ah! One will be visiting your mother very soon, that will be perfect!" The man smiled with excitement like a child that just received an amazing toy. "That said..." He added turning to the side, his expression growing dark As he looked at the crowd surrounding the three of them. "Did anyone check up on my coachman just as I requested?! If not, get to it! And call for a local cksmith! My carriage requires fixing!" He called out in a voice that left no ce for discussion and pped his hands releasing a threatening aura that caused many vigers to start running around to see his requestspleted. "...Cranberry..." "...?" While that was going on, Zombie stealthily tugged on Cranberry''s hand making her turn to him with a curious expression. "..." Zombie hurriedly looked around to check if anyone is focusing on them but thankfully most of the vigers were too busy being distracted by Lord ckberry''s orders to stare at them, so the blue boy reached to his bloodied and torn shirt''s pocket and pulled out a tiny box. "I will always protect, but I still can''t do anything about the mental damage for now. That''s why I got this to do it in the meantime." Zombie exined while hastily taking off the tiny box''s lid... ...and revealed a set of two matching silver rings, each looking as if it was made out of the most delicate spider''s silk covered in the morning dew and frozen in time by a spell. "!!!!" "Now..." Ignoring the red-haired girl''s eyes going round at the sight of the artifacts, Zombie followed the instructions he was given by Mirabelle and Olive. He took out one ring and put it on the ring finger of his left hand - the much too big ring instantly adjusted its size to fit him perfectly. "...excuse my rudeness..." He muttered under his breath as he took out the other one and grabbed Cranberry''s left hand and slid it on her ring finger, making sure that no one sees what he is doing - and as soon as he did that, her ring adjusted its size just as his did. "...but please ept this." Zombie added, looking into the girl''s eyes and putting their left hands together. /You received the ancient wedding ring Do you ept the proposal? Yes/No "...!" A system message popped up for the red-haired girl leaving her speechless. Chapter 358: Better than fine

Chapter 358: Better than fine

|Why is she hesitating?| Zombie furrowed his brows and asked internally. |The elves have said that those are not anything sketchy, right? Are you sure that you don''t know anything about them?| He insisted a wit a bit more intensely while looking around worried that someone might try to interrupt the initiation process that was supposed to be very important for the artifacts to work properly. |I know only as much as you do, sorry. The rings like those certainly didn''t show up in the game, so they must be simply something that has spawned into this world on its own, or it was a scrapped item that never make it to the real game but popped up here.| Patience responded in a tense voice, she sounded just as worried as Zombie. |I''ll have you know that we barely dodged the worse oue ¨C right before you were turned into an undead, the message that popped up about you bing a familiar... that wasn''t supposed to happen at all! I don''t know why but something must have made the system twist the event a bit...| She added sounding as if she was furrowing her brows. |But I''m an undead, right? So everything is how it was supposed to be, right?| The boy tensed up and insisted. |Yes, yes. It''s just a backstory event so everything is fine. More than fine I should say.| Patience scoffed. |More than fine? Exin... khaha... look how cute she is...| Zombie asked while observing a deep blush taking over Cranberry''s whole face, ears, and even neck turning her red as a ripe cranberry. |...yeah... You heard her talk to her father, haven''t you? She said that she awakened to a Dark Arts instead of necromancy.| The sealed overseer sounded as if she frowned with a grumpy expression but started exining anyway. |Of course I did. And?| Zombie asked while cautiously watching the red-haired girl in front of him fidgetting while ncing at him bashfully ¨C a behavior he witnessed from her only a handful of times during the first ythrough. |Dark Arts is a broader version of necromancy.| |The hell? Broader version?| |Yes. While is not a rank up, and can actually be considered a rank down since it won''t grant her skills like create a death knight or mass skeleton summoning, Dark Arts will give her ess to some very basic necromancy while also giving her ess to a range of destructive spells from the magic skill tree the elves use. Overall, for the secret true ending that we are aiming for, this is simply amazing - since, without the high-tier necromancy specific skills, she will not be involved in some optional side quests that have nothing to do with the true ending and are quite risky to boot. Hence, everything is more than fine.| Patience sounded as if she nodded and exined everything. |I see...| Zombie nodded internally and fell into deep thoughts. |Anyway... She seems to be looking at some message a whole lot... Not being able to see her messages sure is inconvenient...| He sighed to himself. |It''s exactly like I told you before. Sharing system messages, as well as an easy time leveling up, were both perks that you could enjoy only thanks to the benefits of being the eternal servant. With that option locked, you need to work around it.| Patience pointed out, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders. |Yeah... I know...| Zombie had no other choice but to nod with mncholy... "...do you promise that you will always be by my side...?" Suddenly, the red-haired girl in front of him asked in a timid voice. "Of course." Instead of getting shocked by the unexpeted question, the blue boy became serious and gave a straight answer without any hesitation or dy as if he was ready for the question. "...I''ll have you know that I will never forgive you if you betray me, my mother told me that I have an awful personality, so you better think twice..." Cranberry added with a downcast look, sounding slightly dispirited as if she expected that information to make the blue boy back away. "I don''t give a damn about your mother, you are the only living that matters to me." "!!!" Zombie smirked and snorted, making the girl flinch and look at him in disbelief as if she couldn''t believe her ears. ...probably because she couldn''t, since this was the first time she heard anyone talking so carefree about her mother... "And as for your personality... I would prefer to get to know you myself if that is okay with you." He added lowering his head and looking up at the girl''s face. "...haa..." That made Cranberry close her eyes and breath out as if she was preparing for some life-altering decision and... "Fine. I do. And you better not regret it! You''re mine forever now!" She opened her eyes and dered. |Wow. That sounded as if she agreed to a marriage proposal or something.| Patience pointed out while scoffing mockingly. |Shhh! Don''t make it weird!| Zombie scoffed and scolded her as the two rings shone briefly with a bright white light. |Everything seems to follow what Olive and Mirabelle have told us.| |Indeed ¨C all good!| Zombie smirked with satisfaction and Patience confirmed it cheerfully. "I won''t fail you." He said out loud, gently squeezing her hand in reassurance. ... "Sweetie, we will have to wait for a bit, let''s go rest in the inn for the meantime.... oh...? Well, aren''t you already quite friendly with your familiar! As expected from the Pride family!" Lord ckberry turned back to his daughter and saw the two children holding hands and smiled. "Ah! Dad means that the two of us are like the progenitor of my family,dy Pride and Wing, the god of mes that she tamed! Did you know? It''s because she did that, that everyone from the Prides bloodline is born with fire resistance!" Cranberry perked up and exined with eyes sparkling from joy as she got to talk about something that she read in one of the books from her family library. "I had no idea! That''s amazing! It''s such a useful skill, especially inbat!" Zombie gasped in awe and looked between Cranberry and Lord ckberry ¨C which made the red-haired girl puff out her chest from pride and the bespectacled man smile benevolently. |...you are one convincing liar, you know...?| Patience muttered sounding as if she was squinting her eyes. |Oh, shut it.| ...and she got instantly silenced. "That said... Zombie, the vigers say that you are not a local... what were you even doing in the middle of the road? And howe you were so strong to win against that odd monster? You need to tell us all about yourself!" Lord ckberry walked behind the two children and gently pushed them forward to make them move towards the inn he already mentioned just a bit earlier. "They''ve said what? Of course, I am a local! Before I got to be an undead I was the youngest child of the owner of the shop with magic stones right there!" Zombie frowned in disbelief at Lord ckberry''s words and pointed at the building with the most impressive storefront in the very middle of the vige. "It really is Kiwi!" "Dear system! Quick! Someone call Pear and Nectarine!" As soon as he said that, the few vigers that remained, watching the three of them from a distance erupted in shocked voices. "If that''s the case, I need to have a talk with your parents." Lord ckberry''s face turned serious and he followed the vigers running towards the magic stone shop with his eyes. "Ugh... can we not, please...?" Zombie trembled with disgust and put his hand on the empty expensive-looking scabbard, winding up for a sigh... ...wait... ...empty scabbard...? "...?!" Zombie flinched and stepped back, looking all over the ground in search of Kopia, of which he hadpletely forgotten up until that point... "!!!" ...but she was nowhere to be found! Chapter 359: Still in the village

Chapter 359: Still in the vige

"What''s wrong?" Cranberry got to his side and asked, tilting her head in confusion. "..." Zombie nced at her and only shook his head shoving that there is nothing wrong while trying not to roar in anger. |Zombie, calm down.| Patience hurriedly called out to him in a reassuring voice. |She can hear us, you still have her threads coiled around your arm.| The sealed overseer assured him. "..." Zombie nced at his right hand and indeed, there was a single thin crimson hair-like tread wrapped around his right arm, gently falling onto the ground and disappearing... ...into the crowd of vigers. |You know why am I angry.| Zombie gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows in a fit of cold anger. |Well, yes, but... let''s not make a scene, alright? Just call her out and she wille, out or you can pull on the thread and she wille back flying.| Patience still tried to appease the little blue undead, but she already knew that it was in vain... "Ha? Zombie, your sword is missing!" The red-haired girl by the boy''s side didn''t just stand there waiting for him to tell her what was wrong and begun thinking about the reason instead ¨C and she found it almost instantly, easily enough. "It changed into a toy or something when you dropped it after killing that monster horse it should be... Haa..? I see..." Cranberry added, carefully looking around the area that only a few moments earlier was under the red and ck dome but once she found no trace of the weapon, she nced between the blue undead and the vigers talking amongst each other. "...haa... seriously...? Can you be more pathetic...?" She furrowed her brows and shook her head. "Daddy!" She then turned to her father and called out in an innocent voice. "Yes, sweetie?" The bespectacled man raised his brow curiously. "Zombie is mine, right? That means he is a part of the Pride family, isn''t it?" The red-haired girl asked innocently. "Yes, since he is your familiar, so that is technically true. What about it?" The man nodded, furrowing his brows ¨C curious where his daughter was going with such logic. "Then that means that if someone stole his property, he can act like a member of the Pride family and punish the robber?" The little girl made sure in a matter-of-fact voice, carefully observing her father''s reaction. "..." Lord ckberry closed his mouth and frowned. He then nced at the furious blue undead barely keeping it together ring at the vigers, and his eyes focused on the empty scabbard. "...seriously...?" The bespectacled man let out a gasp in disbelief and shook his head. "As long as he won''t kill anyone or permanently harm them, I see no reason why you shouldn''t let him get back at someone bold enough to snatch his weapon. He has really good self-control for an undead too... This familiar of yours is truly interesting..." Lord ckberry smiled and nodded with approval. "Why can''t he kill that person?! That doesn''t sound right!" Cranberry frowned andined. "Sweetie, this isn''t our territory and those people aren''t our taxpeyers." He exined calmly. "My home vige or not, greed territory is greed territory." |Kopia, bring them to me.| Zombie sighed, nodding with understanding at Lord ckberry''swords, clenched his hand on the crimson thread and pulled on it while focusing on a single thought. "MASTER! YOU''RE BACK!" *riiip* "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" In response to that, a high pitched voice raised from the crowd, and within the next second, one man''s clothed got pierced by the massive two-handed sword that just appeared out of nowhere ¨C or rather exploded out from the man''s back pocket ¨C and the weapon flew straight into the blue boy''s extended hand, dragging the overly greedy viger screaming in pure terror. *thum* "...tsk..." Kopia''s handle ended up in Zombie''s grip with a soft sound, and the boy who held her for the first time since he became an undead, clicked his tongue with discontent. Although Zombie was aware that some greedy trash was attached to her, Kopia felt way too heavy and ufortable to use in her current form - and she had the exact same dimensions and weight that he couldfortably wield before! |You knew that your stats will drop down to an abysmal level.| Patience pointed out. |Knowing about something and experiencing it on your own are two separate things.| Zombie scoffed back at her before adjusting his grip and... *WHAM* "URGH!" Unleashing the full strength of the strong kick on the thief''s face ¨C making the man roll away with a pained groan as the already damaged clothes got torn into rags leaving him basically naked for all his friends and family to see. "I...! I...!" The thief stuttered, his face turned crimson, and he ran away as a few vigersughed at him. Honestly, many expected a far worse oue to happen, so just a bit of humiliation was reasonable punishment ¨C it could even be said that it was on the light side. |...it didn''t even knock his teeth out... that was a level 19 strong kick and it didn''t break a single bone ¨C what is my STR?! 1?!| Zombie growled furiously inside of his head, while Kopia in his hands shed with white light and turned back into a simple one-handed straight sword so that he could sheath her. "That was an impressive attack for someone who just turned into an undead... We really need to have a talk." Lord ckberry smirked, not even ncing towards the running naked thief and instead focusing on the blue boy. "That sword of yours is interesting too... Can I have a look at it?" The bespectacled man asked with a friendly smile, extending his hand as if the little undead''s answer couldn''t have been a no. "Daddy! I want to go home already!" But at that exact moment, Cranberry stomped her foot and walked between her father and her familiar with an angry expression. "Ah! Of course sweetie! But repairing the carriage will take a while, until then let''s go to that inn ¨C not to mention that I need t have a talk with your familiar''s parents." Lord ckberry instantly smiled took his hand back. "Former parents." Zombie corrected him while holding onto Kopia with a worried expression.* Chapter 360: In the inn (1)

Chapter 360: In the inn (1)

"Lord ckberry, if I may." Zombie, sitting next to the red-haired Cranberry by the inn''s table watching as she ate, straightened his back and asked the bespectacled man ¨C but even while he was talking to him in a polite voice, his eyes were stuck on the eating girl. "I''m listening." Lord ckberry turned to him, more than happy to take his mind off of the subpar food that he was served... honestly, having a childish taste like his daughter would be a blessing since it looked like the cook of the inn''s kitchen never heard of any kind of spices whatsoever ¨C or was too excited having to serve a high noble and forgot to use any... "My former parents run a shop with magic stones, they do have a good head for business, so they would most definitely try to use this situation to gain some sort of advantage or even a favor, I dare say." The boy spoke calmly but by the end of his sentence his lips twisted in a sour expression. "Why, yes, I expect them to do something like that. I''m sure that since they are taking so long they are writing quite a y for us to enjoy." The bespectacled man smiled while cutting up the cardboard-like steak and putting it to his mouth while closing his eyes and hoping for the best. "..." Zombie managed to look away from Cranberry for a moment and looked into Lord ckberry''s face. "The vigers use locally grown herbs and try to convince themselves that''s how the taste should be. You have my condolences since none of them will admit how much they are lying to themselves with that." "Pffft...!" The blue boy nodded his head a little with an apologetic smirk which caused the bespectacled man to snort so hard that he had to clench his nose with his right arm to stop the food trying to escape through there. "...there''s something wrong with the food...? I thought that it''s tasty..." Their conversation and such unexpected reaction from her father made the red-haired girl stop moving the knife and fork and look between the two with a slightly timid expression. "Because it is tasty for someone hungry. There''s nothing wrong with the food. On the other hand, you are the amazing one, enjoying it so much! I can tell you that if someone wants to travel the world, a quality like that is simply required~!" Zombie quickly shook his head and exined in a very serious manner... while simultaneously reaching for a napkin and wiping down a smudge of food from the girl''s cheek in an effortless manner. "Thank you. Ha... so you''re saying I would make a good traveler?" Cranberry blushed slightly and nodded to the blue boy before breathing out and asking curiously. "I meant more like an adventurer, but the choice is yours." Zombie tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders before smiling so cheerfully that the red-haired girl had to look away, blushing, from the brightness that he radiated. "Oh, I like you, Zombie. But that only makes me more curious to see your appraisal results." Lord ckberry ¨C who already managed topose himself after theughing fit ¨C rejoined the conversation and squinted his eyes curiously at the undead sitting in front of him. "Lord, if I may. Are we actually waiting for my former parents to show up because you''re interested to ask about how I was in life? If so it would be much more favorable for me if you talked with a person who took me in while I was three years old as my parents couldn''t handle my behavior anymore." Zombie''s eyes turned serious and for the first time since the three of them entered the inn he actually focused all of his attention on the bespectacled man. "More favorable for you, you say...? Curious." Lord ckberry smiled in response and put his elbows on the table after pushing away the te with half-eaten food. "What sort of horror stories will they tell us about a child that somewhat was able to kill a bicorn on his own?" He asked resting his chin on his hands while his sses reflected the light in a menacing way. "Nothing much. Just a living who developed way too fast and was a really terrible, terrible bully to his poor innocent older sister who never did him any wrong." Zombie shrugged his shoulders lightly and his smirk became a little bit more mocking. "Depends on your history of bullying girls, I might have to reconsider allowing you to stay with my daughter." The bespectacled man shrugged back with a simr expression. "..." Zombie''s face didn''t change at all, not even a single muscle has budged, but his eyes grew dark. |He has the guts to say something like that even with everything that''s happening in his own house...?| Because internally, the blue boy was as far away from staying calm as he could. |He doesn''t have anything to say about that ¨C since his wife is now the avatar, she has absolute control of their family ¨C he might actually be unaware about what is happening because that woman might simply tell him to believe that''s the truth.| Patience pointed out in aposed voice and exined properly. |At the same time, I''m also fairly sure that he is joking about separating the two of you ¨C he seems like a guy who enjoys spicy banter ¨C why not go wild and entertain him? Of course, don''t go too far.| She added sounding as if she was grinning mockingly. "Oh... that piece of fil... my sister, is a special case. Because we''re not talking about some childish bullying either ¨C I still am intending on killing her once she outlives her usefulness after all - but if we''re talking about some innocent teasing..." Zombieughed, leaning back on his chair and turning to the red-haired girl who had a hard time keeping up with the conversation with how much she was eating... |...that woman is already starving her, isn''t she...| |...most likely...| The blue boy asked internally and got instant confirmation from the sealed overseer. "If it''s just a little bit of teasing... would I be pardoned...?" He asked and lightly poked Cranberry in the side... "KYAH! *hick*!" Which caused the red-haired girl to jump up with a short? shocked scream and start huping almost instantly. "ZOMBIE!" She cried out massaging her side in baffled? disbelief. "How could- *hick* -you?!" She pouted and huped adorably which caused her to blush even harder. "Here." The blue boy poured a ss of water and passed it to her while his eyes sparkled with joy. "I''m learning some interesting things for sure... Tell me. Are you by any chance someone that Pomegranate trained and sent over?" Lord ckberry smiled and asked suddenly as if hoping to take the blue boy by surprise and make him confess. "Pomegranate? Ah, you mean the younger brother of the current avatar of wrath?" |Pomegranate Wrath''s older brother is still alive, right? RIGHT?!| Zombie asked calmly while watching over the drinking Cranberry to make sure she drinks the water slowly to not choke herself with a sudden hup ¨C but once again, on the inside, he was a panicking mess. |It''s alright, Pomegranate isn''t the avatar of wrath yet, you''re in the clear ¨C if you wanted to make yourself look like someone secretly trained by the Wrath family, that is.| Patience confirmed and rolled her eyes. |Hey. Cranberry''s mother is definitely banning him from contacting any of his friends anyway, this will never surface.| |Not for now.| Zombie shrugged it off but Patience corrected him in a serious manner. "I knew it. How is he these days? I''ve heard he has a daughter now too." Lord ckberry perked up and leaned forward, just as starved for any news from his old acquaintances as his daughter was for food. "My little Kiwi!" But it wasn''t the right moment for him to satiate that craving since a pair of a husband and wife approached their table and the woman burst in tears at the sight of the blue-skinned boy. Chapter 361: In the inn (2)

Chapter 361: In the inn (2)

"Nectarine, calm down!" The man grabbed his wife, stopping her from throwing herself in tears at the undead sitting by the table. "..." Cranberry stiffened and tensed up. Without Zombie making any sort of move, she instantly grabbed his hand under the table as if she wanted to make sure that he won''t be taken away from her all of a sudden. "Please, pardon my wife ¨C this... such a thing to happen to our dearest baby boy...!" The man made a mournful expression, looking at Zombie as if he was some brainless puppet unable to recognize them. |Ah... They weren''t told that I can speak just fine, were they?| Zombie scoffed internally, closing the mouth that hung loosely at the words such as ''baby boy''ing from his former father''s mouth. |Our beloved child was turned into a mindless monster! This requirespensation! Is most likely what they came up with... But to their defense, you were actually a real asshole to them. Even threatened to kill them in their sleep at one point.| Patienceughed back but not without forgetting to point out one of Zombie''s choices. |But if we put that aside, I was a lovely kid.| |"Pffft...! Yeah, maybe in your first ythrough.| Zombie gasped innocently, making the sealed overseer snort. |So, what do you want to do with them? Will you burst their little misconception bubble about you being some mute monster?| Patience asked curiously. "..." Zombie looked away from his former parents without showing even a single hint that he had recognized them and looked away ¨C but squeezed Cranberry''s hand back reassuringly so that she knew that everything is fine. |Nah. Let''s see how they want to roll with it. ckberry already knows that I wasn''t a good kid so this fake bullshit about me being a baby boy or something won''t pass with him... and even if it did, all I need to do is just speak up.| The blue boy scoffed and focused on the table in front of him as if there was nothing in his mind and he was just a corpse puppet with no free will. "So you say, mister...?" Lord ckberry smirked and leaned back on his chair, not looking bothered at all by the tearful act put on by the two people standing by their table. "Pear, your lordship. My wife and I are humble merchants with a tiny shop to call our own in this remote vige." Zombie''s father bowed down deeply and answered ¨C it sure did sound as if he practiced that line more than necessary because far from sounding genuine, he sounded as if he was trying way too hard to sound genuine. |Yeah, there it is.| Zombie turned to Cranberry and rolled his eyes while sighing internally and the red-haired girl rxed a bit. "Tiny shop? Remote vige? My good shopkeeper, surely you jest. My daughter and I are returning straight from the capital and I''ve heard more than enough noblesin that a wealthy merchant and his ountant dodge the proper taxation by exploiting the ws in thew. Vige shops are taxed less than the ones in towns and cities, aren''t they?" Lord ckberryughed jovially and smacked his knee with his hand as if Pear have said a really good joke. "...I... you did...? My lord...!" Pear flinched and hurriedly added, afraid not to offend the high noble. "Dear, it''s not time to speak about business! Look what happened to our son!" Nectarine was not only had better acting skills but was also the more coolheaded one too as she tugged on Pear''s arm to make him focus on the point. "Yes... what happened to your son?" Lord ckberry nodded and made a curious expression. "Pardon...? Your lordship, there was some sort of a monster attack and by the end of it our son died and turned into a corpse puppet by your daughter... or so we have been told..." Pear answered slightly ticked off. |So they didn''t even go out to look at what was going on?| Zombie thought to himself in amazement. "Not about that. Before. What I want to know is what happened to your son to be so strong that he was able to kill a monster on his own. He looks to be the same age as my daughter..." The bespectacled man moved his head to face his daughter and her undead familiar. "If he was alive he would be seven years old.... oh... our poor Kiwi." "..." |Tsk... I would really like her to stop calling me that.| Zombie couldn''t help himself and frown, but as for the click of the tongue and aint, it was all internal. "...I see..." But even though his former parents have missed this subtle change, Lord ckberry did not. "Was he always that strong or did things changed after you sent him away?" Lord ckberry picked up again where he left off. "He always was an unusual child, extremely talented! His sister awakened to magic and was chosen to be a student of the Hope family, and we thought that it could be the same for him...! Our poor boy! We had such high hopes for him... But now... But now...!" Nectarine was crying her heart out, sobbing and cuddling up to her husband while looking at the indifferent blue boy. "Yes... let''s talk some more. What about the weapon the boy was using? A sword like that must have cost a fortune." "!!!!" "...?" Lord ckberry said casually, but even that made Zombie flinch so much that even Cranberry got worried. "A sword...?" Pear blurted out in confusion but Nectarine once again tugged on his arm, and probably even pinched his back where none of the two people and one undead by the table could see it. "O-of course! The sword is a family heirloom, antique but still very sturdy ¨C I gave to our Kiwi as a good luck charm more than anything but to think that the boy was using it as a normal weapon!" The man quickly coined a somewhat convincing story. "...I see..." Or he would have if not for Zombie, looking Lord ckberry dead in the eyes with an extremely mocking expression. As far as the bespectacled man was concerned, he must have thought that Kopia was some powerful ancient artifact ¨C a weapon that could change shape and even talk as if it had an ego? That was something unheard of. The notion of something like that being in the hands of a merchant who just lent it to his prepubescent son as a good luck charm was as outrageous as it was ridiculous. "That''s how it is, huh... Zombie, you will tell me more about that sword, won''t you?" Lord ckberry breathed out as if ying along with the pair''s shenanigans was too tiring for him after noon full of surprises, and simply turned to the blue boy and asked. "Wh-what are you...?" Pear was taken aback by the nobleman''s behavior... "Of course, sir. But let me just say that the weapon isn''t even from this territory. It''s an artifact I came across by pure coincidence when I fell into a cave while exploring a forest. She is a one-of-a-kind weapon, thates with a security measure ¨C she is bound only to me." And both his and Nectarine''s jaws dropped once Zombie straightened his back and started talking as if he never became a blue-skinned undead monster. Then the boy unsheathed Kopia in her short-sword form and put her on the table. "If I as much as let go of her while not channeling one of the attack skills..." Zombie continued the exnation and let go of his weapon... ...that suddenly shed white and turned into a tiny sword-shaped letter opener... "She bes this shabby thing. Of course, I am more than willing to talk with you in more detail about where exactly and in what circumstances she came into my possession, but that''s a story for a different time." The boy finished, picked Kopia back up, and put her back in her scabbard, where she turned back into a short-sword. "Curious. Very curious indeed." Lord ckberry nodded,pletely ignoring the utterly shocked former parents of the undead boy in front of him. "Fine. If that''s so then we will be going now. We gave the workers plenty of extra time to change the wheels, so there should be no problem with us returning home." The bespectacled man pped his hands together and stood up ¨C and both Zombie and Cranberry followed his lead. "Wh- how... wait... what?! Wait! Didn''t you want topensate us?!" This time it was Nectarine whopletely broke out of her heartbroken mother''s role and gasped in disbelief calling after the trio walking to the inn''s door. "Compensate you? For what?" Lord ckberry asked without sparing the pair a single nce. "Go check what the system''s faith teaches about humans turned into undead monsters ¨C they are no longer humans and all the bonds that they had as living are severed. Weren''t vigers around this part supposed to be very devoted? what made you think that you will bepensated for anything?" Lord ckberry shook his head and walked out. "If that piece of filth will evere back home, tell her that she better y nice, or I will kick her back to where she belongs." Zombie nced over his shoulder and dered coldly, but didn''t stay long enough to witness his former parents'' reactions since Cranberry was already looking back at him with unease because he let go of her hand so suddenly. "See? Parents or not, some people are just not worth it." Zombie whispered in her ear before taking her hand back and leaving together, following Lord ckberry. Chapter 362: Out of the village

Chapter 362: Out of the vige

The carriage was indeed ready and waiting for them to arrive ¨C coupled with two domesticated monsters rained in to pull it since both of the original ones were dead. Coincidentally, those turned out to be the exact same animals that Laura sold off four years prior. Even after those four years it still looked like those were the best animals in the vige ¨C which was saying a lot about the penny-pinching citizens of the Greeds territory. "The money from selling the raw materials from the other horse will be more than enough to cover for the cost of everything you did with it." Lord ckberry waved his hand benevolently and was about to enter the carriage before noticing a very important piece missing. There was no coachperson. "How is my coachman?" The bespectacled man held back a sigh and asked. "Olddy Apricot says he will be fine but he needs to rest. She said that concussions aren''t that easy to heal and it will take him some time to recover." One of the vigers was well informed on the matter and answered while bowing down unsure how they should act around someone so important. "..." Lord ckberry raised his head and looked up into the sky. "...why was I expecting that a high-level healer from this territory would want to settle in a vige..." He muttered to himself, making sure that neither Cranberry nor Zombie can see his annoyed expression. "...?" Then he flinched slightly realizing something. "Say, Zombie... You wouldn''t happen to know how to drive a carriage would you?" The bespectacled man turned around asked with a hopeful smile. "Daddy, no! He''s staying with me!" "Ah... of course, sweetie. I wouldn''t make him leave your side... haa..." But his smile faded as soon as he saw his red-haired daughter tightly wrapping herself around the blue boy''s arm and make a very stubborn expression ¨C she even red at him for asking a loaded question like that! "Truth to be told, I never held reins before, but I''m a fast learner, sir. The domesticated monsters always seemed to like me so it should be quite easy." Yet out of everyone, Zombie was the very person who seemed to be okay with bing the emergency coachperson. "Ha?! But we won''t be able to sit together if you''ll do that!" Cranberry cried out aint and clenched her hand on Zombie''s palm, suddenly looking really sad. "No, no. It''s alright. I was just asking. I do that. You kids should just go in the carriage already." Lord ckberry shook his head and already grabbed the handle to pull himself on the coachperson''s seat. "No, sir, it''s alright, you should be the one in the carriage with your daughter, I''m merely an undead so..." Zombie tried to stop him but... "You don''t want to sit with me...?" Cranberry tugged on his arm and asked with just the tiniest pout. "!!!!!!" Zombie nearly had a heart attack from the unexpected cuteness ¨C even though his still heart was already getting cold as his body temperature finally was dropping to an undead monster level. "Perish the thought! But please, understand it, princess, isn''t it a knight''s job to make his princess''s life easier?" The blue boy jumped to the exnation so fast that he almost bit off his tongue while talking, assuring the little girl anding up with the best way to appease her. |Oh,e on...! Zombie! Don''t get fool by that girlie! Look! Look at how she''s smirking seeing that her scheme has worked!| Patience roared furiously in usation, sounding as if she was pointing her finger at the red-haired girl nuzzling against the blue boy''s shoulder. "Stay with me... please...?" The little girl fidgeted and asked cutely. "..." |Ah... you''re right.| Zombie flinched and admitted in realization. |Whew, I was this close to locking her up all for myself, huh... She''s dangerous for my sanity...| The boy breathed out with relief. |You what...?| Patience gasped in disbelief at the thoughts she just read. |Nothing, only that making her dependent on me would not save her in the end... As much as it annoys me...| Zombie shrugged internally while on the outside he tilted his head and smiled gently. |Again... WHAT?!| Patience still had a hard time taking a confession like that in. "Oh, but none of what was said here excludes the rest." The blue boy raised Cranberry''s hand locked with his own and closed it with his other one. "Ha...?" The red-haired girl gasped in confusion, furrowing her brows but didn''t back off and instead waited for the boy to continue. "..." Simrly, Lord ckberry had frozen with one leg up on the carriage''s step waiting for the resolution. "All of us can simply ride sitting on the driver''s seat, right? It is more than wide enough." Zombie simply pointed out a rather obvious thing. "Yes, it is. But at the same time, it isn''t asfortable as the seats on the inside." Lord ckberry nodded but also made a counterpoint... "Sir, your daughter probably doesn''t leave the mansion grounds all too often, what''s a little bit of difort when she will get to experience something fun and new." ...that was counter-countered right back at him by the little blue undead. "...huh... well... for a child, driving a carriage might seem like good fun..." The bespectacled man furrowed his brows, leaning to the side. "Ah, fine. Sweetie. You''ll be a tiebreaker. Do you want to spend the rest of the way up there with me and your familiar, or in the cozy inside with only the two of you?" Lord ckberry gave up and asked his daughter. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and mirrored the side-lean that her father did, contemting her choices. "You can see more things from up there you know. And you won''t fall or anything because your father and I will be keeping you safe." Zombie encouraged her from the side. "I am not afraid of falling down!" |Ah, she most definitely is afraid of falling down.| Still, his whispers only made the red-haired girl blush and shake her head, and Patience smirked inside Zombie''s head. "I want to ride up there with you two!" In the end, she pointed up at the driver''s seat and dered doing her best to act prideful and confident. ¡­ Soon enough the Pride family''s carriage left the prosperous vige and drove towards the Prides territory with a very happy little girl seating between her father and her blue familiar on the coachperson''s bench, holding onto them both and looking around with a face blushed from excitement and joy of the travel. Chapter 363: Prides mansion (1)

Chapter 363: Prides mansion (1)

When they arrived at the Prides mansion, the sun had already set - if they stayed in the vige any longer or had any sort of trouble on the road, they would surely have to spend the night outside. ...though... was it really such a bad alternative considering just who was waiting at them...? "...nnn..." As Lord ckberry helped out Zombie to climb down while carrying the sleeping Cranberry, the red-haired girl made a cute noise and cuddled up to the blue undead. "I guess there''s no reason to wake her up for a supper... I will take her to her room." Lord ckberry smiled at his daughter''s innocent face and spoke in a hushed voice to not wake her up. "...Is what I would like to say but since we are slightlyter than expected, I should go and talk to my wife about everything that happened, so I''ll be leaving her to you, Zombie." He added and his smile dimmed a whole lot, although he tried to keep it up while looking at the blue undead. "You. Guide this boy to my daughter''s room... pffft..." Lord ckberry waved at one of the passing servants and suddenly snickered. "Sorry... it''s just that I never expected to say those words, and especially not while she''s so young." He giggled to himself, waving his hand apologetically at the blue boy. "Of course, my lor- HIIIH! Is that a monster?!" The called servant, a maid, bowed her head with a professional expression and... screeched in horror the moment that she faced the undead familiar piggybacking the sleeping Cranberry ¨C because as much as Zombie didn''t want to admit it, he wasn''t strong enough to princess carry her. The maid not only screeched, she literally fell back on her butt and started crawling away as if she was faced with the most dangerous and grotesque beast. "What are you doing acting like this?! Get up and pull yourself together! This is the Family house of Prides, every servant is expected to act like that ¨C if a single undead is too much for you, then you should resign immediately." Lord ckberry red down at her and shook his head with disgust. "Nnnnn...!" Cranberry fidgetted on Zombie''s back and nuzzled against his neck. "If she wakes up, you will get fired anyway ¨C so get up and guide him to her room." The bespectacled man added with a grim expression. "Goodnight." Then he waved at the blue boy and walked off to the mansion. "..." Zombie nced at the still fearful maid, trying to remember whether or not he saw her during the first ythrough, but the early days of him being in the mansion were all fogged up not only by the now absent rotten brain skill but also because those were the times where he almost lost his free will. Either way, he had no idea whether or not that maid kept her job or not. |Interesting. So it is like that... Much sooner than expected...| |Huh...?| Patience suddenly spoke up inside of Zombie''s head and made him flinch in surprise. |Help her stand up.| Patience instructed without any other exnation. |Why? You''re not going to tell me I''ll have to be nice to everyone in the mansion now? Like,e on! It''s already annoying enough that I have to pick and choose who I am allowed to kill!| Zombie frowned and put his foot down on the matter. |I''m not telling you to be nice to anyone ¨C I am telling you to be as nice as possible to this particr maid. Memorize that maid''s face for now and don''t make sure that both you and Cranberry will be extremely friendly towards her. Alright? Both. It will make things easier for the next step.| Patience sounded as if she shook her head and still stubbornly didn''t exin a thing. |Is there any reason for you keeping secrets from me other than being jealous over Cranberry?| Zombie sighed and rolled his eyes. |Wh-wha...?! SHUT UP! IDIOT! STUPID REINCARNATION! ME JEALOUS?! ABOUT WHO?! SHUT UP! IDIOT! IDIOT!| As it turned out, his words had hit the bullseye since he had never before heard Patience get so embarrassed and trying to hide her embarrassment with anger so much as at that very moment. |Can you at least promise me that it''s about something important?| Simrly, Zombie had never sighed so deeply before but ended up asking anyway. |IDIO...! Oh...? So now you try to act nice?! Hmph!| Even if he didn''t calm her down, he at least seeded in making her stop screaming inside of his head. |...do you even have to ask, seriously... And for your knowledge, my jealousy has nothing to do with it this time! It''s just if you know who she is, you might identally let it slip too soon and ruin everything, making our ns much more difficult to aplish!| ...or maybe he did calm her down since she at least told him why she doesn''t want to reveal anything more about the mysterious maid. |I see. If you say I shouldn''t know who she really is then I won''t even try thinking about it.| Zombie didn''t miss the opportunity and ended the subject... |..so you are jealous but not enough for it to cloud your judgment, huh. Good.| ...before driving in one final cheeky remark. |You''re awful! Do you know that?! You bully!| Patience cried out but since there was no actual anger or spite in her voice this time, Zombie just ended the conversation and approached the maid who was still on the ground, staring at him in unease as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. "Miss. Sorry for scaring you. I can assure you that although I look like I look, I am in factpletely harmless for our allies." He spoke in a reassuring voice, making sure not to speak too loud to not wake up the girl on his back. The blue boy then leaned forward so that the red-haired wouldn''t fall off, stopped supporting her with one hand, and offered that hand to the shocked, wide-eyed maid. "Looks aren''t everything, wouldn''t you say? Here." Zombie winked with a softugh and helped the maid back up on her feet. "I... I guess they are not..." The woman spoke in a timid voice while holding the spot where Zombie touched her. "Let''s go to youngdy''s room..." She said in the same manner and walked towards the mansion, then she stopped and turned away, making sure that the blue undead is following her, and began walking again. |Huh... there is something odd about her...| Zombie muttered to himself, staring at the maid''s back. |You promised to not even think about it!| Patience instantly scolded him in a baffled voice of a betrayed maiden. |Ugh...! Right. I did. I''ll stop now.| Zombie flinched and apologized, hurriedly looking away after being caught red-handed. The rest of the way went onpletely normal, with a slight detour when the maid actually lost her way because she turned into a wrong hallway ¨C as much as it annoyed the blue undead, he didn''t correct her since it would be rather odd to have him already know when Cranberry''s room was with this being his first visit to the Prides mansion ¨C thankfully, the maid realized her mistake within less than two minutes, so it wasn''t that bad. "Here it is." The maid spoke in the same timid voice and opened the door to the correct room and let them in while bowing. "Thank you very much. I''ll make sure to let Lord ckberry know that you did a great job, so don''t worry about what happened before ¨C if something happens juste and find me or Cranberry, and I''m sure that we''ll figure something out!" He added bowing back to her with a cheerful smile. |...now you are pushing it a little too much, you want to be friendly, not to seduce her.| Patience pointed out while sounding as if she was pouting. |Shhh... Enough with the jealousy. It will be fine, she''s much older than me anyway.| Zombie hushed her andughed it off internally. |...| It was hard to say whether the sealed overseer''s sigh was an agreement or her giving up, but either way, it ended their conversation as the maid backed off and Zombie put Cranberry to bed still in her clothes and put a nket over her... "Alright, time to do some weight training for that status points increase! Kopia, you can hear me, right? Don''t answer! You might wake up Cranberry. Let''s y for a bit - but quietly!" ...while he himself pulled out Kopia from her fancy sheath and made hushed her once he felt she was about to make her de vibrate to release a high-frequency nose to respond to him - and what she ended up doing was increasing her weight to allow for various muscle building exercises. "Perfect. Thanks!" Zombie smiled and caressed the pommel and the crossguard of the weapon with a grateful smile. Chapter 364: Prides mansion (2) [Not so humble beginning]

Chapter 364: Prides mansion (2) [Not so humble beginning]

Name: Zombie Race: Undead (zombie) Level: 1 HP: 15 MP: 12 ATK: 11 DEF: 4 MAT: 4 MDF: 3 HIT: 8 EVA: 4 AGI: 8 LUC: 15 Skills: Superbia (level 3) Pain nullification (level 7) Sleep resistance (level 9) Acrobatics (level 10[max]) Sword mastery (level 3) Stab (level 10[max]) Leadership (level 4) Counter (level 5) Rooted (level 7) Concentration (level 7) Emergency dodge (level 3) HP regeneration (level 4) Cleave (level 11) Strong kick (level 19) de storm (level 7) Sword whip (level 6) Throw (level 8) Whirlwind kick (level 13) Overpower (level 1) Overlevel (level 1) Undead body (level 1) Life signature detection (level 1) Bite (level 1) Corpse venom (level 1) Unlocked Affinities: Leg power (level 12[max]) Beast master (level 3) Titles: Heir of Pride Liar Hardworker Bane of goblins Sigil hunter Orcs'' cmity Troll yer Undeads'' cmity Hunter yer of the unique Kingyer Cmity Undead familiar "...ha..." Even the seven-year-old Cranberry had to sit down after reading through a note with the appraisal results such as those. Like... what was she even supposed to say now? It turned out that her undead familiar was a whole another kind of monster than anyone could expect. "Whoa... my stats suck..." Zombie peeked over the girl''s shoulder to check on his results and scoffed. |I think that they are higher than what I had as a level 1 eternal servant though.| He added in his mind, not wanting to freak out the little girl beside him. |Eternal servant starts off weak but has by far the greatest potential out of all undead monsters in this game ¨C which you surely realized after you started killing the abominations like titan-ss monsters as if they were cannon fodder.| Patience responded without fail, but she didn''t really have anything uplifting to say. |Now, you better prepare to a major slow down in your training ¨C while the stats might not be such a big problem to boost, the skills will slow down to a crawl ¨C an undead such as Zombie isn''t supposed to have any of those in the wild and the experience bonus for most of them is in the negative making it a penalty for leveling up ¨C you will really have to do something big to level them up. Oh, and gaining levels will also slow down. But that''s not something for you to worry about as since you and Cranberry still share the experience gained by you, you cannot go out hunting to make things easier for at least three years until the first-kill party.| Patience''s unskippable tutorial treat had triggered in full and she went on with the exnation. |...yeah... that will be harsh...| Zombie nodded in agreement to her statement and couldn''t help letting out a dispirited sigh. Then he looked up at the terribly shaken appraiser who had actually started frothing from his mouth and passed out once he initially appraised the blue undead. Now the man was writing down the results of his skill used on Kopia in her letter-opener form, and his expression finally was bing more healthy. "This is nothing special, nothing more than an ordinary paperweight." The appraiser breathed out and looked up at the Lord ckberry standing over him with an expectant expression. The four of them ¨C five, including the made who guided Zombie to Cranberry''s room cleaning up the table ¨C were currently upying the mansion''s dining room, fresh after finishing a healthy breakfast. "That''s what I thought... Zombie, could you activate it?" The bespectacled man nodded his head and called the blue boy over, beckoning him with his hand. "Yes." Zombie nodded, smiled reassuringly to Cranberry, and walked over, picking the letter opener up. "A-activate it...?" The appraiser''s face became slightly green as he muttered, watching the toy in the undead familiar''s hand shing with white light and turning into a full-sized one-handed shortsword. "Oh, but sir, you need to know that since I turned into an undead some of Kopia''s form had been sealed." Zombie spoke up, quicklying up with an excuse to not have to sit through the appraiser checking up every single form that Kopia had, "Oh...?" Lord ckberry raised his brow curiously. "Yes. I tried it out yesterday after I put Cranberry to bed. The only ones avable are this one..." The blue boy raised and wiggled the one-handed sword around a bit. "...and the one big one with the curly de I used to pull in the robber." He exined without even batting an eye, but, well, he did not have the title such as ''Liar'' because he was innocent, right? "Still good enough if you ask me. Now. Mister appraiser. Appraise it again." Lord ckberry shrugged his shoulders, it wasn''t like hepletely believed the blue boy ¨C after all, he had seen the inconvenient title listed on the appraisal note after all ¨C but as the undead familiar had so little health that it would be harder to not kill him if he wanted... ...even with the absolutely absurd skills and titles that he possessed. "A-alright..." The appraiser nodded and his eyes shone white as his hand started moving, adding to the note he had written down previously. "Done." The man spoke and looked up at Lord ckberry again. "Now the other form too." And Lord ckberry nodded at Zombie ¨C who didn''t have to do or say anything because Kopia herself was already waiting to change into the menacing double-handed sword with a curvy de. thunk The de had hit the floor with a dull sound as Zombie let it fell, showing that he is too weak to wield it properly to make his story about locked forms more believable. "..." The appraiser fidgetted ufortably but his eyes shone white once more and he added to his note once again ¨C he then put the pen away and offered the note to the bespectacled man "Interesting." Lord ckberry nodded with amusement and passed the note straight to Zombie ¨C who was sheathing Kopia already in her shortsword form back into the expensive scabbard. Kopia ''Letter sword'' Attack: 1 Durability: 20 Special ability: None ''shortsword'' Attack: 15 Durability: 250 Special ability: None ''morbid de'' Attack: 350 Durability: 5000 Special ability: Gut wrencher "Huh?! She has a special ability like that?!" Zombie gasped in shock, genuinely surprised. "You never used it before?" Lord ckberry asked curiously. "Gut wrencher, as the name suggests, adds the damage to any attack on the torso, and if it activates it pulls the target''s intestines out... as if the shape of the de wasn''t enough..." He exined, unknowingly taking Patience''s job. |He''s not wrong.| Patience herself sounded as if she was frowning and scoffed. "And I used this form on the bicorn''s head?! It would have been so much better than the ultra great sword that I cleaved it with!" Zombieined out loud, mourning the ineffectiveness of his final fight as a living. "Alright. For now, you two can go y. I need to talk with the mister appraiser for a bit longer, and then I''ll have to report everything to my wife. Expect to be called over." "!!!!" At her father''s words, Cranberry couldn''t help but flinch, and her expression showed actual fear. "..." That was more than enough to enrage Zombie, but sadly, his hands were bound... "You, take them to the backyard and watch over them." "...me...? I-I mean, yes, my lord!" Lord ckberry added, motioning at the maid ¨C who almost made a blunder again but recover quickly enough and hurriedly put down the empty dishes that she picked up beforehand. |Lady Raspberry has to die during the Night of the hungry wolves event or else the Eternal will be unleashed onto the world.| Patience reminded him after briefly peaking at his thoughts and seeing more than a few schemes to kill the current avatar of pride. |I know, you don''t have to repeat that again... I''ll try influencing the rtionship that those two have, but... I''m not too certain that it will work. If the worsees to worst I might actually try the emergency n... But it sure will throw everything for a loop if we go along with it...| Zombie nodded and approached the red-haired girl. "My princess. Why don''t we go train a little? Even if your specialty is magic and the spells will unlock as you level up or under the instructions from a tutor, it doesn''t mean that you can''t try practicing with a weapon to use at short range." He offered her his hand with a reassuring smile to put her mind off of the inevitable meeting with her mother, which simply couldn''t end well. "That''s a good idea. Let''s go." Cranberry first looked at his hand, then at his face, to finally smile softly and nod. "Please, follow me." The maid spoke and opened the door for them. |You know thatdy Raspberry could be extremely problematic ¨C even more so than she was in the first ythrough.| Patience pointed out as the two children were walking through the hallways of the mansion, lead by the timid maid. |She will most definitely freak out once she sees that an heir to the throne of pride has been already selected. She will undoubtedly see this as a system preparing for her death and will freak out horribly ¨C and it''s more than likely that she will unload all the fear and frustration on her daughter.| She continued in a serious voice. |Is that why you made me be nice to the maid? To make sure that there will be someone willing to sneak us out of the mansion when the shit hits the fan?| Zombie thought in realization. |Maybe yes, maybe not. Better be careful and never leave this littledy alone or it might turn bad.| Patience still refused to answer so Zombie couldn''t be sure that he was right about his guess or not. |I just need a few more days. There''s just one thing I want to try out, and then all hell can break loose ¨C I''ll be ready.| The blue boy smirked internally and then squeezed Cranberry''s hand reassuringly at which she smiled a little bit brighter. |I knew I shouldn''t have told you that that little guy isn''t mandatory for any route... You are far too soft on the monsters, that''s why you haven''t killed any frenzy rabbits or frenzy wolves either, only the humanoids.| The sealed overseer sight and sounded like she shook her head in disbelief. |Cut me some ck, will you? They are too cute to be killed!| Zombie scoffed defensively. Chapter 365: The girl and the maid (1)

Chapter 365: The girl and the maid (1)

The reaction thatdy Raspberry had to the news about Zombie was so much of a shock for her that she ended uppletely bedridden, unable to even stand up and watch her rose garden from the window of her room. It was both a blessing and a big problem at the same time and for the same reason ¨C funnily enough. Blessing ¨C because she had no time to torment her daughter in mundane attempts to live her life through her which was as cruel as it was ineffective. Problem ¨C because there was no time for the mother and daughter to interact in any way with the restingdy Raspberry''s room being off-limits for Cranberry ¨C which kind of threw a wrench in the cogs of Zombie''s ns for trying to patch up the already broken rtionship. One way or another, the two children ended up with a surplus amount of free time that could be spent in many different ways... ...that''s why they both spent it on studying in the mansion''s vast library and practicing in the backyard, all under the watchful eye of the timid maid that was slowly bing more and more warm and open towards the red-haired girl and her familiar. "...do you think that my mother doesn''t like me because I wasn''t born pretty...?" So close in fact, that Cranberry asked the maid such a question once Zombie went into the small shed to put away the training equipment the two of them used, leaving the girls alone ¨C but not outside of his hearing range. |...she doesn''t seem to be ready to let go of the attachment to her mother just yet, huh...| Zombie sighed, leaning against the shed''s wall and sighing internally. |Of course not, what did you think? In the first ythrough it happened once she was fourteen, right? And after she returned after being forced to participate in a marriage interview with a man more than twice her age. She sure is stubborn, even with a backup n it might be a problem.| Patience also sighed and pointed out not sounding too optimistic. "Youngdy, why would you say that...?" The maid asked in confusion, but there wasn''t too much surprise in her voice as if she herself never thought of the little girl as beautiful or even pretty. "Mother told me I was ugly. I wanted to see her because she was feeling unwell but she shouted at me and told me she doesn''t want to see my ugly face." "...I didn''t know that...| Zombie froze and gritted his teeth holding back his anger. Talking was good. Cranberry didn''t want to share those words with him, but she opened up to a maid ¨C and even though the little blue undead was burning with envy towards the woman who was chosen instead of him, he did not try to interrupt the talk since he knew that speaking out was needed for Cranberry to not be like she was during the first ythrough ¨C forever living in the looming shadow of her mother. "The beauty is... subjective...." The maid spoke up but she sounded just as sad as the red-haired girl. "...is what I was told by my father... but should I really believe the words of a man who found himself a beautiful lover while my mother was on her death bed, not having enough decency to wait until she died...?" The maid''s words turned out far heavier than Zombie ever expected, and suddenly the option to interrupt the two didn''t seem so outrageous anymore. "...sorry for making you remember something unpleasant, it wasn''t my intention..." |!!!!| Cranberry for once sounded actually apologetic ¨C and it made Zombie flinch in shock even more than the maid''s confession. "No, youngdy, don''t pity me. Instead, you can learn from that story just as I did..." Even though Zombie couldn''t see the maid''s face, he could tell that she was making a sad smile. "Those who don''t possess beauty are shunned in this world, the only way to counter that is to be strong enough so that the beauty doesn''t matter. And I don''t mean strong with just the STR or MAT in mind either." The maid added, hurriedly exining her words. "Your social status, the people you know, the people you rule over, your fame and fortune..." The made suddenly went silent as if she was very bitter over something. "Well... truth to be told, no matter what the physical appearance will be important after all." She suddenly changed her stancepletely, as if something broke in her. "People willugh at you behind your back if you''re not beautiful enough. No matter how hard you work, they will sniff out the one thing that hurts you the most and hit you right there with deadly precision like a pack of starved beasts, bringing you down just to make themselves feel a little bit better about their miserable selves!" Her voice turned into a growl of cold fury. |For the love of... she''s going to give Cranberry a whole new trauma to deal with, I need to...!| |NO YOU DON''T! WAIT UNTIL THEY FINISH TALKING, IT IS IMPORTANT!| |?!?!?!?!?!| Zombie clenched his fists and was about to rush out to stop the depressing talk but Patience literally shouted in his head so loud that she forced him to freeze in shock. |Just... wait a little bit longer. Don''t mess everything up because you are overprotective ¨C things are going well smoother than I ever expected and it''s a good thing. You will see for yourselfter.| The sealed overseer added, breathing out in already in a calmer manner. |...fine...| Zombie scoffed and looked away with an annoyed expression and stopped with the hand on the shed''s door. "But, I think you are pretty ¨C way prettier than me at least." Cranberry muttered clearly trying her best to lift the maid''s mood which she would never do to anyone during Zombie''s first ythrough. "Youngdy... please... don''tpliment this face of mine... it only makes things more difficult? for me..." "...sorry..." The maid murmured in a barely audible pained voice which made Cranberry apologize with worry. "All of that said. I don''t think you''re ugly either. Sorry to tell you that, but it may be that your mother is one of those people I was talking about..." Chapter 366: The girl and the maid (2)

Chapter 366: The girl and the maid (2)

It sounded like the maid calmed down a bit ¨C or maybe not, but either way the words she spoke certainly fit exactly in what Zombie wanted Cranberry to realize. "But... but she''s my mother...!" Cranberry gasped in a trembling voice. "Do you really think that bloodline matters that much? The cruelest and most hateful people that I know and talked about are in fact very close rtives of mine. Don''t make the mistake of thinking that blood is everything." The maid warned her sounding utterly pitiful and sad. "They are insecure and pour all their hatred on the most innocent ones... and... well... I am no different than them..." She added sounding as if she hid her face in her hands. "No, you''re not! You are a good person!" Cranberry sounded as if she was furiously shaking her head desperately denying?the woman in a stubborn voice. "You only say that because you can rte to me because of what I''ve said. Youngdy, that''s a very naive thought process. If you knew the real me, you would never say that. You would despise me like everyone else." The maidughed her off. "No, I would not! You are different than everyone else in this house - at least in my opinion! You and Zombie are both important to me!" |Oh-ho! That''s an unexpected turn of events!| Patience scoffed, sounding as if she raised her brows. "If your family is bad and my mother is bad then maybe we should both just find someone better! Today Zombie and I read in one of the books that friends are the family that we are choosing ourselves! And I want you to be my friend!" "!!!" Hearing those words Zombie waspletely unable to hold himself back and he stealthily snuck through the shed''s door and peeked at the two girls ¨C one a seven-year-old red-haired nobledy and the other one, a young adult maid. Cranberry was standing in front of the maid, offering her a handshake while the maid was starring at the offered hand with a nk expression. "You don''t even know my na..." "Fig! Your name is Fig! You never introduced yourself but I overheard one of the butlers call you that!" The maid shook her head and smirked but Cranberry called out and made her eyes go round. "I''m sorry that I didn''t ask you myself, but I thought that you don''t want to because you don''t like me." The red-haired girl added with an apologetic expression. "...what makes you think that I do like you?" The maid tried to y it off but even a child like Cranberry could see through that deceit. "Even if you don''t like me, I still want to be your friend! If I try really hard I know that you would start liking me! You are not like my mother or the rest of your family at all!" Cranberry eximed in a fiery speech, leaving the woman speechless. The maid blinked a few times in utter confusion as if she never expected such behavior from the daughter of the Pride family ¨C which was the same for the blue undead watching them from behind the shed, by the way ¨C and stared dumbfounded between the young girl''s hand and sincere face. "I..." The maid gulped down her saliva, looking as if she was about to reach for the handshake... "...I''m sorry! Youngdy, you really don''t want to be friends with someone like me! Forgive me!" "...! But then she suddenly cried out and ran away, leaving the stunned girl alone and confused. |This went amazing. You can go to our abandoned youngdy now.| Patience breathed out in satisfaction and sounded as if she was pushing Zombie to get out from behind his cover. |Yeah, I figured out that much myself.| Zombie scoffed back, still a bit angry at the sealed overseer for holding him back, and he walked out from his spot. "Ah...! Zombie! Ehem... that took you long enough. What do you want to..." *pat* Cranberry flinched at the sight of him and tried to y it cool but the blue undead approached her and simply put his hand on her head with a warm expression. "It''s okay ¨C you heard her, it''s not like she doesn''t want to be your friend, she just has her own problems. I''m sure that everything will be okay once she works things out... so... it''s alright." "!!!!" He spoke in a reassuring voice and nodded at the stunned girl. "...Zombie..." The red-haired girl whispered and her lips and chin started shaking uncontrobly. "I am here." The blue boy nodded. "Zombie...!" Cranberry cried out, busting out in tears, and hugged her undead familiar, burrowing her face into his corbone. |In the first ythrough Cranberry never allowed me to see her tears before... not like this...| The boy thought to himself with a soft smile while hugging the girl back and soothing her by gently patting her blood-red hair. |Yeah... as long as she won''t start hiding her feelings and bottling it all up, the same fate should not meet her again.| Patience nodded, sounding a bit too mncholy for someone who deleted the files of the Cranberry from the first ythrough. |That said... I don''t want to be that woman, but we should make one thing clear. Zombie, this Cranberry isn''t y...| |She isn''t my Cranberry ¨C Yeah, I know.| Zombie breathed out and pulled away from the young red-haired girl who managed to calm down a bit and was now wiping off her tears with an embarrassed expression. |You know...?| Patience sounded incredibly confused. |I''m not a fool, you know? I didn''t receive the rotten brain skill in this ythrough.| The boy scoffed at her. |How could a person be the same if they didn''t experience the same things? My Cranberry was a hateful mess... but she was the one I loved, and she is gone... And the best thing I can do is to help this Cranberry be whoever she wants- or at least someone who will not think about her abusive mother in the moment of her death.| Zombie responded to her while smiling reassuringly at the girl in front of him. |But... what if that happy Cranberry will not want to be together with her undead familiar because she will fall for someone else...?| The sealed overseer asked cautiously. |Then I will act like a good familiar and step into the shadow to allow her to finally be happy.| The blue boy dered with no hesitation whatsoever... |After all, I will still have both you and Kopia, right?| |Sh-shut up! Stupid!| He added jokingly making Patience scoff at him sounding as if she was blushing from embarrassment - but incredibly happy at the same time. Chapter 367: The wild goose - erm - the wild rabbit chase.

Chapter 367: The wild goose - erm - the wild rabbit chase.

"I''ll be gone for a little bit, one or two days at most... With your mother still staying in bed, will you be able to cover for my absence?" Zombie asked the red-haired girl still burrowed under the nkets as the hour was ungodly early for anyone to be up. "Nnn... yes... Fig promised to help me with that too." Cranberry let out a sleepy sound and nodded obediently while rubbing her eyes in an attempt to stay awake. "Hey, remember to close the window behind me, or else you''re going to catch a cold sleeping in the draft." Zombie smirked and leaned down to match the eye level of the lying girl. "...Zombie... do you really have to go...?" The girl asked in a sleepy voice and looked at the blue boy making puppy-dog eyes. "Don''t sound so sad, I''ve told you I''ll be gone only for a little bit ¨C I''m going to check something important and be right back ¨C I am most definitely not leaving you or anything." The blue familiar snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "...you will return...?" The sleepy Cranberry sniffled in an adorable voice. "Of course I will!" Zombie assured her unable to stop smiling at how cute the red-haired girl was acting. "...promise...?" The girl didn''t give up and even reached out her right hand towards the blue boy, sticking out her pinky finger. "I promise. I promise. I will definitelye back to you. Always." Zombieughed and made a pinky promise with her. "Close the window!" Zombie said for thest time, making sure that the meaning of his words reaches the girl who was already falling back asleep and simply jumped out from the said window, soundlesslynding on the ground below with the help of his acrobatics skillbined with the whirlwind kick skill. |Do you think that she will close it?| Zombie asked in his mind, looking up. |Oh for the...! Who cares?! If she won''t then you will just nurse her to health or something! Geez! Stop with the window talk ¨C you aren''t her parental figure!| Patienceined in annoyance. |...alright, sorry...| Funnily enough, that made Zombie pout and he rushed out, kicking the ground and propelling himself with the continuous use of the whirlwind kick to reach the rose garden with record speed. "..." He made sure with his limited range life signature detection skill - which this time didn''te as a part of the max level undead body skill ¨C maybe because the undead body skill was merely on level 1 ¨C that no one was around to see him enter the ce, and snuck in, moving alongside the hedge. It didn''t take him long to find the spot he was looking for ¨C a carefully hidden burrow made by a small rodent monster ¨C a frenzy rabbit. Even though Zombie''s memory from the beginning from the early days of the first ythrough was quite foggy, he sure did remember his first encounter with a real monster ¨C though, from the perspective of what he lived through, his struggle at that time sure did seem a little bit pathetic... But of course, he wasn''t there for something as silly as pity revenge ¨C since even though the level ups were supposed to be much harder in this ythrough, he wasn''t going to scare the red-haired girl by killing a monster and making her powerlessly look at the message informing her about the experience gain. No. His objective was very different. "...get out or I will skewer you like some cheap street-vendor snack." The boy growled and pulled out his sword. Kopia shed white without dy and turned from her shortsword form right into the intimidating morbid de ¨C but there was a twist ¨C even though she looked like the demonic curved de, she kept the weight and the attack power of the shortsword. ...but the frenzy rabbit inside its little burrow had no idea... "SKWEEE?! (UWAAAAH?!) SKWEE! (ATTACK?! DANGER! DANGER!) ...and when the sword sunk into the ground in a calcted strike that barely missed it ¨C it freaked out just as Zombie had wanted and jumped right out of its home while screeching in panic. "Now that I got your attention..." The blue boy smirked at the rabbit monster the size of a small dog ¨C or a rather big rabbit depending who you''re asking. "SKWEE!? (HUH?! HUMAN KIT DARES TO SCARE ME?!) SKWE-eee... (ME WILL KILL- y-you...)" The monster screeched with fury but once Zombie''s body began glowing with vibrant violet light and the demonic sword in his hands shone with a threatening white light, the little monster lost a lot of its steam. "I''ll give you one chance, bunny. Scram, or you''ll end up in a stew!" The blue boyughed threateningly and waved his weapon right at the frozen monster. "SKWEEEEEE! (N-NOOOOOO!)" The creature folded its ears alongside its body and rapidly dashed away from the de''s trajectory. *SWOOOOOOSH* "SKWEE! (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!)" It continued screeching in pure terror as it felt the gust of wind caused by the weapon caress? the fur on its butt. "That''s right, little bunny! Run! Run as if you were a step from death!" The boy howled and followed closely after the monster, swinging his de again. |Are you sure that it won''t turn around and attack you?| Patience asked with a voice full of doubt. |No. Not as long as it thinks it has a chance of getting away. It will attack only if I force it against a wall.| Zombie scoffed back shrugging his shoulders. |Though I guess I should ease up a little bit, or it might die from a heart attack. Poor little fellow. It is so fluffy and cute.| The boy added and indeed slowed down a little bit so that the rabbit could have a little more breathing space. |Are you even sure that it will work? Thest time you poisoned it so hard that it was a miracle that it survived. Why would you think that it will run to the exact same spot?| The sealed overseer asked in confusion. |Simple. Severely damage or not, it will try to hide ¨C if it is scared enough, it will ignore any new hiding spots and go straight to the ce where it thinks is the safest.| Zombie exined with a bright smile... "SKWEEE! (NOOOO! ME WILL BE EATEN! ME NOT WANT!)" ¡­.which made the horrified frenzy rabbit screech in fear even though Zombie wasn''t even swinging the sword at it. |Are you sure about that...? It doesn''t seem smart enough to remember which hiding spot was the safest...| Patience asked skeptically. |Oh, I am absolutely sure. I''ll have you know that my Cranberry and I have almostpletely eradicated its species around the Prides territory in the first ythrough and got the bane of rabbits titles. I know their pattern by heart.| Zombie answered with a proud grin. |...I see... so during your first ythrough you didn''t find those little buggers cute enough to not massacre them, but now you do because...?| The sealed overseer proved to be very talkative while the frenzy rabbit was running around, twisting and sharply turning doing its best to lose the unrelenting chase but failing miserably. |The previous ythrough doesn''t count! I had the rotten brain skill! I was brainwashed too! Come on! Don''t make me think about it! I feel bad about this little fellow enough as it is!| The blue undeadined as they were chasing the rabbit farther and farther away. |Sure, sure. Well, whatever... It won''t be my fault if you waste two whole days on running it to death if you''re wrong.| Patience sighed in defeat, sounding as if she was shaking her head with a sour expression. ¡­ ¡­... The scared frenzy rabbit sure had way too much energy to spare ¨C it actually took the blue undead a whole day to just made it tire enough to barely walk. But with that, came the doubt ¨C will his n actually work...? What if the little monster really was too stupid to remember the safest spot ¨C or maybe during the first ythrough it didn''t manage to get that far to begin with? His doubts got to him to such extent that the blue undead actually stopped, intending to just let the frenzy rabbit go on its way... But just then, as the blue boy stopped chasing it, the little monster used the chance and dived into nearby bushes and... "SKWEEE-...?! (WHY IS YOU HER-...?!)" It horrified screech echoed as if it was squeaking from the bottom of a well and... *CHOMP* Ended abruptly with a short but powerful sounding p of jaws, before it could finish its sentence. |Khahahaha! Hey, who would have thought. Our guest of honor is here!| Zombie smiled internally and hurriedly walked towards the bushes and spread them apart revealing an entrance to a cave, rather low but wide enough for even a big animal to squeeze right in if it really wanted to. |Well, I''ll be damned... you actually found him!| Patience whistled, impressed, as something much bigger than a frenzy rabbit twitched and cowered at the far back of the rtively shallow cave. "(S-stay away, wh-whoever you are...!)" A scared high-pitched voice resounded in Zombie''s brain, and it wasn''t the voice of the sealed overseer. "(I-I am a scary, scary dragon...! I will eat you if youe any closer, you know...?! Like the rabbit!)" The bright red-winged reptile the size of a slightly smaller horse, bared its fangs still wet from the blood of the frenzy rabbit that it devoured hungrily, shaking from fear but trying to act as tough as it could. "Oh my god, he is so cute...!" Zombie was so overwhelmed by the young dragon that he spoke his thoughts out loud, gasping in awe. Chapter 368: Baby dragon (1)

Chapter 368: Baby dragon (1)

"(A-an undead...?! Noo! Go away! Don''t eat me! I will burn you!)" The young dragon trembled in fear but still tried its best to spread its wings to appear as menacing as possible in the limited space of the shallow caver that was just a slightly upgraded burrow dug in stone by the passage of time and the abuse of elements. |It knows that fire is effective against the undead.| Zombie pointed out. |Dragons are naturally smart, they have the gic memory, or rather simply have ess to a portion of the system database from an early age, case in point, this guy.| Patience exined |But you don''t have to worry, during their first few years the dragon''s throat is too delicate to withstand the use of the fire breath skill so they don''t learn it until they are four years old. If the trivia I have ess to is correct, this one should be at most two ¨C which means he has the mental capacity of a seven-year-old human. "(Go away!) *kweeh* *cough* (U-uuugh...!)" The young dragon tried out and despite what the sealed overseer said, it sure tried to breathe fire at the blue undead in front of it, but ended up only producing a pained squeak and choked on some smoke that came out of its jaws before identally sharing a pitiful sob when it cried that its attack failed miserably, and pped its wings hoping for the best. "..." And that made the blue undead flinch too ¨C but certainly not because he was actually scared of the scared monster''s desperate threats. No. The thing that made the boy freeze in shock was the physical condition of the little dragon ¨C well, little for the standards of its species at least. The poor thing was in a horrible state! Its wings looked crumpled as if they were tied up for days without even the slightest consideration for the monster''s health, and there were many spots where the red scales peeled off and revealed irritated skin oozing with a yellowish goop. Until that point, Zombie always thought that the red dragon''s terrible health during the first kill party of the first ythrough was caused by the long term effects of eating the frenzy rabbit filled to the brim with corpse venom and being artificially sustained in the state of perpetual poisoning by its captors from the Greed family ¨C but that was clearly not the case. "Hey, buddy. What happened to you?" "(Go away!)" The blue boy asked in a worried voice and extended his hand towards the young dragon but the only reaction he got was for the monster to cried out in his head using the telepathy skill and backing right into the cave''s wall and causing even more scales to fall off. |It''s bad. The pipsqueak is too scared to listen to you even with the backing of the beast master affinity.| Patience pointed out sounding surprisingly concerned. "It''s alright, little one. I mean no harm. See?" Zombie was agreeing with Patience but that alone was not enough to make him back off ¨C instead, he raised his hands up showing his open palms to the red monster ¨C trying to make it realize that he wasn''t going to hurt it. "(Go away! I-I might not be able to burn you, but I can bite you and it will really hurt! The humans who took me away from my nest all started crying when I bit them!)" The young dragon hissed and scratched the cave''s floor with its unimpressive ws while baring his slightly more impressive fangs. |All started crying...? He''s not a very good liar, right?| Patience pointed out, slightly amused. |He does seem a lot more innocent than I remember him.| Zombie nodded in agreement observing the little dragon who looked more and more pitiful as it was realizing that it might be over for it. |Maybe nearing his death''s door he developed more dignity... Though in three years he would mentally be around the level of a high schooler, so maybe it was just trying to act cool despite its situation?| The sealed overseer suggested sounding as if she was tilting her head. |So... like a phase.| |It wasn''t a phase, Zombie! Not for him, at least. But what can we do about him now?| |...good question...| The two joked around a bit before returning to the problem at hand. "Alright, you won. I''ll back off." Zombie sighed and started crawling back. "(...h-huh...?! Wait, really?!)" Once again the young dragon failed to cut off the telepathic link in time and overshared in utter confusion. "Yeah. I know what''s your problem ¨C you''re hungry." The blue boy shrugged his shoulders and dered with a confident expression. "Wait here a bit, I''ll get you something to eat ¨C and if you will be the one to kill it, then maybe you receive enough experience points to level up and heal up a little bit too." Zombie tilted his head and nodded while crawling through the low entrance. "Wait a bit ¨C we should find you something like the rabbit before ¨C which was also a gift from me by the way." He added before leaving and covering the entrance with the shrubs and bushes. "Seriously, stay here, I''ll be right back." The boy leaned down and waved his finger at the little dragon''s life signature since he couldn''t see it normally anymore. "(D-don''te back! Stupid undead! If youe back I will eat you!)" "Pffft... yeah, as if! Stay put and be ready for some a meal!" The hidden red monster tried to be brave and sent one more telepathic message after leaving blue boy which honestly only caused Zombie to snort and wave his hand dismissively back towards it. |Food...? Really? Even if he is young, dragons are highly intelligent ¨C of course, the majority that you met were affected by the fog that stripped them from said intelligence and left just monsters acting upon their instincts, so you wouldn''t really know that.| Patience sighed, sounding as if she shook her head in disappointment. |First of all, he''s a baby ¨C with a big body and the mental capacity of a seven-year-old, but still a baby. It''s scared and his tummy is rumbling, of course, he will be uncooperative.| The blue boy scoffed at the sealed overseer and began walking around searching through the area with his life signature detection. |His tummy is rumbling...? You already like him too much! He''s the size of a small horse!| |Doesn''t matter, still cute, and needs food ¨C stop being jealous over everyone we meet.| Patienceined but got scoffed at again. |Wh-who is jealous over you!? Maybe in your dreams!| The sealed overseer sounded extremely embarrassed and tried to mask it with anger but failed miserably. Chapter 369: Baby dragon (2)

Chapter 369: Baby dragon (2)

"Ah... I see something... more frenzy rabbits, I feel a little bad, those fluffy fellows are so cute... Anyway, by any chance do you know where are we? Is it still Prides territory or not?" The blue boy ended up asking out loud since it didn''t really seem like there was anyone who could overhear him anyway ¨C except for rabbits of course. |Still in the Prides territory but too close to the edge of the Gluttony territory if you ask me...| Patience ended up answering with a sigh of defeat, but in her voice, there was some unsaid worry. "The Gluttonys with their inborn shapeshifting ability might be a problem, but no one mentioned their involvement during capturing the dragon back in the first ythrough, or am I remembering wrong...? That part didn''t really stand out to me so I have a hard time recalling it..." |Zombie, you forget about something more important ¨C the Greeds could simply lie or put pressure on the Gluttonys to hand over the dragon ¨C anyway, watch out for any werewolves.| Patience warned him since indeed his behavior wasn''t overly cautious for someone with such limited information and so much to lose. |But, more importantly, how are you going to catch the food for the little guy without getting a portion of the EXP from it? You do remember that receiving an attack also counts as taking part in a fight ¨C that''s how tanks are able to level up even without dealing a single point of damage to the enemy. Don''t tell me that you forgot about that too?| The sealed overseer pointed out sounding as if he furrowed her brows and red at the blue undead while crossing her hands with a strict expression. "What, are you telling me you don''t know what I''m about to do? Really?" Zombie stopped and made a mocking expression. |Sh-shut up! It''s not like I''m reading your mind all the time, even a stupid idiot like you deserves some privacy!| Patience gasped and answered hurriedly in embarrassment. "Dear system. Kopia. Our favorite sealed overseerpletely forgot about you!" Zombie let out a fake gasp and patted the crossguard of his sword. "Tehehe...! She is ignoring me because I am useful and she can only nag!" Before Patience could say something against such usation the high-pitched frequency noise came out of the expensive scabbard and turned into words. |Shut up! How are you more useful than I am! You are just a sword! Even if you kill something, Zombie will still get the experience!| The sealed overseer called out angrily, ready to pick a fight with the sword at any time. "That''s not actually true." Zombie shook his head with a big bright smile. |Eh...?| Which made Patience gasp in disbelief. "Tehehe! I only count as a piece of the equipment when I''m touching master!" Kopia let out more high-pitched noises and exined. Suddenly the short sword moved on her own, jumping out of the scabbard and a few strands of the crimson hair retracted from Zombie''s right hand... "Ta-dam!" With a sh of white light, where just a second ago a one-handed shortsword was sticking out stuck in the ground, stood a cheerful crimson-haired girl with piercing light-blue eyes wearing a cute fluffy dress. "See? If It''s like that, I''m just some stray sword running around on my own!" Kopia eximed, jumping around happily as if she had enough of being stuck in a scabbard no matter howfortable it was. |Hah! So that''s how it works...| Patience sounded as if she nodded with interest ¨C but, well, since Kopia let go of Zombie, she could no longer hear the sealed overseer so she didn''t answer ¨C but she sure waited for the reaction fully expecting to hear it normally. |She''s not very bright, is she?| Patience sighed as the crimson-haired girl tilted her head wondering why she doesn''t hear the sealed overseer''s voice anymore. |Well... all the sharpness went to her de so there was nothing left for her brain, I guess.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders and thought with a sigh. "Kopia. Since you already came out, go and catch some weak monsters for the little dragon to eat ¨C just make sure you don''t finish them yourself ¨C we want him to level up." Zombie spoke and instructed the humanoid de showing her where the nearest monsters should be. "Yes! Leave it all to me, master!" Kopia eximed in excitement and even saluted, though it was rather curious from where did she pick up that gesture... *whoosh* And in the next moment, her body shone with white light and her hands transformed into some eery hybrid of human limbs augmented with long des and she run in the direction that the blue undead pointed her in and rushed ahead, cutting through the air. "..." That made Zombie stop in ce with a rather shocked expression ¨C blinking with confusion after the disappearing humanoid de. |I take that you didn''t know she could do that?| Patience asked reading into Zombie''s silence. "Well... I just realized that even if she doesn''t have a level, I''ve sure fed her with a lot of quite strong weapons... If she can actually use it like that, then she might turn out to be a far more useful ally than I ever hoped for..." Zombie muttered in disbelief. "Master! I already got one!" "SWEEEEEEE! (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!)" And just as he finished speaking, the crimson-haired girl returned, holding the absolutely horrified frenzy rabbit by its ears ¨C while her sharp dagger-fingers were cutting into its flesh, causing it to howl in both fear and pain. "Quick! Incapacitate its legs and throw it here!" Zombie gasped and rushed back to the cave entrance, spreading open the bushes. "(I''ve told you to go aw-h-huh?!)" The dragon cried out using telepathy but gasped in shock when a screeching wounded rabbit flew towards him from the entrance and bounced against the ground reeking with the enticing smell of fresh blood that a young starved carnivore could not resist at all. "(...)" *CHOMP* *CRUNCH* *GULP* "(...)" This frenzy rabbit went down the dragon''s throat even easier than the first one ¨C and even though the red monster didn''t say anything, Zombie could feel that it wasying down in anticipation ¨C unable to win against the hunger and silently hoping for another tasty treat toe flying his way... "Good job, Kopia. Go catch another one." "Tehehe! Sure, master!" Zombie praised the humanoid sword with a light pat on the crimson hair and sent her off again. Chapter 370: Baby dragon (3)

Chapter 370: Baby dragon (3)

"...ghuuuuueggghhh..." A long satisfying burp came out of the shallow cave after system-knows how many rabbits, wolves, and even goblins were thrown there by the crimson-haired humanoid sword running around without showing any signs of tiring out. |You think that will be enough to satisfy his tummy?| |I think that he will not be able to leave the cave if Kopia will bring him another monster to feed on. Just talk to him again already!| Patience answered angrily to Zombie''s innocent question. The blue boy was sitting by the entrance, just so that the young dragon would always see at least a tiny bit of his arm to let him know about his presence ¨C but now, the undead familiar leaned fully into the cave and peeked in, while leaning on Kopia resting in her luxurious scabbard. "(...you really don''t want to eat me...?)" The voice that resounded in Zombie''s mind was a lot calmer, although still carried some audible doubts. |I... really want to tell him that I''m just fattening him until he is plump and ready to be gobbled up....| Zombie thought to himself while fighting with the extreme urge to bully the creature. |Don''t you even dare!| Patience scolded him without even a second of a dy ¨C which only made the boy chuckle. "Hey... I have been told that dragons are very honorable creatures." Instead of going with the silly urge, Zombie went with the proper approach ¨C although his words were directly inspired by the speech that the weak prince, Roan, had used to make the monster pledge his allegiance to him. "I just so happen to be the heir to the throne of pride ¨C so let''s say I know a thing or two about keeping one''s word and the importance of honor." The undead changed the tone instantly and his body began shining with pure violet light of the activated superbia to add validity to his words. "(...I see... and...?)| The red dragon ¨C who looked a lot healthier than just a few hours prior to the feeding frenzy sponsored by Zombie and Kopia - fidgeted nervously, subconsciously flinching after witnessing the light of a skill illuminate his little cave. "I want you, little one." The blue undead spoke in a low, raspy voice, staring into the dragon''s eyes with an intense expression. |OH, FOR THE LOVE OF...! THAT''S BOTH A MALE AND A CHILD?! DO YOU HAVE NO SHAME IN YOUR SEDUCTION?! WHAT, DO YOU WANT TO GAIN A LUST-BASED SKILL TOO?!| His tone and overall aura that he was giving off caused the sealed overseer to have a little meltdown and let her jealousy ran rampant ¨C and honestly, if her voice was connected to Zombie''s ears in any way she would definitely blow out his eardrums. "(...I am a scary dragon! I am not anyone''s property...!)" Thankfully, the young dragon didn''t have a dirty mind like a certain sealed overseer and only stiffened and stuck to the ground as if readying itself for a pounce at the blue boy. "No, no property, silly. If you will be mine you will join my family... though... truth to be told there are like two of them who actually are my property..." Zombie waved his hand dismissively and exined, although he did stop in hesitation by the end and stopped in ce to consider something. |Excuse me?! You are grouping me together with an equipment like Kopia?! Who is your property, you rotten bastard?!| Patience instantly picked up on the little jab that the blue boy made at her, and shouted in anger. "(...will... will you be able to protect me from the humans that took me from my nest...?)" Whether it was a result of having eaten up until full or some other unknown reason the little red dragon suddenly lost all aggressiveness from his stance and simplyid down on the stone floor and looked up at the blue boy while using the telepathy skill. "That''s a really tough condition you''re putting up, you know, little one?" Zombie furrowed his brows and made it look like he was actually bothered. "Do you even know what kind of people kidnapped you?" He asked in a serious voice, looking at the young dragon looking up at him. "(N-noo...! Are they very scary...?)" The red monster asked and his body trembled as if it remembered how the kidnappers caught and tied him up so hard that he lost the feeling in his wings for days. "Those were the people sent out by the royal family." Zombie sat on the ground and began exining everything step by step to the young dragon ¨C although he had no idea whether in the first ythrough the dragon was originally caught by the crown''s hunters or just the crown''s hunters came across it once it has managed to ran away from its original captors and further worsened its state by eating the poison-filled frenzy rabbit ¨C he decided to use the exnation that was easiest to convey without soundingpletely fake. "The children from intelligent races can be the yer characters and receive quests from the system once they turn ten ¨C themon quest that everyone receives, when they are level one, is ¨C kill your first monster. And the nobles of this kingdom have made it into a grand asion where they organize a big celebration during which each family uses their money and influence to get their hands on the rarest and most exotic monster that will be then heavily weakened and killed by their child. And the first royal prince of the kingdom is still getting older and soon it will be his turn to participate..." Zombie paused not to catch a breath or anything, but rather to let the information sink in into the dragon''s brain. "(If I get caught I will be killed by that prince?!)" The monster raised up to its feet and backed into the corner of the cave trampling many of his old scales. "No. Dragons are considered far too valuable to just kill off like that. Instead, you would have been kept in captivity for a long time, poisoned and miserable, with your wings bound so you won''t be able to fly so that your will would be weak so that when the timees, the prince could show off to everyone else present his benevolence with sparing you while simultaneously making you promise him to be his familiar once he reaches level 10 and receives a tamer ss." Chapter 371: Baby dragon (4)

Chapter 371: Baby dragon (4)

Since Zombie wasn''t just making things up and was actually repeating what he himself witnessed, there was no hesitation in his steady voice, he seemed almost indifferent ¨C and maybe because of that indifference, his words were that much more frightening to the young red dragon. "(...I don''t want that...!)" It cried out in a terrified voice, visibly shaking. "Thene with me. My name is Zombie ¨C I am a familiar of a girl called Cranberry Pride. Let me tell you, that if there is one family in the whole world that can oppose the royal family and stop them from pursuing you, it is the Pride family. If you give me your word that you will follow me, then I will protect you." The blue boy dered and reached out his hand just as he did when he initially found the young monster. "(...)" The dragon shook its wings, looking at the hand for far longer than it was necessary. "..." And the blue boy didn''t rush it at all either ¨C if the dragon was as smart as their species was supposed to be, then it will definitely choose the right answer. "(...)" After some more time has passed, the young dragon flinched and began inching towards the undead''s hand. "(...so be it...)" The young dragon made his decision and reached out with its head towards Zombie''s hand until it felt the boy patting the top of his scaly head. "(...from this point I pledge the allegiance to you, and acknowledge you as my one and only master...)" "Wha...?! I didn''t mean it like tha...!" Zombie tried to stop the dragon from putting itself in a much lower position than it ever had to, but the monster''s body was already shining with some unknown skill as the beast closed its eyes as if it was enjoying the pleasant coolness of the blue boy''s dead flesh... /Red dragon of Ruin offered you his servitude Do you ept? Yes/No ...and a rather sinister-looking message has popped up in front of Zombie''s eyes. |...please, check if that has to do something with some dangerous quest...| The boy''s face turned grim once he read the message. |Nothing. That''s just the title it has ¨C it might be a sign of this world trying to reject the story of the game and coin its own lore, but that''s not likely ¨C that would happen only if weplete the global event of the otome game.| Patience answered indifferently sounding as if she just shrugged her shoulders. |Will I share the experience with him if I ept...?| Zombie asked another question in suspicion. |Also, no, the way the message is phrased means that the dragon will be your subject ¨C you will be able to order him around, but you won''t share experience unless you will participate in a fight together - until you will be the avatar of pride and level up a certain skill that is.| Patience eased his worries in a lighthearted tone. "(...please, don''t abandon me...)" It seemed that Zombie''s attempt to scare the little dragon was far too proficient as since he was taking too long on deciding, the little dragon actually used telepathy to cry pitifully into his head while looking up at him with tearful eyes. "System, yes." The confirmation from the sealed overseer together with the cuteness of the little dragon ended up with the blue boy agreeing with a slight sigh. /Choice confirmed Choose a name for your subject |What, like, right now?| |Right now.| Zombie gasped internally in confusion and Patience answered him sounding as if she was rolling her eyes. "Fine. From now on, your name will be... Baron." After a brief hesitation, the blue boy picked a first name that came to his mind after looking at the red-winged lizard-like beast. /Name selected 1st subject registered Red dragon of Ruin, Baron. A new message popped up confirming Zombie''s choice. "(Baron...? Master, why did you choose that name? Is it because dragons are like the monsters royalty?)" Baron asked, crawling out of the cave and sitting right by Zombie going as far as even resting its head at his shoulder. "Erm... be-because you are red..." Unfortunately, the answer it received was far less grand than it expected ¨C or was it? "Anyway! Let''s get you a bit stronger before we return to the mansion, shall we? I want to at least be sure that you can fly!" Either way, the blue undead pped his hands together and pulled out Kopia from her sheath, and threw her in the air ¨C where she shed with white light andnded on the ground already in her humanoid form. "Tehehe! Hello, little one! Let''s kill a lot of things together!" Kopia jumped up and eximed, approaching the shocked red dragon, and put her arm around its torso. "I can''t apany you yet since if I kill something my master would receive a portion of the experience. Kopia, I leave him to you, don''t take too long and rush back at once if you notice something that could harm either one of you." Zombie instructed, ignoring the bergasted dragon with its jaw hanging loose staring at the humanoid weapon being so casual with it, without any introduction. "Yes, master!" "(...HUUUUUUUUH...?!)" She cheered and actually dashed away while holding the absolutely bewildered dragon under her arm like an oversized plush toy. |Aren''t you worried, letting her ran off like that...?| Patience asked in confusion as the blue undead calmly watched the disappearing pair of humanoid weapon and a monster. "Hmph...!" Zombie only smirked and shook his head as if he was about to drop some profound knowledge onto the sealed overseer, and... "Of course I''m worried!" Suddenly his body began glowing with intense violet light and his legs added ayer of white light on top of it and he kicked off the ground with a grand wind pressure caused by the whirlwind kick, as he charged after the two while his eyes shone reddish when he was looking around watching out for the search party sent after the dragon. |Any idea how much time do we have until anyone connected to the Gluttony family wille by?| He asked while circling around the dragon who just pounced at the frenzy rabbit and missed miserably since the little monster wasn''t going to just stand in one ce waiting to be eaten. |No. not really. Sorry.| The answer he received wasn''t very informative, but he said nothing to that since the thing he was doing was already reaching pretty far from the original story. Chapter 372: Return to the mansion

Chapter 372: Return to the mansion

"I can''t believe it took so long...!" Zombie was kicking off the ground so furiously as if the soil had done something horrible to him and he was taking an act of bloody revenge with each step ¨C he was so dissatisfied with himself that he didn''t just think the sentence, he had growled it out loud. |It is your fault, you know? Who told you to already start putting Baron through training? He is your subject already, wouldn''t it be enough to just order him to go train by himself and call him only when he would be needed?| Patience asked in a sour voice that certainly didn''t make Zombie feel any better. |That would be because he needed at least the very basic skills to be useful! Being adorable isn''t a valid strategy unless it is weaponized by a lust-based skill! He wouldn''t be a very useful subject as he was when we found him, would he?| The blue boy scoffed at her internally, focusing on dodging the people appearing from time to time in his way ¨C he was returning to the Pride''s mansion using the shortest possible way: cutting through every single road, field, vige, or town, without caring about anyone or anything that he scared with his sudden appearance and reckless speed. |At least we know that he can fly ¨C let''s hope his tracker that he apparently put on you will work well and he wille to the mansion after he''ll gain a few more levels like you have instructed him to...| Patience sighed inside Zombie''s mind, sounding as if she was shaking her head in defeat. |We left him with Kopia, he will be fine.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders while caressing the empty sheath at his side and jumping over a cart driven by a panicking peasant screaming some gibberish. |No. Kopia is one of the reasons for my worries ¨C we left them both close to the Gluttonys territory, what if Arion shows up and they will kill him? The whole secret true ending hangs on having all capture targets alive!| The sealed overseer wasn''t giving up worrying about every single detail, though whether there was something to actually worry about or not was a different matter altogether. |Pati, we have exined to her to not harm any wolves thate their way no matter what and to just run away instead. Kopia might not be very bright but she isn''t stupid. And she definitely isn''t a rebel.| Zombie sighed internally and rolled his eyes as he dodged someone crossing the road without looking at both sides. |You put way too much faith in... wait... what did you just call me...?| Patience sounded pissed off but then she froze and asked in a changed voice. |Pati. You know, short for Patience. We know each other for some time already, I think a little nickname is in ce.| The blue boy giggled and smirked quite evilly. |You... you''re awful! You are doing this on purpose to make me stop talking!| Patience cried out sounding extremely embarrassed while stuttering. |Oh no, Pati, you figured me out ¨C you are so smart, Pati. Nothing hides away from you, Pati. You are so amazing! As expected of my Pati!| Zombie thought and his smirk grew wider and wider until it became a full-blown grin that scared a staggering amount of people gathered at some random town''s square tuned into a marketce for a day before he jumped away leaving everyone in the dust. Although Patience expected that Zombie was teasing her for the sole purpose of taking pleasure from making her embarrassed but the truth was that the blue boy was just trying to take his mind off of the lonely red-haired girl whim he left or longer than he promised her... Will he be hated once hees back? He didn''t share the messages with the current Cranberry so he had no idea what she was up to and vice versa, so he could only hope and pray for everything to be alright ¨C as far as he remembered, during the first ythrough nothing important happened in the span of the corresponding days, evendy Raspberry didn''t call for her daughter once, but would that stay the same considering how different the situation is this time around? |Sh-shut up! You rotten-hearted yboy! If you will continue going down that path you will surely start getting lust-based skills in no time! You should be focusing on pride-based ones first!| The sealed overseer cried out in a cutely bothered voice, calling out the blue boy''s behavior. |Yeah, I know ¨C I actually might have a knack for it too ¨C I clearly remember getting a lust-based skill, jealous rage or whatever, before I changed forms in the first ythrough.| Zombie responded in an unperturbed voice, shrugging his shoulders innocently. |Wh-wha...?!| The answer for that was just Patience''s baffled gasp. |Suberbia leveled up after the system tried to give me Ira, wouldn''t the same happen if I receive a core skill from another sin branch?| Zombie asked and this time he was at least half-serious with his question. |...yes... that is indeed how superbia levels up, but I don''t appreciate you testing it out on me...| Patience grumbled in response, still sounding very much embarrassed to hell and back. |Oh, you know, I would nev...| "COME AT ME, MONSTER!" Zombie''s thought was interrupted by a loud roar of some adventurer that he was about to pass ¨C and it wasn''t just a normal voice ¨C it was a targeted taunt skill aimed at the dashing blue undead. In any normal situation such skill should easily tear through the magic defense of any basic undead forcing them to charge the skill user, but, well... Zombie wasn''t just any basic undead, was he? /Warning /The owner of the superbia skill is being attacked by an inferior skill /Calcting... /The attacking yer receives a penalty /MDF, MAT, LUC, -75% for the next 5 hours Time remaining (04:59:59) (04:59:58) "Wh-what the hell?!" The messages that popped up must have been just as surprising for the blue undead as they were for the unfortunate adventurer who thought that he would lead an odd undead monster to his party members lying in ambush. |-85% just because of the first use, and for just the taunt too? Superbia level 3 is pretty brutal, considering I''m only level 1 myself.| Zombieughed leaving the utterly confused, staggered adventurer behind. |That just shows how broken the sin-based skills are. While it boosts your physical defense based on your skill points, superbia''s true potentialys in defending against mental damage ¨C if that guy tried to use a control-type skill, he would probably be hit back with -99% skill points debuff for a whole week or something.| Patienceughed triumphantly, happy to change the subject to something less embarrassing for her. |Huh... cool. Could be useful for the future.| Zombei smirked and instead of dilly-dallying, he increased his speed by kicking the ground even more ferociously than before, causing the gusts of winds behind him to form into small whirlwinds truly portraying the essence of the whirlwind kick. /skill level up whirlwind kick (level 14) And there was no better proof of that than a message that popped up for the speeding blue undead. |Seriously... No one with a sound mind would have believed that your agility is below 10...| Patience sighed sounding as if she was smiling softly at the little undead. |Well... it should be a little bit higher now with as much running around as I did past those few days, actually ¨C though I guess that continuously using the skill and mana increases my MP and MAT instead, huh...| Zombie tilted his head and admitted. But then all talking came to a halt as the shape of the Pride''s mansion came into existence over another hill that Zombie was scaling ¨C and now all of his focus turned towards it. |Zombie, slow down ¨C you want to enter stealthily, or else Cranberry might get in trouble for letting you leave like that.| Patience warned him, but the blue boy did not listen at all. Instead, he kicked off the ground with both feet propelling himself high above the walls, out of all the things he could do he did a somersault andnded softly on the grass right in front of a worried maid walking back and forth near the rose garden, disying his high-level acrobatics skill. "...huh...?" Zombie furrowed his brows and tilted his head looking at the maid before she even realized who appeared in front of her. "Ah! Zombie! Thank the system!" ...the blue undead was so surprised because the maid turned out to be none other than Fig, the maid that Patience asked him to be nice to and who Cranberry actually liked - and she looked extremely relieved to see him too while still being worried about something! ...this couldn''t be a good sign... "Zombie! Hurry! Lady Raspberry just called Cranberry to her room and since she went without you,dy Raspberry got really angry at her and...!" "On it!" *BOOOOOOM* Fig didn''t have to say another word ¨C Zombie already rushed to the mansion with enough explosive speed to cause a small-scale explosion that blew away a good chunk of the perfectly trimmedwn. Chapter 373: In the mansi... Immidiate change of plans.

Chapter 373: In the mansi... Immidiate change of ns.

"You did what...?" Lady Raspberry''s face became even paler than it was a second ago once she realized that her daughter seriously just told her that she allowed her familiar to just wander off on his own with no precaution...! An undead monster who somehow has been recognized as the heir of pride, a title that should be reserved only for the next-in-line avatar of pride! How... how could she be so stupid...? Was she not aware that her own mother''s health and even life could be possibly saved if they study howe someone like thatpleted all the necessary steps to gain that title? As someone who receive the title of the avatar of pride without actually going through the steps of possessing all the necessary skills, the value of such knowledge could not be measured! And that little cretin whom she wasted her health to bring into the world just let that undead go wherever he pleased! *p* Lady Raspberry''s hand was faster than her mouth and her open palm hit against the girl''s face with a dry sound. "...?!" At first, the little red-haired girl did not realize what just happened. Only after a second or so when the information about the stinging pain finally reached her brain, her eyes filled with tears as she raised her hand to her reddened cheek. "YOU USELESS IDIOT!" *SLAP* "YOU WASTE OF SPACE!" *SLAP* "SOMEONE LIKE YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN!" *SLAP* The woman seemed to have lost itpletely ¨C she grabbed her daughter''s hand and pulled her closer while pping her face time and time again while shouting in fury. "...u-uuu...!" A pitiful cry came out of the girl''s mouth as she cowered and tried to protect herself with her arms. "YOU INCOMPETENT, UGLY CRETIN!" "AAAGH...!" Lady Raspberry roared and changed her grip from Cranberry''s hand to her hair, pulling on it to force the girl to show her her face to hit again causing the child t scream in pain. "HOW CAN ANYONE BE THIS STUPID?!" Lady Raspberry shouted in desperation winding up for yet another hit and... *SMASH* "!?!???" The door to her room got blown apart by a ridiculously strong wind pressure and the secondter the little blue undead rushed into the room. "!!!!" He said nothing but his eyes widened in absolute horror once he saw the scene of obvious child abuse. "Ah! He came back! Good, even an idiot like you have some lu-URGH...!" *WHAM* Lady Raspberry''s face brightened up and she looked down upon her daughter with a mocking smile ¨C until the momentter she got kicked right in the face by the little blue undead she was so relieved to see and her head got mmed against the floor with a dangerous sounding noise. "YOU REPUGNANT FILTH DARES TO LAY HANDS ON MY CRANBERRY?!" The undead familiar roar reverberated through the air as hended after performing the crushing jump-kick, glowing with the mixture of violet and white light thorough his whole body. "Z-Zombie...!" Cranberry cried out, trembling, her face dyed deep red with a visible imprint of fingers on her skin. "!!!!" Zombie froze looking at her in disbelief ¨C then, without any hesitation, he rushed to her and locked her in a protective embrace. "I''m sorry...! I''m so sorry...!" The pleasant coolness of his body was easing the stinging pain in the girl''s face but the words he was saying weren''t the ones she wanted to hear. "I''m sote...! This shouldn''t have happened...! I should never let this happen...!" Zombie was repeating it like a chant while biting his lips with such intensity as if he wanted to bite them off... "...wee back..." Cranberry didn''t want him to continue ming himself and instead smiled through the tears, still fresh after getting beaten up by her own mother. "...I-I''m back..." Her words made the blue boy finch and he stiffened ¨C he hugged her tighter, making her hide her face between his neck and corbone, and turned to the woman crawling up on the ground, touching her bloody lips and staring at few broken teeth on the floor next to her. "You''re dead." The blue boy grunted, staring down at the current avatar of pride, and activated all of his attack skills once more filling the room with vibrant violet light ¨C ignoring the voice of the sealed overseer screaming in his head. "Raspberry, what was that soun...! WHAT THE...?!" But then another person appeared and their presence couldn''t be ignored ¨C Lord ckberry. The bespectacled man came rushing to the room and gasped in shock witnessing the scene he never expected to see. His daughter crying in the arms of her familiar while his wifeys on the floor with blood spilling from her mouth. "DON''T JUST STARE LIKE AN IDIOT! KILL THAT MONSTER!" Lady Raspberry spat blood to the side and shouted while her eyes shone with a white light when she used the power of the avatar, forcing her husband to act. "...!" Lord ckberry instantly frowned and red at the blue boy and he reached his glowing hand towards him, spreading his fingers as if he wanted to catch him. "GUH...!" And once he closed his palm, Zombie felt the unbelievable pressure pushing into him in an attempt to crush him ¨C he recognized the attack at once ¨C it was the same skill that lord ckberry used during the first ythrough to effortlessly turn a werewolf into a bloody ball the size of a fist ¨C and the same would undoubtedly happen to the boy... But right before all of his undead juices were squished out, the boy''s eyes focused not on the bespectacled man but on the woman still on the floor shone with violet light and... "ckberry...! Stop...!" "...!" Zombie gasped in pain feeling his bones creaking dangerously under the invisible pressure ¨C which stopped the very moment he spoke the words. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I TOLD HIM TO KILL THAT UNGRATEFUL THING!" The enraged Raspberry shouted but her husband didn''t even budge ¨C staring at the blue boy in confusion. "Wh-what did you do to him?!" Lady Raspberry flinched and stared in horror at the little blue undead glowing with violet light. "...simple... I merely used overpower skill on you while focusing on the power you have over your family ¨C and thanks to it I gained twice as much power over everyone carrying the Pride surname." The blue boy exined casually, looking down at the woman with disgusted eyes. "Th-that''s ridiculous! There''s no way that...!" "Shut up." "...mpfh...!" Lady Raspberry wanted toin at the unfairness of the sin-based skill but a singlemand from Zombie made her close her mouth so fast that she almost bit off her tongue. "Since I used overpower on a skill that controls the entire Pride family, that includes even someone who married into it, like you. You would know about it if you had any of the skills a proper avatar should have. You fake." Zombie smirked mockingly while lifting up the girl who was already in his arms, and walking to the window... *SMASH* ...and destroying it in one kick. "BARON!" The boy roared and all of a sudden a very confused red dragon the size of a small horse appeared in the air right in front of him already carrying a crimson-haired girl on his back. "(M-master...?! H-how?!)| "Master?! What are you doing here?!" The red dragon pped his wings looking around in shock while the crimson-haired girl gasped in confusion. "Call to arms skill allows me to summon my subject once a day. I got it while Baron leveled up. Now, move a bit, Kopia, I''m going to ride him too." Zombie shrugged his shoulder and motioned at the humanoid de with his chin and jumped out of the window effortlesslynding on the red dragon''s back thanks to his acrobatics skill. "You two." Zombie spoke, ring at the two adults still inside the mansion. "I forbid you from looking for us or asking others to look for us in any way shape or form." He spoke while the overpower skill was still active. "Baron, will you manage to carry us all?" Then he leaned down, asking the young dragon. "(Don''t joke around, master! Of course! All three of you are much smaller than me and I got stronger!)" The confident voice resounded in Zombie''s mind making him smirk with satisfaction. "Good. Then, we''re leaving." The blue boy dered while feeling the red-haired girl clinging to him with all her might as if she expected that he will leave her behind ¨C so he hugged her back in reassurance. "(At once!)" Baron eximed, trying to make himself sound as grand as Zombie, and pped his wings gaining height before his body shed with white light and he elerated into the distance, leaving the Pride''s mansion. --- "...I guess that means I can return to my territory for a while... but seriously... they even have a dragon now... so envious..." Fig watched them disappear and murmured to herself. "...wait... why are they flying towards my territory...?" She gasped in confusion once she realized in which direction the group had flown towards. "Miss! Miss, are you alright?! What happened here?!" Suddenly, one of the butlers came rushing towards her with haste, looking between the broken window and the maid with a worried face. "Oh, right, I almost forgot you are here too, Caramb ¨C as you can see, something unexpected happened ¨C we should return to our territory at once and report everything to my father." The maid shrugged her shoulders and dered with a faint smile. "B-but...!" The butler looked around fearfully, cautious for anyone overhearing their conversation ¨C but everyone in the mansion was too busy rushing towardsdy Raspberry''s room to actually pay any attention to the two of them. "...whew... fine, you''re right, young miss. Lord Rambutan would want to know about this as soon as possible." He dered with a smile fit for an older gentleman. Chapter 374: In the sky

Chapter 374: In the sky

High above the ground, a young red dragon was soaring through the skies carrying a human, an undead, and a humanoid weapon. How he managed that since he was only the size of a small horse, well, everyone who he carried was more or less, children ¨C although the humanoid de''s, Kopia, form was that of a short adult. From below it just looked like a little bird monster so no one paid him any attention. But that was perfect ¨C with that none of the passengers nor the winged steed had to worry about the possible chase or being attacked. "You''re okay...?" Since the sound of the wind was deafening right where they were, Zombie put his mouth close to Cranberry''s ear and whispered in a weak voice. The timer on the overpower skill had run out and he was only hanging on to his consciousness thanks to the benefits of his undead body. "..." The red-haired girl in his arms looked up at him with moist eyes, her lips trembled but did not part and she just nodded before snuggling up to him for safety. |That was extremely reckless, you know? I did say that you can take her away from the Prides mansion if it would seem like her mother''s abusiveness is peaking, but I said nothing about literally kidnapping the little bugger and almost killing her mother while abusing the power of your skills ¨C you know that overpower worked on Raspberry only because she didn''t have any real pride-based skill, just the avatar of pride title, right? If you were wrong, you would be dead right now!| "Hmph~!" Zombie smirked while hugging Cranberry and looking ahead towards the horizon. |Don''t you ''hmph'' me, you cheeky yboy! What you did there was no n, it was pure recklessness! Urgh! Seriously! Because I know you are like that I cannot tell you more about the little details of the secret true ending ¨C because it involves many characters that you straight-up hate and would kill in a blink of an eye!| Patience continuedining as Zombie''s reaction not only not calmed her down but doubled her agitation at a minimum. |What would you do if Raspberry died when you kicked her?! She needs to die during the night of the hungry wolves event or else we won''t trigger a special side quest that is required for the secret true ending! I told you about that many times but you still went ahead and almost snapped her neck! She only has the benefits of the title ¨C she doesn''t have superbia that boosts her defense!| The sealed overseer was going on and on, getting more wind up the more she was talking. |And we can''t be even sure that the order you gave them at the end will even hold! That...!| |Pati, thank you for worrying about me so much, but could you ease up with the volume ¨C no matter how much I like your voice, if you are constantly screaming in my brain even an undead like me will get a headache.| She would continue talking Zombie''s ears off too if the blue boy didn''t respond to her, extremely exhausted. |...you cheeky little...!| It sounded like Patience flinched and closed her mouth while taking a step back as if she realized that it wasn''t the right time and ce for such outbursts. |Again with that...! Rotten-hearted bastard! You know exactly what to say to make me agree with you!| The sealed overseer scoffed at him sounding as if she crossed her arms and turned away. |Pati, we''re going off course... we don''t want to return to the cave that we found Baron ¨C even though it is much farther away, we should go for the Great northern forest.| Zombie breathed out and muttered, with the overwhelming weakness spreading through his body. |W-wait, what? Wasn''t your backup n to go and ask Laura and Papaya for help?! You exined to me in great detail how we could disguise Cranberry as just another child needing reeducation and whatnot and arrive make a great reveal at the first kill party in the kingdom''s capital in three years! You had it all figured out!| Patience gasped sounding as if she didn''t want to believe her ears. |ns change, Pati...| Zombie smirked while making sure that he isn''t slipping off of the dragon''s back as the earth beneath them disappeared once they started flying over arge cloud formation. |As you have pointed out yourself, there''s no guarantee that the order I gave to Raspberry and ckberry holds any meaning after overpower stopped working. Prides hold a great deal of power in the kingdom, merely staying on a farm at the outskirts of the city in the Envys territory just isn''t good enough to be certain that we won''t be found out... Think about it, even if we do a good job hiding Cranberry with Laura and Papaya''s help, what are the odds that absolutely no one will recognize me? Being blue is kind of a dead giveaway. Me leaving her is a definite no-go, and will it really be possible for me to hide away while also making sue that she is safe?| The blue boy thought and his expression grew dark. |...I guess not...| Even the sealed overseer had to agree with that statement. |Exactly, that is why we need a ce where both of us can not only hide away, but also train our skills in a safe environment without worrying about the possible pursuers.| Zombie''s smirk turned into a gentle smile. |...you want to seek shelter in the hidden elven vige...| Patience sighed, sounding absolutely done with the little blue undead. |Is there a better ce for us to go? I''m willing to listen to your proposition.| Zombie asked with a soft scoff. |No. And that is exactly why it seems like you were aiming for that from the very beginning and you just hid it deep in your brain because you knew that I would try to talk you out of it.| Patience spoke while sounding as if she was pouting. |Let''s just say that because of the side effects of superbia my pride is too strong to allow me to ask for permission because I simply believe that I am the only one deciding my fate.| The blue boy giggled and wiggled his brows like a prankster. |Bullshit! Don''t try to put the me on some skill! I had to make the system attempt to take away your free will in the first ythrough exactly because I realized that''s what your personality is on it own!| |Pfffft...! Yeah, I know.| The furious sealed overseer hissed at the blue undead like an angry kitten but that only made the boy shake from holding backughter. |So, about giving Baron the directions...| Yet within a few seconds Zombie calmed down and furrowed his brows ¨C he knew that the dragon will not hear him because of the wind, and without the red monster initiating the telepathic connection there was no way to contact him otherwise ¨C the boy could try to crawl forward and try reaching the dragon''s ears, but he would have to let go of Cranberry, so it was out of the question in the first ce. |You can always ask Kopia to pass the message, she won''t fall off with her grabby hair and all.| Patience had an answer to that, and she delivered it in a t voice sounding as if she was shrugging her shoulders. "...ah...!" Zombie gasped, being reminded that the crimson-haired humanoid de hugging him from behind and pressing her cheek between his shoulder des is far more versatile than any other weapon. ...and since she was not only hugging him with her body but also had few strands of her hair coiled around his right hand there was one a hundred percent chance that she was reading his mind, listening in to the conversation he had with Patience this whole time. |Kopia, can you do that for me?| The blue boy instantly recovered from being slightly stunned and asked, looking over his shoulder at the spot of crimson hair visible in the corner of his vision. Then he felt the humanoid weapon move and soon her left hand raised up and raised by his hand and... Kopia gave him a thumbs up ¨C once again like it was with saluting, a gesture that Zombie couldn''t recall ever teaching her before. Right after that the girl climbed over himpletely unaffected by the height at which they were currently and walked casually on the dragon''s body without disturbing the steadiness of the flight in the slightest. "!!!!" She even walked on Baron''s neck and crouched right on his head ¨C and the young read dragon must have noticed her only then because he suddenly flinched in panic. |Interesting... It looks like she can give herself the properties of different swords regardless of her form...| Patience sounded as if she was nodding her head with interest. It was at that moment that Kopia looked back at Zombie and motioned at him with her chin, giving him a sign to start talking conveying the instructions. "..." The blue undead nced at his right hand checking if the crimson strands are still wrapped around it... |Alright... tell him to fly like this...| ...and begin giving the directions necessary. Chapter 375: Back in the Great northern forest (1)

Chapter 375: Back in the Great northern forest (1)

Olive wasfortably sprawled in his favorite spot ¨C the highest branches of one of the tallest trees in the Great northern forest afterpleting his daily ritual of checking up on the spells he had set up for the protection of the elven vige. It was more of a ritual than any real duty because the spells were working without a hitch for many years and most of them were only getting stronger with time, but making sure that everything is in order was putting the old elf''s mind at ease. "...fuaaaah..." Olive breathed out looking at the clear sky with only asional poofy clouds that children liked to look at describing their shapes, here and there. "...oh, hey, this fucker looks like a baby crib..." The old elf sighed looking at one of the said clouds showing that not only the children liked to y the guessing game. "I should have just fucking got together with Mirabelle, haven''t I..." He suddenly breathed out in defeat, leaning back and covering his eyes with his arms. "Knowing our personalities, our kid would have been probably simr to that human kid... no, probably a little bit more bossy and studious. Fuck... Mirabelle would have been a great mother. I''m such a fucking idiot..." Oliveined to himself fully aware that there was absolutely no one who could overhear him, so he could get all of his bitterness out of his system. "I wonder how he''s doing. It''s been around a year, hasn''t it... fuck... he definitely didn''t stop leveling up ¨C he''s wasting so fucking many rewards from the quests... though... with his potential and conviction, it isn''t hard to imagine him fulfilling all the conditions for ranking up overlevel and making up for itter after going above level 99..." He muttered to himself breaking into a smile. "Seriously, little fucker have something about him that makes me think that he really will help us with the fucking Envy debacle." The old elfughed and put down his hands... "...hmmm...?" ...and furrowed his brows, looking at the sky. There was a red dot that passed the crib-shaped cloud, and it looked like whatever it was, was approaching the forest with rather impressive flight speed. "The fuck...?" Olive got up, standing at one of the branches, and squinted his eyes, wondering whether or not this was worth using detection [sight] skill or not. After all, whatever monster it might have been, there certainly were enough security measures he had put up to protect the elven territory from the sky too... ...although there were some beasts that had enough MDF to resists his illusions or were straight up unaffected by them altogether ¨C normally Olive didn''t have to worry about either since any of those would never cooperate with humans ¨C especially ones from the Envy family, but... "...fuck it... it probably won''t even get close enough to activate the first trap anyway." He told to himself, shrugging his shoulders while turning away, prepared toy back down when... *GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG* ...the first illusion activated and a bone-chilling roar of a gargantuan monster shattered the peace and tranquility of the forest. "THE FUCK?!" The old elf shouted in disbelief, turning right back, with the detection [sight] already activated. "Actual fucking dragon?! Here?!" With his vision enhanced, Olive easily recognized the type of monster he was dealing with ¨C judging from its build and shape of the wings it was one of the higher-ranked dragon-types, but he could not tell exactly which one since for that he would have to see the shape of the beast''s head or its back, but that was impossible because of...! "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" ...some strange creature with a human face but seeminglyposed mostly of hair or other crimson-red appendages hadpletely wrapped itself over the poor creature''s head, undoubtedly blocking his vision, hearing, and smell ¨C so the senses that Olive''s illusions took advantage of to fool the opponents. The dragon seemed young so on its own it would have undoubtedly be fooled by the elf''s trap ¨C but not with that thing stuck to him! ...yes, as embarrassing it was to admit, the easiest way to bypass all of the barriers set up by Olive was to be blindfolded like that ¨C but putting aside the blindfolded dragon... Howe that other creature didn''t react to the threatening howl?! "..." The old elf bit his lips, peeling his eyes out, staring at the unnaturalbo. The odd hair monster was wrapped not only around the dragon''s head but its neck and part of the torso to creating a rather odd shape ¨C just as if it was hiding something else there too. What in the world was approaching the only ce in the Envy''s territory where elves could feel safe? "Go on. Make that dragon descend, let''s see how you react to the next illusion ¨C you might be blocking the dragon''s vision, but you have eyes yourself, you fucking freak...!" Olive scoffed, clenching his fists, focused solely on the unidentified monster that he had never seen before. *GRAAAAAAAAAAAARGH* *THUMP* *THUMP* With a terrifying howl that was only slightly weaker than the initial illusion, the treetops rustled once a gigantic white ape beast with crimson red eyes stood up making the earth tremble under its humongous steps. The great ancient beast illusion ¨C if anything with the magic defense even a single point lower than the cherubim angel-ss monster would catch a glimpse of it, it would believe that it was real to the point that it could receive actual physical damage if it was hit by it. "..." Olive felt a bit bad for the dragon who was clearly only a means of transport for the strange human-faced monster, but it wasn''t to the extent of aking the risk of allowing an unknown opponent just enter the forest from the sky! The hidden vige was only a few miles away! *GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH* The illusion of the great white ape howled and waved its massive hand, creating equally illusionary gusts of wind as it moved, and swung at the approaching monster aiming to swat it out of the sky. *GRAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH* "ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?!" The illusion roared again as the human-faced monster and the dragon that the monster was controlling... ...flew straight past it...! The gigantic ape was an illusion ¨C but it was probably the strongest illusion in the whole world! Even with the MDF higher than a seraphim angel-ss monster, it was impossible to just ignore it! As long as the creature was alive ¨C it should fall for it even if it KNEW BEFOREHAND that it was an illusion! Not even that ¨C the undead monster that Olive had the displeasure of dealing with in the past actually threatened by it! And thar was an elder lich! Just what was this human-faced monster?! Chapter 376: Back in the Great northern forest (2)

Chapter 376: Back in the Great northern forest (2)

"YOU FUCKER! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!" Whatever the creature it was, the old elf wasn''t going to risk letting it touch the ground and raised both his hands ¨C they shone with lightparable to the sun, and within the same heartbeat, an enormous fireball ignited in front of him heating up so much that the branches of the tree that Olive was standing on got set on fire while its leaves were straight-up evaporated. The skill was ready so fast that itunched right at the red monstrosity before Olive''s words echoed through the forest. "..." It wasn''t his strongest offensive skill, but it was certainly the strongest one that he didn''t hesitate to use s close to the vige. The fireball was locked on its target''s trajectory ¨C it was a sure-hit lightning-fast attack! That was dodged! "...wha...?!" The old elf was so shocked that he didn''t even curse as his jaw dropped when the human-faced monster tugged on the dragon''s body forcing it to do a barrel roll at thest possible second dodging it in a ridiculously spectacr way! The fireball instantly exploded into a blooming hellflower, but all its destructiveness destroyed only the illusion of the gigantic ancient beast and not the intruder, as the red dragon controlled by the crimson monster elerated its descent to a breakneck speed and was far enough for the shockwave to only boost its speed. *SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEH* The third illusion was activated right after that and tens of thousands of illusionary disgusting scab-like bugs reeking of death rose up from the ground and shoot up at the intruder. "... how about this...!" Using the illusion as a cover Olive switched the element of magic that he was using andunched several volleys of ice-spears. Ice was one of his weakest elements together with the holy element but the old elf decided to bank on the number and the near invisibility of the crystal-like projectiles... But in response to that, the human-faced hair monster''s face twisted with a mocking smirk a thick strand of the crimson hair unraveled itself from the dragon''s body and shed? with a white light...! *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* The next moment, a dragon wing-shaped de appeared on the end of the crimson hair and began swinging at the ice spears, shattering all of them in rapid session before even one was able to even reach its target - all whilepletely ignoring the illusionary bugs... ...no... It was as if the monster didn''t even saw any illusions, to begin with! "FOR FUCKS SAKE!" Olive cursed loudly looking around, considering his options ¨C stay there and try to kill the ridiculous monster then and there while using only the limited strength to not pose danger to the vige ¨C or lead it away and try to finish it withrge scale fire magic that was the strongest offensive type out of the old elf''s arsenal. He didn''t have much time as the monster would crashnd right next to him within the next few seconds, but Olive didn''t need that much time to make the decision anyway. With one hand glowing from the next skill that he would use to get the freak''s attention he already activated the speed-enhancing skills that he would use to lead it as far as possible. He was prepared, both mentally and physically, waiting for the right moment. "Olive! OLIVE! Whatever you doing! Stop! It''s me, Zombie!" But then the dragon spread its wings, slowing down to a rxing glide, and a voice of a child whom Olive was thinking about just now, called out to him! "...huh..." The old elf gasped, blinking rapidly in confusion. "HUH?! WHAT THE FUCK?! ZOMBIE?! DID THAT THING ABDUCTED YOU?!" Olive gasped, shouting out the first thing that came to his mind without thinking. "What...?! No! Of course not! Do you remember my shape-shifting sword? That''s her! The system considers her as an object, so your illusions don''t work on her! Sorry for scaring you, but I really need your help ¨C remember the girl I wanted to protect? She''s with me right now, and both of us need shelter for a bit!" The child exined while the strange hair monster was staring intently at the old elf with its humanoid face without actually letting go of either the dragon or the boy that supposedly was on the dragon''s back covered by more crimson hair. "That...! That fucking thing is YOUR SWORD! It didn''t look anything like it a year ago!" Olive shouted back while using every single anti-illusion skill that he had to make sure that he wasn''t just being hypnotized or brain-washed by the creepy crimson thing instead ¨C but no matter what, it seemed like nothing like that was being used... It really seemed to be Zombie under there. "Long story!" The boy shouted back. "And what is it about the fucking dragon?!" Olive couldn''t stop himself and asked next, waving his hand at the winged red monster, even though Zombie should not be able to see him. "Also a long story!" The boy responded simply. "Will you help me? I will exin everything once we get to the vige!" Zombie added hurriedly, correctly guessing that Olive was about to scoff at him for answering in such a way. "Kid! We don''t see each other for a year and then you suddenly arrive with some creepy monster-thing riding a dragon! You better have a really good exnation ¨C because if this really is a trick I will leave you at Mirabelle''s mercy!" The old elf surprised even himself with that lighthearted response ¨C Mirabelle''s mercy? That just means that he is okay with the boy and hispanions hiding away in the elven vige! "Thank you! I knew I could count on you~!" The boy called out happily. "Oh... right... You better prepare for one more rather shocking revtion, okay...?" But then, before anything else happened, he called again sounding a little bit worried. "...the fuck do you mean...?" Olive retracted with suspicion, ring back at the supposed sword ring at him. "You see... myplexion might have worsened... a bit..." The boy started sounding very awkward all of a sudden. "Yourplexion...? Like what...? You got paler...? Don''t worry, a couple of healthy meals with surely solve it." The old elf scoffed and shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. "No... Oh, Kopia, it''s okay, you can change back now." The boy denied with hesitation and then spoke to the hair monster. "Alright!" The creature, or rather the object, smiled and with a sh of white light changed from a creepy-looking monster wrapped around a dragon straight into a simple one-handed shortsword bnced perfectly on top of the dragon''s head. ...That also meant that the dragon''s passengers were revealed to... "...not paler... Blue..." The little blue undead hugging a little red-haired girl with one hand, smiled timidly while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "...Zombie..." Olive froze in ce, staring at the blue boy in utter disbelieve. "...WHAT THE FU-!?" Chapter 377: Entering the hidden village

Chapter 377: Entering the hidden vige

"...CK HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Mirabelle''s reaction to seeing Zombie''s new appearance was exactly the same as Olive''s ¨C very loud and terrified. "Hello~!" The blue boy only raised his hand cheerfully in a greeting, already fully prepared for this situation thanks to practicing on Olive a while back. "...!" Well, even though he was ready ¨C Cranberry most certainly wasn''t since she flinched and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, clearly taking the shocked scream as a part of the scolding, since, she the one directly responsible for the blue boy''s current appearance. "What hello?! You turned into an undead?! Wha- how?! Before you left I clearly told you to not work yourself to death! So what the fuck is this supposed to be?!" They weren''t even in the vige yet, the real entrance was open, but their group was stopped by Mirabelle bolting out from inside. "Well, actually, it''s not like I died from getting too strong... Do you remember the sigil monsters? Like the ant that showed up at the old training ground? Well, one of the horses pulling the carriage that Cranberry was riding in suddenly turned into one of those and I was got in its way ¨C it ranked up into a bicorn and skewered me like thwap! Right through my chest ¨C I mean, I killed him by stabbing through the sigil on its head while stabbing through myself... but I was already dying anyway, so it definitely wasn''t suicide!" Zombie raised his hands, in an attempt to keep the vige elder at bay, and exined calmly. "Th-thwap?! Wait! YOU FUCKING STABBED YOURSELF?!" But all of that was in naught ¨C the next moment Mirabelle grabbed his face and lifted him up, stretching his cheek with a furious expression. "HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID!? HEALERS EXIST FOR A REASON! WOUNDS CAUSED BY A BICORN''S HORNS AREN''T THAT HARD TO HEAL, YOU KNOW?!" The woman howled, gritting her teeth, shaking the little, and surprisingly stretchy, blue undead around. "Eashy for you to shay! Huumans ahen''t sho shkilled ash you!" Zombieined, grabbing onto Mirabelle''s wrists ¨C not to break free but to simply not let her identally tear off the skin off of his face. "Hey! Stop hurting him! Put my Zombie down!" "Eh...?" "kHuh...?" Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, the red-haired Cranberry bravely stepped up to the tinum-haired elven woman and tugged on her clothes while ring at her... ...with tearful eyes which slightly messed up with the effect the little girl was aiming for, but still... ...and made both Mirabelle and Zombie gasped out loud in shock. "Your familiar...? Not your undead?" The elven vige elder raised her brow and looked between the blue boy ¨C whose cheeks she continued stretching as a punishment even despite the red-haired girl''s words, and the girl herself. "My magic is Dark Arts! Not necromancy! Zombie is undead, but he is my familiar first! Let go of him!" Cranberry stomped her foot and began pulling on Mirabelle''s clothes ¨C with no visible effect since there was a jarring difference in their skill points ¨C but at the same time, she exined enough for the elven woman to clear out some misunderstanding. "Dark Arts...? But that''s a magic type that''s way moremon for the elves than humans..." Mirabelle furrowed her brows and nced at Olive ¨C who shrugged his shoulders with an awkward expression, letting her know that he was just as much lost as she was. "Let go of him, or you will regret it!" "Alright, alright ¨C fuck, what an attitude! You two are really alike." Cranberry was about to start punching Mirabelle''s leg in desperation, but the woman was faster and actually put down the blue undead who instantly started massaging his face making sure that nothing was out of ce. ''Zombie! Are you alright?!" Cranberry instantly let go of the elven vige elder and walked up to him making a worried face. "Nah, she is our ally, she didn''t mean any harm... but she certainly got a lot more touchy since thest time I was here." Zombie smiled back at her reassuringly but then frowned and red at Mirabelle. "Brat! It wasn''t me who got fucking killed and returned as a monster!" The woman squinted her eyes at him and scoffed. "But I see that you at least managed to help the one you wanted to save." Yet soon enough her cloudy expression changed into a smile when she looked at rings at the childrens'' fingers. "Yeah!" "...haa...?" Zombie showed his teeth in a happy grin while Cranberry frowned and tilted her head in confusion. "Hmph~ good for you, kid." The elven woman nodded her head. "What''s your name, littledy?" She then went ahead and asked. "..." This was honestly a moment that Zombie was dreading the most ¨C how will the elves actually react to someone from the seven main families...? Should he stop Cranberry from introducing herself? But wouldn''t that just put more suspicion and pressure n her instead?" "My name is Cranberry Pride, I am an only daughter of the Pride family!" The red-haired girl made a decision for him and introduced herself with enough pride to follow up her surname. "Pride you say? I see..." Mirabelle didn''t even flinch ¨C if she got something to say about Cranberry''s origin, she sure did well to hold herself back from doing so. "My... my mother doesn''t like me... she was hitting me and then Zombie returned and rescued me. That''s why I forbid you from being mean to him!" "...!" Then, the little girl went ahead and spoke up about something that another her from the first ythrough never even admitted openly to Zombie, and followed it by a strongwilled statement! |Is... is this happening thanks to her talking with that maid...?!| Zombie asked internally, not entirely believing his own ears. |That should be the main reason, yes.| Patience confirmed, sounding as if she nodded. "I see... Good job making it all the way here, both of you." Mirabelle smiled softly and affectionately patted the two children in front of her. Zombie only smirked, but Cranberry froze in ce with her eyes wide open from shock as if she never expected such a reaction. "I was wondering what the fuck had set off your illusions..." The elven woman walked past the children and tapped Olive''s shoulder while motioning at the young red dragon sitting politely behind the old elf. "Good thing you stopped them all in time." She winked to him and nodded benevolently. "...uuuuuuuuugh.... that''s not even remotely close to what fucking happened..." But in response to that, Olive rolled his eyes and let out a huge sigh before ring daggers at the straight-sword sheathed in the scabbard at Zombie''s waist. "Eh...? What do you...?" Mirabelle hesitated and took a step back. "Apparently that''s a long fucking story and the kid will tell us once we get them a ce to stay ¨C are there any free hou..." "Don''t be fucking stupid! They will be staying at my ce! I''m not going to make the same fucking mistake twice!" Olive shrugged his shoulders and sighed... and got instantly scolded before he could even finish asking the question. "E-even the dragon?" He gasped in disbelief looking back at the red monster the size of a small horse. "There is that toolshed I''m not using anyway, he looks very polite, so it should be fine. Come on, let''s go ¨C I bet the kids are tired." The vige elder waved her hand dismissively and already started walking, leading the group into the hidden elven vige. "Mira... Mira! That''s not a dog or just some draconid ¨C that''s a real dragon! It won''t justply with..." "(Oh, no, no. Don''t worry about me, as long as I''m near my master, everything will be okay.)" Bu just as Olive was trying to stop Mirabelle, the dragon used a telepathy skill and spoke softly in their minds ¨C leaving the old elf speechless. "You heard him." The vige elder shrugged and casually walked through the entrance. |That went easier than expected.| Seeing all of that y out, Zombie breathed out with relief and dered in his mind. |If you say so... I was half expecting to sense Eternal waking up, but apparently this n of yours is allowed even though nothing like this was ever mentioned in your character''s backstory in the game, but sure.| Patience scoffed, sounding irked off. |Huh? You can sense when there''s something happening to Eternal? And you''re telling me only now?| Zombie flinched and stopped in ce while Olive and even Baron passed him while following after Mirabelle. |Not just something ¨C I can tell at what stage is his seal, - and I did tell you about it before, - as for the seal, it still sits on over 98% power, so that''s why the sigil monsters we''ve encountered so far were so weak. With time things will get way worse, so you better prepare yourself and your viiness while you have time between the mandatory events.| The sealed overseer exined lightheartedly, dampening the blue boy''s mood quite a bit. Still, he could not just stay there when everyone else was waiting for him behind the vige entrance already... Though, he wasn''t the only onegging behind. The wide-eyed Canberry was still next to him, and she was gently touching the top of her head as if she was checking if everything was okay with it. "Cranberry, you''re okay? Let''s go." Zombie took it upon himself to take the first step and offered his hand to the confused red-haired girl. "...ha...? Ah! Right! Let''s go ¨C I want to see that elven vige that you told me about while we were flying!" She gasped looking at the blue undead as if he suddenly appeared in front of her out of the thin air but almost instantly she shook her head and her attitude returned right as she took the blue boy''s hand. Chapter 378: Life in the hidden village (1)

Chapter 378: Life in the hidden vige (1)

"Are you sure about this...?" The little blue undead breathed out and asked the outstandingly cute powder-pink-haired elven boy. "Definitely! I couldn''t forget how cool you looked fighting that ant monster! I''m nowhere near your level yet, but I think that a training fight will help me improve greatly!" Cranbie, because that was the young elven boy, cheered out trying to look very serious but his flushed face filled with anticipation was kind of ruining the effect. The elven boy was wearing surprisingly tight clothes that could only bepared to a bodysuit that did not cover the shoulders nor the back and leaving the legs bare from half the thigh down, and since Cranbie apparently realized how doubtful that outfit looked, he tied arge scarf around his waist to add even a little bit of decency to his image. It wasn''t like he was dressed like that for no reason either ¨C those clothes were in fact an equipment set that fit him the best for his current level. Cranbie was a gifted child and once he reached level ten, he received a unique job from the system ¨C de dancer ¨C which was agility and evasion-based attack ss that could use some support skills to help their party members. Of course, it could be trained and raised to a high level without ever joining up with others, but the de dancer''s abilities shone in group fights. The ss also came with a requirement for certain types of swords ¨C sabers. One of those, a brand-new shining karab was hanging from Cranbie''s waist in an ornamental scabbard. "Whether I''m stronger or not is up for a debate ¨C or rather a test ¨C Dying and being brought back to life had made my stats plummet since I became a level 1 undead. Even sword mastery level 3 will not help when my physical strength is below 20 and agility is even worse." Zombie shook his hand dismissively and patted Kopia''s crossguard ¨C for some reason it seemed like she was raring to go and fight because she literally popped up from her scabbard and her de reflected the sunlight. "If so then there''s more reason for us to train together! Status point increase much easier in a fight! Same with skills! Please...! The effectiveness of my mend skill increased thanks to my job, even if you will hurt me I will heal right up!" "I see..." Cranbie dered with a little bit too much excitement and put his hands together, swaying from side to side, looking at the much shorter undead with puppy-dog eyes. |yboy.| Patience snorted, sounding as if she turned around, fuming with anger. |Excuse me? But I''m not doing anything!| Zombie asked confused on the inside while on the outside he looked as if he was considering Cranbie''s request. |I''m going to make Kopia tell Cranberry that you are flirting with the pretty elf boy instead of increasing your status points while she is working hard, trying to learn spells without a need to level up herself.| Patience sounded as if she turned around even further and scoffed at her blue host while pouting. |Pati, this is training, or at least this is the preparation before the training ¨C you heard him yourself ¨C stats increase more if you are practicing with others. You know that he is right about that.| Zombie responded calmly, pointing out the obvious things that Patience was missing. |Yeah, sure, and little hurt-me-plenty boy isn''t getting excited to get beaten up by you at all.| The sealed overseer sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders andughed. |Little hurt-me-ple... what? Don''t call him weird names! Cranberry doesn''t mind him, so there''s no reason to be mean to him.| |Pffft! Yeah, sure, whatever. If that''s what you believe.| Zombie scoffed back at her and finished the internal conversation, but Patience had to have thest word and snorted mockingly. "Sounds good ¨C truth to be told training on the dummies seemed to start losing the effectiveness, so a change of pace is weed." "Really?! Thank you!" The blue undead went ahead gave the thumbs up to Cranbie''s proposition, making the powder-pink-haired elf jump up with joy. "Kopia, Cranbie''s sword seems to be quite good so keep your durability up but lower your attack power, please." "..." Zombie tilted his head and spoke down to the shortsword at his waist, but got no answer despite the fact that he could clearly feel Kopia vibrate in anticipation. "I''ve seen you practice with that sword ¨C it is really cool that it can change her shape ording to your will!" Cranbie pulled out his saber and took a peculiar battle stance that was a part of the de dancer''s skillset. "This could be fun." Zombie smirked and unsheathed Kopia, standing lightly on his feet without assuming any particr stance. There two of them looked at each other for a few seconds ¨C there was no one to call the beginning of the practice match, so it was up to them to start. "Hmph!" Cranbie grunted and spun around as his body shone with white light. *ng* "kyaaah...!" "Too obvious, not fluent enough." The metal shed against metal as Zombie parried the powder-pink-haired boy with ease and threw him off bnce with a tap on the butt as he passed him ¨C making the elf let out an embarrassed high-pitched voice. "You are a dancer ¨C that was just a sh with additional wind-up that didn''t add anything except more time for me to read your move ¨C don''t sh at me, shred while you dance." Zombie instructed the other boy as he was getting back in position with a bright red face. "A-alright..." Cranbie nodded, rxing his muscles and trying to be lighter on his feet just like the blue undead in front of him. "Don''t rely too much on your equipment ¨C your sword might be good but you..." "UGH! NO! STOP!" Zombie was in the middle of advising the young elf when his own suddenly growled angrily and shone white. The next moment a crimson-haired girl in a frilly dress was standing in front of him, staring at the blue undead with tearful piercing blue eyes. "Kopia?! What are you...?" Chapter 379: Life in the hidden village (2)

Chapter 379: Life in the hidden vige (2)

Zombie gasped in disbelief looking at his right hand- instead of Kopia''s head as he always thought he was doing, he was holding on to a bunch of crimson hair. "Master!" Kopia furrowed her brows and grabbed Zombie''s face and looked him in the eyes with a very angry expression. "...yes...?" Zombie asked in confusion, looking back at her without blinking. "Stopplimenting other swords while I am right here!" Kopia demanded with a frown. "Huh...?" Zombie gasped, ncing at the karab in Cranbie''s hand. "But I only called it pretty good though...?" He asked looking back at his humanoid sword. "No! I do not ept it! If you think that it is pretty good then you might decide to use it if I''m away for some reason!" Kopia shook her head and scoffed, pouting jealously. "I am the best sword! You don''t need any other weapon aside from me! Ever! Stopplimenting other swords! I am the best one! And if I''m not then I will eat the better sword and be better that way!" "What..." |Zombie ¨C just tell that idiot that you don''t want to use any other weapon and let''s be over with this little tantrum of hers.| Zombie was about to argue back but then Patience spoke up in his head sounding really tired with the scene already. "I''m not an idiot! You''re an idiot! I''m the only weapon that master needs!" Kopia scoffed angrily responding out loud to Patience''s words. "Yes, you are. You''re a good girl and the best weapon I can imagine." Zombie nodded his head and reached out to pat Kopia''s crimson hair. "I promise you that I will not use anything else besides you, so calm down." He spoke reassuringly while patting the humanoid de''s head. "..." Kopia closed her mouth and let go of his face. Instead, she started fidgetting and nced at the taken aback powder-pink-haired elf. "What is it...?" Zombie tilted his head and asked. "...master, I''m hungry, that other sword is strong, I want to eat it." |Someone show what it really was about awfully fast, didn''t she?!| Patience scoffed sounding as if she rolled her eyes and shook her head at Kopia''s instantaneous change of behavior. "Pfft...!" Zombie only snorted and shook his head. "No. You cannot eat that weapon, it belongs to Cranbie." "Eeeeeeeh?!" The blue boy said and the crimson-haired humanoid de gasped pitifully in disbelief. "Buuuu...! Master... Please? I am your favorite de, right? That kid likes you, he will give you his sword if you ask him!" "!!!!!!" Kopia lowered her head and began acting all cute despite no one teaching her how to do that before, and motioned at Cranbie with her chin, making the powder-pink-haired boy blush heavily. |Whoa, phrasing...!| Patience snorted, barely holding back herughter. |Shush, you dirty-minded overseer.| Zombie scoffed at her and looked back at Kopia. "No. I can ask in the vige if we can get another sword simr to that, but Cranbie''s weapon is off-limits." He dered in a voice that did not allow for any talk-backs. "Fine~! Master, I''m looking forward to the food you will get me! It''s a date!" Kopia cheered out ¨C using yet another words no one taught her - before her body shed with white light and she turned right back into a one-handed shortsword in Zombie''s right hand. "..." Zombie looked at her in disbelief and breathed out. "Sorry for that. If you don''t mind, we can continue." The blue boy raised his head and smiled apologetically at the young elven boy. "A-alright..." Although it seemed like Cranbie had something more to say, he ended up just nodding his head and taking up the stance again. |Kopia isn''t leveling up, she gets as strong as the des she consumes, right?| Since thanks to the initial exchanged Zombie could roughly gauge the elven boy''s skill level, the blue undead allowed himself to ask internally while switching to autopilot and began dodging and redirecting Cranbie''s attacks instead of parrying him - which was a great way to raise points in evasion and agility as well as train the sword mastery skill. Although The powder-pink-haired boy had arge advantage when it came to status points since he was already gaining levels andpleting quests, it was tantly obvious which one of them had life-and-death battle experience and which one was training in a rtively safe environment. |That''s right. Didn''t you spend all the money you earned as an adventurer just to buy her the most expensive swords to eat because of that? What is it about?| Patience asked, sounding as if she furrowed her brows. |Do you think that the swords she can eat can only be made out of metal...?| The blue boy asked curiously. |What do you...? Ah... I see... True, true.| Patience asked confused but she realized what the blue undead meant even before she finished her question. |Khahaha! Exactly! Since we are already here, there''s no reason for us to just leave good equipment behind...| Zombieughed internally, dodging another attack while the massive holly tree of the elven vige was constantly appearing in the corner of his vision. |I think we should go and see the local craftsman and order a custom made weapon soon, and not only as a food for Kopia but one for Cranberry too ¨C she needs to work on her closebat skills too, after all...| The blue undead smiled at his thoughts and got a little bit distracted. *SMACK* "UGH!" That''s why when the powder-pink-haired? boy got too close while his attack left him slightly too wide open, his reflexes trained during many fights kicked in and he punched him in the face making use of the chance. "OH NO!" He gasped realizing what he did only when the elven boy plopped on his putt and fresh blood gushed from his now broken nose. "Are you okay?!" Zombie hurriedly sheathed Kopia and got to the elven boy''s side. "Ehehe... no... but don''t worry, I''m alright! I can now train mend even more!" Cranbie dered cheerfully while wiping the blood off with both hands instead of trying to stop it ¨C and he really didn''t look like he was bothered by getting hurt,pletely opposite actually. |See? I''ve told you ¨C hurt-me-plenty boy likes it.| Patience sounded as if she smirked triumphantly and shrugged her shoulders. Chapter 380: Life in the hidden village (3)

Chapter 380: Life in the hidden vige (3)

"...I don''t understand..." Cranberry lowered her head over a book and admitted with embarrassment, not wanting to face the person who was helping her study. "Don''t worry, the understanding of the process wille naturally with time. It''s not something that you can just seed at on your first try, for now, try to just imagine the sparks of electricity jumping around atop the palm of your hand." Mirabelle patted the little girl''s head with one hand and demonstrated what she meant with her other hand ¨C her palm shone with white light and violet and gold sparks rose up and formed into a sphere of high-voltage electricity ready to beunched at an opponent. "But I don''t understand how am I supposed to protect myself from the power of the offensive skill ¨C it''s not like I have lightning immunity skill! I only have fire immunity!" The red-haired girl spoke dispirited, fidgetting under the elven woman''s hand as if she was unsure at how she should react to being patted. "Aww... sweetie, it''s okay, when you use offensive skills you don''t need the resistance skills of the same attribute unless you are using a cloaking skill." Mirabelleughed and continuously caressed Cranberry''s red hair to calm her down. "But it''s an offensive skill, why doesn''t it hurt me back ¨C it hurts the enemy as soon as it shoots out..." Cranberry fidgetted, horribly worried that she is angering the elf, but it was something that she needed to know to reallyprehend the magic skill that she was trying to learn. "About that..." Mirabelle furrowed her brows and looked up trying toe up with a good example. "Think about your drool." Suddenly her face lighted up and she dered with satisfaction. "...ha...? My... my drool...?" The red-haired girl blinked repeatedly and gasped in disbelief. "Yeah, drool." Mirabelle nodded and smiled at the girl''s confused face. "It''s fine while it''s in your mouth, and it''s still alright when you let it out a little bit, like this." The elven woman spoke and let a little line of drool out of her mouth before sucking it back in before it could detach. "But if it''spletely out, you don''t want to lick it back in or even touch it. She said and leaned to the side, opening her mouth and let a little bit of her saliva drop on the floor. "Eww...!" Cranberry halfughed-half frowned at the presentation. "Right? It suddenly bes gross." Mirabelleughed and patted Cranberry''s head again. "It''s the same with offensive spells ¨C you create them using your mana, and they aren''t gross - or dangerous as long as you are in contact with them ¨C but when you release them into the wild, they be like the drool on the floor. Did that helped?" The vige elder asked with a bright smile. "Mhmm. I think so...?" Cranberry made a serious expression and nodded, although she didn''t sound too confident. "Oh, for fuck''s sake, Mirabelle! Did you have to spit on the floor? Who the fuck exins high-concept like magic, using drool as an example anyway?! If the brat is too stupid to understand just make her do some basic training to raise her MP and call it a day ¨C she will gain skills naturally anyway once she starts leveling up." But then a purple-haired elf passed by, spotted the spit on the otherwise perfectly clean floor, andined out loud. "!!!!" His words made Cranberry flinch and lower her head as she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned whi- "Shut the fuck up, Gooseberry! Who asked you for input, huh?! I''ll have you know that Cranberry is really fucking smart and she learned multiple fire-based skills without any trouble past these few weeks! She just needs a little bit of time to learn something else!" Mirabelle hugged the red-haired girl protectively and shouted back at the purple-haired elf, absolutely furious because of his words. "Who do you think you are anyway, you old fuck! My little girl said that she wants to learn spells to catch up to her familiar, and I''ll be fucking damned if I don''t help her with that! I''m going to spit around all this fucking library and more if that will make it easier for her to understand things!" She added, fuming. "It''s okay, don''t listen to him, he''s just an old cranky fart that feels lonely because his son is growing up and doesn''t want to hang around him anymore." Mirabelle leaned down and told Cranberry while patting her head reassuringly. "...YOUR little girl...?" Gooseberry straightened his back and raised his brows, looking at the vige elder with disbelief. "Sh-shut the fuck up!" Mirabelle blushed all the way to the roots of her hair and cursed at the purple-haired elf, but did not ease the protective hug on the stunned Cranberry even a little. "Pffft! Oh, Mirabelle, you never was a material for a fucking teacher anyway, even if that human brat is as smart as you believe her to b-" "Mo-nngh...!" Cranberry twisted in Mirabelle''s hug so that she faced Gooseberry and began to speak up but she suddenly closed her mouth in embarrassment, but even if she stuttered, she definitely aplished getting the attention of the purple-haired elf away from the vige elder. "Miss Mirabelle is a great teacher! Go away! You are interrupting our lesson!" But soon Cranberry managed topose herself and scoffed at the mean elf, showing off her prideful nature. "..." Gooseberry red down at her but the little girl braved through the prolonged eye contact while ring back at the elf. "Pffft...! Sure, fine whatever ¨C it''s not like I''m the fucking guardian of this archive or anything." The purple-haired elf scoffed and walked away shaking his head, leaving the two alone. Cranberry turned around in Mirabelle''s arms and looked up at her visibly proud of herself. "I think I get it a little now, but can you show me how you activate the skill again...?" She asked going back to being timid. "Of course! I wasn''t joking when I said I will help you learn!" Mirabelle responded with a cheerful smile and even though she released the red-haired girl from her embrace, she sat right by her before she extended her hand and activated the skill. Chapter 381: Life in the hidden village (4)

Chapter 381: Life in the hidden vige (4)

"And then I got angry because that practice dummy wouldn''t fall apart like when you kicked it, so I focused really hard on my whole body starting from my legs, just like you told me, and then I hit it super strong and I leveled up the blunt weapon proficiency just like you told me I would!" Cranberry was sitting by the table in the dining room and was happily reporting how her day went to the blue undead familiar sitting on her left, watching her eat dinner. "You did? That''s amazing! And you got the thrash skill only like what ¨C a week ago? You''re doing a great job!" Zombie genuinely smiled and congratted her. "Ha ha! I know right?! Even momm-nnnngh...!" Cranberry eximed happily, but stopped herself half-word and blushed before she started talking again ¨C and Zombie didn''t hasten her or anything, just let her go at her own pace. "Even miss Mirabelle has praised me! She said that it''s amazing that I can get so far with magic even though I''m yet to level up! See! I will not be a burdenter on! We will travel the world together!" She dered confidently, pointing the fork at the ceiling. "I never doubted that. You''re doing great!" Zombie nodded with augh and refilled her ss with juice. "Ah, thank you!" The red-haired girl smiled started drinking immediately while grabbing another bite. "Oh-ho! That''s what I call an appetite! Tell me if you will want more." Olive walked out of the kitchen to check on the children and his eyes widened seeing the already almost empty te of the red-haired girl. "Ah...!" Cranberry suddenly flinched and lowered the fork getting a bit paler than before. "Sorry... did I eat too much...?" She apologized and asked in a worried voice. "Too much? Pffft! Please! Do you know how much you are running around ¨C not to mention raising MP and other status points? If anything you are eating too little!" But instead of scolding that she expected ¨C because that was what always happened in the Prides mansion ¨C Olive onlyughed and patted her head affectionately. "I''ll get you another serving before Mirabelle gets back¨C oh, and would you want a dessert now or do you want to wait until she gets here?" He smirked and asked as he was going back to the kitchen, "Ah! I will wait!" Cranberry''s eyes shone but whether it was because the dessert was mentioned or because the vige elder would be back home soon. |It feels so unreal to see her happy like that.| Zombie watched the red-haired girl and thought to himself. |You sound very pleased, I honestly expected you to be more bothered that she isn''t like the Cranberry from the first ythrough.| Patience pointed out curiously. |Wow. Thanks, you really think that I''m such a bastard to wish the same thing that happened to my Cranberry to happen to this one? Come on.| The blue boy scoffed internally. |Hah... you really were serious back then... if it means her happiness you would even distance yourself from her...| The sealed overseer gasped in disbelief. |Answering that while we barelypleted only one backstory event and the global event didn''t even start is kind of pointless, don''t you think, Pati?| |Yeah, I guess.| Zombie smirked and shrugged his shoulders and Patience sighed. |Still. If you want to keep this Cranberry happy, you will have to work really hard in the future.| Patience suddenly added even though for a moment it seemed as if their conversation was over. |Duh. Obviously, there''s no way I will stand a chance against Eternal with my current level.| Zombie looked away and rolled his eyes, making sure that Cranberry won''t notice it. |No. I didn''t mean with leveling up ¨C I have no doubt that you will manage that just fine ¨C I''m talking about staying calm and not rush out to kill every single person that ever bothered your Cranberry in the first ythrough.| The sealed overseer scoffed, sounding as if she shook her head. |...yeah... that might be a problem... but as long as you will scream in my ear each time I''m about to do that ¨C I will be fine...| Zombie admitted while smiling and nodding to Cranberry who just received another serving of delicious homemade food prepared by Olive. |But, truth to be told, I already feel slightly sick ¨C I want to kill the living ¨C the living humans in particr ¨C to my surprise I noticed that elves do not bother me nearly as much as humans do.| Zombie informed the sealed overseer about the revtion. |That''s how it should be ¨C an undead''s hate is aimed at the members of the same species they were once they were alive, that''s how it should be ¨C you were a human, so you hate humans. And don''t worry ¨C there will be plenty of those for you to kill ¨C it''s not like you will have to hold back at every step.| |Don''t regret saying that, I will be sure to remind you about itter.| |Sure, sure.| "You''re back! Come! Mister Olive made the cream puffs for dessert!" While the two of them had a conversation, the vige elder returned to her home ¨C and was weed back by overjoyed Cranberry. "Oh! Did he?! Did you leave some for me?" Mirabelle asked while hugging the red-haired girl ¨C who returned the hug timidly. "Not only that! We all waited for you to eat them!" Cranberry shook her head and revealed with pride. "Ah! Oh my! Thank you, sweetie!" "...ha...?! Mirabelleughed and picked up the little girl ¨C who gasped in shock and tightly clung to her in surprise. "Sorry! Did I scare you?" Mirabelle asked with a worried expression. "N-no! I''m not scared!" Cranberry shook her head. "...am I heavy...?" But then she got timid again and asked with a worried voice. "Eh? Heavy? A pipsqueak like you?! Pfffffft...! Good one! Sweetie, if anything, you are so light that I think I''ll have to starting home earlier to make sure that you are eating properly!" Mirabelleughed and waved her hand dismissively while carrying the red-haired girl back to the dining room. "Hey! Where''s my kept man? Olive! Bring us the cream puffs!" "Yay! Cream puffs!" Mirabelle called out in a loud voice and Cranberry seconded her happily. "...Mira, I beg you, please don''t teach our Cranberry anything weird, think of poor Zombie..." Olive revealed himself with a tray full of sweets with a very bitter face and sighed. "...?" "It''s nothing, kiddo, don''t mind me." Cranberry tilted her head and looked at him in confusion, but Olive only waved his hand andughed it off before Mirabelle could answer. But as soon as both girls began enjoying the food, the old elf looked at Zombie, sighed, and bowed his head apologetically ¨C at which Zombie shook his head, smiled, and raised up both his thumbs to show that everything is in the best order. Chapter 382: Life in the hidden village (5)

Chapter 382: Life in the hidden vige (5)

*ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* At the western part of the training ground at the outskirts of the hidden elven vige in the Great northern forest, an elf and a human were in the middle of a fierce battle. *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* The ck baseball bat with the handle tightly wrapped in the blue ribbon for better grip shed against a saber with the pommel shaped like a head of a bird of prey. The elf was a powder-pink-haired boy who looked around thirteen years old while the human was a dark-red-haired girl around nine years old. Despite their young age neither their weapons nor the levels of their respective skills were something to scoff at. *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* At the same time despite their age difference, the two seemed to be perfectly matched too ¨C no matter who attacked first each hit was parried and countered just for that counter to be parried and countered and so on. It was at the level that their duel looked more like a synchronized dance or a y the two had agreed upon beforehand. *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* The thing was ¨C it was most definitely not the case... "Zombie will be practicing with me today! He promised me yesterday!" The girl barked before unleashing a devastating thrash skill that made it look like her weapon multiplied and fell at the elven boy at the same time from each side. "No way ¨C he promised me two days ago that we will train together today!" *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* The elf gritted his teeth and growled back, parrying every single hit with cat-like grace and fluently responding with a raising diagonal sh from below. "Exactly! Two days ago! That means that the ns he made with me are more recent, therefore yours got canceled!" *ng* The girl scoffed and charged all in instead of backing off and took the hit head-on, countering it with a clear sound ¨C pushing the elf out of bnce, leaving him open for a devastating overhead bash. "No! It does not! I was first so the ns he made with you do not count!" The elf scoffed right back and dodged the skill with a graceful pirouette, twirling around and adding speed and damage power to the activated de dance. "Ugh...!" The flurry of attacks that began raining down on the girl made her grunt and back off as she gritted her teeth in anger. The fluent movement of the elven skill made it basically impossible to find a blind spot as there was no pause between the consecutive hits long enough for the girl to counterattack ¨C she was forced to defend with the ck bat, and she certainly didn''t like that. She didn''t have the opportunity to counter ¨C so she just had to create one instead! "...!" The girls grinned wildly all of a sudden and her body shone white as she charged backward without losing a rhythm and the elven boy wasn''t able to follow her fast enough while keeping up the de dance active ¨C then the girl used the charge skill two more times, changing the direction she was going with each use and ended up right at the back of the scantily-d elf. "He is my familiar! If he promises something to me of course it wille before anyone else!" The girl roared and pulled of a perfect swing that tore through the air with a terrifying sound ¨C if that attacknded, there was no doubt that the spine of the slim elf would snap in half like a twig... "HMPH! You wish!" The elf boy pouted loudly and leaned back, bending his back so much that the bat passed right above his exposed navel, and he shed at the girl''s legs. "You little...!" The girl gritted her teeth and jumped away, losing bnce which let the elven boy regain his essentially returning their fight back to the square one. --- "(Master, is it really okay for us to be training together when those two are like this...?)" At the same time at the eastern part of the training ground the young red dragon, Baron, looked over at Cranberry and Cranbie duking it out and asked sounding a little bit worried, as a fireball he shot out over an hour before flew at the blue undead in front of him. "Don''t mind them ¨C they are already training anyways ¨C I never promised either of them anything." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand dismissively and deflected the fire skill back at the dragon using Kopia in her shortsword form. "(You didn''t? Then what are they fighting about?)" Baron looked back at the blue undead and tilted his head in confusion, and smacked the fireball back with his tail. "With Cranbie, he did ask me to train together but I told him that it is unlikely that I will have time since you and I will be training the reflect. With Cranberry it was more or less the same. I have no idea why either of them treated my gentle refusal as if I promised them something." Zombie shrugged his shoulders again reflecting the fireball that changed the color from orange to yellow, taking its destructive power to another level for the second time since the two of them began this particr exercise. "(Wow! Master! Look! It got stronger again! Do you think we could use this technique in an actualbat once you will be able to hunt monsters?)" Baron gasped and jumped up excitedly, smacking the empowered fireball back to the undead, "Nah, this takes way too long to be effective ¨C level 1 reflect just returned the skill back at the opponent, level 2 started adding 5% of the power ¨C and it took us over a year this long to just get it to this level, not to mention how much longer for the next level up. It would be far more effective to just use more of the consecutive basic fireballs." Zombie shook his head and perfectly reflected the attack at the dragon. /Skills level up Reflect (level 3) Fire resistance (level 2) "Oh...?" A message popped up for the blue undead making him smirk with satisfaction. "Alright, It''s better than expected, it was a great idea to use concentration in tandem with it - make it 10% at level 3. And it looks like this one is actually getting a little bit hotter than I expected." Zombie giggled and when Baron returned the yellow fireball at him, he did not reflect it back and instead sent it into the sky, where... *BOOOOOOOOOOM* ...it exploded with enough power to send a gust of hot air all the way back to the ground. "(Wooooow! It was so strong...! So cool!)" Baron gasped, looking at the disappearing fireworks that he help to create, and wagged his tail like an excited puppy. For the matter, even the great explosion did not stop Cranberry and Cranbie from fighting over who would be training with the blue undead... "Khahaha! True ¨C t might have been a little bit stronger than I gave it credits to." Zombie agreed, smirking with satisfaction. |Of course it was stronger, you lunatic ¨C the 5% strength increase happens only when you pull off a perfect parry, and a perfect reflect, and a perfect reflect also happens to give you a greater amount of the experience towards the skill level up than the normal one. You might think that reaching level 3 in half a year after reaching level 2 is long but in fact, it''s some insane stuff.| Patience called out from inside of Zombie''s head, sounding as if she was angry at the blue undead''sck of excitement. |Yeah, I get it, I love you too. Now shush.| Zombie nced to the side and shook his head, not wanting anything to disturb his concentration. |A...! Wha..?! Sh-SHUT UP! Rotten-hearted yboy!| Patience shouted, sounding as if she got all red from embarrassment. "Baron, go on, shoot another one." Zombie ignored her and instead nodded at his beastly subject to unleash another fireball. "(Yes! Let''s make the next one even cooler, master!)" The red dragon cheered and his throat and jaws shone with a reddish light. Chapter 383: Life in the hidden village (6)

Chapter 383: Life in the hidden vige (6)

"Hmph! That pink dancer got stronger again!" Cranberry pouted before she took a bite out of a sandwich prepared by Olive, and chewed on it as if each and every ingredient has done had a great disservice and she was taking revenge on them. "Ahaha! That''s right ¨C Gooseberryined to me the other day that his kid talks only about you Zombie and Baron nowaday''s ¨C you all are really good friends, huh." The old elf pulled out the chair and sat right by the red-haired girl and messed her hair affectionately whileughing. "Who''s that guy''s friend?! If anything he is my rival!" Cranberry furrowed her brows andined, but despite her words, she did blush a little bit and fidgetted after hearing the word friends. "You are saying that he got stronger, but you are the same, right? I''ve seen you all train just the other day while I was passing by the training ground ¨C believe me when I say that no one in their right mind would think that either you or Zombie are level 1!" Mirabelle smiled, looking between the red-haired girl and the blue undead on the opposite side of the table while taking another sandwich for herself. "Of course I did! Even though he can level up and I don''t it doesn''t mean that I can let him defeat me!" Cranberry puffed out her chest with pride and dered. "Mommy is a vige elder, I cannot allow myself to be defeated! Ah...!" She added before she could stop herself ¨C and once she realized what she said she gasped and covered her mouth with both hands and looked down with a bright red face. "..." Zombie silently nced at the elven woman, and smirked ¨C Mirabelle was looking at Cranberry in shock ¨C but the best kind of shock ¨C she looked so happy that she looked on the verge of bursting out in tears. "Cranberry...!" She gasped and left her seat. "...I-I''m sorry... I didn''t mean to... Please, don''t be mad at me..." Cranberry wasn''t looking at her and started apologizing as soon as the woman got close to her, thinking that she will receive a scolding. "Sweetie..." "...ha...?!" ...that''s why the red-haired girl gasped in absolute shock once the elven woman reached out and picked her up from her chair and hugged her. "Don''t apologize sweetie. There''s nothing I would like more than having you as my daughter." Mirabelle smiled nuzzling her cheek against the little girl''s head. "...but... but... my real mother said that I''m a failure..." Cranberry trembled, clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...I wish that you were my mother instead... please don''t hate me..." The little girl cried out pitifully, cowering in the elf''s arms prepared to be cast aside at any moment. "..." Mirabelle got teary-eyed and hugged her much much closer instead. "...my baby... You aren''t a failure! And don''t ever say that I could hate you... that woman you talk about clearly didn''t realize what treasure she had - I would really love to call you a daughter ¨C I already think about you as my own anyway." She dered, coddling Cranberry as if she was a little baby. "!!!!" Cranberry trembled and raised her head, just to see Mirabelle looking back at her with a motherly smile. "...really...? I... I will never forgive you if you are lying to me right now..." Cranberry asked, doing her best to keep her voice serious as her chin and lips were continuously trembling from holding back the tears. "Of course I''m serious, you silly child!" Mirabelleughed and kissed her on the forehead. "Mommy..." The red-haired girl opened her fists and wrapped her arms around Mirabelle''s neck. "I''m listening, sweetie." The woman smiled and asked. "Mommy!" The girl cried and desperately hugged the elven woman with all her might. "I''m here. Cranberry, mommy is very, very proud of you and loves you with all her heart." "...uuu... Uuuuuuuuuuu...! Mirabelle snuggled back to the little girl who started openly sobbing in her shoulder. "Aww... sweetie... It''s alright... You can let it all out. Mommy won''t leave you." She patted her back continuing to coddle her. "Hey, I think that it will be best if the two of us will get an early night today." Mirabelle added, ncing at the Olive and Zombie ¨C and of course, it was the right choice since it looked like Cranberry wasn''t going to let go of her for a while. "Sure, sure. Don''t worry about us, right?" Olive stealthily wiped the tear that made its way in the corner of his eye and waved his hand dismissively, looking at Zombie for confirmation. "I''m really happy for both of you." Zombie nodded at Mirabelle and Cranberry with a bright smile. "Then... goodnight, gentlemen." Mirabelle smiled back at the two of them and left the dining room with Cranberry in her arms ¨C as they were moving through the door, the red-haired girl looked up from above her shoulder back at the blue undead staying behind. Zombie smiled at her and nodded, making the girl smile back at him. "Thank you." As they left, Zombie turned to Olive and nodded to him. "You can''t imagine how much it means to me seeing Cranberry happy like this." He said with a soft smile. "Heh... funny thing. I was about to thank you for bringing her to us." The old elf leaned back in his chair andughed cheerfully. "That said ¨C I hope you remember that she and I need to show up at the first kill party in the capital the next year ¨C and I don''t know whether we will be able toe back here for a while ¨C as far as I know we might show up only after we will be ready to deal with the Envys and the thing they hidden away in their family mansion." Zombie''s smile disappeared and he spoke in a serious voice, carefully watching the elf''s expression. "I remember, that''s what you told me right after you arrived at the vige after all." Olive looked up at the ceiling with a mncholic smile and responded with a sigh. "I''ll do everything in my might to protect her, so don''t worry." Zombie dered in a serious voice, wanting to put the old elf at ease. "...kiddo, Cranberry isn''t the only one Mirabelle and I care about, you know? Don''t push yourself too hard ¨C it''s enough that you got yourself turned into an undead. Don''t push yourself that far ever again ¨C if things will go too far, just ask us for help. The two of you are a part of this vige and our family." Olive leaned forward and put his hands on the table, looking the blue undead in the eyes. |Ever imagined hearing something like this from an elf?| |Nah, never. Not even from Lairs. But it certainly doesn''t feel bad.| Patience giggled and Zombie responded with a shrug. "Thank you. I''ll keep that in mind." The blue undead who still looked like a seven years old boy, for the time being, smiled and thanked the guardian of the vige that he massacred with no mercy in his first ythrough. Chapter 384: Before the initiation (1)

Chapter 384: Before the initiation (1)

|This all feels like it''s going too well...| Zombie thought in disbelief as he was observing the monster that he and Baron captured being escorted to the monster pens in the arena where the first kill party was going to start within an hour. |I don''t want to sound ungrateful but didn''t those guys epted my exnation way too easily? They stopped panicking the moment I told them I''m the familiar of the daughter of the Prides family - and they didn''t question anything after that! I look like a blue seven-year-old!| Zombie gritted his teeth, hurriedly walking past the more or less shocked people, he was worried that this might all be some sort of a trap anddy Raspbetty was waiting behind a corner to grab Cranberry and turn her life back into a miserable hell. |Zombie, how high is your leadership level again...?| Patience asked sounding as if she was massaging her forehead, tired of the blue undead''s overly cautious behavior. |Leadership...?| Zombie furrowed his brows and tilted his head trying to remember the detail about one of his many skills. |If I remember correctly it leveled up right as we were leaving the vige and Cranbie''s started crying and dered that he will keep training until he is strong enough to travel together with Cranberry and me... So... Around level... 5? 6?| He finally answered after a few seconds of careful consideration. |See?| Patience scoffed, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders. |See what? That''s just a tier-one skill, level six is not that much for those.| The blue undead furrowed his brows andined in confusion. |Zombie, there are generals and kings with lower-level leadership ¨C pair up level 6 and your natural charisma and you have a recipe for one trustworthy guy.| Patience sounded as if she rolled her eyes and exined. |That... doesn''t sound right at all... But I guess I will believe it since you said so.| |Good.| Zombie sighed and shook his head with a bitter expression while the sealed overseer gave a short answer, sounding as if she nodded with satisfaction. |Anyway ¨C it kind of looks like the order I gave to the two Prides held on even though the overpower stopped working ¨C good to know.| The blue undead added after using the life signature detection skill, scanning the surroundings of the arena in search of anyone connected with the house of Pride, and finding out that there actually was one person like that present... but... despite staying in the same room as Cranberry, that person didn''t even try to approach her and neither was she using any skills to contact anyone... Even with that slight possible problem, since the members of the system faith simply epted Cranberry''sst-minute participation without even batting an eye, everything looked as if it was going to work out just fine. ...at least when ites to being stopped by the members of the Pride family, hopefully... The question was, whether someone else won''t try anything... ...or is that person really on their side... Zombie tensed up, turning slightly and began ring at one certain life signature in particr. |Don''t. Or at least wait until the party will be over. If you go and thrash her now, someone will try to punish you for that. At least wait until a hit and run will be possible.| Patience called out in a tired voice. |Oh...? I thought that you will bepletely opposed to me doing anything to that piece of filth... Do you love me so much that you are giving me a present...?| The blue boy smirked and his shoulders shook from holding back theughter. |Sh-shut up! Idiot! I just know that you won''t leave Caramel alone no matter what, so I try to damage control as much as possible!| The sealed overseer cried out sounding as if she was trying to mask her embarrassment by getting angry and loud. |Well... it''s working. I''ll wait until the ceremony is over until I go met this repugnant filth of a sister.| Zombie smirked and nodded, looking away from Caramel''s life signature, and make sure that Cranberry isn''t bothered by any stranger. |Oh...?| And to his surprise, he realized that she is in fact surrounded, or rather apanied by three very familiar life signatures instead. |Oh-ho! This might be interesting.| Patience gasped excitedly peeking into Zombie''s mind. |How will things y out between them, I wonder?| She giggled, which only made the blue undead hasten his steps as he walked back to the room where all the children were waiting for the initiation ceremony. |I want to say that things should be very different since this Cranberry isn''t the same as my Cranberry, but if I said that I''m not worried ¨C I would be lying.| Zombie frowned ¨C he wanted to use his skills to get to Cranberry''s side faster, but he knew that he already looked really suspicious walking around freely like that being a monster and all, and if he actually used a skill to boost his mobility, people would undoubtedly think that he was a monster that broke free from the pen and would definitely try to subdue him. |The only one she talked with during the first ythrough was the heroine, wasn''t it? I wonder what happened that the other two approached her too...| Patience certainly sounded intrigued whileparing the current situation with the memories of her undead host as well as the memories of the game events and how they yed out. |Yeah... now that I think about it... Cranberry doesn''t have a whip or anything... and... even with Mary, she only talked to her after the initiation ceremony...| Zombie shared the interest in the obvious change but he was more worried than anything. That ended the conversation between them as the blue boy finally arrived at the right door, opened them, and snuck inside. He walked between a bunch of ten-year-old, short enough to not show over any of them. "Eww...! What is this?!" "Ah! A monster! A monster escaped!" "Don''t be ridiculous! Look at its clothes, that''s clearly someone''s familiar." Kids were talking amongst themselves, making the blue undead smirk ¨C that was exactly the same reaction that he got during the first ythrough in the exact same situation. What was not the same though was... "Ah! There he is! Zombie! I''m here!" Was the cheerful Cranberry calling out and waving to him from the other side of the room ¨C it was actually really impressive that she noticed him... or maybe not, considering that she already had trained the detection [heairng] to level 3. Either way, in no time at all the blue undead, got to the red-haired girl surrounded by three very familiar children. The brown-haired future heroine, Mary Hope, tightly clenching a scepter with both hands. The brown-haired androgynous child in gender-neutral clothing ¨C the future capture target and current avatar of lust, ymore Lust. And finally the blond-haired boy with a sword over twice his size hanging across his back ¨C none another future capture target and the current first prince of the kingdom, Roan Greed. All the most, and only, important characters from the game who were present in the room. Chapter 385: Before the initiation (2 - Zombie bullies everyone)

Chapter 385: Before the initiation (2 - Zombie bullies everyone)

"Hello. My name is Zombie ¨C I''m young miss Cranberry Pride''s familiar. It''s nice to meet all of you." Zombie smiled... smirked kind of mockingly and nodded his head at all three young essential characters. "Eh...?! This is the person you were talking about?! But I thought...!" Mary flinched and gasped wide-eyed, very much shocked to the core at the sight of the blue-skinned undead. "Miss Pride, so you''re a necromancer?!" Roan got wide-eyed and gasped. "..." ymore got timid and backed off slightly as if they were unsure how they should act around an undead whom they shouldn''t be able to affect with their skills as of yet. "Zombie is an undead, but as he said, he is my familiar ¨C the magic I awakened to is called Dark Arts. It''s magic that is moremon for the elves than humans!" Cranberry exined, puffing out her chest proudly. "You have awakened to magic?! Ah! Is that the real reason behind your supposed sickness?!" "Ha...?" Roan gasped and asked, causing Cranberry a great deal of confusion. |Ah, so that''s how Prides exined her absence to the outside world ¨C yeah, make sense, imagine the uproar that it would cause if they revealed that the only heir to the illustrious Pride family was kidnapped by her own familiar and flew away on the back of an infant dragon while both the avatar and the ex avatar of pride could only stand there and watched!| Patienceughed mockingly inside Zombie''s head but the blue undead didn''t found it that funny ¨C having Cranberry act all surprised and suspicious was thest thing that he wanted. He even warned the red-haired before to be prepared for a simr situation and to always act all high and mighty and refuse toment about her disappearance, but this Cranberry was just as bad of an actress as the Cranberry from the first ythrough. "Oh? Excuse my rudeness but you must be the first prince of the Fruit Sd, are you trying to say that the Greed family did not care enough to check up on what was happening in the Prides mansion?" The blue undead looked up at the taller boy and shook his head from left to right. "Poor choice ¨C you''re all up for a big surprise." "!!!" He smirked and winked at the bbergasted Roan. |I forgot that the young Roan was annoying. Better cut his overconfidence in the bud, don''t you think?| Zombie scoffed internally and asked with just the tiniest bit of caution as if he already made his choice but was trying to make it seemed like he didn''t. |In the game, there was supposed to be rivalry between the two of you, so feel free. Just don''t destroy his pride too much or it might alter the story.| Patience sighed and sounded as if she shook her head in defeat, already used to the blue boy''s shenanigans. "You...! Who do you think you are?! Why some undead familiar dares to speak like that to...!" *bam* "UGH!" Before Roan could finish his sentence, Zombie kicked at his leg, swiping him off of his feet and the first prince of the kingdom got ttened on the ground under the weight of his own sword. "Who do I think I am? My name is Zombie, and for now, I''m a level 1 undead. It''s nice to meet you too, weakling prince." Zombie leaned down and spoke loudly, clearly, and extremely mockingly, while putting his foot on Roan''s oversized sword''s crossguard,pletely disabling the boy''s ability to stand up due to the added pressure. "Urgh...!" Roan groaned and squirmed beneath his own weapon, letting out rather pathetic noises, as he was pinned down like a bug caught by a sadistic child. ...which honestly wasn''t that far from what was actually happening... "Weakling prince aside. You must be the adopted daughter of the Hope family, and you should be the head of the Lust family and the current avatar of lust, ymore." Zombie looked up and smirked at the other two children standing by Cranberry''s sides. "...!" "Wh-what are you doing to the prince...?!" ymore flinched and backed off even more, but Mary gasped and kneeled by Roan and even started trying to lift the sword to free him. "What I am doing? Teaching him manners, of course. It''s an elerated course but I believe that he has enough ability to keep up with it." Zombie furrowed his brows and shrugged his shoulders oozing with a ridiculous amount of mockery. "Let him go! Miss Pride! Do something about you familiar, please!" Mary cried, looking as if she was getting angry, she even put the scepter aside and was putting her back into lifting the giant de even with all of Zombie''s weight added to it. "Zombie. He wasn''t that rude. Please, release him." Silent until that point Cranberry finally managed to shake off the confusion about the blue undead''s behavior and did her best to not sound as if she didn''t know what this all was about. "...fine, but only because you asked me to." Zombie snorted and walked off of the weapon, making both Mary and Roan sprung up instantly, almost losing their bnce. "M-my mother will hear about this...!" Roan gasped, ring at the little blue undead all teary-eyed. "Pfffft...! Way to go! You sound like a first-ss weakling! Congrattions, momma''s boy!" "!!!!!!!" Zombie started pping his hands and burst out intoughter. Making Roan lower his head to hide his crimson face and clench his fists from anger. "What do you think you are doing, you rude monster! Miss Pride! How can you let your monster act like that in public?! That''s kind of behavior is...! Hey! Don''t touch that!" Mary was in the middle of angrilyining to the frowning Cranberry when she suddenly spotted the blue undead picking up the scepter he put down before. "Huh... what do we have here...?" Zombie smirked raising the magic conduit up to his eye level... "Don''t touch that! It''s my father''s scepter that he used when he was attending his own first kill party! He gave me that as a good luck charm! Give it back!" Mary cried out and rushed up to Zombie, reaching her hands for her property. Even though she was already ten, she did not have any height advantage over the blue undead that the rest of the children had even though Zombie still looked the same as he did when he was seven. "Are you deaf?! Give it b-mghfgh...!" The future heroine called out but then her words got muffled when Zombie''s hand covered her whole face as he reached out and grabbed her, keeping the annoying girl at the arms reach while carefully studying the rod with the?red magic gem. "Zombie ¨C that''s going way too far!" That was too much even for Cranberry and she took a step forward and furrowed her brows at the little blue undead. "...hey... little miss Hope. Who told you that this is some family heirloom?" But Zombie ignored her and instead asked Mary in a very serious voice. Chapter 386: Before the initiation (3 - Zombie continues to bully everyone)

Chapter 386: Before the initiation (3 - Zombie continues to bully everyone)

"E-eh...? Who? My senior, of course!" Mary grabbed Zombie''s hand and pulled it enough away from her face to be able to talk normally. "...Light-brown-hair? Acts as if she wants the best for you? Pissess herself if anyone around her mentions either kiwis or little brothers? Has a dream giver affinity that she uses to feed you weird dreams?" "...eh...?!" Zombie asked with a bitter face without looking back at the stunned brown-haired girl. "W-wait... do you know my senior? And what was that about that dream affinity?!" Mary eximed in confusion and backed off ¨C but only because Zombie let go of her on his own. "Because that would be my older sister, a repugnant pile of human waste, Caramel. She gave you that, huh..." Zombie scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. "Did she told you that our father runs a shop with magic stones in a certain little vige in the Greeds territory?" He added with a soft smile, before throwing the scepter right into Mary''s arms. "Eh?! What does it have to do with anythi...?" "That thing is just some basic cheap stuff for low-level adventurers that you can buy in the most basic equipment store you can find. And it was made not that long ago ¨C you can tell because neither the rod nor the magic stone bears any sign of getting worn down through the years ¨C I doubt your adoptive father even saw that thing and it is literally impossible that he had used it in his youth." Zombie shook his head and walked back towards the red-haired girl pouting because he ignored her before ¨C but not before he stopped by Mary''s side and put his hand on her shoulder. "If I were you, I would watch out for that lying rotted scum." He whispered into the future heroine''s ear and walked over to Cranberry. "Now, now. Don''t be angry. You know how much?I like teasing people." The blue undeadughed and climbed up to his tiptoes to reach to the girl''s head and pat her reassuringly. "I do! But can''t you at least hold yourself back at the first meeting?! Those three were nice enough toe up to me and started a conversation on their own! And you are bullying them! If you don''t apologize to them I''m not going to talk to you for a whole day!" Cranberry stomped her foot angrily and dered with a very serious expression. "Oh my, things are serious, aren''t they, a whole day?" Zombie gasped and acted as if he was very threatened while holding back theughter. |You are a horrible person.| |Yeah. I love you too, Pati.| |STOP DOING THAT, YOU ROTTEN-HEARTED PLAYBOY!| It was really, REALLY hard for Zombie to keep up a straight face through that situation but he somehow pulled it off. "Oh, but now that you said it... there''s one more person I haven''t yed around with yet, isn''t there..." "!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zombie''s smile grew dangerously and he leaned to the red-haired girl''s side and looked right at the young ymore ¨C who flinched and looked around searching for a spot to hide until finally, they ended up hurrying over to Cranberry and hiding behind her back while facing away from the ck eyes of the blue undead. "Don''t you even dare! Seriously! Zombie! If you will not calm down I will stop talking to you for a whole week!" Cranberry furrowed her brows and stomped her foot, fuming in a rather adorable way. |I don''t know about the Cranberry from the first ythrough, but this one would not be able to endure not talking to you for more than a few hours ¨C do you think that she realizes that her so-called punishment is of more threat to herself than anything?| Patience scoffed, sounding as if she was shaking her head in disbelief. |Shhhh... let her be like that. That''s more of how a kid her age should actpared to how my Cranberry from the previous ythrough was.| Zombie responded to her softly. "As you wish." Was what he had said out loud and bowed to the red-haired girl. "Apologize to Roan and Mary!" Cranberry added, riding on the flow. "No." "...ha...?" But a short answer cut her off as the blue undead shook his head and passed her too, walking towards one of the other children present, of which all were staring at the spectacle performed by the little group. "I might be your familiar, but I am not your servant. Want someone apologizing to them, do it yourself ¨C time to teach you how an owner of a rude familiar feels when the familiar gets in trouble. I''ll be joining you during the initiation. For now, I''ll excuse myself." The blue boy waved his hand at her without looking back and the other children moved out of his way until he ended up by the door, where he leaned against the wall and nced at the tall skinny boy with the spiky mace at his side ¨C who looked as if we wanted nothing to do with him at all. "Whew... She changed a lot, wouldn''t you say?" Zombie murmured while looking back at the three essential characters and Cranberry ¨C it seemwd that he cleared any possible doubt about who might be the bad person out of the kids'' minds because although they all kept sending evil res his way none of that anger was directed at Cranberry ¨C it actually looked like they treated the red-haired girl as one of the victims of Zombie''s bullying instead, so, one of them. |Ugh... you just had to realize, hadn''t you...| Patience read the blue undead mind and sounded as if she rolled her eyes... ...because she knew that Zombie wasn''t talking to her. "It''s all because of you, you know? Telling her all that stuff and actually showing her the way, you were a little bit too harsh for my taste but I can''t argue with the result that it brought." Zombie continued talking in a hushed voice that coupled with his cold appearance made it look like he was chanting threats under his breath making the rest of the kids move as far back as they could. ...all except for one... The tall boy with a spiked mace didn''t even flinch once Zombie started talking, but at the same time even though he had his back turned to him, he did not get away and instead was keenly listening to the blue undead''s voice. |I don''t remember checking the life signatures of anyone during the first kill party in the first ythrough, but this didn''t happen then, did it?| Zombie asked internally, a little bit curious. |Back then it was simr, but it was someone else recing that guy. This is how things should be for the secret ending that we aim for.| Patience confirmed without getting into too much detail. |I see... Good.| Zombie nodded and nced at the tall boy. "That said since you have been the person responsible for her change, I hope that you will not try to put her in harm''s way now ¨C return to the Prides mansion included." He added, putting his head against the wall and breathing out heavily. "...mister familiar, I have no idea what you are talking about. My name is Orange Tart and I never..." The boy straightened his back and turned to the blue undead for the first time. "...not informing the Pride family instantly shouldn''t be too much to ask out of a spy from the Envy family in the first ce. Wouldn''t you agree, Fig?" ...but Zombie interrupted him, or rather her, with a shrug. Chapter 387: Before the initiation (4)

Chapter 387: Before the initiation (4)

"..." The tall boy closed his mouth and sighed. "What betrayed me? I didn''t steal every part of the Tart kid''s appearance, but I made sure to have the essentials." He asked, giving up keeping up the cover and leaned against the wall right by the blue undead. "Oh, no, the disguise of that level is really good, the thing is as an undead a have a little skill that''s known as the life signature detection ¨C every single life form has a unique life signature that cannot be recreated, at least as far as I know it - and that is what I can percive." |Avatar and heir of envy can pull that off, actually.| Patience interrupted him with a tutorial-like exnation that she didn''t have the chance to do for quite a while. "Huh... so it was something like that... good to know." Fig, looking like Orange Tart, nodded with an indifferent expression, observing Cranberry, Mary, ymore, and Roan. "What are you doing here looking like that, anyway? More spying or...?" The blue undead asked curiously ncing at the stone-faced person beside him. "Doing a favor to the Tart family, believe it or not." She shrugged and exined without even the slightest bit of hesitation. "The real Orange is actually bedridden struck by an illness ¨C nothing life-threatening but bad enough to stop him from traveling at all. The Tarts had put some serious money into acquiring the rare monster for him to show off to the other middle-tier families and it would all be wasted if Orange didn''t kill it in front of everyone." Fig exined, looking around to make sure that no one was listening in to her exnation. "I wasn''t originally chosen to be the one supposed to stand in for him, but I requested it and it was epted." She added, looking down and tapping her feet together. "Khaha! And what was your reason for doing that?" Zombieughed and leaned in with a curious smirk. "I had a feeling that the two of you will show up. Cranberry and I are, or at least were, simr. Let''s just say that I wanted to check up on her." The spy from the Envy family shrugged her shoulders and smirked back at the blue boy. "Khaha! Interesting. Then, what is your opinion of her now?" Zombieughed again and nodded, before asking her another question. "She''s still nowhere near the realm of the pretty people, but her demeanor changed. She doesn''t seem to be tormented by it nearly as much as before. Is it really thanks to my words?" Fig answered and asked back, showing interest for the first time since they started talking. "If not for you, she would never open up. There''s still a lot of things she doesn''t want to talk about, but she''s on the right path." Zombie nodded and nced at the red-haired girl happily talking with the rest of her group ¨C when she looked his way and noticed him observing her, she blushed, frowned, and showed him her tongue before getting back into the conversation. "...I guess I should be listening to my own advice more ¨C she changed, but I did not." Fig sighed and lowered her head with a bitter expression. "Well, let''s not forget the part about her leaving behind the horrible environment that pushed her into hating herself in the first ce. Maybe you could take the inspiration from that." Zombie tilted his head and said. "For all intent and purposes, she was kidnapped. Are you telling me that you will do the same for me?" Fig scoffed and shook her head as she corrected the blue undead''s statement. "If you really want to break free, just as Cranberry did, I see no reason why not." "!!!!" Zombie''s honest and clear answer made the disguised woman flinch and look away to hide the blush of embarrassment. |...you are doing that on purpose, or does thise naturally for you...?| Patience sighed, sounding as she was really done with her undead host. "...no. If I''ve meet you even a little bit sooner, or a little bitter, then maybe I wouldn''t even hesitate, but as things are now..." Fig straightened her back and shook her head, taking Zombie''s attention away from the sealed overseer. "What do you mean...?" The blue boy furrowed his brows, worried about the tone of voice of the disguised Envy. "...Even someone like me wants to help her friends from time to time, you know? Don''t worry, I''ll make sure that everything will be alright." Fig took a deep breath and dered, actually smiling at Zombie and then turning towards Cranberry with the same kind of expression. |And cut! Perfect! The condition we needed fulfilled just got confirmed to be aplished! Congrattions!| Patience erupted in cheers despite the worrisome nature of the solemn smile that Fig had ¨C even with the face of Orange Tart, she looked as if she was determined to do something... |...great. Could you exin now what this whole thing was about?| Zombie flinched and asked cautiously. |Definitely not ¨C the condition is fulfilled but it will all be in vain if you do something stupid because you cannot control your anger. It''s best if you stay in the dark for a while longer ¨C this will assure that the story ys out as it should on its own.| The sealed overseer did not pull back and scolded the little blue undead mercilessly, sounding as if she was saying it all while crossing her arms and stomping her foot. |Fine. I trust you on this ¨C it better note bite me back in the butt, you know?| Zombie sighed internally and allowed himself to be told off, mainly since at least the things that Patience said about him were correct. Besides, there was no more time for chit-chat, at least for the moment, since as if someone had the most impable timing, the big door opened wide and all the gathered children started walking outside towards the area where the initiation ceremony would take ce. "It would be better if you didn''t talk to me more than necessary, things might get pretty awkward if my identity will get exposed." Fig leaned towards the blue undead and whispered before walking off towards the area prepared by the members of the system faith just for the initiation ritual. "Hey, if worsee to worst, you can always paint it as the Tart family''s attempt to get closer to the Pride family." Zombie shrugged, recalling how things happened during the first ythrough. "...!" He said it lightheartedly, without actually putting much thought into it, but Fig flinched ad fell into deep thoughts for a moment. "...that... That could work out... that guy isn''t even thinking about me anyway, so why should he get it..." She mumbled to herself and left before Zombie had the chance to ask her what was she talking about with thatst sentence. Chapter 388: The exciting initiation

Chapter 388: The exciting initiation

All the children were standing together in an arena especially prepared for the ceremony. The high priest in the fancy ceremonial robes and a funny hat was chanting some sort of prayer that was supposed to start the initiation but was actually only a purely cosmetic choice that was supposed to add to the splendor of the asion. Zombie was not looking around at all, standing behind Cranberry, lowering his head with a mostly indifferent, although slightly bored, expression. The reason was simple. Just as before, the whole initiation was taking a ce in the prepared spot in the arena- and the arena, as a ce where people came to watch things happen, had the seats for the audience. The whole first kill party was an event in which the main objective was to use the kids to show off the wealth and power of their families by showcasing the powerful monsters the children would be ying ¨C that could not happen without the members of said families being present to watch it all. And those were all seated around the arena. ...including two people that Zombie would really like to see dead. First, was obviously his sister, Caramel ¨C the reincarnated girl with the knowledge of the system who was the main reason behind Zombie''s gruesome experience in his life in another world. The other one was the mother of the weakling prince Roan. The queen herself. The memory of that treacherous filth first showing goodwill to Zombie and Cranberry just to be fully prepared to stab them in the back at the moment''s notice deserved far more painful death hen what she got in the first ythrough, erased from existence by the outburst of the mes of the end. But in both cases, it would be very unwise for Zombie to openly antagonize either of them ¨C especially the treacherous queen ¨C so what was left for him was to endure. |I could send out Kopia in her dagger form and stab her in the neck while everyone would be busy watching the kids y around ¨C ymore''s turn would be perfect for that.| Zombie tried to bargain with the sealed overseer inside of him... |For thest time ¨C Zombie, no! This isn''t up for discussion! You cannot kill the queen during the first kill party her son is attending!| ...but it was not going well for him. |But she isn''t an essential character!| The blue undead argued back. |Could you hold back even for a moment and think about it?! Like, actually?! Roan isn''t the registered heir of the throne of Greed as of yet! We can''t be sure that he will get the title of the avatar if anything happens to his mother ¨C what would you do if someone like Durian would get it instead?! With the queen alive we ¨C or rather I ¨C at least know how things should be ying out and we can prepare ordingly! Remember ¨C to get the secret true ending we need toplete all the secret events that will trigger only AFTER all the capture target including you, will be avatars of sin! Don''t try to change it! This isn''t the same thing as with Baron!| It seemed like Patience wanted to talk Zombie''s ears off with that one scolding ¨C and she was on the right track to do so. "Do you ept the System?" Thankfully, right then after way too many minutes of praying and casting various blessings, the high priest spread his arms open and asked the children. "We do!" Said everyone ¨C Cranberry, Mary, ymore, and Roan included. "Hey, system, I want to receive quests too, you know? Come on, I ept you too! Be a pal and cut me a deal." The blue boy grinned mockingly and murmured under his breath, making fun of everyone who thought that the system was a sentient being and not an impartial force that simply helped the gods guide the worlds in the direction they wanted to. The next moment, a bright light filled the area. And the same message showed up in front of everyone who responded to the words of the high priest. /Initiationplete /Wee, new yer! |Hey...! HEY! HEY! HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!" Yes ¨C everyone ¨C that included the little blue undead currently losing his mind over a message that although he saw before, was never meant for him up until now. |I... I don''t know...| Even Patience was stunned, sounding as if her jaw dropped from the shock. /You be a yer character /You receives a quest (level 1) Upgrade any skill to level 2 Reward: +1 free status point /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one maxed out skill Special reward granted Title: Hardworker /Error /Hard worker title detected /Changing the reward /Calcting... /Multiple maxed out level skills detected Overlevel skill detected /Special reward granted Title: Workaholic /You receives a quest (level 1) Gain at least one physical offense skill Reward: +1 ATK /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one maxed out physical offense skill Special reward granted +10 ATK /You receives a quest (level 1) Use any skill 10 times Reward: +1 free status point /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one skill used over 1,000,000 times Special reward granted Free tier-two skill /Do you want to select a skill now? |Just what in the world is going on here...?!| Zombie could not help but be taken aback but the sheer weirdness of the situation ¨C he was an undead ¨C a monster ¨C monsters do not be yer characters or receive quests! |...! ZOMBIE!| |WHAT?!| Patience suddenly panicked and screamed inside the boy''s head and he screamed back instantly. |THE SEAL OF THE ETERNAL!| The sealed overseer cried out in panic. |N-no! No way! Don''t tell me it''s breaking?! Is it because of me?! But the system has made me yer character all on its own!| Zombie roared back. |N-no... It did not break ¨C but it suddenly dropped from 98% all the way to 85%!| Patience sounded as if she shook her head from left to right rapidly and dered in a very worried voice. |Wha...?! That''s it?! It''s nothing! I almost had a heart attack, you know?!| Even though the sealed overseer sounded just as worried as before, Zombie breathed out in relief andined as the children began to walking back inside, to allow the organizers to disassemble the little area so that all the fighting couldmence on the big arena. "Zombie,e on, let''s go back." Cranberry tugged on Zombie''s sleeve, making him furrow his brows ¨C it looked like she did not receive any sort of a message informing her about the abnormality in the system that somehow turned her familiar into a yer character just as herself. |Zombie! Don''t be an idiot! A monster as strong as bicorn appeared when the seal was only at 98%! Imagine what monstrosity would show up now!| |...!| Zombie flinched hearing the bad news that Patience had for him. Still... |The seal isn''t broken yet so we''re fine ¨C and as for whatever sigil monster will appear ¨C we are not obliged to fight it ¨C there are plenty of strong yer characters in this world, let''s give them a chance for the ridiculous amount of experience that those freakish beast give.| Zombie scoffed in a tired voice. "Zombie...? Don''t tell me that you are mad at me...?! I forbid you from doing that!" Cranberry became worried with theck of reaction she got from her undead familiar andined, tugging at his hand while fidgetting anxiously. "Ah, sorry for that ¨C I got lost in thoughts, undead stuff, I didn''t mean to make you worry." Zombie shook his head and dered with a smile, pushing the possible danger of the next sigil monster to the corner of his mind as something to worry aboutter, and smiled apologetically to the red-haired girl. With that, the two of them followed the other kids and get back into the waiting room for a little while. Chapter 389: Awaiting their turn (1)

Chapter 389: Awaiting their turn (1)

|What do you think happened ¨C how in the world could the system ever make the mistake of making an undead monster a yer character?| Zombie tapped his fingers against his forearm as he was standing behind Cranberry talking with the three essential characters who returned to her side the moment she walked back into the waiting room. As it turned out, Mary received the tamer ss once again, but this time she did not blow apart the scepter since after what Zombie told her, she did not hold on to it for her dear life. "Miss Pride ¨C you said before that you awakened to Dark Arts magic ¨C here, I hope you could use it." The future heroine went ahead and offered it to Cranberry instead! "Ha? Oh, thank you, but don''t mind me ¨C this is all I need." The red-haired girl furrowed her brows looking at the scepter with a red magic stone on top of it and shook her head in refusal before pointing at the baseball bat hanging across her back in a neat package. "Eh...? But isn''t that just some blunt weapon? Scepters improve the magician''s power by leaps and bounds!" Mary tilted her head,st at Cranberry''s reasoning, and did not take the weapon back. "No, really, I''m fine ¨C but maybe ymore would like it?" Seeing her refusal being shrugged off, the red-haired girl skillfully deflected the matter towards another magic user in their little group. "Eh...? Ah...! Well... It''s not like I''m not allowed to use scepters..." The androgynous child fidgetted nervously and looked back at the future heroine to see whether or not they can take it. "Ah! Of course! Here!" Mary''s face brightened and she passed the scepter on to the avatar of lust. "But then what about you? You ended up empty-handed that way." Roan pointed out. "Oh... you know... I think that I will be fine, actually ¨C since I got the ss and all, I receive a tamer''s skill! I will try to tame the monster I will be fighting with!" She dered proudly. "What if it will attack you first?" Cranberry pointed out, furrowing her brows. "For that, I have a mend skill at the ready! Besides, all the monsters are supposed to be weakened, it will be alright! I think..." Mary tried to calm her down but ended up her sentence sounding as if she herself was unsure about the oue. |I''m quite sure that Caramel showed her the part at which she tames Arion using the dream giver ¨C but after what you told her, she began doubting it.| Patience pointed out with a scoff, kind of ignoring his initial question. |Good. Whatever messes with her ns is good ¨C after all we are aiming for different endings in the first ce.| Zombie shrugged back, more interested in the list of the tier-two skills that showed up in front of his eyes than what anyone other than Cranberry was talking about. |They all look good, but it just has to be Holy magic immunity, right?| He asked deep in thoughts. |Of course! As you are now, you will evaporate instantly if anything stronger than heal will even brush against you ¨C and even heal will cause a great deal of damage.| Patience instantly agreed, sounding as if she was nodding vigorously. "...system, I choose holy damage immunity..." The blue boy muttered under his breath so that no one else would notice. /Skill selected /You receives a skill Holy damage immunity (level 1) /You receives a quest (level 1) Defeat your first monster Reward: +5 HP /Reward granted /System detected at least one bane of type title Special reward granted Reward: +1000 HP |Holy shit...!| Zombie gasped internally staring wide-eyed at the message. |This really is insane... Though, maybe we should have expected something like that since you started the new ythrough on the corrupted file and all...| Patience sighed sounding both confused and worried. |Don''t even joke around like that... what about the seal...?| |Stable 85% non of the quests actually messed with it ¨C it looked like the sole fact that you have be a yer character shook the system, but that''s it...| The blue boy asked and the sealed overseer calmed him down with somehow positive news. |Silver lining I guess...| He sighed internally before looking back up at the kids discussing their strategy or rather boasting about what each of their ns to do. Seeing Cranberry in the middle of all that and actually being the center of the attention and happy about it was a very weed and also very calming sight. |That said, it''s kind of annoying that neither the bond nor attraction meters were unlocked.| Zombie added looking back at his unchanged small body. |Nah, no way ¨C that is reserved only for when the global event starts, it showed up in the previous ythrough so early only because you already had the endgame ss of the eternal servant. Besides, you will rank up, that will change your appearance plenty!| |Hopefully.| Patience was keeping a positive mood but Zombie only smirked and shrugged his shoulders ¨C he looked around trying to check up where''s Fig, but he could not spot her anywhere near. A couple of minutes passed until the big door opened again and the children went out the second time. The young participants all exited the room and sat down at specially prepared seats, the fights would be one on one, but the families would be watching them from their seats and other children would watch from theirs ¨C that much did not change since it had no reason to. After all, what would be the point of showing off if no one could see it? "Young lord Melon Bread!" The high priest, who was also the master of the ceremony for the fights, called out the child from the family of the lowest standing amongst the participants and a short chubby boy stood up and walked to the center of the area holding a spear. He then faced against a small shaking green dog with broken legs, killing it without even needing a skill ¨C not because he was that good, but simply because his opponent was that weak. Much less than a fight, it was simply a mercy kill. "Lesser frenzied dog... Breads'' really didn''t care this year." Roan furrowed his brows and leaned towards the other three, whispering conspicuously. "Don''t be that fast to judge, weakling prince, apparently they''ve spent a lot of money to hire a high-level adventurer to catch something good for them, but he never returned from the forest." Zombie couldn''t help himself and leaned in too ¨C making the prince flinch and hurriedly get back on his seat. "Oh... Sucks for them, I guess. That''s why my mother always says to never pay for anything in advance!" The boy shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. "You really keep on talking about your mother, huh... do you n to ever get out of her shadow or will you try to marry her?" Even though he pulled back, he certainly wasn''t safe from Zombie''s teasing, as the blue boy moved behind him and put his hands on his shoulders. "G-get away from me...!" "No." Roan groaned and tried to shook him off but his attempts were as fruitless as they were funny for the blue undead. "Zombie..." "...?" But then he felt someone pulling on his clothes from the back, and when he turned around he met with a pouting face of the red-haired Cranberry. "Fine, fine. I''ll leave him for now." The blue undead rolled his eyes and got back to the girl''s side since he had no seat on his own. Chapter 390: Awaiting their turn (2)

Chapter 390: Awaiting their turn (2)

|Ah... if not for the fact that poor cute monsters are getting killed right in front of me, it honestly would be rxing to watch this whole thing since this time there were no emergency quests popping up.| Zombie leaned against ymore''s chair and used their head as an elbow rest, and the poor young avatar of lust was too afraid to tell him off or ask for help. |If you say so... You seem quite easy to please today... By the way, aren''t you worried that you will flip their switch?| Patience asked curiously, but since that, there was no trace of worry in her voice it was rather obvious that she knew such an oue would not happen ¨C and Zombie read it exactly like that too. |You say so, but in actuality, don''t you also think that it be fun to watch the chaos unfold...? Cranberry and I have the rings that protect from control and charms and since the control of the avatar of pride did not broke through it, I doubt that young ymore would pull it off just yet without openly using bindings of lust against us -and for we both know that his family members would step in to stop that immediately before it could develop into a political crisis.| The blue undead scoffed, ncing towards the audience, where a few life essences in particr were getting agitated seeing him mess around with the young Lust, and just to mess with them even more, he started gently poking ymore''s face. "Nnnnghghghg...!" The androgynous child flinched and fidgetted, letting out both funny and adorable voice, but did not say anything besides that to stop the blue undead. "Zombie! Stop bullying them already!" Cranberry grabbed onto his clothes and tugged on them with a frown, trying to sound strict, but ended uping off as needy. "That''s not bullying if I like them though. It''s called teasing. Don''t you worry, I''ll bother you plentyter." Zombie scoffed and shrugged his shoulders, winking to the red-haired girl who instantly turned bright red and looked down in embarrassment. /Proficiency level reached You receive a skill Heartthrob (level 1) |Excuse me...?| Zombie furrowed his brows looking at the surprising system message. |EXCUSE YOU?! EXCUSE ME! WHY DID YOU JUST GET TIER 1 SKILL NECESSARY FOR RECEIVING LUXURIA, YOU ROTTEN-HEARTED PLAYBOY?! THAT''S SKILL SHOULD BE EXCLUSIVE FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE LUST FAMILY, NO TO MENTION THAT YOU ARE AN UNDEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!| Patience seemed to heave lost her head for a moment there, but that made Zombie roll his eyes and look down on the avatar of lust that he was ying around... |Ah, that''s your reason, probably.| The blue undead realized once he looked into the big eyes of the androgynous child staring at him in disbelief while a slight blush was dying their face more and more pink. |...what are you doing seducing another capture target?! Love-blessed disruptor is their role!| The sealed overseer scoffed weakly, soundingpletely done, but that did not really bother Zombie in the slightest. Instead, the blue undead smirked at the brown-haired child and squished their cheeks together from both sides making them do a duck face. "That''s right, I like you even while your love-blessed body doesn''t work on me. Keep that in mindter on." He grinned at them and winked before letting him go and returning to Cranberry''s side, leaving the young avatar very confused and very, very red. |You are terrifying sometimes...| patience sounded as if she was shaking her head at him. |Huh?! Only sometimes?! And why do you sound like that? I thought that that''s why you love me so much?!| ...at which the blue undead responded with the overly dramatic and obviously fake exasperation. |...I begin to regret making a deal with you...| |Don''t worry, I will always love you ¨C te-he~!| |SH-SHUT UP ALREADY, ALRIGHT?!| No one was safe from Zombie''s teasing. No one ¨C especially not the sealed overseer. "Young lord Orange Tart." The high priest who had no idea what was going on amongst the small group of the most important kids called out and a tall, thin boy with a spiked mace, who up until a moment ago was carefully observing the scene between Zombie and ymore, stood up and passed the returning Bread''s boy on his way. He faced a striped ck and brown m the size of a big treasure chest. "Ooh!" Almost everyone present let out a shocked gasp. "That''s! That''s...!" Roan gasped in excitement. "Ah! I know what that is! - I forgot the name, but it''s a sea monster that sometimes can have a pearl that raises the status point inside its shell! Cranberry gasped and looked between the Roan, ymore, and Mary. "Whoa...! That sounds too good! I wonder if there will be one!" Mary jumped up in the excitement and turned back to the m with sparkling eyes. "..." Zombie watched as Fig, disguised as Orange Tart, raises her mace and awkwardly hits the monster again and again until the hard shell got shattered. |I wonder if she got a skill from doing that.| |Doubtful, she was way too awkward ¨C you need a certain level of technique to actually fill up the necessary proficiency meter to gain a skill, you know?| The blue undead thought curiously and received an instant reply. |Ah, I see, so that means that the real culprit behind my heartthrob skill is you, crushing on me since day one of the second ythrough?| He giggled internally. |...I will make use of my right to remain silent....| Patience murmured under her breath, sounding as if she was looking away in embarrassment. |...You, are not under arrest though....| Zombie tilted his head, shocked by the effectiveness of his attack. *crack* "Ah! It''s there!" Once the m''s shell brokepletely, someone couldn''t keep their voice down and shouted. Just as during the first ythrough, there was a pearl, big as an adult''s fist, between the pieces of the striped shell. The member of the Envy family disguised as the Orange Tart who just defeated the m imed her reward and turned around, facing the seats as if she considered something. |Hey, how big is the reach of a level 1 heartthrob skill?| |Why are you even asking me tha...?| Zombie asked, but before Patience had any real-time to respond to that, the blue undead went ahead and winked right at Fig as his eye shone with the pale-blue light of the lust-based skill. Chapter 391: Awaiting their turn (3)

Chapter 391: Awaiting their turn (3)

|WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!| "!!!!!" Patience cried out in disbelief when the woman disguised as the young boy, struck by the skill suddenly trembled and began clenching the status-points-increasing pearl close to her chest. |Testing my new skill. Isn''t that obvious?| |On our ally?! You are a rotten-hearted yboy and an idiot!| Zombie shrugged his shoulder and confessed and got scolded mercilessly. Everyone was observing Orange, or rather Fig, wondering whether will she use the pearl for herself or does something else with it ¨C many of the nobles in the audience were already pulling out money reading themselves to buy off the precious object as soon as it will be possible to casually approach the child- but the thing was - the fake boy didn''t return to her own seat, instead, Fig beelined it right towards the seats in the back where ymore, Mary, Roan, and Cranberry were sitting. "Ah! Could it be...?! I''ve heard before that the Tart family wanted to butter up to my mother for quite some time already...!" Roan gasped excitedly and straightened his back, fully expecting that he will receive the pearl since he was sitting right in the way that Fig had taken. "Pffft...! Typical Greed, wants something for free just because of their name. Unfortunately for you, weakling prince, the oue you are foreseeing is at most doubtful." Zombie smirked and scoffed at the excited blond prince way before the disguised Envy passed him and stopped before the confused red-haired girl instead. Fig, donning the face of the currently ill Orange Tart, blushed and extended both her hands, offering the pearl right to Cranberry. The red-haired girl looked at the pearl and then at the bowing boy as if she could not process what was happening and why. "Wait...? Rally, for me...?" She asked in shock, ncing at the Roan, crossing his arms, and muttering something under his breath - probably nothing pleasant. "Yes, that''s right." Fig confirmed, bowing her head. "It''s a present celebrating your improvement, young miss... Ah...!" She smiled brightly using the stolen face of Orange and pushed the pearl in the red-haired girl''s hands before she nced at Zombie - which caused her to got so red that it looked like her face had been on fire - which most likely was the result of the heartthrob skill he had tested on her before, and only then did she finally returned to her seat. "Improvement...? ...young miss...?" Cranberry repeated, furrowing her brows before she turned to her blue familiar as if she expected him to have the answer, or at least tell her whether she could really ept such a gift from a random boy. ...quite funny, since Zombie did in fact had the answer or at least the suspicion about it... But that did not mean that he reveal it to her in their current circumstances ¨C after all, Zombie had both the liar title and the acting skills while the Cranberry of the current ythrough could barely hide her emotions properly not even mentioning her acting skills ¨C exining things to her with so many eyes focused on them was out of the question. "Good for you! Do you want to use it right away or save it forter?" Zombie asked trying to take Cranberry''s mind away from Orange/Fig before the girl could figure the secret out on her own - after all, Fig left her with big clues about her identity right there in in sight. "...ha...? Ah! Using it of course! I need to catch up to you somehow, despite your unfair advantage of not having to sleep and using all that saved time on training!" *crush* The red-haired girl quickly shook off the confusion and crushed the pearl in her hands without a second thought. The pearl shattered and turned into a white light that seeped into the girl''s body. "Ah! It gave me a +5 five to every stat!" "+5 to every single stat?!" She eximed loudly ¨C causing a lot of people to let out anguished growls - +5 to every stat was basically two free levels worth of stats without actually leveling up! It was actually amazing. ...so amazing in fact that Zombie felt a bit dispirited that Cranberry had spoken about the benefits it granted her like that. "Ha ha!" But getting worried over the jealous eyes looking her way, sheughed triumphantly and tugged on Zombie''s clothes, making him lower his head and lean his ear towards her. "I actually got +20 to mana, + 15 to MAT, and +10 to every other stat, but I said the lower value out loud to cover it up." She confessed triumphantly ¨C which was honestly so adorable that her blue familiar didn''t have the heart to tell her that she did not have to say anything at all since only she was the one who saw the system message informing her about the improvement, and only someone rude would actually dare to ask her about the details. "That''s amazing! You got so much stronger! Congrattions!" Zombie''s face lighted up with a proud smile and he patted the girl''s head affectionately. "Ha ha..." Which in turn made her lower her head to hide a blush and fidget happily on her seat. |Zombie, I don''t want to bring down the mood, but you better be careful ¨C the seal of the eternal is at 85% which means a really strong sigil monster can appear at basically any moment ¨C and we are literally in an arena with tens of readily avable monsters chained up in the pens below it, each of what would most likely give themselves to the Eternal''s power to get back at the humans who beat them up and imprisoned them with intention of killingter on.| Patience pointed out, bringing down the mood despite her own words. ...at least Zombie''s mood. |I know, Pati, I know. But why would I be worried? There is no emergency quest appearing as it did in the first ythrough, and now that I am a yer character too, it would have definitely shown up by now if it was going to in the first ce.| The blue undead breathed out and exined, rather calmly. |Zombie... If that''s the reason for you being soid-back, then I have bad news for you. Most of the emergency quests that the humans received during the previous ythrough were created by me messing with the system to force people to follow the story I wanted them to ¨C the system itself does not care about what happens and will not send any emergency quests!| Patience sounded as if she shook her head in disbelief and eximed. |Wha... WHAT?! Why didn''t you say that from the beginning?! I was messing around only because I thought we were safe!| Zombie scoffed and in a fraction of a second, his aura changed from that of aidback yboy loafing around in a bar into one of the most cautious adventurers on a high-stakes mission. Chapter 392: Awaiting their turn (4 - the unexpected problem)

Chapter 392: Awaiting their turn (4 - the unexpected problem)

The next couple of fights went on smoothly, all the monsters were properly weakened so even the more feeble and unskilled kids could manage to finish them off without any trouble, but that did not make Zombie drop his guard. There was no trace of hisid-back act as he stood right behind Cranberry, with his life signature detection skill active, cautiously looking for even a trace of change in the signature of any monster awaiting their turn to be ughtered. The blue boy could not help but grow more and more restless, with the new knowledge bestowed to him by the overseer sealed inside of him, he literally expected something horrible to pop up literally at any given moment ¨C especially with how many gs did he set up himself with his reckless words. "Youngdy Mary Hope!" The high-priest called out and the brown-haired girl sitting beside Cranberry flinched and gulped down her saliva clenching her fists with anxiety. "Remember to not make too many sudden moves ¨C he will be hurt and confused, don''t add to it, and you will be fine." "!!!!!" The blue undead nced at her and spoke loud enough for the girl to hear him and jump in shock. "Don''t worry, I''m sure you will tame your monster without any trouble, I believe in you!" Then, to Zombie''s great surprise, Cranberry went ahead and cheered on the future heroine patting her shoulder reassuringly, as if trying to ease the harsh tone that Zombie used. "I-I will do my best!" In response to her, Mary nodded her head, and then, as if Cranberry''s words gave her the necessary determination, she stood up and trotted towards the middle of the arena. |Little future viiness learned to encourage others, huh... Good progress, things seem to be going along just fine.| Patience sounded as if she nodded with satisfaction in Zombie''s mind, but the whole thing did not look just as good for him as it did for her. |Why does it sound like you are just saying that to make calm me down even a little? Your voice is full with this overly exaggerated conviction, that''s not how you sound normally.| Zombie sighed internally, making a bitter face. |You need to be cautious, but it is unnecessary for you to get so tense and grumpy, you know? |It is toote for that. Let''s just watch and hope for the best.| Patience sounded as if she was fidgeting, but Zombie shrugged her off, literally shrugging his shoulders, watching as four people brings the wounded wolf in front of the visibly worried girl. Although the monster was ratherrge, for anyone with any knowledge about canine-type beasts it was more than obvious that it was just a pup. "..." Zombie knew that Arion was in fact a capture target ¨C a member of the Gluttony family who got affected by the curse of starvation way, way more than any other member of his family. And although Zombie, as an undead and himself in general, greatly disliked humans, seeing Arion in such pitiful state, with his tail tucked behind his hind legs, and fearful eyes, looking around desperately searching for someone, anyone from his family who would magically show up and save him. Once his shackles were taken off, he did not try to run away or attack the worried Mary. "...nnnnn.... (...mom...? ...dad...? where is everyone...?) ...nnnnnn... (...what is this ce...)" Zombie should not be able to hear his scared, he most certainly did, and thanks to the beast master affinity, he understood it all too. |...Pati... Could it be that Arion barely regained his mind only a few minutes ago? Locked up in the fucking monster pen?!| Zombie tensed up, gritting his teeth so hard that they started creaking dangerously. |Calm down! Yes, it certainly looks that way ¨C but remember ¨C everything will be alright from now on Mary will take care of him.... hopefully, at least...| Patience spoke hastily, clearly to stop the blue undead from doing something reckless and stupid in the long term considering the knowledge they both had. "Fine." Zombie scoffed and shook his head. "Is something wrong...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and asked, looking up at her familiar with concern. "Nah, it''s nothing." The blue undead only shook his head and showed her a forced smirk, waving his hand dismissively to put her at ease. "...nnnn... (...who are you...?) ¡­.nnnnnn... (...go away...)" "..." But as in the middle of the arena, Mery tried to approach the wolf, raising her hand showing that she had no bad intentions, it only made him back off even more scared. |This doesn''t look like it did during the first ythrough...| Zombie pointed out to the sealed overseer. |This... might be because of you kidnapping Cranberry ¨C Mary should have the whip and as she used it she should have made Aron agitated ¨C but as she would only defend herself and kept him at bay, he would realize that she isn''t trying to harm him. But...| |...Cranberry should have been the person who gave Mary the whip...| Patience exined her suspicion and Zombie finished her sentence for her, with a sigh. "It''s okay, mister wolf ¨C I want to tame you, nothing bad will happen..." Mary tried to kept her voice low and calm as her eyes began glowing with white light... "...grrrrrrr....?! (...tame me... ME...?! TAME....?!) GRRRR! (I''M A HUMAN, NOT A MONSTER THAT YOU CAN TAME!)| Despite Mary''s best intentions ¨C instead of making Arion rx, she made him furious. Very furious. |Zombie! I can feel the seal of Eternal getting agitated...!| Patience gasped. |WHAT?! How low did it drop because of this?!| Zombie clenched his hands on the backrest of Cranberry''s chair, feeling his insides getting filled with ice. |No, it didn''t weaken, but it is acting up ¨C Zombie, Mary might be ready to get attacked by Arion, but Arion did not attack Mary in the game! At least not that early on... We need to do something! You have the Beast Master affinity ¨C go and shout at the mutt or something!| The sealed overseer sounded as if she shook her head and began giving the instructions to her host. Chapter 393: Awaiting their turn (5)

Chapter 393: Awaiting their turn (5)

"..." The blue undead frowned, looking around the arena. |Zombie...? Arion is going to jump at Mary any moment ¨C order him to not do that!| Patience let out an exasperated gasp, sounding as if she was looing between her host and the middle of the arena where the brown-haired future heroine was approaching the growling future capture target turned into a monster wolf. |...I... might have a better solution...| Zombie''s eye''s widened when heid them on something that gave him another idea, and he shook his head at the sealed overseer''s words. |A better solution...? Like what...? Oooohhhh...! That might work ¨C but you need to be quick about it!| At first, Patience was straight up angry at Zombie for notplying, but then she went ahead and peeked into his mind and change her own mind instead. With a confirmation that his idea actually was better, Zombie grabbed Cranberry''s shoulder and leaned down. "I am going away for a little bit, I''ll be right back, please wait for me and don''t worry." "Ha?! Eh!? Ah! W-wait, where do you have to...?!" He whispered in her ear before hurrying back to the entrance all kids entered the arena though, not looking back even while hearing the confused voice of the red-haired girl. Instead, he sneaked past the big door, walked through the empty waiting room, and went out of it to delve into the corridors leading to the monster pens. |I''m pretty sure that there was a caged passageway that somewhere around...| Zombie thought to himself, walking past the remaining monsters and the empty pens of the ones who were already killed off. "Huh? What the? How did you get out...?!" "...?!" A member of the system faith had suddenly shown up out of nowhere and gasped looking at the little blue undead. "Wait... was there even a small undead like that amongst the most...!" *WHAM* "URGH...!" *thump* Since it looked like the man was about to use a skill on him, Zombie went ahead and used the gale kick to jump up and then delivered a devastating kick on the unexpected guest''s temple, knocking his lights out instantly. |That was stupid. What would you do if he had high DEF, or was a bit faster and used some defense skill?| Patience scoffed at him, sounding as if she was shaking her head. |But he didn''t, now to...| |That''s because you were lucky and... HIDE HIM AT LEAST!| The blue undead was about to continue his journey but got stopped y Patience''s furious, yet justified remark. "..." Since if someone else found an unconscious man in between the area where monsters were kept it really would definitely cause panic and investigation, Zombie sighed and looked around. |This one is empty, right? If we put him there it will look as if he was cking off and hiding to take a nap.| The blue boy motioned at a seemingly empty pen with his chin and without even waiting for Patience to answer, he went ahead and dragged his victim right there, Pushing him through rather generous spaces between the bars of a caged-off area. |Should be good, now hurry! The seal is still acting weird but isn''t weakening, Mary must have not been attacked yet.| The sealed overseer called the blue undead out and urged him to move faster With that, Zombie reached the spot that he had noticed back in the arena ¨C a small entrance blocked off by metal bars, that was conveniently out of sight for most of the audience and lining up with Mary''s back almost perfectly ¨C almost ¨C from where he was standing at the moment, Zombie could still somehow see Arion readying himself for an attack as Mary kept thinking that she it was safe. |Alright, let''s see if this will really work!| Zombie''s face twisted with an anxious smirk and his eyes shone with pale-blue light ¨C he unleashed the heartthrob skill, focusing solely on the wolf monster in front of Mary. "...?!" Arion''s tail ¨C which was the only part of him that Zombie could see in full, shoot up from between his legs and started wagging rapidly ¨C and the shocked reaction of the audience above the ceiling beneath which Zombie was lurking made it clear that they all thought that it was done by the future heroine. "I knew that it would work! Please, mister monster! Be my tamed beast!" Marry was so excited about the sudden change of behavior of the creature that she was facing, that she eximed loud enough for even Zombie to hear ¨C and extended her hand to the slightly confused Arion. |Good thinking. Since he did not see you, the mutt thought that the sudden warm feeling he felt in his wild heart was both caused and aimed at the future heroine! The seal had calmed down too ¨C we''re good!| Patience breathed out with relief as Zombie went straight back the way he came from to rejoin Cranberry. |Shouting at Arion from the kids seats would work but it would pull way too much attention our way, an...| Zombie thought with a smile, but then he suddenly stopped and turned around, staring at the caged pen where he left the unlucky man, he even activated his life signature detection skill too. "...?" He tilted his head in confusion. |Zombie? What is going on?| Patience asked in concern over his odd behavior. |It''s just that... I thought that I sensed something moving in there...| The blue undead furrowed his brows and answered slowly. |But the only life signature there is that system faith guy.| He added squinting his eyes as if he expected to see through some sort of illusion, but in the end, he couldn''t notice anything wrong. |Alight, you now you are back to worrying too much again. Get back to the arena before Cranberry will try to go and look for you.| Patience sounded as if she rolled her eyes and waved her hands at her undead host. |True.| Zombie nodded and rushed through the corridors, getting the full use of the agility that he meticulously trained whenever he had the opportunity... ...that''s why he missed the perfectly camouged marble-like monster slither in closer and closer to the defenseless unconscious man... ¡­ ¡­.. "Where have you been?!" As soon as the blue undead arrived at her side, Cranberry grabbed his arm and pulled him closer as if she was intending to not let him go until he answers her. "Undead business ¨C oh! - Miss Hope really did tame her monster?!" Zombie shrugged dismissively and instantly changed the subject, gasping at the sight of mary standing at the other side of the arena, waiting for Arion to be healed up after it was confirmed that the taming process was a sess. "Yes, she did ¨C all the grown-ups were shocked that she had a ss even though she was only level 1." The red-haired took the bait and started exining the things that her blue undead had missed. "It was really something ¨C it looked like the wolf will attack her, but then it suddenly got all meek and started wagging its tail like a cute puppy! You like monsters, don''t you? If you want, I can ask Mary to let you pet her wolf!" Cranberry said proudly. "I can ask her that myself, though..." Zombie furrowed his brow, confused by her choice of words. "But Mary is scared of you! If I ask her she might be okay with it!" Cranberry responded with unwavering confidence that made Zombie tilt his head and smile at her. "Khahaha! In that''s the case, sure, I''ll owe you one if it works." Chapter 394: Awaiting their turn (6)

Chapter 394: Awaiting their turn (6)

"...nnnnn... (...it was scary...) ...nnnn... (...thest thing that I remember was that something weird was happening with my body, and it really, really hurt...) ...nnnnn.... (...and then I woke up in a cage, in this body, I didn''t know what to do...)" "Now, now... It''s alright, already. You are with Mary and everything will be fine." Arion was sitting in Zombie''sp and had his head nested on the blue boy''s shoulder ¨C in that position he was also yelping pitifully, reporting everything that he could recall while Zombie was patting and caressing the fur on his back and sides to make him feel at ease. "...I still can''t believe that he can understand him better than I do..." Mary made a sour expression, staring bitterly at the undead sitting on the ground between her and Cranberry, and ying with her tamed monster. "I wouldn''t say that it''s that surprising. My Zombie has the Beast Master affinity after all ¨C it''s actually very hard to find anyone who can understand any monster better than he does." The red-haired girl raised her head and exined to the pouting future heroine. "B-beast master ?! But that''s a tier 3 skill?! He has it as an affinity?!" Mary gasped and eximed way too loud for Zombie''s liking. "Do you mind not yelling it out for everyone to hear, miss Hope?" Zombie furrowed his brows and reminded her that he does in fact speak properly and there is no need to treat him as if he wasn''t there to answer the questions about himself. "Wh-what?" Though it looked like the girl really didn''t hear him, too focused on being shocked... "Shut the fuck up already." ...but that really didn''t do anything to ease Zombie''s anxiety about the possible sigil monster appearance, and he repeated himself but more clear this time before continuing tofort the confused wolf-turned future capture target. |I thought that you would be nicer to her, you know?| As Mary flinched and cowered with an upset expression, Patience asked sounding as if she was tilting her head with curiosity. |What gave you that idea...?| Zombie asked her while ncing at the next child that was dealing with their monster without much trouble or surprise like happened with Mary and Arion ¨C after they were done, only three more kids were waiting their turn. ymore Lust. Cranberry Pride. Roan Greed. "The head of the Lust house, lord ymore Lust." "..." The high-priest called out making everyone turn to the androgynous child fidgetting on their chair anxiously. "ymore." "!!!!" Zombie called out to them, and the child flinched and looked back at him, still showing just a little bit of fear towards the undead. "Finish that thing fast, do not dawdle with it too much trying to show off ¨C everyone knows that you''re the avatar of lust and you don''t have anything to prove to idiots. I''m counting on you." Zombie smirked and nodded at him reassuringly. "...okay..." ymore blushed and lowered his head, blushing, before they stood up and walked towards the middle of the arena where all eyes focused solely on them. The monster was brought for them to kill was different than any previous contestants. A giant ck and green scorpion asrge as a whole carriage together with horses pulling it ¨C it was a familiar sight for the blue undead, but everyone else let out a shocked gasp. Not only was the beast very exotic ¨C it clearly was very lively too! Even with magic shackles shining brightly on its many legs, tail, and pincers, it was constantly struggling and cking its mandibles furiously. "CLCLCLCLCLCLCLC?! (PUNY HUMANS!, WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!)" Once again, although Zombie should not be able to hear it, as the cking sound that the scorpion was making wasn''t that loud, to begin with, the meaning of the beast''s words reached the blue undead rather easily. |Is this bad? There''s no sigil but this one sounds very much like a sigil monster.| Zombie ¨C who had used the opportunity to move from the floor to the free seat left by ymore ¨C furrowed his brows and continued patting Arion''s head as the wolf preferred to stay on the ground and only putting his head on the undead''sp. |No, there''s no need to worry about this one. It''s only angry like that because it''s a champion that was on its way to bing a king before people from the Lust family have caught him for ymore.| Patience sounded as if she shook her head and exined reassuringly. "CLCLCLCLCLCL! (YOU DAMN FOOLS THINK THAT A HUMAN SCORPLING CAN STOP ME?! YOU ARE GIVING ME FREE FOOD!)" The monster scorpion cked furiously, looking around, roaring at his captors and all the adults in the audience alike. The next moment the magic shackles faded and the beast was free, it snapped its pincers a few times and stretched its tail and... *BOOOM* Itunched right at ymore, without even a moment of hesitation! "CLCLCLCLCL! (IF YOU HAVE TO BLAME SOMEONE, BLAME YOUR OWN KIND, HUMAN SCORPLING!)" It cked as it was charging, gaining enough speed to raise up clouds of dust as it ran. Seeing that ymore didn''t flinch ¨C with a focused expression they raised their hand and the next seconds, the rays of pale-blue light burst forth forming almost physical strands and flooded the monster''s carapace ¨C getting absorbedpletely. The effect was instantaneous, the monster buried its pincers into the ground stopping itself mere inches before trampling the boy. Instead of attacking, it just waited, staring at the serious ymore with its many eyes. "Clclclcl...? (Human scorpling...?) Clclclclc?! (You were secretly my queen all along?!)" The shocked cking caused Zombie to raise his brow. |So the bindings of lust doesn''t just stir up the target to fall for the target, it actually shows the target the most attractive creature they desire, huh...| The blue undead nodded curiously. |That''s because it is paired up with ymore''s Love-blessed body, they really are the perfect avatar of lust, no contest.| Patience admitted easily, as the androgynous child breath out in relief and straightened their back. "Die." Instead of a lengthy seductive y that ymore did during the first ythrough, their new way of ordering the monster was short, sweet, and to the point. "CLCLCLCL! (AS YOU WISH, MY QUEEN!" The scorpion monster cked excitedly and its sharp as a rapier stinger broke through its carapace all the way through, going as far as digging into the ground below it. "Clclclcl... clcl...? (D-did I do a good job... my queen...?)" The scorpion cked for thest time before keeling over and dying, bing ymore''s experience points. "..." The androgynous child looked at it for a second, before turning right back around and going back to their seat ¨C taken by Zombie. "Good job over there." Zombie smirked and winked at them ¨C which caused ymore to stop abruptly and look away blushing. "I saw how you looked at Arion and me as I was ying with him ¨C you would get the same kind of reward if we had more time." "!!!!!!!!" Zombieughed, standing up freeing the seat and walking up to the blushing ymore, and raising his hand to pat them affectionately, which caused the androgynous child to blush even more. "Unfortunately..." "Youngdy Cranberry Pride!" Zombie sighed just as the high-priest called out the next child. "It''s our turn finally." The blue undead grinned and looked back at the pouting red-haired girl, and extended his hand towards her. "Let''s go." Chapter 395: Their first monster! (1)

Chapter 395: Their first monster! (1)

"Ah! The Pride''s girl?! She will attend after all?!" "I''ve heard that she suffered from the same sickness that befell her mother but it must have been a lie..." The people in the audience were whispering to each other, sharing the bits and pieces of knowledge they each had on the girl that no one has seen nor hear about since three years prior. "Big shoes to fill ¨C are you worried?" Zombie smirked and asked ncing back at the red-haired girls standing right by him in the middle of the arena. "Ha...? Worried about what? The honor of the Prides? Pffft...!" Cranberry furrowed her brows, shook her head, and snorted, all in response to her familiar''s words. "I only wish that mom and that could have been here to watch me ¨C but that''s not going to hold me back." She frowned, making a bitter face as she took off the package from her back revealing a jet-ck baseball bat with the pretty blue ribbon wrapped tightly around one end as if to show where the weapon should be grabbed, and swinging it once for practice before resting it on one arm, and smirking back at the blue undead. "Good, that''s what I want to hear. Let''s not make too much of a show ¨C something short and sweet just like little ymore would be preferable." Zombie nodded, satisfied with that response, and unsheathed Kopia ¨C who shed with white light and turned from a shortsword right into a dragon-wing-shaped scimitar. |Sorry for ignoring you until now, but, you''ve heard me ¨C we''re going shy and fast, let''s not give our beast the opportunity to change into a sigil monster.| "..." The blue undead thought, looking at his sentient weapon and he felt Kopia vibrating reassuringly in his hand without actually making a sound just in case someone in the audience has been using any sort of detection or hearing enhancing skill. Funnily enough, both of them were prepared before their monster was even brought out. "What is going on...?" "Could it be that they don''t have anything prepared...?" "Are Prides trying to prove something with only sending their child and her undead? Necromancy is indeed great magic to have, but the first kill party is about killing their first mon..." *THUMP* Although there were more than just a few voices trying to guess why nothing was happening, they all went quiet once the loud vibration shook the whole arena. *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* Then another one, and another ¨C each one louder than the previous one. *THUMP* "GRUOOOOOOOUWAAAAAAAGH! (GIVE ME THE BASTARDS WHO DARED TO AMBUSH ME WHEN I WAS SLEEPING!) Finally, the source of the vibration showed up ¨C it was a ten feet tall grayish-skinned humanoid monster with dark green hair, massive arms that looked like they could tear a human in half, and two tusks growing out of its strong lower jaw ¨C escorted by six members of the system faith of which every single one looked ready to piss themselves. "A TROLL?! AND A CHAMPION TROLL AT THAT?! WHO IN THE RIGHT MIND WOULD MAKE CHILDREN FACE IT! THAT THING CAN REGENERATE FASTER THAN A FULL PARTY OF MID-LEVEL ADVENTURERS CAN DAMAGE IT!" One elderly gentleman watching from the audience rose up and shouted with a terrified expression. "FORGET ABOUT WEAKENING IT FOR A CHILD TO TAKE CARE OF ¨C THAT THING IS ALREADY BACK AT FULL HEALTH!" The old man''spanions tried to calm him down, but the gentleman did not let himself be silenced and continued shouting ¨C funnily enough, Zombie recognized his voice... |That''s the guy who called out to my Cranberry to marry his grandson during the first kill party of the first ythrough.| The little undead frowned bitterly ¨C that old man was actually on his list of people to deal with, but with how much he was hyping up the fight, even Zombie had to reconsider his decision and take his name off the said list. |He''s quite a nice hype-man.| Patience agreed with a triumphant voice. |See? It was worth taking that detour and grabbing the moss troll ¨C they look just like champion mountain trolls but are the weakest of all troll subspecies!| She added with a mischievousugh. |Sure, if you say so... as long as it will be easier to take care of than that one I killed while still alive, we should be fine ¨C if not, I''ll have to call Baron, and that would be another mess to take care ofter....| Zombie scoffed and shrugged it off with a tired sigh. "...ummm..." The people escorting the swamp troll looked rather worried and didn''t seem too keen on releasing the beast from the magic shackles that contained it. |Don''t evenpare this guy to the rock troll you killed before ¨C if we''reparing strengths, this one is just an oversized orc with slightly better healing ability! Perfect for showing off, not so much for the experience points though.| Patience sounded as if she was waving her hand dismissively as she exined the situation. "Hey! How long will you be standing there?! Release that guy, or do you want us to kill it while still shackled up?!" |Oh-ho!| Cranberry stomped her foot and shouted at the hesitant people, pointing her baseball bat at therge moss troll, making even Patience let out a happy gasp. "Grouwaagh... (Kid... I will eat you whole, just like in the stories that you parents used to scare you into obedience...)" The moss troll still in the shackles, straightened its back and grunted looking down on the red-haired girl and her familiar. "Haa...! Seriously! We want to be done with it! Go away and let us fight!" Since there was no reaction initially, Cranberry shook her head and shouted angrily as her baseball bat lighted up with white light. "..." Yet still, none of the people escorting the monster dared to listen to her and have the blood of the Pride family member on their hands. "Listen to her. Let''s see what the Pride family has to offer." "!!!!" Another voice joined in, supporting the red-haired girl with a condescending might. "..." Zombie frowned and stiffened ¨C he didn''t have to look towards the audience to know who said that. "Your highness, you can''t just...!" "That''s my final word on the matter." The old gentleman tried to argue the decision but was shot down instantly. "A-as you wish, your highness!" The six people all bowed to the Roan''s mother, the queen of the Fruit Sd, and all moved back deactivating their magic shackles. "Grouwaagh! (You clearly do not value your lives!) Grouwaagh! (Weapon summon!)" The moss troll let out a burst of uglyughter and put forth his arm ¨C that shone with a murky brown light before a whole tree trunk appeared in front of him. "Grouwaagh. (I''ll turn you into a paste with this.)" Moss troll grabbed the tree trunk like a mace and swung it once before taking a threatening stance, showing o- *SHIING* *thump* Tired of its grunts, Zombie flicked his wrist making Kopia disappear from his grip, and in the next moment, the troll''s whole arm got cut off and fell to the ground together with its weapon. "GRO-GROOOUUUWAAAAAAAAGH! (UU-UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!)" "!!!!!" The beast roared in pain holding on to the clean-cut wound from which fresh brownish blood was gushing out like a fountain and it stumbled back struck by a sudden fear as the audience let out simultaneous gaps of utter shock and disbelief. "Do you have any idea who you are grunting at, you bastard?" Zombie, with Kopia back in his hand, shook off the brownish blood from her de and tilted his head ring at the moss troll with disgust. Chapter 396: Their first monster (2)

Chapter 396: Their first monster (2)

|Khahaha! You were right ¨C cleaving him feels like cutting through warm butter ¨C no resistance at all.| Zombieughed internally watching the moss troll writhe in pain. |Shoud have cut off his head and be done with it.| Patience sighed, sounding as if she was shaking her head at him. |That is not my task for today.| Zombie shrugged his shoulders, just as the troll was reaching out to his hand cut-off arm, undoubtedly to try to reattach it since its natural healing ability would actually allow that, "Did I allowed you to touch that?" The little blue undead rolled his eyes and took a step forward before winding up for a sh. *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING**SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* As both Kopia and his own body unleashed white light, the moss troll''s arms got shredded into mincemeat because of the ranked-up de storm skill ¨C level 1 de tornado, despite the distance between the two monsters. "!!!!" Forget about the shocked gasps ¨C there were people in the audience either standing up or falling down from their chairs seeing the one-sided confrontation. "GROUWAAAGH! (AAAAUUUUUURGH!) GROUUWAAAGH?! (YOU, UNDEAD, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO ANGER YOU?!)" The armless troll be much less obnoxiously overconfident and cried out once it realized that his arms are not regenerating from the mushy pulp that Zombie had them turn into, It almost sounded as the moss troll was about to try pleading for his life. "Hmmm? What have you done? Nothing at al. But, you are humanoid enough to make me angry just by existing." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head, smiling mockingly before throwing Kopia with just enough strength for everyone to be able to notice that this kind of attack was what he was doing the whole time the sword was disappearing from his hand. Of course, the people that were around mid to high levels saw it from the start, but not every member of the audience present spend their days killing monsters. And as for the attack... *SHING* "GROUWAAGH...! (Y-YOU BASTARD..!) Kopia''s shining de dug deep into the moss troll''s knee, making it kneel down and growl in pain, barely able to keep its bnce and notnd t on its face. "Even on his knees, he''s still pretty big." Zombie pointed out looking back at Cranberry, who seemed almost just as surprised as anyone in the audience, at least for the first few seconds. "If he''s toorge, then all that needs to be done is crushing until there''s nothing left!" Fortunately, the red-haired girl managed to shake off the shock and responded to her undead familiar while tightly gripping her baseball bat. Then, with her body glowing white, she charged at the moss troll, jumping upright in front of it to make up for the height difference, and unleashed a devastating strike for someone that was level 1 right on the monster''s head. *SPLASH* "...ha...?!" As the monster''s head burst like a water balloon after meeting the ck baseball bat, Cranberry let out a shocked gasp, unable to believe that it was that easy, but... /Moss troll defeated You receive EXP /Level 1 ?? Level 4 Skills level up Base status points increased /You receive 17 new skills (For quest details use the show questsmand) /9 questspleted Rewards granted |Whoa, you really weren''t kidding when you said that it wasn''t good for experience points ¨C the dragonewt from the first ythrough gave us so much more experience... Tsk... I thought that I will be able to rank up...| The messages that popped up for the disappointed Zombie were the best proof that the moss troll was actually dead. "..." Cranberry must have received simr messages, plus maybe the one informing her that she received the troll yer title. Since she closed her eyes and her eyes were moving as if she was reading something that only she could see. |Well, it''s not like the lizardfolk''s and dragonewts are that much better for farming experience points, but, more importantly, leveling up really is much harder for you now than it was in the previous ythrough, you know? I wasn''t kidding about that part.| Patience spoke up, arriving with a timely reminder. |True, you did.| Zombie smirked and sighed ¨C Kopia shone white, just as his own body, and the next moment the de tornado unleashed from behind the red-haired girl turned the body of the monster into an unrecognizable mass that should not have any value ¨C letting either the system faith people or the Greed family profit off of selling the monster parts gathered after the fight was finished wasn''t even on Zombie''s agenda, hence he made sure that it would be impossible with the trolls remnants. "Good job out there, that was a really good bash." The blue undead nodded at the red-haired girl and even praised her before turning around and returning back towards the seats without waiting for her reaction. |Good. Looks like we are safe for now ¨C or at least Cranberry is.| Zombie breathed out and thought to himself, knowing full well that his mind was being read by two others. |Thak you, Kopia, you were briliant.| The blue undead praised the sentient sword already sheathed back into her expensive scabbard, patting her crossguard, and felt that she vibrates happily without making a sound ¨C because if anyone noticed her talking, that would have caused an even greater uproar that Cranberry and him killing off something that looked like a champion mountain troll. |And thank you too, Pati ¨C yo really outdone yourself with suggesting such a monster, the reaction of the audience was perfect ¨C and even once they realize that they were tricked thinking that our moss troll was something better, they should not pursue the matter since it was a rather spectacr manner." Of course, the blue undead could not forger about thanking the overseer sealed inside of him either. |Alright, fine. Give it a rest, I know that I am great. Don''t let your guard down, we are not in the clear yet ¨C do not forget that we didn''t even see what kind of monster was prepared for Roan.| But despite Zombie being in a good mood, Patience did not share his optimism and grumbled. "..." And she was right, making Zombie anxiously wait for Cranberry to catch up to him and spent the rest of the way back with her clenching his arm as if she expected him to suddenlyunch off to somewhere. Then... What was left of the monster corpse was removed and the area was cleared. The high priest cleared his throat and called out the final participant. "The first prince of our beloved kingdom, young lord Roan Greed." The blond prince with a greatsword stood up and rushed towards the center of the arena, with a ratherplicated expression ¨C it seemed like the one-sided fight with a great monster really stirred up hispetitive spirit, but at the same time it was so overwhelming, that the boy wasn''t sure whether he can really do that. Zombie, already leaning on the backrest of the chair that Cranberry had taken furrowed his brows as that happened. |Something''s wrong...| He thought anxiously. |Oh? What do you mean exactly? Everything is going on fine.| Patience sounded as if she was frowning and asked. |I do not see any monster''s life signature, but I sure see that the life essence of the guy we left back in one of the pensing this way. But he is walking in a rather odd manner...| Zombie thought pointing out at the passage on the other side o the arena from where Roan''s opponent would emerge... And it did... |What the actual fu....?!| Even Patience couldn''t hold back a shocked gasp once she found out came out... Chapter 397: The princes monster

Chapter 397: The prince''s monster

The beast that slithered into the arena had to be escorted by a dozen of people to be fully contained, not because it was trying to break free from the magic bindings like the moss troll was, but simply because its body was too long. "What even is this...?!" "A stone snake? Crystal snake?" "The royal family had outdone themselves, I haven''t even read about such beasts, is it a champion or a king no one had ever encountered?" "Maybe it''s a whole new species?!" The audience exploded into gasps of shock and awe at the marble-like snake that looked as if it was made out of various separate minerals molded together by some sort of natural mistake. With the size that made it fill up more than half the arena, the snake tried to camouge and its segmented multicolored body with spots that looked like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, all connected by the veins of gold running through all of its impressive length, suddenly changed to match the color of the arena''s ground ¨C and if not for the fact that everyone was keenly observing it without even breathing or blinking, it would essentially be invisible ¨C that''s how good its camouge skill actually was. "..." The blond prince, Roan, didn''t look particrly scared, but the sizeparison of the child and the marble snake was rather ridiculous. |Honestly, that''s a pretty good match-up for someone with the Giant yer affinity.| Zombie pointed out with a shrug after the initial shock had passed. |That''s what it may look like for a bystander... Still, that is NOT the monster that the prince was supposed to fight in the game ¨C thankfully there''s no change in the seal of the Eternal. But, ugh... I can''t understand how someone from the greed family was able to get their hands on this thing!| Patience sounded as if she shook her head, still unable to calm down. |Whew... then we''re safe, huh...| The blue undead furrowed his brows both relieved and concerned about patience''s words. |So you know what this is? Why doesn''t it have a life signature ¨C it must be alive, it moves... and it ate the guy I knocked out, though he seems to be still fine somehow...| He added, furrowing his brows. |That''s a treasure trove serpent ¨C the second rarest encounter in the game, it doesn''t even properly count as a monster as itcks the ability to fight back so it counts like an item that you have to break to gain EXP and resources ¨C in the game, it was basically the best thing that any yer could encounter since defeating it would max out every resource they had... but it had ridiculously low odds of showing up ¨C the joke amongst the yer base was that it was ten times more probable to die while ying the game than to encounter that thing.| The sealed overseer did not disappoint with her exnation, going as far as to throw a little bonus trivia at the end... showing the same amount of concern for the swallowed man as her host ¨C none. |That exins why no one else knows what this is ¨C I bet that even if someone ever saw that thing, no one believed them.| |I think there''s actually only one of this thing in the whole world, and it usually does not show up, so, you know... Kind of a bid deal, sorry, our troll was nowhere near as impressive.| Zombie nodded and Patience sighed sounding as if she was making an apologetic face. |Yeah, hard to argue with that...| The blue undead sighed internally and nced at the red-haired girl by his side. But if he expected to see the girl getting upset that she was outdone in terms of the presentation, well, he was wrong. "Zombie! This is so amazing! I wish mom and dad could see it too!" Cranberry was looking at the monster with sparkling eyes, holding on to Zombie''s clothes with one hand and pulling on them excitedly. "Ah, that''s right, your mom is sick, isn''t she?" Mary, sitting on Cranberry''s side, flinched and turned to the red-haired girl and asked with apassionate face. "Ha? No, she''s not ¨C why would you even say that?!" Cranberry straightened her back and stared Mary down, actually upset about such a question. "E-eh...?! B-But wasn''tdy Pride suffering from some unknown disease even since before you were born...?" The future heroine flinched and cowered, blinking in confusion as her voice shook nervously. "...ha...? Oh! You''ve meant her! Sorry. Yeah, sure, that one is super sick. Hope she dies soon." The red-haired girl gasped in a realization and nodded, waving her hand dismissively before turning back to watch what the prince will fair in his fight. "Y-you hope she will...?!" ...leaving Mary utterly confused and lost, staring at her wide-eyed. --- In the middle of the arena, the young first prince was facing the treasure trove serpent without knowing its proper name. He knew one thing ¨C his Giant yer affinity that he was born with, activating at full force. Everything should work out fine ¨C after all, even his mother assured him that the odd monster does not attack back, no matter the danger be it threats or actual damage ¨C it only ever tires to go invisible and wait until the opponent is gone. Literally the easiest kill that could happen. "..." *thump* Roan breathed out and released the straps holding his giant sword in ce, making the heavy de burrow into the ground. The young prince proceeded to turn around and pick up the weapon, trying to not get embarrassed, since he forgot that he should have left one strap on so that he could easily grab the grip... but it worked out fine ¨C since no one wasughing at him, it must have not look that bad... "..." The prince couldn''t help himself and nced back at his seat to check the reaction of the blue undead. Roan could feel that no matter what he cannot embarrass himself in front of that familiar no matter what or he will be teased relentlessly despite his social status. It was an odd thing considering that the prince was well aware that there should not be many asions for the two of them to interact, and considering that Pride''s familiar was an undead, he really should not have felt like that. ¡­but he did... "...!" Thankfully, though it also came as a bit of a surprise to Roan, Zombie was looking very serious, no, he was straight up ring at the snake monster ¨C that despite camouging pretty well, from Roan''s point was pretty much visible ¨C after all it was hard to not realize that a mound of dirt should not be right there, only someone incredibly dense or controlled by some higher power would think that there was nothing there anymore and finish the encounter... "Hmph!" Roan scoffed, nodding to himself and looking back at the stagnant monster... "Huh...?" The young prince let out a surprised gasp because it turned out that no, the giant snake was no longer stagnant. It raised its head and around three-quarters of its body and suddenly twisted around as if it was trying to wring itself like a wet rag and...! *SQUISH* An unpleasant wet sound resounded from inside its body and some thick dark red liquid poured out from the cracks between the two segments near his head. "What the...?!" Roan gasped and clenched his hands on his weapon ¨C was the monster realized that there was no way out from this situation and decided to kill itself?! "Oh, no you don''t!" The prince roared and rushed at the serpent using the run-up to wind up for a wide vertical sh as the top of the monster''s had begun glowing with a pulsating reddish mark that inscribed itself into its scales out of nowhere. "OH, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Roan did not look back, but he certainly recognized the voice of the blue undead ¨C now filled with disbelief and anger... Well... The prince actually wanted to look back but in that exact moment... *BOOOOOOOOOM* "!!!!!!!!!!" The snake monster''s body exploded with a terrifying force and the blond boy wasunched away by the force of the shockwave alone. Chapter 398: Sigil monster (1)

Chapter 398: Sigil monster (1)

*SQUISH* /Low-level yer character defeated You receive EXP The blood of the man that Zombie knock out and left in what he thought was an empty monster pen gushed out from between the segments of the treasure trove serpent''s body ¨C and a system message informing Zombie about the gain of the experience points confirmed beyond any shadow of a doubt that it was his fault showed up as if mocking him. "Ha...? Zombie what is this supposed to b...?" "Shhhh..." Since Cranberry would always receive a portion of the experience gained by her undead familiar, she furrowed her brows and turn to him for answers, but she got silenced by a blue index finger pressing to her lips and angry shush of Zombie ¨C who wasn''t even looking at her, too preupied with ring at the massive monster that The blond prince was facing. ...the monster that was started emitting a distinctive red and ck glow... ...and that had a pulsating mark begin appearing on its head... |Tell me this isn''t happening...!| Zombie gritted his teeth already activating his skills, fully aware of what needs to be done. |Roan is an essential character! What are you waiting for?! GET HIM AWAY FROM THAT THING BEFORE IT WILL CREATE A BARRIER!| Patience restlessness went from zero to a hundred really really fast, spurring the blue undead to action. "Stay here with ymore and the rest!" Zombie called to Cranberry and shoot out from his spot like a speeding bullet... "Oh, no you don''t!" Meanwhile, the prince roared and rushed at the serpent using the run-up to wind up for a wide vertical sh as the monster''s torso instead of backing off when there was something weird going on with the beast he was facing off... "OH, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" ...which caused Zombie to roar out in anger and disbelief. The blue undead reacted faster than anyone else and was grabbing onto the expensive defensive apparel that the young prince was donning. "...?!" Roan flinched in confusion when he felt someone pulling him away by his cor like a baby kitten, but sadly... ...it was toote... *BOOOOOOOOOM* The snake monster''s body exploded with a terrifying force and the blond boy wasunched away by the force of the shockwave alone ¨C together with the blue undead still holding on to him. "BARON!" "!!!!!!!!!!" The desperate roar of the little blue undead was thest thing that the stunned nobles in the audience heard before the half-transparent ck and red dome closed off most of the arena, locking off all of the dust cloud raised by the monster''s explosion. "(Master...? What happened? I can''t see anything!)" "Who said that...?!" Unable to see anything due to the dust that was only beginning to settle, the blond prince groaned, slowly getting back on his feet. "Ugh... What even happened...?" He added, muttering to himself and shaking his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "Weakling prince, for your own good ¨C stay back." "...?!" The response came from somewhere in front of Roan, making him flinch. It was certainly the voice of the blue undead ¨C but, how did he get there so fast...? "Baron, could you get rid of this dust?" The blue undead sounded as if he had no intention of exining anything and just clicked his tongue and asked. "...baron...?" Roan furrowed his brows, but the next moment he was hit by a sudden gust of wind ¨C and was left speechless. There was the little blue undead with his back against him, holding a sword even bigger than the greatsword in prince''s possession, with just one hand, and next to him... "A...! A dragon?!" ...there was a monster the size of a carriage, with bright red scales, and massive wings spread open as if it just finished pping them. "Wh-what the...?!" But if that was the only shocking thing, Roan would not take a step back... Both Zombie and the red dragon had their back turned on the first prince ¨C because they were facing an enormous snake monster...! But it was not the same monster that Roan remembered ¨C this one was actually smaller than the treasure trove serpent, but looked far more sinister and powerful, with red and ck heads from which each and everyone had a different separate precious material growing out of it. The right-most left had rubies bigger than the head of an adult male, the next one had sapphires, the middle one had jadeites, the next one - emeralds, and the final one had diamonds ¨C and there were gold veins thicker than an adult''s thigh running thorough the whole ¨C now smooth ¨C a body of the terrifyingly beautiful monster. |... and here we have the absolute rarest encounter in the game... the treasure trove serpent filed with hatred towards the humans, that absorbed the evil energy that poured through the seal of the Eternal, and ranked up into the world''s desires for reaches given a physical form... the remnant of the luck god, Happy, Pleonexus Hydra.| Patience sighed inside Zombie''s head, sounding as if she was looking away, gritting her teeth. |The fuck do you mean it ranked up into a remnant of Happy?! You said that the remnants were already out there in the world!| Kopia shook in Zombie''s grip as he clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned light-blue. |You remember when I said that I don''t want to tell you everything because you would rush out to do things? That is one of those things ¨C while there are beasts like the Pheonix that is the remnant of Wing on its own, some remnants will spawn only after a certain condition will get aplished ¨C and we need all the remnants toplete the special quests for each capture target after they inherit the avatars titles.| The sealed overseer exined bitterly, sounding as if she really didn''t actually want to disclose any of the info that she just shared. |...| |It really is better for you not to know.| She added in response to Zombie''s hostile silence. |Are you telling me that if you trusted me more, we could have been traveling around the kingdom searching for the remnants of the dead avatars in preparation for the main quest instead of just staying in the same ce...?| Zombie''s expression turned bitter as he could not keep a calm face on the outside. |There''s time and ce for everything! You have said that you trust me, didn''t you? Then continue doing that and everything will be fine!| Patience scoffed back, sounding as if she crossed her arms and turned away anxiously. |WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT THIS THING, PATI, HOW''S THAT PLAYING INTO YOUR PLAN?!| |IT WORKS OUT FINE, SO JUST GO AND FIGHT IT ALREADY, YOU STUPID IDIOT!| They yelled at each other before the furious Zombieunched himself right at the Pleonexus hydra without any warning, leaving Roan, Baron, and Cranberry in the dust... ¡­ ¡­? Cranberry?! Chapter 399: Sigil monster (2)

Chapter 399: Sigil monster (2)

*SHIN-* *CLANG* The first cleave that Zombie unleashed upon the hydra''s middle head got stopped immediately as Kopia''s de bounced off of the jadeites. The gem did crack, but the monster was otherwise unharmed, showing that the gems were just more of armor than an actual part of the monster''s body. "Tsk...!" Zombie clicked his tongue,nding beneath the hydra. The giant multiheaded snake red down at the little blue undead with all of its multiple heads - not seeming angry at all, more like unimpressed. It struck out its red tongue from the head covered with diamonds, and... "Ssssss... (A quite peculiar situation, isn''t it, little undead...)" The middle, jadeites-covered head spread its jaws a little bit and let out a low, concerned hiss. "Ssssss. (I don''t think that I will eat you first, I can''t imagine the flesh of your kind tasting well.)" It added on it,s own, coilingzily, as if not actually interested in anything that it was hissing about - if not counting the keen five pairs of eyes, each pair staring at one of the other beings inside the barrier. "Sssssss... (The dragon will be the main course, that weird creature that you are using as a sword should go well pretty well with it...) Sssssss... (I think that it will be best for me to eat that living boy first, then I will eat you, little undead, and go for the dragon to kill off the awful aftertaste that you will leave in my mouth...) Ssss. (Oh, but the red girl will definitely be a dessert, she looks like she would taste sweet like a berry.)" The huge monster had absolutely no doubt about the oue of the battle, actually, it sounded like this situation wasn''t a battle for it at all either - merely an open buffet, and it was taking its time to leisurely pick the avable dishes. Also... |Huh, what does it mean by the red girl? Where is she supposed to b...?| Zombie thought to himself, frowning in confusion, ncing back at Baron and Roan... ...the red-haired girl who was technically his owner, whom he asked to stay behind. "...?!" He flinched in shock seeing Cranberry, holding up her ck baseball bat with blue ribbon, making a stubborn expression, ready to pick up a fight with the monster the size of an average house. |Zombie, try to stay...| "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! I ASKED YOU TO STAY BACK WITH CLAYMORE!" |...calm, oh dear...| Patience tried to ease up Zombie''s nerves, but the blue undead blew up regardless, screaming his lungs out at the frowning red-haired girl not very happy with him raising his voice at her. "Ha?! And what else?! I refuse to be left behind all the time!" Cranberry frowned and clenched her hands on the baseball bat. "You...!" Zombie gasped, taken aback by the reckless response - that honestly should not be that surprising to him. After all, despite a vastly different experience shaping her personality, at the core of all of that was still the extremely proud Cranberry Pride, it''s just that the priorities of this one had changedpared to the one from the first ythrough. "..." Zombie red back at her for a few seconds anyway. "Fine! Just stay back with Roan! Baron, keep those two safe!" He ended up shaking his head at the red-haired girl and then turned to the red dragon by his side andmanded him. "(Master, this guy looks strong... wouldn''t it be better to team up...?)" Baron asked timidly, even though he already was backing off to assume the defensive position in front of the feisty Cranberry and pale as a sheet Roan. "You will be helping me from back there." Zombie dered, pointing at the spot where Baron was going for anyway and raised Kopia with a very Grimm expression. |I can''t see any other way out of this, but I''ll ask anyway - so can I kill this creature, Pati? Will you answer that question at least, or is it something that I am not ready to know either? Huh?| He asked in his thoughts, masking how upset he was with an unhealthy amount of sarcasm. |...| |Oh, I see how it is. I trust youpletely but you don''t trust me at all. Sure. Fine.| With absolutely no response from the sealed overseer, the blue undead tensed up. "Sssss? (Oh, are you actually willing to try to fight me, little undead?)" The hydra lowered its sapphires-covered head and hissed mockingly, just as Zombie''s body began glowing with vibrant violet light. "...I am not in the mood for banter - SO FUCK OFF!" *SWING* The blu undead growledpletely overtaken by fury and he swung Kopia in her greatsword form straight at the head that mocked him... *RIIIP* "SSSSSSSSS! (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHH!)" The de had not only cut into the beast''s scales but cleanly shaved off the whole upper half of the sapphires-covered head - leaving only the lower jaw and the exposed throat and the gaping wound spraying ck blood everywhere, as the hydra coiled back and hissed in terrible pain with the rest of its head. "..." Zombie red down at the upper half of the snake''s head that he had just cleaved off, and it looked back at him somehow still alive despite being detached from the rest of its body. "What are you looking at?" *SMASH* Zombie scoffed with disgust and kicked it with enough power to make it disintegrate in mid-air together with the sapphires growing out of it before it could even reach the wall of the red and ck half-transparent barrier. The blue undead''s face twisted with even more anger, rested part of the Kopia''s de on his shoulder, and walked forward, towards the monster in agony. "Don''t give me that bullshit, you''re a sigil monster, you can''t be this easy to beat - at least let me went out a little bit." He growled, ring at the remnant of Happy. "Did you go deaf? You got four more heads! Bring it on!" Zombie roared and took another step forward. "Ssssss. (Actually, I still got all five.)" Suddenly the monster froze still and hissed in apletely calm manner. "Wha...?" *SLAM* *thump* Zombie gasped in shock right before the hydra''s tail struck him and mmed him all the way up to the ceiling of the red and ck barrier. "..." The blue undead stayed up there for a second or two before straight-up falling down and crushing against the ground with no signs of life. "Sssss. (That was unexpected.) Sssssssss? (just a tiny undead possessing so much strength... was it superbia?) Sssss? (Are you my fellow remnant of the god, by any chance?)" Hydra asked, untangling itself from a knot and rose up just like it did before. The wound in ce of its missing head was no longer spraying out blood, instead, sapphires were growing out of it at an incredible rate, like a fungus growing on a speed-up video, and after barely a few seconds it reformed into exactly the same head that Zombie kicked into nothingness a few moments earlier. "Sssss... (Now then... since the little nuisance has been dealt with...)" The hydra stuck out all of its tongues and hissed excitedly. "Sssss! (It''s time to enjoy my first meal!)" Chapter 400: Sigil monster (3)

Chapter 400: Sigil monster (3)

"(MASTER!)" Baron shocked growl was heard by both Cranberry and Roan, the young dragon trembled, ready to pounce at the hydra many timesrger than himself, but he stopped and nced back at the two children. Zombie very clearly ordered him to protect them, as such, the young red dragon spread his wings to make himself appear bigger - and to cover the two little humans behind him - and red at the five-headed snake that just regrew one of its heads. "Ssssss..." The beast stuck out its tongues and hissed maliciously, staring at all three of them with hunger in its eyes. "M-miss Pride, your undead...!" Roan gulped down his saliva, ncing between the unmoving blue body on the far side of the barrier, the red dragon, and the red-haired girl by his side. "He''s fine, I did not get the system message about losing my familiar. Zombie is fine, he is fine. We need to take care of this thing before we can go and help him." Cranberry''s voice was calm but her hands shook as she clenched them so hard her knuckles turned white. "What do you mean take care of it?! Have you missed how it regenerated or swatted your familiar like a fly?!" The young prince was not happy with the suggestion, it was more than clear that his fighting spirit took just as huge of a hit as the little blue undead. "You better change that attitude fast if you do not want to get killed, the only way to get out of here is to kill that monster." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and pointed at the hydra slithering towards them with a maliciously slow tempo as if it knew that they had nowhere to run. ...because they really had no convenient escape route from the red and ck dome. "Kill it...?! Are... are you mad?! How?!" Roan gasped and shouted in disbelief. "With that sword of yours for example." Cranberry nced down at the weapon that the blond prince dropped and smirked. "You look awfully well for someone who got blown away through the entire arena... do you have an affinity or something?" She added tilting her head. "G-giant yer... it increases the damage dealt to all opponents bigger than me." Roan flinched and exined taken aback. "You only remember that? Giant yer increases your physical attack, physical defense, agility, and evasion, the more the bigger the beast is, actually. Howe you only memorized the damaged part? Someone''s been cking off." Cranberryughed and tune away, looking at the approaching hydra from beneath Baron''s wing. "That thing is like... ten times bigger? Twenty? Anyway, it is big enough so that the giant yer increased your DEF enough for the previous explosion to not even leave a scratch on you - which means that it should give you enough strength to damage that monster too." "(Miss, my master asked me to protect the two of you, please do not try anything reckless.)" Baron raised his head and looked back beforeining using telepathy. "The best protection you can give us is killing that snake! End of the conversation!" The red-haired girl shook her head and asked took a step forward. "Roan, get out there, you and Baron will be able in charge of damaging it, I''ll be right behind you. Baron, since it''s a hydra with increased regeneration, the fire should be its weakness, that''s a good matchup." Shemanded in a voice that did not leave any space for discussion her eyes and body began glowing with white light as she was already activating her skills. "..." "..." Both the red dragon and the blond prince looked at each other in a moment of silent agreement and nodded at the same time. Roan reached out for his sword and picked it up with much greater ease than he ever expected - which made him realize that the red-haired girl wasn''t just all talk and actually knew the mechanics of his affinity - and he also activated his skills. Last but not least, Baron dug his ws into the ground and his whole body began glowing with red light as he was preparing to attack. "Sssss...?" The hydra stopped a good distance in front of them and hissed mockingly, sticking its tongues out, as if it wanted to smell their fear. "GO!" *BOOOOM* Cranberry shouted and the ground exploded under Baron''s feet as the red dragonunched himself upwards at the sigil monster''s heads. *CRUNCH* *RIIIIP* "SSSSSS!" The dragon''s fangs and ws dug deep into the throat of the diamonds-covered head and ripped out huge chunks of ck flesh - and without letting go of the beast hissing in pain, he unleashed a powerful breath attack burning the fresh wound into a burnt crisp. "I''m here too!" The blond prince was right behind it - shocking himself with how high he could actually jump, he swung his giant sword right at the rubies-covered head, and to his even greater surprise, he actually cut it off on that first try! *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* As soon as Roan started falling back down to the ground, six fireballs exploded with a deadly urate aim right into the gaping wound spraying blood all around, burning it into a crystallized mess. "Good assis...! HUH?!" The blond prince turned to the direction all the fireballs came from, expecting to see the red dragon, but the one he saw was the red-haired girl standing back on the ground. She was holding her baseball bat in a reverse grip and the blue ribbon that the grip was wrapped into was unraveled, revealing an elongated ocean-blue magic stone, glowing with umted power. "M-magic conduit...?! THAT THING IS A SCEPTER?!" Roan gasped in shock as more fireballs followed the initial six with the speed onlyparable to the burst fire of the semi-automatic guns from Zombie''s original world. "SHUT UP AND GET TO ANOTHER HEAD!" Cranberry roared back at him, and suddenly the prince felt a surge of power filling up his body. "A... a physical enchantment?! Wait, she really is a support mage?!" He murmured to himself, shaking his head in disbelief before crashnding on the ground just to bunny hop right back towards the sapphires-covered head. "SSSSSSS!" But then with a loud hiss, the hydra threw itself back, shaking off the red dragon and getting out of the reach of the blond prince. It was clear that the ces where the fire hit it were not regenerating like the head that Zombie cut off before, so the trio''s strategy was working. But the younglings made the mistake of not pressuring the beast enough. *CRUNCH* Without wasting the perfect chance, the hydra used the three healthy heads to bite into the burnt spots and straight-up ripped the scabs away, causing a fountain of blood to erupt from the reopened wounds - the wounds that started bubbling up with the growing crystals that morphed into its lost parts, rendering all of the damage it suffered uselessly. "Sssss." It hissed mockingly before coiling itself into. A spring andunching itself at the young opponents with a speed unimaginable for a creature of its size. Four of its heads attacked Baron, biting into his wings, neck, and torso, pinning him to the ground. Thest one went straight for the red-haired girl...! "SSSS!" The monster hissed furiously when the young prince turned out to be way faster than it anticipated and appeared right in front of the girl, and blocked the wide-open snake head by jamming his sword between its jaws. "GUH!" Roan groaned, gritting his teeth, giving his all to push against the giant monster with all his might. Chapter 401: Sigil monster (4)

Chapter 401: Sigil monster (4)

It was dark. Everything was so very dark as if the world was swallowed by a giant serpent... Serpent...? |THE REMNANT!| Zombie roared before he realized that he did not open his mouth and only shouted in his mind. Actually, after a closer inspection, Zombie realized that he does not possess a physical body. He was merely a violet ball of light. |What the...? Is ist this the sin of origin nucleus...? But why...?| He gasped in disbelief, taken aback by the sudden realization. Yes. It must have been that ce again, when he focused, he could see the lights representing the avatars of sins and their heirs in the distance, though the yellow one was much much closer than he remembered it from the first visit. |Ah, that must be because the queen is in the audience... she must be freaked out...| Zombie scoffed, looking around in search of a way out... Actually, was there even a way out? Thest time he just woke up... |How am I suppsed to force myself to wake up in the first ce...?| Zombie muttered to himself focusing every bit of his will into making his body in the other dimension move. ...all for naught... |The hell?! I must wake up! Come on body! MOVE!| He roared furiously but only made himself bounce around in the suspended darkness. |Did I die...? No, impossible, remnant or not, the hydra just ranked up which should make it level 1... the remnant of Wing was strong but it had time to level up before my Cranberry and I started farming it for the experience, and it lost levels with each resurrection too!| The violet ball grumbled in confusion. |Hey, Pati, what do you think about it?| He ended up asking unable to figure out what to do next in that situation. ... But the only answer he got, was silence. |Pati...? Come on, it''s not time to y around like that! Stop hiding and show yourself!| Zombie called out, or rather, thought out loud, but there was no response. |Are you still grumpy over what happened? Don''t be like that, I have the right to be angry after being treated like an angry toddler!| Heined floating around searching for the white sphere, but she was nowhere in sight. |Pati! Seriously! We don''t have time for this! I''m really going to start hating you if you keep hiding!| He called out again, already feeling the anger building up in his temporary spherical body. |...don''t hate me...| |...!| All of a sudden, a silent crying from behind made him bounce up from the shock. |Pati?! Geez, don''t scare me like...| Zombie gasped and instantly breathed out with relief, turning around to face the sealed overseer in form of the white sphere... |...that...| ...that certainly was not there. What was there instead, was a whole person made out of white energy, half-light half gass, whose facial feature the blue undead could not mistake for anyone else in the world. It was... Cranberry. But not the young one that was left with Baron and Roan to defend against a hydra back in the other dimension, but the other one, the one from the first ythrough... ...his Cranberry... |Wha...? H-how...?! Your... your data was deleted by Pati! I learned it straight from her when we merged right before I reset the world!| Zombie uttered almost fearfully, floating back just a little bit from the glowing apparition. |Z-Zombie...! Don''t hate me...! Don''t ever say that you will hate me...!| The glowing Cranberry cried out so pitifully that Zombie''s heart felt like it got pierced through with an ice spear. |Don''t say that you will hate me...! Don''t hate me...! Please...! Zombie...!| The glowing Cranberry was crying her heart out and reached her hands towards him as if begging for him to hug her and tell her that everything will be alright. |Cranberry!| Zombie felt his heart healing up, and he rushed towards her - it was her! It was definitely her! The Cranberry that only he knew! The one who finally opened up to him only right before her demise by the hands of the will of the world! Even if she was a ghost or a phantom, or even a figment of his imagination - to hold her one more time...! He floated towards her, restless, he could see more and more details of her face, even in that strange half-transparent form she still had her charming freckles. |Z-Zombie...!| The apparition cried out, a bit softer as if her sorrow was eased up by her servant simply getting closer. |I''m here, Cranberry. Everything will be alright.| Zombie felt that he is no longer just a sphere of violet light, he could feel his body back, he outstretched his hands to lock his Cranberry in a loving embrace and...! --- "!!!!!" The little blue undead opened his eyes as his arms grabbed the empty air in front of him. "AH! Master, you woke up!" Kopia in her humanoid form cried out in relief, shaking his shoulder with a face that looked like she was actually shedding tears for him before. "Wh-what is going on...?" Zombie sat up, staring at the red and ck barrier right in front of him. "Where is my Cranberry...?" He asked in confusion, lowering his head and looking at the empty air between his arms. "Master! Cranberry is over there, fighting with the weird snake thing that knocked you out! Baron and the weakling prince too! You must help them, they are losing...!" "Huh...?" Zombie gasped, shook his head like a dog that got showered in water, and blinked a few times, still unable toprehend what was going on. "The weird snake thing with many heads! Over there!" Kopia urged him in a high-pitched voice and actually grabbed his head and turned it in the right direction. "..." There, Zombie saw the massive hydra, biting on the red dragon with its four heads while the fifth one was attempting to swallow the red-haired girl and the blond-haired boy but was unable to due to the giant sword wedged into its jaws as well as the fireballs shot out of the rear end of the ck baseball bat that the girl was holding on to in ce of a standard scepter. "...but my Cranberry... my Cranberry..." "Master...?" Zombie muttered under his breath and looked back down at his empty hands and trembled, making Kopia flinch and ask him fearfully. "...my..." The blue undead gritted his teeth and clenched his fists... /Proficiency level reached You receive the skill Ira (level 1) /Error /An attempt to grant Ira to the target had been already registered Unable to grant the same skill for the second time /Calcting... /Skill level up Overpower (level 2) "Maste-mpfgh...!" Kopia cried out again but Zombie blocked her mouth with his hand and bared his teeth in a hateful grin. "Kopia, form change." "!!!" He dered coldly and his sentient sword hurriedly nodded her head and shed white, changing into a curvy two-handed de with a sinister aura - the morbid de. *BOOOOOOOOOM* In the next second, the blue undead and his sword disappeared leaving only a cloud of dust and a giant crater in the ground. Chapter 402: Sigil monster (5)

Chapter 402: Sigil monster (5)

*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* "Ghhhh...!" Cranberry burst fire the fireballs right into the hydra''s throat and the heat of the explosions made the blond prince gritted his teeth as he looked away to at least protect his face from getting burnt. By all means that attack should work - there weren''t that many fireproof monsters, to begin with, and hydra certainly did not count as one - but instead of pulling back in pain, or better - getting its rubies-covered head blown off together with a good chunk of its neck, the hydra only pushed harder, increasing the pressure on it was pushing onto the Roan''s sword with as if it did not care for the de cutting into its body. The reason for this sudden outstanding resistance was not an unluckily - for the two children - timed skill gain but rather the fact that the ckish soft tissue of the monster''s throat was covered in freshly grown rubies that absorbed any and all explosive power of the fire, leaving the beast unharmed. "D-don''t you have another spell or something?!" Roan groaned to the red-haired girl behind him, feeling his arms giving out despite the effects of the giant yer affinity. "Nothing that would help in our situation, unless you want to get electrocuted or ground to shreds by those." Cranberry frowned and scoffed back, watching in annoyance as the rubies inside the hydra''s throat are growing into sharp spikes so it would be possible to rip the two of them apart without the need to chew them. "Hold on, the cooldown on the physical augmentation skill is almost down, I will stack it again as soon as possible." She added before shooting out six fireballs again despite not expecting the result to be any different than before. "Hold on, huh...? Ease for you to say...!" Roan shook his head, gritting his teeth so hard that they started creaking - simr to the de of his greatsword grinding against the constantly growing rubies that made any further incisions impossible. *booooooom* "What the...?! Have someone from the outside managed to break through?!" Suddenly an echo of an explosion reverberated through the red and ck dome making the blond prince gasp and his eyes lighted up with hope. *SHING* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* The next moment the pressure inflicted by the rubies-covered head disappearedpletely and the head itself fell on the ground with a loud noise - actually, it was followed by four more sounds indicating that the same happened to all of the hydra''s heads. "Hurry! Back off before it regenerates!" Cranberry called out and pulled the blond prince away grabbing onto his arm, making him leave his sword wedged in between the jaws of the beast. "?!?!?!?!" "Zombie!" The children got away from the monster and saw the back of the little blue undead standing on top of one of the cut-off snake heads with the ck-blood-covered sword, facing the already regenerating hydra. The body of the monster - because only that remained intact after the little undead cleaved off all of the heads at the base of their necks with a single strike - was rapidly bubbling with the rapidly growing crystals which made it look like a giant pot boiling over with multicolored foam. "..." Zombie nced back at Cranberry and Rona and nodded his head without a word seeing them fine, then he turned to the wounded red dragon and his body shook when his muscles stiffened seeing the damage done to him by the hydra''s fangs. "...wait a bit, I''ll deal with this guy as soon as possible and get you help..." "(Master, it hurts... b-but I''ll be brave so don''t worry about me...!)" Zombie dered with the voice brimming with a fury which prompted Baron to make a statement that he really wanted to make sound tough, but the little dragon wasn''t the best when it came to hiding his emotion, so he ended up sounding pitiful and very hurt. "..." Which only made the little blue undead''s anger that much greater. His body shone with even more intensity as the white light of another skill got added to the violet light of the already active overpower, the blue undead winded up as if he was going to throw Kopia in her morbid de as if she was a javelin and... He actually threw her! *WHAM* The long curvy de stabbed and got embedded into the middle jadeite head before it could reform into a proper scaly head, sending it back so far that hydra''s whole body lifted up before the blue undead grabbed with both hands onto the red string coiled around his right arm still connected to the Kopia''s pommel - and pulled on it with enough power to burrow his feet up to half his shin''s hight into the ground. *BOOOOOOOOOM* But the effect that had on the five-headed monster was much more impressive as the monster got mmed into the ground with enough strength to cause an earthquake as if the middle head shattered into pieces, freeing Kopia that instantly returned to Zombie''s hand on her own. Still, as if that little thing could be enough to appease the anger of the little blue undead! Within the same heartbeat, Zombie was already by the Pleonexus hydra that four heads were already done regenerating and the middle one grew out half of its neck. With another even brighter light added to the violet light of the overpower, Zombie raised Kopia and - both his arm and the sentient sword suddenly disappeared! *CRASH* ...and caused all the heads to explode into hundreds of thousands of pieces, as the shes became visible only a few feet away from the undead who unleashed them. /Skill levels up de tornado (level 2) A message showed up for Zombie, but the blue undead did not acknowledge its existence, taking a step forward instead, shredding off more and more of the monster''s necks and continuing doing the same to its body, all to the apaniment of ckish blood and red and ck smoke gushing out of the minced flesh like some sort of ceaseless discharge. Chapter 403: Sigil monster (6)

Chapter 403: Sigil monster (6)

"SSSSSSS...! (I-I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!)" Although there should be no heads to hiss furiously at the approaching blue undead, the furious hiss dide from the very tip of the tail which was thest part left to destroy by the terribly powerful tier 3 sword skill. As there was no reaction whatsoever, and Zombie''s old re was focused solely on thest part of the hydra that could still be called a part and not a scrap, a tiny golden serpent, no thicker than a shoce jumped out of the flesh and let it be turned into powdered gems. "SSSSSSS! (YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU?!)" The tiny golden serpent with the equally tiny sigil burning on the top of its head hissed furiously, slithering as far back as it could while the blue undead followed it without changing his expression. "SSSSSSSSSS! (I AM THE FIRST INCARNATION OF THE PHYSICAL REMNANT OF HAPPY!) SSSSSSSS! (I WILL NOT BE SHAMED LIKE THIS!)" The tiny golden serpent hissed furiously, looking nack at its approaching doom and panic was a very distinguished part of its voice. "Hah. I knew that it was weird that none of the heads had any trace of the sigil." Zombie finally spoke up, and he did so while ring down at the pitiful golden serpent. "I thought that maybe since you are the remnant of a god, you might have freed yourself from Eternal''s corruption, but it was all just a ruse ¨C the big body was just an outer shell while your real body looks like this. A shame, you''re a real cutie ¨C it won''t feel good to kill you." The little blue undead sighed, shaking his head. "S-sssss...?! (A cu-cutie?! I''m a...!?) SSSSS! (STOP TRYING TO CONFUSE ME!) SSSS! (THIS IS NOT THE END!)" The unnamed serpent hissed furiously and... *ZAP* A bolt of lightning struck it right in the head throwing it back and causing a seizure as the electricity was coursing through its tiny noodle body. "..." Zombie nced back and saw Cranberry extending her reverse baseball bat scepter, as the dead aim skill she learned under Olive''s guidance was still lighting up her eyes with a bright white light. "Perfect timing." The blue undead smiled and nodded at the red-haired girl before rising Kopia to deal the finishing blow on the golden serpent. "Sss...sss...SSS! (This.. is not... THE END!)" The monster hissed between the seizures and all of a sudden its body shone with intense yellow light and a literal geyser of gold, hundreds of times bigger than the snake itself, shoot out from its tiny mouth propelling it all the way to the ceiling of the red and ck dome... ...no... ...the gold was not used as a means for a mere escape ¨C it was forming another body ¨C this one much sturdier looking than the previous one. The next second,plete golden seven-headed hydra red down at the little blue undead, shimmering and shining with thousands upon thousands of precious stones of all sorts of colors and sizes. "SSSSSSSSSS! (ROYAL AVARITIA FORM, THE SERPENT OVERLORD OF GREED!) SSSSSSSSSSSSS! (HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS, PUNY UNDEAD?!)" The remnant of the god of luck Happy rose up and hissed triumphantly, revealing that each of its heads had the most impressive cobra''s hood covered with even more precious stones. "...good thing you are so keen on exining things since it seems that my unskippable tutorial isn''t working...." Zombie scoffed and shook his head,pletely unimpressed by the deadly gleam and mour of the gigantic beast. "S-sss...? (H-huh...?)" Thepleteck of either fear of ave in his voice made the serpent overlord of greed flinch in disbelief. "Say, you aren''t that smart, are you?" Zombie went a step further, and put his hand to his mouth, and shouted mockery at the monster! "SSSSSSS...! (HOW DARE YOU MO...!)" "Gold is a really good electricity conductor!" Zombie shouted over the beast''s hiss and waved his hand at the red-haired girl in the back. "S-sss...? (Wh-what is a conduc...?)" *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* "SSSSSSSSSS! (AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHHHH!)" The rapid-fire of electrical discharges rained down on the extremely easy target of the utterly massive monster''s body ¨C with how big the serpent chose to be it would seriously be harder to miss it ¨C stacking paralysis upon paralysis and sending the beast into a dance of seizures. "Cranberry! How many fire augmentations can you cast on Kopia?" Zombie looked shouted back without taking his eyes off of the gigantic serpent. "I- I''m not sure ¨C but stacking more than two will create enough heat to damage you, remember?" The red-haired girl shouted in response sounding worried. "Just start casting it ¨C I''ll tell you when!" The blue undead ignored her reluctance and raised up Kopia so it would be an easier target. "...haa.... fine!" "Pffft...!" Zombie could not help snorting once he picked up on an annoyed sigh and murmur ¨C then, a red aura appeared around the curvy de of Kopia''s morbid de form and a distinct warmth began radiating from her. Then the aura became sharper, and the heat increased. Then again. "..." Despite the pain resistance and the undead body Zombie could feel the odd tingling sensation of the skin on his hands getting burnt. Then the heat increased again, and again, and again, and his hands got charred ck. "Z-Zombie...! That should be enough! Go!" "No. One more time. You can do it." Cranberry cried out from behind but the undead merely shook his head as his blue skin started boiling over around his elbows. "You can not withstand any more of the heat!" The red-haired girl shook her head trying to refuse. "Gold has a lower melting point than the metal that Kopia is made of ¨C one more time!" ...but her refusal got rejected with a confident smirk. And then, his hands got set on fire. No, seriously, The heat of the stacked fire enchantment was so great that actual mes appeared on Zombie''s arms, and set his clothes on fire too, for the matter. "...let''s do this before I end up naked." Zombie muttered, moving Kopia to the side and crouching down in preparation for a charge. "LETS!" Kopia cheered loudly in a high-pitched voice and... *BOOOOOM* The ming undeadunched himself into the air right at the serpent overlord of greed. Chapter 404: Sigil monster (7)

Chapter 404: Sigil monster (7)

With each hit, the golden body of the giant hydra liquidated around the wound and would turn into a hardened golden scab that would not regenerate as soon as the Kopia''s fire-augmented de passed through. Zombie was using the chance he had ¨C the electric charge of Cranberry''s attack had already faded leaving only the aftereffect in form of the paralysis status that would fade in a few more seconds. The difference between the blue undead shredding every single piece of the previous form of the sigil monster was that he thought that the beast had no life signature. But, well, that wasn''t true. It was just that before, he expected a truly massive life signature and basically dismissed the tiny little light of the actual body of the monster ¨C of course, that the precious shell that it could create did not count as a living being, how could it? So now, when the monster was not moving around, the only thing left to do was to get to that golden danger noodle and kill it ¨C which the blue undead was already doing, making use of the gut wrencher skill that Kopia''s morbid de form allowed him to use ¨C and together with Cranberry''s fire enchantments stacked on Kopia, cutting through the hard artificial body was as easy as if it was made out of butter and not gold. The blue undead cleaved and shed his way through the ridiculous amount of reaches that amounted to the royal avaritia form of the remnant until he finally reached the original body. "Sss....! (S-stop...!) Ssssss...! (L-lets make a deal...!) Ssssss! (I-I didn''t actually want to eat any of you...!)" The tiny snake was trying its hardest but the effects of the paralysis were still in effect so it could only try to sweet-hiss its way out of the rather unfortunate situation... "My clothes are almostpletely burnt, so let''s leave that conversation for your second incarnation, alright?" Zombie smiled and nodded his head benevolently. "Ssss...? (S-second incarnation...?)" The golden snake hissed in confusion, taken aback by the seemingly kind behavior of the blue undead. "That''s right." *SHING* Zombie nodded and cleaved the little snake in half ¨C not only the sigil on top of its head but the entirety of the noodle body ¨C and the heat of the fire enchantment was enough to evaporate both halves instantly before they even got a chance to ssh onto the molten gold of the dead shell. /Sigil monster defeated You receive EXP Level up Level 4 >>> Level 30 All skills and affinities increased Status points greatly increased /You receive 289 new quests /Youpleted 42 quests Reward granted /All conditions met Do you want to rank up? Yes/No Zombie was flooded with a stream of messages before he evennded on the ground, as only the original body of the sigil monster ¨C so the tiny golden snake ¨C disappeared while the entire gigantic shell of the golden royal avaritia form fell to the ground with no trace of life ¨C or disintegration ¨C whatsoever. And with the death of the sigil monster ¨C the red and ck dome disappeared too, connecting the arena back to the outside world. "..." Though with the dead silence that befell the baffled audience, the difference was barely recognizable. *thunk* "...huh...?" Zombie gasped as Kopia freed herself from his hand and bounced away, before burrowing herself into the ground to wait for the stacked fire enchantment to end. *SPLASH* "UGH...!" The next moment, a giant waterball smashed into the blue undead almost swiping him off of his feet, not doing that much damage but certainly putting out the fire burning his clothes and hands. "...you could have warred me, you know...?" Zombie shook his head like a dog andined drenched to his core, as he turned around to face Cranberry. *pomf* As soon as he did that, the red-haired girl who was already by his side hugged him and nuzzled her cheek against the top of his head. "I was so worried, you did not have to be so reckless, we would find another way to deal with it..." The little girl sighed with relief before pulling away from her blue familiar. "...You reek of burning..." Sheined, sniffing around and her face scrunched up. "Yeah - having their arms turned into a charcoal will do that to an undead." Zombieughed and nodded, showing off his ckened hands ¨C that were actually in a much better state than expected, though that was mostly due to the benefits of suddenly gaining twenty-six levels out of the bat. "...my idiot..." Cranberry muttered with a happy sigh. "Don''t worry ¨C I''m fine." Zombieughed and patted her back while moving his head around so that he could see the red dragon ¨C who should have suffered the worst damage being bitten by four heads and pinned down... "(Master! Look! I got stronger! Are you proud?!)" "...that''s my boy..." But instead of being wounded and pitiful, Baron was standing tall, showing off his glistening wings that seemed to get even bigger than before ¨C actually, the red dragon started looking much sturdier, as now there were visible contours of powerful muscles working underneath his scaly skin ¨C which made Zombie breath out in relief and nod at him with a smile. "Mom! Mom! I am level 25!" At the same time, Roan began shouting with excitement, unable to hide his joy, as he ran over to the VIP section of the audience seats from where the queen was watching the show. "T-twenty five...? Dear heavens ¨C what even was that monster...?!" "Level 25 without dealing the killing blow?! But there are four of them including the dragon! How much experience did that thing give them?!" "While we''re at it, can someone exin to me where in the world did that dragon even came from?!" "Who cares about the dragon?! The dragon is a dragon ¨C what in the world is that undead?!" "What did Greeds feed the little prince for him to be able to hold back such a massive beast while he was still level 1?!" "Youngdy Pride was a caster all along?! I wasn''t dreaming, right her casting speed was so fearsome! Was that a skill too?!" The blond prince''s voice acted as a trigger for the audience to erupt into an emotional mess one would expect after witnessing the overwhelming performance of the whole group against the sigil monster. "Everyone, calm down." Then it was all silenced by the blond queen standing up and rising her hands. "We don''t have a full picture of what had urred here ¨C but I promise you that the investigation will be thorough." |...greedy bitch, she will try to find a way to use this whole thing against us...| Zombie scoffed internally ¨C but there was no response this time, which only made him more worried. "To make things even a little bit clearer for the rest of us, I will hire the appraiser we have on hand for today''s celebration to appraise the young heroes..." The queen added, looking around, watching the approving faces of the gathered nobility. "...who, I''m sure, are all really keen on learning that information themselves." She finished her sentence with a benevolent smile, staring right at the little blue undead. |Ah... that''s how it will be this time ¨C she realized that I summoned Baron and wants to see what else I can do...| Even without any response from the sealed overseer, Zombie did not stop thinking to himself, as he red right back at the avatar of greed. Chapter 405: Before the appraisal (1)

Chapter 405: Before the appraisal (1)

"C-can I pet him...?" Mary asked, approaching the young dragon fearfully but unable to hold herself back. "Ask him, not me I do not make decisions for him. Baron isn''t my pet, he is my subject." Zombie, sitting on the ground rather unceremoniously, shrugged his shoulders and shooed the future heroine away without looking up from his hands that his HP regeneration skill was slowly recovering back to a ''healthy'' blue color. "(I don''t mind, it is understandable that others are awed by my greatness to the point that they feel the need to touch me!)" The young red dragon, sitting by his master raised his head and nodded benevolently at the bashful brown-haired girl. "Baron, ease up on the pompous talk ¨C you might regret talking like that when you get older." "(Yes, master. I''m sorry.)" The blue undeadmanded, directly contradicting himself from just a moment ago, and the red dragon lowered his head apologetically in response. "(Yes, it''s okay to pet me, but watch for the wings ¨C they are kind of ticklish.)" Then Baron turned back to the stunned Mary and exined using telepathy. "Hey, didn''t you say that you want to rank up before the appraisal? What''s with the wait?" Cranberry, who was sitting by Zombie''s other side, asked curiously, leaning against his shoulder and looking curiously at the short undead ¨C undoubtedly wondering how will he look like after the said rank up. "We still have time, and I want to make things easier for the future." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders again, still looking at his hands... ...no... Zombie wasn''t looking at his hands ¨C he was looking past them, at the ground beneath, where a little soft-shelled rubbery egg, smaller than the tip of a human''s finger, was tossing itself from side to side as if the creature inside of it was already trying their hardest to break free ¨C?the blue undead was waiting for it toe out. "...haa... just let me know if there''s something wrong, okay?" Cranberry sighed and rolled her eyes ¨C it seemed like she didn''t notice the real reason for Zombie''s passive behavior and was worried that it was some hidden damage dealt by the sigil monster that her undead familiar was too proud of to talk about. Meanwhile, a few feet away from them, a whole army of people was dealing or trying to deal with the enormous amount of valuables that the royal avaritia form of the first incarnation of the remnant of Happy had left behind ¨C of course, it would all go straight for the Kingdom''s ¨C or rather Greeds ¨C treasury, with the prior promise from the queen to divide it ording to the contribution ¨C but she did not get into any much more detail. Zombie did not really care about any of that or the moment, but he certainly did not expect to actually see even a broken piece of sapphire out of the entire mountain of treasure. But that really wasn''t important... *snap* "...!" The rubbery shell has broken open with a popping sound and a minuscule golden snake slithered out of it, shaking its head in a very animated motion for a normal animal ¨C it looked like it was trying to shake off the haziness that was filling its head. "Well, well, well... If it isn''t the second incarnation of the physical remnants of Happy." Zombie giggled lowering his head to have a better look at the golden noodleying on the ground trying to catch a breath after just being born again. "Ssss...? (Huh... Eh...?)" The tiny golden snake flinched and slowly looked up at the face of the undead that was covering the sky above its head. "Sssssss...! (Ugh- aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgghhhhhhh...!)" Then, all of a sudden the tiny-tiny monster trembled and dramatically fell over, rolling on its back andying dead with its mouth wide open and little split tongue sticking out. "...out of all things, I didn''t expect you to be hognose subspecies..." The blue undead snorted and shook his head ¨C and reached for the seemingly dead snake, picking it up gently and putting it on the palm of his left hand. "..." The golden noodle adjusted its position, making sure that its white belly was clearly showing to get rid of any doubt that it was alive. "Eh? Zombie, what is this snake ¨C don''t tell me...!" Cranberry flinched and gasped, seeing her familiar suddenly grab a golden snake out of nowhere. "I will exin everythingter. For now, please don''t make a fuss." Zombie nced at her and asked with a soft smile that made the red-haired girl blush andplied without another word. "You do know that you are not fooling me, right? I know that you''re alive, you literally just moved." Zombie turned back to the tiny sneak n his palm and sighed. "...ssss... (...no, I''m not ¨C I clearly had a heart attack and died ¨C go ahead and throw me away, already, thank you...)" Without changing its position, the remnant of Happy let out a tiny hiss and continued ying dead. "You... wait a second ¨C you are actually stupid? But, I thought that...!" The blue undead''s brows shot up as he gasped taken aback by the monster''s behavior when... "Sssss! (Hey! Who are you calling stupid?!)" The golden snake snapped right back up and hissed furiously. "Sss..! (Ah...!)" Then it flinched again and... "S-sssssss...! (I-I mean ¨C arrrrrrggggghhhh ¨C I''m so dead, oh no...!)" Before it go and dramatically fell on its back ¨C FOR THE SECOND TIME. "..." Zombie looked at it and blinked in disbelief, he even turned to the side and made eye contact with an equally bbergasted Baron, looking over curiously as both Mary and ymore ¨C who got there who knows when ¨C were rubbing his side. "(...ummm... what will you do with this one, master?)" The red dragon asked, weirded out quite a bit. "An idiot or not, it''s a physical remnant of a god ¨C it should give us plenty of experience points if we continue killing it over and over again as it reincarnates." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and answered in a bored voice. "SSSSS! (N-NOW HOLD ON A SECOND!)" As soon as it heard that response, the golden snake jumped back up without any hesitation and hissed in a panicked voice. Chapter 406: Before the appraisal (2 - liar)

Chapter 406: Before the appraisal (2 - liar)

"Ssssss! (Please don''t do that!) Ssssss! (That won''t even work in the first ce!) Sssss! (I''m literally level 1 ¨C I am worth basically nothing!) Ssssss! (You made me use up everything that I had in me to create the royal avaritia form!) Sssss! (And since you killed me while I had the sigil, the resurrection reset me to level 1 ¨C please spare me!) Ssss! (I don''t pose any threat to you, without eating any precious minerals I can''t even attack!) Sssss! (Please, please, please, oh kind and powerful lord undead, have mercy on me...!)" The remnant of Happy went on to hiss pleadingly while bowing its sigil-free head repeatedly. "...oh, I get it ¨C dumb luck." Zombie raised his head and sighed in realization. "Pardon...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and looked at him in confusion. "I know you can''t understand what this one is hissing, but know this ¨C it''s an actual dumbass ¨C but I kind of understand why ¨C it is the physical remnants of the god of luck Happy. It doesn''t need to be intelligent or cunning since it was always getting by on sheer luck alone." "Ssssss! (Hey! I''m not dumb! You''re dumb!)" The blue undead exined which prompted the tiny golden snake to tremble from anger and hiss back at him. "Alright, alright. You''re not stupid. So let''s make a deal." Zombie snorted and smirked at the agitated snake. "Ssss...? (A deal...?)" The tiny monster perked up since it sounded like it would get away from the rather tragic fate of the EXP cow. "Yeah. Just be my subject. Pledge your alliance to me as your one and only master, and I will let you go." Zombie shrugged his shoulders dismissively, making it seem like such an oath wasn''t a big deal at all. "Sssss... (A master... that doesn''t sound like you will let me go after I promise you that...)" The golden snake squinted its eyes in suspicion as it sounded like even it wasn''t foolish enough to hook on such obvious bait. "Look at it from my perspective ¨C I can''t be sure that you won''t,ter on, decide that you want revenge ¨C and if I''m your master, you would just stay away so that I won''t order you around." The blue undead made an indifferent expression and exined. "...sss... (...now that you put it that way, it does make sense...) Ssss! (Alright, fine!)" The snake hissed convinced. ...it was... It was THAT dumb. It swallowed hook, line, and the sinker ¨C no, the whole fishing rod even! "Ssssssssss! (From this point I pledge the allegiance to you, and acknowledge you as my one and only master!)" It went ahead and hissed happily. /Golden serpent of Indigence offered you their servitude Do you ept? Yes/No A system message showed up in front of Zombie''s eyes, turning his smirk into a full-blown evil grin. "System, yes I ept them as my servant." The blue undead epted without even batting an eye. /Choice confirmed Choose a name for your subject Another message popped up, just as it was with Baron. "From now on, your name will be, Monty." /Name selected 2nd subject registered Golden serpent of Indigence, Monty. Zombie dered, prompting thest message from the chain to show up. "Alright, with that ¨C you are free. Go." With that out of the way, the blue undead nodded with satisfaction and put his left hand down so that Monty could slither off of it safely to the ground and gain its freedom. "Ssss...? (R-really...?) Ssss! (Ah! Really! You actually are a kind undead!) Sssss! (Bye-bye!)" Monty''s hiss of disbelief changed into the hiss of happiness as there were no signs of the undead breaking his word and trying to stop it from leaving ¨C the next moment, the tiny golden snake slithered away in a hurry, disappearing from the sight surprisingly easy despite its eye-catching color. "I mean, keeping your word is important... still... You actually let it go?" "(Master, was that wise...?)" Both Cranberry and Baron, who stayedpletely quiet as the negotiations went on, asked in confusion... "Huh? Are you two serious?" Zombie scoffed with a frown and put up his hand. "Monty!" He called out and... *puff* "Ssss?! (Wh-what the?!) With a sh of white light, the tiny golden serpent appeared back on Zombie''s palm. "How was the freedom that I promised you, Monty?" The blue undead asked with a malicious smile. "Ss...? (Ah...?)" Monty hissed in confusion. "SS! (AH!) SSSSSS! (YOU... YOU TRICKED ME!)" "Khahahaha! To my defense, you made it really easy" Monty hissed in realization, making Zombie burst intoughter. "SSSS! (LIAR!) SSSS! (CHEATER!) SSSSSS! (BASTARD OF A MASTER!)" The golden snake was hissing in fury and went on to bite the still slightly burnt blue hand of its master. ...causing absolutely no damage whatsoever, since it had no fangs to begin with ¨C because it had no use for them in its current form ¨C in its original body, Monty was only meant to eat precious minerals that did not require using physical damage against them. "Aww... You already actually call me master ¨C Monty, you are so cute." Zombie''s smile softened and gently patted the snake''s back with his finger ¨C while Monty was too preupied trying to bite him to react. "...you are a bad person, lying to your underlings is no good..." "...?" But Zombie''s actions caused an unexpected reaction ¨C he was scolded by the young ymore, who stopped ying with Baron and approached the little blue undead from behind with a serious expression. "Yeah, I know. But you love me anyway, right?" "!!!!!" Zombie scoffed and smirked before winking at the avatar of lust who blushed and hurriedly hid behind Baron''s body. "Zombie!" Cranberry called out frowning and clenching the undead''s arm. "Sorry, sorry ¨C I''ll make sure that you are the one I tease the most, so don''t get upset." "Kyaaah!" Her familiar apologized without any sincerity behind his words and gently poked her side, making the red-haired girl jump up with a high-pitched scream of embarrassment. "That said. System, I want to rank up." With only the furious golden serpent on his palm, Zombie finally gave his permission to the system and got instantly enveloped in a cocoon of white light. Chapter 407: Before the appraisal (3)

Chapter 407: Before the appraisal (3)

/Rank up in progress... /Calcting... /System detected that the monster reached at least level 10 /System detected at least one sword rted skill /No magic detected. /Calcting... /Two paths avable: Basic undead (zombie) >>> Ghoul Basic undead (zombie) >>> Undead page |Well, I''ve been working towards the specific oue, the choice is clear- I choose the Undead page path!| Zombie - bathed in the blinding light of the system that made him feel as if he was transported to a separate dimension, something like the reverse sin of origin nucleus ¨C thought confidently, since he couldn''t actually feel his mouth or any other part of his body in his current state. /Undead page path selected *RIIIIIP* |WHOA!| As the next message popped up confirming his choice, the blue undead suddenly could feel his conscience being connected to his body as it suddenly grew ¨C not by a lot, but enough to make the slightly burnt clothes rip apart like dirty rags ¨C making him gasp in shock internally. /Rank uppleted Basic undead (zombie) >>> Undead page champion /Calcting... /yer level decreased Level 30 >>> Level 1 /Minor skill point decrease (penalty) due to the level drop /You receive a race-specific skill Bone sword summon (level 1) /You receives a quest (level 1) Upgrade any skill to level 2 Reward: +1 free status point /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one maxed out skill Special reward granted Title: Hardworker /Error /Hard worker title detected /Changing the reward /Calcting... /Multiple maxed out level skills detected Overlevel skill detected /Special reward granted Title: Workaholic /Error Workaholic title detected /Changing the reward /Hidden reward granted /Title: Maniac /Two title exclusive skills received Bulldozer (level 1) Machine mind (level 1) /You receives a quest (level 1) Gain at least one physical offense skill Reward: +1 ATK /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one maxed out physical offense skill Special reward granted +10 ATK /You receives a quest (level 1) Use any skill 10 times Reward: +1 free status point /Questpleted Reward granted /System detected at least one skill used over 1,000,000 times Special reward granted Free tier-two skill /Do you want to select a skill now? "..." "Zombie! ah...! Umm...! A- a shirt! We need to get you a new shirt...!" As the blue undead was trying to wrap his mind around what in the world the flood of the messages that he already saw on that day meant, the red-haired girl by his side looked at him, her face became a few shades brighter than her hair, she then covered her face with her hands ¨C then she spread her fingers open to continue looking at the undead who became maybe an inch or two taller than her, and she gasped as her eyes kept on darting down from Zombie''s slightly older face down to his body. "(Master! You look even stronger!)" Baron stood up and gasped looking at the blue undead in awe. "Sssss...? (Eh...? Huh...?) Ssss? (Master, why do you suddenly look different?)" Monty, who evacuated from Zombie''s palm the moment the light enveloped the blue undead, hissed a question from the top of Baro''s head where it decided was the safest spot for the moment. "Ah! That was a rank-up, wasn''t it?! He ranked up!" Mary gasped and her eyes lighted up as she bounced up with excitement ¨C already showing themon trait that every tamer shared, the joy of watching tamed monsters getting stronger. |...Pati, I really could use your expertise on this situation ¨C how the hell did I get the level 1 quests AGAIN?! And how what about that whole champion thing? Are things going ording to our n or is it going down the drain and the Eternal will show up here in a second?| Zombie didn''t respond to any of themotion that others raised around him and instead tried to contact the silent sealed overseer ¨C sadly, in vain. "Haa... That''s annoying..." "!!!!" The blue undead shook his head and sighed ¨C making Cranberry, Baron and Morty, Mary, and ymore, flinch and back off with worried expressions. "That wasn''t about any of you ¨C don''t make those faces." Zombie''s eyes momentarily light up with a light-blue light as he smiled and put all the others at ease... "!!!!" Aside from ymore, who got even more worried and backed off behind Cranberry ¨C as they chose her to be a more reliant barrier than the body of the red dragon. |Ah, using a tier 1 lust-exclusive skill against the avatar of lust is a dumb idea, oh well...| Zombie squinted his eyes but almost instantly looked away from the androgynous child and checked up on how his body turned out. His shirt got ripped into shreds that hung down to his waist- thankfully his pants held on though that was mostly because of the high-quality belt that Kopaia''s scabbard was attached to. Speaking of which, Kopia was silent but Zombie could feel that she was the most tense out of everyone there ¨C it surprised him a little bit until he realized that the strings of her hair never unraveled from his right hand and the sentient weapon was reading his mind the whole time. |Sorry if I scared you.| The blue undead smiled softly and gently patted Kopia''s crossguard. "..." She didn''t let out the high-pitched noise but just vibrated in response, showing that she was okay. |That said, are you also curious about that bone sword summon skill?| "...!" Zombie asked and received a vibration strong enough to shake his whole waist in response ¨C Kopia couldn''t be any more clear about that. "Let''s try this." Zombie nodded and reached out his hand, and furrowed his brows concentrating on the new skill. **** Then, with a low hum, a rather simple weapon appeared in his hand. It was just a basic one-handed short sword but instead of metal, it was made out of the sharpened yellowish bone that looked like it was left in the ground for ages and was about to crumble apart ¨C it was really difficult to imagine it being useful. |...Do you think the same thing that I think...?| Zombie nced down at Kopia ¨C and smirked as he saw a few new strands of red hair growing out of her pommel rising up and reaching towards the de. Kopia''s jealousy towards any sword-rted equipment was truly boundless ¨C she could not stand Zombie holding anything other than her. |Bone Appetit. Khahaha!| Zombie''s smile grew wide as he made a little pun and offered the bone sword to the jealous sentient sword. *CRUNCH* As soon as he did that, Kopia lost all restraint and her red hair exploded out and wrapped around the de created by skill and hungrily devoured it with a loud sound of bones breaking apart. /Skill upgrade Bone sword summon (level 1) >>> Sword familiar (bound) summon ([max]) As soon as the red threads retracted and disappeared, another message popped up. |Hey, look, you are officially my familiar.| "Te-he~!" The blue undead thought with a smirk and this time Kopia couldn''t hold back her happiness and giggled out loud. "Oh, hey, look, Roan is waving at us. They must be ready for our appraisal." Zombie raised his head and motioned at the blond prince waving at them from the other end of the arena ¨C while not addressing anything that happened ¨C and started walking towards him. "Cranberry, Baron ¨C let''s go. Let''s not make him wait." He waved his hand at them without looking back. Chapter 408: Volume 7s epilogue - Benefits and problems

Chapter 408: Volume 7''s epilogue - Benefits and problems

"Leveling up so much all at once isn''t actually as great as you might think ¨C as you can see you have lost a lot of status points you would otherwise gain thanks to the benefits of the various titles ¨C still, since you have plenty of quests toplete, with enough hard work you will be able to train your way to match others with the same level." The appraiser was ruthless with his words even to someone as important as the first prince of the kingdom. "A-ah... I see..." There was no trace of the initial joy on Roan''s face as the blond boy had received the news ¨C his expression darkened as he was looking at the note with the results of his appraisal ¨C the numbers were big for someone his age, but it all fell behind the other level 26 yer characters ¨C especially adventurers. To make the long story short ¨C the massive amount of experience was more of a curse than a blessing. "...ha..." Cranberry, who was the next in line to be appraised made a sour expression ¨C she was already suspecting that jumping in levels without titles was just as bad as joining the system with high level and forsaking the early quests ¨C but now with the confirmation straight from the mouth of the appraiser, she gritted her teeth and looked away with a bitter face. "Youngdy Pride, if I may." The appraiser called to her and his eyes began glowing white as soon as the red-haired girl walked in front of him. "...Oh, a unique ss, and a subss, I see ¨C interesting... Great amount of MP and MAT, and the skills are very promising too ¨C but otherwise, it''s the same thing as with the young prince. Here." The man said while his hand was constantly moving until everything was written down ¨C after which he offered the note to the girl. Name: Cranberry Pride Race: Human Level: 30 Magic type: Dark Arts ss:? War mage Subss: Support mage Registered familiar: Zombie HP: 227 MP: 372 ATK: 191 DEF: 180 MAT: 351 MDF: 187 HIT: 195 EVA: 180 AGI: 199 LUC: 112 Skills: Fire immunity ([max]) Blunt weapon proficiency (level 6) Charge (level 4) Bash (level 5) Thrash (level 3[max]) Fire enchantment (level 7) Fireball (level 10) Stack (level 6) Detection [hearing] (level 6) me cloak (level 5) Fire st (level 1) Thunder enchantment (level 6) Lightning (level 10) Dead aim (level 7) Thunder (level 5) Strength augmentation (level 9) Speed augmentation (level 9) Boost (level 12) Discharge (level 1) Waterball (level 9) Geyser (level 1) Ice spear (level 1) Ice enchantment (level 1) Stone missile (level 1) Stone armor (level 1) Rock st (level 1) Empower (level 1) Heal (level 1) Mage light (level 1) Light ray (level 1) Smite (level 1) Light enchantment (level 1) Muffle (level 1) Darkness bullet (level 1) Darkness enchantment (level 1) Call undead (level 1) Acid ball (level 1) Acid enchantment (level 1) Conjure poison (weak) (level 1) Rapid incantation (level 15[max]) MP regeneration (level 6) Magic bash (level 8) Concentration (level 7) HP regeneration (level 1) Title: Child of pride Daughter of the elves Hardworker Troll yer Sigil hunter "...ha..." Cranberry studied her results and breathed out with slight disappointment ¨C there were many brand new skills that she received thanks to leveling up and receiving both a ss and a subss, and the skills she already had all gained a healthy boost in levels but overall, she felt that it was not enough ¨C hear heart did skip a beat though when she saw her second title that she had no idea when she received, which made it up for her a great deal. "Now, for the corpse puppet." The appraiser called out. "Undead familiar ¨C at least try to soundpetent." "...!" Zombie scoffed and smirked mockingly at the sitting man ¨C who flinched and furrowed his brows displeased that an undead is talking back to him. "Right. Corpse puppet can''t talk for a reason,e closer." The appraiser scoffed back and demanded in a domineering voice ¨C in reaction to which Zombie barely held back a mockingugh. "Try to not fall from that chair of yours, mister ipetent appraiser." The blue undead''s face lighted up with ridicule as he nodded at the man in a parody of friendliness. "Pffft! Why would I...?" The appraiser shook his head and snorted dismissively at Zombie''s words before he activated his skills and ¨C as his eyes shone with white light and his hand was prepared to start writing things down... "HUUUUUUUUUUH?!" *WHAM* The confident appraiser''s eyes bulged out of their sockets and he fell off his chair as he jolted back in utter shock. "...?!" "!!!!!" "What is this supposed to mean...?" There was not a single person - aside from Zombie himself and the red-haired Cranberry ¨C who wasn''t shocked by that strong of a reaction. "Kahahaha! I warned you." Zombie burst out inughter and shrugged his shoulders dismissively as the appraiser was scrambling himself back up at his feet. "..." The pale man said absolutely nothing and hurriedly wrote down the note, pushed it towards the blue undead, and rushed out of the arena in a hurry, not looking back. "Well, that was rude." Zombie furrowed his brows as he tilted his head before he looked down at the paper. Name: Zombie Race: Undead page [champion] Subjects: Baron, Morty Level: 1 HP: 1170 MP: 312 ATK: 401 DEF: 800 MAT: 332 MDF: 723 HIT: 270 EVA: 155 AGI: 187 LUC: 100 Skills: Superbia (level 3) Pain nullification (level 10 [max]) Insomniac (level [max]) Acrobatics (level 17[max]) Sword mastery (level 10[max]) Pierce (level 10[max]) Leadership (level 9) Reflect (level 6[max]) Fortress (level 4) Focus (level 6) Emergency dodge (level 10[max]) HP regeneration (level 8) Cleave (level 20) Strong kick (level 29) de tornado (level 4) Sword whip (level 16) Throw (level 19[max]) Whirlwind kick (level 23) Overpower (level 2) Call to arms (level 5) Overlevel (level 4) Undead body (level 6) Life signature detection (level 6) Bite (level 5) Corpse venom (level 5) Holy damage immunity (level 3) Heartthrob (level 3) Bulldozer (level 1) Machine mind (level 1) Sword familiar summon ([max]) Unlocked Affinities: Leg power (level 20[max]) Beast master (level 7) Titles: Heir of Pride Liar Hardworker Bane of goblins Sigil hunter Orcs'' cmity Troll yer Undeads'' cmity Hunter yer of the unique Kingyer Cmity Undead familiar Dragon rider Workaholic Maniac "Whew, I was worried that my stats would reset after the rank-up since there was this message about a penalty, but I''m d that it wasn''t that bad." Zombie nodded to himself, folding the note and putting it into his pocket without showing it to anyone else. The blue undead looked at the red-haired girl who seemed to be very curious about it and only nced at Roan and the people other people staring at them ¨C which made Cranberry flinch and nodded with understanding. Then, Zombie turned towards the queen sitting in the VIP section of the audience, and the very same appraiser that just stormed out of the arena, bending down and hurriedly reporting something to her in a hushed voice ¨C though there was little to no doubt about what exactly was he reporting about. "...!" The queen''s eyes widened and she looked at the appraiser in disbelief, but the man didn''t back down and nodded his head vigorously instead. "...I don''t like where this is going ¨C just in case, get ready to jump at Baron since we might need to get out of here in a hurry..." Zombie walked over to the red-haired girl and lowered his head to whisper in her ear. "Okay." Cranberry did not ask any questions and just nodded with a serious expression. The blue undead turned around to have another look at the blond queen and saw her looking right back at him with a wide, happy smile. ...way too happy smile... "This can''t be good." Zombie''s expression darkened as he red right back at the suspiciously overjoyed avatar of greed. Chapter 409: A chase in the rain

Chapter 409: A chase in the rain

"Damn it, damn it, dam it...!" A middle-aged, ck-haired woman with amber eyes and a birthmark in the shape of a banana on her neck, was running away through the dark alley, cursing to herself in panic as the pouring rain was drowning the sounds of her steps. "...what did I even do to him...?!" She gritted her teeth and dared to nce back as she thought that she had gained enough distance already... "!!!!" But almost had a heart attack once she noticed the tiny cloaked figure running only a few steps behind her. "FUCK OFF, YOU BASTARD!" *swish* *swish* *swish* The woman growled and spun around on her heel the moment she took her next step and with the white light enveloping her hands she wlessly threw three daggers coated in ck paint straight at her pursuer ¨C after which she continued running without losing any of the speed. *ng* *ng* *ng* "Tsk...!" But the sound of the daggers getting deflected broke through the sound of the downpour and caused her to click her tongue. She wasn''t calm, to begin with, but with the situation bing as dreadful as this, well, she was rapidly losing whatever was left with herposure. Away from the main road, running through the slums in the middle of the night ¨C it was useless to call for help as it was far more likely to attract more assants than actually meet a kind soul that would save her. In the first ce, she wasn''t that even that weak ¨C and in a normal situation, she should be able to at least outrun or hideaway even if her opponent was a level 99 yer character ¨C she was that certain about the power of her legs as well as her agility stat ¨C but this persistent guy seemed to be using some skill that would make him keep up with her ¨C and even when she would try to mask her presence, he would instantly find her location as if he could see through walls! It was really, really bad. Maybe the worst part of it was ¨C the woman had no idea why that guy would be so keen on attacking her in the first ce! She never did him any wrong ¨C far from it ¨C thest time they''ve seen each other, she actually helped him ¨C so why the tiny bastard was out for blood now?! And why was it HER blood?! The woman vaulted over a low fence built up with rotting nks that must have beenying in the mud for a few years, and changed the direction she was going, trying to return to the more popted area, preferably even somewhere closer to the adventurer''s guild but... *SWING* A one-handed shortsword appeared out of nowhere and cleaved at the muddy road ¨C if the woman didn''t notice it and stop in time, her head would have lost connection to her neck for sure. "Fffffff...!" The woman breathed out with a hissing sound as she pulled out another dagger and stabbed it right at the head of the short opponent. *CLANG* "URGH!" ...but her attack got countered with enough strength to send her stumbling back, barely able to keep her bnce. "Little bastard...! Who put you up for this?!" The woman gritted her teeth and tried to buy some time while she changed her grip on the dagger to make it more suitable for deflecting the blows of the much bigger weapon. "..." Yet only silence responded to her, as the short cloaked attacker lifted up his sword and turned to her menacingly. "Is this because of one of the recent quests? Or the older ones? Or are you just fucked up in the head?" The woman growled trying to at least make the silent pursuer show any sort of reaction. "..." All for naught. *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* *shing* The cloaked guy''s body shone with white light and he unleashed a torrent of powerful attacks ¨C which the woman managed to dodge by jumping back... *SHING* *RIIIP* "URGH!" *ng* *thump* ...until her luck had run out and she slipped on the puddle with the worst timing possible and her opponent''s de sliced into her forearm stopping only at the bone ¨C which made the woman grunt in pain as she dropped her dagger that bounced on the ground and disappeared in the darkness while she ended up with her back on the muddy road. "...damn it...!" She gritted her teeth, clenching the deep wound thatpletely disabled her fingers. "Heh... How about I suck you off and you let me go for today...?" She asked with a pained smirk as her eyes shone with white light. "...!" At first, it looked like her charm skill worked ¨C the cloaked person flinched ¨C but in the next moment an artifact on his finger shone brightly, and the man shook his head as the debuff status effect was cleansed. "Tsk... it was worth a try..." The woman clicked her tongue, looking as if she has given up ¨C but as the attacker raised his sword to deal the final blow, she herself pulled out herst dagger ¨C right from her cleavage of all ces - and...! *RIIIIIIIIIP* "!!!!!!!" A white light shone from behind the short man and the next second HE GOT CLEAVED IN HALF DIAGONALLY by a white bone-like de of a bastard sword that was glowing with an eerie whitish light. The blood and guts spilled all over the ce as the upper half of the attacker spun around before sshing into the mud right in front of the amber-eyed woman. "...whew, no ruthless title, it wasn''t anyone important..." "...?!" The woman heard a relieved sigh before the clouds have parted and the moonlight illuminated her savior - a tall ck-haired boy, looking around fifteen or maybe sixteen years old... whose skin waspletely blue! "An undead?!" The woman gasped in disbelief and backed off, even more worried. "Ah, right ¨C of course, you don''t know..." The undead teenager nced at her and rolled his eyes. "Hey-o miss Banana, long time no see. Are you still the guild master?" The blue undead asked, sheathing his sword and walking towards the woman, stomping on the steaming intestines of the freshly murdered man with no second thoughts, and offered her his hand. "Wha... who...?" Banana, the guild master of the local adventurer''s guild gasped, bergasted, and furrowed her brows carefully looking at the undead''s face. "Wait...! You''re one of Laura''s kids! Zombie, right? What happened to you?!" She asked in shock. "That''s a long story. Let''s get you to safety ¨C I have a business with you, and I need you alive and adequately well." Zombie smirked cheekily and helped Banana to stand up even though she was rather uncooperative, still trying to wrap her head around what was going on. Chapter 410: A talk over the corpse

Chapter 410: A talk over the corpse

"But first..." Zombie muttered to himself, letting Banana go, but not taking his hands awaypletely just in case she would plop right back down. "You good?" He asked the local guild master as she crossed her arms and shivered. "No ¨C I''m not, for the matter of fact ¨C I just got attacked by one of my own employees with whom I thought I had a rather positive rtion, and then got saved by you, a kid who I remember while you were seven years old sneaking out from Laura''s farm to do missions despite her opposition. How could I be okay?!" Bananained angrily, briefly pointing at the gory mess at Zombie''s feet, as well as Zombie himself. "For system''s sake, what happened to you? Has it really been that long? I could swear that thest time I saw you was only five years ago! How did you get yourself turned into an undead?" She asked rubbing her forehead as if she was getting a headache. "Oh, You are not that far off, I''m currently eleven." The blue undead looking like a sixteen-year-old boy waved his hand dismissively and bend down, reaching for and grabbing the hand of Banana''s attacker that got severed when Zombie cut him in half. "P-pardon me? What do you mean you''re eleven? Level? But you were stronger than that... ah, I see, once you got turned into an undead your level had reset..." Banana shook her head and furrowed her brows in confusion. "No. Miss Banana, we have seen each other four years ago. At this point in time, the age of my body is eleven years old." Zombie nced at her with a weirded-out smile, as if she was the unreasonable one, and straightened his back. "...eh...?" "When ites to levels, I am currently level 5 after my second rank up... oh-ho, what do we have here..." Zombie said to her while taking the ring off of the fingers of the deceased attacker and putting it up to look at it in the moonlight. Then he did something odd ¨C it looked like he put the ring up to his ear, the one that Banana couldn''t see from her point of view, and nodded. "Ah, I see. Charm protection." He nodded tossing the severed hand beside the body ¨C and then he kicked the upper half of the body so that the face of the attacker would be revealed. "Eh?!" As the face of an adult man with a deformed face got illuminated by the moonlight, Banana gasped in confusion, momentarily forgetting about the confounding case of Zombie''s mismatched looks and age. "Not the one who you expected, huh? So, do you have any idea what have you done to get into the bad wrong side of the main branch of the Envy family?" Zombie smirked and began searching through the very tight clothes that the corpse was wearing ¨C their size was so ridiculously wrong that it looked like an adult tried to fit into a child''s outfit. "Envy...? Well, that makes a little bit more sense than Grape suddenly trying to kill me..." Banana rubbed her temple and sighed... "Wait, what do you mean the main branch?! This guy?! Have you ever seen anyone from their main family?!" ...she flinched and called out gesturing at the disfigured face sticking out of the way too small hood. "Grape? The kobold receptionist? Ah, doesn''t matter, we''ll talk about thatter. Aha...!" Zombie shrugged his shoulders while ripping open the man''s cloak and spotting a pendant ¨C which he promptly took off and put up to his ear just like the ring. "Interesting ¨C you put a fragment of your target into it and this thing points you to their exact location? What a specific benefit!" The blue undead snorted, hiding the pendant in his pocket together with the ring. "Now then..." He murmured to himself, turning around to check the other half of the corpse ¨C which also increased in size after death ¨C and ended up fishing out a small coin pouch. "...?" Banana furrowed her brows ¨C as the undead moved, a peculiar golden earring glistened in the night ¨C it was shaped like a small snake wrapping around the boy''s blue ear ¨C even despite thepromising lighting it looked almost lifelike and must have been a rather expensive ornament ¨C and more than likely an artifact too. "And for the main dish..." Zombie smirked and reached out for the one-handed short sword that the dead attacker dropped as he was struck by the bone-white de. "...!" Banana kind of expected the boy to put up the weapon up to his ear too, but got surprised when instead of doing that, the undead simply put it close to the pommel of his own weapon ¨C and in the next moment, a few crimson red strings sprouted out of the said pommel and coiled around the de of interest. "Ooooh! Master, this has a really nice skill! Automatic defense! As long as enough mana is provided, this skill will allow the user to deflect any physical attacking their way! I want to eat it!" Of all things that Banana expected to witness, a talking sword wasn''t one of them ¨C but there it was. Without a doubt, the slightly muffled high-pitched voice wasing out of the expensive scabbard on the blue undead''s waist! "It really does sound nice. Go ahead." Zombie smirked and nodded with approval. "Yaay! Thank you, master!" *CRUNCH* The sword squeaked happily and suddenly the crimson thread burst out of its pommel and wrapped around the other weapon ¨C to crush and apparently devour it with a loud unpleasant sound, as when the crimson threads retracted, there was no trace of the shortsword left. "Good. Now, for getting rid of the body..." Zombie nodded to himself and stacked the corps''s pieces on top of each other and leaned over it with his mouth open. "Wait a moment, what do you mean getting rid of the corpse?! That''s a piece of evidence proving that I was atta...!" *********** Banana flinched and took a step forward, reaching her hand towards the blue undead, but at that very moment his eyes and mouth lighted up with white light, and a stream of some transparent ¨C water-like liquid gushed out, right at the fragmented attacker. ''''!!!!!!" It obviously wasn''t water ¨C the moment it touched the body and fabric alike, it began melting it with a nauseating sound that made the woman''s skin crawl with disgust. Less than two minutes ¨C that was all that it took for the corpse to turn into a brownish-red puddle that didn''t even look that odd next to all the mud left by the rain. "Whew... Sorry for the wait. Once we''re in some better ce I shall exin things to you." The blue undead straightened his back and licked his lips making sure that no stray drop of venom drips onto his clothes, and asked rather cheerfully. "That said... Do you have a safe ce like that? Since this guy was posing as a guild staff member, let''s assume that guild isn''t exactly the best spot for now, and probably neither is your official house... The only ce thates to my mind is Laura''s farm, but if I remember correctly, she isn''t very fond of you." He added, tilting his head innocently. "...I..." The ck-haired woman put down her hand and hesitated. "I know a ce." She made a sour expression and sighed. Chapter 411: You scratch my back...

Chapter 411: You scratch my back...

Zombie found himself in the basement of a certain entertainment establishment ¨C in a room that none of the clients knew about and the way to ess it was only known to girls working there for a few years. "Wee to my home away from home. It should be safe enough here." Banana dusted off a chair by the equally dusty desk and sat on it crossing her legs and leaning back on it. She looked a lot moreposed and the blue undead read it as a sign that this was indeed a safe spot, at least for her. "First of all..." Banana furrowed her brows and spoke... "First of all, mypensation." Zombie interrupted her, reaching out his hand. "Eh...?" The woman frowned and looked between the blue hand and the blue face. "Don''t ''eh'' me, as the guild master, you of all people should know that everything requirespensation." Zombie scoffed and repeatedly folded and unfolded his fingers. "Precious stones and or metals are weed." He added without even blinking. "You said that you have a business with me!" Banana scoffed back and red at the blue undead after straightening her back. "Indeed. A business that will be beneficial for both of us, that''s why there''s no need for any debts of gratitude between us ¨C sopensation, please." The blue undead snorted and tilted his head, smirking mockingly, and didn''t even budge or break the prolonged eye contact. "Hmph." Whether she was really okay with that or not, Banana turned towards the desk and opened one of the drawers, then she put her hand deep inside it and... *click* ...a hiddenpartment opened on the opposite side of the desk. Then the ck-haired woman reached there and pulled out a small pouch and tossed it to the blue undead without checking its content. "See? Was it that hard?" Zombie giggled and took off his golden snake earring, he opened the pouch and dropped the earring inside. *gulp* *gulp* *gulp* "...?" Something moved vigorously inside the fabric apanied by the sounds of rather unceremonious swallowing, making the woman lean away with a rather concerned expression. After a few seconds, the blue undead reached inside, took out the golden snake attaching it back to his ear, and tossed the pouch aside ¨C where it fell on the dusty floor, empty. "Now, about the business, I have with you." Zombie leaned against the wall, not addressing what just happened at all. "I will not y around and use those silly secret passwords and whatnots so forgive me if I am breaking some sort of secret club rule you have. The queen sent me to investigate the main branch of the Envy family..." "WHA-GH...! Ughe! Ughe! Ghh!" His exnation was interrupted by Banana shouting on top of her lungs in disbelief ¨C or rather at her attempt to scream interrupted by her choking on her own saliva in a rather embarrassing manner. "...and she told me that you will aid me as long as I mention her as your old, very influential acquaintances and say something about escape through the rose garden. Now calm down, and breathe." The blue undead finished his sentence anyway, and only then did he approach the choking woman and patted her back. "It looks like either that information must have leaked or in a rather outstanding coincidence you managed to anger the Envy family on your own ¨C considering that they have already sent out someone tailor-made to finish you off." Zombie said and pulled out both the ring and the pendant that he took off the disguised man that tried to kill the ck-haired woman and who would seed if not for the timely intervention by the blu undead. "A ring imbued with the passive defensive skill against charms, a pendant with a skill that points to the target''s location despite however many stealth skills one might use, and even a sword that had the automatic defense skill that would assure that none of your offensive skills wouldnd." Zombie smirked, putting the two artifacts on the desk next to the woman who managed to regain herposure, and was ring at him with a death stare. "Seriously ¨C they came prepared ¨C it''s says a lot since an early middle-tier nobody backed ate middle-tier assassin like you into a corner." He smiled, sliding both artifacts towards her. "..." Banana didn''t say anything, and just grabbed the ring and put it on her finger. "...!" ...and flinched when she saw the system message that popped up for her. "System damn it... So it''s because of that greedy idiot ¨C I should have never helped her that night." The ck-haired woman took off the ring and threw it back on the desk ¨C after which she hid her face in her hands and lowered her head all the way to her knees. "...I need to make one thing clear too..." She added without getting up. "The thing about the rose garden ¨C SHE is the one who owes ME a favor, not the other way around." She dered moving her head enough so that she could re at the indifferent undead. "Alright. It doesn''t change the fact that Envys want you dead now, though. But, helping me is the best option for you to solve that problem ¨C or at least the best option that doesn''t require you to escape the territory and probably the kingdom itself, leaving behind everything you worked so hard to achieve." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and took back both of the artifacts. "..." Banana sighed and slowly straightened her back. "And why is that? I am more than certain that whatever that woman wants you to do will only benefit her and her position while leaving me in the dust." She frowned and pushed her jaw forward as if she was trying to start a fight with the undead in front of her. "Oh, yeah, for sure ¨C trusting her is just suicide." "...eh...?" Instead of trying to deny or convince her otherwise, Zombie nodded his head vigorously which actually threw Banana offpletely. *WHAM* "Then why the hell are you trying to convince me to help you?!" She gasped in disbelief, mming her fist against the desk. "I have never said that I want you toply with whatever the queen wants us to do ¨C since to begin with I do not have any intention of listening to her either." Zombie confessed with a soft smile and spread his arms as if showing that he has nothing to hide. "...!" Banana''s eyes widened as she leaned back on the chair, staring at the blue undead oozing with a trustworthy aura of a born leader. "Let''s help each other out." Chapter 412: Because hes on his own...

Chapter 412: Because he''s on his own...

*SLAM* "WHAT''S UP YOU LAZY WEAKLINGS?! GUESS WHO WORKED HIMSELF TO DEATH AND IS BACK FOR MORE!?" The door to the adventurer''s guild was kicked open so heard they got stuck in the walls on both sides, and a blue undead walked in with his hands up as if he was a least a messiah descending from the heavens to save the world. "!!!!!!!!" A monster waltzing in the building full of contracted monster hunters ended as one would expect it would ¨C with everyone instantly reaching for their weapons and attacking. ...which made the undead grin so wide that his face looked as if it split apart... ¡­ ¡­... "Whew, that was a nice training ¨C thanks, everyone! My closebat skill got to level 2 ¨C and it''s all because of your contribution!" Zombie dered in a grateful voice as he took out a handkerchief and started wiping off the blood from his hands and elbows. "I picked this skill a while ago hoping that it would allow me for not lethal takedowns and as you could feel on your own skin, that was a great sess!" He added looking around at all the knocked-out and or groaning adventurers amongst which broken bones were the minimum damage received. "..." He suddenly flinched and red at one of the staff members ¨C a female human aiming at him with a glowing scepter. "Shoot that spell out and I will reflect it straight to your face." He growled and scoffed before grabbing a cor of his shirt and pulling it up showing a flimsy adventurer badge. "It''s me, Zombie ¨C now also literal zombie, or rather an undead squire ¨C Bananananana should have told you that I wille by today." "EH...?! N-no way, so when guild master said that a real monster wille by she meant...?!" The woman gasped and the light of the skill faded away even though she didn''t put the scepter down. "A real real monster. Not a monster-like human. How did you all like the little free lesson I gave those ckers that call themselves adventurers? Geez, no wonder that Banananananananananaana wasining that this branch is listed as deadst in the strength ranking of the entire territory!" The undead youngsterughed and waved his hand dismissively. "Do you have everything prepared?" He walked over to the counter ¨C at which he leaned down and put his elbow on and rested his chin on his hand ¨C and winked at the female staff member while his eyes shone with a pale-blue light, causing the woman to turn bright red and start fidgetting. "O-of course we do! I''ll bring it right away!" She responded hurriedly and rushed to the back in such a hurry that she even activated a speed-increasing skill. "Khahaha!" Zombieughed, watching her run and turn back, leaning against the counter, and took in the sight of the carnage that he left in his wake ¨C that day was bound to give the town healers a months-worth of ie! ...but will this be enough...? Zombie''s mouth did not stop smiling but his eyes turned cold. The n that he and Banana conceived was rather simple ¨C make as much ruckus as possible so that the Envys'' spy or spies will have no other choice but to pay attention to him, grab the fake documents with the supposed hard evidence about Envys non-specific secret ¨C and make it seem like he was leaving the territory with them, sending the spies on the wild goose chase, maybe even make such a big deal out of it than most of the main family members will be deployed to action, leaving the Envys mansion at the territory''s capital less guarded, while also giving Banana some room to breathe. ¡­ Honestly, without a ridiculously high level of leadership skill, there was no way that Banana would have agreed to take part in such a ridiculous n with aughably low probability of sess. Maybe the funniest part was that that Zombie did not care whether that n would work out or not ¨C because the only reason he actually interacted with the guild master in the first ce was so that she would be a convenient scapegoat when he will aplish his real n ¨C breaking into the Envys mansion and collecting the physical remnant of the spirit god Saint. Yes. With more than six months of Patience going radio silent, Zombie couldn''t just sit on his butt and do nothing. The knowledge he had was that of the events of the main game ¨C that would begin only in a couple of years ¨C he had no idea what kind of quests were required for the secret true ending that he was aiming for ¨C well, no idea except for the detail that Patience let slip a while ago. The optional quests required for the secret true ending all involved the seven capture target after they inherit the titles of avatars of sin, as well as the monsters known as remnants of gods. What exactly was the part that the remnants were supposed to y out ¨C Zombie did not know. What he knew was that there was a perfectly good remnant of Saint in the basement of the Envys mansion ¨C since Patience confirmed that with him in one of their previous conversations, and if the only difference with the first ythrough was that the remnant was there in ce of the actual Saint, that would mean that the remnant will be extremely weak and more than prone to getting captured by the blue undead. In the first ythrough, ''freeing'' Saint was apanied by the destruction of the main branch of the Envy family ¨C but that obviously could not happen since in Zombie''s mind there were memories of the events connected with Mason, the half-elf capture target from the Envy family, and in none of them his family was dead ¨C disgraced, yes, but not dead. Actually, the more the blue undead thought about it, the more it seemed that freeing the elves and revealing to the world that the main branch of the Envy family was actually kidnapping the members of their race to steal their beauty was the proper course for the story to follow, so what he was going to do was simply setting up Mason''s backstory and nothing more. "..." Zombie nced back but the female staff member was not back yet. Of course, there was another possibility ¨C and that was that with each action he takes, he stirs up the seal of the Eternal and the overpowered monster will be unleashed upon the world at any moment... It was really disturbing, though, at the same time doing nothing could lead to the exact same oue too. |I miss Pati.| "..." Zombie thought to himself and felt Kopia vibrate in her sheath reassuringly. About the sealed overseer ¨C when Zombie focused really heard, he could feel something akin to the presence inside of him that he could only associate with her ¨C so it wasn''t like she disappeared, but instead, it seemed like she was asleep for some reason... or maybe her seal suddenly got stronger and she was unable to contact him even if she wanted...? "Haa..." The blue undead sighed and the smile disappeared from his face. At the end of the day, he could only make sure that the events in this ythrough would be set up to match the ones he had the memories of while he would continue doing his best to prepare for the secret quests that would allow unlocking the secret true ending. And if he will have to throw some unimportant fruit-named character like Banana under the bus to aplish that ¨C well, who cares...? Chapter 413: He doesnt appreciate being surveilled

Chapter 413: He doesn''t appreciate being surveilled

"There''s a new spy the queen sent to keep an eye on me." Zombie sighed leaning against the crimson-red-haired girl in a fluffy dress wrapped around his arm. It was annoying. What would that make it? Fourth one? Fifth? The deal the two of them made behind the closed door clearly stated that he would only contact the agent sent by the queen once every week to exchange information ¨C and not to be put under constant surveince. What was most annoying about those spies was that Zombie couldn''t be sure that they aren''t important characters essential for the special quests ¨C but as long as it was someone whose life signature he did not recognize ¨C well... "There''s a nice back alley ¨C and it''s on our way to the road to the Great northern forest, master." The crimson-haired girl hugged and tugged on the blue undead''s shoulder and motioned at the dark passage between tall brick buildings where the lights of the streetnterns would not reach. "Good call, Kopia. Let''s lose this annoying tail." Zombie smirked and instantly beelined towards the conveniently empty alley. --- She was rather new to this job ¨C born in a poor family, she got picked up by the branch of the Envy family working directly under the crown. As it turned out, she had a knack for being a spy ¨C with an inborn affinity for masking her presence she was almost perfect at tailing others from the shadow while staying invisible. A few days ago her teacher and direct superior contacted her and she was assigned a new job ¨C trailing a very peculiar undead that retained all of his free will and was actually doing a mission for the queen herself. It was an odd mission but at the same time very reasonable ¨C how anyone could truly trust a monster, even if that monster appeared to be so human-like? With a few simr missions under her belt, she knew that it shouldn''t be a high-stake mission, and found it as a chance to get some important experience and recognition in the right circles, necessary for receiving more well-paid jobs in the future. Though her teacher did not share that opinion and went as far as to warn her more than seven times during their brief conversation to not get too close to the target, and even lend her an artifact ¨C a ring that would warn the user about the life-threatening danger. It was really odd ¨C the old spy did not want to get into details ¨C but she never took him for such a worrywart... It almost felt like he was caring for her as if she was his own granddaughter ¨C which wasn''t that surprising considering their age gap. "I guess he''s getting too old for this business, spies have no use for families unless they are needed to blend in for a mission." She sighed to herself after making sure that the distance between her and the blue undead was big enough that she could safely follow him without causing any suspicion. The weird teenage-looking blue bastard got himself an escort, some short crimson-haired fancy dressed girl that seemed around twenty-something, that was clinging to him like it was normal ¨C but money could buy everything in the envy territory, so that part maybe wasn''t that odd. The two of them disappeared into a dark alley ¨C and even though the spy didn''t want to even think about the undoubtedly morally repulsive reason for doing that ¨C she had to follow them just in case. So to escape those thoughts she started thinking back about her teacher. "...I guess that I could go hang out with him after this mission will be over, the old people like to have someone to talk to, and I guess that doesn''t change even when ites to spies." She said to herself with a soft smile, deactivating her detection+ [sight] skill and stealthily getting down the roof of the ruined system''s faith chappel, before mixing in between the thinning passerby. She wasn''t in a hurry ¨C she had already memorized the whole map of the city including all the hidden passages and shortcuts, and the alleyway her target entered was merely a simple passage leading to the entertainment district with no branching path anywhere along the way. She would simply nce past it to check up on her target and rush to the other side before he will be finished. ...in the first ce, could an undead even do those kinds of things? Or maybe he was going to simply eat the girl in a literal sense? Undeads, even those who had enough intelligence left in them to be considered equal or smarter than humans weren''t considered as members of the intelligent races for a reason. "..." The spy moved casually, walking past the alley as if she had no interest in it and... *thunk* "...ah..." A thin de of a heavy dagger painted ck to make it none reflective stabbed into her temple and pierced through her skull before she even felt the ring on her finger vibrate ¨C and in the same heartbeat, something pulled on the crimson threads attached to the dagger and the dead spy was pulled into the dark passage so swiftly that no other passerby even noticed her disappearance, too busy with their own daily lives, going home after a day''s worth of work. --- "Huh, the queen sent a girl this time, huh ¨C looks like she was banking that I wouldn''t harm someone innocent looking. What an annoying woman." Zombie clicked his tongue, searching through the pockets of the dead spy that he sat up against the wall deep within the alley where plentiful droppings betrayed the quiterge poption of small rodent monsters that were the rats of this world. "Hey, Monty, how about this thing?" The blue undead asked, raising the ring he just took off of the corpse''s finger up to his ear, right to his golden snake earring. The little serpent stopped acting like an inanimate object, blinked, and licked the offered artifact with its split tongue. "Ssssssss. (Danger detection skill, the ring is old and the effectiveness of the skill is rather poor.) Sssssss? (Same with the materials used, maybe it was just someone''s good-luck charm?) Sssss. (It''s pretty trash.)" Monty dered after the white light faded from its golden eyes. "Must be, it certainly didn''t do shit for her." Zombie nodded and put the ring safely in his pocket out of reflex. "Good job, thank you, here." Zombie smiled and patted Monty''s tiny head with his index finger while taking out a small golden brooch with his other hand and offering it to the snake. "Sss! (Ah!) Sssss?! (You got me more snacks?!) Ssssss! (Master, I love you!)" *gulp* Monty''s eyes lighted up and its jaws opened up at far wider angle than it should be physically possible even for a snake and it gulped the entire piece of jewelry in one bite even though it was much bigger than itself ¨C at the same time, as soon as it closed its jaws, its body didn''t show any signs of it swallowing the brooch whatsoever. "Kopia, that ck coating was a great idea- she saw nothing even with detection skill." Zombie turned to Kopia who, back in her humanoid form, was wiping off blood and pieces of brain stuck to her legs. "Te-he~! I saw that woman you made a deal with using this on her daggers and decided to try it out!" The humanoid de''s face lighted up with a proud smile and she threw the used handkerchief on top of the corpse. "Master, are you going to melt this one too?" She asked curiously, lightly kicking the soft leg of the dead spy. "Nah, let''s leave it here, the little monsters from these parts will do well in ce of my venom." Zombie waved his hand dismissively and motioned at Kopia with his chin so that Monty on his ear glistened with gold light. "Come, the Envys should start pursuing us any moment now ¨C let''s not make Olive wait ¨C I feel bad taking him away from spending time with Mirabelle and Cranberry." "Let''s!" Kopia jumped up happily and wrapped her hands around his right arm. Chapter 414: Checking up on the hidden village (1)

Chapter 414: Checking up on the hidden vige (1)

"Hey there, mister dad, I''ll leave things in your care now, alright?" As soon as the blue undead strayed from the path that the lumberjacks used for transporting the lumber, he raised his hand and spoke to the nearest tree. "Zombie, you''re way fucking earlier than I expected? Everythings alright or did some fuckers cause you more problems than expected?" The air between the branches of that tree cron wobbled and the illusion dropped, revealing the long-haired elf looking around thirty years old for human standards which meant that he was literally ancient when it came to how the elves aged. "How''s Cranberry been doing? Is she giving any of you a hard time?" The blue undead asked with a soft smile. "Hard time?" Olive gasped and jumped off the tree with a shocked expression. "Our Cranberry? Are you fucking kidding me? She didn''t quite hit the fucking rebellious stage of her puberty, thank the fucking system. Don''t tell her that but I fucking cried when she called me dad when you two got back from that whole first kill party." The old elf waved his hand dismissively and smiled like a proud parent. "You don''t have to worry about a thing, the worst thing that happened until now was her throwing a fit because you didn''t show up a fucking week ago even though you promised her. Aren''t you a quite fucking unruly familiar, kiddo?" Olive asked, nodding at the undead with a curious look in his eyes. "You know just as well as I do that I can''t take her with me, especially not with this whole business with the Envy family going on." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the smiling elven guardian. "Think of it that way ¨C if I seed, you, Mirabelle, and Cranberry will be able to safely go on a family trip out of the vige without worrying about getting abducted by the main branch of the Envy family. I think that it would be worth bearing with some inconveniences." He shrugged his shoulders andughed casually. "Hey, the only thing I am fucking worried about is that you are trying to bear too much burden on your own two shoulders. We all have been fucking hiding for hundreds of years, a few more will not make that much of a fucking difference, you know?" Olive put his hand on Zombie''s shoulder and assured him. "Cranberry isn''t the only one Mirabelle and I are worried about, you little fuck." He added with augh. "So you say but I can''t help but notice that neither one of you curses around Cranberry ¨C or at least you try not to - but don''t hold back when I''m around." Zombie smirked back and pointed out. "That''s because fucking cursing is okay with us elves only because it a fucking defense mechanism to stop annoying people from approaching us because of our beauty ¨C that''s all good and all but, for fuck''s sake, Cranberry is a human and a noble too ¨C it would look bad if she would start cursing like an elf because of the bad example we''re giving her. As for you - well, I doubt anyone can change the way you are." Olive confessed with a slight embarrassment. "Huh? Even though there''s a saying that the elf that doesn''t curse can''t be trusted?" Zombie raised his brows and asked. "Oh, who fucking cares, Cranberry is ours and we can''t sabotage her future amongst humans like that. Actually, you will find out that the entire vige stopped cursing, at least when she is around, just to not inconvenience her." The old elf proudly puffed out his chest, clearly boasting that his human daughter was epted and cared for by the entiremunity of the hidden vige. "Oh? Everyone? Even Gooseberry?" Zombie''s brows shot up even higher as he asked in shock. "He he...! She melted even his fucking heart ¨C it finally happened around two weeks ago, Cranberry and Cranbie were training together and Gooseberry came fucking by to bring his son some refreshments and actually had a fucking portion prepared just for Cranberry too ¨C and he called her a snot-nosed kid instead of a fucking human brat. "Oh-ho! What a change of heart!" Zombieughed and nodded his head. "Alright. That needs to be enough chit-chat, for now, kiddo ¨C those fuckers areing." *click* Olive raised his hand and stopped Zombie from talking with a serious expression and snapped his fingers, making a small ball of light appear in front of him. "I''ll go ahead and make sure that they fucking think that you are going straight for the Greeds territory ¨C I don''t want to sound that rude, but I don''t have a need for you to fuck around while I work, follow this and it will lead you straight to the vige. Go." The old elf patted the blue undead''s shoulder and moved past him without looking back. "Ah. Sure. Thanks for going along with my schemes." Zombie nodded and started chasing after the light ball, leaving the elf behind. ¡­ ¡­... "ZOMBIE!" The moment that the blue undead stepped through the gate to the hidden elven vige, a dark-red blur rushed at him with amazing speed and jumped into his arms. "Whoa...! Who do we have here...?!" Zombie gasped with augh, epting the hug and gently hugging back the eleven years old red-haired girl. "Why didn''t youe back earlier!? I only agreed to stay behind because you promised me that you will visit regrly! Liar!" But even though she was still blushing, the little girl beganining immediately ¨C though she hugged her undead familiar even tighter as if she expected that he will try to push her away. "A lot of nasty things happen, I have to set up a lot of things for the future ¨C how is your training going? If you really wish to apany me you remember what''s my requirement, don''t you?" Zombie raised Cranberry up, and she ended up wrapping her legs around his waist too like a tiny ko bear clinging to their mother, which prompted the blue undead tough and start patting her head. "I remember, and I will get there! But it''s unfair if I''m the only one keeping my end of the deal while you do whatever you want!" Cranberryined and pouted, burrowing her face against Zombie''s corbone. "Well... You know, if we would go out looking like this people would think that I kidnapped you and would try to attack me..." |...and without Pati''s guidance, I would eventually end up killing some essential character.| He said and finished his sentence only in his head. "You grew up too fast! That''s not fair! I''m older than you!" Cranberry scoffed and murmured all grumpy. "Only physically and only by a month." Zombie pointed out, rolling his eyes. "A month and a half! This size difference is unfair!" The red-haired girlined back. "But I''m a monster, you know? I think it''s a quite nice exchange ¨C right now you are already what, level 40, while I''m barely level 5 on my second rank up ¨C if you look at it like that, you have it better ¨C I wasted twenty levels of experience because of my first rank up. See? I simply got rpensed in another way. Though I would prefer to be stronger." ...was a convenient lie that Zombie came up with a while ago to appease the grumpiness of the young nobledy, and he repeated it once again. "...stupid, I''m not talking about strength... you are too big now..." "...?'' Cranberry murmured very quietly and fidgetted in Zombie''s arms, but when he looked at her, he could only see the right red tips of her ears poking through the dark-red hair, which left him very confused. Chapter 415: Checking up on the hidden village (2)

Chapter 415: Checking up on the hidden vige (2)

Although Zombie was originally going to stay in the vige only for a few hours ¨C checking up on Cranberry and leaving as soon as Olive would be done with fooling the blue undead''s pursuers from the main branch of the Envy family, but that honestly was no longer feasible... As for why... "(Master!)" The young red dragon, Baron, ran out of the storage shed by Mirabelle''s house ¨C while said shed was of course turned into a rather cozyir for the growing monster ¨C and began rubbing his head against Zombie''s chest like a dog or a cat yearning attention. "Hey there, good to see you, Baron. Are you properly guarding Cranberry as I asked you to?" Zombie smiled, patting and scratching the scaly head and neck of the red monster with his right hand. "(I do! I never go too far from her even when we are hunting monsters with the elves!)" Baron eximed proudly while his tail was wagging from side to side with enough power to be a serious threat for anyone foolish enough to approach him from behind. "But he doesn''t have to! I already told him many times that I can''t really get stronger if I am constantly babysat by him! In one of the books in the library, I''ve read that the bigger the danger the better the training results!" And the reason for Zombie being unable to just leave straight away spoke up as she clung to his right arm with all of her might. "(Hey! I am doing what my master told me! I wish I could be traveling with him too ¨C don''t act like you''re the only one who likes him!)" Baron frowned and scoffed at the red-hared girl hanging on Zombie''s arm in a way that made it impossible for the blue undead to use that arm to pat the dragon ¨C hence the dissatisfaction in Baron''s telepathic message. "If you really want it that much then just let me train properly! I don''t need you toe to protect me from every single attack! How am I supposed to train the HP regeneration I got from the Troll yer title if I never lose any HP?!" Cranberryined, furrowing her brows, putting, and stomping her foot in an angry manner. "(You can train other skills! And stop trying to make it sound like I''m interrupting your training! I only block protect you from the attacks that you are unable to dodge! And I don''t even attack ¨C I only train defense like that ¨C so if anything ¨C it''s you who is messing with my training!)" But despite her confident act, Baron wasn''t going to back out at all and faced the girl head-on. "Khahaha! Everyone''s working hard I see. Good, good." Zombieughed and patted first the red dragon and then the red-haired girl. "Zombie! What''s with that subject of yours ¨C you are my familiar, right? Shouldn''t they all be listening to me too?!" Cranberryined, tugging on the blue undead''s arm doing everything she could to get him to focus solely on her. "Ssss. (A master of my master is not my master.)" The golden snake using as an earring, Monty, looked down on the fuming girl and hissed all high and mighty despite its meager size. "Shut up, Monty! I don''t know what you hissed about, but I''m sure it was something stupid!" "Sssss! (Stupid?! You''re stupid! That was smart! It was written on the piece of jewelry that master give me as a snack yesterday!)" Cranberry scoffed at it, which prompted a furious hiss of self-defense from the small golden serpent. "Red girl, Monty is right, surprisingly enough, ¨C master is our master, you might be his master, but you are not our master and you will never be." As if that situation was not odd enough, Kopia, the sentient sword jumped out of her expensive cozy scabbard at Zombie''s waist and changed into her humanoid form with a sh of white light. "That''s stupid! If I ask Zombie to make you do something, then you will have to do it and it will be the same as if you just listened to me in the first ce!" The red-haired girl made a sour expression seeing the crimson-haired older girl in a fancy fluffy dress hug Zombie''s right arm and leaning forward to nce at her with a slightly mocking smirk that she undoubtedly picked up from the blue undead himself. "That would be convenient only for you though. I don''t know about the gold and red since they are monsters, but I, as a piece of equipment do not care about making things easy for anyone other than my master." Kopia dered with a light shrug and rested her head on Zombie''s shoulder. "Uuuuugh...! Zombie! Tell her something!" Cranberry cried out and admitted defeat by directly appealing to the person of interest. "Hey ¨C The are my subjects ¨C I do not decide things for them... and Kopia is my beloved sword so I have no reason to upset her." "LIAR!" The blue undead shrugged his shoulders indifferently, escaping the responsibility by straight-up lying about the inability to order his subjects around ¨C about what he was called out immediately by the red-haired girl pouting so much that her cheeks looked as if they were about to explode. "Cranbaby, the dinner''s rea...! Oh? Zombie, you''re already here?" Mirabelle, who took an unscheduled day off from her duties of the vige elder, popped out of her house, calling out ¨C and raised her brows once she saw the blue undead surrounded from all sides. "Mom...!" Cranberry cried out in embarrassment for the nickname Mirabelle used, but at the same time, she felt incredibly happy because of that nickname. "You will stay the night, won''t you? Our Cranbaby will turn into a crybaby if you leave so soon." The elven womanughed ¨C effortlessly reading the situation and Zombie''s original intention with just a single nce. "Y-you''re not going back yet, are you...?" Before the blue undead could say anything in response, the red-haired girl forgot all about throwing a hissy fit and clenched his hand in actual panic, as if him leaving would be the actual worst thing that could happen to her. The little girl was looking up at him with tearful eyes and her chin was already starting to tremble. |I don''t know whether this Cranberry is just so cunning or is she actually that soft-hearted, but... haa... I didn''t even need another proof that she''s not my Cranberry. This feels... haa...| Zombie thought, clenching his right hand so hard that his knuckles turned light-blue, but showed nothing aside from a soft warm smile towards the little red-haired girl on his left. "...master, it''s alright...." Kopia, who was both holding onto his right arm and reading his mind murmured reassuringly and rubbed her forehead against his shoulder reassuringly. "Of course I''m staying the night ¨C but I will be leaving right at dawn, so be prepared to get teased until you will go to sleep." Zombie''s responded jokingly ¨C which only made Cranberry blush and look down bashfully. Then, all of them ate the dinner prepared by Mirabelle together, Baron was peeking through the window, while Even little Monty got its own tiny te on which Zombie prepared for it a few pieces of golden and silver jewelry and a few precious stones. Zombie and Kopia did not require food ¨C thankfully - since judging from Cranberry''s reaction, the vige elder''s cooking was just as bad as Olive proimed it to be on multiple asions in the past, yet the crimson-haired girl ate everything to thest crumb and thanked her elven mother for a meal with a bright, grateful smile. Seeing that was enough to actually make Zombie smile for real. This was the oue he wanted. To give this Cranberry everything that was taken away from his Cranberry. That''s how things were supposed to be... right...? Chapter 416: Going for the Envy

Chapter 416: Going for the Envy

"A convenient artifact like this exists in this world huh... Wish that Pati would have told me about it sooner." Zombie snorted, looking at the shiny metal si that he decided to put on his index finger. Apparently, it was an outstandingly useful thing ¨C a unique item too ¨C just as Zombie was about to leave the vige, the artifact was delivered to him by the powder-pink-haired elf blushing so heavily that it looked like his face was on fire ¨C especially when he touched Zombie''s hand as he was passing him the si ¨C not to mention that the older boy almost c... fainted when Zombie smiled and hugged him as a thank you. As for the properties of the peculiar ring ¨C it was a ring of illusion, but not just any kind of illusion. It had the ability to confuse everyone looking at its bearer. The funny thing was ¨C it did not influence how the user actually looked like. Zombie tried it out back in the vige and even Cranberry, so his master, could not tell that it was him ¨C she ended up thinking that she was standing in front of ANOTHER BLUE SKINNED UNDEAD ¨C but one who wasn''t Zombie ¨C seriously, it was amazing ability! And since it was a unique artifact made by the elves, there was no counter-measure avable on the market for Envy''s to get their hands on! For such an item to exist... "I have a feeling that this was either a DLC or a prototype item in the game that the idiot god who made this world copied and brought to existence without giving it any thoughts... oh well, I can''t really say that I''m against having it." The blue undead who did not appear as Zombieughed to himself. "I still know that it''s you, master." Kopia pointed out from her scabbard in a muffled high-pitched voice. "That''s because you''re an item ¨C how could any distraction or illusion skill work on you in the first ce? That wouldn''t make any sense." Zombie smiled and patted her crossguard while exining. "Ssss? (What about me then?) Ssss! (I know that it''s you too, master!)" Monty hissed curiously into Zombie''s right ear. "Are you asking why you, a remnant of a god, so an administrator who was above the system, is immune to the effects of the item that uses the power of the system?" Zombie smirked asking the self-exnatory question. "Ssss. (Yes, I am very curious, actually, master.)" Monty hissed, nodding its little headpletely serious. "Stupid." Kopia scoffed, vibrating in her scabbard. "Ssss! (No, you are stupid!)" Monty hissed back without giving it any thought at all. But it was okay, after all, in Zombie''s eyes... "Khahaha! Hey, my cute underlings, no quarreling while we''re on the road¨C this ring makes us unrecognizable but there''s no reason for getting more attention than necessary. There''s no countermeasure for it in stores, but the same isn''t necessarily true when ites to skills. You will have plenty of time to bicker around when we get to the capital of the Envy territory> The blue undead dered, gently but sternly tapping both the tiny head of the golden snake as well as the shining crossguard of the Kopia''s shortsword form. "Sss. (Sorry, master.)" "Alright, master." The two apologized and went silent as the asional travelers were freaking out and running away at the sight of an unidentified blue undead walking freely without any sign of a necromancer or a tamer around. Zombie had time and certainly didn''t want to be too hasty about things ¨C he most certainly didn''t want to hear a horrified gasp inside his head when Patience would finally decide to show up and would find out that he had killed someone essential for a sidequest that would be necessary to trigger another quest and so on and so on. Hence, even with the protection provided by the si, the blue undead was not going to use his skills to out himself as the target of the Envy family. His first target was the capital of the Envy territory. The city of corruption and decadence where the boundaries between a scam artist and a merchant did not exist and anyone could buy their way out of trouble as long as they provided enough money. Though, of course, the city itself was not as important as the Envy''s family mansion in which in the hidden basement beneath the basement where the imprisoned elves with their beauty stolen were kept in the terrible conditions far worse than monster pens, a remnant of the spirit god Saint was waiting to be released. Zombie wasn''t silly enough to want to just march on there, basically giving himself in hands of the Envy family ¨C after all, when he and Cranberry get there in the first ythrough, they were much, much stronger than Zombie was at this point in time in this ythrough, not to mention that he was alone, and didn''t really remember the ns of the mansion since he didn''t really bother to memorize it. What he did remember though was the fact that the avatar of Envy, Rambutan Envy would definitely be rmed once anyone passed through the door to the basement without his permission. A least that''s how it looked for him during the first ythrough. He needed information ¨C and wouldn''t that scenario be simply perfect for him to also train the heartthrob skill? With enough patience, he could fish out a servant from the mansion and mess up their brain with a lust-based skill enough for them to be his informant ¨C and if not...? Oh, well. Depending on the clothes worn, the skin color isn''t that hard to hide... What''s one more corpse added to the pile? And with that rather viinous approach, the blue undead moved forward without stopping as he had no need for sleep nor food. Yet, the journey couldn''t be said to bepletely peaceful... With his walking speed, Zombie was catching up to a big carriage that must have belonged to a traveling merchant selling their wares from the carriage- judging from all the marketable goods hanging down both sides of the cart at least. He was going to overtake it when... "Stop right there, you ruffians!" A tall boy with a childish face jumped in front of the carriage and pulled out arge, pure-white sword at the coachman. "We know about your heinous ways ¨C return the stolen wares ande with us to be handed in the hand of justice!" The boy dered, clearly suggesting that he was not alone "..." Zombie nced at him, and furrowed his brows ¨C that guy had a life signature that the blue undead recognized ¨C same with the most likelypanion of his, whose signature was clearly visible for the blue undead although far beyond his reach ¨C at least while he was trying to stay incognito. Anyway ¨C that whole situation was clearly none of Zombie''s business, and the blue undead was simply going to bypass the overly excited youth ¨C in naught. "!!!!! Lychee! Those bastards got themselves a monster for protection! I''ll take care of him, you watch them!" The young man with a childish face shouted out and a mysterious, ninja-looking dark-haired girl appeared out of nowhere and put a knife to the throat of the traveling merchant to make him realize his position, while the youngster was holding the pure white de right at the undead''s chest. "...There has been a misunderstanding, I..." Zombie tried to exin himself, but unsurprisingly, the hard-headed youth was having none of the exnation given by a monster he already deemed as evil. ...though the whole evil part wasn''t that far off, was it...? "There''s no ce for misunderstanding, everybody knows that undead are dangerous ¨C my name is Cherry, I''m an aspiring adventurer, and I will not let a threat such as yourself to walk freely like that - return to earth, beast" The aspiring adventurer roared and his holy-looking weapon shone and unleashed an overwhelming holy magic aura. Chapter 417: Fortunate meeting on the road (1)

Chapter 417: Fortunate meeting on the road (1)

"...Isn''t this perfect...? I can both train holding back against humans in case that I will have to fight any of the capture targets, and release so much of my pent-up stress..." Zombie focused on the holy-augmented de in front of his chest and smirked mockingly while murmuring. "Anyst words, monster?" Cherry, the future leader of the Brave Swords ¨C an up-anding group of young adventurers who got ughtered by Cranberry and Zombie during the first ythrough ¨C spoke with a reasonable amount of confidence provided how much of an advantage his element had over the undead of all kind. "Khahaha! Sure ¨C clench your teeth or you will lose them." "!!!!!" Zombieughed and grabbed the shining sword with his bare hand, and while pushing it aside, he took a step forward and smashed his fist against Cherry''s face... *crack* ...breaking his nose and sending him flying back, losing the grip on his weapon that was still glowing with white light in Zombie''s hand without dealing him any visible damage. "CHERRY!" The masked rogue shouted and came to herpanion''s rescue without a second of doubt, leaving their original target free to do whatever they wanted ¨C and she got in front of the incapacitated youngster with her daggers out in a defensive stance. "Good job! Stall them as much as you can!" The cunning merchant that up until then wasn''t even aware that Zombie was getting closer to his carriage noticed the perfect asion and shouted over his shoulder as a diversion ¨C to make sure that the two foolish young aspiring adventurers would not realize their mistake. "...hey..." "...!" Even though Zombie wasn''t talking to her, Lychee finched the moment she heard the low voice of the blue undead, and that coupled with the sudden change in his aura caused her to straight-up tremble. "Who do you think you are using me as bait?" The undead asked and he merely flicked touched the crossguard of the one-handed sword still in the scabbard at his waist and... *SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING* With the sh of white light, the de exploded forward, passed the two young aspiring adventurers, and reached the escaping carriage ¨C splitting the carriage, the merchant, and the monster pulling the carriage, cleanly in half all in a single strike. /Low-level yer defeated You receive EXP /Low-level monster defeated You receive EXP Two quick messages popped up for the blue undead as he smirked once his de returned to him thanks to the red threads connecting his right arm and the de''s pommel. "Tsk. Some random living trash wasting my time." Zombie clicked his tongue and almost spat to the side from disgust. "Now. Let''s continue." He shook his head, going back to the collected, mocking smirk. But was there even a need to exin what reaction did that cause? "...! R-run, Lychee, run...! I-I''ll try to stall him ¨C you need to warn the guards and the guild...!" Cherry ¨C with the crimson blood spouting from his crushed nose like a faucet ¨C got up on his knees and grabbed onto Lychee''s side, pushing her away to make her escape. "..." But the girl was literally frozen solid from fear. She was looking back on the destroyed carriage in the middle of the road and the ever-growing puddle of the mixture of monster and human blood. "Lychee! Go!" Cherry tried once again to make hispanion move but his efforts were wasted. "...I didn''t see the attack..." The girl finally opened her mouth, but the whisper she let out was not something that Cherry could expect. "...so cool..." She sighed in a dreamy voice. "Wh-what are you say-URGH!" The future leader of the Brave Swords''question got interrupted by another punch to the face. "Well, well, well ¨C someone has a very low magic resistance." Zombie ¨C who got bored of waiting, simply approached the two aspiring adventurers while they seemed busy and hit the slowly standing up guy ¨C while not looking away from the female rogue as his eyes continued to glow with a pale blue light. "What did you do to her?!" Cherry rolled on his side and gasped, spewing blood and broken teeth, but not losing his spirit. "Oh, just trying to level up a certain skill ¨C I learned that to upgrade it into tier 2, I need to be using it on enemies in the middle of thebat ¨C tough luck, you see ¨C there''s no way for me to train it any other way." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders dismissively and apologized in a way that could not be interpreted as an apology by anyone with the speck ofmon sense. "Training? You are training some skills on us...?! But you''re just a monster!" Cherry gasped, slowly getting up. "...I swear you weren''t such pushovers during the first ythrough... Though I suppose that it''s still quite early on... and the de you''re using isn''t the one I remember." Zombie sighed and nced down at the sword with a holy aura that he still was holding on to with his bare hand. "Eat this!" *thump* *thump* That moment was enough for Lychee to shake off the allure of the heartthrob skill and attack the blue undead with both of her daggers ¨C which had just as much effect as one would expect ¨C the clothes that Zombie had on got pierced but the weapons were unable to prate his skin. "Aww. Aren''t you adorable? Sorry, but superbia gives ridiculous bonus points to DEF and MDF each time I level up ¨C you would have to be at least mid middle level for this to work." The blue undeadughed and winked at the confused girl ¨C and thanks to the lust-based skill producing the pale blue light in his eyes ¨C he effortlessly grabbed both daggers with one hand without any objection from the blushing female rogue. "...adorable...? ...me...?" She gasped fidgetting bashfully. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows ¨C originally, he wanted to basically recreate the same end that the two had faced in the first ythrough, of course after he was done practicing holding back. ...but wasn''t there something else that he could do besides gaining a miserable amount of EXP points from such weaklings? He already felt a lot better after bisecting the merchant and the carriage... "Hey. Lychee ¨C do you realize that this is all a big misunderstanding?" The blue undead suddenly spoke up, certain that it would be better to train the lust-based skill above the closebat one. "...Misunderstanding...?" Lychee made a sad face ¨C undoubtedly thinking that the mistake Zombie was talking about was calling her adorable. "Yes ¨C I never intended to harm the two of you. After all, aren''t we friends already?" Zombie smiled brightly and asked. "D-don''t listen to him! He''s an undea...!" Cherry squirmed on the ground, doing his best to stand up and save hispanion ¨C but he froze while on all fours as he encountered the pale blue gaze of Zombie''s ck eyes, and felt his heart beating faster ¨C but not from fear... "Cherry... You silly boy ¨C a good person like you surely understands that all I did was a little self-defense. It was all a terrible misunderstanding." "B-but that evil merchant...!" The young aspiring adventurer was trying to oppose the lust-base skill with sound arguments ¨C but the sin-based skills did not abide bymon sense at all... "Evil needs to be punished... Do you think that I was too rough...? If so, then why won''t you try and make me a better person?" The blue undead smiled gently and asked in a soft voice. "...I... I guess that it''s better to educate those who stray from the path of good but want to change their evil ways... I... I was too hasty with attacking you." /Skill level up Heartthrob (level 4) Cherry, still on all fours, bowed his head and apologized to Zombie, whose smile changed into a wicked triumphant grin, as he already saw the fruits of his training. Chapter 418: Fortunate meeting on the road (2)

Chapter 418: Fortunate meeting on the road (2)

"Here." Zombie returned the holy sword to the young man doing his best using abination of low-level healing skill and conventional first aid to stop the bleeding ¨C though the teeth he lost would be requiring the help of a qualified healer to be put back. "Ah, thank you! Once again sorry for being so hasty with attacking you ¨C it''s just that usually undead monsters are far more... savage." Chery fidgetted taking back his sword and lowered his head apologetically. A victim sincerely apologizing to the bully ¨C it was a peculiar sight to see even for the said bully ¨C but Zombie didn''t let any of that show on his face. "Say, Cherry, Lychee, is there only the two of you ¨C normally, the adventurers travel in groups of five, if I remember correctly." The blue undead asked, tilting his head curiously. "Yes. Wee from a tiny remote vige on the outskirts of the Greeds territory, basically on the edge of the Gluttonys territory. There really isn''t much to say about that ce ¨C but it''s nice and peaceful." Cherry said, shrugging his shoulders dismissively. "A remote vige was able to equip you with a sword augmented with a light attribute? Aren''t those expensive...?" Zombie asked, recalling the prices of the augmented swords back in the shop where he would always buy new swords for Kopia to consume. Particrly the ones with the holy attribute were so expensive that he was unable to afford even half of one at any point in time. "Ah... this one is special..." Cherry blushed bashfully and hugged the returned sword protectively. "You see, there was a littleke near our vige ¨C and there was a legend about a fairy living there. Well, he found out that it wasn''t a legend." Lychee joined the conversation eager to take Zombie''s attention away from herpanion. "A fairy you say?" Zombie raised his brow curiously. "Yes. Honestly, I thought that it was just a legend, and I that theke is inhabited by some stray monsters that only look friendly because of a charm skill or something, but one day I... well... I went there to investigate it and fall in..." "What?! You thought that you wanted to go for a dive!" Cherry admitted in embarrassment which caused Lychee to gasp in shock over the unexpected revtion. "Well... I did end up diving... in a way... more like drowning... Then I saw a bright orange light, and I was back at the surface ¨C and a whisp of orange light spat called me an idiot and spat out this word from who knows where telling me to take it and never return. It called me an idiot many times." The young man confessed looking away in shame. "That really isn''t what you have told me or the other vigers." Lychee pointed out with a cold expression. "Orange light you say... interesting ¨C so you are saying that the spirit of theke was a whisp and not a fairy?" Zombie asked, tilting his head curiously. "Whisps are technically fairies, though they are connected with the death attribute so theyck the physical form like in the picture books." Cherry straightened his back and dered happy that he could be helpful. "Interesting... and the sword... do you know anything about it...?" Zombie poked more, searching for more interesting clues. "Well... it did say that if I find the right key ¨C the true power of the sword of the braves would unlock." Cherry responded after a moment of hesitation. |A sword of the braves...? Curious... I certainly remember the holy sword he had looked different ¨C was it the same sword but after with its true potential unlocked?| Zombie thought to himself ¨C or rather he thought to himself so that Kopia could read his mind and calm down since she had been shaking hungrily from the moment that the blue undead let go of the sword. |Try to hold back ¨C think about it that way ¨C I will let you eat it once it will reach its full power. I bet it will be much better then than it is now.| "...!" Zombie added and felt Kopia flinch in her scabbard and settle down, content with that promise. "Hey ¨C I think that you two should get some morepanions ¨C don''t get me wrong, a rogue and a warrior isn''t a badposition, but you should really get a tank, a spellcaster, and a healer." He went ahead and spoke up. "I bet that would make things easier, both when ites topleting the missions as well as unlocking this de''s true potential." Zombie smiled reassuringly and straightened his back. "I''ll leave the two of you now ¨C do me a favor and don''t mention that you saw me ¨C as for the merchant ¨C say that you saw an odd girl with copper eyes killing them from behind. Bye-bye." *BOOOOM* He instructed andunched himself kicking off the ground with enough power to cause a dust cloud to raise up. ¡­ ¡­... "Master ¨C are you sure that it''s alright to let them go? I''m sure that the de he had would be tasty as it is now." Kopia''s muffled shrill came out of the luxurious scabbard as she was using the chance that no one would be able to notice her speaking ¨C mainly because there was no one around them. "Maybe..." Zombie finally deactivated the heartthrob skill and the light blue light faded from his eyes as he nodded. "But I''m quite interested in that orange spirit that Cherry talked about ¨C though I''m not sure whether it is what I expect it to be." He added with a light shrug - without Patience confirming or denying his theories, he certainly didn''t want to jump to conclusions without any evidence. "Also, in the end, it really was a nice test whether I can defeat someone without killing them ¨C although I bet things won''t be as easy when ites to the capture targets in a few years ¨C especially with ymore who should bepletely immune to any charms, to begin with ¨C I guess I can resolve conflicts in an amicable manner when ites to the fruit-named characters." Zombie dered in a satisfied voice. "Eh?! Does that mean that we won''t be killing humans anymore?!" Kopia cried pitifully and poked her de out of the scabbard. "Huh? Where did thate from? Not killing humans? Ridiculous ¨C no, we just won''t be killing potentially useful humans - whether they have a unique name or not - and that''s it." Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed at the silliness of his self-aware sword. "So the people trying to spy on you?" "Annihte them all, no matter if they are serving Envys or Greeds ¨C we can''t have them noticing that I keep in contact with the elves from the hidden vige." Zombie dered coldly. "...and what about that one who arrives once a week to talk with you?" Kopia asked, sounding as if she was not only referring to someone very specific but straight up looking at them. ...because she was... "Mister undead. I''m here for the report as well as to inquire you about the death of another of our people." A copper-eyed woman showed up and red down at the blue undead crossing her arms with a sour expression. "Ah, Pitaya. Right on time, as ever. Say ¨C your eyes. Is that colormon or do you have a daughter that you abandoned in the Wrath''s territory?" Zombie asked mockingly ¨C taunting the woman on purpose to take her attention away from things that she could have overheard. "...none of your business..." But her reaction was as cold as ever ¨C still, the simrities between her and Ti, the future member of the CriTiCal trio of bodyguards, were rather uncanny. "You got yourself a new toy, I see." The woman scoffed, looking at the si on Zombie''s hand with a frown. Chapter 419: Talk with the spy

Chapter 419: Talk with the spy

"Are you interested in me? Oh my, I''m honored!" The blue undead put both his hands to his chest and gasped with a theatrical ir. "In your dreams." Pitaya blinked, keeping her eyes closed for a little longer than it was necessary, and sighed. "Khahaha! Hey, don''t be like that. As a spy, you must be naturally curious, right? I bet that girl is training hard to be a great bodyguard ¨C maybe you two will meet in the pce in a few years?" Zombieughed cheerfully although that cheerfulness did not reflect in his mocking stare of pale blue glowing eyes focused at the queen''s spy in front of him. "I don''t understand what you are talking about, mister undead. And as for spies being curious ¨C you are dead wrong. Curiosity is the number one cause of untimely deaths for spies. In this line of work you need to be focused and single-minded." Pitaya shook her head and red at the blue undead who was slightly taller than her. "My, my. Fascinating. I would love to hear more of your take on that ¨C how about we grab a bite once we get to the city? I can make the report as we go so we''ll be done before we get there and not interfere with your work." Zombie offered with a brilliant smile and tilted his head while extending his arm out for the spy to grab on to. "..." Pitaya didn''t change her expression, but her fingers twitched as if just for a split second she did indeed want to take Zombie''s offer ¨C but that onlysted a moment... "Unnecessary." The spy dered, furrowing her brows and putting her hand on her hip to visually show her contempt towards the blue undead. "Also, stop using that skill of yours on me each time we meet. It''s highly annoying." She added with a scoff and red at the blue undead as if looking for a fight. "Aww! Cute! So cute! Are you sure you are not a monster? I don''t feel like killing you off at all!" Zombie jumped up and pped his hands, purposefully overreacting with his happiness just to make Pitaya more distracted ¨C there already was an opening ¨C prying just a little more could prove to have great effects. |...she''s one of the useful livings without a unique name that I was talking about. One of the queen''s trusted spymasters...| Zombie hummed to himself so that Kopia wouldn''t make a sound of shock witnessing his odd act ¨C he didn''t have to give any ques to Monty since acting dead, or inanimate was its second nature, to begin with. "...Tsk. I will make sure to bring a defensive artifact next time..." Still, Zombie''s act made even the stone-faced spy frown and click her tongue in anger. ...yet somehow that reaction was what assured the blue undead that his skill was working on her as intended. "Oh? No, you don''t have to worry about the protection on our next date ¨C I''m an undead with a strong moralpass, so during our first date..." For a moment there, Zombie had to stop talking and take a deep breath just to stop himself from bursting out inughter, but somehow it ended up sounding very deliberate and almost seductive. "...I will make sure to serve you plenty with my mouth..." "!!!!!!!!!" "...with a pleasant conversation." "..." Just a few words. With just a few words spoken while level 4 heartthrob skill was active were already enough to make theposed woman like the spymaster flinch and make her face flush. The blue undead quickly cleared any misunderstanding ¨C which earned him a furious re from the embarrassed Pitaya. "As for the next dead spy you''ve spoken about earlier ¨C I don''t know anything about them, why would I? What happened?" Zombie shrugged his shoulder, deactivating the lust-based skill, and looked to the side with an indifferent expression, without even a speck of embarrassment after his outrageous provocation. "...again, huh...? Envys sure don''t mess around, one or two dead spies might be an ident, but five? And ones that clearly only follow one person? It''s either that you are so important to them, or that they are actively picking a fight with the royal family." Pitaya frowned and sighed in a doubtful voice, keenly observing the reaction of the blue undead since her mind had finally stopped being hazy because of his odd skill "Could be both ¨C keep in mind that I am a familiar of the daughter of the Pride family ¨C and Envys'' aren''t exactly known for having a warm rtionship with them. Oh, and the little fact that I have the superbia skill which qualifies me as the next in line avatar of pride. Who knows? Maybe they want to keep an eye on me while deciding what to do and simply don''t want the royal family to interfere in a business they consider private?" Zombie shrugged and tilted his head innocently, despite being the one always killing spies from BOTH sides. The funniest part was that neither Greeds nor Envys wanted to confirm with each other whether the other side was killing their spies because that would make them admit that they had those spies sent out in the first ce. Something something, honor, and whatnots. It was simply marvelous from Zombie''s standpoint as he could stir up both families against each other just as it happened in the original game. "What a convenient coincidence... convenient for you, isn''t it...?" Pitaya shook her head and smirked mockingly, looking at the blue undead with squinted eyes. "...? Is it? But having a spy from the royal family with me all the time would make so many things easier though!" Zombie gasped and made a pitiful expression. "Even with this cheap thing it will be extremely difficult to even approach the Envys mansion without causing an uproar about a stray undead monster running around ¨C I literally was attacked by two misguided adventurers who did not know any better." Zombieined, making a pitiful face. "Ah, I know! Why won''t you ask the queen for you to be the one keeping an eye on me all the time?!" He added, perking up with excitement. "That''s out of the question. And while we are on the subject ¨C what is your progress report?" Pitaya wasn''t swayed and asked with a frown. "As you can see, of course! I got myself an artifact that distracts enemies, so I should be somehow okay while infiltrating the Envys territory capital. That''s basically it. Thought thanks to this si I should have an easier time infiltrating the mansion, so I''m sure that the future progress report will be much better." The blue undead scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. "Now, with that said and done, about our date..." He instantly switched gears and said with a cheeky smile. "I received your report, mister undead, with that, I will see you in a week." ...but Pitaya shut him off instantly and turned around with no intention of continuing the conversation past that point. "Khaha! That''s so you! Oh well, fine. See you then, Pitaya." Zombieughed and blew a kiss at the woman''s back, but she disappeared with a sh of white light without responding to him at all. "Sssss... (She''s a weird human.) Ssss? (Didn''t she say that she will bring a defensive artifact thest time she showed up?)" Without even blinking, Monty moved its jaw and hissed into Zombie''s ear. "Sssss? (Did she forget?)" It added curiously. "She did not forget ¨C it''s just that my skill is working just fine." Zombie''s face brightened up with an evil smirk. That Pitaya. She was one of the kingdom''s only three people who mastered the teleportation skill. She could have disappeared at any point ¨C but she waited until Zombie said his affectionate farewell. Chapter 420: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (1)

Chapter 420: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (1)

"Hey, you! Stop! You forgot to pay the fee for entering the city!" One of the city guards called after the hooded figure that simply passed by the queue of people waiting to enter,pletely indifferent as if they owned the ce. "You! I said...!" "I don''t care." The guard frowned and walked after the hooded person, shouting at them - but in response, the person of interest simply shrugged their shoulders without looking back and... *BOOOM* ...kicked off the ground with enough strength to cause a small explosion that caused panic amongst all the rest of the queuing travelers - which in turn required the attention of the other guards. No one wanted to miss on the toll that more than half of was going straight to their pockets after all. "What the hell?! Did anyone see how that bastard looked under the hood?!" The one guard who was walking after the now escaped traveler gasped and looked back at his colleagues. "That''s your business - either think of something and write a report or forget about it - you don''t want to get in trouble over some bastard... Oi! Don''t you dare to do the same shit like that smart-ass back then unless you want to have a close look at the hospitality of our cells!" One of them looked back and called out while shrugging his shoulders, before grabbing the shoulder of a plump gentleman trying to sneak past him without paying. "...fucker..." The first guard cursed under his nose and went to join the others with keeping an eye on the new arrivals. He had no intention to write any report - after all if he did, and the unknown hooded personmits any sort of crimes, he as the person who failed to stop the criminal, would get fired or even put on trial, depending on the severity of the crimemitted by the escapee. --- "That was way too easy..." Zombie furrowed his brows, pulling the hood over his face a bit more, making sure that no one would notice his rather easily recognizableplexion, and jumped down from the roof of the nearby building right to a cozy little dark alley ¨C a perfect ce with only a few life signatures in sight. "Huh...?! Hey, when did you get here?!" ...a few life signatures certainly did not mean that there was no one there... A dirty, unshaven man who looked and smelled like he hadn''t had a bath in... his entire life... pulled himself up from the weird nest that looked like he made for himself from old clothes and trash like some sort of human pigeon, and red at the disguised blue undead. "This is a private alleyway! Pay up for passing or else...!" The man pulled out a makeshift shiv and his hand began glowing white as he pointed it out threateningly in a fluent motion that showed it wasn''t his first time extorting people. Poor man, if he didn''t fail to notice that the new person came from above and not from the main road, he might have lived. "..." Zombie raised his brows underneath the hood, very much confused. "Did you say private alleyway...?" He asked with the amount of mockery so high that it was almost corporeal, tilting his head so much that he almost turned it horizontal. "Fucking country bumpkin... of course that it''s priv-URGH!" The homeless man scoffed and waved his shiv around making sure - in his own mistaken opinion - that Zombie will not retaliate too scared to get shanked... /Low-level yer defeated You receive EXP Well... considering that the next second the dirty man was sliding down the wall, leaving a trail of blood behind like a gory slime was enough of a proof that it was an idiotic idea. "That was a rhetoric question. Moron." Zombie scoffed and shook his head at the ragged corpse of a dirty man and pulled out the handkerchief from his own pocket to wipe off the fool''s blood off of the glove before it would leave a stain. ...yes, he was wearing gloves as a part of the disguise... "Now..." Zombie looked around. It wasn''t like he knew the n of the city well enough to navigate through the back alleys to get to the Envy''s mansion, but at the same time the mansion itself wasn''t very hard to find ¨C yet the original n of his definitely had to be changed if each and every side road and back alley would have a guardian like that. Zombie could clearly see the fancy high roof of the house of the main branch of the ruling family of the territory but he couldn''t just run over there jumping from roof to roof without getting the attention of half of the city - and he certainly did not need that kind of attention, especially considering the delicate and stealthy approach he should implement ording to all the information gathered and given to him by the queen''s spymaster, Pitaya. ...but... if he wasn''t alone... wouldn''t it be better to get the attention? The blue undead smirked to himself. "We have time and no new spies from either side had shown up as of yet... Kopia, do you want to hang out with me in your humanoid form?" The blue undead asked with a confident smile. "A date!" Which prompted Kopia''s immediate reaction of jumping out of her scabbard and turning into a long-haired girl in a fancy dress - even more fancy than she would usually choose to create ¨C and call out in excitement. She then proceeded to wrap herself around Zombie''s right arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Good, as long as neither side will send someone with the smell detection skill, we should be fine." The blue undead nodded his head with satisfaction, ncing between the si on his finger and the excited humanoid sword at his side and making sure that each piece of his clothing is properly covering his blue skin before setting out before stepping over the body of the unknown man and set on going for the main road. "...? Master, we aren''t going to stick to the sideroads?" Kopia asked in confusion going on her tiptoes and whispering conspicuously into Zombie''s ear... ...while stepping on the corpse with no remorse whatsoever... "And be forced to leave a trail of corpses in our wake? Nah, no thanks. I would prefer to stay incognito." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and respond casually. "But..." "I made the n with back alleys because I thought that it would allow me to stay in the shadows, but I honestly doubt that this guy was the only self-proimed owner of the alley in this ce." The girl fidgeted and was about to ask a question but Zombie simply shook his head and exined his reasoning before she could properly voice out her sentence while pointing his thumb back over his shoulder at the dead body. "But I suppose it''s okay to go wild while shopping since no one expects someone like me would like to show off in that way." "Nnnn...?" He said, and his words caused Kopia to furrow her brows and tilt her head as if she realized something but did not want to jump to a conclusion. "Let''s buy you some nice expensive food ¨C I haven''t strengthened you for a while, right? Let''s diversify your arsenal a little bit." Zombie made himself clear by tapping on the coin pouch at his waist on the opposite side from Kopia''s luxurious scabbard. "Eh?! You will?! Master! Really?! You will?!" Kopia gasped and hugged him, bouncing up and down - which reminded Zombie about a certain important detail. "Since we would be posing as a master and a servant it would look weirder if you kept calling me master, and you can''t call me Zombie either since that would ruin the disguise in the first ce..." The blue undead spoke up with concern when suddenly... "Ssss! (Termas!)" A voice hissed out between his ear and Kopia. "Huh...?" Zombie frowned and frowned. "Sssss! (She can still call you master but no one will notice!) Sss! (It''s clever!) Sssssss...? (Master, can you get me some snacks too...?)" The voice belonged, of course, to the golden snake posing as an earring Could around Zombie''s ear, Monty. "Termas...?" Kopia''s face scrunched in a grimace. "Termas, Termas, Termas - Ah! I get it! It is good! Good idea, gold!" But as she voiced it out repeatedly, her expression brightened and she nodded as if she found enlightenment. "Termas! You should buy gold some snacks too!" "Sssss! (Snacks! Snacks!)" Kopia dered proudly and Monty started hissing a chant into Zombie''s ear as if trying to hypnotize him. "¡­" It took a lot from Zombie not to roll his eyes out of his head, honestly. Since the blue undead was aware that Kopia was reading his mind whenever she was touching him, he stopped himself from thinking a meanment, but deep inside was well aware of what a certainly sealed overseer wouldment about the two at his side if she was avable. ... The level of intelligence of those two lovable idiots was perfectly matched. ...somewhere in between the level of the nursery and preschool children... Chapter 421: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (2)

Chapter 421: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (2)

"Here! Let''s go here now, Termas!" Kopia pulled on Zombie''s arm, dragging him through the crowd of people that certainly weren''t happy about being pushed aside by the fancy-dressed girl. Of course, it would be a different case if she was someone from the Envy family ¨C but her looks weren''t nearly as good as the stunning elf-like faces of the ruling family of the territory... "Oww...! Hey watch ou...!" Still, theck of cooperation did not matter for the crimson-haired girl in the slightest, as she simply rammed her way through the crowd without any consideration whatsoever. "You watch out, trash." "...never mind..." And when coupled with Zombie''s threatening aura and the bright white light of a tier 2 skill, there were none who tried to take things beyond just a few scornful looks and an angryment. With that, Zombie and Kopia were off to another cksmith shop to look for good swords ¨C preferably with abilities or made from rare materials ¨C and went through the door making the bell above it ring, notifying the clerk that they have clients. "What can I help you with, miss and mister?" The clerk, a cheerful-looking kobold girl that looked way too young to be allowed to work in a shop with such dangerous merchandise, asked with a bright smile and got on top of a chair she was sitting in just to be able to peek out from above the counter. "Swords! Show me your best swords!" Kopia, who saw nothing odd about a child working in a weapon shop, approached the young kobold with an even higher output of energy and mmed her hands on the counter with a big bright smile. "Ah! You know your stuff, big sis! My grandpa makes the best swords in the entire Envy territory!" The kobold child jumped up with excitement and jump off of her chair and walked from behind the counter and approached the disy of various weapons on one of the walls. "You might be interested in this beauty!" She pointed at the massive two-handed sword with a beautiful ruby de and gold and silver crossguard. "This one is our biggest...!" "Trash." The kobold child was talking with exasperation, but she got interrupted by Kopia''s ruthlessment spoke in a voice far colder than ice. "E-eh...? Big sis, sorry, I must have misheard you..." The little kobold girl flinched and backed off a step and smiled awkwardly at the crimson-haired girl. "When I said I want to see your swords, I meant weapons." Kopia frowned, actually angry, and touched the stunningly beautiful weapon''s de with her finger,... "Ah! D-don''t...!" The kobold girl reached her hands, trying to stop her, but Kopia ended up sliding her finger all the way through the whole length of the sword... ...and then showed off her intact finger... "..." Zombie raised his brow and looked at his humanoid sword ¨C since she literally had no blood that the sword could draw, doing a show like that would be a perfect start of starting the talk about the price drop... ...but the thing was, Kopia wasn''t cunning enough to do try something like that right of the bat... ...not to mention that they didn''t even hear the price of the weapon, to begin with... So the disguised blue undead merely stood and watched Kopia from the sidelines. "It looks pretty, but that''s it. See? No chink. I think that gold would like this, but I want a weapon. This is a decoration and it has no skills that would make it useful." She spoke sounding incredibly disgusted. ...which in turn made the blue undead curious. He stealthily took off Monty from his ear and moved it towards the de, making it look like he was checking it out just as Kopia did. Then, before the shocked kobold child could say anything in response, he took back his hand and put Monty back on his ear. "Sssss. (This is trash.) Ssssssssss. (There''s not a speck of precious materials in this, it''s all stained ss and some cheap paint on wood.) Sssss...? (Master, you will not make me eat this garbage, will you...?)" The golden snake hissed quietly so that only Zombie could hear him and actually sounded really worried at the end, making Zombie roll his eyes. "B-but this is my grandpa''s...!" The little kobold girl''s chin started shaking ¨C but if she thought that it would work against those clients, well... she could not be farther from the truth. "I don''t care. Weapons. Show me real swords, not some disy pieces." Kopia shook her head with disgust and pped her hands to hasten the child ¨C showing not just a vocabry but a gesture that she was certainly not taught by anyone, at least as far as Zombie could remember. "M-maybe this one...?" The kobold child pointed at an emerald sword right below the ruby one. "..." Kopia didn''t even nce at it and instead waved her hand ¨C glowing with white light - vertically from the floor up to the ceiling. *SHING* "KYAAAAAAH!" She used a sword skill and cut through not only the ruby and emerald sword, but all the swords on disy as well as cutting into the wall behind it ¨C which made the little kobold girl cry out in fear and fall back on her butt. The broken swords all shattered and turned into worthless scrap they actually were from the beginning. "You are really pissing me off. I. Want. Weapons." Kopia took a step forward and leaned down towards the child and raised her glowing hand above her head. "Th-there''s no more swords...! The Envy family took them all!" The kobold girl cried out pitifully, raising her arms above her head in an attempt to protect herself from the possible attack. "They took your weapons so you decided to try and sell trash to tourists or something?" Zombie spoke up, tilting his head in disbelief. "And what else can I do?! The good raw materials are expensive!" The kobold girl scoffed at him despite shaking from fear because apparently, she thought of him as the less threatening of the two. "Pffft...! And? If your grandfather can''t make at least a somewhat decent weapon out of the cheap materials, he sure isn''t a good cksmith. Pathetic." "SHUT UP! DON''T BADMOUTH MY GRANDPA!" The little girl certainly could use a big voice when she wanted. "YOU WOULDN''T BE TALKING LIKE THAT IF YOU SAW MY GRANDPA''S SWORDS! THEY ARE THE BEST! BUT THE ENVYS TOOK THEM ALL!" She roared furiously, staring at the disguised undead with pure hatred. "..." Kopia frowned and straightened her back. Then she approached Zombie and pulled on his cloak. "...what is it...?" Zombie asked and lowered his head since it looked like his humanoid sword was going to whisper to him. "...master, I kind of want to check those swords she is talking about..." Kopia indeed whispered, with sparkling eyes no less too. For whatever reason it looked like something in the kobold child''s behavior had sparked her interest. "...we are going to the Envys mansion anyway... could we look for those grandpa''s swords..." She asked, fidgetting cutely, and looking all innocent. "W-why aren''t you saying anything back...?" The kobold child that was suddenly left alone asked in confusion, lowering her hands ¨C but ended up being ignored. "...as long as it won''t endanger our stealthy approach..." "Yaay!" Zombie breathed out in defeat and agreed, making the crimson-haired girl jump up in joy. *ring* Then the sound of the bell announced the next customer... ...or rather customers... "Oh? What do we have here?" A group of extremely beautiful people entered the shop, all with bright smiles so blinding with the perfection that it was hard for an average human to look at them and not fall in love. ...but the thing was, hardly anyone besides their group was human in that shop... "..." Kopia barely nced at them and looked back at her master... "!!!!!!" ...and froze in shock... The threatening aura unleashed by the disguised blue undead was literally pushing back even the humanoid sword. But despite that, Zombie wasn''t mad. He seemed... "I recognize you... Lime Envy...!" ...extremely happy as he recognized the life signature of someone who was one hundred percent an unimportant, throw-away character, that he remembered from the first ythrough... "Huh...?" Lime Envy - the very same man who got captured during the first ythrough by Cranberry and Zombie right after the group of Envys attacked the carriage they were in to kidnap the ck-haired elven mage, Lairs, and then got tortured with death''s ichor andter killed off by the head of the Envy family using the stolen powers of the administrator ¨C looked at the disguised undead with confusion. "The girl isn''t the Prides girl, she''s way too old, and the bodyguard seems to know Lime..." Someone from the beautiful group whispered. "Lime, why don''t you introduce us to your acquaintance?" Someone else asked, trying to make it seem as if they all didn''t just barge into the shop after receiving a tip about a suspicious pair from which the girl had red hair and instantly assumed it was both Cranberry and Zombie that their family was searching for. "...umm... well..." Lime furrowed his brows, trying to remember who Zombie was based on his voice alone, though that was a pointless task since the two of them did not meet at all in the current ythrough. "Oh, I wouldn''t call us acquaintances..." Zombie smiled underneath his hood and the ck veil covering his face. "...Termas..." Despite being scarred, Kopia went ahead and grabbed onto Zombie''s arm to stop him, and called out with a cautious voice. "...more like..." Zombie took another step, dragging the fancily dressed humanoid sword with him despite all her efforts to stop him. "Enemies." The blue undeadughed, and his body lit up with the pure white glow of the activated skills. Chapter 422: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (3)

Chapter 422: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (3)

The group of beautiful people from the Envy family didn''t react properly at first at the deration from the masked man. Though, in their defense, why would they think that someone would actually try to attack them in the very capital of their own territory ¨C a ce where there should be no question about the influence they held. Hence ¨C they merely thought that the white light of the skillsing off of the masked man was merely meant as a tough-guy act ¨C especially since the girl that was with him was trying her best to stop him. He will stop, he will definitely stop before he will hit do anything. No, seriously, he must stop, right? There''s no way that he will actually... *WHAM* The stunning face of Lime, the man that the man talked to, met with the gloved face and lost miserably in the contest of toughness. *RING* "!!!!!!!!" The gears started slowly spinning in the heads of Envys only when Lime flew past the others and hit the wall right next to the door with enough power to make the bell above the door ring. "Wha...?!" *WHAM* The next Envy opened his mouth in a shocked gasp when the masked man used his free hand as a makeshift hammer and nailed his jaw, breaking it and shattering the bone into splinters. "TERMAS! TERMAS! NO! STOP! DON''T!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* And despite the cries of the crimson-haired, fancily-dressed girl by his side, the masked man continued the one-sided beat-down raining down the punches with the gloved fist that could as well be an iron mace. The masked man was simply walking towards the door and punching anyone in his wake no matter male or female ¨C if they were an Envy, they were greeted with the exact same amount of violence. "SURROUND HI-UGGGHHHHUAAAAA!" Shouted a beautiful blond-haired man with silky long hair just as the all-too-happy fistnded right in the middle of his stomach, twisting in to deal more damage to all the internal organs that could suffer from the kic energy passing through andunching him off with enough strength to break down the door of the weapon shop ran by the child kobold too horrified to even make a sound let alone try to stop the onught. It was pure carnage, the actual reverse of the group lynching ¨C it was the muchrger group that had no hope for making it out in one piece ¨C but of course, some of them tried and even seeded running away, leaving their brethren to a pain-filled fate. Some, not all. Despite the Envys not being the shining example of bravery and unity ¨C most of them did try to actually bunch up on the single man utterly destroying them in a brawl... though with a miserable oue. Whatever skills that guy was using ¨C he was actually insane. Using the only left hand, since his right arm was held back by the crimson-haired girl still trying to make his stop the craziness, he was sessfully fending off and countering every single attack ¨C he was simply too fast for anyone from the Envys group to catch off guard. ...but maybe the girl was his weak point...? One of the Envys had actuallye up with such an idea and instead of trying to attack the masked man, he aimed at the crying crimson-haired girl with the full intent of harming her just to make the man''s rampage pause. ...not the smartest decision... *CHOMP* ...but not because of the reasons that mighte up to that Envy''s mind... Why? Well, because the girl, instead of getting sliced apart, preferably decapitated, actually went and caught the de with her mouth...! No...! Not caught! *CRUNCH* She bit it through and chew on it without as much as looking at the shocked beautiful man who attacked her. "G-GLUTTONY FAMILY?!" Apparently, the only reasonable exnation for such a mind-boggling thing to happen was that the girl was a member of another main family of the kingdom. "Then...!" The same man looked over at the masked man and his eyes widened. *ng* The next moment he threw away the partially eaten sword and ran out the door without another word. Merely a few momentster, all the other Envy''s burst out the shop right onto the busy street like some sort of human confetti ¨C not the gory one, they were all merely thrown away by Zombie who was getting way too into beating them down,pletely losing the sight of the original purpose he had arrived at the city despite Kopia clinging to him and doing whatever was in her power to stop him. "Termas! You can''t go further than this! You can''t just kill them all here! That would be very bad!" The humanoid de called out digging her heels into the road but that resulted only in her leaving the deep trails in the pavement as she was being pulled by the seemingly unstoppable blue undead bulldozing his way through. "Khahaha... Lime... Do you have a close connection with the avatar of envy...?" Zombie giggled underneath his hood and veil and grabbed the beautiful man with a messed up face he threw outst to make sure that he would not escape by the throat, raising him up. "Kghh...!" Lime Envy choked on the blood that was gushing from his crushed nose and pouring into his mouth and he did his best to stand up and break free, but the disguised blue undead was holding him in the air. ...Lime sure was regretting not choosing a taller elf to steal the appearance from... "Oh, I don''t worry, I actually don''t care about good old Rambutan... Instead... How about youngdy Fillia? Is trash like you able to set up a little meeting between me and her?" Zombie''s smile grew to a terrifying grin underneath his veil, but the threatening aura he released was enough to convey the overall feeling without the need to remove his disguise. "...! Termas! No! Definitely not! That''s not how the story should go...!" Kopia flinched and became ghastly pale even though there was no actual blood coursing through her veins. "...?" And for the first time, her words seemed to have an effect. "How the story should go...? Why do you sound as if you know how the story should...? wait..." Zombie furrowed his brows and looked away from the struggling man he was choking and faced his humanoid sword. "When I touched you and messed up your form, Pati said that you''ve read her mind... Are you telling me that you KNOW what we should be doing...?!" "...! N... Not really... Well... maybe a little bit..." He gasped in disbelief, watching the crimson-haired girl back off and start slouching with a troubled face. "Are... you... SERIOUS?!" "UGHHHHHYYYYYGH!!!" Zombie growled, subconsciously clenching his fist and squeezing Lime''s neck so hard that his head almost popped off like a bottle cap. "...what is the meaning of this...?" But then, before Kopia stopped fidgeting and responded to the blue undead, a new person joined the scene. Older gentlemen whose hair were almostpletely gray, wearing a butler''s uniform and holding onto a bag with groceries. "!!!!!!" *thump* Within an instant, every other thought got blown out of Zombie''s head and he threw the Lime away as if the beaten-up man was merely some worthless trash. "Caramb....!" The blue undead whispered with overwhelming excitement, as he recognized the personal butler and servant of the official viiness, Fillia Envy. Chapter 423: [Bonus Chapter] Carambola

Chapter 423: [Bonus Chapter] Caramb

"Thank you. Have a nice day." An older gentleman with graying hair that wasn''t quite silver yet but on their way there had already resembled steel in color nodded to the shopkeeper and went out of the shop with a bag full of groceries. "Mhmmhmm~" The gentleman was of course Caramb, the servant, bodyguard, and the caretaker of the daughter of Fillia Envy, the daughter of the main branch of the Envy family. Funnily enough, Caramb was not a member of the Envy family ¨C at least not when ites to his bloodline. He was a rather special person, born in a poor noble family, Loyalty, he very quickly showed off abilities that made him stand out from other members of his family and even go as far as to enter Wraths family to be trained as a bodyguard. Normally, someone like him had no chance of evering close to the tightly guarded, strictly bloodline-based hierarchy of the Envy family. Then howe that a man like him was not only let in on the darkest secret of the most secretive family out of the seven main families of the kingdom but got to an undeniably high position of guarding the girl that was set to be the future queen through the arranged marriage with the kingdom''s first prince, Roan Greed? Well... Caramb didn''t achieve that in any normal way... First of all, a little trivia... The thing was, he had not one or two but three inborn unlocked affinities ¨C one tier 2 and two tier 3 skills that many would have killed to get their hands on but had no ability to receive. First was the tier 2 closebat skill. It was an incredibly useful skill ¨C it was almostughable how many powerful warriors could be disarmed and incapacitated like mere toddlers once Caramb got close to them. Coupled with a speed-increasing skill, it was a child''s y go through the bodyguard''s training at the Wraths family training facility. Then, there was the ridiculous tier 3 mana drain skill. A skill that simply couldn''t be more perfectly synergized with his closebat skill. Mana was important not only for mages but warriors too ¨C mana dictated how many times a skill can be used ¨C without it, there was no enhancing the body, no shooting out powerful spells, no dashing away breaking the rules of the natural order. It was a broken skill that Caramb could pull of indefinitely since the amount of mana drained was equal to the amount that the mana drain required to remain active. Those two skills alone should have made him unstoppable. Should. Because his third affinity was both a great strength and the biggest demerit that he could ever receive. Tier 3 skill, Loyalty ¨C the very reason for his family name. Caramb was the first person in generations who was born with it ¨C in the distant past that skill was a reason why Loyaltys was one of the most promiscuous families of the middle-tier nobility, favored the most by the Pride family ¨C but with the disappearance of that skill, so did the status and close rtionship and Loyalty family was pushed lower and lower down the hierarchy... What was worse, even though Caramb was born with it, it did not mean that he could raise in power... Usually, tier 3 skills would get rid of its tier 2 base skill ws ¨C but not loyalty. As its name suggest that skill literally required another person to work out. It was a skill that bonded the user and the recipient and granted the user all of the powers of the recipient in exchange for absolute loyalty for as long as the recipient was alive. ...and that wasn''t even the demerit... The actual problem was that loyalty wasn''t just inactive like any other skill ¨C it was constantly influencing its user to actively search for the recipient ¨C the user could not help it at all as the loyalty was a pride-based skill that seemed to have a will on its own. And that was the reason why Caramb didn''t simply enter the Envy family as much as he was forcefully pushed into it by the series of rather fortunate ¨C or unfortunate ¨C series of events. The thing was, young Cramb training under the Wrath family was the absolute best candidate to be the next bodyguard of the royal family. Was is the keyword. Because one day as he was traveling, he encountered a group of Envys that was in the middle of capturing elves ¨C and the group was led by the avatar of envy of that time, Rambutan Envy''s father. At first, the head of the Envy family ordered his men to kill Caramb off, but the youngster with powerful skills wasn''t going to justy down and die and began fighting them off all at once. At one point it even looked like he would be victorious... ...until the avatar of envy used his powers and stole both his mana drain skill and closebat skill, using the overwhelming, system-defying steal skill variant only avable to him. To make it all worse, the loyalty skill started acting up too ¨C but that turned out to be the blessing in disguise. Thankfully, Rambutan''s father was aware of both who Caramb was and the properties of the loyalty skill and offered him a deal. Use the skill and be bound to his family forever or die. Considering that Caramb was already an older gentleman in the current moment, it is obvious what he had chosen, right? Even when the old avatar had died and Caramb was technically free, he had no choice but to use the loyalty skill on someone else from the Envy family to escape the possible assassination since he knew far too much at that point ¨C that''s how he ended up as young Fillia''s servant. Honestly, he chose that child as the recipient of the loyalty skill merely because that would give him a few years of peace before she would start ordering him around. But, considering that Fillia was already almost fourteen years old and already putting her own ns into motion, that peaceful time was already over. Still, was it that bad? Caramb couldn''t escape his age and the sentimentality that came with it. Whether it was because of the loyalty skill or not, he was unable to stop thinking about the daughter of the Envy family as his own granddaughter, and certainly wanted best for her ¨C and was fully intending on helping her realize whatever n she came up with as long as he will be able to move around. "...she''s been in a bad mood recently... let''s forget about the bnced diet for today and just go fullfort food mode..." The old man tilted his head and looked towards the Envy''s mansion with a soft smile, ignoring whatevermotion was happening near the shops with adventuring equipment. "Sir...! S-sir Caramb...!" "...?" Though it looked like it wasn''t in the cards for him to just go about his day, one of the Envy family members ran up to him, pale, scared, and on the verge of pissing himself. "Young lord Apple. What''s the matter?" Caramb raised his bow and asked the beautiful man. "At...! At the kobold''s weapon shop...! We thought that it is the Pride''s girl and her undead...! But...! But it''s a girl from the Gluttony family and her bodyguard... he must be from... a one of the Wraths...! He''s beating everyone up...!" The scared man cried out pointing at the center of themotion where the most people gathered in a circle to observe the events y out. "You... You know people from the Wrath family, right...! Please! Stop him!" The man gasped in tears. "Gluttony and Wrath? Are you sure?" Caramb straightened his back and looked down at Apple. "Yes...! Must be! The girl ate my sword! The masked guy is using a skill simr to yours...! The closebat...!" The beautiful man reported, trying to catch his breath. "...fine. I''ll go check it out." The older gentleman nodded, agreeing more out of curiosity than the need to help out the Envy family. He moved past Apple and walked towards the center of the action. "...about youngdy Fillia? Is trash like you able to set up a little meeting between me and her?" "!!!!!!!!" As he was walking through the gathered crowd, Caramb heard a sentence that made the hair on his neck stand up. This no longer was just some random encounter ¨C the child he was protecting was clearly being targeted! The steel-haired gentleman pushed past the other people with no remorse and finally reached the spot... ...a crimson-haired girl was standing right by a person that certainly didn''t want to be recognized they were covered from head to toe in inconspicuous dark clothes... ...and that person was holding up another member of the Envy family, that Caramb recognized as Lime Envy ¨C holding him in the air by the throat, choking the poor man with no remorse. "...what is the meaning of this...?" The old gentleman asked with a frown. *thump* The reaction was instantaneous ¨C the disguised person threw Lime away like trash, and looked right at the old man holding the groceries. "Caramb...!" "!!!!" The joy that he spoke the gentleman''s name with was so disturbing, that the man in question leaned away and gritted his teeth. Chapter 424: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (4)

Chapter 424: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (4)

"Termas...! We need to go!" Kopia gritted her teeth with a screeching sound and grabbed Zombie''s right arm again, trying to pull him away. "..." But the blue undead was just standing there, ring at the old gentleman, smiling creepily ¨C which thankfully wasn''t noticeable because of the hood and the veil covering his face. "...I see, so your name is Termas... I don''t really recall someone with such a name ¨C are you someone from the younger generation?" Caramb twitched, and asked, furrowing his brows, clearly trying to recognize or at least guess the possible identity of the disguised blue undead. All in all, it looked like he was convinced that he must know him ¨C or at least should know him, since he was recognized and called out by name. "Hey... If you are here that means that Fillia is in the city too, right?" But instead of the expected reaction, Zombie merely tilted his head and asked in a rather disturbing manner. It wasn''t a voice of a sane person, but rather of the mindless undead consumed by the hatred towards the living ¨C or a very specific living, in this case at least. "..." Of course, that did not sit well with the steel-haired man. His expression darkened and he red down at the disguised blue undead. "No, she is out of town. Miss Fillia is doing whatever she pleases, she doesn''t always stay under my care, she is more than capable enough to do so." The man denied smoothly without as much as blinking an eye, no hesitation at all, and shook his head. "...huh..." Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed. Usually, he could tell when others were lying with rtive ease which was partially thanks to his liar title, but with Caramb... ...it was... difficult to say for sure... "You''re awfully emotional, your aggression is far too obvious ¨C are you a hidden child of Mango that I''m not aware of... Or maybe just a student...? I heard that he picked up a kid, but I expected you to be younger..." The old gentleman said curiously, taking a step forward. "Nah... he got sick... severely... he wouldn''t be able to properly teach anyone. Though... I should not be talking about that with you in those circumstances." Zombie responded with a casual shrug, somehow still thinking clearly enough to put two and two together and figure out who? Caramb was talking about, yet not clear enough to back off and get away from the spot to resume the stealthy approach. "...I''ve heard about it... so it was actually that severe. A shame." Caramb made a bitter expression but soon enough he was back into the professional mode. "What is your business with our youngdy?" He added taking another step. "Has she done something against the Wraths family that would make you seek revenge even while you''re escorting someone from the Gluttony family? Or has she done something to you, personally?" Another step followed another question. "You heard him, Termas! We have nothing to do here now! Let''s go!" Interestingly, Kopia showed a surprising adaptability and instead of flinching or acting surprised that she was singled out as someone from the Gluttony family, she used it to get Zombie to return to his senses and back away. "Oh, it is personal, don''t worry, the pack of Wraths will not storm your precious mansion in the middle of the night like a bunch of lowly hired thugs. Though, that merely means that your little Fillia got herself in a lot of shit that she will be forced to eat sooner rather thanter. If you don''t want to get dragged down with her I would leave the Envy family if I were in your ce." Zombie scoffed mockingly, not backing off at all despite knowing about Caramb''s tier 3 mana drain skill. "I don''t think? that I need to listen to this advice of yours, young Wrath." The old gentleman frowned and shook his head ¨C stopping in ce a bit concerned. If the youngster knew him, he should be aware of that skill... could it be that he had a countermeasure in ce...?" "Did they stop teaching about minding the time and ce for disying the full extent of one''s anger or are you perhaps a recipient of..." "Ira ¨C the system was kind enough to bestow it upon me a while ago." He asked with a smile, but his smile faded the moment that Zombie finished the sentence for him. The blue undead was of course referencing the time that the system tried to give him ira, but the wrath-based skill got absorbed and nourished superbia instead. "So you are from the Wrath family..." The old gentleman sighed and grabbed the bag with groceries that he was holding on to a lot tighter with no intention of putting it away ¨C which suggested that he wasn''t really about to attack the boy as he finally became fully convinced about the youth''s background since hisst question was the final test. As much as he wanted to squash the little over-confident bugger in front of him ¨C it certainly would bring out a negative oue. The thing that the masked undead have said... Caramb was now sure about two things ¨C the youth in front of him was certainly from the Wrath family... ...and he was fully aware of what the current avatar of envy was plotting in secret against the Pride family ¨C the words he used ¨C the pack of Wraths storming the mansion... It was obvious ¨C for the old gentleman at least ¨C that the disguised youth was referencing the Envys n to use Gluttony family members to get rid of the Pride family. He CLEARLY said PACK ¨C what else could he be referencing besides the werewolves...? The truth was obviously different, it was literally exactly like the blue undead had said it ¨C with the exception of him being involved with the Wrath family in any way, of course ¨C but how was Caramb supposed to figure that out? Zombie was casually dropping the hints about information he had no right to know if he wasn''t involved in everything. Yet, despite all that info threatening the whole Envy family, only one thought was causing Caramb to start retreating ¨C the youngdy he was protecting was in danger. Of course, the old gentleman would warn her father, Rambutan, but at the moment Fillia''s safety was all that Caramb could think of. Why? Because he himself had lied ¨C Fillia wasn''t out of the city at all ¨C she was in the Envys mansion, resting after a mission ¨Cpletely unaware about the danger that was looming so near... "For the sake of my connection with the Wrath family ¨C I''ll give you a piece of advice just like you did to me." Caramb spoke up after staying silent for a good minute or three. "If I were in your ce, I would have left without trying to cause any more mess with the Envys or me." He scoffed and turned around, leaving the disguised undead and the crimson-haired girl holding onto his arm. "Termas...?" Kopia tilted her head and asked feeling that the blue undead is no longer trying to leash out against the present living. "Hmph. Don''t worry, I''m alright now." Luckily enough ¨C his reaction calmed Zombie down enough so he didn''t try to attack the old gentleman at all. Chapter 425: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (5) [Seriously, they are supposed to be spying...]

Chapter 425: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (5) [Seriously, they are supposed to be spying...]

"And, we need to have a talk." Zombie added, looming over the fidgeting Kopia as the two of them were leaving the scene of the carnage, passing by the city guards as if it was nothing ¨C after all if the Caramb ¨C one of the more promiscuous underlings of the Envy family past thest fifty years let go of the pair even after the masked man beat up a dozen of Envys, who were they to stop them? "...I don''t really remember much about the quests, I can only recognize whether something bad is about to happen..." The humanoid sword hurriedly murmured an exnation, but... "Do you think you are fooling someone with that?" "...uuuuu..." Zombie scoffed at her making her slump her head own and cry out pitifully as her attempt at lying her way out of trouble was seen through instantly. "Haaah... I kind of knew that the personality you have is far more simr to Pati, but I never actually thought that you literally copied it together with memories. Seriously..." The blue undead shook his head walking along with his remorseful weapon, shaking his head in disbelief. "...master... I..." "H-hey! You two!" Kopia raised her head looking up at him attempting to do the puppy-dog eyes ¨C and doing pretty well ¨C when a small kobold child shouted at them from the broken doorway. "...that shop should have a backdoor. Fine." "Eh...?" Zombie muttered to himself and grabbed Kopia''s arm, pulling her with him towards the shouting girl. "You broke my stuff! You broke the door! Do you think that you can just go and wa-MPFGHP...!" The kobold girl, quite unaware about who exactly she was dealing with, went ahead and started listingints in a rather experienced way for her age, but it was all for nothing as soon as she got into Zombie''s arms reach, she got grabbed by the face and carried inside by the blue undead like a piece umonly shaped luggage. "Monty, sorry for asking you to eat trash but could you do something about the broken door?" Zombie asked the golden snake on his ear while the little kobold was desperately struggling to break free from the suffocating grip of the disguised undead''s left hand. "Ssss... (I really don''t want to...) Ssss... (But I don''t mind doing it for you, master...)" The gold serpent posing as earring hissed out heavily and slithered down Zombie''s body and through the floor ¨C where it hoovered up all the broken fake disy swords like a minuscule vacuum cleaner, and as its body began glowing with a distinct yellowish light, it vomited out a colorful, fully functional door made out of the colored ss and painted wood. "Kopia." Zombie let go of the crimson-haired girl''s arm and gestured at the brand new door lying on the floor. "..." She looked at him still trying to get his pity but went ahead, lifted the colorful door, and ced it on the hinges. "Oh....! They fit really well!" She raised her brows, noticing that there was no need for any adjustment ¨C as the door not only fit the frame but even locked properly. "Ssss! (Of course, I''m the remnant of Happy ¨C god of luck!)" Monty went ahead and hissed proudly from the floor, not hesitant at all to reveal that it wasn''t something that it nned but rather a wild stroke of good fortune... "...good... as for this one..." Zombie nodded and finally paid attention to the little kobold struggling against his arm. ...and was right about to crush her head to get rid of the annoyance when... "Master! No! She''s an important character for your good ending!" Kopia cried out and jumped at his left arm, and clung to it while pushing the little kobold away, removing Zombie''s glove in the process. "Guhuah...! Uuuu...! ...uuuuu...! GRAN-GRANDPAAAAAAAAAAA...!" The little kobold girl hit the wall and the first thing she did after hitting her back against the wall was to start bawling her eyes out in the most pitiful way possible. "An important character? She is...?" Zombie frowned and asked, lifting Kopia up to his eye-level by raising the arm she was continuing to cling on to. "Yes! She''s an enchanter that gives lots of quests! And she will,ter on, settle in the vige that will be the main hub for...!" The humanoid sword eximed hurriedly, speaking as fast as she could until she suddenly flinched and shut her mouth. "...forget about the vige, alright, master...? For now... it''s way too soon to be worrying about that..." She added with a very serious expression ¨C that certainly didn''t fit someone hanging down from somebody''s arm. "Anyway... Do not kill her! Raika will be important!" "GRAAAANDPAAA! GRAAAN... eh...? Wh-why do you know my name...?" Kopia dered and her words caused the little kobold girl ¨C whose name was apparently Raika ¨C to stop crying out for her grandfather and look at her in confusion with tearful eyes. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows, but was there really room for discussion in the current situation? Kopia knew about the quests, he didn''t. And she certainly liked killing the living as much as he did, so if she was telling him to not extinguish someone''s life, she must have meant it. "...howe that Envy territory has so many potentially important characters, huh...?" The disguised blue undead sighed, putting Kopia back on the floor. "Ah, that''s because Envys are the ones who steal and kidnap a lot!" The humanoid de perked up and eximed with joy, happy that she could exin something. "...sure..." But her answer certainly didn''t lift Zombie''s mood. Killing Raika would make things easier, honestly. He asked Monty to reveal itself as not being only a normal earring because he was sure that the kobold girl won''t be alive to tell the tale. That was the very same reason why he wasn''t very nice to her from the beginning either. But now... With the reveal that she will be someone important... "Hey. Raika. Where''s your grandfather?" Changing his demeanor at the drop of a hat was already second nature to him, hence getting rid of the threatening aura and starting to act all nice wasn''t the problem. "...!" The problem was the unpredictable reaction of the child... "Raika?" Zombie walked over to her and crouched ¨C she flinched and looked down when she asked her about the person for who she was crying for, so that suggested it was the right dialogue option to pursue. "Aside from us, there is no one else in this building. Where is your grandfather?" Zombie asked... ...while his ck eyes shone with a pale-blue light... "!!!!" Little kobold girl shoulders and chin trembled. "...Envys took him together with his swords... two weeks ago..." Raika cried out pitifully and clenched her little fists, as tears of anger rolled down her face. "What a coincidence ¨C say... this fancily dressed big sister and I are going to visit the Envys mansion... How about we look around for your grandfather once we will be there?" "You will?!" The little kobold girl trembled and looked up at Zombie in disbelief. "We will ¨C but under one condition..." The blue undead smirked under his veil and put his left hand on top of Raika''s head, and started caressing her short hair. "You will have to listen to me, and keep everything that happened here a secret... okay...?" Zombie nodded, making sure to look straight into the child''s eye so that the skill would properly activate and break through any defenses that the little important character could have built up against him due to being treated so roughly before... "I will! I swear!" Thankfully ¨C for her that is ¨C Raika nodded her head vigorously and agreed without any objection, though, that was kind of expected considering that her level couldn''t be that high... no, she probably wasn''t even a yer character yet, to begin with so maybe she was only level 1. Chapter 426: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (6) [Finally doing some spying?!]

Chapter 426: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (6) [Finally doing some spying?!]

A few hourster when the city guards were going around the city, lighting up thenterns along the main road, Zombie together with Kopia and Monty were all hiding near the Envys mansion ¨C the luxurious building perched above the rest of the city as if looking down on all the other buildings- which basically encapsted how the Envy family felt about the people from their territory outside of their own family. Well, that wasn''t all truth actually, and Zombie was well aware of that. Simply said ¨C the Envys didn''t want to be anywhere near the people from outside their family strictly because of their looks ¨C their real looks. If their mansion was any closer to the other buildings, they run the risk of being their real looks being spotted by someone. After all their family mansion was supposed to be the ce where Envys could feel safe enough to deactivate their skills and just be themselves... ...which of course wasn''t the case since the only people from the Envy family despised and felt jealous for more than someone outside their family were other Envys... That became even more relevant when Rambutan ¨C the current avatar of envy ¨C went ahead and had a child with the elf he brought with him while his wife was gravely sick and the said child was born naturally beautiful. "...why aren''t we moving, master...?" Kopia shimmied closer to Zombie and nudged his side. "Today we are here only to gather some information, that''s it ¨C I told you that you could stay with Raika if you want." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and said dismissively. "She''s just a little kid and she somehow managed to function all on her own for two weeks, even opening the shop and selling the sham merchandise... Now that I''m thinking about it, is it okay to leave her in that shop all alone? You said that she is an important character, what if some cheated customer will try to have revenge for scamming him? People of Envy territory aren''t very merciful." The blue undead furrowed his brows and added after a moment of consideration. "She will be fine. Raika is level 1 but she has the enchantment+ affinity and is using it to reinforce the building at night. Master, Rakia doing rtively well for herself even two weeks after her grandfather was taken is not a coincidence." The crimson-haired humanoid sword raised her head and dered with so much pride as if she was boasting about her own achievements. "...sure..." Zombie rolled his eyes ¨C glowing with a reddish glow ¨C and continued staring right down. "I expected the old kobold to be kept with the elves in the firstyer of the basement, but there are only life signatures of the elves there." He added with a sigh. "And I really can''t pinpoint the location of the remnant of Saint... It''s either because my life signature detection skill is still too low or because the monster is too weak and isn''t showing up, just as it was with the Saint himself during the first ythrough." Zombie added with a bitter expression. "Then why don''t we go and look for it?" Kopia asked, tilting her head. "Sssss? (Yes, why don''t we go there now, master?)" Monty hissed into Zombie''s ear simrly confused. "...haaa..." The blue undead closed his eyes and released the heaviest sight of the night. "We can''t do that because Rambutan Envy is in the mansion just as almost every single Envy from the main family." He opened his eyes and exined, looking with his red glowing eyes towards the chamber that was either Rmbutan''s office or bedroom, and squinting his eyes at the lively life signature. "During thest ythrough, he knew instantly when somebody entered the basement." Zombie added, taking a deep breath to exin things further. "Even though I remember Rambutan to be a rather weak avatar, he still is the avatar of envy with the full ess to the sin-based skills thate with it. I think that with the high-level superbia that I have now I have the advantage over him, but I am not certain... What can you tell me about it?" He frowned and turned to Kopia. "..." The crimson-haired girl tilted her head and furrowed her brows trying to recall whatever knowledge she copied off of Patience. "You are right. If he will try to steal anything from you, he will receive the penalty from the system... but that means that he could die... and that would be bad... If he dies now, the one who will get the title of avatar will be Fillia - and if that happens, the ending you want, master, will be blocked." She spoke slowly, making sure that she remember things correctly. "...I was not aware of that..." Zombie clenched his fists so hard his knuckles became pale blue underneath his gloves. "So, that gives us even more reason for not going for it today ¨C let''s make sure that Rambutan will be nowhere near the mansion so that even if he learns that we entered the basement, he will not return in time." The blue undead sighed, massaging his forehead. "Though, in the first ce ¨C would he even go there alone and not take literally all of the avable Envys with him? No. just no. We have more than enough time to do things slowly." He added shaking his head so had that Monty almost fell off his ear. "Ssss...! (Master, be careful...!)" The golden snake hissed grumpily and slithered down the hood and Zombie''s shoulder, going as far as to coil itself and jump onto Kopia''s arm and slithering to her ear. "Oh, hello there, gold." The humanoid weapon weed him slightly surprised. "Ah! Now that I think about it ¨C gold, you made that door with the colorful things, right? Does that mean that you could make other things from different materials? Could you make swords?" She perked up and asked curiously, trying to have a look at the golden serpent despite it wrapping around her ear. "Sssss... (Making a weapon...) Ssss... (Would be hard...) Sssss. (I can make decorations and jewelry, making a weapon is out of my ability.) Sss. (For now.) Ssss. (My transform skill is too low for now.)" Monty exined with a thoughtful hissing. "..." Kopia furrowed her brows ¨C she had a few threads of her crimson hair coiled around Zombie''s right arm and hence could understand the golden snake by reading Zombie''s thoughts, but it looked like it wasn''t quite enough for her. Therefore, she went ahead and made a single crimson hair move and coil around the golden snake too. "Repeat." "Sss... (Okay, so...) She said with a serious expression and Montyplied without a second thought. "Oh! You will be able to make weapons! Master, you heard that! Gold will be able to make food for me-UGH!" She jumped up with excitement ¨C before Zombie reached out to her shoulder and forced her down. "Master...?" The humanoid sword tilted her head, looking at the blue undead with confusion. "..." But he didn''t even look at her, staring at one particr window of the mansion instead... "Hey, look ¨C isn''t this our lucky day?" Zombie''s grip on Kopia''s arm lessened and he even smiled with relief. "That life signature on the second floor above Mason''s ¨C it''s Fig." He added happily. "If things go well, she might help us create the distraction! I''ll go talk to her, you stay here." The blue undead patted Kopia''s arm and started stealthily approaching the mansion. "Master...! Tha-that''s not a good idea - you''ve said...!" "It will be fine, she''s an ally confirmed by Pati." Kopia called out after him, but Zombie nodded to her reassuringly and continued the approach." Chapter 427: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (7)

Chapter 427: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (7)

Zombie left the two behind and easily scaled the tall wall surrounding the mansion with just a simple jump enhanced only by the leg power affinity. As he did so, the blue undead froze momentarily right behind the wall, carefully watching for any sign of the rm getting raised ¨C but no life signature in the reach of his skill seemed to react. That meant that only a few guards ¨C members of the subordinate branches of the main family ¨C patrolling the surroundings were the ones that he had to watch out for. That also meant that whatever skill that the avatar of envy was using to guard the basement wasn''t extending any further than the entrance to the underground... or the mansion itself... The blue undead cautiously approached the building itself and began scaling the wall using his maxed-out acrobatics skill to its full extent. His target was obvious ¨C the opened window on the western hallway of the second floor. *thunk* "...shit..." Though that n had to change considering that a life signature that must have belonged to a servant from the branch family suddenly came out of one of the rooms that they were apparently cleaning and closed said window, barely missing Zombie''s hand extended on its way to grab the windowsill and climb up. Yeah... "..." Zombie breathed out, trying to figure out what to do next. ...straight up abandoning the approach and getting out was certainly looking good as an avable option, after all, he already knew that Fig was there ¨C the only thing left for him was to find her once she will be out of the mansion. ...but what if the only time she will be leaving the mansion will be to go on another mission ¨C she won''t be able to get him inside without making it suspicious if she will have no reason to return for a while... The guards were getting closer to his position and let''s be honest, a masked figure was rather a suspicious thing to be sticking to the wall of a mansion right after it got dark outside. There was no way that the rm wouldn''t be raised immediately once he was spotted. "..." Zombie gritted his teeth and looked around in search of anything that could help him get out of this pickle while letting him enter the mansion. "..." And there it was... A life signature that wasn''t Fig''s but someone who he should be able to trick rtively easily as long as he will y his cards right. ...probably... *knock* *knock* With a new n in mind, Zombie dropped a single floor on the outer wall and gently tapped on the window, assuming the least threatening stance he could take in his position, and peeked inside. "...?!" He did so with perfect timing and ended up face to face with a stunned ten-year-old brown-haired wide-eyed boy with a cute face that was destined to end up a handsome man. Mason Envy. Mason was in the middle of eating the evening meal alone in his room and when the masked Zombie suddenly appeared and tapped on the ss, he ended up stunned with a sandwich halfway to his opened mouth. "..." Zombie tilted his head in a non-threatening manner and waved his and the frozen boy... ...while the hood and the veil covering his face cked the light blue eyes emitted by his jet-ck eyes... The blue undead looked back, making sure that none of the guards is there yet, and then beckoned at the future capture target, and pointed at the window, doing a pantomime of opening it to let him in. "..." Mason gulped down his saliva, looked behind him as if checking out whether he was really alone, put down his sandwich, and... *click* ...opened the window just as the masked stranger asked him to ¨C since for whatever reason the boy felt that the suspicious individual was not suspicious nor threatening in the slightest. "Thanks, you''re a good kid, Mason. Just a friendly reminder ¨C don''t ever let strangers into your house, never-ever." Zombie climbed through and patted the boy''s head... *bam* ...knocking him out before the child could even open his mouth and ask about the identity of the mysterious stranger. *click* "...whew... just in time." Zombie closed the window back up just in time as one of the guards showed up, and breathed out in relief. Then he looked at the unconscious boyying on top of his meal and nodded his head. "You''re lucky that you''re a capture target and are needed ¨C I would have ripped you to shreds for what you did in the first ythrough otherwise." He scoffed, leaving the boy in a very ufortable-looking position, not bothering to at least move the child to bed right next to him. With getting rid of the possible danger and distraction ¨C momentarily at least ¨C the blue undead scouted the are with his life signature detection skill just to find out that Fig''s life signature went away from the room she was in previously. "..." Even if no rm was raised with the blue-undead trespassing into the mansion, it didn''t mean that it was okay for him to stay there system-knows how long ¨C hence, the need to make a choice. Follow Fig and talk to her in whatever room she''ll end up with ¨C or go and wait for her in the room that she was first spotted, hoping that she will return there. Zombie made sure that no one was in front of Mason''s room before opening the door and looking around the hallway. "..." He squinted his eyes looking at the stairway leading up ¨C and the decision picked itself ¨C the room that fig left earlier was really close, and with the stairway basically, right next to him, he could allow himself to risk it. Having decided on that the blue undead stthed his way up, keeping to the wall as he was climbing the stairs to reduce the chance of the stairs creaking under his weight, and got to the right ce without any trouble. "...not a toilet or a bathroom, good..." As he opened the door and slid in, he breathed out with relief seeing the bedroom. A fancy bedroom with a queen-sized bed and the big closet ¨C the one with a full-sized mirror built-in ¨C filled with clothes, though, it was worth mentioning that the mirror was carefully covered with a white cloth as if the owner didn''t want to identally see their reflection if they weren''t changing. "Makes sense." Zombie nodded with satisfaction noticing the small details that suggested that he was in Fig''s room. Though, probably the biggest hint for that was that the familiar life signature of the Envys spy was returning after whenever she went to before. "Khaha... Wonder how will she react~" The blue undead giggled to himself and removed both the hood and the veil, unmasking himself so that Fig would only get surprised at his sight and not freak out thinking that she was being attacked by an unknown disguised assant ¨C and he proceeded to take a strategic seat by the desk in front of the window while facing towards the door. Zombie''s need to tease an ally clearly triumphed the need to be cautious in that particr matter and would definitely earn him a scolding from the sealed overseer if she was avable. Seeing that no one else is even approaching the room aside from the returning Fig, Zombie rxed and leaned back on the seat, with a huge smile stered over his blue face. Then, finally, after a couple of minutes, the doorhandle moved and the door itself opened and a girl with the life signature of Fig entered, holding a jar with water. "...huh...?" ...but she wasn''t Fig that Zombie knew, it was... "Fillia Envy...?!" The blue undead uttered in disbelief standing up feeling all the reason leaving him, reced with pure anger. Chapter 428: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (8)

Chapter 428: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (8)

The sickly looking, terribly skinny girl that looked like she would break in half under the slightest breeze, with thin, shoulder-length reddish hair, wearing a full set of pajamas that was hanging on her like on a scarecrow... It was the younger version of Fillia Envy, the girl who tried to steal Cranberry''s magic using a unique skill of hers. All of which happened in the previous ythrough, but it made no difference to the blue undead. The memory of the system-intended viiness digging her fingernails into his Cranberry''s face and emitting the bright green light was so fresh in the blue undead''s mind that it could all have happened just yesterday, even though the events he remembered were bound to the story event set to happen in three more years in the future. *crash* "Z-Zombie?! Nooo! Don''t look at me!" The fourteen-year-old Fillia cried out in horror, dropping the jug with water, and covering her face with both arms as the shards of broken ss flew through the floor. Her reaction made one thing clear ¨C she wasn''t just using the skill of the heir or the avatar to take Fig''s life signature for herself ¨C from the very beginning, since the moment that Zombie first arrived at the Pride''s mansion ¨C she was Fig. No. Correction. Fig never existed in the first ce. It was all Fillia...! ...poor girl... ¡­she thought that the worst thing that could happen to her was Zombie seeing her true form... Meanwhile the blue undead... "YOU LITTLE PIECE OF FILTH!" Gowled in scalding fury andunched himself at the daughter of the avatar of envy with such outstanding speed that it should honestly count as teleportation. "GUH-HUAGH!" Before anything could make any sort of sense for her, Fillia was pinned against the door by the throat, and her legs were too far above the floor to give her any sort of support. "Apologize...! Apologize to her...!" Zombie trembled from some weird mixture of wrath and wild, sadistic joy. At the same time, his eyes began glowing with pale-blue light as he activated the heartthrob skill in a cruel attempt to twist the shock and fear of the real future viiness against her and make it so she wouldn''t want to break free. "Wh-why are you...!" Despite all that the girl grabbed onto his wrist, gasped, trying to break free. "..." That was not the expected reaction. This was someone that actively tried to hurt his Cranberry from the first ythrough, Zombie did not want a reasonable reaction. He wanted to see fear. He wanted to see the despair. Not a clear-minded ''why''. Hence, his body began glowing violet as he activated overpower, and focused on Fillia''s magic attack skill and instantly got three times the value of it added on top of his own. He took a step back and threw the girl on the ground, just to instantly push her down and sit on her stomach, pinning her down. He grabbed both of her hands with his right hand and pressed them above her head before she could even gasp for air. "I said ¨C APOLOGIZE." Zombie focus to make sure that all of his additional MAT will be properly channeled into the lust-based skill, as he leaned down and red right into the confused eyes of the youngdy of the Envy family. "!!!!!!" Fillia flinched and stopped resisting. "I-I''m sorry..." She said in a dreamy voice as her face turn bright red from the blush. At the same time... /Proficiency level reached The condition has been met (Overpower the MDF of a friendly character using the power of lust to break their mind and pull them down the road of lustful debauchery.) Skill rank up Heartthrob (level 3) >>> Mindbreak (level 1) A message he had never seen before showed up - this one even listed the condition that had to be and was met in order for the rank up to happen, which honestly was something rather new and interesting - though it wasn''t that odd considering that Zombie never before had to go through the process of acquiring and ranking up the sin-based skill from tier 1. "Ah... isn''t that perfect... miss friendly character...?" Zombie''s smile could not be described in any other way than evil and demonic. He let go of Fillia''s arms and grabbed her face with both his hand, just as the other Fillia did to his Cranberry during the night of the hungry wolves of the first ythrough, and leaned down so much that the two of them almost kissed. He could feel the girl trapped under him trembling from the anticipation ¨C but despite just leveling up the lust-based skill to its tier 2 equivalent, the blue undead was not fueled by lust at all. Mindbreak simply sounded like the right punishment for the sins of Fillia from the first ythrough. ...although the original one did receive a rather suitable punishment already... Well... Zombie never tried to act like he wasn''t a hypocrite... "Hey... do you mind goingpletely crazy...?" The blue undead smiled so wide that it looked like his face split in half, "...!" In response to that, Fillia''s eyes widened and her whole body shook uncontrobly. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Zombie''s neck, while her face melted with a lustful expression. But... as Zombie kept the terrifying skill active and Fillia''s eyes were slowly rolling into her skull, shing with whites, Zombie felt as if something tapped his head and... |...cheater...| A cold deeply disappointed voice whispered into his ear...! CRANBERRY! HIS CRANBERRY! ZOMBIE COULD RECOGNIZE HER VOICE NO MATTER THE TIME OR PLACE! "!!!!!!" Without a moment of hesitation, the blue undead broke the eye contact and deactivated his skills, pushed himself away from the sickly-looking girl, and stood up, turning around towards where the owner of the voice should be! "...?" Zombie blinked a few times and looked around the empty room with confusion. "Cranberry...?" He called out. "Cranberry!" He furrowed his brows and took a step forward, leaning down as if expecting to see the first ythrough Cranberry hiding under the desk or maybe the bed... ..of course, it was all futile... "...Cran... ...berry..." He gasped and slumped down to his knees. "UG-khe! Khe! Khe!" While the blue undead was breaking down, the effects of his mindbreak skill slowly subsided and Fillia somehow returned to her senses and instantly started coughing as if her body only then remembered that she was getting choked and couldn''t breathe. Chapter 429: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (9)

Chapter 429: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (9)

"Ghhh..! Kghhh...!" Fillia lifted herself up slightly, supporting her body on one elbow while massaging her neck. Both her throat and eyes felt as if they had been set on fire and she couldn''t stop coughing while tears kept flowing down her face despite her not feeling particrly moved. Honestly, she barely remembered what happened. She entered the room, saw the blue undead just chilling there, then he suddenly attacked her and pinned her to the door, and then... ...she realized ha she was sprawled on the floor in a ratherpromising position while Zombie was kneeling a few steps away from her, clearly heartbroken. ...what even happened...? "..." Suddenly, the blue undead flinched and turned around to nce at her. Their eyes meet for a second, and Fillia felt her heart beating faster. "...I apologize. You do not deserve to be punished for something that happened in the different ythrough..." The blue undead sighed and lowered his head to her apologetically. "I-it''s... khe...! It''s fine. Kyaah...!" Fillia coughed and waved her hand dismissively, sitting up and flinched suddenly ¨C both because she realized that she is in her original form as well that her pajama pants were soaking wet. "...oh, the water from the broken jug..." Zombie muttered all meek, stood up, and helped the sickly girl stand up. "...y-yes...! Water...! Just water!" Fillia nodded vigorously and blushed from embarrassment. "I shouldn''t havee here today..." "...?" Zombie muttered, pulling the girl out from her own little world and making her furrow her brows in confusion. "That''s right ¨C why are you even here...?! And howe you know who I am?! I never showed nor introduced myself to you like this!" Fillia noded in realization and waved her hands around showcasing her looks. "Wait- no! Don''t look at me! I look hideous...!" She suddenly realized what she was doing and gasped while covering her face with both arms. "Have you not seen other members of your house? And even putting the close rtionship of your rtives aside, you aren''t even ugly considering the healthy standards." Zombie looked at her and raised his brow while shrugging his shoulders. "...wh-what...?" The girl flinched and lowered her arms slightly. "There''s more than just one standard of beauty, you know? Porcin dolls aren''t that attractive, to begin with - take Cranberry for example... ah..." Zombie added looking away with a dispirited face. "..." For a moment Fillia seemed like she was going to ask him whether he thinks she is pretty, but then she shook her and lowered her arms. "Alright. Could you answer my previous questions?" She breathed out and asked ¨C not even realizing how quickly she got used to Zombie knowing her biggest secret that could threaten her entire family''s position in the kingdom, and how little did that bother her. "I''m here to get into your basement." "...!" Once again, Zombie answered indifferently, but his words caused the greatest reaction yet. "You..! You can''t!" Fillia gasped with disbelief. "There will be no point in doing so ¨C Even if the elves escape, nothing will happen! No, this is such a bad idea ¨C they might even kill themselves in an attempt to expose my family!" "..." Zombie looked at her and blinked a few times... ...why did it sound as if she was actually worried about the captured elves...? "If they wanted to kill themselves they would bite off their tongues the moment anyone from your family came close ¨C I don''t think that it will be that bad." Zombie spoke calmly ¨C as expected of an undead speaking about the possible death of the living. "...besides, I do not mean the first basement ¨C I mean the one below." He added in the same exact voice. "...? The one below...? What are you talking about...?" But the reaction to that waspletely different than to the previous one. Fillia tilted her head and furrowed her brows in absolute confusion. "I see..." With that, Zombie confirmed that only the avatar was aware of the real secret of the Envy family ¨C maybe the knowledge was imparted from one avatar of envy to the other through the system''s quests or something... "Hey ¨C if that''s the case ¨C if I promise you to not free the elves in the basement, will you help me get to the basement?" The blue undead went ahead and straight-up asked the future viiness with a soft smile. "...!" Fillia blushed and fidgetted. "Why would you want to go there if not to help the elves?" She asked timidly, sounding more as if she wanted to continue the conversation while having no interest in the actual answer. "It''s about that lower level I mentioned before. Are you willing to help me out? Please?" The blue undead switched from the sulking heartbroken mode straight into the mission-focused one and firmly grabbed Fillia''s shoulders. "...I don''t know..." She hesitated with a worried face... "Please..." "Ah! Of course!" But that hesitationsted only until the ck eyes of the stone-hearted undead shed with a pale blue light for a split second and any doubt was blown away from Fillia''s mind. The ease with what the blue undead bounced back from straight-up depression right into the all means necessary mode must have been staggering for anyone who wasn''t aware of the properties of the passive skill called machine mind that Zombie received as a special reward. With that skill, no matter what error or disturbance urred, it would all be returned to the default setting just like resetting a machine back to the default setting. Funnily enough ¨C machine mind was the perfect countermeasure for Zombie''s newest lust-based skill, mindbreak, but that information would not be necessary until the story would progress a little more. "Good. You''re such a helpful girl, Fillia. I will have to make you get your father and most of your family away from the mansion... preferably away from the city..." Zombie added, gently swiping the girl''s fringe away from her forehead to have a better look at her face ¨C which made Fillia''s heart flutter. "O-of course...! I''ll ask Caramb ¨C he will definitely figure something out!" She dered with a bright smile. "That sounds amazing. I will be waiting in the weapon shop run by the little kobold. Contact me whenever you''ll have a n ready." Zombie smiled and gently touched Fillia''s chin to make her face up. "...the more I look at you the cuter you look, you know...?" He murmured, purposefully making his voice sound like he was letting his thought slip subconsciously ¨C which the girl unused to hearing suchpliments could not recognize as a part of Zombie''s scheme and blushed, looking down bashfully. "By the way... Where is the old kobold? That kid''s grandfather ¨C he was taken by a group of Envys two weeks ago together with a bunch of weapons from his shop." He asked ¨C remembering the rather odd absence of the life signature of the missing person. "...old kobold...? Ah ¨C My uncle wanted a very specific weapon made so he sent it out for him, but the kobold couldn''t do it, so uncle got angry and killed him." "..." She answered rather casually, with her head still fuzzy from the lust-based skill that Zombie used against her ¨C which caused the blue undead to frown and re down at her. "That''s bad, right...?" Fillia added hurriedly, expecting that this was the correct way to appeal to the blue undead. "It is. But thank you for telling me. I must go now ¨C contact me as soon as you''ll finish the preparations." Before Fillia raised her head, the scornful re was exchanged with a soft smile and the blue undead briefly touched her face, gently caressing her cheek. "...you could... stay... here..." Fillia said timidly, but the blue undead only shook his head. "Too dangerous, for you and for me. See you soon ¨C close the window after I leave." The blundered instructed her in a matter-of-fact voice and left ¨C by opening the window and jumping through it into the night, of course. Chapter 430: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (10)

Chapter 430: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (10)

The blue undead was sitting by the dining table on the first floor of the kobold''s weapon shop, crossing his arms deep in thoughts. Next to him, the crimson-haired humanoid de was ying around with the tiny golden snake, although maybe the more proper word for that would be training ¨C the golden snake was using one of its skills to make itselfrger ¨C or rather created an outer shell made out of some of the precious materials it ate up until that point and was battling it out with Kopia''s weaponized fingers turned into des. Behind them, the little kobold girl was preparing a meal for herself. "Have I really been that outrageous?" Finally, the blue undead spoke up, leaning back in his chair and putting his arms behind his head. "...master..." Kopia looked away from Monty and let out a sigh. "You remember that Patience told you that that girl is already how she should be for the story to progress the way you want ¨C why did you have to go there and mess with her so much that you even increased a skill''s rank?" She said with a pout while Monty was dodging and weaving around her lively fingerdes, too focused on them to join in the conversation. "You say that ¨C but even if something will go wrong, I can go ahead and use the ranked up skill to set things straight ¨C you conveniently forgetting that I can use it like that." Zombie responded with a shrug. "Sure ¨C and when Patience will return she will tell us that the seal is at 3% what will you do if that''s the case?" Kopia countered with a very reasonable argument. "..." Zombie didn''t like the reasonable arguments when they worked against his ns... "Well, I wouldn''t be doing anything risque like that if you or Pati didn''t try to keep secrets from me and just be clear about what needs to be done." He frowned, looking away grumpily. "Master... Look at what happened yesterday. You almost broke that girl even though you knew that she was important ¨C and Patience went and told you she was important!" Kopiained right back at him. "Yeah, but she didn''t tell me who she really was! And besides ¨C I didn''t end up either killing or even hurting her for the matter- so look who was wrong after all." The blue undead scoffed looking away since he kind of expected what sort of argument Kopia will pull out against him. "Master you know that it wasn''t because of your self-control or anything, but only thanks to the machine mind skill ¨C without it, that girl would be dead and the ending you wish for would be blocked." ...and the crimson-haired humanoid de delivered exactly that... "Is there even a difference? In the end, the oue is the same! I put the basement exploration ns into motion and even learned what happened with Raika''s grandfather..." *ng* Zombie shrugged his shoulders, furrowing his brows at the sound of cutlery hitting the floor. He closed his mouth and looked around. The little kobold girl, pale as a sheet, dropped a fork the moment that she heard him say the word grandfather. "..." Zombie frowned and made a bitter expression. When he returned the previous night, he confirmed with Kopia whether it was alright or not to reveal the fate of the old kobold to his granddaughter, and the humanoid de confirmed with him that there was no reason to hold it back as on every future quest that involved her, Raika was always aware of the reason for her grandfather demise. Though... That didn''t change the fact that suddenly learning that the only other member of her family was no longer alive certainly didn''t do any good to the young kobold''s mental health. "Here... I made some for you all too..." The child walked towards the table holding tes with sandwiches and put them in front of the blue undead, the crimson-haired humanoid bade, and even the tiny golden snake, before returning to the kitchen and bringing one for herself. "I don''t eat." Kopia shook her head without as much as taking a single look at the food that she had no way of ingesting. "Ssssssss. (It''s a soft organic matter ¨C at least give me something like wood, the expensive one preferably.)" Monty also turned away in a theatrical way and pushed the little te aside with the tip of its tail. "..." Raika sitting on the other side of the table flinched and looked down at her knees, looking as if she was about to cry. "..." Zombie frowned, looking at the sandwiches with disgust ¨C he never actually enjoyed eating ¨C right after sleeping, it was the activity he was the happiest to abandon once he turned into an undead. That''s why obviously he... "Your loss, more for me." ...shrugged his shoulders and pulled both tes his sentient sword and his second subject rejected while picking up one of the sandwiches that Raika put in front of him before and putting it into his mouth. "M-master...?!" "Ssss? (Master, won''t you get sick?)" Kopia and Monty gasped in shock, but the blue undead did not react to that at all and carefully chewed on the food. The sandwiches had absolutely no taste for him ¨C no, even worse, they felt like he was chewing on a half-dried mud ¨C the undead were not supposed to ingest the food prepared by the living for the living under any circumstances. "Those are really good, kid. Good job." Zombie gulped down the mush and smiled, nodding at the shocked kobold girl. "I... I can make more...! If you want...!" Raika gasped and offered, jumping up lively, before backing down, as if worried that she would scare the blue undead off. "Let me just dig through all of those delicacies first, alright~?" Zombie hummed in response, picking yet another sandwich, and reached out his free hand to pat the child''s head. "Yes." Raika nodded, smiling softly under the pleasantly cold blue hand. "...?" Kopia tilted her head and sent out a few threads of her crimson hair to could around Zombie''s right arm. |You said yourself that she will be important, right? If she will like us, she will be more helpful in the future when the timees. Still, that doesn''t mean that either you or Monty have to eat any of this stuff ¨C leave it all to me ¨C I am a responsible master after all.| Zombie exined in his mind and winked at his sentient sword ¨C and Kopia''s eyes widened before she nodded and retracted her hair. Chapter 431: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (11)

Chapter 431: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (11)

All in all, Zombie and his underlings had to spend a lot more time in the kobold''s shop than he initially thought. With the effects of the mindbreak skill still lingering in the Fillia''s body, the blue undead expected her to struggle frantically and put together some valid strategy within four or five days ¨C but to his surprise and dissatisfaction, it took more than sixteen day''s for Fillia''s messenger to show up at the shop''s doorstep. ...it shouldn''t surprise anyone that the one who showed up was of course the older gentleman with steel-colored hair and mustache, with a rather grim expression ¨C Caramb. "If whatever you are nning will hurt youngdy Fillia, I will personally kill you ¨C no matter what sort of backing you have, brat." The old gentleman said instead of hello and invited himself in without as much as waiting for the response from the carefully disguised undead. "It''s nice to see you too." Despite the rather cold greeting, Zombie seemed quite cheerful. ...even a little bit too cheerful... "Aren''t you happy that I didn''t kill your precious youngdy? Honestly ¨C you suck as a bodyguard ¨C where were you that night? I could have messed her up so bad that you wouldn''t even recognize her afterward..." The blue undead leaned back and put his hand to the ck veil right where his mouth was hiding underneath. "...don''t test my patience, Wrath''s brat. You really are lucky that my youngdy is on your side... tsk... if I knew what kind of bastard you are I would have dealt with you when I first saw you." Caramb clicked his tongue and shook his head with disgust. "Now, now, old-timer ¨C you are making me blush! Enough with the pleasantries ¨C did Fillia prepare everything? Where can I move?" Zombie casually waved his hand at the furious old gentleman, not taking his hostility seriously at all and casually speaking about a dangerous subject without making sure that no ears are listening in. "..." Thatck of attention to details certainly didn''t help Caramb calm down, he frowned and looked around as his ears started shining. "...?" His brow rose up and he nced at the ceiling, undoubtedly hearing the heartbeat of Raika staying put in her room just as the blue undead asked her to. *WHAM* "!!!!!!!!" The sudden loud noise caused the old man to flinch and even staggered him momentarily, which wasn''t that weird considering that his detection skill was only tier 2 so it did not mute any loud noises nearby. "Focus, Caramb, it''s not the time to be thinking about the retirement home. Fillia''s n ¨C tell me about it." Zombie smirked mockingly, taking his fist off of the slightly broken table that he mmed into just a second before, and nodded up at the old gentleman gritting his teeth from anger. "It took a while but within the next two days the Envy''s mansion will be left with only the minimal amount of guards while the members of the main branch will be away -including lord Rambutan." Without even trying to mask his distaste for the poor behavior of the overconfident masked youth, Caramb sighed and said. "Oh? And how did little Fillia make that happen?" Zombie raised his brows, honestly surprised how good that sounded, and asked. "None of your business." Caramb scoffed, squinting his eyes at the disguised youth, clearly looking to pick up a fight. |Look at him, I''m sure that Fillia ordered him to not attack me first so now he tries to provoke me into going at him first ¨C isn''t that cute?| Zombie gently caressed the crossguard of the simple one-handed shortsword sheathed in the luxurious scabbard at his waist and smiled to himself under the ck veil covering his face. "How long will their absencest? I do not n on settling in the mansion or anything but I certainly don''t wish to be caught red-handed by the entire main family." Zombie leaned back against the partially broken table and tilted his head, making sure to act as unperturbed as possible to work up the steel-haired man even more with no reason other than pure pettiness and the joy of teasing others fuelling his decision-making process "Two days in carriage away from the city ¨C even if anyone will try to get back using the help of either monsters or adventurers with a high-level movement increasing skill you should have between six and twelve hours to do whatever the hell you want - but, let me tell you this..." Caramb gritted his teeth and pointed at Zombie''s masked face with his index finger. "You will find nothing except elves with their beauty stolen ¨C I''ve been living amongst the Envy family for a long time already ¨C I was there shortly after Fillia''s grandfather became the avatar of envy ¨C I was there when the title became Rambutan''s ¨C and I will be there when it will be passed onto Fillia herself. There is nothing there." The old gentleman said with unyielding confidence, crossing his arm and ring down at the shorter blue undead. "My, my, my ¨C so you say. Don''t worry ¨C I''m not the type to partake in empty quarrels. You are allowed to be as mistaken as you wish. Your choice. Now -is there something else that you wish to tell me, or are you perhaps interested in staying for breakfast ¨C cute kid owning this ce is a great cook." Zombieughed off Caramb''s words and pointed at the ceiling above the man''s had ¨C where a life signature of the young Raika flinched while the movement of mana around her betrayed that she was using a skill ¨C most likely to listen in to the conversation below. She certainly didn''t have a skill like that before, so that means she was focusing so much that the system rewarded her hard work while the blue undead and the old gentleman were in the middle of their conversation. "...No, that is all that I came here for..." Caramb closed his eyes and frowned, furious that he was unable to anger the masked blue undead enough to get attacked. "Oh, and youngdy Fillia and I will also be away from the mansion ¨C so don''t think that you will have any backup. Go in, and then get the hell away once you get disappointed ¨C you better not try to steal anything from the mansion either, or I will track you down and rip off your limbs as if you were a lowly bug ¨C which would be a fitting end for a cockroach like you." He added before turning around and walking out of the shop without saying goodbye. "Bye-bye ¨C I love you too!" Instead of getting agitated, the blue undeadughed it off and even blew a kiss at the man''s door before he managed to shut the door. "Khaha~!" Zombieughed and blinked a few times as the pale-blue light faded from his eyes, and he took off the hood. "Now... the only thing is to wait for the right moment..." The blue undead smirked and nodded to himself. "Raika ¨C I know you can hear me. It''s okay toe down now." He added, looking up at the little kobold''s life signature that flinched and hurriedly deactivated her detection skill. Chapter 432: Lets spy on the Envy family~! (12)

Chapter 432: Let''s spy on the Envy family~! (12)

"...you are going to go to the Envys mansion..." The little kobold girl muttered from above a te full of fancy sandwiches, sounding as if she was on the verge of bursting into tears. "...?" The blue undead sitting by her side tilted his head and lowered the sandwich that he had already taken off the te beforehand. He didn''t say anything and just waited for whatever the kobold girl will do next. "People from the Envy family took away my grandpa and killed him... don''t go..." Raika lowered her head and cried pitifully. "I will not die. Look at me, I''m no longer alive in the first ce." Zombie spread his arms open andughed with a smirk showing off his blue skin. "Please... I don''t want to be alone... Don''t go..." But the little girl shook her head and approached the blue undead after she slid down her chair. "...please..." She cried out, grabbing onto his sleeve while her shoulders shook from holding back the tears. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows, looking at her, and briefly touched the crossguard of his sword. |She''s supposed to be an enchanter, right? So, will it be okay to drop her off at the hidden vige? Or is there some big secret conspiracy that requires her to be alone and pitiful to achieve the greatest potential?| He thought, making sure that Kopia will be listening to him closely. "...there are many pieces of information about her missing... it should be okay..." Kopia vibrated and her muffled high-pitched voice came from the expensive scabbard at Zombie''s side. "...?" That made Raika title her head in confusion, and shyly looked up at the blue undead. ...right in time to see him reach out his hand to start patting her head. "You are worrying too much, kid. Your grandfather was unlucky and he was taken by force - am going to make sure that the Envy family won''t be able to pull something like that ever again." Zombie smiled softly, gently moving his hand from left to right through the short hair of the kobold girl. "...you... will...? but the Envys are rulers of this territory... they are one of the seven main families..." Rakia whispered, trembling from anxiety. "Things are a bit moreplicated with their family ¨C there is another branch of their family ¨C the ones who are actually aiding the kingdom." Zombie exined without stopping moving his hand even for a second. "Would you believe me that those good Envys really dislike all the Envys living in this city?" "...!" He asked and smiled seeing Raika''s eyes bingpletely round from surprise. "I''m going to cause a little ident that will allow the good Envy to take control of everything. They will deal with the bad Envys who took away your grandfather. So...? Will you let me go?" The blue undead asked, lowering his head to look at Raika''s face. "..." The little kobold girl nodded her head and released Zombie''s sleeve from her grip. "Good girl. I promise you that I will take you to a good ce after I''ll return." Zombie assured her and took back his hand, to focus back on the food she prepared. "...okay..." Raika nodded and returned to her seat, now lowering her head because she was trying to hide her blushing face. "Ssss...? (Master, the Envy''s left the city yesterday ¨C shouldn''t we go to their mansion already?)| Just as Zombie raised the sandwich back up to his mouth, Monty stuck out his split tongue and hissed into his ear curiously. "It''s fine, we need to give them time to arrive whenever they were going for. Two day''s in a carriage is two days in a carriage ¨C I prefer to have as much time as possible." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and exined indifferently, stuffing the whole sandwich into his mouth and chewing on it without batting an eye despite the fact that for him it tasted like wet concrete about to settle. /Proficiency level reached You receive a skill Second stomach (level 1) "Huh...?" Zombie blinked a few times and shook his head, half expecting the system message to be a hallucination. "Ssss? (Master, what happened?)" "Did I mess something up?!" Monty hissed in confusion while Raika gasped in panic. "No, no ¨C nothing bad happened... Somethingpletely opposite did though, actually..." Zombie raised his hand to calm the trembling girl and picked another sandwich. "Could it be...?" He said to himself with a curious smirk and focused on the newest skill that he received. *CHOMP* As soon as he did that, his mouth and throat shone with faint orange light and the sandwich disappeared from his hand as soon as he merely clenched his jaws together with a dry sound. *gulp* "Oh-ho...!" Zombie''s smirk bloomed into a full-blown smile as soon as he swallowed the unidentified glomp that appeared in his throat on its own and... *CHOMP* With another dry sound, the entire te with all the food on it disappeared from the table without a trace. "Wh-what happened?!" Raika gasped, staring between the blue undead and the empty spot on the table where the te of sandwiches was just a moment ago. *gulp* "Oh, nothing much... just a little magic trick. Did you like it? Though ¨C you won''t get your te back ¨C it''s all here now, sorry." Zombie swallowed loudly,ughed leaning back in his chair, and patted his stomach. "Who knew that hanging out with uniquely named characters could bring that sort of fortune?" He nodded with content. "It also looks like this skill is not bound to just organic matter~" The blue undead hummed happily staring at the ceiling, tapping his stomach as if searching for the second one, though the name of the gluttony-based skill that he gained wasn''t literal. "That leaves the question... what is the upper limit of the things that I can eat...?" He furrowed his brows and straightened his back... ...squinting his eyes at the confused Raika... "...nah, not worth the risk... "?!?!?!??" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and began looking around searching for things suitable for experiments. "Sssssss...? (Master, are you sure we shouldn''t already go to the mansion...?)" "Gold is right, master...!" The golden snake hissed into his ear and its words were supported by Kopia''s high-pitched voice. "True... There should be plenty of things in there I could y around with... after all, eating something doesn''t count as stealing, does it...?" The blue undead eximed cheerfully and stood up, patting Raika''s head as he passed her on his way to the stairs. Chapter 433: Rummaging through the Envys mansion

Chapter 433: Rummaging through the Envys mansion

*CHOMP* With a dry sound and a sh of orange light, the head of the single guard patrolling the inner side of the wall surrounding the Envy''s mansion disappeared, leaving only the open wound of the neck. /Low-level yer character defeated You receive EXP *thump* Propelled by the fountain of blood shooting out with shockingly high pressure, the decapitated body fell to the ground, twitching and iling around like a, well, headless chicken. *gulp* "Khahahaha! I always wanted to try this. So efficient~!" Zombie giggled maniacally while jumping down the wall and leaning down to search the corpse. "How''s the weapon?" He asked, looking at the crimson thread extending from the pommel of his swords and carefully feeling around the sword at the waist of the deceased guard. "It has a speed enchantment ¨C I could add it to the ones I already have!" Kopia vibrated happily and hundreds of crimson threads burst forth and enveloped the entire de that the few ones before them pulled out from the sheath. *CRUNCH* With a sound way too fleshy to really be caused by devouring a metal, the threads retracted as if they never showed up in the first ce, leaving only the empty sheath. "...as for the valuables... Tsk! This cheapskate doesn''t even have a single coin on him!" Zombie clicked his tongue andined. "Sorry, Monty." The blue undead frowned and apologized to the golden snake posing as an earring on his ear while kicking the no longer useful body under some conveniently ced ornamental shrubs, nted around to create the shape of a heart. "Sssssss! (It''s okay, master, I can smell some valuable stuff inside!)" Monty hissed happily into his ear, not bothering at all by not getting an early snack like Kopia. "As long as you''ll be careful, I can let you go on your own snoop around ¨C but just in case, don''t eat any artifacts without consulting it with Kopia ¨C some of them might turn out to be necessary for the future quests." Zombie said after a moment of consideration while reaching out to his ear and pulling Monty down. "Can you promise me that?" The blue undead asked seriously. "Sssss! (I won''t eat artifacts!) Sssss! (Only valuables without any effects!) Ssss! (I promise, master!)" The tiny golden snake on top of Zombie''s palm went ahead and saluted to the blue undead by putting the tip of its tail to its scaly head and jumped off of his hand without waiting for any further approval. "Was that a good idea to let him go alone like that...?" Kopia asked sounding actually worried. "It''s okay ¨C Monty''s an idiot, but a lucky idiot. It will be fine." Zombie smirked and patted her crossguard reassuringly. "Now, as for what we should do next..." Any trace of a smile disappeared from the masked face of the blue undead and his eyes shone reddish under the hood as he began scouring the area again in search for the life signatures around and in the mansion. "Whatever the reason she came up with, Fillia did a good job. Good thing I didn''t make her go crazy or kill her." Zombie breathed out in relief as he prepared to move as fast as possible without the aid of any of the attack skills he usually used for running around since they would be too noisy and get the attention of the few guards spread through the mansion. "...master... both Patience and I have told you many times to leave her alone..." Kopiained, but Zombie didn''t even feel like exining to her that it was supposed to be a dark joke since it wasn''t even a good one, to begin with. ¡­ ¡­... "Well... this is awkward..." A few momentster, Zombie muttered to himself, standing n front of the locked door leading to the basement. "How about..." *CHOM-thunk* He frowned and his mouth and that shone with orange light ¨C but a momentter he felt himself being repelled back. It was rather obvious that the gluttony-based skill was too low-level to work against the sturdy door. "Huh... I guess I could kick it open but..." Zombie tilted his head, ncing to the side. Only a few steps to his right, a life signature of a guard was casually strolling around in a perfect view of another life signature of yet another guard... It would honestly be better to not make too much noise... "...hmmmm..." Zombie furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes looking at the keyhole in the door. Without wasting even more time, the blue undead reached his hand to the side and... "Monty." He called out in a hushed voice, holdiung his hand palm-up. "...sss....? (...h-huh...?) Ssss...? (What in the...?)" With a sh of white light, the golden snake appeared right on it, looking around absolutely stunned. "Hey there. I have work for you. Help me open this up, quietly." Zombie tapped on Monty''s head and pointed at the locked door. "...ssssss... (...master, I was about to eat a whole bar of gold...)" The golden snake stuck out its split tongue andined in a dispirited hiss. "And you will go right back to it as soon as you help me open this door and the one below." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders dismissively and reached out towards the keyhole using the hand on which Monty was perched. "Ssss...? (So you want a key, master...?) Ssss... (Oh well, fine...)" Monty hissed and slithered towards?Zombie''s fingers, then it opened its jaws and vomited a dash of gold and silver right into the keyhole ¨C and turned its head to the right. *click* The dry sound announced that the lock had been breached without any trouble. "Good job. Now, the ones below and you can go back to eating Envys treasures. Zombie smiled, gently patting the golden snake''s head with the tip of his finger. "Ssss! (They have a lot of tasty stuff!)" Monty perked up at the mention of food just as the blue undead pulled the door open and began descending down the spiral staircase right into the heart of the secret of the main branch of the Envy family. "Either those ones had an rm or the next one will - either way, it is safe to assume that our countdown had already started - we should be fine, but stay on your guard anyway." The blue undead exined and closed the door behind him. Chapter 434: Envys basement (1)

Chapter 434: Envys basement (1)

*click* The sound of the massive metal door unlocking resounded thorough the dreary basement set up as the prison for the captured elves ¨C who all were staying in their cells with depressed expressions on their disfigured faces with no traces of original beauty ¨C the only remaining part of their looks that made would allow a bystander recognize them as elves were the long knife-shaped ears. Those ears were the only parts that the Envy''s didn''t want to copy since that would make their crimes that much more obvious. "..." The captive elves all red towards the door with hatred. After all, there could be only one reason for anyone toe down there. Envys elf hunters must have managed to capture another one of their brethren. Who was it now? Was it someone they knew? A member of their family? Their loved one? Or maybe some unfortunate free spirit who made the mistake of passing through the Envys territory thinking that they could easily run away ¨C and suffered the consequences after being cornered? The seconds extended into eternity as no one actually wanted to know the identity of the new victim of the ursed Envys, and dreaded the moment the door will open... ...yet the time doesn''t stop merely because someone dreads something... The massive metal door creaked open and. "Beautifully done, go and enjoy their treasures now." "?!??!?!?!???!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!" To the apaniment of the absolute shock of all the elves, a masked person stepped inside and spoke towards his extended hand ¨C or at least that''s how it looked like since whatever creature was sitting atop of his palm, it was too small to be noticed from the perspective of the sitting elves. "Master, that old guy told us to not steal..." "?!?!???!?!?!?!??!" To even greater shock and surprise another voice called out, but this one sounded as if it came out of the luxurious scabbard at the stranger''s waist! "No, no, no. Kopia, think about it ¨C we''ve been technically invited here by Fillia, right?" The masked stranger shook his head and responded, yfully rapping the crossguard of the sword sheathed in the expensive-looking scabbard. "Right, we did..." The voice muffled from by the scabbard responded hesitantly. "Exactly. Monty eats precious minerals, which means that the precious minerals are his food ¨C and eating food in a ce you were invited to doesn''t count as stealing." There was so much wrong going on about that response that even some of the elves wanted to correct this twisted logic ¨C but were far too shocked and confused to do so. "Ah! I see now! You are right, master! Have a nice meal, Monty!" The high-pitched voice gasped happily and called outpletely convinced by the outrageous arguments of the masked individual, and the next moment something dropped from the disguised stranger''s pal and shed gold in the scarce light of torches, before disappearing without a trace. "Now then." The stranger nodded to himself and looked around. "!!!!!!!" Many of the elves flinched and hid, some of them lowered themselves to the ground in anticipation of the pressure from the system forcing them to stay quiet or lie and say whatever Envy''s ordered them to say in a situation like that. "I do not care about any one of you ¨C just remember one thing." And they all flinched once they heard the dismissive voice of the man that was facing the wall next to the opened ck door clearly searching for something. "...I remember this being open, there must be something... ah, there it is!" He mumbled to himself while carefully touching the wall feeling the slight drafting through the stonesposing the wall ¨C with that he ended up grabbing the single ring with a burning torch. After taking out the torch he grabbed the ring and turned it in a clockwise motion and... *click* *hshaa* After the ring was turned, something inside the stones clicked and a piece of the wall opened seamlessly with only the smallest sound of flowing air showing a staircase spiraling down intoplete darkness. "!!!!!!!" How could that be?! The captured elves couldn''t believe their eyes, that simply could not be happening! Who was this masked outsider?! Was he one of the Envy people?! He clearly mentioned the name of the daughter of the current avatar of envy, so he must have been at least affiliated with them in some way ¨C but then why was he going down the basement...?! There was only one thing there, and no one with good intentions towards the Envy family would have tried to go there even if they knew what was hidden away in the darkness. "...Ah, right." The stranger twitched remembering that he was saying something to the elves before he got preupied with opening the secret passage. "Remember one thing ¨C after you will be able to get out of here ¨C do not try to hurt the traitor. I know you hate her and all, but count it as my reward for saving your butts and faces, or whatever other parts got stolen. Is that clear?" The person called out in a threatening voice but only an echo of his own words responded to him since the elves were way too bbergasted to respond in any recognizable way. "Just so we are clear ¨C I''m not just saying that I will p your wrist if you hurt Sk ¨C do something to her, the half-elf kid, Fillia, or Rambutan ¨C and I will fuck you up so much that you will regret being freed." The masked outsider dered, and there was no trace of hesitation or mercy in his cold voice. But does that really matter? The elves did not respond, knowing that if they even try the system will force them down since the stranger already said so many keywords that even a breath of relief from any of the present elves would trigger a response. But they all raised up from their knees and walked to the front of their cells, none of the iron bars doors had locks, the elves were kept inside by themand of the first Envy that never lost its power because of the creature hidden at the bottom of the staircase. All the disfigured elves grabbed the iron bars and pressed their faces against them, looking at the masked stranger with eyes filled with hope. "I will take this reaction as confirmation of the terms I gave you just now." Their savior nodded with satisfaction and took a step into the hidden passage. "Oh, and if you want Envy to face the repercussions for what they''ve been doing to your kind for all those centuries ¨C go straight to the Greeds territory. Either the pce or any of the chapels of the church of the system''s faith, and say that Zombie had sent you about his mission. The queen wants to snip their growing power in the bud after all." He added and casually walked down the dark staircase, not bothering about the torch left behind. Chapter 435: Envys basement (2)

Chapter 435: Envys basement (2)

Even with all the speed gained thanks to the leg power affinity, the descend took Zombie longer than he wished for ¨C and he was really running. He didn''t take the torch with him since the me would go out anyway, and he didn''t trip and fall only thanks to the support of the acrobatics skill. After what felt like an eternity the blue undead arrived at the bottom, he looked around and easily spotted the passage leading to the next chamber thanks to the distinct greenish-white glow. "Now I can see them... The life signature is really weak, there should be no problem dealing with it, but let''s be careful just in case... Saint wanted to kill Cranberry when she came here during the first ythrough, so I don''t think that their remnant will be any less hostile." Zombie said while pulling Kopia out of her luxurious scabbard. "Te-he~! Maybe I will be able to test out the automatic defense skill finally~" Kopia vibrated and her de released a high-pitched giggle. "Let''s be quick about things though ¨C the avatar of envy was rmed about our trespassing for sure, I don''t mean to torment the remnant too much." Zombie smirked at her and walked through the short hallway. They arrived at therge circr cavern with an enormous veiny pir giving off the greenish-white light flooding the surroundings with an eerie atmosphere right in its very center. "Huh..." Zombie raised his brows and nodded, looking around curiously, thest time he was there, it was already after the ceiling had caved in and most of the cavern got buried, so it was an interesting sight for him to witness the ce in all its peculiar glory. As he approached the pir, he realized that it wasposed of tens of hundreds of luminescent mold-covered roots. ...that clumped together made something like a cradle right around the middle point of the cavern''s height... The weak life signature was pulsating right there and it was obviously Zombie''s immediate target. "...you are not one of the Envy family..." A sudden voice called out ¨C to Zombie''s slight surprise, it wasn''t a voice of a monster that would require his beast master affinity to trante it, but straight-up human speech. "I''m not. My name is Zombie, and I came here for you, the first incarnation of the physical remnants of the spirit god, Saint." Just as Zombie told Kopia beforehand, he wasn''t going to waste any time be it trickery or sweet-talk, he simply said things how they were. "...why...?" The weak voice asked in resignation, sounding as if its owner did not believe the blue undead even for a second. "I require the help of all the remnants to achieve the future I desire. I already have one ¨C the remnant of luck god, Happy. It''s a little golden snake ¨C its name is Monty now, and it is my subject. I want you to be my subject too. You''ve suffered enough under the Envy family." Zombie said without slowing down, walking right towards the center of the cavern. "...you seem to know a lot of things, strange undead..." The voice sighed sounding as if its owner was shaking its head. "...but why do you think that I will listen to you? From my perspective, it sounds like I am supposed to merely change owners..." The voice added mockingly. "Yeah. But for aparison ¨C Monty is up there slithering around eating valuables to its heart content, happy and at full health, while you are stuck here, barely alive. Do I even need to get more into details why following me is a better option?" Zombie stopped right in front of the pir of roots and looked up at the cradle at its middle. "...what if I like it here...?" The voice asked coldly. "Pfffft! Nah, no way. If you are anything like Saint themselves was, you do not." Zombie snorted and waved his hand dismissively as if he was trying to get rid of an awful smell. "...pesky undead... you are getting on my nerves... leave before I kill you off..." The voice called, chasing the blue undead away. "Master, this guy wants to attack you the moment you turn your back on him ¨C even now he is gathering thest remains of his strength to activate a life-drain skill and regenerate." The one-handed sword in Zombie''s head vibrated releasing a high-pitched noise and with a sh of white light turned into a crimson-haired girl in a blue dress. ...a girl whose few strands of hair were climbing up the fluorescent roots up to the cradle-like clomp in its center... "..." Though it didn''t actually say anything, the sound of angry exhaling resounded in the cavern "My, my. Someone is certainly taking a page from Saint''s book." Zombie nodded his head and nced away from Kopia''s back up to the pulsating life signature high above. "Just so you know ¨C you spawned into this world only because they were too bitter to take the helping hand offered to them by a stranger. You can choose another way." The blue undead put his hands against his sides and dered in a calm,posed manner. "I CAN CHOOSE WHATEVER I WANT!" *RUMBLE* The voice called out furiously, and the whole cavern shook when the pir split into separate roots that all shot out right at the disguised undead. "Of course you do." Zombie nodded, calmly watching the approaching attack. "The problem is, that you chose wrong." He sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* *SHING* In the next second, all fluorescent roots got diced into thin slices that exploded around the cave, like confetti shot out from a gigantic party popper. "Green, I''ll have you know that I don''t like when someone is ignoring me almost as much as I don''t like when someone is shouting at my master." Kopia furrowed her brows and scoffed while hundreds of shining des of different shapes and sizes were turning back into crimson threads which in turn were retracting towards the girl''s shoulders and morphing back into the shape of human arms. "What are you...?" The voice of the remnant shook as the cradle it was hiding in was left in the middle of the cave hanging off the ceiling on a single root. "The best sword in the world." Kopia responded proudly raising her head and ring at the root cradle. "..." With another anger-filled sigh, something moved inside the cradle. *thump* The next moment, a giant centipede thicker than the leg of an adult man crawled out and dropped down, right in front of the blue undead and his humanoid sword. Its carapace looked like it was covered with dried-up moss, brown and brittle, while its many legs were simr to the dead branches. The centipede raised its head up to the Zombie''s eye level and moved its mandibles. "It looks like I might have been too hasty in my judgment. If you aren''t like the ursed Envy who trapped me here, are you willing to discuss the conditions of our cooperation?" The voice that came out of it wasn''t a screech of an insect, but a clear voice of an older man ¨C a very tired man. "You are lucky that I have a weakness for cheeky characters. Sure. But we have to be quick about it ¨C I imagine that neither one of us wants to be found out by the returning Envys." Zombie smirked and winked at the weakened centipede. Chapter 436: Envys basement (3)

Chapter 436: Envys basement (3)

After the mysterious stranger disappeared into the secret passage, none of the elves dared to move, or even speak. Could it really be possible? The stranger clearly sounded like he knew exactly what was happening between the Envy family and the elves ¨C but... how...? The progenitor of the Envy family,dy Envy herself ¨C had stolen the powers of the ancient beast and used them to gain partial control over the long-eared beautiful forest dwellers. Except for the elves who were banned by the power of the system from saying anything against the Envy family, and the members of the Envy family themselves, no one should be aware that something was very, very wrong. It was serious to the point that the members of the Envy family married amongst each other just so no one would find out what their ancestor did ¨C but that backfired horribly ¨C perpetuating the endless cycle of kidnapping more elves to steal their beauty, fearing the repercussion of doing that, and marrying a family member to make sure that the secret will not be revealed to the outside world. The mostughable part of that was that at some point, Envys started ming the degrading looks of each generation of their family on a curse cast on them by elves, turning away from the real exnation, too proud or maybe too ashamed to face reality. ¡­and that was exactly why it was so hard to believe that someone else learned about everything and decided to do something... Unless... maybe it was someone from the branch of the Envy family that split up from the main one soon after the firstdy Envy passed away... *rumble* The distant tremors shook the basement, but the captured elves didn''t dare to move. Even if the masked stranger had good intentions ¨C there was a huge difference between talking about doing something and actually aplishing it. All of the elves in the basement knew that the source of the power the Envys had over their kind was hidden deep below their feet, but no one truly knew what it was. After all one of the precautious that the original Envy put in ce was that no elf could go down there to see for themselves. As far as they knew ¨C the tremors they felt could have been the result of the masked stranger getting turned into a pulp or dying in another horrifying way. That''s why around an hourter... "Huh...? Why in the world are you all still here...?" "?!??!??!?!??!!" When the masked stranger showed uping out of the hidden passage and shook his head in shock seeing all the pitiful disfigured elves staying put in their cells. "B-but... N-nothing changed..." One of the prisoners dared to speak up, looking down at his messed-up body. "Of course nothing changed ¨C your looks were already stolen using skills, shouldn''t it be obvious that to get those back you need to raise your MDF? You all can use magic, right? Go on, try it. Idiots." The stranger scoffed in disbelief and waved his hands, hastening the terrified elves. "..." ...of which no one wanted to be first to try using magic ¨C after all, they knew best that if they tried using magic while in the basement, the system would force them to release the skill before itspletion causing the painful rebound. "..." The stranger looked at them for a second before lifting his left arm. "George, did the ruleset put in ce by the original Envy included the elves in this basement turning into fucking morons?" He spoke to the vividly green bushy-looking bracelet wrapped around his wrist "Give me a break, master. It was centuries ago, how am I supposed to remember that?" ...and the bracelet... talked back to him...! "..." The elves looked at each other in shock. Then, one of them gulped down his saliva and closed his eyes. The white light enveloped his body and... His body grew, theplexion cleared out,zy eye straightened itself, and the thin yellowish hair with many bald spots turned into a thick golden-blond mane. "...! I-It worked...! IT FUCKING WORKED!" The elf called out in excitement, before busting out of his cell and running to his neighbor. "!!!!!!" In the blink of an eye all the elves got out ¨C the ones who could use the MDF-increasing skills were using them on themselves and then on those who didn''t possess it. Within a few minutes, the basement was full of dirty, dehydrated, but undeniably beautiful elves. "Everyone is back to normal now? Good. Now get the fuck out of here, and remember what I told you before! Don''t engage Envys inbat ¨C if you want revenge, go and contact the Greed family!" The masked savior pped his hands to get the attention of the ecstatic elves and called out, pointing at the open metal door and the round staircase leading up. "Out! Now!" "YES!" He called out and received a very enthusiastic reply from the formerly imprisoned elves who were no longer bound by any of the rules set by the Envys using the stolen powers of the ancient beast. --- Zombie stood by the metal door, patiently waiting until every single elf will leave the basement. As they did, and he confirmed that their lie signatures left the mansion, he casually walked until he got in front of the very normal-looking door behind metal bars. "Sk, open up. I have something to tell you." "..." He knocked on the door and called out, but only silence responded to him. "I just so happen to know your daughter. Should I inform Lairs that you are alive, or would you like me to keep it a secret?" The blue undead asked casually and smiled seeing the panicked movement of the life signature. The door opened and the petite dark-blond-haired elven woman showed up, biting her lips in clear distress. "Don''t! I don'' want to have anything to do with that cursed child!" The elven traitor gasped, shaking her head from left to right. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows, taking a step back. The truth was he wanted to use the mindbreak skill on the woman, to use her as a convenient pawn that would allow him to get rid of Rambutan whenever the time for that woulde, but the things she said surprised him enough to hold back for a moment. "Cursed...?" He asked, raising his brow. "Lairs is cursed?" He rified. "Of course she is! That''s why I abandoned her! Her filthy ck hair is the sign of the curse!" /Error /Secret quest -cursed sister- cannot be triggered until the global event begins /Try againter Sk''s words caused a rather shocking system message to appear before the speechless undead. "..." Zombie closed his eyes, breathed out, and... "H-hey...! You! Where are you going?!" ...turned around and walked away to the exit, leaving the shouting elven woman behind. Chapter 437: On the way back to the hidden village

Chapter 437: On the way back to the hidden vige

"...and you are sure that the -cursed sister- quest is THE secret or special or whatever quest that is necessary for the secret true ending...?| Zombie was walking through the forest while giving the sleeping kobold girl the piggyback ride and asked the crimson-haired girl with a golden snake earring, keeping up with him on his right. "Nnnn... Yes." Kopia furrowed her brows and closed her eyes letting out a peculiar sound before looking right at the blue undead and nodding semi-confidently. "Oh, dear... I was expecting that since Lairs has a unique name that there will be something going on with her ¨C and now that I think about it, I have never seen any other elf with ck hair... Ugh... I should have realized that something was off..." Zombie groaned, shaking his head, severely disappointed in himself and his deduction skills. "...wait... Lairs have a connection to Mason... I know for a fact that Shanks is connected to the Sloth family too... Could it be that the other Dandelions also have some sort of connection with the secret true ending...?" He gasped in disbelief. "No wonder that my Cranberry killing that healer girl during the first ythrough was a big deal! In''re is probably connected to the secret ending too!" The blue undead experienced an epiphany but he certainly wasn''t too happy with it. "This all sounds really like some crazy talk, if you ask me, master..." The green bushy bracelet on Zombie''s wrist moved and revealed itself to be a ratherrge centipede monster with carapace covered in fresh green moss and its legs looking like healthy blooming wigs ¨C it also did not screech but instead when it was moving its mandibles a clear voice of a young man would be heard. "Well, you are a remnant of a god of spirits who got kidnapped by humans ¨C that also doesn''t sound very usible and yet it is the truth, wouldn''t you say, George?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders looking down, right into the glistening jet-ck eyes of the half-nt insect. "Hmmm... If you put it that way..." The small monster nodded his head segment and looked around curiously. "That said ¨C I quite like this ce, lots of pretty nts. If you will trap me here I won''t even mind." George moved his legs excitedly, taking in the view. "I am not going to trap or lock you up anywhere, mister green centipede of pige ¨C I promised you that we will travel and you will see as many ces as possible, and I will keep my word." Zombie shook his head and scoffed slightly surprised by the words of the remnant on his wrist. "Yeah... nope, I do not believe you, master. yer characters are not to be trusted, and you are one despite being a monster." George shook his head from left to right before resting it back on Zombie''s hand making himself look like an innocent bracelet. "Haa... Oh, that reminds me!" The blue undead let out a worried sigh before flinching and raising his brows. "Don''t go around telling anyone else that I am a yer character, alright? I would like to keep it a secret just between us." He said, looking down at the centipede with a rather self-exnatory expectant look. "Understood. I will also refrain from talking when creatures I don''t know are in the area." George easily agreed, tapping his legs on Zombie''s skin reassuringly. "Alright ¨C but just so you know, if I''ll ask you something, it''s okay to answer out loud ¨C same if you notice something is wrong ¨C don''t hold yourself back and talk." "Noted." Zombie pointed out and the half-nt centipede confirmed in an easy-going manner. Their group was already quite far into the forest, mostly due to Kopia who was immune to Olive''s illusions taking the lead, but that didn''t change the fact that the old elf didn''t show up at all... The blue undead was trying to keep a positive mindset, but it was rather a difficult task. "...why are we circling around like this, master? I suspect that you want to get to the settlement of the elves, right? The trees are telling me that we are taking the long path." After a few more minutes, George tapped on Zombie''s wrist and asked. "Hey! I am doing my best! There''s too much mana in the air, I get lost!" "Sssss! (Yeah, leave Kopia alone!)" Kopia turned to them and cried out surprisingly pitifully, and Monty joined in, hissing in her defense. "..." Zombie''s eyes widened ¨C to tell the truth, he had no idea that Kopia was fining her way using mana ¨C earlier she merely said that she remembers the correct route, and the blue undead believed her. "No, no, miss sword. I am not ming you ¨C I was was, I would speak to you directly ¨C I am simply curious why our master isn''t ordering me to make a path for us... Ah, could it be that you want to give me more time to enjoy the scenery...? I am grateful but you don''t have to get out of your way to be nice to me ¨C I already swore my allegiance to you, master." George hurriedly waved around ten of his legs and exined his point to Kopia before turning around and ncing at the blue undead''s face. "...eh...?" The humanoid sword tilted her head and looked towards Zombie for an exnation. "You speak about making a path, but aren''t you too weak to do that? Monty lost all his powers on his second incarnation, wouldn''t you be the same...?" Zombie asked curiously, though he himself had realized that it wasn''t necessarily true ¨C after all, during the first ythrough he and Cranberry met and hunted down the physical remnant of the fire god, Wing ¨C and it was always keeping its strength no matter the times it revived... ...up until that point, the blue undead wrote it off as something unique to the powers of the phoenix, but it looked like he was wrong... "Ah, so that''s why. You worry for no reason, master, though, your consideration is appreciated. Snake''s and mine powers arepletely different. Its are based on the sin of greed and it can use only as much strength as it gathers because it doesn''t trust anything other than itself. Mine are based on envy ¨C I see something, I want it, I take it." "Ssssss! (Hey! Why does it sound like I am weaker than you!) Ssss! (Know your ce, stupid green, I''m older than you, and I''m with master longer than you!)" George exined politely but something that he said must have rubbed Monty the wrong way since it sprung up, supporting itself n Kopia''s ear, and hissed furiously at the half-nt centipede. "I don''t have to answer to an idiot who hadn''t figured out it can create an outer shell that could speak a humannguage for itself." ...Geroge didn''t even attempt to peek at the golden snake and simply scoffed... "Sssss! (I''m not an idiot!) Sssss! (You''re an idiot!)" Unsurprisingly, his tone made Monty even angrier. "You will settle things between yourselvester ¨C now ¨C George, I take it that you can create that straight path for us. Will it be illusion-free?" Zombie cut the escting quarrel short and asked the centipede on his wrist. "...I will try, but the one who put them in ce was really good ¨C better prepare to experience some effects..." George answered hesitantly before his body began glowing with a ridiculously powerful white light... *CREAAAAAK* ...and the noise of trees and shrubs literally moving around, reshaping thendscape pierced the peaceful forest air... "...ssss... (...show off...)" Monty hissed grumpily and looked away. "Don''t worry, gold, I think you are the best." The crimson-haired girl whispered and patted the tiny golden serpent''s head with her middle finger. "Sssssss! (Waaaaah...! Kopiaaaaaa!)" Monty cried out and nuzzled against her hand gratefully. Chapter 438: The village that no longer need to be hidden (1)

Chapter 438: The vige that no longer need to be hidden (1)

"Dear system...! Cranbaby, that was AMAZING!" The tinum-haired elven woman cheered out and ran up to a red-haired human girl, picked her up, and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Olive! Olive did you see that?! Our little girl can use the origin-branch spell! She''s the first one beside Gooseberry and me! She''s a genius!" The woman called out excitedly while hugging the bashful blushing girl still not used to being showered in that much affection. "Mirabelle, calm down a bit ¨C don''t crush our Cranberry." Olive, smiling brightly, walked to the pair and pointed out to the female elf. "That said ¨C it was incredible, sweetie! I''m so happy that you called us here. Origin-branch spells are the mostplicated ones to master since it''s impossible to learn them through merely leveling up like any other magic skill. You worked so hard, congrattions." The centuries-old elf who looked like he was only approaching his thirties, smiled even more and patted the red-haired girl''s head affectionately. "...ha ha..." Cranberryughed bashfully, fidgetting in Mirabelle''s arms. The three of them were standing at the training ground that Cranberry was using so much it could be called her second home after Mirabelles home. Though, at the moment the area wasn''t in the most presentable state. The skill that the human girl showed off to her elven parents caused the level ground to cave in massively, creating a huge, uneven crater covered by the crystal-like matter created by the soil condensing under unbelievable pressure with the addition of just a tiny bit of condensed mana in its purest form. "Just wait until Zombie will learn about this ¨C he will be so happy!" Mirabelle cheered out, lifting Cranberry a little bit higher. "That''s right ¨C even though this skill takes really long to charge up, doesn''t master it clears out thest condition that he put in ce for you to travel with him?" Olive nodded, continuing to pat the girl''s head. "...he hasn''te back in two weeks in a row... he must have forgotten about me..." Unfortunately, the mention of the blue undead caused the opposite effect that the elves expected, and the red-haired girl lowered her head and pouted, snuggling up to Mirabelle forfort. "Aww... Cranbaby, don''t worry ¨C he said that he will be doing something important." "That''s right, he is your familiar, right? There''s no way he could ever forget you!" Mirabelle and Olive both assured her, but the red-haired girl only frowned and burrowed her face against Mirabelle''s neck. "...husband..." She murmured. "Eh...?" "Huh...?" The elves looked at each other in surprise. "Zombie isn''t just some familiar, he is my husband. He gave me the ring." Cranberry reached out her left hand and showed off the intricate silver ring on her ring finger, without raising her face. "...he ranked up and grew up faster than me, that''s not fair. I don''t like it, when we are together it looks like he is a big brother taking care of his baby sister ¨C I hate it..." ...well... Mentioning Zombie clearly was the wrong choice, as Mirabelle and Olive recognized that Cranberry got herself in a type of bad mood that willst at least a few days unless the blue undead will show up ¨C though that didn''t mean that the elves would not try to cheer the red-haired girl up. "Sweetie... You know, Zombie is helping out all the elves ¨C you know how this vige is hidden, right? Well, if everything goes well, then when he returns from the Envys mansion, all of us will be able to go on a family trip and..." Olive started talking, letting his mind just go wild, knowing full well that the system will automatically correct him when he will try to even mention the Envy family near anyone who wasn''t an elf. "...ha...? Daddy, what does the Envy family has to do with it...?" "!!!!!!" That''s why he momentarily forgot how to breathe when he realized that the system correction did not happen ¨C which was further confirmed by Cranberry raising her head and furrowing her brows, looking at the old elf in confusion. "...no way..." Olive gasped, looking at equally shocked Mirabelle with wide-open eyes. "Just... just like that...? No system message? No information? Nothing? May-maybe the system just recognized our Cranberry as an elf or something...? She has the daughter of the elves title, right...?" Mirabelle hugged the confused girl a bit tighter, unable to believe it. "That''s not how it works, the order works on everyone with elven blood, it doesn''t take titles under consideration..." Olive shook his head while trying to contain his excitement. "Mommy, daddy, what is going on? What about the Envy family?" The odd behavior of the two elves caused the red-haired girl to stop pouting and between them while furrowing her brows. "Cranbaby! Zombie did it...! Zombie saved the elves...!" Mirabelle teared up and cried out suddenly moved and hissed her human daughter''s forehead. "...hold up..." While the vige elder was all emotional, the vige guardian flinched in realization. "Did it just happen, or could it be that we simply did not notice ¨C it''s like you said, Mira, there was no system message or anything... what if..." He gasped covering his mouth with his hand. "What if what...?" Mirabelle tiled her head. "...what if some of the elves escaped but need help ¨C there were a few of the vigers amongst the kidnapped! What if they can''t return because of my illusions?!" Olive gasped. "Well ¨C if the Envys no longer hold any power over us, then what''s the point of the illusions! Deactivate them all and even if we got raided ¨C we will be able to finally fight back!" Mirabelle scoffed proudly puffing out her chest. "AHAHAHA! THAT''S RIGHT!" Oliveughed cheerfully and pped his hands together, releasing a sudden burst of white light. *CREAAAAAAAK* *RUMBLE* Right the next second, as if it was caused by Olive deactivating all the defensive measures he had set up through the hundreds of years, the ancient trees surrounding the hidden vige trembled and the earth shook as the forest itself split apart like a flesh cut by a gigantic sword, creating a clear path wide enough for ten divisions to walk by side-by-side connecting the vige right to the entrance of the Great northern forest... "WHAT, IN THE NAME OF THE FUCKING SYSTEM, IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!" Olive took a step back and shouted losing his nervepletely and even cursing in front of the red-haired girl. "Th-that''s not your doing...?!" Pale as a ghost Mirabelle asked, staring at the pathway through the forest. "FUCK NO!" Olive shook his head in denial. "Gather everyone ¨C it looks like even if Zombie dealt with whatever was the source of Envy''s power, it doesn''t mean that we are safe yet!" It only took Mirabelle a couple of seconds topose herself and start giving outmands ¨C she wasn''t a vige elder just for a show after all. "Cranbaby, go find Baron, and be ready to run away just in case." She put down the worried red-haired girl gave her a push on the back. "B-but mommy... I can...!" "You are my most important treasure, Cranbaby, please, listen to me and go get Baron." Cranberry tried to argue, but Mirabelle shook her head ¨C looking as if she was preparing for the worst. Chapter 439: The village that no longer need to be hidden (2)

Chapter 439: The vige that no longer need to be hidden (2)

"Nnn...? What happened...? Weren''t we in the forest...?" The young kobold girl riding on Zombie''s back woke up and asked in confusion, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "..." Zombie was looking at the path opened by George ¨C and he was rightfully stunned ¨C so he didn''t answer Raika''s question. The blue undead closed his eyes, breathed out, breathed in, and opened his eyes. "...George, we need to talk about your definition of the word path..." He sighed and started walking again while making sure that the little kobold will not fall off while half-asleep. "This is a freaking highway and not a path ¨C it- it looks like this goes straight to the elven vige too! Oh for fu-mgh. They must be freaking out thinking that they are under attack or something!" The blue undead shook his head in disbelief whileining. "Go big or go home. Also, I have no idea what a highway is, but I take it as apliment." Gorge responded in a happy,pletely unperturbed manner. "Though if you wish, master, I can make it a bit smaller to not rm the elves." The half-nt centipede offered after a little bit of consideration. "How thick-skinned do you think they are if you think that the entire forest splitting apart like this did not set off every possible rm in their heads...? Well, all things considered, you did your job ¨C but I bet that you get the overachiever title because of this." The blue undead scoffed, tilted so much that the machine mind had to reset him back to a calm state. "Remnants of gods do not receive any new titles ¨C we simply unlock more levels of the gods'' power as we grow stronger." George answered the question that wasn''t even asked and return to acting as a fancy bracelet. "..." Although Raika kept quiet, Zombie could feel her questioning look burning a hole through his skull. "Remember the nice ce I told you about back in the city? Well, we will get there much sooner than I expected. It''s right at the end of this...path..." The blue undead lowered his head to sigh and exined as he raised it back up. "Oh! That''s good, right?" The little kobold girl perked up and leaned to the side to take a peek at Zombie''s face. "...sure..." He tilted his head and nodded, sounding more unsure than anything. "Anyway, hold on tight, since you are awake now, I''ll elerate a bit." *boom* "Kyaaah!" Even though Zombie barely used his self-created method of elerating, the sudden boost was enough to make the young kobold squeak in fear like some sort of small dog toy. "..." Zombie nced to the side to make sure that Kopia was following, and after confirming it with satisfaction, he focused on the road ahead, preparing for experiencing various illusions set in ce by the vige guardian, Olive. He wasn''t really worried about himself, but he sure hoped that the experience won''t be too traumatic for the kid clinging to his back like a scared ko bear. ¡­ But if he expected any sort of illusion triggering, he sure ended up disappointed ¨C or rather relieved since literally, nothing happened no matter the distance. After a while, he could already spot the cliff that was hiding the masked entrance to the hidden vige... ...or rather the breached cliff split apart by the shocking power of the small remnant of spirit god, Saint. Zombie didn''t even have to activate his life signature detection skill to pinpoint the elves since even from afar it looked like everyone able to fight was gathered bear the opening, some elves were already glowing with the light of the activated skills. "...haaaaaaaaa..." That sight forced a long sigh out of the lungs of the undead who didn''t even have to breathe, to begin with. Yeah. The elves were rmed, to say the least. "...You think that they even realized that the system no longer holds them back from doing and saying whatever they want...?" A sudden thought appeared in Zombie''s mind and it was such a good question that he decided to ask out loud to no one in particr. "Ummm... I... I don''t know...?" Though the only answer he got came from Raika, coiling her arms around his neck for support, and it wasn''t a very satisfying answer, to begin with too. To spare himself the trouble of being attacked and having to dodge a barrage of magic missiles of various elements, the blue undead stopped at the distance that would allow the ones using the detection [sight] skill, even the low-level one, to recognize him. "YO! IT''S ME!" Zombie waved at the elves with one hand while supporting Raika with the other before continuing the approach with much lower speed. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" Before long, the first voices reached him ¨C and the long-haired vige guardian''s voice was probably the most prominent of them all. "...hello there... I returned after fulfilling my promise ¨C aren''t you happy?" As Olive ran up to meet him, the blue undead smiled awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. "Wh-what the... Zombie? The fuck is happening?! It''s just you? You''ve caused this?!" The old elf gasped, leaning to the side, looking past Zombie as his ears began glowing with intense light as he used the hearing-enhancing skill to check for himself before the blue undead could even answer. "Well... I might have gotten myself a rather overpowered ally this time." Zombieughed awkwardly, ncing at the green bracelet around his wrist. "...Oh, that''s right ¨C master, about that power ¨C I''m only able to muster so much power because the trees here were soaking in mana for hundreds of years ¨C please don''t expect anything spectacr like that anywhere else.." George raised his head segment and put out a disimer with an easygoing voice. "...huh...?" Zombie flinched looking down at him. "It''s best to tell you now ¨C if it''s a new nt without much mana, I can''t do much with it. I''m the strongest in the old forest like this, but that also means that I will be useless in cities and on ins..." George continued his exnation not really caring about the circumstances. Though, honestly, he was right about warning the blue undead to temper his expectations since Zombie was already making ns with the ridiculous power of the remnant of Saint as a basis. "Sssssss! (AHA! I knew he was just a show-off!)" Kopia and Monty joined at the right time to hear George''s confession which caused Monty to hiss out triumphantly. "...you have some exining to do, kiddo..." Olive sighed while massaging his forehead. "(Master, you''re back!)" "ZOMBIE...!" Whether the old elf had something else to say, the next moment everyone present received a telepathic message of the red dragon, flying out of the vige right towards the blue undead ¨C which was followed by an excited shout of the red-haired girl riding on the said dragon''s back. Chapter 440: The village that no longer need to be hidden (3)

Chapter 440: The vige that no longer need to be hidden (3)

After the initial scare faded, since it turned out that the vige wasn''t getting raided by the enemy forces, there was nothing else to do but celebrate! Well, not exactly ¨C the first order of business was to elect the members of the elvenmunity that would be delegated to request the audience with the queen in order to give a detailed summary of all the crimes against the elven racemitted by the main branch of the Envy family thorough the years. It should be done fast, efficiently, and preferably stealthy, as the Envy family ¨C and more importantly the avatar of envy ¨C might catch the wind of what was about to happen. Though ¨C since the hidden vige in the Great northern forest of the Envys territory wasn''t the only elven settlement in the kingdom ¨C surely there has been at least one elf that showed up in the royal pce and attempted to exin everything, when it came to evidence against one of the seven main families, a term ''too much evidence'' simply did not exist. "Yo, I have a deal with the Greeds, if I''ll go with you, they should let us in without too much dy." While the vige elder and the two most powerful elves in the vige were in the middle of a heated discussion about who should go and who should stay behind just in case if Envys might try something, the blue undead asked while hugging and patting the head of the young dragon who missed him dearly. "NO! You just got here ¨C and more importantly ¨C could you exin why did youe home and brought ANOTHER WOMAN with you?!" But none of the elves was as fast to respond to him like the red-haired girl waiting by his side while pointing at the confused young kobold child. "...another woman...?" Zombie raised his brow and looked between Cranberry and Raika with disbelief. "Umm, miss, I''m only eight years old..." Judging by the regretful tone in the kobold girl''s voice, she was not only aware of the part that Zombie was missing, but was also regretting the supposed age difference. "What about it? Zombie is eleven! Ah...!" The red-haired girl scoffed furiously ¨C and almost instantly gasped, realizing her mistake. "...eh...? Mister Zombie is so young...?! But he is so big!" "!!!!!" There certainly was a bashful realization in Raika''s voice that made Cranberry flinch and grit her teeth. "No! Don''t even think about it, you thieving cat... dog!" The red-haired girl gasped, while her face turned way brighter shade than her hair, and clung to Zombie''s side, pushing his left hand forward together with her own. "Look! Look at the rings! Zombie and I are married, understand?! So back off and don''t even think about whatever you were about to think about!" Cranberry shouted furiously, fumbling her words quite spectacrly while waving her hand and shooing the young kobold girl away. Zombie would really prefer to return to more important matters at hand, but it really wasn''t in the cards as all the elves smiled and nodded with understanding, moving aside and making some room for the kids to y - even though whatever was happening wasn''t just a childish game for the red-haired Cranberry. "Hey, Cranberry, aren''t you overrea..." "Eh...? But you are too young to really be a wife, and even if it''s for real, you are only mister Zombie''s first wife then, right? The rest of the spots are open!" Not even letting the blue undead finish his sentence, Raika pped her hands and nodded with a happy smile. "No! Stop! I don''t like where this is going!" Zombie couldn''t really remain quiet after hearing that ¨C he grabbed Cranberry''s shoulder and pulled her away, freeing his left arm and taking a step to the aside, using Baron''srge body to shield himself from either one of the girls. "Master, you are looking for more wives?! I book one spot!" "SSSSSS?! (HUUUUUUUUUH?!)" But that wasn''t a safe spot either, as the blue undead was attacked from his blindspot ¨C Kopia in her humanoid form jumped at his back and called out hurriedly as if this was some sort of race, and her words caused the golden snake on her ear stop acting like an earring and hiss in panic. "You...! Don''t talk nonsense ¨C look, the old man Gooseberry is looking at me with murderous intent!" Zombieined, leaning down and making the humanoid sword get off of him. "Nah, he is like this because he knows that Cranbie would like to have a spot too~" "..." Kopia giggled and waved her hand dismissively ¨C Causing Cranberry to re at her furiously for bbing away something that she should keep secret ¨C no, something that the humanoid sword should not be aware of in the first ce. "Seriously, you all, stop it ¨C the marriage is for the living ¨C the vows go until the death do us part ¨C well, I am an undead ¨C whatever oath you are talking about, it is null and void. End of subject." Zombie frowned and eaved his hand sharply to visualize his decisiveness. "Oh ¨C no it does not! I''ve been studying on the subject and if an undead makes a promise they are bound by it until they will be re-killed or perish in any other way, natural one or not!" Cranberry stepped forward, shaking her head, without the slightest intention of finishing the conversation then and there. "Wha...?! Where did you even read that?! Humans believing in the system faith are considering undead as unclean, repugnant monsters and believe them to be altering the life stories of the living if engaged in prolonged contact of any sort! There''s no way they would write down anything like what you just said!" The blue undead furrowed his brows and shook his head from left to right, slightly irked for being called out. "I didn''t find it in a human book ¨C it was written by the ancient elves ¨C there was a book like this in the library!" The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and eximed proudly while intentionally hiding that the part she was talking about was aboutpletely different kinds of oaths... "...library...?" Zombie frowned and instantly turned to the previously angry-looking purple-haired guardian of the archives, Gooseberry ¨C who conveniently chose that exact moment to hurriedly look the other way, ...sweating profusely... ...so maybe the timing of him looking away was not coincidental at all... "More importantly ¨C what is it about having many wives?! Neither elves nor humans are okay with that!" Cranberry used that moment to ask about the matter that bothered her the most and red down at the younger kobold girl. "Eh? Why? You are all so weird ¨C it''s normal for strong males to have many wives, right? Grandpa always told me that he had ten beautiful wives in his youth before he had to escape from the lust territory." Raika''s eyes widened as she responded, tilting her head in confusion. "...ah... lust territory and kobolds are an entirely different matter..." Cranberry flinched and raised her hand in defeat while looking away to hide the drops of sweat showing up on her forehead. She was not going to engage in a discussion about the matter that was way out of her league. --- "Ssss... (Kopia, are you serious about bing master''s wife...?)" Using all the hustle and bustle, Monty, the tiny golden serpent raised its head and hissed into Kopia''s ear even though it wasn''t really necessary since the humanoid sword was reading its mind through the physical contact. "Hmmm? No? Why would I? I am master''s property, I''m not interested in bing his wife." The crimson-haired girl furrowed her brows and answered, looking away from the blue undead arguing with, everyone except Baron, who was too young and confused to understand what was going on. "Ssss?! (Huh?! B-but you said that you want master to save you a spot!)" Monty flinched and hissed in shock. "Ummm, I only wanted to book a spot for Patience, though? Why do you even ask, gold?" Kopia asked tilting her head in confusion. "Sss! (Ah!) Sss... (Ummm...) Sssss...! (Arrrrgh, I''m dead...!)" "Gold...? GOLD!" But the golden snake gasped and dodged the answer by hanging down limply from Kopia''s ear, faking its death, causing the crimson-haired girl to cry out in panic. Chapter 441: Guess whos back~? (1)

Chapter 441: Guess who''s back~? (1)

...because of the covert type of mission they were on, the distance they could travel without alerting anyone was very limited ¨C hence a situation like this could ur... Zombie, who ended up going together with Mirabelle and a few more elves who had their loved ones kidnapped by the Envy family, were staying in the tiny forest between the territories, on their way to the royal pce in the capital of the kingdom, ended up having time to spare while one of the elves came to change him on the guard duty... ...Zombie was very taken aback, but the elves were treating him as some sort of celebrity or even an idol since the moment they left the hidden vige and were going out of their way to please him. ¡­ With that in mind, Zombie ended upying on the ground, staring at branches of the tree above him, unable to train any of his skills because of the precautions their group was taking. "...this is ridiculous..." The blue undead sighed with a bitter expression, putting his left hand under his head. "...is it though? The knife-ears want to show their gratitude, you did receive the savior of the elves'' title, didn''t you master? I bet that it has some sort of secret passive ability to make the elves love you unconditionally." The bushy green bracelet on his left wrist murmured right into his ear after raising its segmented head. "I can''t help but feel like you are jealous, George..." Zombie murmured under his breath, cautious not to wake up the elves sleeping nearby. "Oh, that''s because I am, as a creature that takes power from the sin of envy it is impossible for me not to be a petty little bug ¨C but you of all the creatures have nothing to worry about as I find you way too troublesome to attack." "..." *peck* The half-nt centipede giggled quietly, and as Zombie went silent with a clouded expression, it raised its body a bit more and gave the undead a little kiss on the blue cheek. "Well, everyone has a different way of saying ''I love you'' I suppose." Zombie snorted and reached out towards his left hand and caressed the soft carapace of the remnant monster with his palm. "Shut up, master ¨C don''t read too much into my actions, I am a fickle insect - hmph." George scoffed andid back down satisfied with the reciprocated affection. ¡­ Without the amusing conversation partner like George, Zombie was left rather bored ¨C Kopia and Monty stayed behind with Cranberry, same with Baron as he was rather easy to spot and this was supposed to be an incognito operation. "..." The blue undead breathed out and closed his eyes for a moment. As an undead he was unable to fall asleep ¨C or at least he was supposed to... ¡­ ¡­... Before the blue undead knew what was happening, he had found himself suspended in the seemingly endless darkness while his body was nothing more than the orb of violet light. |What the hell...? How... how did I get in here...?| He gasped in confusion, floating back because of the shock. How did he get there? How is he supposed to leave? Those were all valid questions that the blue undead... well.. the violet orb had no answer to. |Hey there, my rotten brain~| |!!!| Right as he was going to look around to check the other orbs to at least use the chance he had to confirm how many heirs have been chosen when an overwhelmingly familiar voice called out to him from behind ¨C making him finch and float around. |CRANBE..! Ah...| The violet orb was already calling out in disbelief, expecting the apparition just like the one he saw before, but instead, he merely faced a white orb cheerfully bouncing around as if it was happy to see him. |Did you miss me? You must have. Go on, tell me exactly how much did you miss me~| The white orb orbiting around the violet orb giggled flirtatiously. |...| At first, Zombie sighed and shook a bit in disbelief, his first impulse was to not humor the sealed overseer that disappeared on her own and showed up whenever she felt like it, but honestly... |For the matter of fact, Pati, I missed you more than you can imagine, you stupid idiot. Never leave me again.| He did not fell to his initial urge and straight-up said what was on his mind with full honesty. |...!| For a split second, the white orb froze in ce, as if shocked by what she heard, but the very next moment she charged right at the violet orb and snuggled up to him like a love-starved kitten. |My rotten brain~ Ha ha~!| The white orb let out a short bark-likeugh before floating away and bouncing up and down, both extremely happy and apparently slightly embarrassed of her own outburst of affection. |How were you while I was gone ¨C except helpless, lost, and hopelessly lonely?| The white orb asked teasingly swirling around from excitement. |Read my mind and see for yourself.| The violet orb floated up and down in an attempt to recreate the motion of shrugging his shoulders, though that didn''t work out quite as good as he hoped that it would. |Haa? Are you telling me that you don''t want to talk to me...?| The white orb sounded exactly as if she was squinting her eyes dangerously, which honestly surprised Zombie quite a bit ¨C it has been some time since thest time he talked with Patience and he honestly forgot how good she could... well... convey emoting with just her voice. |Let''s see...| And honestly ¨C he always liked their inner banters, so he didn''t find it strange toply with her demand. |You remember the remnant of the god of luck Happy? It is my subject now, and its name is Monty. I''ve also made a deal with the queen. I kind of had no choice because, you know, I was kind of surrounded during the first kill party and all. Beside''s that, I ranked up and am an undead squire ¨C by the way, you told me that leveling up during this ythrough will be harder ¨C but this is honestly ridiculous. I''m killing monsters whenever I have time and I''m barely level 5! I ranked up the monster-killing titles all the way to the bane of rank just to do that! And I had quests to help me!| Chapter 442: Guess whos back~? (2)

Chapter 442: Guess who''s back~? (2)

The violet orbined, feeling some of his pent-up stress getting released ¨C honestly, having someone who he could trust to that degree was ridiculously reassuring and almost cleansing. |Aww, my cute rotten brain feels overwhelmed? Come, let''s snuggle up. Now that I''m back I''ll make it all bette~ ...HA?!?!?!??!??!!| Patience giggled and did very well to tease the violet orb, but Zombie was on apletely different level than the inexperienced sealed overseer, and actually floated towards the white orb and nuzzled against her, causing her to fidget adorably in embarrassment ¨C well, as adorably as an orb could fidget that is. |Oh, and I made sure that the story will follow the path where the Envy family is the disgraced one, and got the remnant of the spirit god, Saint, as my subject too while I was at it ¨C his name is George.| Zombie casually continued his exnation while Patience was struggling to stay calm and not spontaneouslybust from embarrassment. |Y-you did...? G-good...| The white orb squirmed and twisted around ¨C but did not make any attempt to move back despite all the opportunities in the world. |That means that the elves are free ¨C I hope that you made sure that Lairs''s mother will not be harmed ¨C despite her fruit name, she is the character that starts the -cursed daughter- quest, which is the...| |Which is one of the secret quests that we need toplete in order to get the secret ending that we want. I know.| It sounded as if Patience was getting overly worried so Zombie cut into her sentence and finished it for her. |I triggered it, but it did not activate because the global event didn''t start ¨C it gave me quite a scare though. And took some precautions so that none of the somewhat important characters from the Envy territory would be in danger. Your memories that mixed with Kopia were really helpful, though the way that Kopia is, it took her a while to even tell me about it. Still, Sk, Rambutan, Fillia, Mason, and even Raika, should be as fine as momentarily possible.| The violet orb exined. |Good, good.| Patience nodded proudly. |And the rest?| She added curiously. |Well, I didn''t even show up to Laura because I doubt that she would take what happened to me too well... for now, that is... and as for Mia and Luke, they are both doing their thing ¨C since they don''t have a connection to the Envy family, at least not one I was aware of, they should be fine... right...?| Zombie asked rotating diagonally, which was supposed to imitate him tilting his head. |Oh, those three will bepletely fine on their own.| The white orb assured him, somehow managing to sound as if she waved her hand dismissively ¨C despite not having any arms in her current form. |But then what about Xavi? I can''t imagine that she would have an easy time ¨C Envys wanted to kill her for a while not to mention that the queen would love to deal with that loose end too.| |...huh...?| ...but then she went ahead and said something extremely confusing, that sent chills down Zombie''s spine ¨C or it would if he wasn''t in the form of a violet orb. |...I... I didn''t encounter a character named Xavi, though...| Zombie slowly floated back, staring at the white orb. |Ha...? No, you definitely did... wait... Could it be toote?! No... impossible...| The white orb flinched and bounced anxiously from left to right. |If you made a deal with the queen, she must have at least mentioned Xavi...!| She insisted, rotating around her own axis, very much disturbed. |Focus, Zombie. Xavi. We''ve met her already in this ythrough. Middle-aged, dark-haired woman. She''s a guild master of the adventurers guild that you enlisted to. Everyone calls her Banana because of the big birthmark on her neck...| |BANANA IS AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER?!| The white orb started exining hurriedly, ending up the most important part at the very end ¨C a part that made the violet orb jump up and shout in terror. |Yes ¨C very important actually ¨C Xavi is a character that will give out lots of quests after she will move into the rebuilt vige. She doesn''t just give some lousy quests either ¨C because of her lifestyle, she made quite a lot of connection and therefore points the yer to the secret quest for both Roan and Corvus, and after clearing enough quests given by Raika, she would also give you the secret quest for ymore.| Patience revealed the important information without a speck of her usual secrecy, which was both helpful and surprising ¨C the only problem was her timing... |Why in the world wouldn''t you tell me that the first time we met her?! You should have at least mention ¨C hey, see that woman? BANANA IS ONLY A NICKNAME, HER NAME IS XAVI!| Zombie couldn''t stop himself and blew out in anger. |...you killed her, didn''t you...| The white orb slumped down and sighed. |...ah...!| She wasn''t angry at all ¨C it almost sounded as if she was disappointed with herself, an odd reaction, but still, that kind of behavior was exactly what snapped Zombie back from the angry fit. |I did not, actually - believe it or not...| He cleared out. |...but the thing is... I kind of went against the deal with the queen ¨C you see, she wanted to have something on the Envy family to keep them in check, something only she and I would know, but because of me freeing the Elves, the reputation of the main family ispletely shattered, publicly.| He started exining. |....and...?| The white orb floated up, expectantly. |...and I made it so it would look like that ended up happening because of the false information that Banana, that is Xavi, gave me... So that she would get punished instead of me... I suppose that Pitaya had already captured her...| Zombie revealed feeling ashamed. |...| The white orb went silent. |Pati...?| Zombie furrowed his brow ¨C or tried to do that ¨C and asked. |You need to wake up so that we could salvage this mess. Right now.| The white orb dered sounding surprisingly calm andposed and... ¡­ The blue undead opened his eyes, back in the real world. Chapter 443: Correcting the mistake (1)

Chapter 443: Correcting the mistake (1)

*BOOOOOOM* With no intention of exining anything to the elves that he had left behind, Zombie caused a cloud of dust to be thrown up in the air as he went fromying down straight into a full-on sprint augmented with both strong kick and whirlwind kick skills consecutively. "Zombie?! What happened?!" Olive called out after him but the blue undead was already disparaging from his view. |What''s your n?| Patience asked calmly as if she hadplete faith in her host, which was honestly a rather new experience for the said host ¨C it was certainly not a bad feeling though. |I set her up, but I didn''t straight up give away her locations nor what her ns were ¨C even with Pitaya''s teleportation it would not be that easy to pinpoint Banana. We''re going to check the ces she might try to hide.| Zombie exined hurriedly, quite pleased that he had someone to talk to ¨C well, think to ¨C like he was now. Before he could try to emte it with Kopia, but the sentient sword could not respond to him despite being able to read his mind so it wasn''t the same at all. |Ha... I see... ording to the memories I memorized, it seems that Xavi is quite apt in the art of escaping, so she indeed should be able to dodge the queen''s spies for at least a couple of days, not too much though ¨C Ti''s mother is really annoying bloodhound at Greeds ylist. Sounding as if she didn''t even bat an eye, the sealed overseer dropped a rather juicy piece of info into the mix as if it was nothing. |Khahaha! I knew that they had to be rted ¨C so she really was her mother ¨C say, will that info be of use to uster on?| Going with the flow, the blue undead felt his initial tension releasing ¨C but whether that was due to how Patience''s presence was easing his mind or whether that was only part of the machine mind skill effects was really hard to guess correctly, so let''s say that it was a little bit of both. |Not really ¨C Ti isn''t really a necessary character for our ending. She would be a nice addition, but if she''ll ever piss you off, feel free to lob her head off~| Patience giggled and ended her sentence sounding as if she was winking at the blue undead mischievously. |Oh, and you know that by showing off so much you will out yourself to the queen and the other Greeds as someone who tried to scam them? Their family doesn''t take kindly to such people.| She added getting back into her serious mode. |Be careful.| She ended up saying before going quiet, satisfied with herself and her speech. "..." Zombie smirked to himself and concentrated on running and dodging the sparse travelers on the road leading to the city where his adventurer''s guild was. It just so happened that the guild was the first ce of interest to check for ¨C though it was on the list only because it was so obvious hiding spot that the queen''s spies might have everything Banana vel Xavi''s intelligence andmon sense. *WHAM* "Hey! Is guild master here?!" Withpletely no regard to the guild''s property, Zombie busted down the door with a single devastating kick and basically flew inside, shouting a question over the heads of the shocked and adventurers ¨C of whom most became horrified once they recognized the intruder. "You! Grape! Do you know where Banana is?!" While using the acrobatics skill tond safely on top of the counter, and crouched down, leaning over the male kobold, staring holes at him, tilting his head like a monstrous owl. "Th-the guild master isn''t here..." The kobold hurriedly shook her head while almost falling off of the chair he was standing on to attend the adventurers. "Grape ¨C it''s important. Greeds are after her... though I guess you are working with them..." Zombie squinted his eyes suspiciously. "Who''s working with them! I would never betray miss Banana!" The kobold took it quite personally and actually got angry. "Those bastards knocked me out and stole my appearance ¨C don''t you dare to think that I wasplying with those greedy bastards!" Actually angry, angry enough for Zombie to give him a pass, even though he had no solid proof that whatever Grape was saying was indeed true. "Umm... excuse me...? Who allowed a monster into the guild ¨C and more importantly ¨C I was first, no cutting in line!" Just as the blue undead was about to stand up the annoying voice from behind scolded both him and the male kobold behind the counter. "Shut up, Mia. You are still too weak to try to act so tough." "!!!!!!!!" Zombie scoffed at the owner of the voice without even looking back nodded at Grape. "If you see her, tell her to try to get the hell away, the deal with Greeds is off, they are after her for real now." He dered and saw the kobold''s eyes widening from actual fear once he realized the weight of the blue undead''s words. "H-hold on a second...! Y-you... no...! You can''t be...! Zombie...?! Wha- How?! Why do you look so much older?! No, wait, first of all, why are you an actual undead?" As the blue undead stood up and turned around, he nced down at the bbergasted dark-skinned young woman with a mace strapped to her waist. She was staring at his face absolutely horrified. |...ah... now that she knows she will surely tell Laura... ugh... do you think that it will be troublesome...?| Zombie sighed internally and asked his reliable sealed-in tutorial guide. |Oh, she will for sure ¨C I mean, Laura activates your secret quest, mister capture target, of course, there should be some sort of troublesome connection between you.| He got the exnation that he wanted and it turned out to be way more significant than he thought. |...I thought I was nothing but trouble for her. Not to mention that I was sure that my secret quest would have something to do with the Sloths and maybe that Cranberry who would be alive thanks to us following the secret route would activate it.| "...?" Zombie furrowed his brows ¨C which on the outside looked as if he was ring down at Mia judging whether she was worthy to receive a response from him or not. |Ha ha! Nope! As if~!| Patienceughed openly, making it sound like she was shaking her hand dismissively. |Also, about you and Laura ¨C well, in my opinion, you are the most lovable person, and I bet that she actually really liked your wild character. After all, despite you sneaking out every night to hunt monsters and whatnots she never punished you and diligently trained you. That would go in ordance with how it was in the game ¨C Zombie was Laura''s favorite pupil.| She divulged more details sounding as if she wasying on the ground and rolling around mischievously, like some sort of a house cat. |Oh-ho...!| Zombie gasped in a rather pleasant surprise and ended up smirking ¨C which due to the difference in height, with him still standing on top of the counter, ended up looking as if he was mocking the dark-skinned girl. "You got stronger, but do you think that it is really enough? Sometimes, you have to push yourself as far out of yourfort zone as possible to get the results you wish for." The blue undead dered, shrugging his shoulders, not responding to Mia''s words simply because he forgot what she said ¨C he chose the words that he thought would push her closer to Durian Greed and his allure of easy gains. "!!!!!" And judging by Mia''s expression, he chose well. "Grape, make sure to warn Banana if she shows up." Zombie moved his head slightly and reminded the male kobold receptionist, before... *BOOOOM* ...breaking the counter into splinters as he used it as aunching pad and disappeared through the broken door before anyone else could react. "N-no! Zombie! Wait!" Mia turned around and run after him out of the guild, but there was already no trace of the blue undead anywhere in sight. ... ... |...Zombie... do not go in there.| As the blue undead was about to enter a certain building in the entertainment district, the sealed overseer called out in his mind sounding rather grumpy. |Huh...? You know that Banana uses this ce as a hideout, right? I am not entering it for fun.| Zombie froze with his hand raised halfway to the doorknob, and he tilted his head in confusion. |I know. I also do not have anything against anyone working here, but the idea of you being in such a ce feels me with...| |...unease...?| Zombie tried to y it off jokingly, finishing Patience''s sentence, but she certainly didn''t seem in the mood for ying along with that. |Unbridled rage, envy, and urge to kill. So yes, you could call it unease.| Patience breathed out in annoyance, sounding as if she was clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. |Envy? Why envy? Not to mention the other two...| Zombie furrowed his brows and inquired. |Everyone in here can touch you while I can''t. Isn''t that enough of a reason to end them all...?| The sealed overseer sounded as if she frowned and looked away ¨C knowing that she was in the wrong but not trying to try to take back her words. |Don''t be like that, they can touch my body but you can touch my soul~| Zombie smirked and decided to try to lift Patience''s mood even a little bit ¨C after all, they were able tomunicate again after so long, he didn''t want her to be feeling down. Like that. |Pffft...! Corny! So corny! What cheap romance novel did you read that in?! Rotten brain! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!| Well, although it wasn''t exactly the effect that he wanted, Patience''s mood certainly was lifted quite a bit. |Alright, ready to go?| |Haa... Yeah, sure.| The two came to an agreement and Zombie entered the building. Chapter 444: Correcting the mistake...?

Chapter 444: Correcting the mistake...?

|Ha. That skill is ridiculously useful.| Patience breathed out in Zombie''s head, sounding honestly impressed. |No matter how useful the mindbreak skill is with making people want to do help us out, we did not get any closer to finding Xavi.| Zombie frowned, very disappointed ¨C not only the secret room was empty with no traces of being used since Zombie and Banana ¨C so Xavi ¨C had a talk in there ¨C but none of the girls had any clue where Xavi could be. Though making contact with as few people as possible was a rather good idea on the hunted woman''s part, it certainly made looking for her that much more annoying and the blue undead had nothing else but himself to me for letting things end up in that way. "Where the hell did she go, making me run around the city..." But being self-reflective and humble certainly weren''t in the current Zombie character''s sheet ¨C which was perfectly portrayed by the blue undead clicking his tongue and using the life signature detection skill to scan his surroundings. That particr skill was very useful but with its current level it could notpare to the one built-in in the body of the eternal servant from the first ythrough ¨C case in point, Zombie could not properly point out a single life signature in the literal sea of other signatures constantly moving around, living their own lives ¨C he at least focused on the brothel behind his back to make sure that Xavi wasn''t actually hiding there and the girls working there were just that highly trained to resist the lust-based control skill he used while inquiring about the woman. ...though as it turned out ¨C it wasn''t the case ¨C Xavi really wasn''t there... ...at least not alive... |Anyway, I guess we could just go to the Greeds and ask about her... Though I doubt that they would tell me the truth even if they had her.| Zombie furrowed his brows andined. |True ¨C but it''s still worth a shot, wouldn''t you say?| Patience decided to be the ray of sunshine on Zombie''s gloominess and asked curiously. |I gue... oh! Would you look at that!| The blue undead was about to close his eyes and agree when he noticed a very specific life signature. It wasn''t a monster, but at the same time, the flow of mana betraying the use of skill waspletely different than anyone else around it. "Khahaha! I almost forgot that we have a tail~" Heughed out loud and smirked triumphantly watching the spy from the branch of the Envy family that was subordinate to the Greeds. As for how he knew that it couldn''t be anyone else ¨C well, it was all about the difference in the mana movement around the life signature. The peculiar flow was caused by a very specific tier 2 illusion type skill that on top of Envys inborn appearance steal skill was making thempletely immune to basically all detection skills... ...with the life signature detection skill being the most reliable one to ignore all of that... Truly, Zombie''s existence was a natural counter to anyone trying to hide their presence. Anyway. The spy''s presence was a very weed coincidence ¨C Zombie could try to y it out as if he didn''t have the special ring that caused others to not recognize him as a part of his n ¨C but honestly, he simply forgot about it and left it behind in the elven vige. Still, coincidence or not, that caused the spy paid by the Greeds family to find him with ease ¨C and now the blue undead was going to use the spy to get straight to the greeds. "Howdy." After a bit of walking, Zombie sat by an elderly man resting his weary bones on the empty crates someone had thrown away and nodded at him with a friendly smile. "It''s an odd sight to see a corpse puppet walking around freely ¨C where is your puppeteer, my blue friend?" The old man was taken aback slightly but he certainly did not look scared or disgusted like most of the people following the system''s faith. "Nope, not a corpse puppet, just a wild undead on the loose ¨C I''m going to eat your grandchildren, groargh~!" Zombieughed mockingly and yfully wed towards the old man. "...I don''t have any... not anymore... the one I thought of as a granddaughter was killed while keeping an eye on you. What do you want from me, sir Zombie?" As if the blue undead struck a nerve, the old man tensed up and straightened his back, losing the feeble aura while ring right into his eyes. "Granddaughter, you say? Sadly, the main Envys wanted me gone and they obviously weren''t keen on having a spy from the more prominent branch family roam around on their turf. Still, you have my condolences, I''m sure she was a good kid." Zombie tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders while giving the ttest condolences one can imagine. "...what do you want from me, sir Zombie?" The old man gritted his teeth and repeated the question. "Oh, nothing much, I just want to go see miss Banana, but I can''t find her anywhere ¨C I guess that''s your doing?" Zombie moved his head, tilting it to the other side and shrugging his shoulders again. He of course didn''t mean the old man, in particr, just the branch or ''good'' Envys as a whole. "I did receive an order to help you whenever necessary, so let me tell you one thing." The man frowned and sighed as if disappointed that the blue undead isn''t trying to pick a fight with him ¨C or using any skill for that matter ¨C and spoke up. "The avatar of greed doesn''t need anyone''s help to get whatever they want ¨C as long as they have the wealth that wouldpensate for their wish ¨C everything is within their reach. And you are the one who gave the queen a ridiculous amount of valuables." "..." Zombie frowned at the man''s words. |He is talking about Monty''s shed outer shell, the royal avaritia form. That thing must have weighed tens of thousands of pounds, maybe hundreds... And I wish that I was reaching here...| Zombie sighed internally. |Is he serious about the avatar of greed''s powers? I remember turning her to ash before she could even lift a finger during the first ythrough.| He added slightly curious and very much worried. |She can. The Greeds strive for the greatest wealth for the entire kingdom because they obviously have ess to the royal treasury. Have you never wondered why Fruit Sd didn''t get attacked by any foreign power in a couple of hundreds of years? It''s because other countries are scared shitless. Apparently, there was a powerful kingdom that wanted to seize ournds around a thousand years ago. Prides agreed that it was enough of a threat to bypass the normal warfare and straight-up use Greeds power. That kingdom was called Holly Kingdom Biel. And because of the work of the avatar of greed of that time, the greatke of Bieltears was created~| Patience exined, clearly taking great pleasure in sharing her knowledge. |A whole kingdom was nuked enough to create ake?| Zombie asked in disbelief, momentarily forgetting about the outside world. |A moment, please...| The sealed overseer stopped him, taking the time to read his mind to see what he meant about the whole nuking. |Ha? No, it wasn''t something so weak. I understand your confusion ¨C when I said greatke, you must have imagined just a bigke ¨C the thing is, people of that time had a very peculiar taste in names, and purposefully decided that they dislike the name ''inner sea''. My lovely rotten brain, Bieltears is bigger than Fruit Sd.| Patience exined affectionately, sounding as if she was nuzzling against Zombie''s shoulder. |Though a power like that is impossible to recreate now ¨C apparently over 90% of the world''s resources were used up on that attack ¨C fun fact, that is also a reason why the intelligent races started using monster parts as materials.| She added happily. |...I think I need a receipt for that 90% thing, howe you know about that...? That''s quite a im...| Zombie asked, furrowing his brows. |Ha? Are you asking the system''s overseer how does she know how many resources of the world that she watches over were used?| Patience also sounded as if she furrowed her brows and asked back. |Point taken. Alright, so this is serious...| After hearing that argument being brought up, Zombie instantly got back to the situation at hand ¨C and the old man ring at him. "Then, miss Banana is dead?" The blue undead asked, furrowing his brows, feeling his insides churning up from realization. "Dead? By the system, of course not ¨C before that our dearest queen wanted to question her about many things... you included. She simply made that woman appear in the pce, in front of her." "..." Somewhat, the answer given to Zombie felt even worse than what he originally expected. By far. If the queen had the power to simply make anyone she wanted to appear in front of her despite all the precautions and protective artifacts, she surely had the power to make that someone speak only the truth... "..." The blue undead gritted his teeth and then he started ring down at the old man ¨C the old man who got visibly happier because of that reaction. "You aren''t here to tail me." The blue undead did not ask, he merely stated the fact. "Sir Zombie. Will you go with me to the Greeds territory to exin a couple of things to the queen or should I report to her that she needs to bring you in herself?" The old man ¨C now all smiles ¨C asked, leaning back confidently. Chapter 445: Correcting the... well... the truth is, that was never a mistake.

Chapter 445: Correcting the... well... the truth is, that was never a mistake.

The blue undead entered the throne room ¨C a gant massive space made exactly for a single purpose ¨C to intimidate the visitor. Everything seemed out of proportion, giant paintings, enormous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling high as a cathedral, and the giant throne sitting on top of the grand pedestal so that the monarch on top of it would always look down upon the subjects and foreign ambassadors beneath. And from that very pompous, over-glorified chair, the queen of the Fruit Sd was looking down on him, Zombie. |Any advice for dealing with her?| The blue undead asked without much hope for a magical answer that would let him get away from that horrible situation where he couldn''t really try to kill the queen because it wasn''t the right time, not to mention that the future looked considerably bleak for him since he obviously plotted against her ¨C and there was no doubt in Zombie''s mind that the queen had already got the version of the truth that he fed to Xavi from Xavi herself. |Your mindbreak skill ¨C do not use it against her. In fact, do not fight her at all.| |...? Why not...?| Though the answer that he got wasn''t the one he was prepared to hear. He expected a solemn denial or some concerned words of advice ¨C not an unusual instruction. |Using tier 2 sin-based skills on high-level avatars of sin is just asking for trouble ¨C in the end, it alles to the level difference ¨C sorry to break it to you but this woman is strong. Actually strong, not like you in the first ythrough, but still.| Patience sounded as if she shook her head, breathing out with concern. |You should know exactly what I''m talking about since you experienced the same thing but from the other side.| She added. |You''re talking about the penalty that others receive trying to use control-type skills on me.| Zombie realized while walking through the throne room as slowly as it was possible without annoying the waiting queen ¨C though, she certainly looked as if she enjoyed watching him take each step with such hesitation as it created the impression that he was intimidated, which was the sole point of the room. |Not just any control-type skills, all sin-based skills of lower tiers and levels.| Patience cleared out the misconception that the blue undead had about the properties of the overpowered abilities. |The problem is that such properties aren''t exclusive to the pride-based skill like your superbia. queen''s avaritia is the same, and since avaritia is easier o level up than superbia and she had it for a longer time than you did... Do I really need to say exactly how many levels she is above you at the moment?| The sealed overseer sounded as if she smirked with no positive emotion behind her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. |Then if I''ll try using either mindbreak or overpower then I will receive the same penalty as the ones who attacked me in the past?| The blue undead asked, seeking confirmation. |You represent pride ¨C the penalty your opponents receive is its manifestation ¨C you remain the same while your opponent can''t do a thing against your power, the penalty multiplies if they foolishly try to continue the attack ¨C making the difference that much more obvious. As for the queen and greed ¨C the mechanic is the same, the penalty is based on the sin ¨C it doesn''t affect status points, but it takes away the skill of the attacker, permanently.| |!!!!!!| Hearing that exnation made Zombie tense up as if the rigor mortis had finally kicked in for him. |So if you don''t want to lose either mindbreak or overpower, you better not try anything stupid. Alright?| Patience asked, this time sounding almost lightheartedly as if she epted whatever fate will bring them. |How can you be so calm about it...?!| ...and that certainly didn''t sit well with the blue undead. |We can''t run away, we can''t hide, we can''t lie our way out of this, we can''t kill her! How are we supposed to deal with this situation?! She''s the very same person who betrayed me and my Cranberry in the first ythrough! Why aren''t you acting more concerned?! You were the one to tell me that I am the only one who can save the current Cranberry during the night of the hungry wolves and put the story on the secret ending pa....!| |Ha? Oh, that one. What you heard then was a lie ¨C well, a half-truth if you prefer.| |H-huh...?!| Thepletely unaffected sealed being sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders, causing the blue undead to almost trip and fall on the marble floor of the throne room face-first. |You have only the memories about the events in the normal route ¨C our secret good ending follows the slightly altered scenario ¨C in which the path of the proudest corpse capture target is altered the most. It should be obvious that the actual story that needs to be followed will be different than what you have in mind. Happens.| She answered very slowly, sounding as if she was looking away from the blue undead while saying it. |So you lied to m- oh, who am I kidding, of course, you''ve lied to me...| Zombie almost got worked up ¨C almost. It all ended both thanks to the machine mind skill effect as well as one very simple reason. Zombie already knew that Patience was hiding things from him, lying about something to keep him away from the truth wasn''t out of his expectations. |Ha? Don''t give me that! It''s your fault for not realizing things sooner!| |What was I supposed to pull the answer from if you were LYING TO ME THE ENTIRE TIME! You said that I will need toplete the specific quests to get the ending I want! It is impossible to make the correct assumption if every info at your disposal is false, wouldn''t you say?!| While inside Zombie''s head he was having a shouting contest with the sealed overseer, on the outside he was only a few steps away from the pedestal that the throne ced upon. |I remember it being said that the specific quests will have to bepleted to get the ending that you want, not that you will have toplete all of them, so don''t shout at me or I will get sad and cry, and you know how ugly I get when I''m crying. Anyway ¨C you don''t have to worry ¨C you have indeed splendidly set up the things that needed to happen for the story to follow the right track. So everything should go smoothly... without your input, that is.| Patience pointed out sounding as if she was nodding her head with approval. "..." Which made Zombie look down at himself, ncing at both the empty spot where the expensive scabbard should be as well as his wrist on which there was no trace of a bushy green bracelet. Kopia stayed behind in the elven vige together with Monty, Baron, and Cranberry. As for George, the half-nt centipede was stealthily sent back to warn Olive that in the end, he should not boast about knowing Zombie, or preferably not even mention him at all ¨C such an order was given because Patience casually advised master and his subject that it was the right thing to do, and only now the blue undead truly understood why she did that - neither he nor Patience were supposed toe back from the royal castle. The sealed overseer was preparing for a different story than what Zombie had the knowledge of. For just a split second he wanted to summon his sword and all three subjects to simply st everything away and escape - but he gave up that idea basically instantly - although the extent of Greeds power might have been another lie served him by the sealed overseer, the risk and reward ratio was far too little to be worth it no matter the oue. ...but when it came to the world outside his the blue undead''s mind... "Oh? I did not expect such humilitying from you, young undead." ...and it just so happened that Zombie lowering his head in regret looked just as if he was bowing his head in a humble greeting towards the queen. "Though, that also means that Banana did not find the way to lie to me ¨C I guess that I will let her live for now." The cold-hearted woman nodded with a venomous smile and red down at the blue undead in front of her. "But as for you..." She furrowed her brows seeing no reaction from the blue undead ¨C and she decided that she really will not kill Banana ¨C before squinting her eyes. "...I detest wasting a good resource before it ispletely depleted... I guess I will simply stash you away for when the timees~" The queen hummed and her entire body shone with blinding yellow, almost golden light... |Now the two of us will be sealed off for a while. I''ll try to give you small updates from time to time, but I advise you to just rx and enjoy the rest before the real story kicks in... Hey, let''s move your conscience to the sin of origin nucleus - we can cuddle as those cute orbs of light there~| Chapter 446: Volume 8s Epilogue

Chapter 446: Volume 8''s Epilogue

"Master...! Master got taken away!" The refreshingly green half-nt centipede dropped off of the hands of the elves returning from the audience with the queen and cried out in an absolutely panicked voice. "!!!!!!" "THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?!" All of the elves from the formerly hidden vige that was within his voice reach jolted up in confusion ¨C and Mirabelle walking by together with Cranberry, Cranbie, Raika, Kopia, Monty, and Baron, shouted in disbeliefpletely forgetting about her own rule about not cursing in front of Cranberry. "OLIVE?! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" She shouted, staring at the vige''s guardian looking rather grim, and ignoring the crying centipede skulking by her and climbing on Kopia''s leg. "Master got taken away...! He told me to tell the others to not get involved and that he will deal with everything alone...! But- but...!" George trashed around with so much unease that it was really pitiful to watch ¨C his collected and calm image got shattered instantly. "W-was it the queen?! But Zombie said that he has a deal with her...!" Cranberry, pale as a ghost, asked, looking between Mirabelle and Olive, grabbing onto Mirabelle''s clothes. "It looks like things gotplicated ¨C a couple of days ago Zombie suddenly bolted away in the middle of the night, shouting about not following and disappeared before anyone really knew what was going on. George found us only when we already got into the capital and then we''ve learned that Zombie was initially looking for someone but ended up meeting with a spy working for the Greeds and left with him. George told us to give up the initial n of relying on Zombie''s connection with the Greeds and straight-up deny it if necessary..." While Olive was exining... "...Monty, George, Baron. Close your eyes and cover your ears for a little bit, alright?" Kopia tapped on each of Zombie''s subjects'' backs and asked them with an unusually serious expression. "...?" The red dragon, golden snake, and a green centipede all looked at each other in confusion but ended up doing what they were told. After all, Kopia has been with Zombie the longest - not to mention that she was undeniably the strongest amongst the blue undead''s underlings. "We need to go rescue him...!" *SWOOSH* Cranberry dered, clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, but even if she wanted to say something more, she was interrupted by a sudden gust that blew her heir in front of her face temporarily blinding her. *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* "ARGH?!" "UGH...!" "W-WHAT IN THE FUCK...?!" "?!?!?!?!?!?" That''s why she got so confused hearing the surprised shouts and groans of pain that followed the series of hollow-sounding thumps. "MISS KOPIA...?!" The panicked shout of the little kobold girl, Raika, was the final sign that something went horribly wrong - and as soon as the girl pulled back the curtain of her red hair, she was faced with a truly terrifying image. From behind her, something akin to a gigantic crimson tree sprouted high into the sky and bloomed into hundreds of crimson strands high above the girl''s head, all falling down into the ground... "...uuuuugh...!" ...all of those strands had matte ck des at their ends and each of those des was piecing through the shoulders of the elves, pinning each and every member of the vige right into the ground - no matter who they were. Cranbie with his high dexterity and agility did not manage to escape the sudden ambush and was biting on his lips while trying desperately to pull out the ck de while tears were streaming down his delicate face. Gooseberry was in so much shock that his magic shield was broken that he could only stare at the de sticking out of his shoulder pinning him to the ground in disbelief. Olive wasn''t very good with either physical attacks or defense so he was trying to free himself with magic, which was working just as expected - it wasn''t. Mirabelle who on the other hand was good with both the aspects that her kept man wascking, was struggling hard enough to earn herself another ck de - this one piercing her other shoulder. "!!!!" Cranberry turned around on the spot and saw the root directory of the disaster. With only the human face still intact the nightmarish creation made out of crimson threads was staring right back at Cranberry, while all three subjects of Zombie, as well as the kobold girl, were behind her - with Raika being the only one to react to the situation. If it wasn''t for the severity of the situation, the way that the three monsters were covering their ears and eyes - or the corresponding body parts - would be overwhelmingly adorable. s, the most overwhelming part was indisputably Kopia''s monstrous look and her undeserved hostility towards the elves. "Master will be gone for a while and you leveled up the iron will skill as he asked you to. With that, the preparations areplete. You are to return to the Prides mansion and remain there until further notice. The elves can visit but not too often. You are free to exchange letters as much as you want. There will be no discussion about rescuing master until you will be an adult. You will be under my surveince at all times so further restrictions or removing of such can happen at any time." Kopia sounded as if she was reciting a text that she memorized and wasn''t really sure what it all means - it was almost certain that whatever was happening wasn''t her own idea but rather someone had instructed her to do it all. ...though, all in all, her face did not look like she was upset about any of her actions. "Do you understand?" Kopia asked tilting her face - yes, only the face as the rest of her body was all threads that weren''t keeping one coherent form at the moment. "Wha...?! Do I understand?! Of course, I don''t! There''s no way that I will agree to such outrageous demand! Who do you even think you are?! I''m your master''s wife! Release my family, right now!" Cranberry stomped her foot and waved her hand in a domineering way. "...maybe I''m doing this wrong...? But she said that it would work... oh well..." Kopia murmured to herself as her face momentarily showed signs of anxiety. "Kopia, I don''t know what got into you, but I demand you to get back to normal, or I will fight you even if you are Zombie''s favorite weapon!" *SWOOSH* Seeing her chance the red-haired girl shook her head and shouted angrily, but in response to that, more ded crimson threads fell down from the above and stopped right above the heads of the elven vigers. "Te-he~! Yes, I am~!" Kopia giggled yfully as if she wasn''t very clearly ordered about threatening to kill all the elves that she took hostage. "But you need to answer my question you know? I don''t care about what you think, I asked if you understand, understand? This isn''t a demand, I am telling you what will happen." Kopia closed her eyes and made her face move up and down, simting nodding. "...and if I don''t want what you say to happen?" Cranberry gritted her teeth and growled, ring furiously at the sentient weapon. "I was told to start killing all the elves until you will promise toply~" "HAAAA?!" Kopia revealed without even batting an eye. "Mhmm! The elves can''t win against me - master gave me the sword made of the sacred tree that was grown with the power of the elves, so I can negate all of their powers." Kopia said without any hesitation, causing even more confusion. "But I hope that you will understand your role fast, master likes killing too and I don''t want to make him sad by killing without him." She added sounding genuinely concerned about something so ridiculous. "...who made you do this...?" Cranberry nced at her mom and dad both looking at her and motioning at her to not agree or to flee the vige, living them behind, before she asked. "Another me... though... I guess now it''s already another you - there was something wrong with her from the very beginning after all. You must have hatched and taken over." Kopia made it so her face tilted and moved to simte shrugging her shoulders before giving out a ridiculous answer. "Ha...?" Cranberry gasped in disbelief, furrowing her brows at the cryptic response she received. ...but as she did so, the ck des all dropped a little bit lower, getting closer and closer to the face of every elf... ...it looked like Kopia didn''t quite understand the instructions that she was given by the mysterious person, because instead of starting killing the hostages one by one, she was about to start killing them all at the same time, but slowly. "Alright! I''m asking again - do you understand how things will be from now on?" Kopia asked all happily. "..." Cranberry clenched her hands so hard that her fingernails punctured the skin of her palms and the blood started dripping on the ground. She nced at her parents, Mirabelle and Olive - who despite the des almost piercing the skin on their foreheads were more concerned about her. "...erstand..." The red-haired girl lowered her head and muttered. "Hmm...?" Kopia blinked and tilted her face the other way. "I said, that I understand. Now, release them." Cranberry spoke up loud and clear, and demanded, ring down at the sentient weapon. Chapter 447: Prolog: The griffin (1)

Chapter 447: Prolog: The griffin (1)

"HIYAAH!" *SHING* The blond-haired fourteen-year-old boy shouted, swinging his greatsword ¨C the massive weapon which de, shining with white light, alone was longer than his entire height ¨C and as he was falling down to the ground he cut right through the wing of arge griffin. "SKREEEEE!" The beast cried out in pain and confusion as the attack came from above and the griffins were supposed to be the rulers of the skies and were always looking for prey down below and not for the dangering from above. That''s why this beast had to pay for theck of attention while it was diving towards a wounded ck wolf with orange luster to its fur... *WHAM* The griffin mmed against the ground with so much power that it would bepletely reasonable to assume that it either broke its neck or literally every other bone in its body. "Whew...! That was incredible! Yo! Mary, did you see that?! Am I good or what?" The boynded surprisingly light on his feet and waved towards the shrubs in which the rest of his party was lying in wait. "Pffft... seriously, what a cute dork... Yes, yes, my prince ¨C you were amazing!" A short brown-haired girl, who was the same age as the blond boy but would be mistaken for a much younger kid if not for the size of her chest, snorted and cleared her throat before getting out of the hiding spot and smiling at the boy puffing out his chest from pride. "Arion, thank you for acting as bait." The brown-haired girl smiled at the ck wolf ¨C who was no longer limping in circles but instead approached the pair while wagging his tail. "Alright! There was no message, so the dumb turkey must be still alive ¨C who wants to deal the final blo..." "SKREEEEEEEE!" As the blond boy was counting his chickens before they hatched, the so-called dumb turkey that was supposed to be barely alive, stood up on its hind legs and let out a deafening screech while its talons long as kitchen knives shone with pure white light mere inches away from the boy''s head. There was no time to even scream ¨C the brown-haired girl reached out towards the blond boy to pull him away while the boy himself was trying to use his enormous sword to block the oing attack, all while the ck wolf was jumping at the griffin from the side. ...but all of them were far too slow... ..because a mysterious ck cloud had already fully formed above the one-winged monster''s feathery head and before the griffin ould unleash its attack... *BOOOM* Blinding lighting followed by the powerful thunder struck the beast''s head, blowing it apart into a bloody mess while sending bolts of electricity through the monster''s body, sending it right down to the ground to convulse as the paralyzed status activated even though the monster was undisputably dead by that point. /Mid-level monster defeated Your party receives EXP A message showed up for everyone, confirming the kill. "Haa... Seriously ¨C how long have we been through it already?" Thest member of the group showed up ¨C a red-haired girl holding a ck baseball bat in the reverse grip so that the magic crystal at its end would be pointing at the enemy. "Roan, it''s good to have confidence, but don''t start boasting before you are sure that your opponent is dead." The red-haired girl sighed and shook her head. "WHAT...?! I CAN''T HEAR ANYTHING!" "!!!" But the response from the blond boy took her aback by surprise as the young prince shouted while holding onto his right, bleeding, ear. "Whoops..." The red-haired girl gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. "...uuugh... Cran-Cranberry... Thanks for the save..." Simrly, the brown-haired girl was shaking her head trying to get rid of the ringing in her ears. "...nnnnn...." Still, the most pitiful one by far was the four-legged member of the party who had the best ears ¨C the ck wolf was straight up knocked out and was whimpering while unconscious. "...ah... right, healing first!" With a slight blush of embarrassment, the red-haired girl approached the rest and raised her hand that started glowing with a soft whitish light that enveloped the other three. After a few minutes or so, they were somehow brought back to normal condition. "Cranberry! What was that supposed to be?! You wanted to make us all go deaf?!" The blond boyined while wiping off the remaining blood that managed to flow down his face before the healing skill closed the wound. "Ha?! What, are you telling me that you would prefer being beheaded by the griffin?! I told you so many times that in a real fight you can''t stop every five seconds to pose and say something cool, you idiot prince!" "I...! I... thought that it was dead..." The blond boy, Roan, the first prince of the kingdom of Fruit Sd, straightened his back and was about to argue back ¨C but as he met the worried look of Mary''s eyes, his need to fight with the red-haired girl evaporated. "Haa. Yeah, I know. That''s the problem!" The red-haired girl rolled her eyes and sighed. "It''s my fault too, Cranberry, I also didn''t realize that the griffin was still dangerous..." But as she was about to continue the scolding, the brown-haired girl bowed her head and hit her with the honest apology from the side. "...!" That made the red-haired girl close her mouth and look down. "...fine... I should have used another skill but I also kind of panicked and used the first one I could think off... sorry." Cranberry''s shoulders slumped down and she breathed out before apologizing herself! "Ah! N-no, You don''t have to say that! If you didn''t react so fast both of us could get seriously wounded!" Mary gasped and started waving her hands while shaking her head in panic. "Well... I guess we both need more training ¨C it''s not like we''re as cool as Zombie was..." Roan scratched his cheek awkwardly, ncing shyly at Cranberry. "Yeah... My Zombie would just..." Hearing his words the red-haired girl flinched and looked away while lowering her head. "...my prince...!" The wide-eyed Mary sucked up the air and nudged the blond boy to the side in a quiet scolding. "Ah! I-I mean...! Hey, the griffin''s nest should be nearby ¨C they are always two or more, right? We can''t leave it alive or the nearby viges will be the target of the remaining one''s revenge!" Roan hurriedly changed the subject, trying to sound as if he did not notice the Cranberry biting her lips and clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...that''s right..." And as it turned out, he used the right argument. Cranberry hurriedly wiped her eyes and stood up. "We need to get the other one. Finding the nest is the right decision, good call." She nodded without looking at the other two. "What about the corpse of this one...?" Mary, half ying along to Cranberry, nced between her wolf and the corpse. "..." "..." That made both Roan and Cranberry look at each other and sigh in unison ¨C it looked like this time also they won''t have anything to show off after their training... "Arion will have to eat it, I guess." "Exactly." The blond boy shrugged his shoulders and smirked while the red-haired girl nodded as if they had a lot of practice in acting as if their decision had nothing to do with the fidgeting brown-haired girl. "Ah! Can he?! Thank you! Arion, go on!" The surprisingly naive girl gasped happily and motioned at her wolf with a bright smile, while the other two shrugged at each other while smiling softly. Chapter 448: Prolog: The griffin (2)

Chapter 448: Prolog: The griffin (2)

*crunch* *munch* *munch* "...haaa..." As the ck wolf was snacking on the headless corpse of the massive griffin, Cranberry was standing by him, carefully observing the corpse. "Arion, sorry to disturb your meal, but could you wait a bit." "Raor...?" In the end, she tapped his back and asked, causing the wolf to look back at her and tilt his head in confusion. "Mary, Roan, could you bothe here for a bit?" The red-haired girl took his growl as confirmation and waved at the other two. "Eh...? But, I thought that we were in a hurry...?" Mary asked surprised, but even so, she was already trotting towards the corpse ¨C and Roan joined her without voicing any concerns. "This is quite a big griffin, right...? Or it should be ¨C look how it looks now that it''s dead." Cranberry crouched by the dead monster and patted its feathers ¨C her hand sunk in quite deep and when she lifted it up, the thing she was hinting at became clear. "...huh...? Isn''t this one really skinny? Like, way more than the ones we slew before...?" The blond prince furrowed his brows and crouched by cranberry, making sure for himself. "No way! What''s this supposed to be ¨C if you take away the feathers it''s all skin and bones...!" He gasped in shock. "Exactly ¨C this one should be at least three or even four times more muscr... It looks like it was extremely starved... haa..." Cranberry nodded, furrowing her brows and sighing in concern at the mystery. "Eh...? What do you mean? Are you saying that somebody came up with the same idea as you and caught it and tried to starve it to force it into bing their familiar...?" Mary gasped looking at Cranberry with fearful eyes. "HA?! Excuse me?! When did Ie up with something like that?!" Mary''s words caused the red-haired girl to jolt up and red back at her in anger mixed with disbelief. "Eh...? B-but you said that maybe I, as a tamer, could entice the griffin with food... Didn''t you mean...?" The brown-haired girl cowered and backed off in embarrassment. "I meant it like entice it with some really good food that it could not get in the wild, like cooked dishes! Griffins are very intelligent so they should realize that it''s better to stay with a cook rather than risk attacking viges whenever they want to taste the cooked food again! Why would I suggest starving them?! There''s no doubt that my Zombie would hate me if he learned about something so horrible!" Cranberry shouted furiously, getting red from anger. "Ah...! I-I''m sorry! I just...! I just know that while you are hungry... ah... I''m sorry...!" Mary''s chin shook and she started bowing her head repeatedly. "...haa..." That somewhat appeased Cranberry''s anger, as the girl breathed out and closed her eyes. "Let''s get back to our griffin, alright...?" Roan looked between the two girls and asked slowly. "I don''t think that someone starved this one. And not just because I think that it would be an awful thing to do." Cranberry crossed her arms and dered. "Oh...?" Roan raised his brows and looked at her, curiously. "Actually, I don''t think that this griffin has a partner ¨C at least not anymore." She added motioning at the monster''s corpse with her chin. "If we consider the season and all... You see, griffins are simr to birds when ites to nesting and having young." The red-haired girl unfolded her arms and started gesturing while talking. "Theyy eggs, and usually one of the parents goes looking for food while the other one stays behind and warms the eggs. They are very organized while doing so, going as far as shifting the role once every few days." She exined getting more energetic with each word as if talking about the little details like that was making her very happy. "Alright... but then what about his one...?" Roan nodded but then shrugged his shoulders and raised his brow questioningly. "The griffins are known to have strong familial bonds ¨C although they are very territorial creatures, they never fight with each other if they are rted and stuff like that. They are also extremely protective over their eggs." Cranberry turned to him and continued. "With that in mind, I think that this one''s partner didn''t return to their nest, and since this one didn''t want to leave the egg, they stayed behind so long until the hunger forced them to search for food. And since we saw it flying really low, I am sure that the nest is somewhere nearby because this one wanted to just hunt down anything and return to the egg before it will get cold and the chick inside would die." "..." After hearing that, everyone felt bad ¨C even Arion, who was about to take another bite of the corpse, closed his jaws and backed away with his tail slumped down. "It is sad, but we can''t turn back the time ¨C but, as mean as it sounds -can use the opportunity!" "Opportunity...?!" Cranberry clenched her fists and turned to the confused Mary. "Griffins are just like birds and birds imprint on the first creature they see after they hatch! Mary, if we will be fast enough and get to the eggs before it''s toote, we might be able to make you one of the very few people who managed to tame a griffin!" The red-haired girl approached the brown-haired one and grabbed her hands. "!!!!!!" Once the meaning of Cranberry''s words fully reached Mary, her eyes widened and filled with excitement. "Arion! Arion! You have a tracking skill, don''t you! Hurry! We need to find the nest as soon as possible!" The brown-haired girl grabbed back on Cranberry''s hands and leaned to the side tomand her familiar. "Raor...?" Though the ck wolf seemed unsure, still ncing at the corpse of the adult griffin with a bit of sadness. "We will save the baby chicks!" "...!" Mary added and that seemed to convince the wolf as he perked up and the next moment his nose started glowing with white light. "Raor!" He ended up barking confidently and ran off slightly to the east of the direction the adult griffin originally came from. "He already picked out the trail?! Cranberry, I think you were right about the nest is near!" Mary jumped up excitedly and both girls started chasing after the wolf... "W-wait for me!" ...followed by the blond prince who had to carry a massive sword bigger than himself. Chapter 449: Prolog: The griffin (3)

Chapter 449: Prolog: The griffin (3)

Cranberry, Mary, and Roan followed Arion for a while going through the forest until they reached a particrly overgrown thicket until the ck wolf suddenly stopped and tensed up while sticking his head through the brushes. "What is it, Arion?" As they all stopped behind Mary''s familiar, and the brown-haired girl herself asked him in a tense voice. "Raor..." The wolf growled back quietly without trying to look back at his master. "That''s good, then, right, let''s go...!" "Raor!" "Eh...?!" Mary perked up and tried to walk by Arion but the ck wolf growled a bit louder and in a very harsh manner, making the brown-haired girl flinch and tense up. "What is it about?" Cranberry exchanged surprised looks with Roan and asked the brown-haired girl. "We found the nest ¨C but Arion says it might be toote for imprinting." Mary turned around to her friends and exined with concern. "Toote for imprinting - what does that suppose to... ah..!" Roan shook his head before he gasped in a morbid realization. "...you don''t mean that the chicks hatched but they... ate each other...?" The blond prince became pale and asked in a hushed voice. "...we need to check... be careful whatever it may be ¨C be ready to attack just in case." Cranberry instructed the other two, changing the grip on her baseball bat so that it would be a scepter and already activating a skill to be used at any moment. With that, the trio all slowly approached the brush and peeked leaned in to peek at what was on the other side... "!!!!!" What they saw, was arge nest with a mostly rotten corpse of an adult griffin leaning against an edge of a cliff.... and a lone griffin chick covered in soft yellow baby-feathers... slick with blood. "...scree..." The little cheek screeched pitifully while looking down at the bloody corpses of five other cheeks, and limped out of the nest. The chick''s little talons werepletely dyed red, with yellow feathers sticking all over them, and its tiny wings were hanging limply on both sides of its bloodied body, all scratched and mangled. The only part of the little griffin that wasn''t bloody, was its beak. "...horrible...!" Mary gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. "...look''s like the young monsters had a deathmatch in the absence of their parent..." Roan gritted his teeth and looked away. "Yeah, and the one who didn''t try to eat the others won ¨C what the fuck are you waiting for, Mary?! Go to them!" Cranberry frowned furiously at the act of the other two and put her hand on Mary''s shoulder. "...eh...?" The brown-haired girl looked at her in disbelief and furrowed her brows. "The imprinting might be a bust, but you still might try to tame it normally ¨C here." The red-haired girl said calmly while pushing a fistful of dried meat from their rations into Mary''s hands. "It''s either the most bloodthirsty chick you can find or the one with the strongest survival instinct ¨C depending on which one of them started the fight. Either way, it would make a great familiar. GO!" Cranberry looked Mary straight in the eyes before pushing her out towards the baby griffin limping away. "...scree..." The young monster didn''t even look scared at the sight of a human suddenly appearing ¨C it only let out a very sigh-like screech and lowered its head in resignation, before sitting heavily on the ground. "...scree...?" While sitting on its but like a feathered dog ¨C and coincidentally, it was the exact size of a medium-sized dog ¨C it looked up at the brown-haired girl and screeched proudly like a general fallen in battle mocking their opponent why they hesitate with the final blow. "H-hello..." Mary stood up slightly and made eye contact with the little monster. "I don''t know if you can understand me properly, but... do you want some...?" The brown-haired girl did her best to smile, took a single jerky, and reached it towards the young griffin. "...!" At first, there was no reaction as the little monster had no idea what was offered to it, but fortunately, a light breeze managed to pass through the thicket and the smell reached it ¨C causing the baby griffin to flinch as its eyes widened when it smelled the tasty food. "It''s alright. Do you want it...?" Mary beckoned it, and the monster looked very interested ¨C but as it tried to stand up, it turned out that it''s unable to... The little griffin didn''t sit because it was trying to show off, it was simply too weak to continue limping away. "..." Mary bit her lips beforeing to the very simple conclusion... "...alright... Don''t worry, I''m only going to give you this food ¨C I''m not going to harm you." She said doing her best to make her voice sound as calming as possible and started inching closer. After a few surprisingly long seconds, once the dried meat was finally within its reach... *tap* "!!!" Instead of hungrily pecking it out of Mary''s hand ¨C as the brown-haired girl fully expected ¨C the little griffin gently grabbed the jerky with its beak... *munch* ...and started eating while Mary was still holding on to it. "...h-hey... listen... I''m something called a tamer ¨C I can befriend monsters and we live and fight together... maybe... umm... do, do you want to be my tamed monster, a familiar?" The brown-haired girl asked timidly. "...scree..." The little griffin looked at her and screeched calmly. "...?" Mary closed her mouth and blinked in confusion. "Scree." The monster looked at her and screeched a little louder. "Ah! S-sorry, I just didn''t expect you to just... alright!" She closed her eyes and her body began glowing white ¨C the same white light enveloped the wounded baby griffin and it closed its eyes too. *munch* After a few heartbeats, the white light faded, and the griffin returned to politely snacking on the dried meat as if nothing changed. "...ary... Mary! How did it go....?" Hearing a whisper, Mary turned around to see heads of Roan, Arion, And Cranberry sticking out between the thin branches. "He agreed! Cranberry, please, heal him! I don''t want him to suffer through mend!" The brown-haired girl cried out both happy and extremely worried and called out for her friend. Chapter 450: Prolog: The griffin (4)

Chapter 450: Prolog: The griffin (4)

"Umm... I''m notining, but didn''t you two say that taming a griffin was next to impossible? You know, before we started hunting them?" The blond prince asked the red-haired and the brown-haired girls, staring rather obviously at the yellow baby griffin munching happily on the dried meat while snuggled in-between Arion and Mary. "Raor." The ck wolf squinted his eyes at the prince and growled, before leaning down and nuzzling against the top of the healed chick''s head. "Arion...! You can''t speak like that to the prince!" ...which prompted Mary to gasp in disbelief and pout at her first familiar. "Wha...? What did he say about me!?" Roan raised his brows before furrowing them and ring down at the wolf watching protectively over the little griffin. "Haa... Hey, Roan, why won''t you help me with this mess ¨C it looks like the dead grif..." Cranberry standing by the bloody mess in the nest sighed and called out to the blond prince before she nced at the baby griffin and hesitated. "...it looks like the bones are covering a tunnel of some sort. Help me bury the remains and we will check what is it about." She ended up saying and beckoned the boy before he got his answer ¨C though it certainly didn''t look like Mary was willing to reveal what name Arion used to describe the first prince of the kingdom... "Sure." Funnily enough, judging by his response, Roan wasn''t actually that keen on learning that either, as he didn''t even try to argue back and approached the red-haired girl. "What a mess..." Roan sighed looking at the bloody oue of the sibling war that they didn''t witness. "Well, what I can say for sure is that every dead chick here has pieces of feathers and even meat in their beaks, so it really looks like they all tried to eat each other." Cranberry reported while leaning down and inspecting the messed-up nest. "Then, you are saying that what Mary told us that the griffin told her is the truth?" Roan raised his brow and asked for confirmation. "I suppose so... I don''t expect that a chick so small to even understand the concept of lying." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and nodded. "How about shame ¨C you said that griffins are very proud and protective towards their family ¨C maybe this one is so ashamed that he killed his siblings that he made up the story about them starting fighting first?" The blond boy pointed out. "..." Cranberry furrowed her brows in consideration before looking over her shoulder straight at the young prince. "You are making a valid point ¨C but why does it sound like you are just jealous because Mary''s attention will be taken away from you because of the chick?" "Gah...!" She asked and Roan groaned as he almost tripped and fall face-first into the rotting corpse of the adult griffin. "Let''s change the subject, okay?" He blushed heavily and used a handkerchief as a face mask to protect himself from the smell before he began moving the dposing monster towards the hole that Cranberry created with magic right after she finished healing the tamed baby griffin. "Uwaah... Poor thing ¨C look, then it must have crashednded and broke all its ribs or something..." He mutter, motioning at the shattered bones with jagged edges sticking out from the ces that they had no right to stick out from. "Not bad observation, though I think that it was already messed up before itnded." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders while moving back and forth the nest moving the tiny monster corpses to the hole one by one. "Fighting off a threat?" Roan nced at her curiously. "That or hunting went wrong ¨C the griffins are one of the proudest monsters but that also means that they sometimes overestimate themselves. Despite their size ¨C or maybe because of their size ¨C their bones are much more brittle than those of thend-only beasts ¨C I imagine that a well aimed or just lucky headbutt from an upper low-level horned monster would be enough to cave in a griffin''s ribcage like this." Cranberry added while using water magic to wash off her hands from the half-dried blood. "Come here too." She added, seeing that Roan was just about done with the remains and the only thing left to do was for her to cover the hole with earth magic. "I''ll wait a bit with that ¨C I want to check that tunnel you mentioned before." Roan raised his hand and shook his head in refusal before approaching the wall and leaning down. "Suit yourself." Cranberry shrugged dismissively while moving the soil and stones to create a grave when... *tap* *tap* ...she heard something simr to a muffled knockinging from behind. *tap* "...?" She furrowed her brows and looked back, but the nest shielded by the cliff and thicket there, with no traces of anything that could make such peculiar sound. "..." A little bit concerned that it might be a sound of a monster lying in wait to ambush them, the red-haired girl activated her detection+ [hearing] skill and... *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* "!!!" She flinched as the sound that she expected to being from far away or at least a moderate distance turned out to be something origination a few steps away ¨C which ended up as the tapping sounds turning into defining thunders for the girl''s enhanced ears. *bu-dum* *bu-dum* *bu-dum* *creak* *creak* "SK...! SKWEEEE!" "!!!!!!!!!" But then, she heard something else ¨C the sound of a heartbeat and the sound of tiny talons scratching against something hard, followed by a desperate distorted screech, muffled, but clear. "Umm..." Cranberry looked towards the baby griffin, but the yellow chick was pampered by the wolf and the tamer alike, so she looked at the blond prince, but he seemed to bepletely smitten by the hole in the cliff that ended up being just an empty burrow of a frenzy rabbit. "..." Since she was done with the undertaker side-job she walked towards the nest, guided by the heartbeat, scratching sounds and screeching and... "...ha..." ...just as she expected, she found an unhatched griffin egg that somehow managed to get buried under all the nest''sponents... or maybe the adult griffin that their party killed before was the one to do that to keep the egg warm...? "Mary! There''s another one alive here!" The red-haired girl straightened her back and called out. "Mhmm... Eh... EH?! THERE IS WHAT?!" Mary nodded not really paying attention before she suddenly realized what she was told and gasped in disbelief. *WHAM* "URGH...! W-weren''t all the other''s dead...?!" Roan mmed his head against the ceiling of the small tunnel as he jolted up, and asked while massaging the sore spot. "Yeah, the ones that hatched early... but this one is still..." *crack* Cranberry nodded, standing over the egg while looking at the prince massaging his head with a pained expression. "...unhatched..." She finished her sentence and looked back down... "Skwee!" ...meeting the gaze of trusting, clear eyes of a freshly hatched baby griffin, screeching happily at the sight of a first living creature it ever saw. /Newborn griffin requests to be your familiar /You have 1 registered familiar /You have 1 spot open /Do you agree for the newborn griffin to be your familiar? Yes/No "Uh-oh...." The red-haired girl gasped, staring at the message that popped up in front of her eyes. Chapter 451: Prolog: The griffin(s) (5)

Chapter 451: Prolog: The griffin(s) (5)

"Ah! There really is one ¨C it hatched already though!" Roan approached the disoriented Cranberry and gasped looking at the second baby griffin ¨C this one still slightly wet after just breaking out of its shell. "No way! So it didn''t hatch with the rest? It''s so lucky!" Mary left her griffin with the ck wolf and ran up to the pair and looked at the baby chick stumbling as it was freeing itself rather awkwardly, mainly because it did not look away from the bbergasted Cranberry even for a fraction of a second. "Eh...? EH...?! Could it be?! Cranberry, it imprinted on you?!" Mary gasped excitedly, grabbing onto the red-haired girl''s arm and shaking it. "...umm... even beyond that... it just... asked me to be my second familiar...?" "Skwee!" Cranberry moved her head to look at Mary, and raised her hand, pointing her trembling finger down at the joyfully screeching chick that managed to stumble its way out of the half-buried shell and was now nuzzling against the red-haired girl''s leg. "F-familiar...? It requested that?!" Mary gasped wide-eyed. "A system message popped up for me, so I guess yes...?" /You epted the request /Newborn griffin had been registered as your second familiar /Pick a name for your new familiar "...ha...? HA?! Wait! Hold on! You dumb system, this wasn''t an eptance!" Cranberry gasped and trembled when the system casually handpicked two keywords from the sentence that she just spoke and used them as a confirmation not taking the girl''s will under any consideration. "Haha... haa... Under the risk of sounding like an asshole... Weren''t you the one who told us to watch for what we say once a system will send us a message with a choice...?" Roan snorted and looked away, only to peek at the red-haired girl''s reaction with the corner of his eyes. "I... wha... I... Why is a newborn cheek requesting to be my familiar?! How does it even know what a familiar is?!" Cranberry was so taken aback by the whole situation that she didn''t even get mad at the blond prince poking fun at her. "Didn''t we read about it the other day, though? When a monster is particrly fond of a human, it can very rarely subconsciously request to be tamed ¨C through a yer character is required to have the right ss or title to be able to ept it." Mary stroked her chin and furrowed her brows trying to recall the information. "...ah...! It was in Tomato Lust''s book, wasn''t it?" Cranberry''s eyes widened and she remembered it so clearly that she even managed to recall the book''s author. "Yes! Exactly!" The brown-haired girl nodded vigorously, though that did not really calm down the red-haired girl. "...haa..." Cranberry breathed out rather heavily and leaned down, gently picking the small griffin with ease, and raised it up. "Skwee!" The yellow chick pped its wings and screeched happily. "Why does it sound different than the other one?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and nced at the Mary. "Well..." The tamer girl tilted her head and looked down, squinting her eyes ¨C then, soon enough, she crouched and picked up two pieces of two different eggshells, and looked at themparing one to the other. "I think that it might have messed up its beak trying to break through... her egg looks so much thickerpared to all the other ones." Mary raised up and approached Cranberry and the happily screeching baby cheek and showed off the egg pieces in her hands. Indeed, one had a thickness of a silver coin, while the other one was nearly half of an inch...! "I see... If I remember correctly when something like that happens, the parent griffin helps the chick to get out, but his one had to do it all on its own." The red-haired girl nodded with a serious expression. "...that''s why this one didn''t hatch with the other, and also wasn''t killed during the infighting ¨C this worked like an armor!" Roan ¨C carefully touching the growing bump on his head ¨C pointed out while looking between the two samples. "You heard that? You''re lucky and strong." "Skwee!" Cranberry looked back at the excited cheek who by that point misunderstood the elevation provided by the red-haired girl as its very first flying lesson, and was giving its best pping its wings. "Ha. I got myself another familiar..." Cranberry raised her brows and breathed out with concern. "But I do not understand what it''s saying... Say, Mary, go you know how do I get the skill that would let memunicate with a non-human familiar?" She asked the brown-haired girl without looking away from the baby enthusiastic baby griffin. "I... don''t know... Such a thing is a passive ability for a tamer ss ¨C the higher my bond with a monster is the more I understand it..." Mary answered with concern suggesting that there was no such skill. "Haa... the telepathy I learned to call for Baron works only one way..." Cranberry nodded with a concerned expression, but that didn''t stop her from trying it out anyway, and tight after she closed her mouth, her eyes started glowing with a pale blue light. "(Hello, little birdie.)" "...skwee...?" The red-haired girl focused on sending forth her thoughts and the yellow chick flinched, clearly hearing the voice in its head. "Skwee!" Then it bounced in its new master''s hands and screeched all hyped-up. "Whoa...! Hold up you little ra...!" /Connection established "Skwee! (Mommy!) Skwee! (I hear you in my head, mommy!)" Cranberry was struggling to keep on to the bouncing griffin without crushing it so she called out to it, but the said call was interrupted by a peculiar system message followed instantly by the happy screech of the little monster ¨C which was instantly tranted in Cranberry''s head!" "Wha...?! She called me mommy!" Cranberry''s eye''s widened as she looked around in disbelief, ncing at both Mary and Roan. "Skwee! (Mommy!) Skwee! (Mommy, I''m hungry!)" The little griffin screeched, pping its tiny wings and waving its legs. "Well, what is it saying...?" Roan asked staring curiously at the red-haired girl and her new familiar. "Well. It called me mommy again and said it''s hungry, so it definitely imprinted on me... Haa..." Cranberry reported with a rather awkward expression, before tilting her head to the side and raising the griffin slightly higher. "Skwee? (High?) Skwee? (We''re flying?) Skwee! (I''ll do my best!)" The baby monster screeched all worked up and started vigorously pping its wings again ¨C before Cranberry lowered it and gently pressed it against her chest. "Skwee? (Mommy, we aren''t flying...?) Skwee... (I''m hungry...)" The yellow chick screeched slightly disappointed and stopped trying to fly away on the wings that had no right to support its weight at this stage of growth. "Mary, guess what. Your griffin has a little sister." Cranberry turned to the brown-haired girl and smirked while hugging the young yellow-feathered monster. Chapter 452: Prolog: The griffin (6)

Chapter 452: Prolog: The griffin (6)

"Ah, a baby girl! What will you name her?" Marry blushed and asked all excited. "I''m thinking of naming mine griffin either Anry or Roma!" She added, blushing slightly harder while ncing at the blond prince on the other side of Cranberry. "Pfft... Barely inconspicuous enough but it will do, I suppose." "...?" Cranberry instantly figured out her friend''s naming sense and snorted, while Roan furrowed his brows, pouting at the male griffin just about to finish the dried meat under the watchful gaze of the ck wolf. "...I don''t have anything right now, but first things first, my little girl is hungry..." The red-haired girl changed the subject seeing that continuing the teasing will only result in Mary getting more and more pink from embarrassment, and looked back at the male chick just as Roan, though she wasn''t looking at him with jealousy, but rather concern. "The young griffins'' diet should consist of meat as they are unable to digest nts until they are at least five years old... and yours is finishing all that we had on us..." She murmured, falling deep in thoughts for a second or two. "How about we call it a day? What do you two think?" She raised her head and asked the brown-haired girl and the blond-haired boy. "I... If that''s okay with you all, I would prefer to not continue the hunt with the little ones... it might be too dangerous for them." Mary shook her head and put on her serious face, pressing her hands to her chest. "Mary''s right ¨C those two might have be your familiars, but they are literal babies. Let''s get back." Roan agreed, waving his hands dismissively. "Good. And there should be an additional ration or two in Baron''s bags..." Cranberry nodded with satisfaction, before looking up at the sky barely visible from between the branches of the surrounding trees, and her eyes shone white. "(Baron! Can youe to pick us up?)" "Skwee? (Mommy, what are you doing?)" Cranberry sent out a directed telepathic message and lowered her head to look at the curious griffin calmly enjoying being hugged. "I''m calling for one of the subjects of my husband." The red-haired girl exined while holding the baby monster with one hand while using the other one to gently pet the soft feathers on her head that managed to dry up and were overwhelmingly fluffy and amazing to touch. "...ah, so that''s why Arion is nuzzling against that one..." Cranberry nodded to herself while using thinking how good it would feel to burrow her face in the soft yellow feathers when... *CRUSH* "KYAAAH!" A red shape fell from the sky straight down, breaking the branches and even entire trees in its wake,pletely destroying the barrier of brushes and other vegetation the griffin''s nest originally had, not that there was much need for it now, though ¨C and caused Mary to let out a surprised high-pitched scream and leaped all the way behind Roan, bypassing Cranberry altogether. "(I''m here. Can we leave already? I can''t stand the griffin''s stench.)" A reptile monster the size of a luxurious carriage, covered with crimson red scales, raised his head baring his fangs in discontent before unfolding and folding back his wings impatiently. "That''s right, dragons don''t like griffins, right?" Cranberry looked over her shoulder to face the red dragon of ruin, without fully turning around, and asked although she knew the answer. "(Griffins are annoying, they think that they can do whatever they want because very specific subspecies that they all have a chance to rank up to can measure up to dragons. I''d say they don''t know their ce, and they are a little bit too chewy for my taste.)" Baron scoffed, and his hot breath blew past the bloodied nest causing whatever was left of it to get blown apart, while he made sure to point out that he had no trouble hunting down the proud half-bird monsters. "Oh. What about young griffins?" Cranberry asked casually. "(...like... are you asking about how I rate them as a snack?)" Baron leaned back in confusion, ring down at the red-haired girl clearly hiding something from him. "No!" Cranberry frowned speaking harshly. "Tell me, do you dislike griffins enough to attack potentially friendly griffin chicks." She asked while leaning to the side, in a very conspicuous way, prompting the dragon to look in that direction... "(What in the world is that supposed to be?!)" ...and re right at the utterly terrified male chick hiding underneath the ck wolf and shaking from fear at the mere sight of the red dragon ¨C well, considering that the little griffin probably never saw something so big as Baron was at least twice asrge as the adult griffin that Cranberry''s group killed earlier ¨C not to mention that as Baron already confirmed, dragons and griffins didn''t particrly like each other, it wasn''t a surprising reaction. "(Oh,e on! Weren''t you supposed to hunt them?! Did you forget how to kill things or something?!)" Baron growled furiously, angry at least to the same extent as the male griffin chick was scared. "Hey, don''t shout! You''re scaring him! You could use directed telepathy and the base one, you know?" The red-haired girl frowned and scolded the red dragon. "Besides, Mary is a tamer ¨C she had an opportunity to tame a griffin which is a very rare thing and she didn''t miss her chance." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and motioned at the brown-haired girl still hiding behind the blond prince ¨C although the four of them ¨C Arion included ¨C had traveled on Baron''s back many times up until that point, the red dragon was still quite a terrifying existence to them. ...and considering that it was a true dragon and not a drake was making it that much worse... "(You, huh... You''re lucky that Kopia instructed all of us to not mess with you.)" Baron scoffed towards the brown-haired girl who started trembling and looked back at the horrifying male chick. "RAOR!" Of course, his words did cause a reaction ¨C the ck wolf jumped up on all fours and roared furiously at the red dragon threatening his master. "(Rx. I said I won''t do anything to her, didn''t I?)" Baron shook his head and slowly walked towards the wolf and griffin. "Raor!" Causing Arion to growl at him with a warning. "(I told you to rx, if I wanted to kill him I would have already done it.)" Baron rolled his eyes and lowered his head just enough to sniff the general area above the two monsters. "(Pffft! Pathetic! He smells like a champion monster, but didn''t even flinch when I growled at his master. I sense no pride nor loyalty from him.)" The red dragon raised his head and walked back to the red-haired girl while cackling mockingly. "Mister Baron! Anry is still a baby!" Surprisingly enough the roles seemed to be reversed as the tamer jumped forward to protect the familiar, as Mary moved from behind Roan, clenching her fists. "(I thought that I was clear enough about my dislike for his species? He might be your familiar now, and I will carry it on my back, but I will not acknowledge cowards, no matter how old they are.)" Baron merely scoffed, not taking Mary''s words seriously. "Ha. So you''re saying that if there was a griffin that wasn''t scared of you, you would acknowledge it...?" Cranberry nced down at her chest and then looked back at the dragon. "(...I meant what I said...)" Baron responded slowly, squinting his eyes in suspicion. "Ha! That''s great, because, you see..." Cranberry''s face suddenly brightened up with a wild smile as she turned around and extended her hands forward, showing off the yellow griffin chick in her arms. "This is my second familiar! And, system, her name is Blueberry!" /Initiationplete Second familiar selected Name: Blueberry Race: Griffin The red-haired girl used the chance to both introduce the female chick and officially register it in the system. "Skwee! (Woooow!) (Skwee! (Mommy! Mommy!) Skwee?! (Who is this?!) Skweeee! (He looks so cool!)" Meanwhile, the little Blueberry started pping her wings and screeching excitedly, gazing up at the stunned red dragon with sparkling eyes,pletely forgetting that she was hungry. "Blueberry, this is Baron, he is your daddy''s subject, and he will be your bodyguard... He also has food." "Skwee?! (Really?!) Skwee! (Hurray!)" Cranberry said with a smile and put Blueberry down on the ground ¨C which made the baby griffin awkwardly sprint towards the speechless red dragon. "Skwee! (Baron, you are so cool!) Skwee! (I like you!)" Blueberry went as far as climbing on her hind legs and raising up to around Baron''s ankle''s height, which ended with her screeching all hyped-up. *gurururururu* Suddenly, a rather loud rumble came out of the tiny griffin''s stomach. "Skwee...? (Eh...?)" Blueberry screeched in confusion and looked down, surprised by the sound that her stomach made. "Skwee! (Ah!) Skwee! (Food!) Skwee! (Baron, give me food!)" Without even the slightest bit of fear, the baby griffin screeched and scratched against dragon scales with her tiny ws. "(...what...?)" Baron stared down at her and managed to let out a single word while shaking his head and blinking repeatably as if expecting the boisterous griffin chick to be an illusion that would disappear if he did that. "Zombie is your master, and I am his wife." Cranberry dered, smiling at the red dragon and raising her left hand, wiggling her ring finger with the ancient wedding ring. "And this girl is my daughter, so she''s Zombie''s daughter too. Be nice to her from now on ¨C now, get your butt down, I need to take out the spare rations." She exined and waved at the red dragon in a domineering way, pointing at custom-maderge bags for storing loot and monster parts right by the red monster''s hind legs. "(...what...?!)" Baron repeated, even more, taken aback than before. "Skwee...! (Baron, food...!)" While he did that, Blueberry screeched pitifully and scratched against his scales again. Chapter 453: In the dark space

Chapter 453: In the dark space

|Can we start trying to break out already? It has been long enough.| The violet orb levitating in an ocean of darkness sighed and asked a slightly smaller white orb nuzzling against it. |Not nearly enough. The global quest should originally start a few years after the night of the hungry wolves event ¨C this powerful system overseer bend the rules a lot to start it sooner ¨C also, that''s why the system reset was necessary ¨C to make all the necessary characters reach the appropriate age.| The white orb spun around its axis and dered. |So it wasn''t just you trying to patch things up the best you could, it was nned?| The violet orb asked for confirmation sounding rather surprised. |Ha? You asked a weird question, neither of the things you said invalidates the other ¨C it was something nned but it was nned in order to patch things up.| The white orb scoffed and exined. |...huh.... that makes sense, I guess....| The violet orb sounded as if it furrowed its brows and shrugged its shoulders ¨C that it certainly had neither of. |Oh, don''t be like that, chin up, Zombie! I promised you that everything will be fine and I always keep my word!| The white orb sounded as if it smirked, and nudged the violet one to the side. ...or front...? ...actually, maybe on the back... Either way, the violet orb has been nudged. |How can you promise something that you have no power over? There are so many problematic points ¨C the filth of an older sister of mine for example! She''s out there doing whatever the hell she wants!| The violet orb jolted up and trembled from the bottled-up anger. |Caramel? She does exactly what she is supposed to do, though?| The white orb sounded as if she furrowed her brows, looking at the violet one with concern. |Huh...?| The violet orb floated back in confusion and let out a surprised gasp. |Don''t huh me. Believe it or not but the reincarnated girl that you terrorized since early childhood actually chose to use the secret ending to her advantage since the road leading to it would keep you sealed for a few years. For example, right now she''s enjoying a peaceful sleep ¨C not like she could do that with you around. For now, she isn''t our problem.| The white orb pointed out indifferently, though she sounded like she was smirking quite a bit while saying all that. |...is that the reason why you always warned me from going too far but never outright banned me from paying her back?| The violet orb stopped floating back and asked, focusing on the white one. |That was the reason, yes.| The white orb bounced up and down and spun around diagonally. |I see.| The white orb sighed and started floating away as if it was going on a walk through the endless darkness ¨C and the white orb followed behind it without a moment of hesitation. |Just... keep an eye on the outside world and tell me if you notice something is off, alright? Since you can clearly see what is going on there.| The violet orb said absentmindedly while slowly floating towards the faraway differently colored orbs. |I wouldn''t say clearly. It''s more like a hunch, but I am pretty confident in it.| The white orb said dismissively while tailing the violet one through nothingness. The two orbs just drifted along for a bit in silence, but no matter what, the faraway orbs did not get any closer ¨C it was actually very usible that the violet and white orbs only thought that they are moving and never actually left their original spot, to begin with. |There''s still only one yellow one.| The violet orb pointed out at the lone yellow gleam that was definitely the closest one from all the other ones. |Yeah. That''s mostly because none of the Greeds is keen on getting the attention of the queen herself since she''s just as jealous as she is greedy. Funnily enough, she is waiting for her son to get the appropriate skills as she hopes for the crown to stay with her direct descendant.| The white orb exined. |Rtable. Besides, isn''t it appropriate to have the son of the royal couple take their ce on the throne?| The violet orb clearly got into a more chatty mood as it waited for the white one to get to his side and they continued floating together |Ha? But Roan isn''t the king''s child?| The white orb nced at the violet one and scoffed mockingly. |...is it another one of those things that you didn''t tell me, or...?| The violet orb sounded as if it frowned, very much pissed off, but managed to keep its cool. |Nnnn... Not really? This one is more of a ¨C We never talked about it so the subject never came up.| The white orb sounded as if she waved her hand dismissively and floated forward, leaving the violet one slightly behind. |Sure...| The violet orb certainly didn''t sound convinced but caught up to the white one and they continued floating anyway. |Who is the father then?| The violet orb asked indifferently just to keep the conversation going. |The third person capable of using the teleport spell in the kingdom. With how the events should y out we''ll surely meet him on our way out of the pce. It will be some time in the future, but I''ll tell you this now ¨C don''t try to take him out even if you''ll be able to. He will be a valuable asset for the future.| The white orb revealed and used the chance to warn the violet orb. |Though I bet he will be level 99 or better ¨C and depending on his skills, I might not be able to fight him as equal for quite a while, don''t you think?| The violet orb pointed out quite surprised because of the white orb''s choice of words. |Oh, you''re only saying that because this space is separated from the outside world and you can''t see the system messages showing up for you.| The white orbughed dismissively. |Cranberry from this ythrough worked hard to get a passive skill that sends you a portion of her experience and since you are doing literary nothing pinned to the treasury''s wall like an extravagant decoration, you managed to get the sloth-based skill, passive exp enhance and even rank it up to a tier two kept man skill. Congrattions. With how things are going ¨C and if my calctions are correct - you should gain the acedia skill right about the same time that you will be freed. You might be on for a surprise.| She added in an innocent voice. |...I would really prefer if you told me such things sooner... I still had to master any of the shield-based skills that I got since I didn''t really care for them before, thinking that I still have a lot of time on my hands... Could have used somebody''s guidance then, but someone was taking a vacation and would not respond no matter what.| The violet orb sighed heavily, sounding as if he was hanging his head down in defeat while delivering a quite well-aimedint. |Hey,? though that absence might have been my fault, it was not my idea nor wish, so don''t sass me like that, will you?| The white orb scoffed back defensively. |And what else is there to do besides teasing you?| The violet orbughed and bounced away to the side. Chapter 454: Backstory event that already started.

Chapter 454: Backstory event that already started.

Pear kes, a maid working in the Pride''s mansion was shimming through the darkness towards the wall behind the hedge surrounding the rose garden favored bydy Raspberry. She was sneaking out to meet with the stable boy, Loquat. Yes, the maid was having an affair during her work hours ¨C not quite an office romance, but rather a house-duty romance. It might have been night already but Pear was supposed to be doing the dishwashing duty in the kitchen since she lost the bet she made with the other maid, Fig, about youngdy Cranberry getting in trouble ¨C Pear bet that the red-haired girl will get scolded and punished for constantly sneaking out while the Fig said that nothing would be done. Pear, of course, lost ¨C but was ignoring her end of the deal, even though Fig strongly advised her to stay behind... ...was that girl on to Pear''s secret affair...? The maid sneaking around decided to warn Loquat about being affectionate around her... "...!" She cautiously checked her surroundings and almost had a heart attack when she saw that the light was still on indy Raspberry''s room but quickly sighed with relief realizing that no silhouette was standing there. She was still safe ¨C the sickdy of the house must have taken her medicine and forgot turning it off before the potion with a sleep side effect started working. Pear smirked to herself and hurried along the hedge. The luck was clearly on her side as the full moon showed up from behind the clouds and illuminated her way. The young woman could barely stop herself from humming - everything looked like their secret meeting would be a sess...! She trembled in anticipation thinking about Loquat''s strong arms that were going to embrace her in just a few short minutes...! After a little bit more walking, Pear arrived at the meeting spot ¨C and froze in terror. Right as she turned the corner, the nauseating smell of blood and fresh viscera hit her like a speeding carriage and her eyes widened in terror once sheid them on the bottom half of a human body lying limply right by the wall ¨C which bricks were stained in blood shining in the moonlight. "HHUUUURGHH...!" Just one look at the pile of steaming intestines caused the maid to dry heave as she blocked her mouth with one hand to stop the bile rising in her throat to pour outside as she stumbled back. "Ah...? Oh my, boys and girls... I think that we messed thisdy''s ns... Pineapple, you made her date lose his head and stole his heart." "...?" Pear, too focus on the corpse to watch her surrounding heard a low, mocking giggleing somewhere from above. "Umm.. yeah...? Together with most of his torso...?" Before she could even tear her eyes from the gore, another voice responded to the first one. "...that was a joke..." "...?!" The first one sighed in disappointment, and the maid finally looked up at...! The whole pack of humanoid wolves d in uniform armors as if they were all part of the same unit, was perched along the wall surrounding the mansion, salivating and staring hungrily at the trembling woman who suddenly starter regretting dearly that she did not listen to the advice of the other maid. "We-werewolves...?" She muttered. "Why.... House of Gluttony...?" Pear gasped feeling her legs turning into jello from the fear set in. "Why? We''re here to save our dear friend and his daughter, of course ¨C you trash filled with the watered-down blood of the Greed family!" Thergest, jet-ck werewolf growled and his jaws and throat shone with white light. *CHOMP* Before the maid could respond to that, the werewolf opened his mouth and a ck mass spilled from it, engulfing the woman beneath and ripping off her head in one go, only to be sucked back into the monster''s mouth. *crunch* *crunch* The werewolf slowly chewed the head. *gulp* And swallowed it with an almostical sound. "She might have been a rotten person, but she was quite a good staff..." The werewolf wiped his lips and smiled at another pun he made. "My siblings, if the rest of those bastards are on a simr level, I think we underestimated how low that fake witch dragged my big brother''s family." The werewolf that bit off Pear''s head, clearly the leader,ughed and stood up to look over the hedges of the rose garden, ring furiously at the light lit up in one of the rooms on the second floor. "The two weakest ones should stay here and finish these leftovers, the rest of us will proceed with the n ¨C do not harm the red-haired girl, understood?" He growled amand, losing all the lighthearted aura that was surrounding him a moment ago. "YES!" Every monster growled with approval. "Good. Let''s hope that our informant was right." The leader growled at the rest of their pack. "If only we would have learned that that witch is using her skill to mess with my brother''s will. So many years wasted...!" The leader werewolf shook their head with mncholy. "Boss, hey, boss!" One of the werewolves wagged their tail excitedly, unable to read the mood. "Those flowers smell so good, can I eat them?" The monster was staring at the garden in front of them and producing a lot more saliva than anyone around. "No. What are you, a pup? Your level of devour is still low, you will upset your stomach with the thorns." The leader sighed and shook their head, dismissing the idea. "Then I would only eat the..." "Enough, seriously, if the main force wasn''t busy searching for our young master together withdy Goji, I would have never agreed on taking you yellow-bellied recruits with me.." The flower-hungry werewolf was interrupted and shushed by the extremely annoyed leader. Thergest werewolf bared his teeth in a terrifying grin and waved his wed front paw in a domineering gesture. "You all know the smell. Devour everyone who doesn''t smell like a member of the Pride family! And keep howling to a bare minimum...." "YES!" He roared and the whole pack nodded and soundly jumped down the wall and charged towards the mansion. The two youngest ones, a gray one and a hazelnut-brown one, stayed behind by the corpses and started eating them using the devour skill. A ck mass would emerge from their mouths allowing them to bite off a lot more than they should physically be able to. The hazelnut one suddenly started shaking, his body shrunk, or maybe that was just how it looked without all the excess fur, and a young man showed up. "Lemon, others warned us to not recall the transformation on the enemy grounds..." The gray one shook their head before downing a whole leg. "I know...! It''s just..." The man that showed up got embarrassed and looked away, chewing on the torso and clothes of the victims. "I hate eating with wolf''s mouth, no cheeks..." He mumbled with his mouth full. "So creepy..." The gray werewolf sighed. "H-hey, do you know anything about the head''s search?" Lemon seemed desperate to change the subject. "Only that she really regrets her previous decision ¨C she banished her youngest kid because he had the curse of starvation, thinking that one of her older ones will inherit g ¨C but they all got killed one by one by an unknown assassin and the cursed kid is the only one left that fulfills the requirements." The gray one shrugged, munching on the ribcage. "Huh... is that so... Say, isn''t Sapotle too calm? Those are, well, were his own kids...?" Lemon grumbled while snacking on the fingers of the dead maid. "Are you nuts? Too calm? This whole operation takes ce because Sapotle wants to get ckberry''s help to find out the culprit and obliterate them until there''s nothing left. Why are you even asking about it, there''s a limit to being forgetful, you know?" The gray werewolf answered and then furrowed his brows in confusion. "Oh...? ...really...? umm... I..." Lemon nodded, suddenly swaying on his feet as if he got drunk. "What''s wrong?" The gray werewolf frowned and stared at hispanion in disbelief. "...nothing... just... suddenly... slee...py..." *thump* "...zzz..." The werewolf turned human suddenly slumped down and started snoring. "H-huh...?!" The gray werewolf stepped back and hurriedly looked around ¨C just in time to see a glow of a magic crystal and a pair of eyes shining from behind the other part of the hedge. "...we''ve been... noticed...?" *thump* "...zzz..." The gray werewolf slumped down just as hispanion and started snoring with his head against the wall. "Haa... it worked..." Cranberry breathed out and lowered her baseball-scepter trying to stay calm. "Well... Isn''t that a surprise..." Roan leaned over from behind her and whistled looking at the mostly eaten corpses and the two snoring members of the Gluttony family. "Cranberry... why did you put them to sleep, though...? It sounded as if they were on your side? You know, with how your parents are and all...?" Mary leaned over from Roan''s back and asked the red-haired girl while making a concerned face. "Don''t get me wrong, I am thankful towards the house of Gluttony for wanting to help the Pride family, but whoever came up with this n is a fool." Cranberry clicked her tongue and pointed at the two corpses. "Kill everyone who doesn''t smell like Pride? What nonsense is this? Do you have any idea how low our bloodline is in numbers? Of course, we are hiring people from other families ¨C some might be spies, but there are plenty of the loyal ones too!" She shook her head with a dark expression. "Only a rash blockhead would think that killing them all would be beneficial! Something like that will only harm the Pride family in the long run!" She breathed out and turned towards the mansion. "Raor!" The ck wolf by Mary''s side barked angrily, ring at the red-haired girl but was ignored even by his own master. "Sorry, if only I knew that something so outrageous as a backstory event was going to happen, I would never invite the two of you..." Cranberry bit her lips and lowered her head apologetically. "You three should get away from here. In the end, I can''t just run away, I''ll go back and try to stop this idiocy before it''s toote... though I might wait until they deal with the woman who gave birth to me..." She said looking to the side. "...raor.." While the humans were talking, the ck wolf approached the sleeping werewolves and whimpered in confusion while sniffing them. "Eh...?" And whatever he said made Mary finally react to him. "...what do you mean one of them doesn''t smell like a member of the Gluttony family...? How do you know what they are supposed to smell like...?" She asked in confusion while Arion flinched and looked away, lowering his tail. Chapter 455: Night of the hungry wolves (1)

Chapter 455: Night of the hungry wolves (1)

"..." The ck wolf refused to furtherment on the matter, no matter how much Mary pressed him to do so. "Haa... We can do something about itter ¨C you all need to get out of here ¨C I''ll contact Baron and tell him to get the rest of Zombie''s subject and help me stop this mess." Cranberry waved her hand dismissively at the brown-haired girl ring at her familiar. "Huh? What about Blueberry? You made her stay with Baron while we were supposed to escape." The blond prince pointed out with surprise. "Nothing, the rest of them can protect her better than I could, even with the werewolves'' attack." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and her eyes started glowing white. "(Baron! Wake everyone up! We''re under attack!)" She sent out a message to the red dragon back in the cozy cave next to the Prides mansion that Olive and Mirabelle made for him thest time they came to visit their daughter. "(Sorry. There''s nothing we can do.)" "HA...?!" "Wha... what did he say...?" The answer came instantly ¨C it was a direct telepathic message so Roan and Mary looked at each other in confusion witnessing Cranberry''s reaction. "He said no..." She exined, utterly shocked. "Eh?! Why?!" Mary gasped and asked in disbelief. "(Why?!)" Cranberry forwarded the question since it was exactly what she wanted to know too. "(Kopia told us that we can''t mess with this event because it has nothing to do with us ¨C don''t worry, I''ll at least keep your pigeon safe.)" Baron sounded as if he wasn''tpletely fine with the sentient sword''s decision, but at the same time, it was clear that he will not go against her. At least he was willing to keep Blueberry out of harm''s way... "(Come on! Can you at least wake everyone up?! They will die!)" Cranberry clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white and asked, biting her lips so hard that she drew blood. "(...)" But only a hesitant silence responded to her. "(Please! Baron!)" Cranberry cried out, but the answer still did not arrive. "And...?" Roan gulped down his saliva and asked in a hushed voice. "...you three should just run away. It''s a backstory event for my family, and there''s no reason for you to risk staying here." The red-haired girl said, wiping the smudge of blood from her chin and turning away. "Raor!" "...?" The ck wolf barked in a rather serious manner, making her nce at him questioningly. "Arion is right! We will not leave you in this time of need!" Mary clenched her fists and dered with a steel gaze. "Exactly." Roan nodded, reaching for the massive sword... that wasn''t on his back since he did not take it, as the visit wasn''t supposed to epass anybat situation, even the training one. "...though maybe you should use the telepathy and contact your elven parents?" He added looking slightly more concerned than before. "...haa... You are severely overestimating on what distance I can use it..." Cranberry nced at him and breathed out shaking her head. "...not to mention that it was the first thing that I tried after this weird backstory quest popped up..." She added in a much more concerned voice. "...oh..." The blond prince flinched and looked away awkwardly. "Anyway. We should..." "GHRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" Roan was about to say when a deafening heaven-and-earth-splitting roar tore through the air, so incredibly loud that every living being in the area felt it reverberating through their bodies. "Baron! He did help!" As soon as the horrifying roar subdued, Cranberry straightened her back and cheered. "Since you want to stay, let''s go!" She added, waving at her friends and they all rushed back towards the mansion that they sneaked out of just a few minutes before. --- The surprise attack was going well for the werewolves, they got the first few stragglers right outside the mansionpletely unaware and were about to go into full offensive when... "GHRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" A deafening heaven-and-earth-splitting roar tore through the air, so incredibly loud that every living being in the area felt it reverberating through their bodies. "!!!!!!" Only the jet-ck leader of the pack, Sapotle, and a few strongest werewolves managed to stay on their feet ¨C their senses, heightened by their beastly transformation, worked against them - basically incapacitating most of their members. "What the hell was that...?! A tamed monster...?! Our informant said nothing about it!" Sapotle growled furiously, not even trying to lower his voice ¨C there was no longer a need for stealth after all... "What the..?! Werewolves...?! ATTACK! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! GET EVERYONE OUT HERE!" The voice of an unknown beast had woken up probably everyone in the mansion ¨C and those who weren''t asleep looked for the cause of the voice ¨C and ended up spotting the group of werewolves trying to pass through their backyard on their way to the mansion... "DAMN IT! EVERYONE STILL ABLE TO MOVE- CHARGE!" Saptole roared themand andunched himself head-first towards the window where he knew thatdy Raspberry''s room was supposed to be while the people from the mansion were scrambling to fight back the night attack. *GRAB* "URGH...!" But the ck werewolf didn''t leap nearly as far as he was supposed to ¨C he coughed in shock while an invisible force took a hold of his body and stopped him mid-air. "Sapotle." A bespectacled man walked out of the mansion and asked while buttoning the sleeve of his shirt while his raised palm was shining with intense white light. "Big brother ckberry...!" The werewolf growled, trying to break out of the skill but failing. "What is the meaning of this, Sapotle?" Lord ckberry asked, furrowing his brows and ring at the jet-ck beast. "Urgh... This is not how I imagined this going down..." Sapotle groned, baring his teeth, trying to keep the air from being squeezed out of his lungs. "Same ¨C I never imagined anyone from the Gluttony family raising their hand against the Pride family. I thought of you as a friend and a brother... That''s why I ask you again ¨C what is the meaning of this, Sapotle?" Lord ckberry took off his sses and his eyes became four-times more fierce. "A rescue mission, big brother. We''re trying to rescue you and your daughter...!" The jet-ck werewolf growled through his sharp fangs. "Ha? Rescue me and Cranberry? From what? You and your pack are the only danger here!" Lord ckberry scoffed, shaking his head with a grim expression. "Yeah... That''s what that woman made you think...!" Sapotle growled and his body suddenly shone with a blinding light ¨C making him grow twice as big as before ¨C allowing him to break out of ckberry''s skill. "...and that''s the problem..." The massive werewolf scoffed and opened his fists, making the long dark ws shine threateningly in the lighting from the mansion''s windows. Chapter 456: Night of the hungry wolves (2)

Chapter 456: Night of the hungry wolves (2)

"..." All the fallen werewolves were starting to stand back up, shaking their heads in confusion... Yes, all of them. But around one-fourth was also reaching under their armor after exchanging serious looks. Those ones ignored their leader talking to the pure-blooded Pride nsman and each one pulled out a big vile and uncorked it with their teeth. "Eh...? Brother, what do you have there? Boss told us to let him talk with the Pride guy, don''t do anything stupid." Another werewolf looked at the vile in the hand of the one next to him in confusion and said furrowing her brows. "Who''s your brother, you dumb beast?" The other werewolf scoffed and spilled the vile''s content around, wildly swinging his arm. "Urgh! You got in in my...!" The werewolf next to him flinched and stepped away covering her face all but toote ¨C and suddenly flinching and cutting her words mid-sentence. "A little gift from lord Rambuta... urgh...! Wh-what the...?!| The werewolf with a vile smirked ¨C but then he also got some of the liquid sshed onto his fur and his body trembled uncontrobly, making him stop talking. "...?" Lord ckberry and Sapotle both frowned at each other and then looked at the group of werewolves behind Sapotle''s back, sshing each other with something as if this was a kid''s party. For a second or two nothing happened, besides every werewolf clenching their hands to their faces and trembling. "Everyone...?" The situation was weird enough for even the skill-erged jet-ck leader of the raiding party to turn his back on his opponent and ask in a worried voice. "...?" Simrly, Lord ckberry nced back at the guards and all thebat-ready servants that would never run away from the duty of serving the Pride family ¨C not everyone showed up, but with the numbers they had on them, they were outnumbering the werewolves almost three times over. ..Without the element of an ambush, the oue of a sh between them was obvious... ...or rather... ...it should be obvious... "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" With the exception of Sapotle, every werewolf raised its head and began howling towards the night sky. --- Mary, Roan, Cranberry, and Arion were sneaking back towards the mansion when they heard the unison howl of tens of werewolves that almost instantly turned into a bloodthirsty roar followed by a sound of battle. "We are still toote..!" Cranberry gritted her teeth and clenched her hand a bit harder on her reverse baseball bat scepter. "Someone must have tricked the people from the Gluttony family into following this idiotic n ¨C we need to stop them from fighting!" She whispered to the others. "But how...?" Roan whispered back, furrowing his brows. "...that''s... I''m still working on that part..." The red-haired girl bit her lips, looking away with a cloudy expression. "..." While the two of them were talking, Mary was ring at her wolf ¨C who stubbornly refused to look back at her. "...!" Cranberry reached her hand to the side, stopping her friends from moving past the storage shed. They all only peeked out from behind the corner, witnessing the bloody battlefield ¨C the werewolves seemed to gopletely crazy, attacking anything and everything around them ¨C biting and tearing apart both the servants of the Pride family and other werewolves alike. "Wha-what are they doing?! Wasn''t the Gluttony family supposed to be responsible for training the kingdom''s military?! What in the system''s name is this madness?!" Roan gasped, taken aback by the utter chaos while both Mary and Cranberry were left speechless as the fountains of blood were spilling from the bodies ripped apart by skills or pure strength stat of the berserk monsters. "...this... we should...!" "Young miss...!" Cranberry opened her mouth and said, when suddenly a voice called out to her from behind, making everyone from their group flinch and turn away battle-ready. But the one beckoning the red-haired girl was a... "Fig...! Thank the system, you''re safe!" Cranberry breathed out with relief and hurried towards the maid who already helped her multiple times in the past ¨C both before and after the red-haired girl''s few years at the elven vige. "Did the nonbat staff evacuate safely? How about you? You''ve seen that mess?! The werewolves must have lost their minds from bloodlust! You need to get away from here too, it''s not safe!" Cranberry grabbed Fig''s hands and shook them slightly, making a worried expression and motioning at the scene of the carnage unfolding just behind the safety of the rather feeble storage shed. "I know, young miss. But first things first... could youe with me for a second? I have something important to tell you." The tall maid nodded to the red-haired girl but didn''t look too keen on listening to the evacuation suggestion, instead, she already began pulling Cranberry behind the other corner of the shed ¨C out of Mary and Roan''s sight. "Hey ¨C I don''t think that splitting up is a good idea, if you want to tell her something, say it here." Roan stepped closer to the two girls and said in a hushed but very serious voice, staring at the maid with suspicion. "That''s right! Cranberry, why is she even here? Can you really trust her?!" Mary joined in and clenched her fists just as distrustful towards the maid as the blond prince. "Raor!" ...even Arion joined in, ring at fig and hurriedly sniffing around as if trying to find anything amiss about her smell. "I..." Fig bit her lip in concern, clearly not sure how she should defend herself ¨C but the thing was, she didn''t even have to do that. "Everything''s fine, I trust her, she is a good person." The red-haired girl smiled back at the two humans and a wolf and nodded at them to rx. "If she wants to take me somewhere it is surely about something important. Just wait a bit ¨C I''ll be right back." She added, before turning back to the shocked, and slightly more pale maid, and squeezed her hands ¨C which she did not let go even for a moment. "..." Fig closed her eyes and breathed out to calm down. When she opened them, she looked as if she got rid of all the doubts she had before. "It will only take a moment, Please, do not disturb us." She said, looking at the brow-haired girl and the blond prince, and walked away, pulling the trustful Cranberry with her. "...I don''t like this... not a bit..." Roan gritted his teeth but didn''t try to go and eavesdrop on whatever conversation the two were having ¨C though, it was doubtful whether it would be even possible with the sound of the battle growing more chaotic and desperate. "...!" Suddenly, after less than a minute, an odd greenish glow shone past the corner, causing them all to flinch. "Screw this, I''m going to check on them." Roan scoffed and stepped forward, with full intention on peeking on the private conversation that he was convinced couldn''t be anything good ¨C and probably wasn''t a conversation at all, when... "...ugh...! Eh...? My prince?!" The red-haired girl walked by the corner at the same time as he and the two bumped into each other. "Ah...! Cranberry?! Are you okay?" Roan gasped, looking at her in shock. "Of course ¨C now then, we should take care of this mess, right? My prince, miss Mary." Cranberry shook her head dismissively and nced between her two friends with a very serious expression. Chapter 457: Night of the hungry wolves (3)

Chapter 457: Night of the hungry wolves (3)

"..." Mary frowned, feeling something off about the red-haired girl who showed up ¨C so that''s why she nced at her wolf and stealthily motioned at him to check up on the other girl. The ck wolf nodded and approached Cranberry standing in front of the blond prince Roan and started inconspicuously sniffing the ground around the two as if he was just a normal dog doing dog things ¨C though, honestly, because of the time and ce he started doing that, his action was more suspicious than anything else. "...roar..." Still, Arion returned to Mary''s side and barked dismissively, shaking his head from left to right. "...nothing suspicious, huh... The brown-haired girl muttered to herself. If even Arion with his skill-enhanced senses couldn''t find anything suspicious about the red-haired girl, it probably meant that there was nothing to worry about. After all, deceiving the special detection+ [smell] skill that the ck wolf possessed would require really powerful stealth skill or the sin-based skill of at least a registered heir of the throne of sin level or higher. "What do you mean ''take care of this mess''? How?" Roan asked Cranberry, furrowing his brows while pointing towards the direction from where all the horrible noises of a bloodthirsty battle wereing from. "Isn''t it simple? If we show them something more important than their current mission, they should follow it instead, don''t you think?" Cranberry asked with a confident smirk, looking right at the ck wolf whose tail dropped even more than before as he lowered his head and red at the girl with contempt. "...what do you mean by that...?" Mary asked, looking between her wolf and the other girl, more than simply suspicious about the fact that the red-haired girl seemed to have known something about her tamed monster than she did not. "Isn''t it obvious ¨C with how Arion has been acting, it should be clear that something is off... though the biggest giveaway was that maid before telling me a secret about the werewolves leader and his missing son ¨C the son that their family had cast aside because of the curse of starvation." Cranberry exined without taking her eyes off of the ck wolf, Arion, observing his reaction... "Okay... then? You need to be more clear, what the hell is that curse of starvation and what does it has to do with Mary''s wolf?" Roan shook and tilted his head, frowning in confusion, not understanding the connection that the red-haired girl was making. "...oh dear..." Cranberry breathed out heavily and started massaging her forehead. "The curse of starvation is a passive skill that takes away its users'' sound mind in exchange for rising their physical capabilities. You could call it the Gluttony family''s very own version of a berserk''s rage, but one that doesn''t just end. The only way is to stop it is to eat until they arepletely full, but that''s when the curse part ys into this mess ¨C the poor user, or rather a victim, cannot be satiated and gets driven even more mad until they change into nothing more than a wild beast incapable of turning back into a human." Cranberry''s words shocked the other two, while the ck wolf was silently ring at the red-haired girl while digging his ws into the ground. "And what, are you telling me that my Arion fits into that description?! Don''t be stupid! Look at him! He is an obedient wolf ¨C where is the madness you are speaking about?!" Mary stomped her foot, raising her voice forgetting about the time and ce, and confronting the other girl. "Oh, it has everything to do with him. The members of the house of Gluttony afflicted with the curse of starvation are usually cast out of the family to fend for themselves likemon monsters until they are killed off by either humans or other monsters ¨C but it''s a different story if the person afflicted with the curse of starvation is a registered heir to the throne of gluttony. It has been recorded that thorough the history of the Gluttony family, each time a cast away member would return in their human form, it would be as either the heir of gluttony or the avatar of gluttony." Cranberry merely shook her head lightly from left to right and revealed. "Isn''t that right, sir Arion Gluttony, the youngest child of Lady Goji and Sapotle?" "Grrrrrrrrr...!" The red-haired girl suddenly smiled and asked the ck wolf who flinched and backed off, lowering himself to the ground with a beastly growl building up in his throat. "Don''t you think that we''ve wasted enough time? Your senses in this form are far better than humans, you must have heard your father''s voice? Seriously, don''t you have the ability to get the attention of the werewolves away from the Pride house by merely showing up and barking at them? They have a skill that allows them to freely talk with any monsters they want, after all." She asked mockingly, staring down the shaking monster. "Hey! What got into you?! You can''t just say something like that?! Back when Arion became my tamed monster he introduced himself as the normal wolf, not some cursed human! I''m his tamer, I can see his status! He wouldn''t lie like that to me!" Mary stepped in to protect her wolf ¨C but oddly enough that seemed to make Arion even more anxious and worried as his body trembled the moment that Mary shielded him. "...well, if you say so ¨C though it would be better if you first asked yourself why was he introducing himself in the first ce ¨C from what I know listing the familiar''s species is the system''s job and the tamer or master is the one selecting the name." "!!!!" The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and looked to the side with a smirk, knowing even without looking what kind of reaction Mary and Arion had. "So... could we stop thisedy and just have Arion show up, howl at the werewolves, and get them away from here?" Cranberry pped her hands together, getting the attention of the others, and motioned towards the corner of the storage shed shielding them all from the battlefield in front of the Prides mansion. "I don''t believe it! Like, what, some maid that could as well be a spy had just told you all that and you believed her unconditionally?! How can you say that she did not make it all up to get you or me or even the prince out of the hiding spot?! This could all be just a lie!" Mary shook her head and clenched her fists in a desperate attempt to deny the truth right in front of her, rejecting the idea that she was the one being lied to. "Mary..." Roan made a concerned expression and reached towards the brown-haired girl''s shoulder. "No! My prince ¨C that is definitely just some...! "...raor..." But the girl backed off, escaping his touch, and shook her head, still in denial ¨C but then a low barking from behind her made her flinch. "A-Arion... what do you mean by ''she''s right''...?" Mary''s face became pale as a sheet as she turned around, facing her ck wolf currently lowering his head in shame. "Wh... what...? No way... Arion, you were originally a human...?" The brown-haired girl backed off away from her tamed monster with a terrified expression. "!!!!" That reaction alone caused the wolf to close his eyes as if he made some sort of a decision, and the next moment he turned right around and bolted away from the safety of the shed. "RAAAOOOR!" His roar managed to tear through the battlefield, getting the attention of more than a few humans and werewolves alike, but the reaction that it caused wasn''t quite like it should be... "ARION?!" Sapotle, the giant jet-ck werewolf enhancing his size with a skill, fighting back to back together with the bespectacled lord ckberry, howled in shock while fending off the rampaging members of his own pack who hadpletely forgotten trivialities like enemies and allies and just bit and tear at everything in their reach. "SON! GET AWAY FROM HERE!" He roared while shing open the throat of the monster that tried to get lord ckberry from the side ¨C while lord ckberry used his skill to tear apart the werewolf trying to use the chance and w at Sapotle''s back. ...because Cranberry''s n was all fine and good ¨C but it did not ount for the potion that drove all the subordinate werewolves mad... Chapter 458: Night of the hungry wolves (4)

Chapter 458: Night of the hungry wolves (4)

"DIEEEEE!" Instead of stopping all fighting as Cranberry thought it would do, the only thing that Arion''s howl achieved was to get a whole bunch of crazed-up werewolves to charge at him. "No! Stop!" Shockingly enough it was the red-haired girl who threw herself in front of the ck wolf instead of using a spell to chase off the frenzy monsters... "AAAGHH..!" ...and got bitten in the shoulder, dangerously close to her neck. "DON''T YOU EVEN DARE!" But when the beast that got her first tried to rip out a huge chunk of her flesh, the brown-haired girl dashed from behind and sliced at the werewolf''s eyes with her glowing hand, causing them to erupt in a violent bloody mess ¨C which forced the beast to release the already deeply wounded girl. Still, getting rid of just one opponent wasn''t nearly enough as their ce was instantly taken by four more. "And you! Wolf or a cursed pervert who didn''t even mention that he was human ¨C help us get Cranberry to safety!" She growled at her familiar while dodging and hitting back the attacking monsters simultaneously ¨C if she had time to spare to re furiously at the ck wolf, she would definitely do that ¨C but with how things were at the moment... well... ...if not for the fact that although werewolves attacked in a group they werepletely uncoordinated and interrupted each other to the extent that two started straight up trying to kill each other, someone at Mary''s level should not be able to get away with the reckless fighting style she was using. "R-raor...!" Arion growled and grabbed the red-haired girl - who slumped down, biting her lips and clenching the bleeding shoulder very much in pain ¨C by the scruff of her clothes and started pulling her away. "URGH...!" Mary groaned in pain when the werewolf''s ws finally did connect and ripped open her forearm gnashing against the white bone that should definitely not be seen clearly like that. "Raor!" "SHUT UP! GET HER AWAY! MEND! AAAARRRGGGHHH...!" The ck wolf dropped the wounded girl and barked in terror but the brown-haired girl shouted at him and used the only healing skill that she knew to forcibly heal herself ¨C causing herself more pain than she felt when she received the wound and focused back on the fight, but then... "MARY! DUCK!" The only other member of their little group shouted while bursting out of the storage shed that he entered in search of a weapon she wascking. "!!!!!" *SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIING* Mary needed one nce to be pale as a ghost and basically threw herself t on the grass just in a tie for the shining pure gold blur sliced through the air with ease, bisecting the four werewolves as if they were made out of jello ¨C and even catching the one blinded by the brown-haired girl and leaving a deep horizontal cut right below their chest. "Wh-what the hell?! My prince ¨C I thought that you didn''t have a weapon on you?!" Mary gasped, rising up from the ground, staring in confusion at the blond prince wielding an enormous golden sword with a de both long and wide enough to allow him topletely hide behind it. "I didn''t, this thing was just lying right next to some dusty training swords!" Roan lowered the huge piece of gold ¨C that upon closer inspection had a honeb-shaped grid of heliodor running all the way through the weapon as well as making the crucial part of the de''s edge. "She seems to be too out of it to use her healing spells, you need to take care of her ¨C I''ll stop them from approaching!" The blond prince hyped up by the insane stroke of luck after fiding an insane weapon in just a mere storage shed at the back of the Prides mansion raised the giant sword back up, taking a stance as his body shone with white light. "They are barelyrger than me but because of their numbers, the giant yer still managed to activate!" He added with a smile, reassuring the hesitant girl. "...I think..." He murmured under his breath, sounding a lot less confident. Though the odd convenience of the amazing weapon being in just the right ce at just the right time was not able to upy the minds of the two people and the wolf, as the very next moment a blood churning howl tore them right back from the cozynd of optimism and threw them back into their morbid reality. "BLOOD OF THE PRIDES! GET IT! KILL! KIIIIIIIIIIIIIL" One of the werewolves suddenly screamed out shaking his head... ...as the pulsating sigil gurning itself into his forehead must have caused him quite a lot of pain... "The sigil monster?! Bu-but...! Members of the house of gluttony aren''t actual monsters ¨C their transformation is a skill!" Roan gasped, backing off a step in shock ¨C but his question got lost in the stampede of the werewolves that listened to the one with the sigil. And that one did not stay in ce either ¨C with an explosion of ck and red smoke he suddenly grewrger ¨C but not by a lot ¨C ifpared to the Sapotle erging himself with skill, this one was much slimmer and oddlynky ¨C his face no longer looked very much wolf-like and turned into an elongated, almost crocodile-like maw. The sigil werewolf was much faster than the normal ones and passed them even though they had a headstart over him... ...but if his speed was the only problem, it wouldn''t be as bad... *WHOOOOSH* The thing was that the red and ck smoke released by sigil werewolf created a semi-transparent dome that enclosed part of the shed together with the wounded Cranberry, Arion, Mary, and Roan, as well as most of the werewolves ¨C while pushing aside the servants of the Pride family, lord ckberry, and even Sapotle ¨C but for whatever reason, the barrier enveloped a part of the Prides mansion too... "KILL THE PRIDES! KILL THE PRINCE! KILL THE OTHER GIRL TOO! KILL THEM...! KILL THEM ALL! DO NOT LET THE GLOBAL EVENT BEGIN ¨C WE''LL WAKE THE ETERNAL!" The sigil werewolf howled, and the red and ck smoke that he was releasing sipped into the mouths, nostrils, and ears of the already obedient werewolves ¨C and made them all grow in size ¨C some of them even turned silvery-white while the others turned onto just massive, angrier versions of themselves ¨C and the originally fast charge tuned into a lightning-fast race to the shocked youths. "...damn it... why did I use my one stroke of luck on finding a weapon instead of getting away from this mess...!" Roan gritted his teeth andined as he winded up the giant golden de to intercept the empowered crazy werewolves. Chapter 459: Night of the hungry wolves (5)

Chapter 459: Night of the hungry wolves (5)

*SHIIIIIIING* The golden de sang a song of death each time the blond-haired prince swung the enormous sword, sending the fragments of dissected werewolves. It was quite a sight to witness, honestly ¨C the young boy wasn''t particrly fast with the giant sword bigger than himself, but there was this odd certainty about his moves. They all were calcted, none relied on a lucky strike or anything like that. And none of them missed. Roan''s Greed technique was something he had to create himself ¨C his ridiculously low luck stat of 13 that did not grow no matter how many levels did he gained since the first kill party forced him to develop it. If something could go wrong for him ¨C it would go wrong, and that was the truth especially during fights. In those few years, Roan got wounded almost every single time even when fighting monsters much weaker than himself ¨C but each of that wounds worked as fuel to the fire of his desire ¨C his very own greed of fame and power that gave birth to the stunning performance against the frenzied werewolves. Pure technicalbat skill and nothing else. ...but unfortunately, something as amazing as an invincible fighting style does not exist ¨C or maybe it did, but still, the blond prince wasn''t the one to discover it... "ROOAARGHH!" Even with Roan''s meticulous perfectly timed counterattacks the monsters crazy for blood had the advantage in numbers and not only managed to encircle him but straight up bypass him and charge at Mary and the wounded Cranberry. "RAOR!" The ck wolf Arion bravely threw himself at the slobbering enemies and sunk his teeth into the throat of one of them, but still, how was that supposed to be enough? "Mend!" "AAARGH!" Mary growled pointing at the barely conscious red-haired girl and healing her while also making her suffer through a lot of pain as the most painful healing skill there was worked its power and forcibly gathered and reattached all of the tissue that was crushed or ripped out and welded it back together. "CRANBERRY! GET UP! WE NEED TO FIGHT!" The brown-haired girl roared through her teeth while wing at the attacking monsters'' weak points... /Anry: [Connection lost] "...eh...?!" ...but she gasped when her skill share skill failed and her hands did not start glowing with the young griffin''s talon-based skill and ended up simply passing right in front of the werewolf''s maw spread open. "...system... DAMN IT!" The brown-haired girl howled furiously and ducked, and while her jaws and throat started giving off the white light she unhesitatinglyunched herself at the monster''s throat, biting at it using the skills of her one tamed monster that she could ess ¨C Arion''s. "UGHUAHUGH...!| Even a werewolf that lost his mind found that kind of attack outrageous but was too busy getting their throat being torn open to articte it more coherently ¨C so Mary pushed his gargling body away, and spat the beast''s blood filling her mouth to the side while she ducked under the furious ws of another beast. *CHOMP* With the sound of someone biting into the unpeeled banana, the teenage girl tore open the neck of the next werewolf and nced back at the red-haired girl while jumping away. "What the...?!" What she saw made her lose her footing and trip ¨C which was the luckiest coincidence of her life until that point as the third werewolf''s jaws chomped at the empty air where her head was just a second earlier. --- "Oh dear... what is this supposed to be...?" One of the butlers of the Pride house sighed and walked away from the group of other servants surrounding Lord ckberry and the jet-ck werewolf, Sapotle, trying to break open the odd red and ck half-translucent dome that had cut off a chunk of the Prides mansion as well as most of the backyard and around half of the storage shed in the back. Though... honestly, his confused gasp wasn''t directed at the dome itself but rather because his very own body began to melt and reform back into the body of an older, steel-haired gentleman. "Not good... did the man I stole the appearance from die...? Why did the appearance steal fade off...?" Caramb, the man bound to the Envy family decades, furrowed his brows and hurriedly moved alongside the barrier aiming to hide behind the storage shed that was the nearest and most convenient cover. Everyone from the Pride house plus the jet-ck werewolf was far too busy shouting in panic and trying to gain ess to the insides of the red and ck dome to go and help the three children trapped inside together with the bunch of crazy werewolves and one particrly odd one with a burning mark on their disfigured head, to notice him, but there was no reason to risk getting spotted and recognized... Honestly, the n devised by Rambutan Envy was truly devilish. Use fake spies to feed the house of Gluttony a bunch of false information ¨C of course, sprinkled in between the real reports ¨C in order to get them to attack their long-time allies, the Pride family, and kill off as many as possible ¨C preferably all. To assure the destruction of Prides, lord Rambutan organized a mass kidnapping of the weaker members of the Gluttony family and hand-picked over a dozen of Envy agents to steal the werewolf transformation skill off of them tooter insert amongst the forces left to attack the Pride mansion. Each of the agents was given a vial containing a rather nasty potion crafted to drive any canine monster up to the lower-mid levels mad. "..." Caramb nced inside the barrier and furrowed his brows. He was present when lord Rambutan assured every single agent that the potion will not work on them because the transformation skill they were going to use was a stolen and therefore weaker version of the original one... ...well, seeing that every single werewolf inside the red and ck dome looked like it lost their mind to the same extent as the one next to them, the statement of the avatar of envy was false... ...and there was no doubt in Caramb''s mind that it wasn''t just an honest mistake... After all, every single agent selected either took part in bullying of Rambutan''s son, Mason, or loudly opposed the avatar''s rtionship with the elven woman, Sk ¨C who Rambutan wanted to make his official wife. "...I guess miss Fillia was toote..." Caramb sighed looking at the three kids getting overrun by the monsters ¨C he was especially concentrating on the red-haired girl who wasn''t moving very much and was clearly in a state of shock ¨C which didn''t exactly match with the information the Envy family had on her... "...oh...?" But in the chaos of the battle happening inside the barrier, the steel-haired man was the only one who noticed that after sending the basic werewolves after the kids, the peculiar disfigured werewolf turned around and casually walked over to the part of the mansion epassed by the barrier... ...the part in which Caramb knew that the room of the Pride''s family head, and the avatar of pride in one person, was... Chapter 460: Night of the hungry wolves (6)

Chapter 460: Night of the hungry wolves (6)

"Wha...?! THE ONE WITH THE SIGIL! WHERE IS HE GOING?!" "...?" The sudden shout of the bespectacled lord ckberry made Caramb rise his brow in surprise ¨C so even seeing his daughter about to get ripped apart didn''t blind him for everything else... "YOU SEVEN ¨C MAYBE RASPBERRY MANAGED TO GET OUT OF HER ROOM BEFORE THAT BLASTED BARRIER APPEARED! GO CHECK UP ON HER!" The man shouted amand to the nearest servants and they listened to him only a bit hesitantly ¨C all of them left sending suspicious res at the jet-ck werewolf by their employer''s side. "Hmm... now I see why little Rambutan wanted them all killed ¨C it doesn''t look like they are simply employed, it feels like they actually loyal to the house of Pride..." The words of the older man who actually had thest name Loyalty were filled with a particr nostalgia. While he was a child, long before the tides of fate had pushed him towards the Envy family, the young Caramb used to spend the long winter evenings together with his grandfather who used to tell him stories about the glory days of their family, of the times when the surname Loyalty was mentioned it was always apanied with the title of Prides most trusted subjects. Oh, how the little Caramb wanted to make his grandfather happy and reconnect the two houses again... "..." The steel-haired gentleman smiled to himself with a bit of mncholy and shook his head. What use was for thinking about it now when his youngdy was out of his sight? He had to find her, not think about the things that were never meant to happen. With no further dy, but with a bad feeling growing inside of his chest, Caramb hasted and got behind the shed... "Ah...!" ...and he let out a relieved sigh once he spotted an unconscious sickly-looking girl with thin reddish hair wearing an oversized maid''s outfit leaning against the shed''s wall. "Oh dear, you silly girl... did you get yourself knocked out on the sleeping potion you brought yourself?" The steel-haired gentleman smiled softly and crouched by the unconscious girl, and picked up the small empty vial from her hand. "This thing must have been really strong to make you deactivate the appearance steal skill you always boasted to be able to keep up at any time... or maybe the girl you were borrowing the appearance from was killed off just like happened to my target...?" He murmured, furrowing his brows with concern. Wasn''t there too many coincidences happening all at once...? What if... and only if... lord Rambutan wanted to get rid of Fillia ¨C the daughter that he had with his official wife before she passed away, and should be his sessor... That would make sense... If both she and Carambo were left to die just like the disposable agents that Rambutan sent to the Prides mansion mixed between the group of Gluttonys?! "...no, impossible..." Caramb frown and rejected the idea. It didn''t make sense. In the first ce, no one besides him and Fillia herself knew that they were going to the Prides mansion after the attack group. He certainly didn''t mention Fillia''s n to anyone else, and Fillia herself ¨C although she did spend a lot more time with her younger half-brother, Mason, than ever before¨C wasn''t foolish enough to reveal that she was nning to use her unique magic steal skill on the red-haired Cranberry, to anyone. But then... what was going on...? Caramb squinted his eyes looking to the side while storing the empty vial safely in his pocket to not leave any evidence. "Well then, my silly little master, with the obvious failure on our part, let us leave this ce while we still can." The steel-haired gentleman breathed out and gently picked up the unconscious girl into a princess carry. "...nnnn...!" His action made her flinch and twitch as her eyelids trembled with her being on the verge of waking up. "...ha...?" Then, as Carambo was turning around to walk away, the sickly-looking girl opened her eyes and gasped in shock, staring at the old man''s face. "Hello, young miss. I''m afraid that our ns got foiled by a rather unexpected turn of events." The steel-haired gentleman smiled softly while making an apologetic expression to the utterly confused girl. "Your target, as well as Hope''s girl, her wolf, and also, your fiance, the young first prince Roan, got trapped in a rather peculiar barrier that even lord ckberry and Gluttony''s best hound, Sapotle, are unable to breach." He exined as gently as he could while the girl was massaging her head and squinting her eyes, disoriented and lost. "And I''m afraid that will be thest we''ve ever seen or heard of them as they are stuck there with a rather unsavory bunch of bloodthirsty monsters. Once again, my deepest apologies ¨C though if I remember correctly you''ve lost interest in the young prince a while ago, didn''t you?" Caramb added, trying to cheer up the gloomy girl. "HA?! They are what?!" The girl in his arms flinched and started kicking around so much that the older gentleman had to put her back down on the ground for her own safety ¨C and once her feet touched the ground the sickly looking girl limped her way from behind the shed and put her hands against the red and ck wall of the dome and trembled at the sight. The blond prince was fending off the werewolves that had surrounded him surprisingly well, but past him, all the way back in the mansion, the oddly misshapen werewolf busted through the window of an upper floor, and after disappearing into the mansion for a little while he came out dragging the kicking and screaming woman, dragging her out by her hair. "RASPBERRY!" Not even a single sound escaped from inside the barrier but the panicked howl of lord ckberry was enough to exin everything. "----" As if hearing the despair in his voice, the disfigured werewolf turned towards him and moved his jaws, saying something that no one on the outside could hear and... *-----* Bit into the neck ofdy Raspberry and tore off her head in one fluid motion. "NOOOOOOOOOO!- ¡­?" ckberry shouted in powerless anger before suddenly going surprisingly silent as if some realization dawned on him. The disfigured werewolf inside the barrier opened his jaws to undoubtedly release a chuckle of satisfiedughter, releasing the head of the dead avatar of pride ¨C and to make everything worse, just at the moment when the head hit the ground, a single frenzy werewolf passed both the prince, the brown-haired girl fighting like a wild beast, and the ck wolf fighting against his own family member ¨C and jumped right at the stunned red-haired girl who was the closest one to the spot where Fillia and Caramb were. The beast pinned her to the ground and sunk its teeth into her neck. But the girl did not scream nor cry in pain ¨C she looked back ¨C as if she knew that she was being watched, reached out her hand and... ...smiled... "Miss ¨C you don''t have to watch thi-" Caramb grabbed the sickly girl''s shoulders and tried to pull her away from the red and ck dome but... *SLAM* "FIG! NOOOO! FIG!" Chapter 461: Night of the hungry wolves (7)

Chapter 461: Night of the hungry wolves (7)

The girl mmed against the barrier and screamed in utter despair helplessly watching the other girl being ughtered by the werewolf. "Wh- what did you, say, miss?" All of a sudden, all blood drained from Caramb''s face and he shook the sickly girl''s shoulders. "You''re confused ¨C that is Cranberry Pride, Fig is the name of the girl that you''re paying to borrow her appearance in order to..." He said in a shaken voice feeling cold sweat drenching his shirt. "H-HA?! What are you talking about?! I AM CRANBERRY PRIDE!" The girl looked at him as if he was crazy and shooked off his hands. Then she raised her hands and closed her eyes ¨C after a second the air in front of her ignited into a fireball that shoot out and crashed against the red and ck barrier ¨C not dealing any damage to it whatsoever. "NO!" She growled in despair and the next moment a thunder struck the same spot that she aimed a fireball ¨C but the effect was just as before, none. "...I... I don''t have any more fast spells...!" The sickly-looking girl bit her lips so hard that she drew blood, watching the red-haired girl behind the barrier getting her throat ripped out. "H-heal! HEAL!" The sickly girl cried out and aimed her hands at the horribly wounded girl whose eyes began losing their light ¨C but the spell she was using didn''t manage to pass through the other side of the dome ¨C which caused the sickly girl to turn back to the frozen steel-haired gentleman and grabbed onto his clothes in desperation. "Mister! I beg you! Fig! Fig told me she was going to protect me and used a skill that made her turn into me and then she said she will need to borrow my clothes too and sshed something in my face and everything turned ck...!" She cried out with tears streaming down her face... ..a face that began melting and changing... ...not just her face... ...her whole body did... Her height did not change all that much but her face changed into that of a slightly younger girl and her barely reddish thin hair sprouted into a curtain of the thick hair that shared the unsettling color of the copious amount of blood spilled over. Within a second, where Fillia Envy was standing just a moment before, Cranberry Pride was holding onto Carab''s clothes pleading for help. "Mister! Don''t stand there! DO SOMETHING, PLEASE!" The red-haired Cranberry Pride shouted as she lowered her head and her shoulders shook from the held-back cry. "...no..." The old man''s lips trembled as he whispered and looked away from the girl at his side to the girl trapped behind the unsurpassable barrier... Fillia Envy ¨C the child who Caramb treated as his own granddaughter was lying on the ground in the growing pool of blood while being torn apart by the frenzied beast. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The old gentleman howled inplete despair and his steel-colored hair turned white from shock in a single second. His youngdy...! The little girl that was the recipient of the oh so inconvenient but powerful skill, loyalty, she... She died... And Caramb didn''t even realize that she was in danger... Now it all made sense ¨C the man he had stolen the appearance from didn''t die ¨C the red and ck barrier cut off the connection with his master and he lost ess to the skills of his master that he could use thanks to the special properties of loyalty. Fillia... she... she wanted to protect the red-haired girl... ...and she died... ...she died and he didn''t even notice ¨C he didn''t even look at her... he looked away while she was smiling as herst farewell... *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "KYAAAAH!" The old man moved so fast that for a moment it seemed like he disappeared ¨C but the skill-empowered punch that he delivered at the red and ck barrier shook the earth and produced the shockwave powerful enough to send the shocked Cranberry Pride flying to the side and blow apart the part of the shed outside the barrier. "FILLIA! FILLIA!" The old man howled staring at the corpse of his former master getting mutted by the vile beast. "GET...! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU REPUGNANT FILTH!" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The next punch he delivered was even stronger than thest and caused the earth underneath his feet to split apart... ...and reveal that the barrier wasn''t a dome but, in fact, a sphere that there was no ess to from the outside... "LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU FILTHY MAGGOT!" Caramb shouted choking on tears ¨C but just as no sound could get out of the barrier, no sound could get inside and the werewolf kept mauling away at the corpse. "...who is that...?" The confused voices of the servants of the Pride family were getting closer as after feeling the tremors they began looking for their source. "---?" But they weren''t the only ones who actually noticed that something was off ¨C in fact, it was noticed by someone inside the barrier. "----" The disfigured werewolf with the burning mark on his forehead saw the despair of the old man and trembled fromughter. Whether it was because of the absorbed power of the Eternal or simply his inborn cruelty, the monster mocked the old man, and wanting to witness his despair a bit more clearly, he... "...?!" ...used the control that he had over the red and ck barrier and allowed the gray-haired gentleman to pass right through it as it was only a wall of smoke. "KILL HIM TOO! KILL THEM ALL! BUT MAKE THEM SUFFER FIRST! I WANT TO HEAR THEIR LOVELY SCREAMS OF DESPAIR!" The sigil werewolf chuckled and howled, pointing his long w at the stunned gentleman... *RIIIIIIIIIIP* "!!!!!!!!" ...whose single punch exploded the werewolf, who killed the young miss of the Envy house, into thousands of tiny pieces and sted them all away like some sort of gory confetti, causing the sigil monster to close his jaws in shock. "H-help! Mister! Please!" Mary ¨C who got overpowered by two werewolves and was the next one in line to get ripped apart - cried out for help while the crazy beasts were fighting over who was to deal the finishing blow. "...my little girl..." Caramb''s chin trembled as he kneeled over the brutalized corpse of his former master. Then he clenched his fists and slowly stood up. "AAAARGHH! Mister...! Please...!" Mary pleaded as one of the werewolves on top of her managed to gain an upper hand against the other one and sunk their teeth into her shoulder. "None of you vile beast will leave this ce alive." Caramb clenched his fists and... ...disappeared... Chapter 462: Night of the hungry wolves (8)

Chapter 462: Night of the hungry wolves (8)

*SMASH* *SMASH* "Eh...?!" Before Mary realized it, both the werewolf that was biting into her shoulder and the one next to him got their heads cleanly punched off and their bodies fell limply on top of her. *SMASH* As she get them off of herself she saw another headless body of the werewolf falling while still holding onto her ck wolf in their ws. *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* ...could this even be called fighting...? Mary blinked and the next thing she opened her eyes to was fountains of blood spouting out of the headless bodies of the werewolves that were surrounding the blond prince wielding the massive golden sword. "IDIOTS! DON''T JUST STAND THERE! GET HIM!" The disfigured sigil werewolf howled and released a staggering amount of red and ck smoke that sipped its way into the bodies of the remaining werewolves. "GRAOR...?! RAAAAAAARGH!" The monsters flinched and staggered as if shocked by how clear their minds have be but right after they howled when a boost of strength filled their bodies with power. *SMASH* But still, another one got their head blown apart as if it was a ripe watermelon hit by a cannonball. Then ¨C finally ¨C the silver-haired Carambo appeared on the battleground with apletely indifferent face. His anger went far over the stage that was possible to express through the expressions... *RIIIP* *WHAM* *SPLURT* With his bare hand, he tore off the head of the nearest empowered werewolf and used it as a protective glove to cave in the chest of the next one, before moving on to the next one and blowing their intestines right out of their stomach with a devastating kick. The number of the remaining werewolves was melting down faster than a snowman in hell. "HE CAN''T BE USING THAT SKILL FOREVER! MAKE HIM USE UP ALL OF HIS MANA AND KILL HIM, YOU CRETINS!" The sigil werewolf backed off a step and howled at the handful of the remaining monsters. "...use up my mana...?" Caramb straightened his back and asked raising his brow, opening himself for attacks ¨C which was instantly used against him by two fastest werewolves... "Don''t be ridiculous." *SLAM* *SLAM* The silver-haired gentleman scoffed while grabbing the wed hands originally aiming at his throat, twisting them, and mming the foolish monster who fell right into his taunt into the ground. The next second the white light that Caramb''s body was producing became even brighter as he activated another one of his skills. "RAAAOOO....! E-eh...!?" "GRAAUU...! Huh?!" With almost no dy the transformation skill was deactivated because both monsters'' mana was drained outpletely and the humans they turn back into gasped in shock... *CRACK* *CRACK* *SMASH* *SMASH* Before Crambo broke their arms like twigs and punched their heads apart, not even bothering to check whether they regained their senses or not. The old gentleman said that no werewolf will leave the dome alive, and he meant it - whether they were back into their human form or not didn''t make a difference to him at all. "And just like that, my mana is once again full." The old gentleman shrugged his shoulders and disappeared from everyone''s sight once again... *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* And once he reappeared this time, the disfigured sigil monster was the only werewolf alive in the entire red and ck dome as the rest got blown apart ¨C not just their heads but entire upper bodies being ripped apart from the lightning-fast blows. "...would you look at that... no more cronies to fight for you..." Caramb dusted off his shoulder and started slowly approaching the sigil monster, bing more menacing with each step he took. "I know the type of beast you are ¨C I fought the likes of you while training in my youth. You control and buff your allies but youck strength on your own. The most you can do is kill a sick woman and boast about it like a lowly mutt that you are." The silver-haired gentleman scoffed and spat to the side while cracking his knuckles with a threatening noise. "Y-you...!" The sigil monster growled and jumped back, and as he did the red and ck dome started rapidly shrinking! Just like he allowed Cramb in, now he wanted to throw the man out to save himself! "AS IF!" The old man roared and charged the retreating monster, but as he was in front of the werewolf, the beast nimbly dodged his punch and sunk his ws deeply into Caramb''s chest. "AHAHAHA! YOU IDIOTIC FOOL! WHO TOLD YOU THAT I''M WEAK?! I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE ETERNAL! I DO NOT HAVE ANY WEAK SPOTS!" The sigil werewolf burst into a fit of maniacalughter digging his ws deeper and deeper searching for the old man''s heart so he could rip it off and crush it while it was still beating. "...guhuah...! ...calling me an idiot while getting taunted into willingly grabbing onto someone with the mana drain skill... that''s rich..." The old man coughed up blood and smirked while grabbing onto the monster''s wrist with one hand. "WH-WHAT...?!" The sigil werewolf roared in a horrid realization and tried to back off but it was toote ¨C Caramb''s body already glow up with white light as he activated the skill that thoroughly emptied the beast''s mana pool forcing it to turn back to his human form... "I don''t care about who that whole Eternal is, but if all of his underlings are fools like you, I already feel sorry for them." *CRACK* "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" The old man spoke, twisted, and tore off the arm of the human with the sigil burnt onto his forehead, before pulling his hand out of his chest and throwing it aside. Caramb grabbed the head of the self-proimed Eternal''s apostle and ripped it off, kicked away the headless body that already began self-immting and turning into a red and ck smoke, and then adjusted the head in his hands and... *SMASH* /Sigil monster defeated You receive EXP Level up! Level 67 >>> Level 81 /All stats greatly increased All skills and affinities levels increased /You receive a title Sigil hunter ...crushed it against his knee ¨C sigil first ¨C blowing it up into smithereens which prompted a series of system messages to show up just as the impregnable red and ck barrier turned into smoke and got blown apart by the gentle night breeze. Chapter 463: Night of the hungry wolves (9)

Chapter 463: Night of the hungry wolves (9)

"..." Caramb turned around, took a handkerchief out of his pocket, and wiped his hands, throwing the bloodied cloth away before kneeling at the body of his former master. He wasn''t the only one there. Although Mary, Arion, and Roan, got away the first chance they got, Cranberry stayed behind and watched Fillia''s corpse while everyone else was too busy watching the Cramb deal with the sigil monster. "...why are you doing this, it''s toote..." The silver-haired man asked weakly, not even looking at the red-haired girl while she was finishing using her magic to close the horrible wounds dealt on the body of the pale thin girl. "...she saved me... leaving her like this would be a disgrace..." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders, simrly not looking at the old man. Once she finished, she looked at him and pointed her hand at the gaping wound in his chest, and began healing it too. "Give it a rest, there''s no need to heal me." The silver-haired gentleman scoffed and made a bitter expression. "...you can hate me, you know? Fig... Or rather, Fillia, died because she wanted to help me." The red-haired girl spoke calmly, although her hands trembled as she was finishing her sentence. "...no. She didn''t know about that potion that would drive the werewolves mad, she didn''t know about this whole Eternal bullshit..." Caramb shook his head and clenched his fists. "...say, mister... do you want to get revenge...?" Cranberry asked. "I already did. Now I guess I let myself be killed by either, Envys, Prides, or Gluttonys. I don''t care who will finish me." The old man shrugged his shoulders and breathed out. "Do you think that the sigil on that monster''s head was just a random mark? You might have killed the ones who were directly responsible for Fillia''s death, but what about the one who gave them the strength?" "..." Cranberry said slowly, making the old man raise his head and look directly at her for the first time after approaching Fillia''s body. "The monster is known as Eternal ¨C in the ancient elven archives, there is a very special book. In that book, a wiseman of old wrote down a prophecy about the monster that one day will threaten the world, and destroy it unless someone will stop it. The elves call it a prophecy of the Eternal, the beast that will purge the world." Cranberry said and looked at the silent old man. "That beast is sealed away but their vile power is sipping out and turning monsters into the sigil monsters, just like the one you killed. The Eternal is the one responsible for Fillia''s death. Are you telling me that you want to die before she is properly avenged...?" The red-haired girl frowned and red furiously at the expressionless old man. "Are you saying that you want to fight against this whole world-ending monster?" Caramb scoffed mockingly, shaking his head in disbelief. "Ths isn''t the first sigil monster I encountered. Up until now my familiar was the one who wanted to kill the Eternal, and I simply wanted to help him because I like this world... but now I have a personal reason for that..." The red-haired girl looked down at the lifeless body of the girl who protected her and ¨C willingly or not ¨C sacrificed her life for her. The smile sickly-looking girl gave her before dying at the jaws of the werewolf wasn''t an expression of hatred ¨C Fillia was genuinely happy to see Cranberry safe on the other side of the barrier. "..." Caramb observed the red-haired girl in silence. During his life, he learned to recognize when people were lying to him and he could not sense any falsehood in the red-haired girl''s words. He looked down at the body of his former master and touched the scar left by the wound dealt with him by the sigil werewolf. Deep inside his chest ¨C far deeper than the monster''s ws ever managed to reach, he felt the soft pulse of the loyalty skill, acting up on its own. He experienced loyalty being rowdy many times before he was forced to join the Envy family, but it never felt quite like this... ...before it felt impatient, angry even, but now... ...as odd as it sounds, while Caramb was looking at the red-haired girl in front of him, loyalty felt as if it was happy ¨C as if it has found its long-lost friend, and was jumping from joy, happily anticipating the connection... "..." The old man looked to the side and sighed. The youngdy of the Pride house could be lying to him, he knew that, honestly, he wasn''t even convinced about that whole prophecy of the Eternal... ...but the red-haired girl was the one that Fillia wanted to protect, she also desperately tried to break into the barrier to help Fillia while she was getting attacked, and finally, she was respectful and healed Fillia''s body... "...I am an old sentimental fool..." Caramb breathed out shaking his head at himself over the decision he had already made. "Miss Cranberry Pride. My name is Caramb Loyalty. I offer you my service." The silver-haired gentleman began glowing with white light that had a bit of a violet shine to it and bowed his head to the red-haired girl. "..." Cranberry faced him and blinked a few times. She knew his surname ¨C she read in the books in the mansion''s library that in the past the Loyalty family was the most trustworthy ally of the Pride family ¨C but their paths split apart in the past. She instinctively felt that both the light surrounding the old man and his choice of words were not coincidental... But that would mean that the unique skill of the Loyalty family reappeared after many years... "I ept your service, sir Caramb." She nodded and the slightly violet white light momentarily enveloped her body connecting her with Caramb before disappearing. "I am at your service now, mydy." The old man spoke and bowed his head even deeper. "Good. Oh, but you are mistaken about one thing." Cranberry nodded briefly before flinching and raising her left hand. "It''s Mrs, not Miss. I am married to my familiar, Zombie. You better remember that if you want to be my servant." She exined wiggling her ring finger, showing off the ancient wedding ring. --- "Monty... I asked you to leave a weapon for the prince-boy to use, but not really that strong one - he was almost able to fight off those weaklings." The humanoid de, Kopia, furrowed her brows andined, poking at the head of a long golden snake wrapped around her ear posing as an extravagant earring, while watching the backstory event wrapping up from the top of the roof of the Prides mansion. "...Sorry, I got a little bit too lucky while creating it..." The golden snake answered clearly - thanks to the bigger body which was in fact an outer shell capable of producing human speech created by Monty after begrudgingly epting the advice given by the half-nt centipede, George. "Apology not epted! As a punishment you will have to create a weapon that''s will be ten times as strong as that big sword for my snack!" The crimson-haired humanoid sword pouted her cheeks and looked away - though that action was kind of pointless because the golden snake was on her ear and as she moved her head, it moved together with her - but the message remained the same. "Wha...?! Ten times?! Cut me some ck, please...!" Monty gasped and untangled itself from Kopia''s ear enough so that it could enter her field of vision. "...you said you like me but you don''t want to make a snack that''s better than the one you gave the prince-boy...?" The humanoid sword pouted even more but this time her shoulders slumped and she sounded actually sad this time. "Ah! I''ll make it! I''ll make you a sword that is ten times better! No, eleven times better!" Monty flinched and hurriedly promised. "Te-he~! Thank you, Monty, I love you!" After she heard that, Kopia instantly brightened up and giggled, gently pushing the golden snake''s head to her cheek and nuzzling against it. Chapter 464: Its almost time~!

Chapter 464: It''s almost time~!

Two orbs, the bigger one violet and the smaller one white, were floating through the darkness cozily snuggling to each other. They didn''t even talk or anything, simply content with each other closeness. |...ha... Zombie, I guess that it''s already time to tell you this.| Suddenly, the white orb fidgeted said after breathing out with a hint of annoyance that the cuddling time had toe to a stop. |What is it? Did something happen?!| The violet orb flinched and tensed up in worry. |Nothing bad ¨C I just want to inform you that the night of the hungry wolves event has beenpleted just as it was required for unlocking the secret ending that we want to aplish.| The white orb reported in a calm andposed voice... |Are you sure?! No, wait ¨C first of all, has it really been so long? I lost track of time ages ago! Or maybe only an hour ago... this ce is really messing with my mind.| ...but even so, it sparked a rather explosive reaction from the violet orb that started bouncing and spinning all over the ce before stopping and voicing a concern. |Everything is fine, just as I told you so, you know ¨C that backstory event ended in the correct way four years ago, so it is almost time for the global event to start ¨C and if so, the time that you will be able to break through your seal is right about the corner too~!| |...wha...?| The white orb dered with cheerful confidence ¨C making the violet orb back off taken aback. |What do you mean it ended four years ago?! But..! What...? So, what, we''ve been sealed here for over eight years already?!| The violet orb gasped in disbelief, sounding as if it was ring at the white orb. |Well... that''s how things are supposed to be for the secret ending to happen, you know...?| The white orb shyly rolled around the violet one and exined bashfully. |Your favorite overseer had messed around a lot during the first ythrough and that''s why the global event activated far too early... From the very beginning, the roles should be given out when the main cast is over eighteen ¨C like it is now.| The white orb added, stopping and starting to roll around in the opposite direction. |I''m pretty sure I''ve told exined it all before though...| She sounded as if she furrowed her brows trying to remember things properly. |Oh well. The only thing we are waiting for right now is for your kept man skill to rank up into acedia, and for it to be rejected, returned to the sin of origin nucleus ¨C that means this ce ¨C and then return as EXP to level up your superbia so the queen''s greed-based skill will increase the fuel consumption and turn off ¨C ultimately freeing you!| The white orb bounced up in excitement, watched by the speechless violet orb. |What? Is it tooplicated or something? Don''t worry ¨C this ythrough''s Cranberry and Roan will get to your physical body just in time for that to happen, so you won''t have to wander your way out.| She added. |...| |Are you angry...?| She asked when only silence responded to her. |What will those two?be doing in the secret treasury of the queen?| The violet orb finally answered, sounding rather unconvinced. |Looking for you, obviously ¨C after all, I told Kopia that once the global event starts, she can stop holding that girl back ¨C and don''t worry, I told her to still keep an eye on her until you properly wake up, just in case. Praise me.| The white orb answered, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders and then demanded to shower her with gratitude and affection, losing all the pretense of bashfulness is was trying to keep up so hard before. |Praise? Praise what? Your stubbornness or cheekiness?| The violet orb scoffed, rapidly spinning from right to left. |Ha ha! You might be saying that now, but you know that you love me~!| The white orb let out a short, bark-likeugh and dered, trying to pull a reverse card on the violet orb. |I do. But you really making it hard for me, you know? Do you want me to say I hate you for a change?| |...nngh...!| The violet orb sounded as if he shrugged his shoulders and effortlessly deflected the provocation right back to the white orb that gasped as if she received an actual attack. |So, anyway~ How long until our rescuers show up?| The violet orb smirked and asked curiously. |...haa... The global event just started, and Kopia should tell Cranberry that it''s okay to go for you, so let''s say... around two or three.| The white orb breathed out and revealed with hesitation. |Two or three what? Weeks? Days? Hours...?| The violet orb asked, eager to get the actual, non-vague answer. |Minutes.| |!!!!!| The white orb answered dismissively, causing the violet orb to jolt in shock. |Don''t act so surprised, Zombie ¨C after all, the viiness and the main capture target are in the middle of nning how to rescue the heroine from the forced arranged marriage with the awful Durian Greed. She added, casually dropping the equivalent of a megaton bomb of exposition. |THEY ARE WHAT?!| Even though it was impossible to actually achieve in the separate ne of existence the two orbs were in, the violet orb sure did try to shout so loud that the air would tremble. |Oh, right. Funny story, actually, you see ¨C the forced marriage that Cranberry from the first ythrough was almost forced to by that trash of a mother of hers ¨C that was actually the story event repurposed by your favorite system overseer. It was originally meant to be the first event of the game - The valiant prince learns about the evil scheme of his uncle and rushes to save the heroine in distress~| The white orb exined casually, making use of the violet orb petrification, and rolled over to snuggle up to him. |Anyway ¨C as she is already in the pce, your viiness will drop everything and rush to you, taking the prince with her ¨C isn''t that a lucky coincidence?| She asked giggling. |I''m kidding~! There''s no luck involved. That''s how things are ying out thanks to your hard work with setting it all up! Congrattions!| The white orb added nuzzling against the violet orb. |Pati... WHAT. THE. FU...!| Chapter 465: The roles have been selected

Chapter 465: The roles have been selected

"Alright, let''s get over this whole mess once again..." The tall red-haired freckled neen-year-old girl with an upturned nose and evil look in her eyes massaged her forehead and leaned back in her chair. "How this could even happen? Ah, thank you, Caramb." She added, putting her hand down and adjusting her position when a silver-haired gentleman came over and left two cups of honey tea in front of her and her conversation partner. "Drink it while it''s hot, Mrs, the honey of the fire bees loses its rejuvenating properties once it gets too cold." The old butler smiled softly and nodded to the girl, kind of ignoring the other person, before backing off next to the door as if guarding the room against any unwanted visitors. ...actually, there was no ''as if'' about his behavior because he was actually guarding the door, as his body was already releasing a white light of the readied skills... "I can''t believe this is actually happening, why are we even talking about it ¨C we should be acting instead!" The third person in the room finally spoke up ¨C though their loud voice was reaching the volume of a shout rather than a calm conversation that the red-haired girl started. It was none other than Roan Greed, a neen-year-old first prince of the Fruit Sd kingdom. The blond-haired young man''s handsome face perfectly fit one''s image of prince charming ¨C even at that moment when the blond prince was nervously tapping his foot and rubbing his hands together, making snapping noises with his knuckles. "Roan. We are talking about it now so that we could solve this situation without putting Mary and her family in danger. So drink your tea, you look awful. Have you even slept?" The red-haired girl ¨C who could not be anyone else except Cranberry Pride ¨C frowned and motioned at the dark bags under the prince''s eyes, pushing the second teacup closer towards the restless young man. "How could I have a wink of sleep when Mary got sold out to that brute?!" Roan growled through his teeth, but nheless, he ended up picking the teacup and taking a sip of the steaming beverage. "...guh...! Mister Caramb, did you put alcohol in this?" ..and he instantly choked and coughed at the unexpected ''kick'' that the supposed tea had. "There''s no need to ''add'' an alcohol to the honey of the fire bees, my prince ¨C the bees add it to the honey on their own and use it to keep it hot, that''s why their beehives are always on fire." "Ah... so that''s why mother never allowed me to drink it when I was younger..." Roan nodded and took another sip ¨C when he was prepared both for the temperature and the alcohol, he drank the beverage without making a scene. "..." Cranberry observed him with a raised brow for a few seconds before picking up her own teacup and downing t in one gulp. "...haa... First of all, Mary did not get sold out ¨C as a member of the Greed family yourself, you should be aware of how little the lower and middle-tier families have to say when faced with the demanding from a member of one of the seven main families." She put the cup back and faced the concerned prince. "...he''s just someone from the branch family..." Roan scoffed and looked away. "But he is your mother''s cousin, so your uncle. And branch family or not, wasn''t he growing in power considerably the past few years? Don''t tell me you didn''t hear the staff at the guildin that Durian is ''stealing'' promising adventurers right from their noses." The red-haired girl tilted her head while shrugging and leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table that was separating her from the prince. "...you''re not wrong... the worst part of that is that my mother knew about that guy expanding his influence and didn''t do a damn thing about it!" Roan gritted his teeth, barely able to stop himself from spitting to the side in disgust. "That''s not even the worst part ¨C I know for sure that when a monster that was illegally transported into the kingdom as a gift for that bastard and escaped ¨C my mother went and used her power to cover the whole story up!" He added, seething with anger. "That. Exactly that bothers me." Cranberry pointed her index finger at the blond prince and straightened her back. "Huh...?" Roan furrowed his brows and looked at her in confusion. "Don''t ''huh'' me. Think about it ¨C If the escaped monster was wreaking havoc, Durian could have denied all responsibility. After all, if the creature was supposed to be a gift, he could always just push all fault at the people who wanted to give it to him and say he never wanted it..." "Pffft...! That''s what concerns you?! Durian is a Greed! I can assure you that none of us had ever rejected a present, for goodness sake!" Roan snorted and interrupted Cranberry''s theory ¨C which earned him a cold re from the red-haired girl herself and an even colder re of the silver-haired gentleman by the door. "...sorry... please continue..." The blond prince realized his mistake and hurriedly apologized and started sipping on his tea to demonstrate that he will not cut into Cranberry''s train of thoughts. "...haa... I said that Durian could use it as an excuse, not that he wouldn''t actually want the so-called present. Anyway..." The red-haired girl breathed out and continued the exnation. "Why would he need a monster ¨C didn''t his unique magic work only on humans...?" She added, raising her brow and looking up at the blond prince. "I''m not sure about the detail ¨C it''s just like I told you before, Durian''s ve crest magic has two modes. If epted willingly ¨C it boosts the target EXP gain, increases the speed of leveling up the skills, as well as removing the level cap from the skills, while if the target refuses ¨C as long as their MDF isn''t high enough to resist it, it turns them into obedient ves with little to no free will on their own ¨C in both cases, he gains the ess to the skills of his ves. I have no idea whether that works for monsters or not ¨C but what would be the point anyways? Humans have ess to much better skills than monsters." Roan said with concern, massaging his temples recalling all the details he found out about his uncle''s power. "Well, whether his magic works on the monsters or not, he clearly seems interested in the possibility of controlling them ¨C I can''t imagine another reason for him to suddenly get interested in Mary..." "...!" "...?" Cranberry frowned, but then furrowed her brows at Roan when the blond prince fidgeted at her words. "What?" She nodded at him to speak up. "Well.. you know... there is an obvious reason why the old creep could be interested in a young beautiful girl like Mary..." Roan blushed and exined in an embarrassed voice. "You..." Cranberry opened her mouth and was about to respond to that, but then... /Global event begins /Calcting... /Preparationplete /The roles have been asigned /You receive a role Viiness A series of messages blocked her vision and caused her to forget what was she going to say. "What in the...?! A GLOBAL EVENT?!" The blond prince in front of her raised his voice, staring in disbelief at his own messages. But then, as if the rare phenomenon that was known to change the course of history each time it happened, suddenly starting wasn''t enough of a shock... "Hey, red girl. The global event started, right?" A small, sword-shaped pendant on the girl''s neck vibrated and let out a high-pitched noise that turned into words. "Since it started, it''s okay for you to go to get my master now!" The sword-shaped pendant didn''t even wait for the confirmation and cheered out loud, going as far as to bounce up and release a white light of skill from excitement. "!!!!!" Cranberry''s jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Then, she stood up from her seat and looked between the confused Roan and Caramb. "What are you two staring at! We''re going to get my husband!" She dered and kicked the table out of her way, going for the blond prince and forcing him to stand up. "You told me before that you know where your mother keeps him! Take me there, now!" She dered in a domineering voice. Chapter 466: The talk in the throne room

Chapter 466: The talk in the throne room

/Global event begins /Calcting... /Preparationplete /The roles have been asigned /You receive a role Prince''s mother "...I see..." The blond-haired queen furrowed her brows, ring at the system messages that popped up right in front of her. "You have to excuse me,dies and gentlemen, but as you can surely see for yourself, something rather unexpected happened. I hereby dismiss you from this audience ¨C you all will be called at ater day." She stood up from the intimidating throne and waved her hand at the nobles gathered below. "...your majesty...!" Luckily ¨C for them, that is ¨C all the people gathered knew what something as huge as a global event starting would entail and all left the throne room in a hurry just as the queen had requested... What will the future hold for their entire world? A shift in power? Great war? Or maybe an eradication of one race from the intelligent races they know today? Honestly, everything was possible as each of that oues had happened already in the past whenever the global event had begun. "..." The blond woman calmly waited until the final noble left and only when the massive door closed, she turned to one of the servants waiting by the wall behind the throne. "Bring me the royal librarian and Quince ¨C immediately!" She demanded in a voice that suggested that severe consequences will be waiting for the tardy servants who won''t take the task seriously. "Yes, your majesty!" All of the servants left immediately, leaving the queen all alone in the throne room with her thoughts ¨C and fury. What will happen now ¨C and more importantly, where does the role of the prince''s mother stands ¨C is it important or not? Will she be snubbed by the system and future historians will know her only because of her role and not of the many vital changes that lead to the kingdom''s prosperity? "..." The woman gritted her teeth and sat back on her throne, alone with her thoughts ¨C until around three minutester... "Frown more ¨C I likeforting you after youin that it makes you get more wrinkles." ...a tall, muscr man with short, dark-gold hair and yellow eyes appeared right below the throne in the sh of the white light and grinned cheekily at the queen, showing little to no expected courtesy towards a kingdom''s monarch. "Quince. What role did you get?" The queen wasn''t in the chatty mood and went straight for the important question. "Royal protector / background character." The man shrugged his shoulders and revealed without trying to y around. "Nothing about being the prince''s father...?" The woman raised her brow in suspicion, "Nope, don''t worry ¨C nothing wille up if appraised ¨C unless someone heard you mentioning our little secret." Quince shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes dismissively. "But aside from that..." He then raised his hand... /Avatar of greed attempted to influence the avatar of pride with an inferior skill /Calcting... /Avatar of greed receives a penalty MDF, MAT, LUC, -25% for the next 2 hours /(01:59:59) /(01:59:58) "...what in the system...?!" "...?" ...as if he had caused it ¨C another system message had shown up for the queen, making her stand up from the throne and gasp bing pale as a ghost staring bbergasted at the timer counting down in the upper right corner of her vision, which in turn caused Quince to lean back and look at her with concern as if she had lost her mind. But to the queen''s defense ¨C she wasn''t wrong to be surprised, after all, how was it possible for her to get penalized for using a skill against the avatar of pride? She was sure that she hasn''t been using her skills against any other avatar ¨C especially the avatar of pride since ¨C because even though it wasn''t disclosed to the public - after the rather unfortunate demise ofdy Raspberry Pride, the title of the avatar had not returned to its original owner, lord ckberry and their daughter, Cranberry ¨C a friend of the queen''s son, Roan ¨C did not receive it either. "..." "What''s wrong...? You have artifacts against magic attacks, right?" The muscr man asked, taking a step forward towards the throne and reaching out his hand towards the petrified queen. ...though... there was one option... ...an option that SHOULD be impossible, since only yer characters should be able to receive the title of the avatar of sin, as no monster had the authority to wield it but... ...if ¨C and only if ¨C it was possible for a monster... ...wasn''t there a monster who was reported to frequently use skills producing violet light just like the pride-based skills did...? ...not to mention that apparently, he showed off a skill that was eerily simr to overpower ¨C the most broken skill out of the avatar of sin arsenal... he was also allegedly caught speaking about superbia a few times... ¡­and, worst ¨C or best ¨C of all... ...wasn''t that monster ''stored away in the royal castle''s hidden underground chamber...? "QUINCE! GET TO MY PRIVATE TREASURY IMMEDIATELY!" The woman waved her hand and shouted in panic,pletely losing her cool. There were too many disturbing coincidences happening one after the other...! What if that blue undead was involved in the global event?! "Whoa, hold up right there ¨C didn''t you yourself demand for a plethora of traps that would work against the teleportation skill to be put in ce in that treasury of yours as well as the way leading there? What, do you want to get rid of me after all? No, thanks." The man frowned and shook his hand dismissively. "THEN DON''T TELEPORT THERE AND JUST RUN, YOU LAZY DUMBASS!" The queen howled and red down at the most powerful bodyguard at her disposal. "What for?" But even though the blond woman had lost her temper ¨C the man in front of her remained calm andposed. "...the undead that is sealed off there ¨C if he is free, bring him to me." And surprisingly, it looked like hisposure had helped the queen regain hers, as she sat down on the edge of the throne and began calming her breath. "An undead? And if he will try to attack me?" Quince inquired curiously. "If he is free and lost his mind ¨C kill him." The queen dered with a shrug. Chapter 467: Into the secret treasury... (1)

Chapter 467: Into the secret treasury... (1)

"...mister Caramb, on one hand I appreciate your help, but on the other... something inside me is deeply disturbed how easily you are dispatching all the traps that my mother order to put in ce..." The blond prince sighed with a mixed expression while watching the silver-haired gentleman touch the wall of the eerie cobweb-covered secret hallway - they entered through a secret passage through a locked cell in the royal-castle''s dungeon ¨C have his body sh white as he used some sort of skill and nod to himself in satisfaction before crouching and repeating the same action but with the floor. "Magic traps set by skills have the rather obvious w of being dependant on mana. Even if a magic stone is set in ce to keep it nice and active, the skill will disappear once the mana is depleted." Caramb stood up and shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Those... those are really expensive you know...?" The blond prince made a horrified expression once he realized how much money goes down the drain each time Carambloa drains new magic crystal dry to deactivate the next trap. "Give it a rest, Roan, or what, are you trying to tell us that you wanted to test your ''luck'' against the traps here?" The red-haired Cranberry raised her brow and scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "I... ugh... You know what ¨C I will not pick a fight I know I can''t win." Roan frowned, looking away with a bitter expression. "I will, although, ask for mister Caramb''s help with rescuing Mary, though." But then he turned right back and said, making eye contact with the red-haired girl. "Think about it aspensation for me leading you here... And I don''t think I need to tell you this ¨C but once inside ¨C please don''t even touch anything that''s in there. My mother will not let me get away with it if anything will go missing." The blond prince added, shivering at the mere thought. "I will not touch anything that isn''t rightfully mine. I just want my husband back." Cranberry had no problem promising that as she honestly could think only about her blue familiar that was taken away from her. "About that, mydy..." After the girl''s statement, the silver-haired gentleman flinched and turned around to look at her curiously. "Why didn''t you try to save him sooner? I know that it has something to do with that precarious ne of yours, but... what it actually is...? I''ve heard a voiceing from it on a couple of asions, so is it somemunication device? Is someone threatening you and forcing you toply with their demands? Why haven''t you told me about it sooner ¨C I will track them down and deal with them as soon as young lord Zombie will be safe." The older gentleman dered while disarming another dangerous obstacle ¨C and with each one he would be more proficient and faster, making their group pick up a quite good walking speed. "Ha? Wait, are you telling me you never actually met Kopia?" Cranberry blinked a few times in confusion and asked the silver-haired butler. "Kopia? Is that the name of the mastermind behind this ne? Oh, do not step on this brick ¨C it will activate a physical trap." Caramb asked before pointing at the stone on the floor that looked exactly the same as every other stone next to it while cautiously walking around it, making sure that the two young adults would follow his steps. "You''re a mastermind!" "...?" Suddenly, the sword-shaped pendant that Cranberry was wearing started vibrating and released a high-pitched noise that turned into angry words ¨C words that made Caramb furrow his brows in bewilderment. "You will see her other formter, once we free my Zombie ¨C the only thing you need to know right now is that this pendant is actually a shape-shifting sentient sword that belongs to my husband." The red-haired girl exined, pointing her thumb at the small pendant that was shaking from anger directed towards the old man. "As you should have noticed by that wittyeback ¨C she''s an idiot. But you did hit a bullseye with figuring out that she threatens me ¨C if not for her I would have made sure that Roan would lead me to this damned ce a long time ago." "No, you''re an idiot!" She added, ring down at the pendant who shouted back at her in the exact same way as it responded to the silver-haired gentleman just a bit earlier. "...then... what is the reason for you to keep wearing it...? Although you did not have it on that night four years ago, after that I''ve seen it on your neck all the time." The old man was already at such a level of trap-disarming mastery, that he could freely chat while finding and draining mana out of the magic stones hidden within walls, floor, and the ceiling. "Haa... Because I can''t take her off for the same reason I can''t really disobey her? She''s way too strong." The red-haired girl sighed andined, shaking her head. "How about me removing it then? If I''ll drain the mana that makes it work..." Caramb asked, already reaching out to Cranberry''s neck, but... "Oldie, what do you want to aplish by trying to drain something that isn''t even there in the first ce?" "...!" The sword-shaped pendant swung from left to right and asked in a shockingly menacing tone that made the silver-haired gentleman subconsciously take back his hand before he realized what he was doing. "Mydy, this thing..." The old butler furrowed his brows and looked up at Cranberry''s face, waiting for confirmation of that statement. "Is speaking the truth. Haaaaaa... Anyway ¨C she said that she is making sure that the story will go in such a way that the Eternal will be destroyed so I hope you understand why I''m putting up with her." Cranberry answered him immediately though she did not look very pleased. "You''re putting up with me? But you always talk back so much!" The sword-shaped pendant didn''t quite agree with her though. "Yes, but it always only ends with talking ¨C if I actually wanted to fight back ¨C I would do it with magic." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, are we there yet?" She breathed out andined, ring between the blond prince and the silver-haired butler. "Yes, actually ¨C the hidden door should be somewhere in this area." Roan, who was staying out of the three-way conversation spoke up and pointed at the piece of wall that waspletely indistinguishable from the rest. "You sure that it''s not just a trap? It has the mana reading identical to just another trap..." Caramb spoke slowly, inspecting the part of the wall pointed by the prince. "Just press it ¨C mister Caramb, I want to enlist your help ¨C I would not wish to trick you and ruin the chance." He assured him. "..." The old gentleman squinted his eyes at him but after ncing at the red-haired girl who gave him an encouraging nod, he sighed and pressed the seemingly random brick... *click* *hshaaa* Something made a dry sound but instead of a trap threatening their lives ¨C what happened was for the piece of wall swiftly open up with the sound simr to a silent whisper, and revealed... ...a sturdy-looking door with an extremely small keyhole. "Nnnn... Monty''s not here, so I''ll do it, I guess." "!!!!" Everyone got equally surprised when the sword-shaped pendant spoke up and released a few crimson strands that reached out towards the keyhole and crawled inside. *click* An identical dry sound was heard and the door popped away from the doorframe, waiting to be opened ¨C which the impatient Cranberry went for even before Caramb could do it himself. And then, inside the secret treasury of the avatar of greed...! "Dear heavens...!" The old gentleman gasped and backed off at the mind-blowing sight. Chapter 468: Into the secret treasury... (2)

Chapter 468: Into the secret treasury... (2)

The three humans cautiously entered the secret chamber. The private treasury of the Greed family ¨C where each monarch would meticulously store the surplus of gold from the kingdom''s official treasury. It was both a deal and a requirement that the first Greed had with the other avatars of sin when they were creating the Fruit Sd kingdom... ...as long as the official treasury is full, the avatar of greed is allowed to take the rest for themselves... Such an arrangement was made so that the future of the kingdom could be assured at any time... but it should be more than obvious that Greeds found an easy way around it ¨C making the official treasury smaller and whatnot, for example. Because of that, the private treasury of the avatars of greed through the history of the kingdom was always the one decked out to a ridiculous extent even if the country was ravaged by famine. Hence ¨C the initial exasperated gasp of the silver-haired Caramb, who was well aware of the fact. His gasp and utter shock were all in ce, considering that all the mountains of gold bs and coins, hills of precious stones of various shapes and colors, mounds of artifacts with amazing skills and abilities, and piles of priceless works of art... ...were nowhere to be seen... Caramb, Roan, and Cranberry were all greeted by a dark, dusty room of roughly the same size as the throne room in the castle above the ground level and a single chest ced under the wall opposite to the entrance. ...alright, fine- Caramb wasn''t gasping at the emptiness ¨C what took his attention was the thing pinned to the wall right above the chest. The thing, or rather a person ¨C a male - had the shape of a teenage human wearing only long ckish pants that seemed to have lost their color thorough the years ¨C while hispletely blue, bare muscr torso was out there for all to see. What kept him pinned to the wall was a set of peculiar shackles ¨C the handcuffs that covered the prisoner''s whole hands, bolted to the wall with no room for any movement, a tight cor, simrly bolted to the wall, and a half-mask covering the prisoner''s upper half of the face that was attached to the wall with a chain at its back. Out of the whole set, only the cor looked like it was supposed to open ¨C seemingly to allow the prisoner to hang down and be fed ¨C but considering the amount of dust gathered both on the floor and thepletely still prisoner, it was obvious that this ce hadn''t been visited for a long time. There was also one more detail that added to the overall shock. The rescue party was able to see all those details not because of some night vision skills that they were using, but rather a light-blue light that the hanging prisoner was producing, lighting up the whole room. "...by any chance... did we enter the wrong room...?" Caramb moved in front of the red-haired girl taking a defensive stance, ready to intercept any possible dangering their way. "How many secret treasure rooms do we have here?!" The blond-haired prince managed to shake off his bewilderment and scoffed at the silver-haired gentleman for an out-of-ce joke. "More than you thought apparently, my prince ¨C this one here for example hosts someone using sloth-based skills as shown by the color of the light. Thest time I met him, young lord Zombie was emitting violet light that matched the pride-based skills. Not to mention that this ce can hardly be called a treasury..." The old man shrugged his shoulders and looked around with an unimpressed expression. "...unless the real treasure was the dust your mother gathered here through the years..." He added slightly mockingly, moving his leg around and leaving a trail in the thickyer covering the floor of unidentifiable color. "This is the right room!" Roan frowned and waved his hand around. "All the stuff must have been moved or something, and about that undead on the wall..." "...Zombie..." He scoffed and pointed at the glowing prisoner hanging on the wall like some tasteless yet oddly tasteful decoration ¨C but instantly stopped talking once Cranberry whispered a name of her familiar and moved past him without hesitation. "Mydy! Only humans are supposed to be able to show off two colors of light while using skills ¨C the neutral white one and then the colored light reserved for the direct sin-based skills, monsters are bound to one. Although lord Zombie showed off both white and violet light ¨C there is no possible way for him to suddenly produce pale-blue light of sloth! Even humans ¨C and the restriction still includes only the avatar of sin and their heir ¨C once they learn one sin-based skill, they are locked for that sin-based branch of skills forever. That is not your husband." The old gentleman exined explicitly, but the red-haired girl didn''t react to him although she heard him just fine. "I know my Zombie when I see him." She dered, looking up at the muscr torso of the blue undead who aside from the pale-blue light did not change at all from thest time she peaked on hi... - from thest time she saw him. "But the light of the skill..." *THUMP* "!!!!!" Just as Caramb was shaking his head and repeating his argument, the prisoner hanging off the wall suddenly released a shockwave of energy that riled up the dust, and the pale-blue light intensified for just a split of a second, before shing and turning into a vibrant violet glow that could not be mistaken. That was most definitely the light of the pride-based skill. "Dear heavens..." The silver-haired gentleman gasped, taking a step back, staring in disbelief at the undead releasing a threatening aura. Carambs one pride-based skill he had in his arsenal ¨C loyalty ¨C was acting up, as if recognizing one of its kind, causing the old butler to get more and more taken aback. "See? I told you that he is my..." *whoosh* Cranberry said triumphantly, but then with just the tiniest sound, the treasure chest under the blue undead shone with yellow light and vanished into nothingness. "..." "..." "..." The three humans all looked at each other with concern ¨C and although the silver-haired butler was very much disturbed over the sudden disappearance of a wholerge storage container filled with valuables, Cranberry and Roan were the ones really concerned. "This isn''t a wrong treasury after all, is it..." The red-haired girl muttered, looking at the blond prince for confirmation. "...I... think that it''s safe to assume that this was the treasury... but... it must have been emptied by whatever skill my mother was using against Zombie." Roan gulped down his saliva and looked away from the red-haired girl and straight at the violet-glowing blue undead. "Either wishing well or even avaritia itself... And seeing the state of the room, your mother never bothered to take a look inside, so she probably didn''t even know how much wealth she was exchanging for the skill''s upkeep..." Cranberry nodded and also faced the blue undead. "We need to get out of here as soon as we can. Caramb, help me get him do...!" *CLING* *CLING* *CLING* *CLING* *CLANG* *thump* The blue undead suddenly flinched and started moving - without the need to be freed by anyone else he tore the handcuffs and cor right off the wall and broke the chain on his way down to the ground ¨C where funnily enough the end of the chain was faster tond than he was. "Haaaa... Huh...? What the hell is this shit supposed to be...?" The blue undead crouching at the same ce where the vanished chest was before, let out a long sigh before flinching and realizing that he was very much blindfolded, and his hands were encased in metal. Chapter 469: Into the secret treasury... (3)

Chapter 469: Into the secret treasury... (3)

*ng* *ng* "Hmmm... annoying..." Zombie, surrounded byplete darkness, pped his hands together ¨C but instead of producing, well, a pping sound ¨C and instead produced the noise that could only be described as metal shing against metal. That certainly wasn''t how he remembered them. "Zombie...! Zombie!" "Oh...?" Then, at first shy then much more cheerful and happy ¨C a very familiar voice called out to him and the next thing he felt was someone''s warm and alive body pressing itself against his cold dead flesh. And since he did not feel immediately repulsed by the contact, there could be only one answer for the question about that soft someone''s identity. "Cranberry? Why does it feel like I''m not wearing any shirt? And what''s with this..." *ng* *ng* "...kinky stuff...? Seriously, if I will take this stuff off and I''m in some BDSM basement ¨C I''m going to be pissed." He asked made more metal noises with his hands, and added, furrowing his brows though he was unsure whether it was being seen by the girl... ...who felt bigger than before... "...!" Which should honestly not be that surprising he was well aware that over eight years had passed already, and he stayed in the same form of the undead squire that he had then while everyone else continue to grow up. "What''s bidiesem...?" "!!!" Zombie flinched hearing the voice that should belong to the blond prince, so moved around to face the right direction. "You! Your mother better not have been messing with my body while I was out of it, you hear me? Consent is the very bare minimum of the proper session and I did not give it at any point." The blue undead dered, pointing his handcuffed hand ¨C hopefully ¨C right at the prince''s face. "Lord Zombie, please, don''t move ¨C I''ll remove the shackles for you." "...huh...?" When another voice ¨C of someone who should most definitely not be there in a situation that Zombie would consider normal ¨C joined in, the blue undead took a step back, making the girl hugging him stagger and cling to him even harder than before. "Caramb...? What are you doing here?! Ah! Wait I get it!" Zombie tilted his head in confusion and asked ¨C but then he froze and nodded in realization. "Ah! Of course! Fillia must be helping you ¨C she was Fig all along, right? Ha! She must have really taken a liking to you, Cranberry, if she even lent you her personal bodyguard!" He continued nodding with satisfaction, thinking that everything he had done must have at least help in achieving that oue. |...oh... right... I did not tell you how the night of the hungry wolves waspleted...| |...excuse me...?| The being sealed inside of the blue undead gasped in realization and sounded as if she turned from him, escaping making the eye-contact. "..." And the extremely heavy silence that befell whatever area they all were in, was enough of the indicator that things weren''t really as positive as the blue undead had hoped for. "...fine, get that stuff off of me and then you will tell me everything." Zombie scoffed and reach out his hands ¨C but he did not do that in the direction he heard Cramb''s voiceing from before. "Kopia, you''re with Cranberry, right? Just free me already." *SHING* *CLANG* His words didn''t even stop echoing in the empty room when a couple of crimson threads emerged out of the sword-shaped pendant on Cranberry''s neck and their tips all changed in tiny des that swung at Zombie''s shackles alt the same time, making Zombie smirk as all the scrap metal fell off his body and made some noise against the floor. "...hardly any difference, huh..." The blue undead pointed out at theck of the light source ¨C but his voice got muffled almost instantly by Cranberry, as the red-haired girl stuffed his face into her ample chest ¨C using the now quiterge height difference to its full extent. "You idiot...! You said that you will be back soon and you get yourself taken hostage for eight years...!" The girl, who now looked at least three to five years older than the blue undead cried out, locking Zombie in a tight embrace. "..." For a second, it seemed like the blue undead will reach out and return the embrace, but he only ended up extending his hand to the side and... "Monty." He called ut and with a sh of white light, a golden snake appeared right on his open palm. "Master! You''re back!" The little golden snake cheered out while only going with the sound ¨C without actually seeing in the darkness. "Good to see you too, Monty ¨C now, I bet you''ve eaten well this past few years ¨C did you level up your creation skill?" Zombie asked ¨C not acknowledging Cranberry''s affection but not trying to step away either. "I did! I can make really good weapons now ¨C I make snacks for Kopia all the time!" The golden snake revealed without even an ounce of hesitation ¨C though a more urate word in this context would be boast, "Nice, I see ¨C but I don''t need a weapon since I''ve got Kopia already. Instead, make me a shield ¨C the best you can ¨C you can use the most fitting stones and skills." "O-okay..." The blue undead seemed to already know that Monty was able to add both magic stones and even skills of the item he had eaten to the new item that he would create with his unique skill. "...Zombie..." Cranberry lowered her head and groaned at the top of the undead''s head, furrowing her brows and pouting at theck of attention. She should be more cautious considering the time and ce but honestly after seeing her familiar after so long was severely messing up with her decision-making process. "Where are we now? Zombie asked towards the life signature of the blond prince. "The secret private treasury of the avatar of greed. A ce where none of you should be - especially not you, prince Roan." "Wha...?! Who...?!" But the voice that answered the blue undead - and made Roan jump and gasp in shock - belonged to someone else. Someone with a much stronger life signature than everyone else in the room. "Oh. So that guy isn''t an ally that was staying guarding the escape route...?" Zombie sighed and gently pulled away from the sulking Cranberry that certainly did not want to let go of him. "Whether I am your ally or not, depends on your next action. My name is Quince and I''m here to escort you to the queen... and I bet there will be a lot of things in need of a good exnation." The new person spoke, using a skill to create a levitating orb of light that illuminated the emptied treasury and all the people inside. |Ha. That''s him. The prince''s father. Let''s just go with him for a bit.| The sealed being sounded as if she tilted her head and smirked. Chapter 470: What happens in the treasury...

Chapter 470: What happens in the treasury...

|Must I really, though...? I don''t like his attitude.| Zombieined back looking up at the muscr man that was looking as if he had nothing to worry about despite the numerical difference between him and the rescue party now reinforced by Zombie and Monty. |...haa... you just want to check out how much strength have you gained because of the sloth-based skills, don''t you...?| The being sealed within the blue undead let out a deep sight andined ¨C though, truth is told, she did not sound all that annoyed. |...| Even the silence that ensued, gave off the feeling of the sealed being thinking deeply about something. |Alright ¨C I checked the memories. There''s no quest connected to him that would be important for our ending. Although I guess that the queen would be upset about his death...? I think...? Though I''ll have you know that he is a max-level yer. They do not give level 99 for free, so he knows his way around ¨C this is not me discouraging or trying to scare you off, but your chances against him are like... ha... ten percent in your favor.| Patience exined after a moment of hesitation. |That sounds like a challenge.| Zombie smirked and reached out his hand. ******* ...and with a low unearthly sound, a considerablyrge golden kite shield appeared on his left forearm... /Proud shield equipped HP, DEF, and MDF + 15% Damage gather (level 5) passive skill added Energy release (level 5) skill added Zombie moved his arm a bit to check the design of his new equipment and nodded with satisfaction at the rather bold design of a snake reaching out for a bright red apple ¨C the apple tat was in fact a fist-sized ruby turned into a magic crystal ¨C was both eye-catchingly beautiful and threatening at the same time. "Now then. Let''s give this blue fellow some time to think. I was ordered to bring back only him... or deal with him ordingly if he refuses... as for the rest of you..." Quince looked past the blue undead at each and every member of the rescue party and mentioned towards the exit with his chin. "...get out. As I said before, there will be a need for an exnation for the state of the avatar''s private treasury ¨C but that can and will wait until the task at hand will be dealt with. Now shoo." He shooed them away with a dismissive gesture and even stepped away as if in an attempt to make them feel at ease and that he will not try to attack them on their way out. "You must be joking! I am NOT leaving my husband here for even a minute longer than necessary! You are the one who should fuck right off!" Wrong buttons were pressed and absolutely furious Cranberry stepped in front of the blue undead and raised the reverse-baseball bat scepter, ready to fight with the bodyguard sent by the queen herself. "Husband...? Even though you''re kinda ugly, it doesn''t mean that you have to set the bar that low, you know? That thing is far past its expiration date." "..." Quince furrowed his brow and waved his hand as if trying to get rid of a foul smell ¨C but the only thing he aplished was making the red-haired girl clench her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white in fury. "THUN-kyaah!" Cranberry was already halfway through the empowering the lightning-based spell when the cold finger slid down her neck making her cry out in shock and embarrassment. "What do you think you''re doing? He said he''s here to get me to the queen ¨C and I just so happen to want to have a talk with her too." Zombie ¨C who was the owner of the cold finger that went for such bold action in a rather tense situation ¨C motioned with his head at the startled Cranberry and leaned past the queen''s man to nce at the exit. "Thanks for the rescue but I will take things from now on, alright? He added giving the confused girl a little push to the back. "Oh, but, first of all, I would like to have a little talk with this guy if you don''t mind ¨C I want to make sure that I''m up to speed with how to act around the queen to not get on her bad side. Go on ahead and wait for us out of this... basement...?" The blue undead added looking at the queen''s bodyguard who was furrowing his brows while observing him. "Indeed, this is the royal castle''s basement. My prince, take your friend and her servant back to the surface and wait for us." Quince addressed Roan without taking his eyes off of the blue undead. "No. I refuse! I will not...!" "Please. I promise it won''t take long." The red-haired girl had no intention of leaving her precious familiar but she flinched once the blue undead leaned to the side and asked her with a soft smile. "...nnnn..." Cranberry tried to hold back against the gentle voice of the blue undead but ended up failing the battle and let out a cute sound of defeat. "Fine... Everyone, let''s go." She said, turning around while pouting and walking past the royal protector, taking Roan and Caramb with her. *click* They even closed the door behind them ¨C thankfully just the normal ones, that were possible to open from both sides. "What do you want to talk about with me, little undead? And why did you steal that girl''s pendant for?" Quince took a seemingly rxed pose and asked ¨C but Zombie using the life signature detection skill knew that his mana was moving around both stirred up by some sort of passive skill as well as preparing itself to be used with an active one. "Stole?" The blue undead furrowed his brows and opened his right fist a little ¨C the sword-shaped pendant fell out but was stopped from hitting the ground because of crimson threads... ...crimson threads that started climbing up the undead''s right arm before the whole thing shed white and instead of a pendant, the blue undead was holding up a simple bastard sword... "I merely took back what was mine, you know? Calling that stealing is very rude, and quite shamelessing from a thieving cat such as yourself." Zombie moved his left arm around, gouging the weight of the shield, and pointed the tip of the bastard sword at the grim-looking Quince. "Thieving cat?" The man asked raising his brow while squinting his eyes. "You did steal the queen right out of the king''s bed... or maybe even in their bed... Say, isn''t it annoying to call your own son ''my prince''?" "..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders, taking up a battle stance and activating various skills while Quince''s face lost all the easy-going feeling he had around this whole time. |...is there a reason why you always chose violence...?| |Because I like it... and I didn''t like it when he called Cranberry ugly.| Patience asked and got an immediate answer... |Ha ha~! Fine. Go wild, my violent ser... sir.| ...that certainly did not anger her... "...you''re dead..." Quince scoffed and his body released a pure white light. "It''s pronounced undead, idiot~" Zombie smirked and mocked him back while emitting a vibrant violet glow. Chapter 471: ...stays in the treasury...

Chapter 471: ...stays in the treasury...

The royal protector and the proudest corpse charged at each other at the same time. *BOOOOOOM* The empowered first hit the golden shield and produced a shockwave that shook the entire treasury causing the dust to fall off from the ceiling. /Skill level up Shield proficiency (level 2) "Khaha!" The blue undead giggled triumphantly as the system message showed up in his vision, informing him about the sweet, sweet gain only after a single exchange. "What is so funny, rotten bastard?" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *BOOOOOM* Quince asked and followed up the first punch with the whole chainbo of punches and kicks that all ended up raining down on the golden shield. /Skill level up Shield proficiency (level 3) "Pffft...! Khahahahahaha!" By the final hit, which was a powerful elbow charge that send Zombie slide across the entire room, another system message popped up for the blue undead making him burst out into even more diabolicalughter ¨C all to the increasing annoyance and anger of the muscr man who was his opponent. "BASTARD!" Quince roared ¨C though that seemed to be a shout to boost his morale or maybe even a nickname for his skill rather than an insult directed at the blue undead ¨C as he mmed his fists together causing pure-white halos to appear around his forearms ¨C three per each arm. "Since you''ve already chosen your fate, I will make it quick." The man scoffed and retreated to get himself a proper running start for another punch. *SHING* "...!" But as he was doing that, a massive ck de - that certainly wasn''t there a second ago ¨C tore through the air with a chilling sound, nicking his clothes and barely missing cutting his stomach open and giving the descriptive ''ripped abs'' a brand new meaning... "You...!" The muscr man jumped back, gluing his eyes to the blue undead who lightly swung the overbearing hunk of metal as if it was made out of paper ¨C before the de shed and turned into a spike-like sword ¨C estoc. The next moment, the smile on the blue undead''s face grew into a mortifying grin and his legs erupted with blinding white light... "!!!!!!" ...and all blood drained from the muscr man''s face as he realized what wasing next... *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The floor of the empty treasury broke down from the undead''s kick-off and seemingly within the same time frame the estoc''s tip sunk into Quince''s skin... *whoosh* *thump* ...and passed through the empty air as the muscr man teleported to the other side of the room and dropped on the floor, drenched in sweat. "...this..." *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Quince wanted to say something but another explosion shattered the southern wall ¨C the one where the exit was at ¨C and the blue undead and his estoc was already right in front of the royal protector again! "!!!!!!!!!!!!!" *whoosh* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "WHAT THE...?!" The muscr man shouted in panic when another explosion ¨C this time shattering the east wall ¨C responded before he even properly touched the ground after teleporting again! Was it that obvious where he would move on to?! *whoosh* Nheless, the only choice Quince had was to get skewered on the spike-like sword or escape. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "URHG...!" *whoosh* But with the west wall now turned into a crumbling mess, the tip of the estoc wasn''t just aimed somewhere around Quince''s body as it would be with just the blind luck ¨C the blue undead was somehow able to pinpoint his location and this time Quince almost lost an eye! He could not allow himself to make a mistake at that point ¨C one move could mean his own death. And not just by the de of the blue undead either ¨C Quince knew that if he ran away from a threat, the blond queen would not forgive him. ...and the royal protector knew all too well that anything was better than trying to escape the avatar of greed pursuit... Hence, instead of merely escaping to the corners of the treasury in attempts to get enough breathing room to attack, it was better to aggressively rush into the offensive! *whoosh* That''s why he teleported right behind the blue undead who finally seemed to have slowed down considerably ¨C and unleash a devastating uppercut at his side to crush his ribs. *WHAM* "HAAAA!" ********** *CRUSH* "?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" How that situation yed out caused Quince to freeze in utter shock. Just as he thought that he got the blue monster, the undead''s body shed white and he managed to jump up and twist himself in such a way that the man''s fist hit the gold shield right into the ruby mana crystal. Although shocked, the royal protector used the power of the halos around his forearm and made all three of them m into the golden shield, sending out waves of holy-element power erupting against the shield and washing over it, most definitely enveloping the blue undead and sending the shield into the already destroyed east wall in such an odd way that the shining piece of equipment was sticking out of the wall as if it was a lid. "What was that thing supposed to be...? Fuck...! That little shit must have been an undead lord or something...!" Quince couldn''t help himself and cursed, wiping off the sweat pouring into his eyes while breathing heavily. The teleportation was a tier 3 skill that was known for being extremely mana-hungry and he just used it in very quick session. Unfortunately, on short distance teleportation was iparably less efficient than the skill it was derived from ¨C blink ¨C and left the man drained out of mana to such an extent that the three halos he had left on his other forearm flickered, and two of them disappeared into the thin air while thest one was barely holding on "Holy shit... that was ridiculous...!" Quince shook his head and stumbled back, lightheaded from the exhaustion. He honestly did not remember thest time he felt that drained. It was as if the blue undead came up with the strategy that was created solely to use every single weak spot of Quince''s skills and fighting style against him. "Fuuck... d that it''s almost over." The royal protector nodded to himself, looking at thest weakly flickering halo around his forearm. The message about defeating a monster did not pop up so that could only mean that the undead was somehow still alive ¨C although annoying, it wasn''t all that odd, the shield must have given him the minimum of protection, and the mangled undead was surely barely holding on to his fake life. The halo empowered punch will be just the thing to finish him off. "Whoa. I messed this thing up really bad... yeah, it''s probably just his head behind it or something." Quince leaned down, looking at the shield - his fists wiped off all the intricate shapes and the shield was now just a ne golden shield with a round ruby mana stone in the middle ¨C no snake or stem and leaves to make the ruby look like an apple. The muscr man sighed onest time and straightened his back. "Now, then. Time to say goodbye, little fucker." Quince smirked, and dug his fingers into the wall, grabbing the edge of the golden shield, and raised his other hand with the white halo at the ready, to strike his opponent right as he would pry it open... *crumble* ************************* The shield moved, setting lose a pile of rubble to fall to the ground just as the ruby shed with a threatening light and a beam of white light shoot out with a low unearthly hum, straight through the Quince''s chest, sending him flying and tumbling on the destroyed floor. Then, the shield moved on its own, revealing the severely burnt blue undead, stuck in the crumbling wall like a cannonball. /High-level yer defeated You receive EXP /Skill level up Shield proficiency (level 5) "Khahaha...!" The blue undead couldn''t help himself andughed out loud while exiting the cozy hiding-hole he prepared himself with one of his attacks. "Ah, sorry, that was rude - I should honor yourst wish, I guess." Suddenly, Zombie flinched and looked towards the dirty corpse that gathered all the dust because of the sweat covering it. "Goodbye." He smirked and bowed down at the exact moment that the orb of light that Quince created went out, leaving the whole ce dark. Chapter 472 - An Easy Way Out~ (part 1)

Chapter 472 - An Easy Way Out~ (part 1)

|...what was the requirement to level up the second stomach...?| Zombie asked curiously, making his way through the darkness. |Ha ha! As if you don''t know! You even mixed the exit because of it!| The bark-likeugh responded to him as the sealed being pointed out. |You need to kill and eat at least ten high-level opponents to rank it up into tier 2 skill beast''s maw or else it stays as the tier 1 skill forever. No one else besides high-level yer character counts.| Nheless, she exined it anyways. |Ten, huh, that will be rough... Unless we will go straight to the sloth territory and nab ten recruits.| Zombie smirked and leaned down, feeling around in the darkness to find the body of the royal protector. |We could ¨C but let''s leave that as thest resort thing ¨C the avatar of sloth knows when their soldiers are dying, and it would be better if they didn''t realize that it''s because of us... his special quest is a little bit tricky, after all.| The sealed being sounded as if she was deeply pondering Zombie''s proposition but ultimately rejected it. |Alright, how will we deal with the little problem that we''ve caused for ourselves by killing that guy...?| *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* Zombie thought while his jaws and throat shone with orange light and arge chunk of Quince''s body disappeared together with a generous amount of rubble beneath it. |You''re doing it just now. With his body gone, the only thing you have to say to the queen is that Quince had run off with the content of her private treasury.| Patience sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders dismissively. *CHOMP* "Huh...?" Zombie was so shocked by that simple answer that he froze with his mouth full of the unidentifiable, awfully tasting mass, and groaned in confusion. |Didn''t you say that she is a powerful opponent before?| *crunch* *gulp* The blue undead pointed out before dealing with the mass in his mouth. |Yeah, she was ¨C before her private treasury was cleared out. Without the wealth to fuel their skills, avatars of greed are actually the most pitiful ones of the bunch ¨C and she is no different. There is nothing that she can do right now~| The sealed being exined happily. |Can''t she just move the assets out of the country''s treasury into her private treasury...?| Zombie pointed out. |Pfffft! Ha ha! As if! With the famine going around in the Wrath territory? Everyone is watching her carefully ¨C and if you will be loud enough while announcing that Quince ran off with the valuables ¨C all the people who know the secret behind the queen''s power will start acting.| The sealed being sounded as if she hopped around from joy. |Are you really sure...?| *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* Zombie asked while taking another bite and swallowing it whole. |...haa... Yes. She won''t be even able to force her son to tell the truth ¨C so if you ask Roan nicely and say that you will help him save Mary if he will lie to his mother ¨C you will be all set. After all... there will be no body to notice the truth.| The sealed being breathed out before ending up sounding as if she was smirking. |Aww... was that a pun? It was adorable!| |Sh-shut up, you rotten brain!| Zombie giggled and the embarrassed being scoffed at him. --- "You felt the rumbling too, didn''t you...? Mister Caramb, what do you think is happening there...?" The blond-haired prince looked back into the secret passage in one of the cells in the royal castle''s dungeon. "Hopefully nothing severe or we might have to get used to seeing this view every day... not you, my prince, but my master and I." The silver-haired gentleman pointed at the bars of the cells as well as the cell next to the one they were currently leaving and made a concerned expression. "Could both of you be quiet?! I''m trying to hear something!" The red-haired girl scoffed at both men and moved her hair back, showing off her ear glowing with intense white light. "..." "..." The group stayed silent for a moment, Caramb and roan nced at each other before turning back towards the focusing girl. "...did you hear something...? What is going on with those two?" Roan couldn''t help himself and asked in a worried voice, all fidgety. "I... heard my Zombie saying goodbye... and that''s all..." Cranberry''s ear stopped glowing, and she straightened her back while frowning her brows. "Goodbye? Why would he be saying that? Wait..." Roan flinched and covered his mouth with one hand in realization. "Wait, wait, wait..! No way...! Since the treasury was empty... mother will not be able to use any of the greed-based skills for a while... No way... He wouldn''t...!" The blond prince gasped and looked around in disbelief. "Who wouldn''t what...?" Cranberry frowned and tilted her head, ring at Roan, expecting him to be assuming something about Zombie. "Quince...! He is one of the three people capable of using the teleportation skill in the whole kingdom ¨C well, it the six out of seven territories, that is. He was my mother''s best bodyguard, but he would always say that he would run away if he wasn''t bound to her...!" But Roan looked up at the red-haired girl and took her byplete surprise by speaking about the muscr man who Zombie wanted to talk with. "But he always sounded soid-back while saying that! I thought for sure that he was joking, but if he was serious... now would be the best chance to abandon the kingdom...! Quince is the most efficient at teleportation out of the three that serve my mother ¨C he will not have any trouble with finding a well-paid way of life, not to mention how much will he gain for leaking all the secrets about our kingdom that he learned through the years...!" The more roan talked, the more agitated he became. "Oh-ho! I see that my timing is perfect..." "Zombie!" Right at that moment, the blue undead looking very much brought up and even slightly burnt here and there walked out of the secret passage and smirked at the prince before Cranberry jumped at him and hugged him so hard as if she was intending to never let go of him ever again. "Lord Zombie, what happened?" Caramb approached him raising his hand to use the healing spell before realizing that it would have the opposite effect on Zombie because he was an undead who take damage from the holy element. "Believe it or not, that guy went ahead and started talking about how he can finally be free, then, he mmed his fists together shouting ''bastard'' and halos appeared around his forearms - and then he said that he will be going, I said goodbye, and that asshole punched the damn wall releasing the holy energy from those damned halos, and almost killed me before he teleported away!" The blue undeadined in exasperation. "I barely survived only because of this!" He added, lifting up the messed-up golden shield with the ruby in the middle. "I knew it! Ugh...! Mother is going to be so angry...!" Roanined burying his face in his hands. |It''s all working out a little bit too well, don''t you think...?| Zombie thought to himself, squinting his eyes at the troubled prince. |That''s because before it was all downhill, now the world ispensating you for what you''ve been through~| |Pffft...! Kahahahaha! As if!| The sealed being sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders and exined ¨C causing the blue undead to almost lost it from the outburst of innerughter that shook his shoulders. |Don''t just stand there ¨C make use of this opportunity!| The sealed being added hurriedly, sounding as if she was pouting. "Yeah, I bet she will... do you mind...? Oh, well." "Kyaah~!" Zombie spoke up to the prince and tried to walk up to him, but Cranberry wasn''t going to let go of him, even after he asked ¨C so he sighed and picked her up before approaching the prince anyway, and put his hand on the blond guy''s shoulder. "Yeah, I bet she will be angry ¨C that''s why ¨C I have a big favor to ask of you." Despite how odd it all looked, the blue undead went ahead and said. Chapter 473 - An Easy Way Out~ (part 2)

Chapter 473 - An Easy Way Out~ (part 2)

"A favor? What kind of favor...?" Roan asked, backing off in suspicion ¨C capture target or not, the Greed''s blood flows strong in him and the word ''favor'' certainly set off a few rms in his head. "Oh, sorry, not the kind that you have in mind ¨C I should have called it what it really is ¨C a deal." Zombie immediately changed his approach and rested Cranberry''s weight on his left arm while waving his right one dismissively towards the blond prince full of suspicion. "First of all... were you close with that Quince guy...?" "!!!!!!" He put his hand down and asked tilting his head into Cranberry''s chest... ...and calmly straightened it and tilted it the other way once he realized his mistake ¨C but that was instantly corrected by Cranberry who leaned all in making his adjustmentpletely pointless as he ended up in the exact same position... "...no, not really...? I don''t really remember even talking with him privately...?" Roan blinked a few times, watching the pair in front of him with mild bewilderment. "Well, that''s grand. The thing is ¨C I know that the treasury was empty before I got freed and you all know that too ¨C but with Quince missing and me staying behind, it looks mighty suspicious... I would very much like if everyone - and that especially includes you, dear prince - to help me out and tell the queen that Quince was the one who cleaned out the entire treasury using some sort of artifact ¨C let''s say a storage ring." Zombie smiled brightly ¨C though for a certain reason only half of his face was visible for the blond prince. "As for what''s in it for you... let''s say that I will help you with anything you want. Limited time offer - how does it sound to you?" The blue undead asked sounding a little bit too happy... "With anything... I don''t know... Although there is a certain thing that I''m nning on doing, I already have someone else in mind..." Roan furrowed his brows and his expression became cloudy. |Ha! Look at him! He''s even looking at Caramb ¨C he wants you to up your offer. Seriously, the greed of Greeds, I swear...| The sealed being scoffed and snickered, sounding as if she was shaking her head and looking to the side. |Khahaha! Oh, I like this Roan better than the one from the first ythrough. This one has more pride in him!| Simrly, Zombieughed internally and some of his joy found its way all the way out to his face, making the bright smile turn into a wild evil grin. "Are you sure? I mean, mana drain is fine and all ¨C but you seem to forget that Kopia, Baron, Morty, and George are all my subjects ¨C when I offer to help you I do not mean toe alone." "...!" The blue undead exined, satisfied at seeing the prince''s eyes widen even though the blond youth did a splendid job of keeping his cool otherwise. "Not to mention that even if you want Caramb''s help, it doesn''t mean that I will lend him to you. Just agree on Zombie''s terms or you will end up with nothing." "!!!!!" Cranberry ¨C up until that point far too busy with nuzzling herself against the blue undead ¨C finally decided to join the conversation and dered coldly ring down at the prince ¨C whopletely lost his cool and openly flinched. It looked like he underestimated how much Cranberry actually liked her familiar ¨C and it was hard to me him... ...after all, only mentioning him a couple of times but not doing anything certainly did not scream devotion. The problem was Cranberry always wanted to do more but was under constant surveince of Kopia so she couldn''t be showing off even the fraction of her real feelings... "My prince, that is not a bad offer ¨C he did not specify that this will be a one-time deal ¨C it''s a limited time deal only for this favor. You can always try to bargain next time." The silver-haired gentleman joined in too and spoke to the blond prince with a polite bow. "..." For a moment it seemed like Roan wasn''t going to leave it like that... "Zombie, dear... um, after all, it''s really shameless of me to just cling to you in front of others... can I get down...?" The red-haired girl had some limits apparently as in the end after a rather daring session of aggressive cuddling, she fidgetted and asked the blue undead while her face got all hot and bothered. "Here." The blue undead nodded instantly and put her back on the floor without dy, and straightened his back, looking slightly up at - the now taller than him - prince. "Zombie. Before you promise Roan anything, you must know that he is nning on helping out Mary ¨C I am not opposed to the idea, but the circumstances are a bit more troublesome than our greedy prince wants to notice." Cranberry straightened her clothes and exined while pulling back her hair. "Oh? Trouble? Not my problem." Zombie furrowed his brows and shook his head. "It''s not like she is getting forced to marry some old bastard that will enve her and turn into his ything, right? I can''t imagine her needing help in any other case, anyway." "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "!!!!!!!!!!" "!!!" He added shrugging his shoulders and watching the three humans around him showcase a different level of shock and disbelief at the certain-kill uracy of his words. |HA HA! You are so ruthless! I love it!| The sealed being burst into a burst of uglyughter and sounded as if she rolled on her back pping her hands from sheer joy. |...| Zombie remained silent both in his thoughts and words ¨C calmly waiting for the confused silence to fade away. "Hmm...? What? No way? Mariifiori is getting married to some old fart?" The blue undead shook his head and gasped in shock once he saw the prince opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, in a funny-looking attempt to speak up. "She... she is..." Cranberry gulped down her saliva and nodded. "Who...?!" Zombie flinched and looked between all three humans surrounding him, feeling very much amused with leading all of them like that ¨C he certainly didn''t think that his acting was that good, but apparently, it fooled everyone. "...my.. my uncle... Durian Greed..." Roan regain his voice and muttered in shame as if having the man in his family was bringing dishonor to his family name. "And that what''s his deal...?" Zombie tilted his head and asked politely. "His deal....? His deal is that he could be Mary''s father but he pressured her family into selling her to him! That''s his deal! That bastard has a unique magic ¨C ve crest ¨C he can boost the growth of anyone who submits to him but he can just as well break someone''s spirit and force them into bing his obedient ve! We can''t just leave Mary with someone like him!" Chapter 474 - An Easy Way Out~ (part 3)

Chapter 474 - An Easy Way Out~ (part 3)

"Whoa there. Princy, you seem to really dislike that uncle of yours because of his unique magic ¨C but aren''t you too harsh? It''s not like someone is a bad person just because the system went and selfishly gave him something as evil sounding as a ve crest ¨C he might not be all that bad. Maybe you just didn''t talk with him enough ¨C just like with Quince...?" The blue undead smirked and leaned to the side, turning his smile into a crescent as his head ended up almost horizontally as he watched the blond prince''s expression turn from agitation straight into furry. "What do you know?! What, would you stay calm if Cranberry was the one in that situation?!" Roan clenched his fists and shouted, waving his hand threateningly. "Cranberry...? She would be able to hold her own no problem." "!!!" Zombie scoffed and shrugged his shoulders dismissively, making the red-haired girl blush. "But answering your question... I would go on a killing spree and kill off a bunch of his ves ¨C the ones involved and the ones not, while she would murder the shit out that foolish creep." "!!!!!!!!!" The blue undead ended up adding, making the already blushing Cranberry fidget and bush even harder. "Weird... I thought that the two of you liked each other...? If she is in danger, what are you still doing here?" Zombie doubled down and leaned down so much that he was basically touching the ground with the top of his head ¨C mocking the blond prince so much that he himself was shocked that Roan didn''t snap. "Oh. I see. So you do trust in her strength after all. Well. She does have Arion on her side, so I guess..." "Mary doesn''t have Arion at her side." "Huh...?" For the first time since the start of the conversation, someone had said something that shocked Zombie and not the other way around. "Mary doesn''t have Arion with her ¨C at the Durian''s mansion that is." Cranberry, still with a slightly pink face, spoke up and lowered her hands. "Kopia made me go back to the Prides mansion right after you got sealed off by the queen and a couple of yearster the mansion got raided by members of the Gluttony family and members of the Envy family mixed in ¨C it even was a whole system event, the night of the hungry wolves. A lot of things happened. A sigil monster killed the woman that gave birth to me. Fillia sacrificed her life to protect me. Caramb used his skill, loyalty, and became my servant, and finally ¨C the Gluttony family took back Arion! Because- believe it or not ¨C Arion wasn''t just some stray wolf and instead was a member of the Gluttony family who suffered from the curse of starvation! And he wasn''t just some run of the mile offshoot but the son of the avatar of gluttony,dy Goji herself!" She exined it all while clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN FILLIA SACRIFICED HER LIFE TO PROTECT YOU?!" "!!!!!!" "..." Out of all things that he has heard, that one was the most confusing and shocking to the blue undead ¨C and his shout made Cranberry flinch and make a pitiful expression while the silver-haired Caramb raised his brows and a soft smile appeared on his face as he misunderstood Zombie''s agitation for deep and honest concern for his former master. |Fillia?! Fillia sacrificed herself for Cranberry? She didn''t even try to steal her powers?| The blue undead gasped internally. |Is it that shocking? You were told that your setup was perfect.| The sealed being sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders dismissively. |But... but she died, right? Wasn''t it bad for the uniquely named characters to die just like that? What''s the status of the seal of the Eternal?| |Rx. It''s the same as it was eight years ago. Nothing changed because Fillia''s death was supposed to happen in this scenario ¨C it'' did not go against the system so Eternal was not bothered by it in the slightest.| Zombie was restless but the sealed being calmed him down soundingpletely indifferent to the matter. |Still... ah, fine, I''ll believe you for now.| The blue undead wanted to argue back but at that moment the machine mind skill triggered and cooled down his raging emotions, making him breathe out and shake his head. "Lord Zombie, thank you for your concern, but we got more pressing matters to discuss." Surprisingly it was the silver-haired gentleman who stepped in and raised his hands to calm down the previously agitated blue undead. "...true... But you will have to tell me everything once we have time." Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed, ring at the man who had be Cranberry''s servant. |Haa...? Are you jealous because he is Cranberry''s servant now? You are no longer the eternal servant... does it bother you...?| The sealed being sounded as if she was prodding the blue undead side while speaking shyly. |Yeah. It does ¨C obviously. But not to the point where I would do anything stupid... Though, on the side note, is Caramb a high-level yer already...?| Zombie nodded and breathed out, internally asking apletely innocent question. |...do you want to kill off Cranberry''s ally...?| |...| "So, are you telling me that Arion turned out to be a Gluttony, and his family took him back? In that case, how many tamed beasts does Mary have now?" Zombie ended up speaking out loud, not addressing the question asked by the sealed being. "How many? Just Anry, unless she picked up some other monsters along the way to the Durian''s mansion." Roan asked, taken aback, and shook his head while answering. "...who...?" Zombie boinked a couple of times and asked. "Anry is a griffin that Mary managed to tame a while back." Cranberry exined, getting lively again. "And she isn''t the only one with a griffin~! You are up for surprises once we get back home, dear~" The red-haired girl boasted and winked at the hesitant undead. "I can''t wait ¨C but first of all, we need to make sure that my situation is cleared out..." "!!!!" Zombie winked back ¨C and his wink had a far more devastating effect on the red-haired girl than hers had on him. "Well then. Back to my offer. How will it be, prince?" The blue undead turned to the blond prince and motioned at him with his chin. "You''re backing me up in front of your mother and say that Quince did run off with her wealth so that she could not bring him back ¨C and in turn, I''ll help you with getting Mary back out of the filthy paws of your creepy uncle. Do we have a deal?" Zombie asked, offering his right hand towards the blond-haired capture target. "..." Roan furrowed his brows, mauling over the answer. Then he nodded and made a determined expression. "Deal. Leave it to me ¨C I''ll make sure that in the end, my mother will not only let you go but even reward you for passing her the information about Quince''s betrayal!" Roan dered, grabbing Zombie''s hand and shaking it firmly to confirm the deal. "Don''t overdo it. Just letting me go is enough." Zombie smirked and patted the prince''s shoulder. Chapter 475 - In The Carriage Back To The Mansion

Chapter 475 - In The Carriage Back To The Mansion

"I see, so that''s what happened during my absence... You did a great job bearing with all that." Zombie nodded after Cranberry finished recounting all the events that happened while he was sealed away in the private treasury of the avatar of greed. The carriage that they were traveling in was traversing various roads smoothly on its way towards the Prides mansion. "Must have been hard." "...!" The blue undead smiled softly and reached out his right hand and started patting the head of the red-haired girl. "Still, I don''t understand howe the Envy family hasn''t been punished for their actions. Gramps ¨C what is that supposed to mean? First the centuries of kidnapping elves, then plotting against the pride family and using the Gluttony family to perform an open attack. Does Envys have something on the queen or something? I thought that the branch of their family that serves under the Greeds would be more than willing to step in and take their ce. Why is Rambutan still the head of their house?" Zombie turned his head and asked the silver-haired Caramb without ever stopping caressing Cranberry. "Lord Rambutan is currently married to the elven woman, Sk, and poses as the shining example of progress and future without discrimination ¨C young lord Mason is being trained to be the next avatar which would make him the first half-elf in such position. As for the plotting ¨C my former master''s death is used as a pity card yed against any and all allegations. Since she had been a registered heir to the throne of envy at the time of her demise, the loss is considered far greater than deaths of some servants." The old gentleman exined calmly, though his eyes looked quite terrifying as he recounted all of that. "Didn''t Prides lose the avatar of sin? Howe that doesn''t y into this? No matter what repugnant filth of a human being she was in person,dy Raspberry''s position should not be so easily dismissed." "!!!" Zombie pointed out, feeling Cranberry flinch once her birth mother''s name was said. "That is undeniably true but the Envy family pushes that part of responsibility onto the sigil monster that showed up." Caramb scoffed and shook his head in powerless anger. "Bullshit. Didn''t you yourself confirm that the werewolf who became the sigil monster was in fact the member of the Envy family who stole the transformation skill from one of the Gluttony people?" Zombie scoffed, barely able to stop himself from spitting to the side, and waved his left hand dismissively while the other was still on Cranberry''s head. "Yes, and I repeated that to the royal investigators, but my ount was discarded because Envy''s dered that my loyalty skill makes it so I can''t say anything against my master." The old man sighed and looked down, gritting his teeth in anger. "Does it do that?" Zombie raised his brows and asked curiously. "No. I can say whatever I want unless there will be something very specific that my master will order me to say or deny seeing it." The old man shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the blue undead. "Howe you didn''t walk into the Envy mansion and massacred them all?" Zombie asked him in genuine shock ¨C causing the old man to smile in amusement. "First of all, that would reflect badly on my current master. Besides, I''ve heard that recently little Rambutan had finally leveled up his Invidia quite a bit. It would be easy for him to steal my skills and the whole revenge would end up as suicide with additional steps." "...!" Caramb exined in a gentle tone that made Cranberry flinch. "I see. Hey, gramps. How about it? Once I help Roan get the Miririri out of the pickle, why don''t the two of us go to the Envy territory with a friendly visit?" "Zombie!" The blue undead smiled back at the silver-haired gentleman and asked him using the exact same tone as he did, causing the red-haired girl to call out a warning. "Shhh." The blue undead shushed the girl and pulled her down, giving her an unexpectedp-pillow while continuing to pat her head as if she was a needy cat. "Don''t worry, we won''t leave you out of the fun when the timees ¨C I want to see that ancient magic spells in action after all." "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zombie smiled leaning down and yfully rubbing the tip of his nose against Cranberry''s nose ¨C apparently setting her face on fire ¨C judging by how hard she was blushing because of his action. |Aww, look at how cute she is. Cranberry from the first ythrough would be super pissed if I silenced her like that.| The blue undeadughed internally, watching the fidgety girl on hisp gaze back at him with sparkling eyes as if even though embarrassed she was waiting for more affection toe her way. |HA! No, she would not.| The sealed being inside of him scoffed, sounding as if she was shaking her head over the outrageous im that he made. |Care to borate what do you mean...?| |No.| Zombie asked, but the sealed being''s response sounded as if she turned her back on him while saying it. "I hate to disturb an intimate moment of the married couple, but we''re almost at our destination ¨C I would advise postponing it until you two are alone... or I can stand outside and guard the carriage." Caramb let out a soft unintrusive cough and dered while looking out of the window. "Ah! We can''t be forgetting ourselves! I want you to meet someone!" Cranberry instantly sprung up from Zombie''sp and gasped all excited ¨C leaving the confused blue undead looking between her and Caramb, raising his brow. But before he could ask who was forgetting themselves, the carriage stopped and the coach person jumped down and opened the door for them. "Your lordships, we''ve arrived at the Prides mansion." The brilliantly dressed man bowed down at the ny-degree angle and make space for the passengers to exit. "Almost there, huh?" Zombie made a bitter expression and squinted his eyes at the silver-haired gentlemen. "Was I wrong?" Caramb looked to the side, yfully dodging eye contact. "...Zombie..." "...?" Suddenly, the blue undead felt that Cranberry is tugging on his sleeve, so he leaned towards her to hear her out. "Don''t get mad at him. During those four years, I''ve noticed that Caramb likes to innocently tease people that he likes." The red-haired girl leaned down and whispered to the blue undead''s ear. |Oh? Did you hear that? I suddenly feel like I don''t want to kill this gramps as much anymore.| Zombie smirked outwardly while giggling internally. Chapter 476 - A Brief Visit

Chapter 476 - A Brief Visit

"MASTER!" Before either Zombie, Cranberry, or Caramb left the carriage, the small, half-nt centipede charged inside and jump straight at the blue undead, coiling itself around his neck ¨C only halfway since it was too short topletely wrap around ¨C and cried out in an overjoyed voice. "Master, you''re finally back! I''m making the adjustment to our contract ¨C I refuse to leave your side from now on!" The green centipede dered sounding deeply moved, nuzzling his head segment against Zombie''s neck. "Now, now, George. It''s alright. I agree on that condition. Come." The blue undead smiled softly and gently caressed the bushy moss-like carapace of his subject, offering his left hand to him. "Hmph...! You better not forget it!" George gasped pitifully and jumped at the offered hand before hurriedly coiling himself around Zombie''s wrist, perfectly imitating some sort of unusual bracelet. "...I never seen George act so emotional before, he was always the most level-headed one form what I could see..." Wide-eyed Cranberry gasped in shock, staring at the half-nt centipede, nuzzling himself against Zombie''s hand even while posing as the bracelet. "He is a cute little cuddle bug, but he is good at pretending he doesn''t care." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders while gently caressing the moss-like carapace with his right hand and getting out of the carriage ¨C right in front of the Pride''s mansion where thest one of his subject was awaiting him. "(Master. It''s good to finally see you back with us.)" Baron, the red dragon the size of a jet ne from Zombie''s original world, lowered his head and greeted his master using telepathy. "Khahahaha! You really like to act high and mighty, don''t you? Good boy." "(!!!)" The blue undead burst out into a fit ofughter and rubbed Baron''s head with both hands, causing the tip of Baron''s tail to show up from behind his impressive body because it started wagging despite clear attempts on the dragon''s part to keep up the pretense of seriousness. "(I missed you, master.)" Baron sent out a message and closed his eyes and leaned in, enjoying the sensation of the cold hand on his scales. "...?" "..." Zombie noticed another creature poking its head past the red dragon but since it was very hesitant to show up, he ignored it for the moment and focused on Baron. "I''ve heard that you helped out Cranberry even though Kopia told you to not interfere." "(Ah...! That''s because... I.. I...!)" Even though there was no reproach in Zombie''s voice, the red dragon flinched and cowered, hanging his head down in guilt. "Skwee! (Hey, you, blue thing!) Skwee! (Don''t be mean to Baron!)" Once that happened, a griffin around the size of a farm horse jumped out from behind the dragon and spread her wings to make herself look bigger and more threatening. |Oh-ho...! That would be her, wouldn''t it?| Zombie smirked and asked internally, looking at the griffin screeching at him angrily. |She looks different than during the first ythrough, but that''s mainly because she never experienced the effects of your beast master skill, but that''s definitely our Blueberry.| The sealed being responded while sounding as if she couldn''t help smiling while looking at the female griffin with brown feathers covering her torso and white feathers on her wings. "(Pesky pigeon, why are you shouting at my master?)" "Skwee?! (Wha-aaaaaah?!)" Before Blueberry could do anything else ¨C since it actually looked like she was gearing up to attack the blue undead, Baron scoffed at her, unfolded his massive wing, and folded it back together with the much smaller griffin, pressing her ¨C screeching in shock - against his scaly torso. "Skwee! (Stupid Baron!) Skwee! (I''m protecting you from the mean guy!) Skwee! (Let me go!)" Blueberry screeched and tried to free herself but Baron was holding her down securely ¨C not to mention that he seemed to be very much used to this kind of behavior ¨C and since nothing she screeched seemed working at him ¨C she started lightly pecking at his side, demanding to be released. The next moment Zombie felt someone brushing past him and saw that red-haired Cranberry walk up in front of the griffin''s had ¨C because only Blueberry''s head and hind legs were sticking out from under Baron''s wing ¨C and put her hands on her sides, very much annoyed. "Blueberry! What''s with that rude behavior?! This is Zombie ¨C he is my husband, so that means he is your dad, so you better straighten up your act or I will ask Baron to not y with you for a whole day!" The red-haired girl dered, scolding the griffin. "Skweee?! (Whaaaat?!) Skwee...! (Mommy, you can''t be serious, that''s not fair!) Skwee, skwee! (That blue guy was mean to Baron, you said that daddy is a nice person!)" Blueberry fidgetted and screeched at her, arguing back. "..." "(...)" The blue undead and the red dragon looked at two the two arguing and then nced at each other. "What''s the story with that youngdy you call a pigeon?" Zombie smirked and asked, softly nudging Baron''s nose with his elbow. "(Your red girl found her once during training ¨C apparently that pigeon became her second familiar.)" Baron exined using the directed telepathic message so that only Zombie would hear his thoughts. "What about the pigeon part...?" Zombie leaned in and whispered, following the conspicuous tone of their conversation. "(What about it? She''s a pigeon so I call her a pigeon. Annoying, bothersome, and will not leave me alone unless there are some crumbs to stuff her beak with.)" The red dragon scoffed, shaking his head ¨C but when he nced back at the griffin stuffed under his wing, his eyes were full smiling. "Alright. I have some preparations to be done, so we can''t really stay here all day. I bet that you have some trick to make that pigeon of yours calm down ¨C it sounds like things are getting quite heated there..." Zombie pointed out motioning that the increasingly agitated girl and griffin shouting at each other. "(...I do, actually, master... you calm down yours, I calm down mine.)" Baron nodded and moved his head back towards his wing. "SKWEE! (YOU CAN''T JUST BRING SOME UNDEAD HOME AND SAY THAT HE IS MY FATHER, MOMMY!)" "What are you talking about ¨C I TOLD YOU ABOUT HIM FROM THE VERY START!" Blueberry was screeching at Cranberry and Cranberry was shouting back at her, but at the next moment. *mlem* *munyu* The red dragon''s split tongue brushed against feathers on top of Blueberry''s head while the blue undead raised his hand and poked Cranberry''s cheek. "...skwee...? (...eh...?)" "...?!" The griffin let out a tiny screech and lowered her head in embarrassment while her red-haired human mother got wide-eyed as the blue undead touched her face and guided her to look at him. "Blueberry is very cute, still, we do have Mary to worry about, remember?" Zombie said and pointed at the mansion. "We need to prepare." Chapter 477 - Durians Mansion (part 1) - Preparation

Chapter 477 - Durian''s Mansion (part 1) - Preparation

"Oh my fucking system...! Do you know who those two even are?!" The tall ck-haired elven woman in a full set of ancient magic robes covered in runes pulled the rest of her party to the corner of the adventurers guild and whispered, blushing from excitement. "Rx, everyone knows that this red-haired girl is a big deal. That''s the youngdy of the Pride family and her familiar..." Tha short rat-faced man in light armor made out of scales of a draconid, with multiple knives'' handles sticking out from various pouches and belts, raised his brow and looked at the elf with concern. "Her familiar?! HER FAMILIAR! That''s Zombie! Zom- fucking ¨C be!" The elven woman stared at the rat-faced man in disbelief as if he had just casually dropped some heavy insult against her. "Yes, an undead, apparently she has an undead as a familiar despite not being a necromancer. Lairs... why are you acting as if you met a hero from the ancient stories...?" The rat-faced man shook his head and asked in confusion, not picking up on what the elven woman was hinting at. "Shan-shan, you''re a fucking dumbass! That''s a name, not a species, and it''s the name of the guy who broke into the basement in the fucking Envys mansion and freed the elves! He IS a hero!" The ck-haired Lairs scoffed at him and exined with a flushed face. "Wait what...? That''s him?!" Another member of their party, a muscr male warrior slightly on the bigger side wearing a master-crafted set of mid-ranged armor, with buckler strapped to his forearm and an obsidian bastard sword at his side, joined in the conversation and gasped, raising his brows and looking back at the trio by the counter ¨C the silver-haired old butler, a tall red-haired girl holding a rather bulky scepter, and finally an undead that looked like a seventeen-year-old human boy with blue skin wielding an eye-catching golden shield with a massive ruby mana stone in the middle. "I didn''t know that the one who helped the elves was an undead monster...! And... don''t you think that he looks somewhat familiar...?" Another member of their group, an eight-foot-tall woman in imposing heavy armor with tes thicker than a human fist, holding an enormous tower shield that could easily be used as a front door to the guild, spoke in a soft voice and tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah... You''re right, he does seem familiar... But I''m sure that he wasn''t an undead when we met him before but that name... Zombie.. it does ring a bell..." The final member of their adventuring party, a big-eyed priestess in a snow-white robe wielding a holy-looking scepter with diamond-like mana crystal on top of it, nodded towards the giant woman, intently staring at the blue undead. "...really? Well, I guess we did travel quite a lot... What makes you think that he wasn''t an undead before?" The warrior frowned and asked the priestess curiously. "Because he is really cute ¨C I would definitely use my control undead on him and steal him for myslef~!" The priestessughed and yfully winked at the warrior. "Fuck me! He''s looking my way! Fuck...! I want to talk to him! You all think that he will let me talk with him even for a little bit...?" Lairs clenched her crystal ball so hard that if it wasn''t made out of the crystalized heart of the elder elemental it would shatter into million pieces from the pressure. "Geez, someone has reverted back to how she was six years ago when we were still barely scraping by to survive ¨C Laii, rx. It will be fine." The warriorughed and shook his head dismissively before approaching the ck-haired elf and patting her shoulder reassuringly. "We are no longer the Dandelions who just want to survive at all cost ¨C we are the Dandelions that can and will survive anything, of course, he will want to talk!" --- "Could you repeat that?" Zombie furrowed his brows and looked back at the guild staff member. "The Dandelions are our star adventuring party, you need to put out an application and a referral letter in order to have a meeting with them so they would decide whether or not to ept your request." The guild staff member exined, puffing out their chest, clearly boasting about the status of the adventurers working for their guild. |What kind of bullshit is this? Dandelions are strong? Not just Shanks after being unsealed, but all of them?| The blue undead honestly wanted to ask the guild staff member whether or not they are talking about the same Dandelions, but Laris, Shanks, Uresha, Rotte, and In''re were all standing only a dozen feet away from him, discussing something in the corner while wearing some impressive equipment... |Bullshit! Ten years ago I helped them with selling some monster parts so they would not have to sleep on the streets! How is that not altering the story?!| Heined unable to ept the enormous difference between the Dandelions from the first and current ythrough. |Ha ha! I always liked them. I''ve already told you that this ythrough will be different, that''s why you were sealed off and all. Same with them ¨C funnily enough, with only the minimal guidance you single-handedly inspired those guys to start taking the risk, and here you have the effects! Hey, umm. Haa...| The sealed being sounded as if she pped her hands and cheered out extremely happy to see the adventurers doing so well for themselves before she suddenly sounded timid. |What?| Zombie scoffed internally braced himself in preparation for some unreasonable demand. |Tell them you are happy that they grew so strong!| |....huh...?| The sealed being spoke up shyly, making the blue undead shake his head in confusion. |Oh, and also tell them that you want to help them rebuild an old vige at the edge of the Wraths territory ¨C that will surely trigger the quest that would be the gateway for most of the secret quests that we need!| The sealed being added hurriedly, definitely embarrassed over her own request. "My master is the heir to the Pride family, I''m sure that a faster method of contact can be arranged." Back in the outside world, Caramb smiled softly at the guild staff member and casually dropped the not-so-subtle hint about who were they dealing with. "I''m afraid that''s a no. Unless the adventurer or the adventuring party are directly supported by the nobility the procedures of contacting the high-level adventurers remain the same for everyone." ...but unfortunately, it did not work out whatsoever... "Oh, I know, but I''m sure that..." "Zombie...? Where are you going...?" The silver-haired gentleman reached to his chest pocket for the good old shining persuasion but right then the red-haired girl by his side flinched and called out after the blue undead who started walking at the adventurers conversing in the corner. "Pffft...! Look at that idiot undead ¨C priestess In''re will turn him into a puff of smoke in a second...!" "!!!" Someone in the back snickered, causing Cranberry to flinch and rush after the blue undead. But she was toote... "Yo. Sunflowers, going strong I see ¨C I guess that helping you out in the Envy''s territory was a good thing. I''m happy to see you get so strong." "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zombie raised his hand and called out to the Dandelions, causing everyone in the guild to gasp in disbelief over his rudeness. "...Sunflowers...?" Everyone except for the five members of the Dandelions who all looked at each other, stunned. "...no way... Envy territory... Zombie... and Sunflowers...?" Wide-eyed Rotte gasped, raising his hand to his mouth. "Zombie? You''re that Zombie then? The kid that was posing as the banished dwarf?!" "...!" "No fucking way...!" "YOU DIED AND TURNED INTO AN UNDEAD?! WHY DIDN''T YOU LET ME KNOW?!" Out of every Dandelion, the big-eyed In''re was the one with the strongest reaction by far. She had immediately rushed to the blue undead and grabbed both of his hands. "Why didn''t you tell me that you turned into an undead! I would have abdu... adopted you right away!" The sparkling-eyes In''re dered, caressing Zombie''s hands in a rather unsettling way... |...is this supposed to happen...?| The speechless undead thought. |Haa... yes... though it does makes me want to kill her all over again...| The sealed being breathed out sounding as if she was clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. Chapter 478 - Durians Mansion (part 2) - Preparations

Chapter 478 - Durian''s Mansion (part 2) - Preparations

"Eghm... Well, as you can see, a lot of stuff happened to me, but the same can clearly be said about you all." The blue undead forced himself to smile while trying to get his hands out from the In''re''s grip but although the short priestess wasn''t particrly strong, she was very persistent and did not take a hint at all ¨C adjusting her hands as soon as Zombie pulled his back even a little bit. "Dear system...! I- I don''t know what to say..." Rotte gasped and looked at hispanions looking for help. "What the fuck do you mean you don''t know what to say, stupid younger brother! Sir Zombie, it''s so good to see you!" The ck-haired Lairs scoffed at the warrior and basically skipped towards the blue undead but stopped at a respectful distance from him and was looking at him with eyes only a little less excited than those of the overly touchy-feely priestess. "Well... Is it really okay for us to say that it''s good to see him when he got turned into an undead...? What if he didn''t want that?" Rotte exined his point looking down, sulking after being called stupid. "Oh, fuck... you''re right...!" Lairs flinched and straightened her back. "Sir Zombie, what happened to you?! Saying that it was a lot just doesn''t cut it!" She added, making a serious expression. "Well... why don''t we just discuss it in a private room, you see I..." "Ah~! So bold! Geez~ I''m so weak when an undead has such a dominating aura~ Sure, let''s go somewhere private just the two of us~!" "!!!!!" "!!!!!" If Zombie had blood in his veins instead of the corpse venom, he would most definitely get as pale as Lairs and three other Dandelions once In''re fidgetted and giggled flirtatiously while looking up at the bbergasted blue undead. "...I actually came here with my friends because I wanted to hire you for a mission, though I was unaware that you became such important figures..." |Please, I honestly am begging you, please tell me that I just misunderstood what she said...!| Zombie somehow managed to finish his sentence but internally he was actually panicking enough so that the machine mind had to bring him back to his default emotional state. |...I vaguely remember something from the first ythrough about Lairs calling In''re a necrophiliac bitch, but... I always thought that was just because Lairs always cursed and In''re wanted to have an undead monster under hermand and not because she had those kinds of... interests...| Even the sealed being waspletely stunned. "Oh, sure, we can do that first ¨C but after that, we will have the rest of the day and the whole night all to ourselves~" ¡­Zombie honestly never expected to be scared by someone''s smile, ever, but seeing the beaming face of the innocently looking short woman in a holy garb he could not deny that even with his dead body, he felt goosebumps on his arms and neck ¨C and not the good kind of goosebumps... "Sir Zombie, please don''t mind her, she sometimes says the dumbest stuff while she is excited!" "MPFHHH...!" The rat-faced Shanks nudged Rotte and the warrior caught the overly-excited priestess and pulled her back while blocking her mouth ¨C making her whizz furiously and kick her legs up in fury. "Please, don''t think badly of her. Deep down she is a good person... I hope..." Uresha bowed her head apologetically towards the blue undead while ncing at Rotte struggling to keep In''re away from the blue undead. |She hopes?! Even that huge marshmallow can''t say anything good about that woman for certain?!| Zombie honestly felt that he should turn back and walk away, but sadly, that wasn''t an option. |Bear with her. Dandelions are literally essential for the secret true ending we want... But at least p her if she will try to touch you again... No. Don''t do that after all, she might like it...| The sealed being reminded him about it just in case, though she herself sounded disturbed, though for her it was more of jealous anger than what Zombie felt. "Anyway... I was told that I can''t see you without going through a lot of time-consuming procedures and I would really appreciate it if you at least heard us out." Zombie breathed out and said as if he wasn''t just offered some indecent proposition... "Whew... I-I mean, really? Even though we are currently free? Sir Zombie, who told you that there''s a need for some procedures...?" Shanks breathed out with relief and nodded at the blue undead, before furrowing his brows and asking in a grim tone. "Who? That one over there." Zombie shrugged his shoulders indifferently and casually pointed at the terrified guild staff member. "Eh...? Even though the written application was set up in ce only when there are too many requests...?" Uresha tilted her head in confusion ¨C kind-hearted as she was she did not expect that someone would be trying to make others go through something bothersome just to make themselves feel important, so the situation was especially odd to her. "You fucker! Who do you think you fucking are, huh?! Telling sir Zombie to go through some fucking procedure when we clearly told you that we are looking for a mission?! You wanna have a fucking go, huh?!" "Hiiih! I''m sorry!" ...but it certainly wasn''t for Lairs, as the ck-haired elven woman rushed over to the counter and pulled over the panicking guild staff member by the cor of their shirt. "...dear system..." Seeing her act like that, Shanks sighed and nced at Rotte... "Don''t look at me, I can only handle In''re and Laii one at a time." ...but the warrior shook his head while making sure that their party-healer will not ruin their reputation even more in a single day... "Miss, I''m terribly sorry for our employee, please, you wanted to go to one of the rooms in the back to have a private conversation about the mission, right? Let me lead you there." Suddenly a tinum-haired copper-eyed woman in the guild staff uniform approached Lairs and gently grabbed her arm, speaking calmly while smiling at the angered elven woman. "..." Lairs red at her for a moment, before ncing at her hand around her arm and her angry expression changed into a pout. "...yeah, sure... fuck, Sorry for the trouble..." In the end, Laris let go of the guild staff member behind the counter and nodded apologetically to the copper-eyed woman. "No one was harmed so there''s nothing to apologize for. Now. Pleasee with me." The copper-eyed woman did not let go of Lairs arm walked together with them towards the door at the back, motioning at both the Dandelions and Zombie''s group to follow her ¨C which everyone did. Almost everyone. "Sir...?" The female guild staff member turned around, looking at the blue undead staying behind. |Is Ti showing up so early also a part of this whole different scenario?| Zombie sighed internally, asking even though he knew the answer already. |Yes.| The sealed being answered him with a dismissive shrug. "Yeah, I''m going to, rx." The blue undead ended up nodding and raised his hand apologetically before joining in with Cranberry ¨C who instantly wrapped herself around his arm while ring at the priestess still securely held by the warrior in front of them. Chapter 479 - Durians Mansion (part 3) - The Arrival

Chapter 479 - Durian''s Mansion (part 3) - The Arrival

"Interesting ¨C I didn''t think that others will encounter sigil monsters... still, I kind of should expect it ¨C anyways all well that ends well, right?" The blue undead finished waving towards the group of adventuring that escorted them all the way to the Durian''s mansion and turned towards the red-haired girl, the blond-haired youth, and the silver-haired older gentleman with a smile. "What ends well? Why didn''t you ask them to cooperate with freeing Mary from that brute?!" The blond prince, Roan, scoffed and shook his head with a bitter expression. "Mainly because they do not have the invitation for the wedding and without it, the only option would be the frontal attack on the mansion, and with how your uncle''s position has been raising the past few years, even you would not be able to just shrug it off ¨C not to mention either of us or and especially not fr your poor Maple?" The blue undead nced at him and sighed, rolling his eyes exining the issue that was already discussed countless times during the way there. "Ugh...!" Roan gritted his teeth and took a step back as if Zombie''s words physically pushed him back. "The wedding is in three days! And since it''s already evening, that as well might be two! If we seriously want to free her, then the frontal attack is necessary either way!" The blond prince gulped down his saliva and decided on a counter-attack and honestly, the point that he was making wasn''t half bad at all. "Oh, I''m sorry ¨C I didn''t know that you need full eight hours of beauty sleep even when the girl you like is in danger. Tsk! Living, I swear!" But even that was mercilessly cut down by the overbearing undead who clicked his tongue and offered his hand to the red-haired girl already eyeing it out for a while. "We will stick to the original n and search through the mansion under the cover of the night and find as much evidence against Durian as we can ¨C anything that would link him to any illegal activity ¨C including illegally importing exotic monsters for experimentation and forcefully enving the unwilling adventurers and civilians alike. If we''re lucky, there might be a lead or two suggestings that he has a connection to the criminal underworld of the kingdom." Zombie dered in a voice that left nothing up for discussion and nced at Cranberry, expecting her input but the red-haired girl seemed far too busy nuzzling to him so hard as if she was trying to mark the blue undead as her own property... ...which might have been because on their way to the Durian''s mansion, In''re made at several attempts a day at convincing the blue undead to leave Cranberry and join her instead. Of course, none of those were sessful, but the red-haired girl seemed to misunderstand Zombie''s silence as him actually considering the offer of the overly-excited priestess''s. "...Zombie, you don''t think I am annoying or anything, do you...?" Even though they should be more worried about the sess of their n, Cranberry couldn''t help herself and lowered her head to whisper a question right into the blue undead''s ear. |Yeah, what she said! You do not consider actually leaving Cranberry, right? Harem is not an option either!| To make matters more interesting, the sealed being joined in and seconded the red-haired girl''s question ¨C waiting for Zombie''s answer instead of just reading his mind ¨C and being far more overbearing than the current Cranberry. "Who knows? I might turn out to be quite the rotten-hearted yboy... What would you do if I went down the road that Raika mentioned a few years back...? Hmmm? First wife?" "...!" |!!!!!!!!!!!!!!| The evil smirk that he served the red-haired girl had and effect of a battering ram on both her and the sealed being inside of him. "Ah, our arrival as finally spotted." The blue undead noticed a pair of butlers and a maid rushing towards them from the mansion, so he patted the stunned girl''s hand and started leading her towards them as the silver-haired gentleman and the blond prince were ncing at each other with confusion. "Your highness! Youngdy Pride! That''s such an honor to see you here, but if I may ask...!" The timid-looking maid bowed down so deep that it honestly looked like she was going to headbutt her own knees, and asked in an exasperated voice. "We..." "Lady Pride and the prince are friends of the soon-to-be bride ¨C we know that it''s a bit early to arrive for the ceremony, but I''m sure that your master will understand the excitement of the younglings." The silver-haired Caramb stepped in, interrupting the frowning prince''s words, and helped the surprised maid pull herself up while exining in a jovial tone. "The invitations mentioned that the rooms will be provided for the guests ¨C would it be okay for my master and his majesty to use theirs a bit earlier? Mrs. Cranberry wishes to help her dear friend to prepare for such a special day and I''m sure that your master already knows about the knack for organization that his highness has ¨C as for me and lord Zombie, we would be more than happy to help you in any way''s we can with any and all preparations that need to be finished." With Caramb''s confidence supported by the wast experience allowed him to overwhelm the maid and two butlers to such a degree that they actually found his words perfectly reasonable. "I''m sure that both our master and the youngdy will be d to share their happiness with the esteemed guests. Please,e with me." The maid blushed while nodding her head towards the silver-haired gentleman and hurriedly turned around to lead them all as the two butlers offered to help them with their luggage ¨C that they had to take with them just to not seem too suspicious. "Thanks, Grape." "Ah, you''re wee..." Zombie nodded at the shorter out of the two butlers who took the baggage right next to him, causing the man to bow down to him out of reflex, before following the maid to the mansion. "...huh...?" The shorter butler furrowed his brows and stared at the back of the blue undead in confusion. "Hey, Grape, I didn''t know you would know a familiar of the heir of one of the main families! So the rumors that you want to leave the Durian''s service was real? You''re working really fast!" The other butler nudged Grape''s hand and nodded at him with respect. "N-no... I mean, I do want to leave since a healer like me will never be able to beat a natural prodigy like Luke ¨C but... I have never met that undead before... How did he know my name...?" The butler frowned and tilted his head. --- Zombie''s group led by the timid maid was about to enter the mansion itself. Right before they walked through the front door, the blue undead puled on Craberry''s hand, making her lean down and... "I was just joking..." "...my stupid idiot..." He whispered to her ear and finished his sentence just in his mind... "Eh? Ah! You bully!" The red-haired girl by his side turnpletely red and pped his shoulder from embarrassment. "Khahaha!" Zombie giggled because of the reaction that his words caused ¨C but not the one shown by the crimson-haired girl. |ROTTENT BRAIN! I HATE YOU! I THOUGHT THAT MY HEART WOULD SHATTER INTO PIECES! I HATE YOU! YOU ARE AWFUL! ROTTEN BRAIN! STUPID ROTTEN BRAIN!| The sealed being in his headpletely lost her cool and was flooding Zombie''s mind with furious shouts ¨C but that more than any other rather obvious hints confirmed the thing that he suspected since Patience returned after her first disappearance... With the sealed being screaming herself to the brink of tears and the red-haired girl looking away pouting but clinging to his arm harder than before, Zombie stepped over the threshold of the Durian''s mansion and... /Act 1: The hero arrives to save the day A system message showed up for every single yer character registered in the system and informed them about the true beginning of the global event.... Chapter 480 - Durians Mansion (part 4) - Setup

Chapter 480 - Durian''s Mansion (part 4) - Setup

The maid had shown all the early guests to their rooms that were ¨C in fact ¨C already prepared and bowed down slightly intimidated by the high status of the people in front of her. "Noble guests, please, make yourselves at home ¨C I will inform lord Durian and youngdy Mary about your arrival and return to tell you when you will be able to meet them." She said nervously, unsure whether it was rude or not to turn her back on the first prince of the kingdom, so she merely shimmied awkwardly around the group without rising her head but constantly facing them all, especially the nervous Roan. "You will inform Durian and Mary? What does that mean?! Are they together right now?!" The blond prince read far too much into the maid''s words and took a step forward, clenching his fists and demanding answers with a pale face. "E-eh...? N-no... Both lord Durian and the youngdy are busy with their own preparations, also, it''s bad luck for a groom to be seeing the bride during the week before the ceremony, and you, your majesty, should know best that Greeds family doesn''t like to y around with their luck..." The maid was taken aback but her answer was more than satisfactory. "Ah! Right! Of course...!" Roan breathed out and rxed his tense muscles, stepping away and nodded to himself. |The whole week? Wasn''t that supposed to be only right before the ceremony?| Zombie asked curiously. |Only in your old world. Though, honestly, no one other than the Greed family is taking this old tradition seriously. But I can''t really me them ¨C since almost all members cannot raise their LUC stat at all.| The sealed being answered casually, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders. "Be fast about it." "At once, your highness...!" The blond prince looked down at the maid and motioned at her to go away and not waste any more time and the worried maid gasped and hurriedly backstepped all the way to the corner of the hallway before she actually started running the moment that she could not be seen by any of the guests. "Roan, I should not have to tell you this ¨C but I will ¨C do not act rash." Cranberry tried to rest her head against Zombie''s shoulder, but in his current form, the blue undead wasn''t at the right height that would allow that, hence she had to set for leaning towards his head while cautiously observing the blond prince. "Not act rash? What is that supposed to mean?!" Roan frowned and red at the red-haired girl though he quickly stopped once he met the real murderous re of the shorter blue undead who seemed to have been gearing up for kicking him in the esophagus... "What do you mean, Cranberry? I am calm..." Even though the blond prince had been in many fights already, and never missed a day of training, the sole aura surrounding the blue undead was enough to efficiently deter him from seeking conflict. "We first need to learn about how Mary sees this whole situation ¨C with how tight-lipped your uncle''s ves are, even your mother''s spies were unable to learn why did she agree to his proposal." Cranberry rolled her eyes and exined while intertwining her fingers with Zombie''s. "Yeah, tight ¨C they couldn''t... as if I believe that obvious lie!" Roan scoffed and shook his head. "...?" My mother doesn''t mind Durian growing in power, remember? I bet you that she withheld any important information because she does want to gain control over the Hope family ¨C and since Mary has been chosen as the heir of the Hope family, then of course my mother would not want us saving Mary from the clutches of that fat bastard!" The blond prince shook his head and exined clenching his fists harder and harder as he spoke. |Hey, I had an old unfinished business with Durian myself, but what is it about that fat bastard thing...? Durian in my memories was huge, but only because of the muscles ¨C is this another change that sets this ythrough apart from the previous one...? I wanted to fight him with closebat and leg power, but if he will have a lot of fat on him to inste his organs from the blunt damage, then I might as well just take Kopia... What do you think?| Zombie furrowed his brows and asked the sealed being inside of him for advice. |...ha...? N-no. That was supposed to be an insult, Durian is as you said, big but only because he is a really bulky guy...| The sealed being sounded as if she was taken aback by theck of understanding on Zombie''s part. |...did... did you relearned rotten brain or something...? Roan is just angry...| She added as her tone changed from shock into genuine worry. |Not really. I just wanted to make you feel like the old times. No jokes from now on.| |...?| The blue undead rolled his eyes and exined, but ironically, it was the sealed being who did not realize what the blue undead was referencing and somehow managed to make her silence feel as if she was tilting her head in confusion. "For now, we should just wait in our rooms for the maid to return." Back in the outside world Cranberry said and pulled her undead familiar towards her assigned room. "Why would we need to go to the rooms? The maid said that she will be right back!" Roan shook his head andined in response. "She will be doing her best but that doesn''t mean that your uncle will answer her right away ¨C or are you saying that you never dismissed a servant before even listening to what they had to say first?" "...!" The red-haired girl smirked and looked over her shoulder, raising her brow while the blond prince flinched and opened his mouth only to close it back up once he realized what she meant... |Zombie, I know that this Cranberry has defused the situation ¨C but that is exactly the opposite of what we want. Roan must be anxious and agitated enough to start acting as soon as the sun will set.| ...and would probably just rx just a little bit ¨C but unfortunately, the sealed being inside of the blue undead gave out an instruction ¨C and the blue undead had no problem with following it through. "Yeah, go sit tight in the room while your uncle gets busy with his future wife or whatever." "!!!!!" "Zombie?!" The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and smirked at the blond prince ¨C who looked as if he was struck by thunder ¨C and did not stop talking even when the red-haired girl at his side scolded him in a voice full of disbelief. "Durian''s magic allows him to use the skills of his ves, right? Why would he have to bother with some LUC stat and tradition anyway? Though, after a bit of consideration, he might want to actually get some stuff done during the day to have time to do something else at night. And in the first ce ¨C how can we even be sure that Mary isn''t under his ve seal already? Maybe tonight she wille in her wedding dress to his room and they will have a little bit of practice in before their official first night~" Zombie shrugged his shoulders awhile tilting his head and snuck out of Cranberry''s embrace, as she, Roan, and Caramb were all looking at him with various degrees of shock and appall. "Oh, and since we got four rooms ¨C I''m taking this one. Gramps, let me know when we will be going to meet the future couple~!" The blue undead smirked and winked at the silver-haired Caramb before disappearing into the nearest room and shutting the door behind his back. |...haa... this is my fault... I should tell you to make Roan agitated enough for him to want to check up on Mary and sneak out at night ¨C and NOT to make him furious enough to want to murder his uncle...| The sealed being sighed in a pained voice, sounding as if she was massaging her temples with both hands. |Nah - I knew what you wanted me to do, I just wanted to get back at you by showing off what it feels like to work with an overachiever.| The blue undead smirked and sat down cross-legged in the middle of the room ignoring the chairs and bed and activated presence detection. |Oh-ho!| He gasped internally, pleasantly surprised by what ¨C or rather who ¨C he saw. |Say, are they important only for this event, or are we supposed to recruit them just like the current Cranberry did with gramps?| Zombie asked yfully, watching the life signature of the maid that lead them inside the mansion had run into another - far more recognizable - life signature, and judging by the frequency of the pulsation she was feverishly exining something to the other person. |Khahaha! My oh, my - look how strong she got~! And that snot-nosed brat too~| The blue undeadughed happily looking towards the opposite side of the mansion and focused on a different life signature. |A little bit of both.| |Nice.| Chapter 481 - Durians Mansion (part 5) - Waiting For That First Move

Chapter 481 - Durian''s Mansion (part 5) - Waiting For That First Move

As it turned out, because of their sudden arrival, neither the bride to be nor the groom would be able to meet them the same day ¨C but the maid informed each of them that they will be more than wee to eat the breakfast together althoughter on the things might get a little bit hectic because of the preparations. Although the maid had passed the message in the most timid way possible, it was rather easy to figure out the real meaning... No. I don''t want any of you to get involved. The message that Durian was sending them was clear ¨C and the fact that he couldn''t find the time for his nephew even though said nephew was the first prince of the kingdom was speaking for itself. Therefore the group spent the rest of the day in their respective room, mostly. Cranberry refused to eat alone and demanded Zombie''s presence with a big old pout, forcing the blue undead''s hand. He was too preupied with the movement of his two childhood friends, who honestly started acting a little bit frantically ¨C it looked like they tried to check up on the blue undead without actuallying in contact with him. It was both amusing and slightly concerning to watch ¨C not to mention distracting, so he ended up causing Cranberry''s pouting to be several times more severe to the point that it looked as if she was storing the food in her cheeks like a hamster. "Hmph! If that''s how things will be, then fine! I will get back to my room!" The red-haired girl dered and stood up from the table after finishing her meal. "Sure ¨C remember to not do anything stupid, we don''t want to get Marbie in trouble, right?" "...!" The blue called at her back and smirked seeing the girl flinch as if she got caught red-handed. "...I will do whatever I want ¨C it''s not like you care anyway..." Cranberry mumbled, turning her head slightly and ncing at her blue familiar. "Hmm ¨C is that how it looks from your perspective...?" Instead of arguing back, the blue undead tilted his head and put up his index finger to his mouth, making himself look deep in thoughts. "Say... We never kissed, did we?" "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zombie asked and saw Cranberry''s face, ears, and neck turning crimson red at the mere mention of the activity. |...where are you going with this...?| The sealed being inside the blue undead sounded as if she jolted up from a nap and asked in a suspicious voice, but was overall ignored. "How about a deal?" Zombie asked the blushing girl already on her way to the door. "I promise you that if you don''t initiate any trouble tonight, we will smooch~" The blue undead smirk grew wider as he winked at the red-haired girl who seemed to be considered something of great importance. |You are ying dirty. You are doing the right thing, but you are ying so dirty...!| The sealed being sounded as if she was hissing like an angry snake right into the blue undead''s ear, but that only made the blue undead smirk turn into a full-blown smile ¨C that in turn made Cranberry lower her eyes from embarrassment. "...the deal is about just not initiating the trouble... right...?" The red-haired girl fidgeted and asked carefully, peeking at Zombie''s face. "Of course. You always have to defend yourself, that''s not even up for debate ¨C I''m only talking about you actively seeking confli..." "DEAL!" The red-haired girl jumped around and grabbed Zombie''s hand sealing the deal before he even properly finished his sentence. "Say... maybe, to make sure that I will keep my end of the deal youe to my room...? Or maybe I will just stay here... Only to make it easier for you to keep an eye on me holding up my end of the deal!" Cranberry fidgetted and said timidly, gazing hopefully at the blue undead''s face. |...I am not surprised, but I am slightly ashamed...| The sealed being didn''t leave that situation withoutment and sighed in a defeated voice. As for the blue undead... He looked away as if he was considering Cranberry''s proposition ¨C while in fact, he was catching up on the movements of one of the two familiar life signatures that seemed to have been hesitantly making their way towards the guest rooms upied by their group ¨C before looking back up at the hopeful red-haired girl and shaking his head. "Sorry, no can do ¨C we need to think about your opinion first ¨C thest time I checked even a well-spoken undead is considered as something unworthy in the eyes of the members of the system''s faith ¨C we don''t want want to make the public your enemy..." He shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head. "...who cares about that..." Cranberry grumbled making a grumpy expression, very much dissatisfied with the answer given to her. "Sorry, but that is my condition for our little deal." Yet the blue undead was ruthless as he simply shrugged his shoulders and smirked softly at the girl. "Fine... but you better not try to get awayter on! I will not forgive you for trying to blow me off!" The red-haired girl scoffed and let go of Zombie''s hand and dragged her feet towards the exit. "And it better not be just some childish kiss on the forehead!" She turned around onest time and dered, pointing her finger at the blue undead with a serious face before walking out and closing the door. |So naive~| Zombie smirked to himself ¨C thinking especially loud to make sure that the sealed being knows that he is initiating a conversation. |Ha? What does that suppose to mean? Are you lying to Cranberry?!| ...and not only did she respond ¨C she sounded actually mad. |Yes. I am a bad bad liar ¨C as proven by one of my titles ¨C thanks for noticing~| |!!!!!| The blue undead admitted it so easily that the sealed being became speechless. |Though, it''s not really my fault this time. She is imagining some grand kiss, but I only promised her a smooch.| Zombie exined casually while shrugging his shoulders. |You...!| The sealed being gasped in exasperation... |Do not think even for a second that lying like that will note back to bite you in your cute cold butt!| ...and shouted furiously. |Sorry,e again? What was thatst part?| Zombie furrowed his brows and asked. |Lying like that wille back to bite you in your cold butt!| The sealed being repeated herself without hesitation. |Kahahaha! Look who''s a liar now. I heard you the first time, you know?| |Shut up!| The blue undeadughed and pointed out which prompted the immediate and embarrassed response from the sealed being sounding as if she was blushing heavily. *knock* *knock* |HA! Cranberry must have realized your puny word games!| Using the knocking as a distraction the sealed being tried to change the subject. |Nope. That''s not her.| But the blue undead only scoffed internally and shook his head. "The door''s open,e in. Mia." *click* Zombie called out and the door opened, revealing a tall dark-skinned woman wearing barbarian-style armor set coupled with the intimidating mace at her waist. "It really is you, Zombie..." She said with a solemn expression and entered the room, closing the door behind her. Chapter 482 - Durians Mansion (part 6) - Hook, Line, And The Sinker

Chapter 482 - Durian''s Mansion (part 6) - Hook, Line, And The Sinker

"Long time no see~ what brings you here?" The blue undead smiled happily while tilting his head and looking all innocent and calm. "..." The dark-skinned woman bit her lip, scowling at him in response without saying anything. "Hmm...? Oh, you are not going to tell me something like ¨C I hoped that my eyes deceived me back in the Envys territory ¨C are you?" "..." Zombie giggled, waving his hand dismissively to lift the atmosphere but ended up only making Mia furrow her brows. "If you want to talk, take a seat ¨C if you just want to stare then and watch me..." Continuing with the lighthearted tone, the blue undead unbuttoned the first and second buttons of his shirt and opened it while making a yful expression. "...maybe I should give you a little show...?" /Skill failed He said while his eyes shed blue for a split second ¨C but a system message informing him about the futility of that action showed up immediately. "..." Mia''s eyes momentarily darted towards Zombie''s chest anyway, but she hurriedly focused back on his face and frowned before raising her hand and pointing at an ivory bracelet around her wrist. "I have an artifact that blocks charms, useful while hunting down Alraunes and some fairy-type monsters." She exined before leaning against the door and lowering her head. "How did it happen...?" Mia asked vaguely, without looking at Zombie, but it was rather obvious what was she asking about. "Does it matter? I worked harder and harder and it end up killing me ¨C but as you can see, something as trivial as death did not stop me at all." The blue undeadughed, spreading his arms as if to show off. "How about yo..." "I learned that you died while protecting that Pride girl. You got killed protecting her from a bicorn with that whole burning mark ¨C the same that all those monsters that the famous Dandelions keep ying left and right were said to have." Zombie wanted to move the conversation over to the subject that interested him more, but Mia suddenly raised her head and looked him straight in the eyes - and she sounded angry. "She also made you her servant." Mia added as her expression was growing more and more grim with each word that she spoke. |...haa... Not good, we don''t want her being hostile towards Cranberry ¨C calm her down somehow.| The sealed being decided to instruct the blue undead, but honestly... "Familiar. And ording to her own interpretation ¨C a husband too." Zombie wasn''t taking the words lightly and instead got quite annoyed and stood up from his seat and started approaching the dark-skinned woman while showing off the ancient wedding ring on his left hand. "As if. Familiar, husband, servant. She turned you into a monster and I''m supposed to just ept that? You''re nothing but a ve!" Mia scoffed and waved her hand to the side. "Oh? Weren''t I one from the start? besides... That''s reaching from you, isn''t it? Or are you trying to tell me that you are just passing through this ce and know nothing about Druian''s unique magic?" The blue undead responded in the same tone as the woman did and walked up right in front of her. "I... That''s different...!" Mia flinched and tried to back off instinctively but her back was already against the door so there was nowhere else to go ¨C so she put one hand up to keep Zombie at a distance. "Bullshit. You have the crest, don''t you?" "!!!!!!!!" The blue undead shook his head, grabbing and pulling away Mia''s hand before hooking his finger under the widest leather belt covering most of Mia''s stomach and pulling it up to reveal... ...a pristine muscr stomach and silky skin with no blemishes... "Z-Zombie, you pervert! I am not that kind of ve!" Mia instantly lost the air of aposed adult and cried out in a cute, embarrassed voice grabbing onto the belt and pushing it back in its ce. "Uh-oh... Sorry..." The blue undead''s eyes widened and he stepped back, letting go of her while apologizing. "You are so awful...! I''m genuinely worried about you and you act as if I was some loose woman!" Mia covered her stomach with both hands to be doubly sure that Zombie will not start ying with any of her belts. "...So you do know what a crest at that part of the body means...?" Zombie leaned back and asked offhandedly. "Of course! All of Durians ythings have a ve crest above their wom...! Ah...!" Mia flinched and hurriedly closed her mouth, gulping down her saliva. *rustle* "...?" She then flinched and looked back at the door after she heard a noiseing from the outside, but ended up dismissing it and turned back to the mysteriously smiling blue undead. "You did not hear it from me, alright? I know that you came here with the first prince and that whole Pride girl because of the wedding ¨C and Durian would not let me off freely if he learned that I leaked something so scandalous as having a whole bunch of those-kind-of-ves. Alright...?" Mia started nervously ying with her fingers and asked with a worried expression. "And first of all ¨C the existence of those-kind-of-ves should be good news for your group, right? I mean, Durian wants to marry that Hope girl only to get the influence over her family and not because he wants her specifically!" She added hurriedly, very clearly trying to damage control... ...though, there was no reason to do that anymore... "Rx, Mia, I still think of you and Luke as my friends, you know? My lips are sealed..." |...but whatever Roan heard while eavesdropping under my door before he dashed away in a frenzy, that''s none of my business~| Zombie calmed down the dark-skinned woman out loud, while finishing a sentence internally - ncing behind the blond prince''s life signature running around like a furious - but still headless ¨C chicken in search of Mary''s chambers. "That said... You said that you are not that kind of ve, but you are a different kind, right? Crest and all?" The blue undead asked focusing back on the worried woman. "Yes. Well, you weren''t the only one who worked hard. Though I can''t really say that it killed me ¨C my training wasn''t easy either." She said while turning to the side and showing off a ve crest on her right shoulder. "epting this was the best short-term decision I have ever made, though it really soured my rtions with Laura..." Mia smiled but almost instantly her smile dimmed at the mention of the former adventurer who lived in the Envy territory and helped wild kids be functioning adults ¨C or at least she tried... ...after all both Mia and Zombie were functioning per se... that wasn''t really how it was supposed to work... "Hey ¨Ce and sit, let''s catch up since we''re both here anyway." The blue undead turned around and get back to his seat and motioned at the one next to him. |Want to bet on how long will it take Roan to find Mary...?| Zombie smirked internally and thought. |With his luck? Best case scenario ¨C until midnight ¨C keep Mia away from Durian until then and subquests should all line up exactly as we want them to.| The sealed being responded to him, sounding only slightly jealous over the dark-skinned woman who sat closer to the blue undead than he invited her to. Chapter 483 - Durians Mansion (part 7) - The Decision

Chapter 483 - Durian''s Mansion (part 7) - The Decision

Mia and Zombie were catching up for quite some time ¨C and would most likely continue it all the way to the morning if not for the new system message that popped up for the blue undead... /Do not leave the quest location "...and after that...!" Mia was in the middle of the sentence when she seemingly also get a system message on her own as her eyes suddenly moved from right to left reading the text, only visible to her. |Is this okay...? Why did I get only a piece of information and not an actual quest?| Zombie straightened his back and asked the sealed being inside of him. |Because you are not the main hero of this event ¨C or are you telling me that you were secretly the prince all along...?| |True.| The sealed being responded sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders dismissively and the blue undead could not refute her answer at all. "Zombie... you guys did note here to peacefully attend the wedding, did you...?" Mia breathed out and scowled at the undead next to her. "Say... at the beginning of our little talk you said that joining Durian was the best short-term decision that you could have made... Why only short-term...?" The blue undead casually sprawled on his chair and instead of answering Mia''s question, he asked one on his own, looking at her with a curious expression. "Do not change the subject!" "I am not, you are changing the subject ¨C I am merely continuing the small talk that you suddenly cut into with that question of yours." The dark-skinned woman scoffed and shook her head but the blue undead snickered and waved his hand dismissively before tilting his head and staring at her intently. "Why short-term?" He pressed, making Mia lean away ¨C clearly about to walk out of the room. "Zombie, I just got a quest about protecting the mansion from the intruders ¨C if the people you came here together with are not the ones that my quests mention, then just say it so I could go and look for the real danger." The woman sighed and red at him with overly serious eyes. "Oh, don''t worry ¨C we are definitely the ones in your quest ¨C that''s why you can just stay here with me for a little while longer..." |Zombie, check up on Roan ¨C he cannot die, and something tells me that he is going to if we will not babysit him.| "...is what I won''t tell you to do..." "...eh...?" Zombie''s words got interrupted b the sealed being inside of him and the blue undead instantly changed the direction of his sentence, causing the dark0skinned woman to flinch and furrow her brows in confusion. "...!" The blue undead nced to the side to thest location that he remembered Roan wandering about, and his eyes widened once he realized that the life signature belonging to the blond prince is running through the hallways of the mansion hand in hand with the life signature that could only belong to the brown-haired heroine herself! "Your intuition is correct ¨C Roan, Cranberry, and I have alle here to not let the wedding happen ¨C our dear first prince can not allow his friend to be just a sacrificial pawn in the political game yed by his mother and uncle ¨C honestly, I thought that his n was dumb and set for a failure, so I did not n to get involved, but everything changed once I realized that you are here." "!!!!" As if under some sort of a spell, the blue undeadpletely changed his act ¨C instead of confident and condescending ¨C he suddenly turned meek and leaned towards Mia, reaching out for the dark-skinned woman''s hand and grabbing it gently while making himself sound moved to tears ¨C which was what made Mia get so confused she just started staring at him speechless. "If there is someone on the inside willing to help us save Marceline ¨C this reckless n might work ¨C that''s why I''m asking you again ¨C why did you call it best short-term decision and not just your best decision?" Zombie lowered his head, clenching Mia''s hands as if he seriously was feeling deeply about the whole situation of the pitiful soon-to-be bride, and repeated his original question. "...I..." The dark-haired woman stuttered and gulped down her saliva. She seemed to be torn apart about what to do ¨C on one hand, she just received a clear answer that indeed the group that arrived posing as mere guests were, in fact, the disruptors set on messing with the ceremony nned by her master - and on the other hand, there was her childhood friend ¨C now older, not to mention blue and an undead ¨C asking her for help about saving someone she knew would end up pitiful and miserable... Even though Mia sold her independence in exchange for power, she did not get rid of her conscience and moralpass... "...it was only short term thing because Durian''s power is beneficial for the agreeing ves only until they are aroundte middle-levels or early high-levels if a ve has a high magic defense ¨C after they reach around that moment, Durian''s magic starts to slowly gnaw on on their free will essentially turning them into the same type of mindless ve that the ones forced to be one would have." In the end, Mia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and revealed. "Then, the thing about Durian''s magic having two modes was..." Zombie furrowed his brows, gitting his teeth in anger. "...a sweet lie that was supposed to bait the adventurers with the too good to be true kind of deal. And, as I just said ¨C the deal was too good." The dark-skinned woman nodded with a solemn expression. "There is a way to leave ¨C have a high enough MDF and LUC stats ¨C but even if you have everything required, Durian''s magic works in such a way that the ve is required to pay him off for leaving his service ¨C and that payment is skills that the ve had leveled up during their service. I don''t know if it''s true but apparently once took all of the ves he didn''t want to let go." Mia added while fidgeting anxiously ¨C but she was not as nervous as Zombie was ¨C he could clearly see Roan and Mary''s life essences barely getting away from being spotted by Durian''s ves on high alert. ...one of the ves was going straight for the empty chambers where Mary was until Roan didn''te for her, and it was easy to imagine what will happen next... ...still, probably the most disturbing part of the whole situation was the monster chained up in the cell in the mansion''s basement ¨C funnily enough, as far as the blue undead could recall, that was the same cell that he was put in during the first ythrough... ...and speaking of simrities, that monster also seemed to be somewhat familiar... "...I''m reaching thete mid-levels already, and it''s a high time for me to start thinking about leaving... Still... I''m not sure whether I want to risk losing all of my skills, even for you ¨C and especially not for some girl..." Mia seemed to havee to a conclusion, and everything was looking like she was going to reject Zombie''s convincingly heartfelt belief ¨C but that was also the very same moment, that the one ve reached Mary''s chamber ¨C and seeing her not being there ¨C they used some kind of skill... ...that was also the moment where the real event began... "Argh...! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH...!" The life signature of Durian Greed ¨C on whom the blue undead was also keeping an eye this whole time just in case ¨C lighted up with the fluctuating mana and he used a skill ¨C and whatever skill it was it caused the dark-skinned woman next to Zombie, fell down from her seat and howl in pain while clenching her head as her nose, eyes, and even ears started bleeding. Chapter 484 - Durians Mansion (part 8) - Doing Fine

Chapter 484 - Durian''s Mansion (part 8) - Doing Fine

"Mia?!" Zombie gasped ¨C this time in a genuine worry and kneeled over the dark-skinned woman wriggling in agony. |CRANBERRY! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HER?!| The blue undead shouted internally, calling out to the being sealed inside of him. |It''s Durian ¨C he was notified about Mary''s disappearance and connected the dots ¨C unfortunately, he seemed to have got himself lost in anger and is using his magic to force every single person marked with his ve crest into forceful obedience to make them search for her ¨C and most likely to capture all of us here.| She exined sounding every single bit as agitated as her blue host, so she didn''t even notice the way that the blue undead addressed her. |Forceful obedience?! So what, he''s trying to make all of them lose their free will? What the hell?! When you said that Mia and Luke will be necessaryter, you meant just the empty husks?!| Zombie gasped furiously in disbelief. |No. Just wait.| The sealed being sounded as if she had shaken her head and dered. |Wait for what?! Am I supposed to wait until Mia will get brainwashed just as I did at the beginning of the first ythrough?!| The blue undead growled while kneeling by the woman in agony and at least making sure that she isn''t mming her head against the floor. *crack* The next second, the ivory bracelet on Mia''s hand snapped in half and fell down, losing its glow "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The pain that Mia had been going through must have multiplied without the protection of the defensive bracelet, as the dark-skinned woman screamed terribly and clung to the blue undead as if he was her only lifeline. "...ha...?!" "...!" Maybe because Zombie was paying attention to all of the life essences thrown into a frenzy the one of the few that did remain normal managed to sneak up on him ¨C in form of the red-haired Cranberry who opened the door to his room and was greeted by the sight of some unknown woman clinging to her familiar. |You were waiting for her! Make her use the healing spell on Mia!| The sealed being called out... "Cranberry! Roan kidnapped Mary and is trying to run away with her ¨C Druian is forcing his ves to chase them and get us too ¨C This girl is willing to help us! Use heal!" ...which prompted the blue undead to call out to the stunned Cranberry before she could erupt in anger over the assumed cheating. "Roan did what...?!" The red-haired girl blinked repeatedly and backed off ¨C as if expecting that her familiar was only ying with her. "YES! Now heal her or you can forget about our earlier deal!" The blue undead lost his cool and shouted at the red-haired girl, making her flinch ¨C but besides startling her a little bit, he managed to get her to raise her scepter ¨C which she brought with her just in case since she indeed was rmed by the screams. And closed her eyes concentrating on the magic. "GHAAAAAAAAAAA...!" Yet it didn''t really look like she was helping Mia at all. |Her magic is too weak to work against the damage of Durian''s magic ¨C use overpower on that spell and heal Mia yourself!| |!!!!| The sealed being shouted at the worried undead, forcing him to act. Without wasting any more time, the blue undead''s body shone with a powerful violet light ¨C far more intense than he remembered it to be, and he felt the power welling up in his body. "Now... heal." Zombie breathed out and touched Mia''s head with his left hand... ******** A low, unearthly hum filled the air and the dark-skinned woman''s body lighted up and she trembled ¨C not from pain but from the sheer amount of healing energy that passed through her destroying any sin of both physical and magic damage, old scars and the damage that Durian''s magic was causing her in real-time. Actually... even the ve crest disappeared from Mia''s shoulder...! "Wh-what happened...?" The dark-skinned woman gasped without the slightest intention of leaving the blue undead''s pleasantly cool embrace. "Healing! Now get your thieving paws off of my HUSBAND!" "Wha...?!" And such behavior certainly did not sit well with the red-haired girl ¨C since Cranberry was a Pride, she knew well about all of the skills that were at the avatar of pride''s disposal, and hence was not all that moved by the show of a mighty healing spell more than just a few times stronger than her own ¨C so instead of dwelling on that, she simply grabbed onto the fur of Mia''s barbarian armor and put her back into pulling the dark-skinned woman away from Zombie, making Mia cry out in surprise. "We need to go save the prince ¨C you might be free from Durian''s control, but the rest of your former colleagues will surely be a problem." The blue undead casually stood up and dusted hisp off while looking over at the confused Mia getting dragged away by fuming Cranberry. "Wait... what...? Free...?" Mia was still slightly out of it ¨C even though the pain itself was gone, the memory of it was very much alive in her mind. "Yeah." The blue undead nodded, tapping his shoulder to make Mia look at her own. "Ah! I-it''s gone!" "WAH...!" The darks-skinned woman gasped and stood up so fast that she pulled Cranberry with her, causing the red-haired girl to almost losing her bnce. "FOCUS!" "...!" "!!!! The blue undead shouted, making the two girls stop ring at each other. "We are going to help Roan and Mayrie ¨C follow m...." "As long as the prince didn''t knock your friend unconscious, that girl will not be willing to leave without her griffin ¨C and if so, they are surely going for the stables. I know the shortcut through the mansion ¨C follow me." The blue undead walked towards the window to open it up and jump out but was interrupted by Mia who waved her hand and moved to the door. "..." Cranberry looked between the two of them, before taking the step towards her familiar ar more willing to follow him instead of the dark-skinned woman. "Mia''s right... there are a lot of ves running outside ¨C they surely do not expect us to go through the mansion. Lead the way." Zombie grabbed Cranberry''s hand and then nodded at the dark-skinned woman. |See? All as it should be.| The sealed dered pridefully. Chapter 485 - Durians Mansion (part 9) - On Their Way

Chapter 485 - Durian''s Mansion (part 9) - On Their Way

At first, they were lucky, thanks to Mia''s knowledge about the mansion and Zombie''s life signature detection skill they managed to almost catch up to Roan and Mary ¨C as the pair of the runaways was seemingly going the long way and kept on hiding and waiting for Durian''s ve to pass ¨C but that''s where the luck of the trio had run out. Because of the erratic movement of some of the ves with their sane minds erased or at least corroded by their crests, the group found themselves in a bind while passing through the intersecting hallway with three groups of ves approaching them from every possible way out that they could take. Unfortunately, the hallway that they passed had no doors to the rooms ¨C which were already being searched through by more of Durian''s people anyway ¨C and jumping out of the window was also out of the question as even more ves were swarming the outside right beneath it. To make the situation even more pressing on top of all that, the other familiar life essence that the blue undead has recognized was getting closer to the prince and the not-so-eager bride. |...Since I got rid of Mia''s seal with healing magic, shouldn''t Luke be able to do that on his own? Wasn''t he supped to be a prodigy at healing? I remember blowing off his head too many times to count and it just kept regrowing - in the first ythrough at least -the ve crest can''t be harder to get rid of than that.| Zombie - who did not inform Cranberry and Mia about the worrisome situation they were in and just let the dark-skinned woman lead them through the shortest route straight into the oing ves - thought to himself, furrowing his brows. |You are right ¨C but he might have not realized that himself. Or ¨C more likely ¨C he knows and just follows Durian''smands because of Mia.| The sealed being said hesitantly, carefully considering the situation. "Mia ¨C what about Luke? Is he here too?" Zombie tapped the dark-skinned woman''s shoulder from behind and asked in a slightly worried-sounding tone. "Y-yes, he is ¨C I told him many times that he doesn''t need to be impatient with his training as he already is extremely talented ¨C but he didn''t listen and followed me here a few years back. He is Durian''s most powerful healer." She answered, looking around carefully as she finally started hearing some noises made by the approaching ves that surprisingly ¨C or not surprisingly ¨C did not use any light source during their search. "What about listening to Durian''smands...?" The blue undead shook his head, making sure that there is an appropriate amount of anxiety in his voice. "...well... it''s not that he is eager, but recently he was moved to the position of one of something like an elite guard that Durian had put for himself, so he can be considered his trusted man... I guess..." Mia furrowed her brows and her shoulders slumped just a bit while she was talking about their childhood friend. |Yeah... we need to get to those two fast ¨C since Mia is with us, the negotiations should go smoothly.| He decided, already activating some of his skills that would be appropriate with dealing with the group of ves that was just around the corner ¨C not speaking a word as only the rustling of clothes and careful footsteps could rm the others of their presence. "We... we need to go back...! There some-umpfh...?!" "...?" Cranberry nudged Zombie in the side and whispered, but the blue undead blocked her mouth with his hand without even looking in her direction, which made Mia look back at him in confusion. "No, we cannot turn back now ¨C the thing that happened to Mia was not coincident, Durian has done something to his ves and whatever it was, it wasn''t anything good ¨C especially not for us. We can only expect to get captured if we stay back in the assigned rooms. If we encounter any hostiles, we have to fight ¨C okay?" Zombie exined to the red-haired girl and mooned at Mia ¨C or rather, he motioned at what was about to show up in front of her ¨C making sure that Cranberry understands his intention. "...mfhey..." The red-haired girl nodded her head and tried to agree but her voice was distorted by the cold blue hand still pressed to her face. "...true... If you didn''t help me out back then, I don''t know what would have happened to me, even if some of them were god people before, now..." Mia nodded with understanding and focused on the hallway''s corner lighted up by the faint moonlight and flinched as she saw a hand showing up and the person to whom the hand belonged had apletely expressionless face and a vacant look in their eyes. "Plum...?!" She gasped, taking a step back and grabbing her mace. But before she could even think about swinging it... *peck* "Be careful and not do anything stupid, then we''ll do it for real." The blue undead quickly pressed his lips to his own knuckles ¨C of the hand that was covering the red-haired girl''s mouth ¨C and whispered beforeunching himself right past the dark-skinned woman ¨C straight into the ve with the vacant expression that just showed up. *CRUSH* *squelch* In a dance-like motion, the blue undead spun around and cleanly kicked off the head of the ve that Mia recognized as Plum, straight off of his shoulders in a single attack, causing the said head to stter against the wall and then peel off of it and fall to the floor with a sickening sound. /Mid-level yer character defeated You receive the EXP The message that showed up for Zombie did not take his attention away from four more people lined up behind the corpse that fell to its knees and slumped to the side sshing blood from the wound without realizing that it was already dead. |Do you think that the other ones are im...?| |Just fuck them up!| Surprisingly enough it was the sealed being who cheered for the violence and the blue undead did not need to hear her say it twice ¨C after all, all undead crave for the demise of the living, and the blue undead was no different in that regard... "KHAHAHA~!" ...although he might have actually been MORE keen on killing than average undead... *BOOOOM* *RIIIIP* Propelling himself forward with a devastating kick, he delivered one even more fearsome ¨C tearing three ves apart in a single attack. The first one was straight-up torn in half while the next one had a good chunk of her torso blown apart while thest one got his chest caved in and was alhed down the hallway where he eventually tumbled onto the ground leaving blood stters everywhere. /Multiple mid-level yer characters defeated You receive the EXP The message informed him directly about the deaths while indirectly confirming that the ones that just parted with the world were of no importance to the story and did not disturb the Eternal in the slightest. Chapter 486 - Durians Mansion (part 10) - A Little Push

Chapter 486 - Durian''s Mansion (part 10) - A Little Push

"Z-Zombie...!" Mia gasped in a hushed voice, staring at the corpses of her former colleagues'' copsed in the puddles of blood. "Yeah, yeah ¨C we can have a memorial for themter ¨C now we must hurry ¨C I was a little bit louder than I expected and there are more on the way here." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand at the dark-skinned woman and the red-haired girl to follow him. "There are more on the way...? Wait! You knew that they are going to walk into them and did nothing to warn us?! We could have taken a different path or...!" "Yeah, whatever ¨C let''s go ¨C I don''t mind ripping apart every single person with a ve crest, but Maripo and Roan are going to have a walk-in with Luke and I doubt that either of them is powerful enough to deal with him ¨C and we do not want them turned in to Durian by his elite ve." Zombie scoffed dismissively and motioned forward with his chin. "We need to move ¨C this way is still the least used one ¨C if you want us to go back, it''s your choice, but then we will meet up with more of the brainwashed ves and I will kill them all." "!!!!!" The blue undead added, staring at the bbergasted Mia with his ck eyes glowing with a reddish glow of the life signature detection skill. "...fine..." The dark-skinned woman clenched her fists and spat through her teeth, not looking the blue undead in the eyes. "...just... tell me when we will get to the next group ¨C I have a skill that specializes in knocking the target unconscious so there''s no need to just kill everyone ¨C since they very likely can be saved just like I was. Oka...?" *click* *BOOOOM* *WHAM* "ZOMBIE...!" Before the dark-skinned woman could properly finish her sentence, the door down the hallway opened and more of the people with vacant faces showed up, prompting the blue undead to grin wildly before kicking off with enough power to break in the wooden floor and smashing against the door with enough power to turn its pieces into deadly shrapnel that pierced right through two more ves before Mia and Cranberry even had the chance to see them. /Multiple mid-level yers characters defeated You receive the EXP "Khahaha...! Oh, umm, sorry ¨C you were saying...?" The blue undeadughed seeing the mutted corpse nailed to the wall with the splintered door before flinching, turning back at the horrified dark-skinned woman, and tilting his head asking her with apletely clueless and innocent voice. "You! Pride girl! He is your familiar, right?! Tell him to stop killing everyone! This will turn into a political scandal! Durian is an influential member of the Greed family and he will not turn a blind eye on something like that!" Mia gritted her teeth and turned to Cranberry in desperation. "He might be my familiar too, but he is my husband ¨C and I do not see a problem with him having some fun at the expense of people who wish harm onto my friends." The red-haired girl stepped away from Mia and dered, proudly puffing out her chest and ring at the dark-skinned woman ¨C still very much angry about the scene that she walked into before with her and Zombie in apromising position. "You...! You can''t be serious!" Mia gasped and cried out in disbelief after the girl who trotted towards the blue undead and clung to his hand, not caring about stepping on the ever-growing puddles of blood. "Hey ¨C right now the Greed family ¨C the avatar of Greed specifically - lost a considerable amount of power, I''ll have you know. Nowe ¨C Luke might not listen to me, but he sure will not ignore you." Zombie smiled at the red-haired girl who rejoined his side and beckoned the dark-skinned woman. "Unless you want me to deal with Luke my way... As much as I like you both, I''m not stupid enough to not realize that as soon as something inconvenient happened to you, you went straight to someone who is supposed to have power over me ¨C giving up the negotiations way too fast in my opinion." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and reached out his left hand... ...that started glowing with pale white light and a golden kite shield with a fist-sized ruby mana stone in the middle appeared, already strapped to his forearm... |Hypocrite~| |And a liar... I should have had started using Monty''s shield way sooner... none of my shield skills are maxed out yet...| *WHAM* "!!!!" Zombie smirked at the sealed being''sment spoken in a cute voice before turning serious as heined internally ¨C right as he mmed the shield against the wall, startling Cranberry clinging to his right hand. "What the hell are you doing now?!" Mia flinched and started walking towards the pair, not mentioning anything about the topic brought up by the blue undead. "Oh, I just..." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and aimed the golden shield ruby-first in front of him... ***** Immediately after, the mana stone shone with pale light and released a beam of light that pierced through the air... ...and the heart of a woman with a vacant expression that barely showed up... "...ah...!" The female ve managed to gasp before copsing on the floor. /Low-level yer character defeated You receive the EXP "...preparing the long-distance attack. This toy is pretty useful, don''t you think?" Zombie finished his sentence with a warm smile, raising the golden shield to boast about it while Mia was staring wide-eyed at the copsed ve. "I''m going first from now on!" The dark-skinned dered in a strained voice with her mace already glowing with the white light of skill at the ready ¨C while hurriedly moving in front of the blue undead and the red-haired girl. "...sorry, Pear..." She whispered while passing the corpse and moved forward, gripping her weapon ¨C more worried about the next ve that would show up than about herself. "Well, that makes things easier I guess..." Zombie watched her go and sighed in disappointment before Cranberry pulled him after the dark-skinned woman. "...hey., Zombie... Do you think you could take it easy on the brainwashed ves? I have a quest that requires me to gain a certain number of followers, and I think that if we manage to heal them as you did with that girl, they would be willing to join me... please...?" "...!" The red-haired girl wrapped her hands tighter around Zombie''s arm and asked in an innocent, cutesy tone, making him raise his brows. |I remember a quest about getting a follower from the first ythrough...! Is this something like a follow up to that?!| |...| He gasped internally, but the sealed being did not respond, appearing as if she was grumpy over something. "Please...?" Cranberry leaned her head towards the blue undead and asked hesitantly again. "Sure. If that''s what you want." The blue undead looked up at her face before giving up and nodding. *wham* *wham* *wham* *wham* "...!" The four hollow-hit sounds reverberated through the hallway, taking the pair''s attention off of themselves. "Oh, Mia already got the next group." Zombie nodded in realization before ncing back. "Since I''m not supposed to kill them now, I guess we should follow her a bit faster, or your potential followers'' will catch up to us and I will kill them." He added, increasing the speed at which they were moving. Chapter 487 - Durians Mansion (part 11) - The Cherished Friend

Chapter 487 - Durian''s Mansion (part 11) - The Cherished Friend

"My prince... the situation is clearly out of control, have you seen their faces...?" Mary leaned from behind a corner, ncing past the group of ten vacant-faced ves dragging their feet like a bunch of hollow puppets ¨C they didn''tmunicate with each other in any way and did not make any noises besides the rustling of their clothes and their footsteps ¨C which was already muffled for some odd reason even though none of them seemed to be making a conscious effort to be stealthy. "...I should return...! It is far too dangerous to oppose Durian like that... Even if we escape my family will surely suffer the consequences of my disobedience...!" She hide back behind the building, leaned against the wall, and slid down until she ended up crouching on the ground ¨C hiding her face in her knees. "No, it will not! Durian might have be influential, but still whatever power he holds it''s nothingpared to my mother''s strength...!" Roan carefully approached the horribly worried girl and put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly ¨C though even he himself flinched once he realized that what he said did not exactly hold true anymore. After all his mother''s power was enormous ¨C but it was tied directly to the private treasury underneath the royal castle. A private treasury that was currently empty... Even so, as long as Durian didn''t know about it, there was still a chance to escape the potential repercussions by threatening him while acting as if the underground room was still filled to the brim... Whether that would pass or not would be down to luck ¨C and since both Druian and Roan were both from the Greed family and their LUC stat was set since birth, it woulde down to who was born more lucky. ...that is as long as no one else would be involved in their verbal encounter ¨C and as long as their confrontation would stay as the verbal encounter and nothing else... "...but my family..." "Do you think that your family would want you to end up as a ything of that bastard?! No! You told me that you were adopted by sir Hope because you had the potential of bing someone great ¨C and that definitely did not mean being one of the Durian''s ves!" Mary spoke in a shaking voice, slowly raising her head, but the blond prince grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her while looking straight into her eyes and dering with conviction. "I don''t know ¨C I mean, I am his ve but I do feel like I''m quite great... you know?" "!!!!!" "!!!!!!" Then, all of a sudden a new voice joined in on the private secret talk between the captured target and the heroine ¨C causing both Roan and Mary to jump up in shock. When they turned around, they saw a young man of average height, who seemed just a year or two older than them. He gave off the impression as if he was easygoing but was mocking them relentlessly at the same time. Honestly, it was a rather familiar feeling... "Who... are you...?" Roan gasped, shielding Mary with his own body while his body began glowing white. "Luke...!" Mary peeked from Roan''s side and gasped, grabbing onto the blond-haired prince''s clothes with urgency and terror. "Luke...?" Roan furrowed his brows and asked in confusion, unsure what that name was supposed to tell him about the mockingly smiling young man with unknown intentions. The new arrivalcked the staple vacant expression of every single ve that they hid from up until that point ¨C but he had admitted to being one of Durian''s ves himself at the same time... "My prince...! We need to be extremely careful around him!" Mary gulped down her saliva and whispered into Roan''s ear, constantly keeping an eye on the smirking man. "Yeah, I know... but... There are two of us... Could we not just overpower him...?" The blond-haired prince flinched and murmured under his breath while ring at the shorter man standing just a few steps away from him in a rather casual pose, without activating a single skill even though Roan was glowing rather brightly betraying the usage of either a few low-tier skills or one high-tier one... Normally, at least SOME precaution would be in ce, but the man named Luke seemed either blissfully unaware about the danger... ...or he was sure that there was no danger at all... "Pffft...! Overpower me? The two of you and what army? Miss, go on, tell him about me ¨C I''ll wait until you finish." "...!" Luke''s shoulders shook from the held-back giggle and he waved his hand at the tense Mary ¨C who flinched as soon as he made even that none threatening move. "...Mary...?" Roan looked between the easygoing man and the brown-haired girl and asked in confusion. "Luke is an extremely talented healer who after receiving the ve crest and all benefits thate with willingly epting it became one of the strongest ¨C if not THE strongest ¨C healer in this world. He is Durian''s greatest asset and one of his elite ves..." The brown-haired heroine exined with a trembling voice. ...they were so close to the stables too...! In fact, Luke seemed to have approached them after exiting the stable and was their only obstacle before getting to Mary''s tamed monster, the champion griffin, Anry. "Healer...? Just a healer, not a holy magician? What are you worried about, healers have barely any attack spells!" Roan frowned and shook his head in disbelief, breathing out in relief - thinking that dealing with a single opponent like that will be easy. "My prince...! Please! Do! No! Anger! Him!" Mary urgently tugged on Roan''s clothes and gasped through her gritted teeth, fearfully observing Luke, as if she expected the healer to jump at them at any point. "Miss, you can rx ¨C first of all I said that I will let you finish, and you still didn''t say the most important thing." Luke stopped smirking and raised his brow surprised by Mary''s reaction as the only interaction they had was a short exchange of greetings thatsted at most twenty seconds, and nothing else. "And second of all, I don''t n on stopping you from escaping either." The healer waved his hand dismissively, before trying to smile reassuringly at the scared girl. "Oh! Did you hear him? In that case..." Roan flinched and straightened his back as the light of his skills faded away and he took a step forward. "I said that I don''t n on stopping miss Mary. Your highness, you are a different case." But before he could walk any further, Luke blocked his way while shaking his head making sure that Roan won''t be able to pass him. "..." Roan leaned back, ring down at the mockingly smirking healer, before ncing back at the brown-haired girl who was on pins and needles again. "Mary... what is more important than the information that he is the best at what he''s doing...?" The blond prince asked, expecting the answer to clear up the situation to him. "Luke is... Zombie''s childhood friend..." "Ah...! So that''s why...!" Mary exined, causing Roan to exim in understanding as he finally realized what the mocking aura reminds him of! Luke was copying Zombie''s behavior! "Exactly. Thank you, miss." The healer nodded to the heroine and then turned to the blond prince who didn''t seem to understand the situation he got himself in... "Living and training with Zombie had taught me a few things." Luke lowered his head and nodded as if reminiscing the old memories. "One of them was to never forgive anyone who hurts your friends." He revealed and his body began glowing with a pure white enchantment many times stronger than what Roan had going on before. "My prince! You have to run!" Mary panicked and tried to pull roan away but failed because of the difference in both levels and stats between the two of them. "Why? I never hurt his friends though?" The first prince furrowed his brows and asked, weirded out. "But your mother kept him sealed for over eight years ¨C and from what you have said before I showed up ¨C it sounded like you could have just asked her to release him at any point but did nothing. If you ask me ¨C that makes you just as guilty as she is. Don''t worry ¨C I will make it quick." Luke shrugged his shoulders dismissively, before exining his reasoning and... *BOOOOOOOM* Chapter 488 - Durians Mansion (part 12) - VS Luke

Chapter 488 - Durian''s Mansion (part 12) - VS Luke

"SCREEEE!" The entire stable building got blown into pieces when one of the monsters there suddenly ped his massive wings and used a destructive skill ¨C from the sound that the beast made once could only expect it to be a griffin. "..." "!!!" "ANRY" There was no need for any additional pause or a grand reveal of the creature. The jet-ck griffin with silver beak and talons was already right by the healer who did not react in time ¨C giving the beast an opportunity to strike a devastating sh upon the young man''s body ¨C ripping right through Luke''s clothes and flesh alike going as far as to cut through a few ribs and cutting into the spine itself - making the healer step forward and almost push into the blond prince. "SCREEE!" The ck griffin screech sounded somewhat mockingly as he spread his massive wings to keep hisrge body up and deliver another strike with his front legs. "...who asked you to interfere, you oversized chicken...?" "Sc-ree...?" *WHAM* *crack* *CRUSH* Luke red back at the jet-ck griffin and scoffed before jumping up and doing a spin, leaving the trail of blood in his wake ¨C causing the griffin to let out a short shocked screech before the young man''s fist smashed into the base of his beak, get crushed ¨C the fist that is ¨C but even that crushed fist continued the punch which in turn mmed the beast right into the ground, causing a cloud of dust and loosened feathers to erupt, blocking whatever little light Mary and Roan get to work with... ...not to mention leaving them both petrified... "...sc...ree..." "ANRY!" Picking up on the pitiful, bearly audible screech of her griffin Mary gasped and threw herself past Roan to reach her tamed monster. "Oh, no...! Anry...! Mend!" "...screee...!" The brown-haired girl also passed by the indifferent Luke with no trouble at all as the healer did not even try to stop her, and instantly kneeled over her wounded griffin ¨C activating the only healing spell that did not rely on the holy attribute magic that wasn''t also in the skillset of the undead monsters ¨C but the effect was only a giant screech that didn''t even sound like a screech of pain, which as Mary knew from experience ¨C wasn''t a good sign as mend skill was known for being even more painful than the wounds that it was used to heal. "Wh-what did you do to him?!" Seeing absolutely no change in her griffins status, the brown-haired girl gritted her teeth and growled at the nonchnt healer glowing with white light. "What? Mend doesn''t work? It might be because I healed your chicken a bit while punching him ¨C I also left a few souvenirs inside of his head." Luke shrugged his shoulders while his bones reconnected and the horrible wound on his back left by the griffin''s talons sealed up without leaving even the faintest scar ¨C he also raised his messed-up hand, showing the gruesome sight of basically something akin to a meat mace with the shattered bones sticking out of it like some eerie whitish nails. "What?! That doesn''t make sense! Why doesn''t my mend works ¨C it should pull all the foreign bodies out!" Mary trembled in fury ring at the back of the healer who sighed up and shook his head in disappointment. "You don''t understand how to mend skill works, miss ¨C it is a skill that forcefully restores the target to their best recent condition by using the mana of that same target." Luke exined patiently, while the bones in his hand regrew in barely a single heartbeat and got enveloped in the muscles, sinew, and finally the fresh new skin. "I used the heal+ skill to heal him over the normal limit of his HP setting up a standard that the system calcted as his new peak condition, even with a good few bone splinters tickling his brain and nerves ¨C rendering your mend useless." He exined with an indifferent shrug before turning back to the blond prince who, as it turns out, had managed to somehow equip himself with a massive golden sword that was honestly straight up bigger than himself. "You...! How could you be so cruel?! What did Anry ever...?!" "On the day you arrived, your chicken attacked a weaker ve and Mia saved them but received suffered a wound that would leave her right arm paralyzed if I wasn''t there." Mary cried out in anger but Luke didn''t particrly care about her japing and casually revealed his reasoning. "Once I''m done repaying our dear highness, I will turn your chicken back to normal, so sit tight or else your only choice would be to kill him to end his suffering ¨C because I can assure you that no one else in this world will be able to save it." The amount ofposure that the healer had could only be praiseworthy ¨C he had a furious tamer behind his back while the golden prince was preparing for a strike ¨C although Roan was doing so hesitantly, wavy clearly unwilling to attack a fellow human. "Oh, and before you get some odd idea ¨C since the state he is currently in is set as the new default one, even if you remove the bone shards manually and use your mend skill ¨C they will simply return to their current position. So seriously. Just stay back if you wish for your tamed monster to ever recover." ...honestly ¨C for someone posing as a dismissive mocking type, Luke put a lot of effort into making sure that Mary will not engage inbat... ''Sorry for the dy, your highness... now how should I make you repent for messing up with my frie..." *CHOP* "...dghh...!" Luke faced the blond prince just in time to see the shining golden de falling down on him like a guillotine ¨C digging into his body through his corbone on the left side of his neck and burrowing itself all the way to his pelvis, splitting his torso up like a block of wood on a chopping block ¨C causing the young man''s eyes to widen in shock as he coughed up some blood that got sucked in by the ripped lung. "My prince!" The brown-haired heroine gasped as if Roan was the one getting attacked. "S-since the pieces of bones can mess up the healing of the griffin ¨C how about the sword...?" Roan gulped down his saliva and tried to calm down his trembling shoulders and make his voice not betray how scared he was by his own actions ¨C whether he seeded in either did not matter as in the end, he followed up his own n after taking the risk into the consideration. "Swear to heal Anry and leave me alone too, and I will remove my sword ¨C otherwise...!" "...ghuh...!" The blond prince clenched his fists on the handle of the overwhelming golden sword and slightly rotated the de ¨C causing the separation of the healer''s torso to widen enough for some of the intestines to start being pushed outside by the force of the gravity ¨C and making Luke cough more blood. "Swear it...!" Roan called out a bit louder ¨C though the gruesome sight that he had himself inflicted on another human being was making his pitch slightly higher than normal. "...I... I swear..." Luke''s body trembled and the healer whispered as the bloody foam welled up in the corners of his mouth as he locked eyes with the blond prince. "...phew..." "MY PRINCE! NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Roan breathed out and was took a step back in order to lift the sword back up without causing more damage to the healer who seemingly admitted the defeat ¨C but got startled by Mary''s panicked scream that he never expected "...I swear... You are so dumb..." Luke finished his sentence and his body gotpletely encased with the white light. "...!" In the next second, the blond prince realized that his sword was suddenly free as the left side of the healer''s body simply disintegrated into white particles and a brand new one regrew in its ce, pushing the golden de to the side with no problem. "Now ¨C let''s get to teaching you how to treat my friends!" *WHAM* "GHUUUAAAAGHH!" *SLAM* Luke wiped the blood off his face and without even taking a proper stance delivered a ridiculous uppercut on Roan''s chin ¨C which turned out to be powerful enough to send the prince flying, making him drop the golden sword. "Now... since I''m such a generous person, let''s just say that it was a punishment for the first half... for the first year" Luke nodded to himself, checking up on his own wrecked fists as it was already healing. "Aren''t I great? Now, for the other seven..." "I would be grateful if you stopped on that first one ¨C my master arrived here with him, it would be bad if only she returned." "HUH?!" As the healer took a step towards the twitching prince sprawled on the ground thirty feet away, when out of nowhere a silver-haired gentleman appeared right behind him, locking him into a headlock while speaking in a polite tone. Chapter 489 - Durians Mansion (part 13) - Carambola VS Luke

Chapter 489 - Durian''s Mansion (part 13) - Caramb VS Luke

''Who...?!" Luke gasped, struggling to break away from the chokehold that the silver-haired gentleman had put him in. "Oh, I''m no one important, just a lowly servant ofdy Cranberry Pride ¨C Caramb Loyalty." Caramb spoke in a tone of peaceful after-meal conversation while lifting up the healer forcing him to climb his tiptoes. "On behalf of my master, I ask of you to cease the hostile actions towards the first prince... at least until my master is known to be in contact with him, kind sir." The silver-haired gentleman added, politely bowing his head while Luke''s face was getting red as he struggled to break free. "And just before you will do something unreasonable..." Caramb continued without waiting for whatever reaction to his words the healer might have, and his hands began shining with white light. "...I must warn you that I possess three powerful inborn skills. One of them is a mana drain, which I''m using right now... Do I have to remind you that you won''t be able to use any of your healing skills?" The old butler asked politely, without ever releasing the pressure from the young man''s neck. "M-mana drain...?!" Luke gasped, using enough power to dislocate all of his fingers trying to break free from the chokehold but failing miserably ¨C even with the ability to heal himself, there was no way that he couldpare the physical strength stat of himself and a man who could be his grandfather and spent his entire life training. "Yes. Mana drain. Is your brain already suffering from theck of oxygen?" Caramb nodded, furrowing his brows in consideration ¨C yet instead of releasing his grip, he strengthened it even more. "My second skill is closebat ¨C it means that you will not get away from me unless you can teleport. That''s why you will heal the prince from whatever damage you''ve dealt him, then you will heal miss Mary''s griffin, and we all will be able to go about our night with no hard feelings. Doesn''t that sound good?" The silver-haired gentleman made a proposition that was impossible to refuse. "M-mister Caramb... I- I think that I''m okay... he doesn''t have to heal me if he doesn''t want to ¨C but aspensation make sure that he will heal Anry...!" Roan crawled back up on his feet from the ground, massaging his bleeding and most likely cracked jaw. "...!" His selflessness made the brown-haired heroine''s heart flutter, as she looked at the blond prince form over her barely conscious griffin''s head. "You heard the first prince, boy. You need to learn to pick your battles if you wish to live a long life. Just surrender and everything will be alright, how about it?" The silver-haired gentleman looked between Roan and Mary and nodded to them both before propping the healer even higher and repeating his proposition. "H-how about I say ¨C fuck you, you old fart?!" Yet instead of epting the oue of the encounter, Luke growled, grabbing onto Caramb''s elbow with both of his hands and pulling on it with all his might! *crack* "...what the...?!" But since the old gentleman''s grip was like a steel binding and did not budge, the only thing that Luke achieved was breaking his own neck as he rotated his body full one-eighty degrees making it face Caramb while his head stayed back ¨C causing the shocked butler to gasp in disbelief that the young healer would choose the most outrageous way out of the situation, as the young man''s body hung down limply. "Wha...?! What a crazy bastard?! Did he not hear that you are using mana drain?!" Roan gasped, stumbling back in horror after witnessing the horrible scene. "HMPH...!" *thump* All of a sudden, the silver-haired gentleman acted in apletely not gentlemanly way and threw the corpse away as far as he could, causing it to crash far behind Roan''s head and tumble even farther back. "Mister Caramb?! It is upsetting, but throwing away Luke''s body will only show our position to the other ..." Mary added, clenching her fists so hard that her fingernails had punctured the skin on her palms as she realized that there might be no saving her tamed monster anymore ¨C unless Luke was lying about theplexity of the injury that he had caused the griffin... "The system message about defeating a yer character didn''t show up..." The silver-haired gentleman frowned and adjusted the white gloves on his hands, staring at the corpse in the distance. "...same with my mana drain ¨C his mana should be diminishing, but instead it was my skill that reached a limit of how much it can drain ¨C and I didn''t even know that there is a limit on that." "Huh?!" "Eh...? It can''t be...!" Caramb revealed, causing the blond prince and the brown-haired runaway bride to gasp in shock ¨C before hurrying over and picking Roan and rushing over to grab Mary, carrying the tow like pieces of luggage." "M-mister Caramb ¨C what are you doing?!" "Noo! I can''t leave Anry!" The blond prince gasped and the brown-haired heroine cried out, struggling to escape the old butler''s grip which should have already been proved to be an almost impossible task. "No. We need to run." Caramb merely shook his head and turned around, eyeing the closed gate as well as the wall surrounding the Druian''s estate. "Aww... leaving so soon?" "!!!!!" "!!!!!" "!!!!!" Roan and Mary hand a clear view on the speaker while the old gentleman had to nce back. Luke, very much alive andpletely healed up from the deadly wound he inflicted upon himself - was dusting off his clothes and smirking at the three of the escapees mockingly. "Why don''t we...?" "LUKE! Where were you? There''s some crazed-up monster rampaging throughout the mansion!" Before the young healer could finish his sentence, another person came running towards him from the mansion. It was a man d in an expensive-looking armor made out of multiple metal and ceramic tes, wearing a helmet finished with something akin to an insect''s horn, making his overall appearance simr to a giant armored bug. "Sir Kabuto...!" Luke gasped, flinching and looking between the newly arrived man and the trio that was unable to use that chance because of Mary''s adamant refusal to leave without her tamed monster. Chapter 490 - Durians Mansion (part 14) - The Honorable Warrior

Chapter 490 - Durian''s Mansion (part 14) - The Honorable Warrior

"Ah...! I see! Most amazing job, young Luke! Those wretched kidnappers must have been the ones to unleash a monster in the mansion in order to confuse us, your vignce is most appreciated, young friend." The man in a stylized armor stopped promptly and dered in a rather pompous manner as the trio entered his field of vision. "Nheless... It is good to see you you were unaffected by the enemy''s skill ¨C I do not know howe they found a way to interfere with lord Durian''s skill but that is something we can interrogate them aboutter ¨C now, young Luke, return to the mansion and help the others deal with the beast wreaking havoc inside!" He nodded at the confused Luke and shooed him away towards the mansion before walking in front of him and resting his left hand on the beautiful grip of the just as fancy sword at his side, facing the prince, the heroine, and the old butler ring at the two men with contempt. "Enemy skill? You can''t be serious, sir Kabuto, turning all the lower-level ves into brainless puppets was all done by Du..." "Luke. You know just as well as I do that the others are a hot-headed bunch and will probably try to stop the beast on their own ¨C but my passive danger detection skill is telling me that they will be unable to deal with it. I can understand why you might be reluctant to go leaving me behind, but I swear on my honor that I will not take the glory of the achievement of finding the resentful kidnappers of the soon-to-be wife of our master for myself ¨C and neither I will im that I alone rescued the youngdy Mary. Be at ease - go and help the others deal with the danger there while I finish your job here." The young healer tried to argue, but the man merely shook his head and spoke decisively in an urgent tone. "...okay, fine. But you will owe me one!" Luke gritted his teeth but ultimately gave up and came running back to the mansion that the man in the fancy armor emerged from just a short moment ago. "Now then. Esteemeddy Mary, worry not ¨C I, Persimmon Kabuto ¨C the head of lord Durian''s elite guard will proceed to save you from those dreadful kidnappers iming to be your allies!" The man called out, unsheathing his sword and the beautiful single-edged sword glistened in the moonlight. "Ah... I even recognize one of the Envys... If your family is going around kidnapping brides left and right then I guess that the rumors about changing your ways were false." Persimmon scoffed at the silver-haired Caramb and took a battle stance. "Let go of the youngdy, and I will grant you an honorable death inbat and not kill you like a scuttling rat." He dered with a serious expression. "Sir Kabuto! No, you are wrong ¨C those are not...!" "Nobledy ¨C do not worry ¨C I will make sure to strip down their facade and reveal them to be the heinous impostors taking the guise of allies!" Mary tried to exin herself to the man- whom she clearly either liked or at least did not fear as much as she did Luke ¨C but they could have been trying tomunicate with a brick wall with far greater efficiency than with the armored man. "...that thick-headed fool...!" Mary clicked her tongue, murmuring under her breath. "Mary, who is this guy supposed to...?" "As he already said, sir Kabuto is the leader of the ten-people group of elite ves who could have left Durian at any time but are truly choosing to stay with him, unlike the other ves who they call lower level. Though, I have no idea why he is calling them Durian''s guards while they are the elite ves. Sir Kabuto is a good person, and he values his honor above his own life ¨C but that is the biggest problem we have to deal with. He swore allegiance to Durian as his master and that honor of his keeps him from leaving even though he disagrees with most of ¨C if not all - Durian''s recent actions... I wish that we could reason with him... but, honestly, once he is set on doing something, he will not rest until he will aplish it..." Roan asked and Mary instantly exined the whole situation to him without waiting for him to finish his sentence. "Ah... and he has a full armor..." Caramb sighed, ncing at Persimmon''s equipment, revealing that he did not care much as much about the man''s origin as he did about their chances of either getting away or escaping him. "Is that a problem...?" Roan asked in confusion. "Yes. For the mana drain skill to work, it requires me to be in direct contact with my target''s body - the greatest barrier it can prate is some cloth but nothing as thick as a fur coat. Full-body armor such as his ispletely out of the question... Though... I guess that even that ridiculous helmet of his leaves his face exposed so..." "...ah, right..." Caramb breathed out and revealed in a hushed voice just in time for their opponent to flinch and realize and mutter to himself, while taking out a ceramic mask and lodging it into the groove of his helmet, hiding whatever exposed skin he had. "...let''s just run..." The silver-haired gentleman moved his head from left to right and dered but. "Wraith''s tail!" *WHOOOOOSH* Just as Caramb was THINKING about taking a step, Persimmon called out and a purple-colored wind de cut through the air and shed the ground right next to the silver-haired gentleman''s foot. "Lowly kidnapper, I will not allow you to leave this ce." Persimmon Kabuto, standing in the middle of a circle of raging purple mes dered with his sword raised up high ready for another strike, looking more like a fearsome demon than a human being. "And for your information, Mana drain will not work on me even if you manage to touch me, you shameless kidnapper. I do not have MP, for me it is SP. I just so happened to fight and win against a monster with mana drain and can confirm that I am immune to that skill''s effect." Persimmon dered proudly, squinting his eyes behind the mask. "...whew... isn''t that just lovely..." Caramb frowned and red at the armored opponent, before putting down the blond prince and the brown-haired heroine. "I''ll try to buy you some..." *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "ZOMBIE?!" Caramb wanted to be all cool and all, but he got interrupted by the explosion that shook the mansion, followed by the confused shout of the shocked Luke. Chapter 491 - Durians Mansion (part 15) - The Undead Hypocrite

Chapter 491 - Durian''s Mansion (part 15) - The Undead Hypocrite

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Luke was about to enter the mansion, but before he reached the door, the wall a floor above the entrance exploded when six people were kicked through it by the diabolically grinning blue undead with a golden shield. "ZOMBIE?!" The healer stumbled back and fell on his back, staring in disbelief as the blue undead reaches for the sword on his waist, pulls it out, and... *SHING* "!!!!!" ...with a single move bisects two of the six he forced outside - a curly-haired blond woman got cut diagonally from her left thigh all the way to her right armpit while the man exactly opposite to her got cut in perfect halves with a massive jet ck de that had no physical right toe out of the expensive-looking scabbard on the monster''s waist¨C their intestines and viscera rained down and caused Luke to scuttle back on all fours in panic as the intestines and body parts sttered all around. "LUKE! THANK THE SYSTEM! REVIVE THEM AND...!" *CHOMP* Another woman noticed the young healer and shouted at him ¨C but her urgent voice suddenly stopped when around one-third of her head disappeared in a sh of the orange light followed by a nauseating sound of a juicy bite...! *crunch* *gulp* "Luke, good to see you ¨C stay away from this ¨C I will kick your ass if you even try helping them." The blue undead who had alreadynded chewed on the unidentified mass that appeared in his mouth before swallowing it and smirking towards the young healer without taking his eyes off of the remaining three people ¨C two men and a woman. "Luke, what the...! You know that thing?!" One of the men called out in an usatory voice, holding up twin daggers with des coated in poison to such extent that the deadly liquid was dripping odd of them. "Shut up Orange! Kid! That thing already killed and ate Strawberry and Plum ¨C I don''t give a damn why do you know it, help us, or I''ll kill you before you get a chance to exin yourself!" The woman scoffed at the twin dagger man named Orange and red at Luke as her body shone, cowered in a translucent protective barrier made out of mana, in a rough shape of armor. "NO - you shut up, bitch! It was your idea to try to take that thing without waiting for Persimmon to return!" Orange shouted back furiously, making the mistake of looking away from the blue undead. *BOOOOM* *WHAM* "GU-HUAH...! As the man with twin daggers was turning back towards Zombie, the blue undead alreadyunched himself right at him and mmed into him with the golden shield, sending him flying with an almostical gasp. ***** "ORANGE!" Without skipping a single beat of his deadly dance, the blue undead aimed his shield at the unwillingly airborne opponent and calmly aligned his position with the ruby crystal in the middle of his kite shield ¨C which suddenly let out a threatening light and shot out a beam of blinding concentrated mana, that pierced right through Orange''s head, killing the man on the spot ¨C and making the barrier woman call shout in fury. "YOU FUCKER!" "TOMATO, YOU IDIOT, STOP!" The other man suddenly let out a frenzied howl and his body erged to at least four times his previous size ¨C the same happened to his weapon, a draconic-pattern spear that grew up to the thickness of an average adult''s thigh ¨C and charged at grinning blue undead wh clearly was enjoying himself way too much. "Khahaha! You guys are so easy to beat~!" *CLANG* *BOOOOOM* Zombieughed and parried the spearhead the size of his head, with the golden shield, and nimbly dodged to the side, letting the madly charging man m into the wall of the mansion. "I thought that something was wrong with all of you and I finally figured it out." The blue undead started talking in a casual tone as if he wasn''t in the middle ofbat while taking a step towards the barrier woman. "..." She on the other hand didn''t look remotely interested in charging at him and instead continued to nce back, searching for the best escape route that she could take. "Luke, I don''t know if the same thing happened to you ¨C but all of thoseughable so-called high-level yer characters can''t use draw out half the power of their skills. I guess that''s what happens when you gain EXP far too easily. Seriously, if something sounds too good to be true ¨C it is too good to be true. Durian''s unique magic messed you all up really bad." The blue undead did the same thing as before ¨C moved his head slightly and talked to thepletely disoriented healer without taking his eyes off of the opponent. "Bullshit! Even if that is true, do you know how high each of us had leveled up our skills?!" The barrier woman was so furious that she almost spat to the side and took a step forward ¨C but stopped herself and instead backed off a bit more as if she finally found her way out and was trying to position herself perfectly so that once a chance presented itself to her, she would be able to use it immediately. "How much your skills levels were raised ¨C you want to say." Zombie shrugged his shoulders indifferently and corrected her with a mocking tone. "Honestly ¨C I fought a REAL high-level yer character before and I had to really use my brain to get him ¨C but with you all?" The blue undead furrowed his brows and shook his head n disappointment. "I imagine that a bunch of rookie adventurers dressed up in a high-level gear would pose me more of a threat." He dered as a mocking smile bloomed on his face once again. "But hey... I''m not one to turn down an easy way to rank up my skill~" The blue undead giggled and nced down at the two halves of the bisected bald man and his throat and jaw shone with orange light. *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* Zombie pped his teeth together and a big chunk of the corpse disappeared while an unidentified mass appeared in his mouth ¨C and the blue undead promptly chewed and swallowed it. "Wha...?! You damn hypocrite!" "Hmm? Well, yeah, that word does describe me pretty well, what about it?" The barrier woman''s eyes widened and she growled in anger at the ridiculous remark of the smirking blue undead...but with taking another step back she finally reached the spot she wanted to be in, now the only thing left was... "...tsk...! Fine! The proposition you made talked about before! I will agree to be the follower of that master of yours!" The barrier woman clicked her tongue and dered, clenching her fists while the barrier around her seemed to be growing brighter. "Oh? Really? Great! She''ll be so happy~!" Zombie cheered out and his body instantly stopped shining as he deactivated all of his skills. "Now, if you don''t mind, I will proceed to clean up your formerrades, you can go help Luke stand up or whatever until Cranberry will show u-" "...!" The blue undead turned away from the barrier woman and crouched over the unfinished corpse of the bald man in a rather slovenly way, and said ¨C but instead of letting him finish. The barrier woman used all of the speed-increasing skills that she had and rushed towards the wall. *BOOOM* She jumped up, using a half-full barrel of rainwater as a stepping stone, and propelled herself at the right height while crushing the barrelpletely... *whoosh* *STAB* "...eh...?" The woman who could already see her way out heard a whistling noise and the next moment a sharp pain spread through her torso ¨C while mid-air she looked down and gasped once she saw a spike-like de sticking out of her chest. "Idiot~" *WHAM* The blue undead holding out his right hand stuck out his tongue and giggled before pulling on the red string connecting his right hand with the pommel of the spike-like de ¨C estock ¨C which resulted in the barrier woman getting pulled right back to where she started... "Ughh...! Augrghhh...!" She twitched and tried to crawl up while attempting to take out the de, but no matter what she tried the sword stayed lodged firmly inside as if it was consciously refusing to slide back even while she was pushing on it with all her might. "H-how is tha-at pos-ssible...? M-my barrier...!" The woman cried out, ring at the violet-shining blue undead - casually strolling towards her - with bloodshot eyes. "Hmm? Look at your de. That is how a barrier skill like yours should be used ¨C it was always meant for the offensive." "?!?!?!?!?!?!" The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the weapon stabbed through the woman''s chest ¨C and once she herself have looked at it, she became speechless. The weapon itself wasn''t covered in her blood at all ¨C instead, the trails of crimson were dripping all-around a translucent sword much wider than the spike-like de itself...! "No... way..." *SHING* She managed to gasp before the blue undead made a snappy move with his right wrist and the de lodged in the woman moved wildly and cut right through her neck and head, spreading it apart like some sort of gruesome flower in full bloom. /High-level yer defeated You receive the EXP |If I manage to eat all of them, that will make it like what...? Nine?| The blue undead asked internally while looking at the system message that popped up for him. |Quince was the first high-level opponent you killed and ate, so yes, nine~| The sealed being inside of him confirmed enthusiastically. |One more, huh... that can be arranged...| Zombie nodded to himself while looking over the petrified Luke right at the life essence that he kind of recognized. ...the only thing was when he met that person in the previous ythrough, they were a lot weaker... |That could get interesting...| The blue undead smirked and took a step back. "Zombie! You promised me that you will not kill them!" "...whoops..." But then he flinched and looked back at the person shouting at him. From the breach in the wall that he himself has made, a red-haired girl apanied by a dark-skinned woman was shouting aint at him. Chapter 492 - Durians Mansion (part 16) - (Un)expected Twist

Chapter 492 - Durian''s Mansion (part 16) - (Un)expected Twist

*CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* The jaw and throat of the blue undead shone with orange light and he finished the left side of the bisected bald man before the red-haired girl and the dark-skinned woman jumped down and approached him. "In my defense ¨C I asked all of them whether they want to join us or die -and as you can clearly see, none of them chose the smart option." Zombie wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, looking back at the agitated Cranberry. "Zombie...of course they are going to reject such proposition when a random undead will ask them that! Why do you always choose violence, there should be some room for negotiations...!" The red-haired girl shook her head and stomped her foot in anger. *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* "And could you at least stop eating them while we are having a conversation?!" She added in absolute disbelief when her undead familiar casually used the gluttony-based skill and began eating the rest of the corpse. "No, not really. No." The blue undead casually shook his head and... *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* Took another bite as if to mock the girl staring at his back with disapproval. "You wanted to help out Marary, right? She''s right over there together with Roan, Caramb, that griffin of hers, and I suppose the ninth one of those ves who did not lose their minds like the rest. Just so we''re clear, I don''t think that he wants to help them run away." He pointed out in the direction where the silver-haired gentleman was having a standoff with the armored Persimmon Kabuto. --- "Mia?! You are alright? Howe Durian''s skill had no effect on you?" "Luke?!" While the master and the familiar had a talk, Luke crawled back up and approached the dark-skinned woman standing a little bit behind the red-haired girl, leaning away from behind her and sending angry res at the blu undead ¨C who already moved to another corpse. "Wait... if you are here why aren''t you trying to help the other elite ves?! Aren''t you one of them?!" Mia flinched and took a step back, sounding part confused, part disapproving. "Because Zombie told me not to interfere? And don''t change the subject! Why aren''t you like the other lower ves?" The young healer furrowed his brows and scoffed "Eh? Why does it sound as if you are disappointed that I''m not some vacant-faced puppet?!" The dark-skinned woman gasped and puffed out her cheeks while frowning. "That''s not what I meant! Is there another way of getting out of Durian''s control than using an extremely powerful healing spell!" Luke shook his head and scoffed, showing off his shoulder he had the ve crest on ¨C but said crest was looking a little bit smudged ¨C and the young man pressed his finger against it and smudged it even more revealing that it was merely a skillful drawing. "What do you need that information for anyways ¨C it''s not like you want to leave that bastard ¨C hah... I bet you just want to know it so that no one else can escape freely in such a way." Mia shook her head and crossed her arms, ring down at the shorter man with disapproval. "..." The healer leaned back and squinted his eyes at the dark-skinned woman. "Oh, so that''s how you think of me now? I''ll have you know that even I got the healing skill level high enough topletely remove the ve crest without causing any damages to the target!" "You experimented on other ves?!" He spoke, but his argument got turned around and used against him... --- "They are in danger?! Then we must...!" Cranberry flinched and took a step in the direction that her undead familiar pointed her and... *hug* "?!?!?!" She got embraced from behind by the reassuringly cold arms ¨C the golden shield shed momentarily in front of her face and then... *WHOOSH* *CLANG* *crack* A purple-colored wind de mmed against the golden shield that the blue undead put in front of the red-haired girl, craving a deep mark in the defensive equipment including the ruby mana stone in the middle. /Skill level up Shied mastery (level 9) The system message popped out in front of Zombie''s vision right as his left hand hung down ¨C with most of the bones turned into dust from the power f the impact. "Well... this might be more problematic than what I originally thought..." Zombie muttered to himself, slightly shifting the red-haired girl to the side and raising the estoc ¨C that turned into a bastard sword ¨C in a defensive stance. "You are stronger than I remember... though I guess that four years can make a huge difference if someone is focused enough." The blue undead scoffed, smirking mockingly at the armored man that showed up surrounded in purple mes, looking more like a demon than a human. "You must forgive me, but I do not recall ever meeting you." Persimmon Kabuto shook his head in a full helmet and raised his sword for another strike ¨C and the purple mes started dancing alongside the brilliant singled-edged de. "W-wait...! Is he the ninth one? What about Roan and Caramb?! And if he is with Durian, then where is Mary?!'' Cranberry gasped in shock, looking between the armored man and the blue undead protecting her. "The foul kidnappers had been dealt with and the youngdy had been escorted to sa..." "He knocked everyone out and hid them all in the destroyed shed." The armored man responded in a cold voice ¨C or at least he tried but got interrupted by the blue undead whose eyes were glowing with a reddish light and looking past him. "Ha?!" "..." Cranberry gasped in shock and looked over at the shorter undead while Persimmon didn''t even flinch, but hisck of response somehow made it seem as if he was disappointed at being found out. "Wait ¨C what?! Sir Kabuto didn''t deal with his targets?!" "What?! Impossible!" Both Mia and Luke turned around, stopping their own conversation, and let out shocked gasps. "...I don''t quite get it, but since you didn''t kill them ¨C I guess ¨C thank you...?" Cranberry flinched in Zombie''s arms and spoke to the armored man. "...my passive skill ¨C danger detection ¨C is telling me that the undead monster that holds you captive is the real danger here. I merely figured out that things might not be as clear as I thought at the start and merely decided that he should be dealt with before I pass judgment on all of you... Including you, young Luke ¨C I thought that you have a resurrection skill. Not using it to help ourrades puts you in a very bad light." Persimmon shook his head as if he tried to clear his head of the distracting thoughts and dered in a cold voice ¨C clearlyncing at all the corpses still littering the space, while raising the de that he lowered slightly, back up. "That''s really nice of you to say, Persimmon, but are you sure that I am the strongest monster here...?" Zombie smirked and stepped in front of Cranberry with a cheeky smile. "What do you...?" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The armored man asked in a slightly confused voice ¨C but right at the moment a pir of red and ck smoke erupted from the mansion and spread all around the estate''s ground like a gigantic parasol, forming a half-transparent red and ck barrier that everyone gathered there at least heard about before.... Chapter 493 - Durians Mansion (part 17) - Inside The Barrier (part 1)

Chapter 493 - Durian''s Mansion (part 17) - Inside The Barrier (part 1)

"A sigil monster!?" Cranberry turned around and shouted wide-eyed at the sight of the barrier that originated from inside of the mansion. "Now?! Why?! Is it some beast living underground?!" The red-haired girl gritted her teeth and clenched her reverse-baseball ball scepter. "You! Sir Kabuto ¨C right? You are a faithful servant of Durian, tight? If so you serely want to make sure that your master is safe! If so I propose a momentary truce until we will deal with the new threat!" She dered, looking back at the armored man ¨C who didn''t change his aggressive stance despite the sudden urrence. "..." "..." Simrly, Mia and Luke both looked away with bitter expressions. "...ha...? What''s going on? Are you all unaware of what a barrier like this means? A sigil monster had appeared ¨C an apostle of the Eternal ¨C a beast that is supposed to destroy our world as we know it! You must have at least heard about those monsters popping up everywhere!" The red-haired girl turned first to the pair of former ves and then to the loyal one and spoke slowly, feeling that something wasn''t quite right in with their reactions. *munyu* "KYAAH...! Wha...?! HA?! ZOMBIE?! What was that ¨C it''s not time and ce for this!" The blue undead poked his index finger at Cranberry''s side making her shout out and jump, ash she blushed and red at him with an embarrassed expression. "...nothing changed ¨C with the barrier in ce it will be that much easier to deal with the undead monster and release you all from his evil influence." "Ha?!" Persimmon Kabuto spoke in a tone that would suggest that he was actually unwilling to do what he just said ¨C but still said it and on top of the purple mes surrounding him, a white light started shining from underneath his armor betraying the extensive preparation of various skills, which of course didn''t escape Cranberry''s attention. "No. You don''t get it! Those things are no joke ¨C and each one that shows up is stronger than the next!" The red-haired girl clenched her nads around the reverse baseball bat scepter so hard that her knuckles turned white, staring at the focused man in disbelief. "Cranberry, do not waste your breath ¨C none of them reacts to the barrier because they clearly know that it''s not any new sigil monster that suddenly showed up." "...!" The blue undead by the girl''s side put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head ¨C and his words finally get the armored man to react as he flinched hearing what he had to say. "New? You don''t mean...!" Cranberry gasped looking at her familiar and then instantly turned towards the mansion. "The monster that escape the queen helped to cover up ¨C I guess that Durian wanted Mary for something else than just the influence over the Hope family..." The blue undead smirked, ncing at the dark-skinned girl who refused to meet his eyes. "It''s not exactly true. Durian''s magic does work on monsters ¨C the smarter ones at least ¨C but he cannot quite control thempletely like he can with lower human ves. Before he made Mary his ve ¨C which he wasn''t supposed to as that was an agreement between him and lord Hope ¨C he wanted to check whether she can tame the monster or not since none of his ves had a tamer ss as it is quite rare..." "Young Luke ¨C I insist that you will not say another word as revealing ay more secrets of our master may prompt me to dispose of you before I''ll deal with the undead..." "The young healer started exining everything instead, but before he could exin everything he wanted to, the armored man turned his face towards him - while still pointing the de towards the blue undead ¨C and spoke in a cold voice, prompting the young man to close his mouth. "Huh, so that''s the case ¨C but tell me one thing ¨C howe that Durian is able to remain in control over a sigil monster ¨C Cranberry wasn''t joking ¨C the creatures tainted by the power of the Eternal aren''t pushovers..." Zombie waved his left hand ¨C which already regenerated thanks to the HP regeneration skill ¨C getting Persimmon''s attention away from Luke. "Simple ¨C it wasn''t the sigil monster when it was caught and even when it became my master''s ve ¨C the strange powers, one of which you can witness now, all showed upter ¨C and because of that, they all could be used by my master to trap the monster in the basement of his mansion." Surprisingly enough, Persimmon revealed it all by himself without the need of using some tricks to make him talk ¨C it seemed that he was okay with revealing secrets if he was the one doing it... |...Ha...? And how in the world is that supposed to be possible? Is that some sort of loop in the system...?| The silence until then sealed being called out, sounding as if she was furrowing her brows in surprise. |...this feels wrong...| She added sounding as if that situation bothered her greatly. |How''s the seal of the Eternal?| Zombie asked internally, without taking his eyes off of the armored man ready to intercept a sudden attack if such would arrive. |No changes... haa... and that''s what bothers me... this isn''t how the event should be ying out, but the seal is very stable...| The sealed being breathed out andined sounding as f she leaned back and crossed her arms. |Good to know... still ¨C there''s still that promise I made with Durian in the previous ythrough that I am really keen to keep, so I guess that I will go see him now~| |HA?! When did you have time to promise him anything ¨C weren''t you taken away immediately after entering the mansion?| The sealed being broke out from her thoughts and asked in bewilderment. |Well... he didn''t know that I made a promise I suppose, but that doesn''t change a thing~ I want to keep my word ¨C and I think that you can understand that sentiment.| |...do what you want...| Zombie smirked internally and dered, making the sealed being sound as if she furrowed her brows and turned away. "Hey... Persimmon, how I humor you and your honor and we will fight one on one ¨C making sure that no one else gets hurt?" "Huh...?" "Eh...?" "HA?!" The blue undead suddenly spoke out, causing everyone except for the man he was talking to voice their confusion. "...I do not expect a monster to know anything about honor, but I don'' see why not ¨C as long as I can do something good, I can go along with some filth..." The armored man nodded without lowering his de. "Zombie! I forbid you from...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!???!?!!!!!!!!" The red-haired girl furrowed her brows and turned to her undead to admonish him for the reckless idea but she got pulled down and her mouth got blocked by soft and pleasantly cool lips of her familiar ¨C which caused her heart rate to skyrocket and her face turned bright red with a deep blush so fast that even lighting would be jealous of the speed. "You were good until now, be good a little longer ¨C let me y around a little but ¨C I promise that I will not kill him ¨C he might be rude, but I think that he will be a nice addition to your followers'' lists, so I soften him a bit with my fists~" Zombie dered winking at the frozen girl still in the middle of processing what was happening ¨C before he pushed her towards the dark-skinned woman and the healer. "...You know what? I actually have a better idea..." "...?" Suddenly, the blue undead straightened his back and dered with a smile, confusing his opponent. "Hey. Kopia. I think that this guy''s sword is really nice ¨C so nice that I don''t mind wielding it instead of you..." "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" The blue undead nced down at his sword and spoke with a mocking smirk ¨C which caused the sword to vibrate so hard that Zombie''s whole body started shaking ¨C and a high-pitched noise was released into the air. Chapter 494 - Durians Mansion (part 18) - Inside The Barrier (part 2)

Chapter 494 - Durian''s Mansion (part 18) - Inside The Barrier (part 2)

The torrent of crimson threads erupted from the pommel of the bastard sword in the blue undead''s hand and enveloped him like a cocoon. "Master, you are kidding, right? You are joking, right? You are not being serious, right?!" the weapon shed white and turned into a short girl with a terrifying expression dressed in the most fancy dress that waspletely out of ce¨C the threads turned out to be her hair ¨C and she actually lift her master up with them, pulling him closer as she leaned him in. "That other sword isn''t even that good! It''s that guy''s skill! Master, you are being deceived by the shy lights!" Kopia cried out and covered Zombie''s eyes with her hands like a little girl who didn''t want her father to look at her unfinished drawing. "Oh? Really? Then you will be able to eat that sword but leave the guy alive so that he will be able to prove with another weapon that these cool mes and all are his skills and not the sword?" Zombie smirked and asked innocently. "Ah! Of course, I could! Wait here and you''ll see!" The crimson-haired Kopia nodded her head vigorously and her hair moved, putting the blue undead to the side, in a prime position to watch. "I would love to see you do that, but I have a promise to keep. I''ll be right back ¨C just remember ¨C do not harm that man." But instead of just patiently staying there and observing her, the blue undead waved his hand with a smile and moved to the corpsesying on the side as his jaws and throat started glowing orange. "Master...?!" The humanoid sword gasped, looking at her owner''s back. *CHOMP* *CRUNCH* *GULP* "Actually ¨C do not kill anyone without me ¨C okay? I''ll clean up here a bit and I''m gone to do the business." The blue undead began devouring the bodies of the high-level yer with record speed and casually waved at his sword to not pay him any mind. "What do you think you''re doing?!" *WHOOOSH* *WHOOOSH* *WHOOOSH* The ignored armored man, Persimmon Kabuto, shouted angrily, seeing the blue undead desecrating the corpses of his formerrades, and unleashed a series of three consecutive purple wind shes that all flew straight at the reckless undead... *SHIIIIING* "...!?" But three crescents got annihted with a single move - a light brush of hand of the crimson-haired sentient de. "I would like you to just give me that sword and then find yourself another so my master can see that it''s not your piece of junk that is special." Kopia furrowed her brows and raised her left hand ¨C her fingers elongated into dagger des, and even more, des were sticking out of her knuckles, hand, and even forearm and elbow. "I could have killed you already, so could you show some decency and just go along with my request?" She added moving her balded arm with a rather sinister sound while the blue undead behind her was finishing corpse after corpse making rather unrefined sounds of the gluttonous feast. "...Young Luke, young Mia, take this youngdy away from here ¨C preferably to where I put the others and do not disturb us ¨C it looks like this opponent will require a special treatment..." Persimmon made a rather strange call considering his previous words, but as a person who trusted his danger detection skill over anything else, he must have had his reasons. "...I take it as a no..." Kopia never learned how to negotiate with others, so she did not attempt talking with the armored man after her initial proposition was disregarded. Instead, she reached her right hand to the side and as she spread her fingers apart ¨C the myriad of des began protruding from her skin, simrly, her crimson hair waved and spread into separated thread, shone with white light, and each thread turned into a different de ¨C some of them metal, some crystal, and some gold. "GET ME THAT STUPID SWORD!" She roared and disappeared only to reappear right in front of Persimmon while swinging down every edge that she had...! *BOOOOM* The earth shook as when the armored man stood a mere moment ago, a huge crater appeared. "Ugh...! Stop dodging! It''s already hard enough to restrain myself to not kill you outright ¨C if you will move around so fast I might hit you by ident!" Kopia straightened her back andined at the airborne man ¨C who dodged her initial attack by the skin of his teeth and bounced back like a scared doe. "Just give me the sword!" She scoffed, stomping her foot as the armored mannded safely a fair bit of distance away from her. "Odd creature ¨C I do not know what you might be, but the warrior''s weapon is as important as their life ¨C although you might have been right in telling your master that this de is nothing special alone, I will not relinquish it as it was and still is my cherishedpanion through the years!" The armored man said, lowering himself on his feet, taking a rather odd but somewhat threatening stance, and the purple mes erupted around him -wild and ferocious as if they wanted to swallow the heaven itself. "Hmmmm... that''s why master didn''t want me to kill you ¨C you know how to treat an equipment just as he does!" The crimson-haired balded creature nodded her hair and with a sh of white turned back into a crimson-haired girl in a fancy dress. Now, only her left hand was looking different than human ¨C her left hand has elongated into a semi-translucent pale-blue de that reached all the way to the ground. Kopia raised her hand up, looking as if she was taking a firmer stance ¨C even though no one had ever given her any propper lessons about anything. "Oh ¨C I know how to deal with your sword without killing you! I will not attack, and only defend! Come, you attack me!" Suddenly she flinched and her serious expression broke down as she brightened up,ing up with some idea, and beckoned Persimmon with her right hand. "...since you revealed your n, why would you expect me to fall for it...?" The armored man raised his brow underneath his mask, not moving even a fraction of an inch. "Eh? I thought you want to fight master? See? If you don''t fight me ¨C you will never get to him!" The crimson-haired girl smiled cutely and dered, closing her eyes. "...!" At that exact moment, Persimmonunched himself forward with his sword raised ¨C he wasn''t aiming at the smiling sentient sword who has already proved that she can deal with his skill no problem ¨C he was aiming at the blue undead behind her! *WHOOOOSH* Concentrating all of his power into the perfectly performed skill, the armored man unleashed a purple wind-de in the shape of a crescent moon, which size easily dwarfed that of the horse-drawn carriage. *SHIING* "Buuu! I don''t like those tricks ¨C just fight me and destroy your sword!" "...wha...?!" And yet his attack was easily intercepted by the crimson-haired girl who simply appeared in front of him and cut through his skill as if it was butter. "Booo!" Kopia raised her hands ¨C one human one and one which was turned into a de and let out a rather adorable growl right in the face of Persimmon- who reacted just as he was taught to do in a situation when his enemy is right by him ¨C he hurriedly stepped back while striking with his sword... *SHING* *CLANG* The single-edged sword sung but got instantly parried... *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* *SHING* *CLANG* "AHAHAHA! We''re stuck in a loop~!" No matter where the armored man tried to move ¨C the crimson-haired girl followed and their des raised sparkles when they shed with terrifying efficiency. --- *gulp* "...ha..." The blue undead finished with all the corpses and let out a small sound, looking back at his sentient sword ying around with the eastern-looking warrior ¨C before he got up and walked into the mansion. Chapter 495 - Durians Mansion (part 19) - Slightly Too Late

Chapter 495 - Durian''s Mansion (part 19) - Slightly Too Late

The blue undead didn''t waste any more time and rushed straight to the basement from where Druian''s life signature was pulsating right by the life signature of an exotic monster. *BOOOOOM* He actually was going straight to him ¨C not using the proper hallways and doors ¨C Zombie burst down through the walls and ceiling as his body was glowing with white and violet light interchangeably. The vacant-faced ves tried to stand in his way but, well... *WHAM* *SMASH* They did not end up well since the blue undead didn''t have any intentions of ying around ¨C it''s worth mentioning that he didn''t actually kill anyone, only forcefully took away their ability to move around by thoroughly breaking or dislocating their bones in strategic ces with well-aimed hits as they all fell down without making a sound no matter what damage they received. |Oh...? and who might we have here...?| Zombie furrowed his brows once e noticed one particrly strong life signature beelining it to him with only a little bit more caution for the property damage that he had. It was not Durian, but they were close enough to him in terms of power ¨C surprisingly enough. "You! Filthy monster, this is as far as you will go ¨C my master can not be interrupted!" The person who showed up, blocking the blue undead''s final door ¨C or wall ¨C was a tall dark-haired maid with a serious expression. |Ha...?! That''s the girl that tried to protect Durian from the Cranberry''s blow in the first ythrough and got torn in half...!| |Oh-ho...!| The sealed being gasped in shock when the mystery of to whom his life signature belongs had been revealed ¨C and the blue undead let out the appropriate sounding curious sound. |Her name?| |I don''t know, never heard it before.| Zombie asked, hesitant to start a fight outright because of the possible consequences, but surprisingly enough the sealed being did not have an answer for his question, sounding as if she was shaking her head in hesitation. "What''s your name, miss...?" The blue undead straightened his back and looked into the maid''s eyes. "I have no name to reveal to some filthy monster that tries to mess with my master!" Unfortunately, the answer he got wasn''t the one he wanted ¨C instead, the maid''s body began glowing with powerful white light and she lowered herself into a battle stance that Zombie recognized instantly. Although the closebat skill was supposed to be a rare thing, it sure did somehow make its way unto the arsenal of a maid of all ces. "Now, now ¨C there is no need to be inc such a rush, is it now, miss? Why don''t we just... Talk about it." The blue undead waved his hand dismissively before carefully asking the question ¨C as his eyes began glowing with intense blue light. /Skill failed\\\\ /Target is immune\\\\ |Immune...? That''s the first time I was informed about targets immunities by the system...| Two system messages popped up one after the other and the blue undead furrowed his brows at them. "How dare you try to some seduction skill on a yer character ¨C you filthy beast! The system will not allow fur such disrespect! Your false life ends here!" The attempt of using the lust-based Mindbreak skill surprisingly resulted only in enraging the maid to the point where no further negotiations seemed possible, as she clenched her fists and dered while ring down at the blue undead with disgust. |Not good, Durian''s, you see the weird fluctuation of Durian''s life signature? He is doing something with the monster and I don''t like where it is going...!| *BOOOM* Zombie furrowed his brows as the maidunched herself at him without giving him enough time to prepare... ...or that would be the case if he wasn''t already anticipating her attack since the moment that her life signature had shown up... As his body was already glowing violet, at thest possible second before the contact it also shed with white light and the blue undead body dodged the hands of the maid- she was intending to destroy his head with a devastating punch but what ended up happening instead was Zombie intercepting her fist, grabbing and twisting her wrist and using the force behind her charge to smash her into the adjacent wall. *RUMBLE* It was hard to tell whether the mansion shook because of Zombie''s attack or because of whatever Durian was doing with the monster ¨C but either way, bits and pieces of rubble rained down of the two opponents. "What is your name?!" Zombie growled pressing the maid against the wall digging her own hand into her back. "F-fuck you...! A member of the system church will not bow down to some filthy undead, your kind is a...!" *SMASH* Since he did not get his answer, the blue undead used his other hand to gab the stubborn maid''s head and mmed it into the wall. Her head turned out to be tougher than the rocks and the woman ended up lodged into a wall in an almostical way. "Tsk...! I hate fuckers like that? Can I kill her, will it mess up the game or not?" Zombie scoffed stepping away from her and shaking his head. |Don''t you remember if she was important or not? Did the message with the penalty show up back in the first ythrough or not?| He asked internally making sure with the life signature detection skill that the maid is alive and merely unconscious. |...I... I honestly don''t remember... I was far too focused on Durian at that time...| The sealed being answered astounding apologetic after a bit of a dy as if she was doing her best to recall a distant memory. *RUMBLE* "!!!!" But then another tremor shook the mansion, interrupting their conversation. The blue undead hurriedly looked back to check whether it was the result of Kopia''s bout with the armored Persimmon, but judging by the man''s life signature ¨C he was not responsible and he didn''t seem nearly shaken enough for receiving an attack that could cause the entire mansion to quake like that. Yes... the answer was in front of him ¨C through the door that the maid currently lodged into a wall was trying to protect. "..." Zombie was by it within less than a second ¨C his leg glowing white and raised for a strike. He kicked at the door to break them and distract Durian from whatever he was doing but... *WHA-* *BOOOOOOOM* The moment that his foot started caving in the wood, an unknown unbelievable force that originated in the room he was about to burst in, exploded sending one-third of the mansion flying straight up as if the force of gravity had lost its power over the ce. |...of for fuck''s sake...!| The blue undead using the emergency dodge and acrobatic skills to dodge all the rubble in the air cursed internally as he managed to catch a glimpse of the source of the explosion. Durian Greed, standing right bare-chested by a massive murky red orb at least ten timesrger than himself, was emitting a threatening red and ck glow. There was no burning mark on his forehead, but instead, there was one, much bigger, charred ck like a horrible wound in the middle of his chest....! Chapter 496 - Durians Mansion (part 20) - VS Durian (part 1)

Chapter 496 - Durian''s Mansion (part 20) - VS Durian (part 1)

The giant orb was only visible for less than a second as almost immediately the force of gravity reimed all the debris, causing it to be buried under the ruble. That, of course, wasn''t the case for either the blue undead and the tall man with the sigil of the eternal charred ck on his bare chest. The two of themnded on the debris and one red at the other making the scene look as if it was two apex predators that identally stumbled upon each other. The confrontation was inevitable. The blue undead checked on Cranberry back near the main gate and breathed out with relief once he made sure that she is alive and well - now he could fully concentrate on the opponent in front of him. "You are that undead that I heard my cousinin so much about." Durian spoke with unwavering confidence and straightened his back, making himself sound that much more grandiose. "Say. I only have one question before I will pulverize you and then enve that master of yours and conceal her here under the excuse that you killed her and made off with her corpse..." The man showed his teeth in a smile that was just as mocking as it was threatening - he waited for a reaction but the only one he got was Zombie''s brow raised without any amusement. "...Quince. He didn''t run away with the content of the treasury, did he? You killed him and sold my cousin some cheap story with no real evidence except for the kid''s word." Durian''s smile disappeared from his face and he red at the blue undead. "I bet that little Roan went with your n because you promised him to help save that girl, Mary, or whatever." He added waving his hand dismissively. "That kid... if only he justes to me like a man and made some reasonable offer... it''s not like I actually needed or wanted another pleasure ve - me marrying her was only meant as a way to gain control over the Hope family." Durian sighed dispiritedly. "But back to my question... You''ve done my elite ves awfully quick - it must have been the same with Quince. Poor Roan, unknowingly covered for his real father''s murderer..." "...!" Durian spread his arms, shaking his head as if he actually was feeling sad and not acting. |...haa... I''m not the one who should talk about the acting skill of others, but, wow - he sure isn''t talented...| The sealed being inside of the blue undead sounded honestly surprised and very much as unimpressed as the blue undead. |Yeah. I love how at first he was trying to rile me up - but once he realized that Roan was listening in, he decided to dump a whole lot of exposition on him... truth to be told, that''s very cunning - if we put aside his terrible acting, that is.| Zombie agreed with her while keeping an eye on the life signature of the blond prince who was thinking that he was being sneaky but unluckily for him, he got discovered immediately by both his uncle and the blue undead. |Cunning you say? Ha ha! Yeah sure.| The sealed being peeked into her host''s mind andughed openlyughed. "Killing Quince? Me? What nonsense. I wouldn''t stand a chance against him in a fair fight - and the queen knew that. That''s why she let me go in the first ce. Your so-called elites were high level in name only and that''s why they got defeated so easily - don''t try to make your crappy magic look good by evenpeting them all to that teleporting menace." "..." The blue undead shook his head, snorting at Durian while being loud enough so that the first prince would hear him clearly - which made therge man red at him with a cold expression, for using the same trick that he wanted to pull off but better. "You destroyed my property, so I will destroy you!" *BOOOOOM* Durian clearly decided that there was no need for ying around anymore and straight-upunched himself at the blue undead, causing a small explosion that sent a good Chung of the ruble he was standing in previously into the sky. *WHAM* *WHAM* *crack* "ARGH...! What in the...?!" Then their fists collided - the one shining with white light got crushed by the one enveloped in the violet one, and Durian cried out in pain and shock jumping back clenching his broken hand to his sigiled chest. "Aww... you tried to make it sound as if you were that close with the current queen, but the truth is you weren''t told shit. Did you?" The blue undeadughed, taking a step forward, toward the man gritting his teeth, and the violet light enveloping his blue body erupted into a Pr reaching into the night sky. "I am not just some random monster - I am the avatar of pride. Your cousin didn''t support you at all - she sent me here to kill you off and get rid of the problem that your raise to power was causing her position. Fool." Two could y the liar game and, without a doubt - the one with the system-approved title such as liar was in the advantages position. "...! N-no...! Impossible...!" Durian gasped, taking a step back. "KHAHAHAHAHA! Yes, that''s the expression I want you to show me! The greed of Greeds knows no bounds! Family and friends don''t matter if they block your way to wealth! Now, despair and diet! " Zombie took a step back and burst out intoughter as the violet light surrounding him only grew in intensity. Seriously... what level did his superbia and overpower skills get to while he was sealed? |I need to get myself appraised...| *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The blue undead thought whileunching himself at the man with the sigil - traveling so fast that even skills like blink and teleportation would not be able to keep up with his speed, and appeared right in front of Durian, with one leg raised up above the muscr man''s head. "YOU FUCKER!" Durian roared and swung his fist glowing with a red and ck light at Zombie''s leg shining with a vibrant violet glow.... Chapter 497 - Durians Mansion (part 21) - VS Durian (part 2)

Chapter 497 - Durian''s Mansion (part 21) - VS Durian (part 2)

"Sike!" "?!?!?!?!?!" ...but instead of actually going full power, the blue undead''s body shed with white light as he activated his acrobatics skill and used Durian''s fist as a stepping stone to get himself into a perfect position to the massive man''s head. Zombie''s throat and jaws shone with orange light as he opened them up ring at Durian''s face with wild joy. "Are you kidding me...?!" The sigiled man gasped as all blood drained from his face in an instant once he recognized the distinctive light of the gluttony-based skill. In despair, Durian raised his crushed hand up and... *CHOMP* "AAAAAAAUUUUURRRGGGHHHHHH!" ...growled in pain when the invisible force cut his hand off and transported it into the blue undead''s mouth as a condensed matter... *crunch* *gulp* ...that the blue undead had promptly chewed up and swallowed without even a second of hesitation before nimbly jumping away from the growling man. Durian stumbled back, holding his handless arm, clenching his fist around the remains of his wrist from which crimson red blood was bursting forth as if it was an oddly colored mountain stream. "Pffft...! Khahahahaha! Whoa...! Kind sir, I must say that you are rather delicious~ the Eternal''s energy voring is really doing miracles with the usually drab meal!" Zombie couldn''t stop himself and giggled mischievously while prudently covering his mouth with one hand. "...if you like that vor so much - then why don''t I feed it to you directly?!" Durian''s face twisted in anger and his wounded hand gotpletely enveloped by the red and ck smoke forming something akin to a protective glove - and the furious man charged at the blue undead. "Hmph...!" Zombie smirked and his jaw and throat shone orange once more... *CHO-* *THUNK* /Skill failed\\\\ *WHAM* Although initially, it looked like the charging man will lose more of his body to the gluttony-based skill, once Zombie pped his jaws together, he felt that something has blocked it and a sound simr to metal mming against metal resounded, as the concentrated red and ck smoke easily blocked the tier 1 skill - and as such, Durian''s charge was sessful and his first crushed... ...into the ground where the blue undead was just a moment earlier - as the emergency dodge skill shone once more, proving itself to be one of the most - if not the most - useful tier 1 skill. "!!!!" *WHAM* *BOOOOOM* As Durian was gritting his teeth ring at the nimble undead, the blue undead went ahead and with the aid of the acrobatics skill twisted, turned around, and delivered a devastating kick right into the sigiled man''s stomach, sending him flying and crashing into the whatever was left of his mansion - leveling it down with the force of the impact. |It sure felt like I kicked out some of his intestines... but where are they...?| Zombie furrowed his brows, looking at the debris where the stter of blood had marked the ce where Durian received the augmented kick. |Durian doesn''t have the overpowered healing ability because Luke isn''t his ve anymore, but even so, I don''t think that killing him would be as easy as you think - he is channeling the power of the Eternal after all.| The sealed being sounded as if she was furrowing her brows in hesitation, deeply analyzing the situation. "...you... piece of shit undead...!" ...and she was right to be skeptical about Durian''s demise, as the man himself had raised up - now not only his hand but his entire stomach and left side of the chest were covered in a thickyer of the red and ck smoke, that kept them together like some sort of threatening cast. "..." Zombie straightened his back and frowned at the man who was beginning to look less and less like a human and more like a human-shaped puppet. |Oh-ho...!| Just in case, the blue undead used his life signature detection skill on him and made an interesting discovery. Durian''s life essence was slowly fading away as if the man was dying with each second but in its ce pulsating mana was sipping inside his body, taking it over. |He wanted to use the power of the Eternal but is the one being used instead. Ironic.| The sealed being smirked, sounding as if she shrugged her shoulders. |I''m more concerned about the fact that the smoke is making him more or less immune to my attacks... that''s a first, except for the barrier of course...| Zombie scoffed internally, ring at the swirling red and ck smoke climbing up and taking over Durian''srge body. |It is the barrier, just that he is able to use it far better and more creatively than any actual sigil monster that we have encountered so far... haa... so annoying...| The sealed being breathed out andined. |Hey, I''m the one actually fighting him, why are youining?| The blue smirked and his jaws and throat started glowing orange again. |You''re trying that again?| The sealed being sounded as if she furrowed her brows in confusion. |The smoke barrier might be blocking the parts underneath it, but there are plenty of spots prime for eating~| The blue undead wasn''t discouraged and instead already picked the most obvious target - Durian''s head. "Why don''t you give up and die?!" *¡Â?¡ê?|?|¡ê¡Â|?* The wounded man wasn''t going to just let him be the first to attack though - with a wild roar and to the apaniment of some inhuman sounds, the tentacles of red and ck smoke burst forth from the mass covering his stomach, all aiming at the blue undead! *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* "Khahaha!" Zombie made use of his skills and dodged all of the smoke tentacles letting them all pierce the ground around him and charged straight at Durian. "Fool!" The man shouted triumphantly and the separate tentacles turned into a loose gas that gathered around the blue undead...! "Oh, shut up." *BOOOOOOOOOOM* Zombie rolled his eyes and kicked the ground,unching himself forward outspending the red and ck smoke before it could condense and trap him... "!!!!!!" *BOOOM* ...but exactly because of that speed, the blue undead ended up overshooting the sigiled man,nding far behind his back, and had to kick the ground again to get within the gluttony-based skill reach. "NOOOO-!" *CHOMP* Then, even though it seemed like there is a clear way for the skill to activate and behead Durian, the same maid that Zombie thought was lying unconscious - or dead - under the debris popped out of nowhere and threw herself in between the two - ending up with getting almost half of her torso bitten off by Zombie''s skill - the left side, which included her heart - killing her on the spot. /High-level yer character defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ *stab* "...tsk...!" "Ahahahahahaha! Finally! I got you!" The message showed up in front of the blue undead face, partially blocking his vision - which was used by Durian whounched another one of the red and ck smoke tentacles - piercing right through the body of the maid who sacrificed herself for him, and it managed to dig into Zombie''s chest - making the blue undead click his tongue in annoyance as the red and ck smoke entered his body....! Chapter 498 - Durians Mansion (part 22) - VS Durian (part 3)

Chapter 498 - Durian''s Mansion (part 22) - VS Durian (part 3)

Zombie was stabbed in the chest with the condensed red and ck smoke tentacle that after puncturing the undead''s flesh started dpressing and spreading across his insides. "Hah!" Durianughed triumphantly, making the tentacle raise up and smash the blue undead against the intact until then back wall of his mansion... *BOOOOM* ...causing it to copse whileunching a great amount of dust interesting o the air. But that most certainly wasn''t the only attack - oh, not at all... *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* He continued mming the blue undead like a ragdoll, bringing more and more destruction upon his already ruined home. "Ha...! Hahahahahahahahaha! Suffer, you measly worm! You are nothing whenpared to the power of the Eternal''s apostle!" Durian dragged Zombie''s body through the rubble and propped him up to mock him andugh in his face. *CHOMP* "YOU...!" *WHAM* The dusty blue undead raised his head slightly and pped his jaws together, which made Durian growl in fury - and so he mmed the blue undead into the ground while raising his arms to protect his head and shielding himself with a protective barrier of the red and ck smoke on top of that. *crunch* *gulp* *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* "...?" Durian furrowed his brows and nced from behind his arms at the blue undead he kept pinned to the ground. Whatever the monster was attacking and eating certainly wasn''t Durian himself, because the skill that the blue undead was using has been proved to not work against the red and ck smoke. *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* "...wha...?" The muscr man''s eyes widened as he saw that the blue undead was targeting him at all but instead was focusing on eating the corpse of the maid that had sacrificed herself to protect Durian. "Pffft...! Hahahahahaha! What is it? Have I beaten you up so much that you reverted back to your most basic instincts? And my cousin had told me so much about you while she was still keeping you in her treasury." The muscr manughed, shaking his head, and dropped his hands down while still keeping up the wall of red and ck smoke between himself and the gluttonous undead monster. *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* Zombie did not respond, merely bit into the air and the unidentified matter appeared in his mouth only to be chewed and swallowed. "...that is so disappointing, a dumb monster like that had managed to get my hand... fool - can''t you feel that no matter how much you eat your HP isn''t regenerating? Or did I turn your brain into mush with all the shaking?" "..." "...oh...?" The blue undead seemed like he hesitated as if in an attempt to figure out an answer and Durian straightened his back with a smile expecting the whining of a beaten-up mutt, but instead... *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* "Tsk...!" The blue undead finished off the maid''s corpse so thoroughly that only the stter of blood on the debris was left as proof of her existence. "A shame. She wasn''t my favorite but seemed to have cherished me more than all the other pleasure ves. I will have to request the people of the system''s faith to send over another one like her - and I''m sure they will be more than willing to after I tell them that I freed the world from a nasty undead menace such as you." Durian smirked staring mockingly at the blue undead who started shaking... "...?" /Condition has been met\\\\ /Skill rank up Second stomach (level 5) ??? Beast''s maw (level 1)\\\\ |There it is~!| The system message has popped up in the blue undead''s vision making him barely hold himself back, the red and ck smoke encasing his insides was a rather unpleasant experience but with the high-level pain nullification and undead body, it wasn''t anything worth writing home about. |...haa... hold it in and wait until the right chance to...| "Pfffft...! Khahaha...!" The sealed being sighed and began instructing her undead host, but Zombie couldn''t help himself anymore, his shoulders trembled and after the initial muffled snort, he went ahead and giggled. |Oh, system damn it you rotten brain!| "KHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...!" The sealed being scoffed at him in a grumpy voice which instead of knocking some sense into the blue undead caused him to burst into a full one madughter...! "...!?" Seeing the monster he thought was on itsst leg startughing in the most viinous way caused Durian to back off and surround himself with the thick barrier of the red and ck smoke. "...!" But then the muscr man realized what he has done subconsciously and gritted his teeth in fury - he still had the blue undead on the ropes! The red and ck tentacle was still firmly lodged into his chest! The red and ck smoke was enveloping the monster''s intestines ready to pull them all out and gut him like a fish at any time! The damage that the blue undead had suffered chewed through his HP as if it was a sweet dessert put in front of a child! And he, Durian Greed, has backed away from such a miserable sack of rotten flesh?! Inexcusable! such shame could only be washed off by wasting the blue undead then and there! The muscr man with the charred sigil of the Eternal on his chest bared his teeth and red furiously at the undead monster awkwardly climbing back on his feet. *WHAM* *SMASH* Durian did not wait for the blue undead to finishughing on their own and mmed him around with earth-shattering might. *RIIIIIP* He had used so much power, in fact, that he had actually torn the blue undead open and indeed ripped out all of the slimy bluish and violet, cold and dead organs... *THUMP* The maniacalughter has stopped and the gutless blue undead crashed into the ground with an oddly metallic sound that his body honestly didn''t have the right to make in those circumstances. "Hmph...!" Durian scoffed ring at the lifeless body, then his eyes darted up at the slimy intestines encased in his red and ck smoke... ***** Before he crushed them into a pulp, which surprisingly enough was more or less translucent - it also must have made a squelching sound but the red and ck smoke was muffling it all - which waspletely unexpected considering that Durian expected the blue to be filled with the rotting blood that would give his body the intense blue color. "Now. Persimmon should be done with your little master and my nephew. I did tell him that idents can and will happen but that honorable idiot probably did not understand what I meant by that~" Durian breathed out and smirked at the monster''s body. Despite showing no signs of continuing his false life, the blue undead must still be clinging to it as no system message has popped up for the muscr man. Chapter 499 - Durians Mansion (part 23) - VS Durian (part 4)

Chapter 499 - Durian''s Mansion (part 23) - VS Durian (part 4)

Although internal organs had little to no importance for the functioning of any undead, they were still most definitely linked to their HP just how it was with any other creature - the only difference for the undead was that although destroying a particr organ would decrease their health points,? it would not immediately incapacitate those beasts in any significant way as it would do to the living. Internal organs were the first weak point that a necromancer would get rid of in their summoned monsters as destroying them one by one with enough time in between for the creature HP''s regeneration to cover the loss would not bring any disadvantage in the long run. "You can go to the other side with ease, I will be personally sending your master there, following after you...!" Durianughed, unveiling his n to make the defeated enemy even more miserable - although in all honesty - he was unsure whether the monster could hear him properly. As the popr - in the Fruit Sd kingdom saying goes - the greed of Greeds knows no bounds. Greed was what pushed them all into action, it could be the vastly generalized feeling of wanting more of everything, but most of the family had a specific aspect or thing they wanted above all else. Some wanted wealth, some wanted political power, some wanted strength, and some wanted love - but for Durian, who was a member of the Greeds family through and through, that something was glory. He wanted to be feared and respected by everyone and everything he crossed paths with. And that included the blue undead sprawled on the ruble in front of him. "No response, oh well..." Durian scoffed and nced up at the sphere of red and ck smoke encasing the liquefied innards. "...wouldn''t that be ironic to finish you off with that...?" His smirk bloomed into a full-on smile, and he raised his head, making the sphere raise up much higher, and moved it over his own head to get himself just a bit of a wider move - just enough to be sure that the tough undead will actually die this time and...! *CHOMP* "GH-URGH...!" With a soft sound of teeth ttering against each other, something got torn apart Durian''s body, making him throw up a ridiculous amount of blood. *SPLASH* "AAAAAAUUUURRRRGGGGHH!" As if that wasn''t enough, the impact that the sudden internal damage has had on d Durian, made him release the control over the red and ck smoke - which resulted in it dispersing into the air like a normal smoke - releasing and drenching him in the crushed internal organs of the blue undead - which in their liquified form turned out to be a highly toxic liquid that began burning and even straight-up melting the man''s flesh off of his bones. "Khahaha...! Idioth...!" *crunch* *gulp* The blue undead slowly raised from the ground andughed mockingly before swallowing whatever mysterious mass he had in his mouth. "YOU...! YOU LITTLE FUCKER! DO YOU THINK THIS IS ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME?!" Durian howled as the melted flesh was peeling off of him in literal stripes and he stumbled back barely keeping a bnce on the loose debris. |Whoa, he is tough...! That is no would devouring venom, but I have melted so many mid-level yer characters with it already, that I thought it would be enough for him.| Zombie stood up and looked at his torso - his body was literally ripped open for everyone to see as most of his ribs have simply given out and broken apart. Though, honestly, there was hardly anything to look at now that Durian was going through the elerated process of decaying alive thanks to Zombie''s very own internal organs mixed with an unbelievable amount of his powerful venom. |HA! As if! You may fool others with that silver tongue of yours but I can read your mind, remember? You just want to make him suffer!| The sealed being inside of him sounded as if she furrowed her brows and looked away while pouting. |Sorry, sorry - I will make it up to you when I got a chance.| Zombie giggled internally and thought softly to appease the fuming sealed bearing. |...haa... you better do that, my rotten brain...| The sealed being murmured in embarrassment in response to that. "YOU FILTHY FUCKING ROTTING CORPSE! WHY DON''T YOU SAY SOMETHING?!" "...?" Zombie looked at the howling man with surprise - he honestly expected to be attacked already, but instead, Durian was just roaring and waving his hands around wildly... |Ah~! My venom got his eyes~?!| The blue undead''s own eyes filled with excitement and he bounced up happily seeming that the damage dealt by his tricky attack wasn''t just reserved for his target''s skin and muscles. "GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE MAN, YOU FILTHY UNDE-aurgh...!" The gravely injured man shouted and swung down a bit too hard, slipping on the loose debris and ending up dirtying his wounds with a copious amount of dirt. |Pffft...! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha! Haa... you heard him? He wants a real fight! Pffft...! Ha ha! If I had an actual body my stomach would be hurting fromughing too much, I swear!| The sealed being couldn''t help herself and erupted into a burst of uglyughter that sounded more like the dog''s barks than anything else, and filled - the currently vacant - insides of the blue undead with a nostalgic feeling. He got into such a good mood that he decided to not make Durian''sst moments unnecessary miserable. Zombie''s eyes began glowing with a reddish light and he nced down, where exactly underneath the howling Durian a certain monster was regaining control over its powers for the first time in four years... "Hey. Durian - one of your ves has something to tell you." "!!!!!!!" *RUMBLE* Zombie called out, getting the attention of the wounded man, just in time for the debris underneath him to tremble and... *BOOOOOM* The blue undead kicked off the ground andunched himself into the air. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The debris and the wounded man got thrown into the night sky "DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Roared the humanoid-shaped gigantic sigil monster, opening its jaws in an attempt to swallow Durian whole. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Cried out Durian, as the blue undead got on top of his mushy half-melted body and kicked him down the beast''s throat. "ZOMBIE! WATCH OUT!" "Hmm...?" Someone standing by the gate in the wall surrounding Durian''s estate shouted in panic, picking Zombie''s attention. As he recognized Cranberry''s life signature, he looked back down just to see that the sigil monster did not slow down in its ascend and... *CHOMP* *GULP* ...the blue undead got swallowed whole.... Chapter 500 - Sigil Monster (part 1)

Chapter 500 - Sigil Monster (part 1)

*CRUNCH* "...!" Persimmon Kabut gritted his teeth and jumped back, as his trusty sword broke apart in the jaws of the truly disturbing monster. The creature wasprised mostly of hundreds of thousands of crimson threads that worked together simr to human muscles, besides the mass of threads ceaselessly coiling around themselves the beast had something that could be described as a humanoid body but the sheer number of des protruding from every avable inch of its body made it look more like a furious metal porcupine - the crunching sound that resounded through the are was the result of that very creature chomping down on Persimmon''s weapon. If the armored man did not let go of it the moment that the monstrosity get a hold of it, he would surely lose an entire arm. The weapon was important for a warrior but there were obvious boundaries to that rule. Well, if he swore on his life to protect the de, things would be different - but the sword was given to him in order to protect his life, not the other way around. Persimmon''s real problem would begin only now. His master used the power of the sigil monster they''ve kept in the basement for almost half a decade and was fighting with the blue undead - almostpletely destroying his own mansion as well as killing a staggering amount of the already brainwashed low-level ves. This was a bitter disappointment for Persimmon as Durian, his master whom the warrior swore the oath of loyalty, had to give Persimmon his word to not treat any of the ves like disposable pieces. The honor of Greeds goes onlysts until their desires are granted and they will abandon everything else if their greed can be satiated even a little bit. Persimmon held back a sight. He was aware that Durian''s desire was for the respect won in battle - but that''s was exactly why he held such high hopes for his master. "..." The warrior shook his head and focused back on the creature in front of him - without a doubt, it was the most dangerous being that he ever had to face. Persimmon''s danger detection skill was screaming for him to run away, but the heart of the warrior remained untainted by the cowardly thoughts. Even without his trusted sword, he was not left without any means of attack. The armored man closed his eyes, concentrating on the skills he honed just as much as his swordsmanship, the array of curses and unarmed techniques that would give him at least a chance against this... *gulp* "Yaaay! I did it! I got the sword without harming the wielder! Master will praise me!" In the ce of the most disturbing mass of crimson threads and des, a short young woman was standing throwing her hands in the air and cheering, with absolutely no indication of willingness to continue the fight... "...huh...?" If it was some sort of clever ploy to make Persimmon drop his guard - it worked. The armored man lowered his hands and gasped in absolute confusion. If it was just a trick - he would understand - but even his danger detection skill had stopped showing the young woman as a threat that she was just a few seconds before. "...wait... she did what her master said...?" Persimmon furrowed his brows and nce over his shoulder at the remains of the mansion amongst which the blue undead and a muscr man with a sigil charred into his bare chest were fighting. "Hold on! You actually were serious about only disarming me?! That wasn''t just a trick of that undead?!" The armored warrior straightened his back, following the example of the cheering girl, and asked her in disbelief. "Umm...? Yeah...? Master wants you to join that red girl, after all." The crimson-haired girl flinched as if she only then remembered that Persimmon was still there, and she said tilting her head as if she didn''t quite understand the warrior''s confusion. "...!" It was Persimmon''s turn to flinch. He slowly turned around to look at the blue undead who was being ragdolled around the ruins of the mansion, pulled around by a tentacle-like appendage that Durian created out of the red and ck smoke. "Kopia! If you finished over there, could you finally let us go help my husband?!" "!!!" Someone''s angry shout made the armored warrior look past the crimson-haired girl, and only then did he realize that his currently docile former opponent was still using some of her strange powers, just not against him. What she was doing instead was using her hair to bind and trap her ownrades - and not just the red-haired girl that arrived together with the blue undead, but Luke and Mia too - she even got the girl that was supposed to be wed to Durian, as well as the girl''s griffin, the silver haired-old man, and even the blond-haired young man. ...for whatever reason, the blond youth was dangling head down because the thread keeping a hold on him was coiled around his ankle which made it look like he snuck by before and was captured and dragged back to the rest. "Help master...?" The crimson-haired girl called Kopia tilted her head and furrowed her brows as if she had a hard time understanding what the girl calling herself the blue undead''s wife had shouted to her. Kopia went ahead and dragged everyone closer to her and Persimmon and tilted her head to the other side. "Red girl, why do you want to interfere with my master''s training?" She ended up asking the red-haired girl. "What training?! He is my familiar, I can see his HP! He gets beaten up so bad that he only has a sliver of it left!" The red-haired girl shouted furiously, repeatedly mming into the crimson thread with her bulky scepter. "No, no. He is training right now. Also - he has a promise to keep too." Kopia shook her head and refuted the other girl''s argument without giving it any thoughts. "What promise?!" The other girl shouted furiously. "Nnnn... I don''t remember, something about a hand of the bald guy." Kopia shrugged her shoulders and exined. *RUMBLE* She closed her mouth just in time for a huge tremor to shake the ground... *BOOOOOM* "!!!!!" Everyone turned towards the source of the new explosion and saw the blue undead kicking off the ground,unching himself into the air. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "DEAR SYSTEM ALMIGHTY!" "!!!!!" Caramb gasped as the remains of the mansion literally erupted and got thrown into the night sky - together with Durian - and what burst forth from underneath it was a huge holster with a sigil burning in the middle of its forehead. "DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Roared the humanoid-shaped gigantic beast, opening its jaws in an attempt to swallow Durian whole. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Durian cried out as the blue undead got on top of his mushy half-melted body and kicked him down the beast''s throat. "ZOMBIE! WATCH OUT!" "...?" The red-haired girl still in Kopia''s binding shouted a warning in an urgent voice, but it was toote... *CHOMP* *GULP* The sigil monster closed its jaws with a snapping noise and the blue undead got swallowed whole. Chapter 501 - Sigil Monster (part 2)

Chapter 501 - Sigil Monster (part 2)

"...!" Everyone became speechless. The massive monster towering over the ruins of the mansion turned their way and its dog-like face twisted with a smile. "That''s... the head looks like it''s Gorut, but those monsters don''t have actual bodies, it''s all head for them...!" Cranberry - who seemed to be in a state ofplete shock - muttered to herself, looking at the sigil monster in front of her. "This thing looks like some messed up angel-ss." Caramb clenched his fists and looked up at the creature''s face. "One that had run face-first into a wall, that is..." Persimmon Kabuto smirked, despite being pale as a ghost, and nodded toward the silver-haired gentleman. The two of them looked at each other before Caramb looked at the red-haired Cranberry. "Mydy, how is lord Zombie''s HP?" He asked, but he obviously meant to ask whether the blue undead is still functioning or was he re-killed. "It... it is still the same... he didn''t take any damage from getting swallowed..." Cranberry muttered, clenching her fists on the reverse baseball bat scepter so hard that her knuckles turned white. "How about your master, sir Persimmon?" "!!!!" To the great surprise of everyone except for Persimmon, the silver-haired gentleman faced him and asked. "..." The warrior removed a piece of armor from his forearm, revealing a ve crest simr to the one that Mia had on her arm before she got healed and it got removed. "He is still alive also." Persimmon confirmed before putting the armor back on. "Sir Kabuto, I can free you from it if you want. My healing magic reached a level when..." Luke stepped forward as far as the crimson thread coiling around his waist had allowed him but got stopped by Caramb blocking his way with his hand. "Sir Persimmon, since both of them got swallowed by that beast, I propose the armistice until we manage to take secure them back." The old butler spoke in a calm voice. "..." Persimmon looked between him and the sigil monster - who seemed a bit lost and did not get himself another target as of yet. "No, but, seriously - I can remove the ve crest from you - there''s no need for you to still cling to Dur..." The healer certainly didn''t quite understand the situation and spoke up again, gaining himself a scornful look from both the silver-haired gentleman as well as the red-haired girl who already realized what Caramb was setting up for. "Young Luke, I appreciate your concern but I swore on my honor to serve master Durian until the day he dies, and I will keep my word. That''s how it is and should be anyway." The armored man shook his head, dismissing the proposition without showing even the slightest bit of interest. "But as for what you''ve said, sir Caramb, I am willing to work together until we will both of our patrons back." Persimmon turned to the silver-haired butler and nodded to him. "With that in mind, miss Kopia would you mind releasing us from thi..." "THUNDERSTORM" *BOOOOM* But before he could finish his sentence, the red-haired girl next to him finally shook off the initial shock - unfortunately - and it turned out that what was hiding beneath it was pure unadulterated rage. *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* Immediately following her furious call, the starry sky got covered by a mass of dark clouds and a series of powerful electrical charges rained down upon the sigil monster, hitting the exact same spot as the initial lightning - the very middle of the beast''s forehead where the sigil was burning brightly in the darkness. "Miss!" "Too early...!" Both Persimmon and Caramb called out, but it was for naught. "ERUPTION!" While the electrical discharges were pelting the sigil monster the red-haired girl has already moved on to another spell, with her whole body glowing with pure white light she pointed her scepter down and suddenly moved it upwards... *RUMBLE* "?!?!?!" *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* With the tremors so powerful that it felt like another beast of the same size would pop up at any time, what actually happened was a pir of blood-red fire bursting from below the sigil monster''s feet and swallowing him whole in a disy of a devastating might. "HEAVENLY SMITE!" Although the drops of sweat from her forehead were literally flooding her eyes, the red-haired Cranberry continued the chain of spells of which each one was more powerful than the previous one. **************** The clouded sky opened when a beam of light that looked as if it was shot from the moon fell to the ground, extinguishing the fire and disintegrating everything within the borders of the destroyed mansion, erasing each and every trace of it. "GIVE ME BACK MY FUCKING HUSBAND, YOU FILTHY FUCKER!" The heir of the Pride family was being held back by not only Kopia''s crimson thread but by Mary, Roan, Mia, and even Luke - and she still would continuously cast spell after spell while swearing like an elf. "WHO DARES TO...?!" The light of the heavenly smite had faded, revealing the steaming sigil monster with horrible burns all over - but the injuries that would have killed any other creature all got healed by the time the beast localized the group - the creature frowned and spoke in a low, bellowing voice. "ARE YOU DEAF YOU FUCKING UGLY AS SHIT BASTARD?! SPIT HIM OUT! VOID''S DESCENT!" But for some unknown reason, Cranberry, fueled by pure fury was able to not only shout over the sigil monster''s words but even make it shut up... *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* Although, the thing with shutting up might have had more inmon with multiple jet ck spots appearing all around the monster''s huge body, as they all began warping the space around them - and that included the creature''s flesh. *RIIIIIIIP* "GHRAAAAOOOOUUUUGHHHHHH!" The monster howled as its gigantic left arm got in between the most number of dark dots and got horned apart bit by bit, releasing a copious amount of red and ck smoke. "Cranberry, stop, you have to watch out for the...!" Panicked Mary cried out while trying to make the red-haired girl look her way, but what she got in response was... "PRIMAL THUNDER!" *crack* "!!!!" *?¡è? ???¡è^?.?^?>¡è?>^?* Even calm until that point Kopia went wide-eyed and jumped out of the way when the magic crystal in Cranberry''s scepter shattered, causing the space in front of her to break apart and an electrical dischargeparable only to the beam attacks of the titan-ss monsters shoot out and pierced right through the sigil Gorut''s chest before dispersing against the red and ck barrier. "...gha....!" The sigil monster looked down at the gaping wound and gasped before falling to its knees, raising its hand. To its chest in disbelief. "H-how do you like that... you fuck... give me back... my... Zombie..." Cranberry managed to say before her eyes rolled up and she lost consciousness. She would have fallen down face-first but she was still being held up by the four other people who did not let her go even when the power of the primal thunder nearly knocked them down. ...though that was mostly thanks to Luke''s continuously casting healing skills on everyone near him. "..." Persimmon stood up from the ground and walked over to Caramb who got thrown to the opposite side by the shockwave of the ridiculously powerful skill. "...I... I think that I would like to serve this master of yours if I ever get the chance..." The armored man muttered still in shock while helping the old butler up. "You are more than weed to... but before that, we still have something to deal with." Caramb took Persimmon''s hand gratefully, but as he was up, he tapped the warrior''s arm and pointed at the kneeling sigil monster. "WHAT...?!" Persimmon turned around and his eyes widened in disbelief. The red and ck smoke that the monster''s flesh emitted had been gathering and condensation around the massive wound in the beast''s chest, coagting like a blood scab and closing the injury....! Chapter 502 - Sigil Monster (part 3)

Chapter 502 - Sigil Monster (part 3)

"Luke, can''t you heal her? You''ve seen that firepower, she could destroy that thing with one more shot." The dark-skinned Mia asked the young healer while they were putting the unconscious Cranberry down safely. "It''s not that simple, she didn''t just exhaust her mana, she actually went way over her limit and it''s her mind that suffered a serious trauma." Luke shook his head, making aplicated expression. "The spells she used, the thunderstorm, eruption, heavenly smite, and void''s descent - as far as I know, they were all tier 3 skills, and each one requires a proper wind-up and preparation but she just pulled them off instantly, one after the other." The healer looked back at the pale face of the red-haired girl with concern. "Not to mention I never even heard about primal spells - but after that demonstration, we can safely assume that it was something above tier 3..." He added with a soft sigh as if he himself didn''t quite believe what he had said. "B-but she will be fine, right? Right?!" The brown-haired heroine, Mary, gasped clenching her hands on Cranberry''s arm. "...probably. I already used every skill that had a chance of helping her, but until she will wake up we can''t be sure." Luke shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "I see. Thank you." The silver-haired gentleman approached them and nodded his head. "Miss Hope, stay here with my master, as for the rest of you,e with us." He nced at the unconscious red-haired girl and instructed, waving at the group. "We need to defeat that thing before it will regenerate fully. Come. As the sigil monster is now, we have the greatest chance of getting lord Zombie out." Caramb dered. "Wh-wha...?! But that thing is huge! What do you want to do against it, mister Caramb, wrestle its big toe?" The blond first prince gasped, taking a step back. "...your highness, if you wish to, you can stay behind and try to protect miss Mary and my master." Caramb hesitated for just a second before dering in a calm tone so it was hard to realize what his real feelings were. "Try is the keyword." But while Roan might have not realized the silver-haired butler''s sarcasm, it certainly wasn''t lost on either Mia, Luke, or Persimmon - as all three of them shook their head and the dark-skinned woman straight up breathed out in a mocking tone. After wasting enough time already on the hesitant prince, the four people ran straight at the kneeling sigil monster. "The mark on its head is the origin of its power! Aim there!" Carambmanded as his body began shining with white light. "Sure thing. Young Mia! Are you ready to be buffed?" Persimmon nodded and called to the dark-skinned woman. "Of course!" Mia responded with a nod and used the blink skill to get herself high in the air above the sigil Gorut''s head. "GRHAA...!" Whether the beast wanted to say something or was going to roar threateningly as soon as itid its unfocused eyes on the dark-skinned woman, what came out of its mouth was only some bloody foam and a pained groan as the creature in its current form was missing most of its lungs so making any sounds at all was quite hard. Funnily enough, what Caramb did, was jump onto the monster''s leg - but not to do something so ridiculous as using his closebat skill on the creature''s toes, but instead unleashing the mana drain skill at full throttle, making sure that the best has no means of countering or blocking the attack that was going toe. "Good! Young Luke!" Persimmon nodded with satisfaction and reached out his hands - his left one towards the wounded monster and his right one towards Mia. The next moment the armored man became surrounded by purple mes, his right-hand be engulfed by the crackling fire while a dozen of purple fireballs appeared around his left palm and began circling around it. Then, the purple fire from Persimmon''s right hand shed and disappeared, transferring itself straight onto Mia''s mace which she raised above her head already prepared and waiting for the right opportunity to strike - while a dozen fireballs floated towards the sigil monster and began circling around its head as a threatening halo. A few feet away from the armored man, Luke was also putting his skills to work - although his best ones were definitely the healing ones, the healing itself was a branch of the light magic - which had an array of physical and magical buffs. The young healer''s body was glowing with intense white light that illuminated the area around him and Mia''s body high above started glowing as if she somewhat became another sun, turning the night into day. The sigil monster''s shadow grew long as the woman was falling down on it. Without missing the right moment, Mia twisted her body, giving her attack even more destructive power and...! *BOOOOOOM* *CRACK* Her mace lodged itself in the very middle of the monster''s forehead, right on the burning sigil, and the creature''s skull has given in, shattering with a loud sound and caving in as it released a staggering amount of red and ck smoke, sending the beast falling back. *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* Half of the purple fireballs sent in by Persimmon erupted into a powerful explosion further adding to the damage suffered by the beast - and yet the system message about the monster''s defeat did not pop up. With basically no mana, the stubborn sigil monster managed to stay alive! "MIA! DON''T STOP! HIT IT AGAIN!" Luke shouted at the falling woman, using all avable buffing skills he had - which was necessary since the attack empowered by two high-level yer characters was a bit too strong for her and broke her arms like twigs. "I KNOW!" The dark-skinned woman gritted her teeth as the healing skill was rebuilding the bones in her hands. The next thing she did as she was almost by the ground was to use the blink three more times to align herself perfectly, this time not far but just above the monster whose head waspletely broken so bad, it was impossible to make out how it looked originally and unleashed a barrage of attacks. *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* Despite the heavy flurry of blows only five of the purple fireballs activated and added to the damage, leaving one more circling around the monster''s head like a satellite. "That damn thing is still ali-URGH...!" Persimmon shouted furiously, raising his hand to renew the curse but suddenly he bent down and began coughing up blood. "Sir Kabuto...?! What''s wro- UGH! UGHUE...!" Luke called out to the armored man who crumbled to his knees with blood pouring down out of his mask - but before the healer could take even a single step towards the warrior, his body trembled and he straight up started vomiting blood. "Wh-what...? I was poisoned...? I was...?!" Luke gasped in disbelief in between surges of blood escaping his mouth. "Luke?! LUKE?!" Mia used herst blink charge to get safely to the ground and instantly rushed towards the young healer. "MIA! DON''T!" Luke reached out his hand and shouted in urgency, but he ended up being toote. "HURGH...!" While in the middle of a run, the blood began pouring out of Mia''s nose, ears, and eyes, and she copsed to the ground, tumbling the rest of the way to the young healer while even more blood was getting spewed from her mouth. Chapter 503 - Sigil Monster (part 4)

Chapter 503 - Sigil Monster (part 4)

"Wh-what is going on?! Why did all of them suddenly copse?!" Mary, who propped Cranberry''s head with herp, gasped seeing not only the three people she met in the Drian''s mansion - but also the silver-haired butler - all copse into the puddles of their own blood as the sigil monster was leaning back so much that the top of its mutted head was almost touching the ground while it''s was still kneeling down. "I...! I don''t know...!" Roan''s face became pale as a ghost at the sight. "...!" Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization. He saw what was happening! "The smoke! Mary, it''s the smoke! All of them are trapped in a thin cloud of that damn vapor that the monster''s flesh is releasing!" "!!!!!" Roan eximed pointing at the area underneath the sigil Gorut. Only because they were farther away than the four attacking, Mary and Roan were able to notice that not all red and ck smoke was escaping up and mixing with the barrier surrounding the Druian''s estate, but in fact, some of it was pouring down creating a thin, barely visible mist. "That must be it! The blond prince called out in panic. "My prince! We need to do something! They will die if they stay there!" Mary eximed, biting her lips. "And what can we do?! Didn''t you see how that woman blinked back down and copsed in five seconds straight?! Even that healer dropped down, and he had this whole passive healing ability going on!" Roan shook his head, taking a step back. "B-but, my prince...! If we don''t do something...! The sigil monster is still alive, if it was dead it would...!" "Disperse into smoke! I know! I was fighting with them too! But this and that is different!" Mary cried out fearfully, and the blond prince finished the sentence for her, clenching his fists to keep his hands from shaking. "...but...!" The brown-haired heroine trembled before she looked down at the pale face of the unconscious viiness. "..." She breathed out and raised her head, with a determined expression. "Your highness, watch over Cranberry." "...huh...? Your highness...? Since when do you call me like that...? Mary gently moved the red-haired girl and stood up, causing the blond prince to flinch and turn to her wide-eyed. "Anry,e here!" "Scree!" Mary didn''t respond to him and instead called for her champion griffin, who screeched at her eagerly and hurriedly approached her. "Are you fine? Did he heal you properly?" Mary asked, gently patting the griffin''s beak. "SCREE!" Anry screeched proudly, spreading his winds to show that he waspletely restored - since Luke got to it while Kopia was holding them all together with her threads. ...speaking of which... "Eeeh...? Why are you all having so much trouble with just one of those?" The crimson-haired girl had perched herself on the edge of the wall surrounding the Durian''s estate and watched everything from that vantage point. "Mary, what are you trying to...?" Roan nced at Kopia before he turned back to the brown-haired girl and asked. "..." But he closed his mouth when he met Mary''s cold re. "Nothing, your highness. It''s just I''ve been told that in the moments of real danger humans show their true nature." The brown-haired heroine shrugged her shoulders and turned to the crimson-haired girl on the wall. "Miss Kopia! Could you help them? Or better kill that monster? You like killing, don''t you?" "...?" Mary called out, getting Kopia''s attention. "Eh? Help them? But it''s your event? I shouldn''t even be here in the first ce." The humanoid sword furrowed her brows and tapped her temple with her index finger. "I know when I can and when I cannot kill things on my own, you know? I don''t want to get my master upset." She shook her head and dered, kicking her feet up like a bored child. "But your master is in danger! He''s in the belly of that monster!" Mary looked between the wounded sigil monster that was slowly regenerating all the damages that it suffered and the crimson-haired girl. "Pfffft...! Nah. Master is trying to keep his promise, that''s all." Kopia waved her hand dismissively with no urgency whatsoever. "Gh...! At least can I ask you to watch over Cranberry?" She gritted her teeth a single step away from blowing up in anger, but she managed to stop herself and asked Kopia the same question she asked Roan beforehand. "Oh? Ah! Of course! Master wouldn''t want her to get injured while he''s ying around! Sure!" Kopia cheered out and jumped down, happily trotting towards the unconscious Cranberry. "Mary! Tell me you aren''t trying to go there and help them?! You are going to get injured!" Roan stepped in between the brown-haired heroine and her champion griffin, blocking the girl''s way on her tamed monster''s back. "Your highness, if we waste more time people will die." Mary clenched her fists and red at the blond prince with ice-cold eyes. "But...!" "There''s no ce for hesitation! You said that you were ready to run away with me and face all the dangers of getting pursued and surviving in the monster-infestednds, but you are too afraid of helping out allies?! What, do you think that just because I was born amoner I am stupid and can''t see what''s in front of me?!" Roan gasped, but that only resulted in Mary losing her patience - the brown-haired girl approached him and scoffed in his face, tapping his chest with her hand. "You said that you love me but let me tell you something straight - I could never love a spineless coward!" She eximed and angrily wiped the tears that she didn''t want to shed. "..." Roan froze in ce, staring dumbfounded at Mary''s face. "I am grateful that you came for me, but that''s that. Now, your highness, please move!" The brown-haired girl gritted her teeth and tried to move past the blond prince, but he got in her way again. "No! Mary, you will die!" Roan shook his head and eximed. "Then I will die with pride, just like any member of Hope family would, and not cowering down like some coward - escaping while they should stand up and fight! Anry! We''re going!" "?!" Mary did not care in the least for his excuses and called her griffin that pushed past the blond prince with ease, making the young man trip and fall on his but. "..." The brown-haired girl spared him a single nce and looked away gritting her teeth. *WHOOOSH* The next moment the griffin pped his massive wings and flew towards the sigil monster that already managed to regenerate more than half of its overall injuries and was actually trying to get back up. "Mary..." Roan stared after the brown-haired heroine, reaching his hand after her. "Mary... no... I don''t want to lose you..." His hand and voice trembled. "..." Kopia tilted her head and observed the blond prince with an indifferent expression. "...please...!" Roan clenched his fist and gritted his teeth so hard that his gums started bleeding. "Hooo... a Greed letting go of something they want, well, that''s umon~" "!!!!!!!!" Kopia suddenly smiled and giggled, which caused the blond prince to flinch and go wide-eyed. "I want...?" Roan whispered, gulping down his saliva. "...that''s right... I want her... she''s supposed to be mine..." He lowered his head and started to mumble. "...mine... mine.... mine... mine... mine..." The blond prince repeated while his body began glowing with intense white light. "...she is mine but because of that monster she is turning away from me...!" Roan whispered and his body trembled. Before Anry and Mary could even reach the griffin, Roan reached to his clothes and took out a simple-looking golden ring. The next second the ring shone and a massive golden sword with a honeb pattern of yellow gems appeared by his side. "...anything that stays between me and my love, will perish...!" ********** Roan growled and the white light surrounding him suddenly turned so intensely yellow that it would put the bright gold to shame. The prince grabbed the golden sword with one hand and stood up. He raised his head, looking toward the sigil monster that regenerated enough to get back to its feet and... *crack* The ring in his hand disintegrated into nothingness and the first prince disappeared...! "Te-he~! I am so smart~" Kopia giggled and looked up towards the sigil monster, which head suddenly got illuminated by the bright yellow halo, alling out from a single furious source. "My prince...?!" Mary, on top of her tamed monster, gasped in disbelief, seeing the blond prince suddenly appearing below her, right on top of the sigil monster''s head. Chapter 504 - Sigil Monster (part 5)

Chapter 504 - Sigil Monster (part 5)

*SWOOSH* The massive golden de sung, cutting through the air before it dug into the giant monster''s head, barely missing the center of the burning sigil. "GHH-WRRRAAAAAAAGH!" The sigil Gorut growled and - but what at first sounded like the howl of pain turned into a bloodthirsty roar, and the creature mmed both of its hands into the spot where Roan was. "BACK OFF, AND JUST DIE!" The blond prince let out his own roar and tore his weapon out of the beast''s head and began swinging it around leaving deep cuts into hands that tried to crush him. "GUAAAGH!" Sigil monster growled as another swing managed to cut off two fingers off of its left hand so it changed its strategy to shaking its head wildly in order to shake off the annoying pest. "AS IF!" *STAB* Roan did not let the monster''s n work, and instead used the momentum to burrow more than half of his sword''s length into the creature''s forehead - but instead of finishing the beast, his attack resulted in a concentrated red and ck smoke to erupt straight in his face. "...GHUH...!" The blond prince started bleeding from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth instantly, and another shake of the sigil monster''s head had thrown him in the sky. "My prince...!" Thankfully for him, the brown-haired heroine never stopped flying around on her griffin, staying safe from the extremely poisonous smoke - and managed to catch him mid-air. "My prince?! My prince?! Roan! Say something!" Mary cried shaking the body of the blond prince and when there was no response she hugged him and looked around in search of a spot where she could drop him for safety. "PUNY HUMANS! YOU HAVE CAUSED ME ENOUGH TROUBLE ALREADY! KNOW THE POWER OF THE APOSTLE OF THE ETERNAL!" The sigil mister - that still had the golden sword sticking out from its forehead maybe a few inches away from the center - scoffed in a bellowing voice that shook the space inside the gigantic barrier. *THUMP* *RUMBLE* The sigil Gorut stood up, and every step of his had caused the earth to tremble. "SCREE...!" The next moment its eyes and mouth shone with a bright light, and as it spread its jaws, the champion griffin Anry let out a warning screech and changed his flight''s direction at the moment''s notice... *¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è* *BOOOOOOOM* ...and not a moment toote - the next second a beam of red and ck light pierced the air right where the griffin with two humans was before and it caused a huge explosion the moment it touched the ground - which resulted in the copse of the sizable part of the wall surrounding the Durian''s estate - or whatever was left of it. "YOU FOOLISH CREATURES HAVE HAD YOUR WAY FAR TOO LONG! NOW D...!" The sigil monster roared - or at least it tried to... *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *SPLAT* "?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Because the very next second it torso swollen to three times its already enormous size before erupting into a fountain of blood and gore, sending the creature''s head all the way to the top of the red and ck barrier - causing Mary to almost choking on her own breath. *thump* The lower body of the creature fell to its knees and keeled over - it instantly began to burn up and disintegrate into a copious amount of red and ck smoke, just as all the scraps of meat and intestines that got spread all over the dome. *THUMP* The head of the creature mmed into the ground not so far from it and rolled away like a broken child''s toy. "That... was disgusting." The blue undead standing amongst the gore turning into smoke breathed out and shook his head, while tapping a torn-off human arm on his shoulder, holding it like a baseball bat. "..." Then he furrowed his brows and looked around with his eyes glowing reddish. |Hey, what the hell, I saw them having troubles from the inside, but aren''t they way more pitiful than we expected? Aside from Cranberry, they all werepletely useless...| The blue undead scoffed internally while walking towards the sigil monster''s head. |Ha! Not everyone is an undead you know? The Eternal''s power that presents itself as the red and ck smoke can be used as a very strong toxin that no living being is capable of withstanding.| The sealed being sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders dismissively. |Why do you think that your character was the number one pick for the team voted by ny percent of the yer base? Even in the game, your character was the best counter for the sigil monsters.| She added, sounding as if she was smirking. |I was? Good to know. But - how the hell was I supposed to know that? It''s not like I ever yed this whole messed-up game in the first ce!| The blue undeadined furrowing his brows - he stopped right in front of the head of the sigil Gorut and... *SMASH* "AUUUGRRRGHHH" mmed the ripped-off arm into it, causing it to beunched into the air and hit against the red and ck barrier, letting out a howl that mixed pain and anger. "H-HOW DARE YOU, PUNY UNDEAD?! I AM THE APOSTLE OF...!" *WHAM* "...GHUAGHH...!" The head of the sigil monster stopped ying dead and growled furiously, but then got pped by the ripped-off hand, waved by the blue undead, and spun around its own axis, gasping in shock. |Say... if I was the Eternal in the first ythrough, howe I didn''t have apostles like this little shit here? Not that I would make use of them being a brainwashed idiot, but still.| Zombie asked internally... *WHAM* *crack* Raising his head and mming the ripped off muscr arm right into the hilt of the golden sword still sticking out of the Gorut''s forehead, pushing the de all the way into the creature''s brain, breaking whatever bones were left in his makeshift weapon and... *WHAM* *CRACK* ...following the first hit with another one, with the only difference being that this time the thing that crackled, was the sigil monster''s head - it got split in half, revealing the nasty insides before bursting into red and ck smoke and disintegrating into the air. /Sigil monster defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ /Level up Level 29 ??? Level 43 All skills, and affinities increased Status points greatly increased\\\\ /You receive 200 new quests\\\\ /Youpleted 5 quests Rewards granted\\\\ /All conditions met Do you want to rank up? Yes/No \\\\ "...huh...?" Zombie furrowed his brows and looked at the series of system messages that popped up in his field of vision as the red and ck barrier dispersed into the night sky as if it was just normal smoke. |Why are you huh-ing...?| The sealed being sounded as if she was tilting her head and asked. |I just thought that leveling up was supposed to be harder, you know?| The blue undead frowned and shrugged his shoulders before throwing the ripped-off arm in the air. |Anyway, shield proficiency was supposed to be at least level 6, right?| He asked, watching the arms spin in the moonlight. |Yes. You met the condition for the rank-up you wanted - go for it.| The sealed being confirmed sounded as if she was nodding her head. *CHOMP* *crunch* *gulp* Zombie''s throat and jaw shone with orange light and the arm got devoured by him in a single bite. "System, yes." He said with a grin right after he swallowed. Chapter 505 - Volume 9th Epilogue - The Evil Knight And His Psycho Princess

Chapter 505 - Volume 9th Epilogue - The Evil Knight And His Psycho Princess

/Rank up in progress...\\\\ /Calcting....\\\\ /System detected that the monster reached at least level 40\\\\ /System detected at least one maxed out sword rted skill\\\\ /System detected at least one shield skill above level 6\\\\ /System detected at least one poison skill above level 6\\\\ /System detected at least one monster yer type in title\\\\ /No magic detected\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Five paths avable: Undead squire ??? Vampire Undead squire ??? High ghoul Undead squire ??? Abomination Undead squire ??? Undead knight Undead squire ??? True demon (fledgling)\\\\ Zombie''s body got enveloped in a cocoon of light and the list of possible forms had unveiled for him. |Only five? I thought there will be more.| The blue undead scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. |...ha...? Didn''t you already have your eyes on a certain path already? It would be fine as long as the undead knight was an option!| The sealed being scolded him, sounding as if she was frowning at him. |Well... yeah, but the other options are also interesting, don''t you think?| Zombie asked with a smirk. |HA?! No! The vampire gives you a crippling debuff for staying in the sunlight and it won''t go away until three more rank-ups when you be the Vampire monarch. The high ghoul is the end of the ghoul line. The abomination is an amalgamation of both alive and dead tissue that barely even has a consciousness and will take forever to level up. And while the true demon might be tempting because it is straight-up stronger than all the other options, its only possible rank-up forms will increase in size until it bes a giant - which would be rather inconvenient, don''t you agree?| The sealed being sounded as if she pouted and went on to give a quick summary to all options, besides the undead knight, in a grumpy voice. |Aww, I missed hearing you exining things, you always sound so happy~| |...y-you...! ...stupid rotten brain...| The blue undead giggled, making the sealed undead sound as if she backed off blushing heavily. |I chose the undead knight path.| While the sealed being was too busy blushing, Zombie smiled softly to himself and dered. /Undead knight path selected\\\\ *ng* |...huh...?| Expecting to hear the sound of the rest of his clothes getting ripped apart, the undead frowned in confusion when instead he heard the sound of metal hitting against metal. /Rank uppleted Undead squire ??? Undead knight (sigil yer)\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ yer level decreased Level 43 ??? Level 1\\\\ Minor skill point decrese (penalty) due to the level drop\\\\ /System detected Superbia level 6 or higher\\\\ /Penalty erased\\\\ /You receive a race-specific skill Summon steed (level 1) (No steed registered...)\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Steed registered\\\\ /You receives a quest (level 1) Upgrade any skill to level 2 Reward: +1 free status point\\\\ /Questpleted Reward granted\\\\ /System detected at least one maxed out skill Special reward granted Title: Hardworker\\\\ /Error\\\\ /Hard worker title detected\\\\ /Changing the reward\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Multiple maxed out level skills detected Overlevel skill detected\\\\ /Special reward granted Title: Workaholic /Error\\\\ Workaholic title detected\\\\ /Changing the reward\\\\ /Hidden reward granted\\\\ Title: Maniac\\\\ /Error\\\\ /Maniac title detected\\\\ /Changing the reward\\\\ /Super special reward granted Title: Inhuman\\\\ /Error\\\\ /Inhuman title detected\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /No more bonus rewards detected...\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Creating a new reward...\\\\ /Super special hidden reward granted Title: ************* /One title exclusive skill received ******* ******(level ***) (Your current rank is too low to see the ssified information) /You receives a quest (level 1) Gain at least one physical offense skill Reward: +1 ATK\\\\ /Questpleted Reward granted\\\\ /System detected at least one maxed out physical offense skill Special reward granted +10 ATK\\\\ /You receives a quest (level 1) Use any skill 10 times Reward: +1 free status point\\\\ /Questpleted Reward granted\\\\ /System detected at least one skill used over 1,000,000 times Special reward granted Free tier-two skill\\\\ /Do you want to select a skill now?\\\\ Before he could take a closer look at himself, his vision got flooded by a surge of messages popping up one after the other ¨C of which most of them were very familiar as he saw them for the fourth time. Still, not all of them were the same. |What is it about the censored skill? Can you see what it is?| Zombie furrowed his brows and asked internally. |...haa... no. Sorry. I can only see what you see, it is just a bunch of stars in your mind so I see it the same way.| The sealed being sounded as if she shook her head and sighed. |Oh, well. Happens, I guess ¨C I just need to rank up and see for myself, right?| |That''s the spirit, my rotten brain~| The blue undead smirked and the sealed being sounded as if she returned the smile. While they were talking the cocoon of light enveloping Zombie faded away, returning him to the utterly destroyed battlefield formerly known as the Durian''s estate. "..." Zombie nced to the side and nodded with satisfaction seeing that Luke was already back on his feet and helping the others who had fallen to the poison of the red and ck smoke released by the sigil monster. He furrowed his brows seeing that Cranberry still hasn''t regained her consciousness as her life signature was quite weak, so he started walking towards her as his armor made a distinctive sound. *pat* "Marceline, good job out there." Zombie passed the brown-haired heroine kneeling by the blond-haired prince ¨C who as far as the blue undead could say thanks to his life signature detection skill, was doingpletely fine and just using the opportunity to enjoy thep pillow of the girl moved by hisst-minute change of heart ¨C and gently touched her head with his armored hand. "Eh...? E... EEEEEEHHHHHH?!" Mary gasped in shock when a towering figure passed her and even patted her head, and had to make a double-take once she realized that it was in fact the Zombie that she knew. The current rank-up had brought the most changes to the looks of the blue undead thus far. Though, it might have had the most to do with the simple ck armor with a jet-ck crystal in the middle of his chest that had appeared on his body on its own. The jet-ck crystal looked simr to the ruby one that Zombie had on his golden shield ¨C still attached to his left arm ¨C so it most likely had some sort of bonus skill, but without any message popping up mentioning it the only thing he could do to learn more was to get it appraised. The blue undead himself had grown to around seven feet and his face no longer looked like that of a teenager, but of a young handsome man with a fearsome but alluring aura. For the first time, his hair did not grow out but got shorter - giving him the perfect hairdo for wearing a helmet ¨C which, surprisingly enough did not appear together with the rest of the ck armor. The blue-skinned undead knight kneeled by the unconscious red-haired girl and furrowed his brows in concern. |Hey, this doesn''t look good ¨C her life signature is odd... it''s like her body is still alive but her mind broke apart... is there something that we can do...?| Zombie asked in concern. |...I can try something... But first, let me ask you two questions.| The sealed being sounded as if she furrowed her brows and said slowly. |Hit me.| The blue undead smirked and shrugged his shoulders. |First ¨C you do know who am I, right?| She asked in a soft voice. |Of course I do, did you even try to hide it in the first ce?| Zombie smirked and shook his head. |I have no idea how is this possible since your data should have been erased, but you are Cranberry ¨C my Cranberry.| He was trying to sound calm but even his thoughts ended up tense as if he feared that he was wrong. |Correct~| "!!!!!" Cranberry sealed inside of him sounded as if she smiled brightly, and it made the blue undead flinch, as he clenched his hands barely able to hold himself back. |Second ¨C how do you feel about me and the Cranberry from this ythrough mixing together?| "....?!" The blue undead straightened his back hearing that question. |What do you mean by mixing...?| He asked slightly concerned. |Oh, it''s simple, really.| Cranberry sealed inside of him sounded as if she smirked and started exining. |Just as I did with the fragment of Patience - I cannotpletely erase the original personality, but I can be a part of her ¨C and since we are technically the same person but with slightly different personalities - as far as I can understand the mechanics of it using bits and pieces of Patience''s knowledge - that would result in creating Cranberry that has memories of all three of us ¨C me, Patience, and this Cranberry. Are you okay with it?| She asked sounding concerned. |...do you even have to ask...? I am a piece of shit hypocrite ¨C If there is an option allowing me to get what I want, I will choose it no matter what.| The blue undead''s eyes shone with an evil gleam and mouth twisted in a smile of a true viin. |And guess what? I want my lovely psycho back. What should I do?| He thought without even a little bit of doubt or hesitation. |Oh, isn''t that obvious, my lovely rotten brain? Kiss me as if I''m your princess~!| The sealed Cranberry giggled and revealed. |Oh? I don''t need to remove the ancient wedding ring...?| Zombie raised his brow and tilted his head with a smile. |I am not attacking this Cranberry ¨C I am her but from a different ythrough, we are simply going to connect, this artifact does not protect the user from themselves ¨C you will see.| The sealed girl sounded as if she shook her head and sighed. |Also, if you will suggest removing that wedding ring ever again I will personally kick your cute blue butt. You are mine and only mine, the more proof I have the better - end of discussion!| She dered decisively and caused the evil smile of the blue undead to soften. |Well then. Don''t mind if I do ¨C my overbearing psycho princess.| Zombieughed and leaned down over Cranberry''s body. |See you for real in a minute, my viinous evil knight~| Giggled the sealed Cranberry, right before the pleasantly cool lips of the blue undead connected with the pale lips of the red-haired girl. Chapter 506 - Prologue - Amongst The Ruins

Chapter 506 - Prologue - Amongst The Ruins

"Young Luke, can you revive anyone...?" Persimmon breathe out and asked in a dispirited voice thatpletely betrayed that he did not actually believe that it was possible. "No. Sorry. The system is blocking me from doing so - it must be because theye into contact with the smoke that the sigil monster released." The young healer shook his head, looking staring down at the ground with a crestfallen expression. "I''ve heard that those creatures are really dangerous, but I never really realized how serious the threat was..." Mia spoke up, leaning against the back of the sitting healer and pressing her cheek against the top of his head. "How about the elite ones that the blue undead...?" "...what...? The ones that got eaten...? No, sorry, sir Kabuto, even though my magic is strong, I cannotpletely rebuild the body from the puddle of blood." Persimmon asked, but before he even finished formting the question, Luke shook his head and gave a negative question "It would be different if I had a hand or a foot or basically anything of that size to work with, but..." The young healer nce at the debrisying all around them - and at the debris sprayed with human blood. "I wanted to leave this ce but did not want to see them all die like this..." Mia breathed out and closed her eyes grabbing onto the bottom of Luke''s shirt as if she was looking for support. --- "Huh... I wonder what they will do from now on...?" Roan raised his brows and sighed, looking over at the trio of former ves huddle together right at the edge of the destroyed mansion. The prince was partiallyying down, with his head propped against the soft feathers of Mary''s champion griffin''s side. "...scree..." The wing monster let out a disinterested screech and didn''t even bother to raise his head to look at the blond young man. "Anry is right. As long as they will not try to be our enemies, no matter what they will do will be fine." The brown-haired heroine, sitting politely by Roan and Anry''s side said with a light shrug and nced at the prince before blushing. "...Mary, say... that bastard... did he... you know... did something to you...?" But before she could open her mouth again, the blond prince blushed even harder than her and asked, looking to the side, clenching his fists. "...did something to me...?" Mary tilted her head innocently and made a confused face. "You... you know... did he... he..." "SKREE!" Roan mumbled as his face was growing hotter and hotter - and actually seemed to have words stuck in his throat - at least until Anry puffed out his chest and screeched with a confident gleam in his eyes. "Eh...? EH?" Mary gasped, looking between her tamed monster and red-faced blond prince, and within a second her face became just as flushed as Roan''s. "NOOOO! Of course, he didn''t do anything lewd to me! I was locked in my room most of the time and when not maids and sir Kabuto were always escorting me! I didn''t even see Durian after the one time he greeted me when I arrived!" The brown-haired heroine cried out, hiding her burning face in her hands, and then burrowed them into her knees in absolute embarrassment. "I-I''m sorry! I didn''t want to upset you! I just...! You know... his magic and all... and I just thought...!" Roam began hurriedly exining himself but ended up getting more and more ashamed of his words and ended up shutting up. "My prince, you are a pervert!" Mary cried out ncing at the blond prince while making an upset expression. "W-wait...! Me...? Why I am a pervert?!" Roan gasped looking at the brown-haired girl in shock. "Pervert!" "Skwee!" *bump* "...?" Mary cried out but then Anry screeched and gently nudged the prince''s side, making him confused. "A-Anry...! You''re a pervert too!" The brown-haired heroine gasped in disbelief and looked away. "...what did you say...?" Roan furrowed his brows, looking at the champion griffin. "...scree..." Anry moved his wings which gave the impression of a human shrugging their shoulders and letting out a low screech before nudging the prince again, prompting the blond boy to start patting him. For a few minutes in which Mary was turned away both the prince and her griffin, both she and Roan had calmed down. After another minute or so, the brown-haired girl breathed out and turned back around. "...I am sorry for calling you a coward, my prince..." She fidgeted and lowered her head apologetically. "...I don''t recall you doing anything like that, though?" "Eh...?" Roan stopped tousling Arny''s feathers before he shrugged his shoulders and smirked, causing Mary to gasp in confusion. "You said that you could never love a spineless coward, right? I did not win, unfortunately, but I at least tried to defeat the sigil monster - didn''t it score some good-faith points with such a prideful Hope like you?" The blond prince smiled softly and turned towards the surprised heroine. "Scree!" To make the situation a bit more lighthearted, the champion griffin screeched while nodding his head right over Roan''s shoulder as if hepletely agreed with the prince''s point "Ah...! Pfffft...! Now that I think about it, you are indeed partially right, my prince." Mary snorted but otherwise held back the brush of actualughter and nodded her head with a barely kept serious expression. "Huh...? Only partially?" Roan raised his brows and blinked repeatedly in confusion. "That is correct, my prince. Honestly, that hesitation you showed off shook my faith into you, and you will have to put some legwork into making up for it - but you already made the first step on that path~" The brown-haired heroine tilted her head and smiled yfully, leaving the surprised prince staring at her with an open mouth. --- "...why was that griffin shouting about breeding...?" Zombie put down his chest te and was sitting down by the part of the wall that was still standing up. "Haa... who knows...? He is the older brother of our Blueberry you know? But they don''t really like each other. Apparently, he doesn''t like Baron and called him something rude and Blueberry freaked out on him. She is extremely protective over her favorite lizard." The red-haired Cranberry was sitting in the blue undead''sp, facing towards him, and was hugging him tightly while burrowing her face between his neck and corbone. "Ah, so she somehow inherited your character? Incredible!" The blue undead smirked mockingly while returning the intimate embrace and nuzzling against the girl''s head. With his new form, he was now bigger than her again. "Congrattions, mydy." The silver-haired butler leaning against the wall at a respectable distance muttered under his breath, looking at the wife who finally got the attention that she always wanted from her husband... "Ha ha~!" But despite him never wanting the girl to hear him, the red-haired girl raised her head, looked at him, and smiled brightly, releasing a short triumphant and extremely happyugh, before going for the pale blue lips and kissing her beloved undead. Chapter 507 - Getting Cozy Before The Start...

Chapter 507 - Getting Cozy Before The Start...

"Aren''t you interested in how did I returned even though Patience tried really hard to wipe out any trace of my data to piss you off?" Cranberry snuggled up to her undead husband and asked in a dreamy voice. "If I have to guess that would have something to do with your rage of the unbreakable skill as well as eating a phoenix''s egg during our first ythrough." The blue undead smirked and drugged his shoulders dismissively. "Wha...? Ha...? How...?!" Cranberry flinched and jolted up, staring wide-eyed and her beloved blue undead. "Hey, hey. Why are you so shocked? If you are the mixture of yourself, Cranberry of this ythrough, and even Patience, you should know full well that I no longer have the rotten brain title." Zombie giggled and a full-on grin bloomed on his handsome face. "...haa... yeah, I know, but just actually hearing you not being stupid for a moment shocked me to the core." The red-haired girl breathed out and shrugged her shoulders, before going back for a hug. "Hey, that wasn''t nice!" The blue undead squinted his eyes and poke the girl''s side. "Kyaah! Because it wasn''t supposed to be nice! You also need to be reminded that I am no longer the good girl from this ythrough!" Cranberry jolted and let out a cute sound before clinging to Zombie''s torso even tighter and muttering with her face against his neck. "True, true - my lovely psycho isn''t a good girl. She is the best girl." Zombie nodded caressed Cranberry''s blood-like hair. "...I know what a psycho means now, you cheeky undead. I know what the term best girl means too, and I dislike it solely because it suggests the possibility of other girls existing by your side, which - I tell you this now - is absolutely uneptable and will result in their immediate execution." Cranberry dered in an absolutely serious voice that left no ce for doubts. "...why do you even..." "You rotten-hearted yboy!" Zombie furrowed his brows and began asking in confusion but his question was answered before he had fully formted it. "Hey, leveling up lust-based skills doesn''t count - you know that I''m doing it to win a fight as well as get another skill of an avatar of sin to level up superbia." The blue undead sighed and furrowed his brows, looking at his possessive wife with a scolding expression. "Ha!" She scoffed and looked away without moving away even a fraction of an inch as if the mere thought of separating from the blue undead while they are quarreling never even crossed her mind. "Cranberry, you cannot kill In''re again - you know how will that go." "..." Zombie pointed out and instantly felt the swelling cheek touching his skin as the red-haired girl pouted, refusing to answer. "..." The blue undead didn''t say anything and just waited patiently while fighting with himself to not grin like an idiot from the happiness that was flooding his undead body. He had Cranberry back. He had HIS Cranberry back! "...fine... I will not kill her..." In the end, it was the red-haired girl who had given up and faced the blue undead again, as she pressed her forehead against his chest and muttered grumpily. "...but I will break her legs if she will step over the line..." She added almost instantly as if that punishment was the lowest offer that she could allow herself to make. "Cranberry..." "....?" Zombie sighed, making the red-haired girl raise her head and look at him curiously - and got kissed. "...this doesn''t change my mind at all..." Cranberry pulled her head away and dered with a frown, before leaning back in and kissing the blue undead back. The two stayed like that for a while, not caring in the slightest about what was going on around them - or that''s how things appeared at the first nce. "Umm... I do not want to disturb you..." "..." All of a sudden, the blond prince hand in hand with the brown-haired heroine approached the pair and called out in an awkward voice - making Cranberry visibly flinch and slowly pull away from her beloved undead... The aura around the red-haired viiness changed instantly from a fluffy lovey-dovey one right into a seething rage - she didn''t even have to turn around to face the blond prince to make him tens up and start sweating. "...and yet you are disturbing us. What, did no one would taught you to not disturb a married couple? Do you want me to teach you how such impudence ends, weakling prince?" Cranberry badly moved her head, just enough so that Roan could see the glimpse of her profile and ashes in a furious voice, reaching for her baseball bat and clenching her hand on it so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...we-weakling prince...?! We are on the same level! And I just want to add that during the fight with that sigil monster I was wondering registered as an official heir to the throne of greed!" Roan, unaware that the Cranberry he is talking to isn''t the same Cranberry he knew until that point, furrowed his brows and got allpetitive like he always would do around her. "Ha...?" The red-haired girl raised her brow and scoffed. *sparkle* *SLAM* *WHAM* "AAAARRRRGGHHH...!" The very next second small electric charges appeared around her baseball bat that she rammed into the blue prince''s ankles, swiping him off his feet and giving him the paralyzed status effect. "MY PRINCE!" Mary cried out in panic as the sudden act of violence shocked her to the core. *WHOOSH* "!!!!!!!!" With another, almost nonchnt move, Cranberry swung her weapon and stopped it half an inch away from the head of Roan groaning in pain. "You have some guts... I might not have all of my abilities that I fancied before, but even so, you are a hundred years too early topare yourself with me." Cranberry scoffed and made sure that the blond prince will realize the pressure that her enchanted weapon emitted before she took it away. "..." "What...?" Zombie smile at Cranberry slightly mockingly and the red-haired girl furrowed her brows and asked. "....haa... fine..." The viiness didn''t withstand Zombie''s look and rolled her eyes before she turned around - all while staying on the blue undead''sp - and faced the terrified Mary and the deeply shaken Roan. "Hello Mary, if it''s okay with you could you tell me what your overconfident boy-toy wants from me while I am clearly busy here with my husband?" Cranberry actually smiled towards Mary before her expression clouded as she nced at the paralyzed prince. "A-ah... you see... we''ve been thinking that it would be better to get away from here before someone will get here... all those damages..." Mary fidgeted, torn between being relieved that the red-haired girl clearly doesn''t mind her being around like she does with the bold prince, and worried about their current situation. After all, it wasn''t that unexpected for her to be anxious - the man she was made to Mary in less than two days had been killed together with almost all of his underlings, but she was there all fine and dandy which some people could take as her actively helping with achieving that oue. If things would y out as Mary feared, it really could get bad. "Ha? No, no. Mary, you got it wrong - we want others to find us. It would be far too suspicious for this ce to be abandoned and you popping up in a random town a few dayster." Cranberry shook her head and waved her hand dismissively with a reassuring smile. "...eh...?" Mary went wide-eyed and gasped. "We are simply waiting for the right people." Added the blue undead, leaning forward and resting his chin on Cranberry''s head. "Oh, and speak of the devil~" The red-haired girl giggled, and pulled her hair back, revealing her ear glowing with white light, before she looked to the side where the main road leading to the former Durian''s estate was - where an expensive-looking carriage was speeding towards them, getting driven by a shocked rat-faced man in a light, scaly armor. "HOLY FUCK! WHAT IN THE FLYING FUCK, FUCKING HAPPENED HERE?!" A ck-haired elven woman in sage''s robes leaned out of the carriage''s window and eximed in absolute shock looking at the leveled site. "Ha ha! Good to see some things doesn''t change no matter what~" Cranberry tilted her head andughed watching the Dandelion''s carriageing in. Chapter 508 - A Little Bit Of Convincing Is Needed (part 1)

Chapter 508 - A Little Bit Of Convincing Is Needed (part 1)

"Sigil monster right under our noses..." Shanks breathed out, looking at the debris and the few still standing walls that were the only remains of the previously prominent Durian''s estate. "Well... I would say that the fucker got what he deserved. Trying to use Eternal''s power for himself - as expected of someone from the Greed family. Fuck..." Lairs shook her head end eximed, shaking her head from left to right. "Laii..." Rotte closed his eyes with a bitter expression and nudged the ck-haired elf in the side while motioning at the blond-haired prince with his chin. "Wha...? Ah! Oh, fuck...! I... I mean...!" The elven mage realized her mistake and flinched, hurriedly trying to backtrack on her words but ended up stuttering and shutting up instead, looking away acting as if she didn''t say anything, to begin with. "It''s nothing. Miss Lairs is right, after all... This oue is the result of my uncle''s greed for power - there is no way around that." Roan waved his hand dismissively, letting the Dandelions know that there is nothing wrong with speaking openly about the situation. "I wasn''t aware that sir Durian was able to use his unique magic on monsters too. But I am not surprised that he was tempted to at least try to put the strong monster under the influence of his ve crest - his magic allowed him to use the skills of his underlings, didn''t it?" Shanks tapped his chin with his index finger and also looked at the blond prince who was more than willing to answer any question since the alternative would be to get beat up by the less than agreeable Cranberry. "That is exactly right - as far as I have been told..." Roan nced to the side at the currently peaceful red-haired girl leaning her head against the shoulder of her blue undead knight, before turning back to the rat-faced man. "...Gorut, the monster that has been polluted by the corruption of the Eternal, was supposed to bring luck - I suppose that my uncle has believed that it was because of a skill that the monster had and tried to make use of it to counter the most bothersome trait that each member of the Greed family member has to deal with." "...?" The blond prince shared his opinion about the illegal monster''s presence at the scene but ended up making most of the gathered people confused. "I mean the fact that each one of us is born without the option of raising up our luck stat - making it remain the exact same level and value no matter how much we level up or how many quests we willplete." He revealed with a casual shrug. "...haa... Alright, did we make ourselves clear about what has urred here?" Cranberry rolled her eyes and breathed out, frowning at the blond prince as he was looking as if he wanted to start adding some unnecessary vor to the story they agreed upon beforehand. "Yes, yes. There only doubt that was needed to be cleared out was what was an exotic monster was doing in this part of the kingdom." Shanks nodded and smiled reassuringly to the girl who didn''t need any reassurance. "Ha. True. That must have picked up your curiosity considering that the monster leading the attack on your vige around twenty years ago was an exotic monster as well." "...!" The red-haired girl agreed, nodding her head with a soft smirk. The four of the five Dandelions remained calm but the fifth one, the kindhearted Uresha flinched so hard that her armor made a loud noise and the huge woman hurriedly turned away, trying to y it off as if she didn''t just act in a suspicious way. "Am I wrong...?" Cranberry''s smirk grew into a malicious smile and she looked down at the rat-faced man, whose expression clouded the moment he realized that the red-haired girl wasn''t just talking some random news and was hinting at something. "Yes. That is true. It is not a secret that the vige where all five of us had grown up in was destroyed in a huge monster surge two decades ago." He confirmed squinting his eyes and leaning to the side trying to figure out where the girl was going to go with that subject. "Say. Don''t you get homesick? Don''t you want to return there and rebuild what was lost? With how strong you all have be it wouldn''t be impossible to reim that territory from the wild monsters." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and cuddled to Zombie''s arm. "Things are a little bit moreplicated. Of it was just the swarm of weak monsters or a couple of big strong monsters, there would be no problem. But the lost territory we are talking about wasn''t just overrun by the beast''s - one extremely dangerous monster had actually railed up a bunch of tribes of intelligent monsters who did not qualify to be the members of the intelligent species and created something akin to a monsternd." Shanks breathed out and exined with a bitter expression. "From what we''ve learned about the situation, they created a city to the east of our former vige - which apparently lies now in the spot ofnd that the queen deemed as a no man''snd and pledged to uphold its neutrality under the condition that the intelligent monsters will not attack the humans on beyond their ownnd." The rat-faced man added, ncing at the shocked first prince who certainly didn''t look as if he was made aware of a situation like that. "I exined it all to your undead before, miss." Shanks shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Cranberry who... *crackle* "!!!!!" *booom* ...raised her glowing hand and without a word released an electric discharge that missed the rat-faced man''s head by less than an inch and caused a small explosion in the distance when it finally hit the ground. "!!!!" All five Dandelions jolted up and took defensive stances slightly confused but very much agitated because of the sudden act of aggression. "This handsome and lovely undead knight here is my HUSBAND - do you understand, Shanks? I am not a miss but a Mrs and if you don''t want me to actually get angry you will not address me in the incorrect way." Cranberry smiled lowering her head speaking in a domineering way, causing all the agitation of the five adventurers to turn into actual shock. "Now, with that out of the way, I have some great news to party." The red-haired girl added in a casual voice as if she just didn''t almost blow off Shanks''s face. "No deal with a human is sacred for a sigil monster, as long as you go with us, we can go and reim your home even now." "!!!!" She said as if it was the most obvious thing to dere. Chapter 509 - A Little Bit Of Convincing Is Needed (part 2)

Chapter 509 - A Little Bit Of Convincing Is Needed (part 2)

"...sigil monster...?" In''re furrowed her brows and muttered in confusion and all the Dandelions looked at one another. "Mi... Mrs. I. Am afraid that it cannot be true - the deal holds. Twenty years ago there were no sigil monsters running around as we have now..." Shanks furrowed his brows and shook his head, exining to the red-haired girl without lowering his guard. "...Zombie... were they always this stupid...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows in confusion, looking up at her blue undead knight. "Who knows~?" Zombie smirked and shrugged his shoulders dismissively and looked away. "..." Seeing their reaction Shanks flinched and straightened his back as his eyes widened in the realization that honestly shouldn''t take him - or either of the Dandelions - so long. "...unless you mean that the ruler of the monster city has be the sigil monster..." "...!" The rat-faced man muttered in disbelief, causing hisrades to flinch. "Oh, good, I was starting to worry that you guys will be useless even after you finally got to a usable level of strength." The red-haired girl''s smile returned to her face and she looked back at the five adventurers. Although starting rebuilding a vige with just the five or you might not be a bad idea, you will have to make it officially recognized and I don''t know if you realize is both costly and time-consuming - and here is where wee to the rescue." Cranberry revealed with a light shrug. "Things will get much easier if you will not be creating a vige but reiming the monster-infestednd on behalf of the kingdom while under the banner of the Pride family." She dered with a benevolent smile. "...what''s the catch...?" Rotte''s expression got cloudy and the warrior slightly on the bigger side raised his brow and asked, showing an unexpected amount of cautiousness - at least for him. "Ha...? Catch?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and looked at the warrior with confusion. "I want the vige. Simple as that - I have a few friends that don''t quite have a home right now so I want to create it for them. Since the guild will not want to just let go of you, they will surely send out someone to create a branch there to make it seem like you didn''t leave and retire but are merely fighting on a new frontier." She exined. "Wha...? What? Mrs. You are seriously making more than a few leaps in logic to make it seem alright, you know?" In''re furrowed her brows andined. "Shut up, necrophile. We''ll leave the graveyard for you to take care of so it will be fine, right?" "!!!!!" The red-haired girl scoffed at the big-eyed adventurer, causing the woman to take a step back pale as a ghost. "...Mrs. You certainly don''t seem to know how to make allies..." Shanks furrowed his brows and furrowed his brows. "Thanks for the tip on the monster city, but we will not be needing your help. A little bit of paperwork will be a pleasant breather from all the battles up until now." He added shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah. And for fuck''s sake - girl, if you want to make allies, do not fucking threaten and call them names from the start." Lairs backed the rat-faced man and shook her head. "...haa..." That made Cranberry and Zombie exchange calm looks and breath out at the same time. "ckmail?" "ckmail." The blue undead asked and the red-haired girl confirmed. "Sealed off. Cursed. Banished. Faked his own death..." Cranberry reach out her hand and pointed at each member of the Dandelions while giving a short description of everyone until she reached thest one - the eight-foot-tall woman in full te armor with a massive tower shield the size of a gate. "!!!" Uresha flinched and tensed up just as each of her friends. "...I got nothing on you. You are basically an innocent marshmallow amongst a bunch of outcasts..." "...!" Cranberry shrugged her shoulders, making the tank breathe out in relief. "Pfffft! Ha! As if! Half." "...?" But right then the red-haired girl snorted shaking her hand dismissively before you said a single word that made Uresha tilt her head in confusion. "You don''t get it yet? Don''t worry, you will get it soon." Cranberry smirked seeing her reaction and waved her hand dismissively. "As for the rest of you. Help us out with the vige and we will help you out with your little trouble." The red-haired girl smiled turned evil. "Because just as I know even the tiny details about your situation that you might not be aware of yourself, I also know of a solution to each of your problems. And of course, I also know how to make everything much, much worse. Join me, or else." She finished talking without changing her menacing expression, leaving everyone speechless. And not just the Dandelions but the people from her group too - especially Mary and Roan who thought that they know Cranberry were shocked to the core seeing her acting in such a way. "And just in case that you all think that you can or example kill us or force us to leave you alone..." Zombie spoke up but certainly not to speak on the behalf of the five adventurers. "Kopia, sweetie, hold them down without hurting them. "Okay~!" The blue undead patted the crossguard of the sword at his waist and the weapon vibrated releasing a high-pitched cheer before hundreds and thousands of crimson threads burst forth from its pommel and wrapped themselves around the Dandelions despite each of them trying to use their skills to fight back. "Isn''t it convenient.? We can''t use Kopia to kill any story-rted boss but we sure can have her help us convince people to join us." "Fucking...! Release us!" Lairs cursed furiously and struggled but the moment she tried to use any of her spells, the crimson thread tightened around her body making her break concentration and fail to cast anything. "...haa... you know, for someone who has the most to gain from my proposition for you sure are being uncooperative, Laris." Cranberry crossed her arms and pouted, ring at the struggling ck-haired elf. "The fuck do you mean?!" Lairs scoffed ring right back at her. "You do know that your mother officially married Rambutan Envy, right? Are you telling me that you didn''t encounter any assassins since the elves were free?" "...!" Cranberry''s words made Lairs shut up as she stared at her in disbelief. "Like I said. I know how to solve all your troubles. So just follow me, alright?" The red-haired girl giggled in a rxed manner and nuzzled against Zombie''s arm again. Chapter 510 - Wingman

Chapter 510 - Wingman

"...?!" A rather colorful group entered the tavern on the outskirts of the Gluttony territory, cashing quite the steer and confusion amongst the patrons. Some of them recognized the famous adventurer party, the Dandelions - but no one knew who the other two were. A freckled young woman with the disturbingly blood-red hair leaning against the arm of the seven-foot-tall undead donning heavy-looking armor with the ck gem set in the middle of the chestte, with the shining golden shield with a fist-sized ruby in the middle attached to his left forearm. Normally, seeing someone fawning over an undead monster to such an extent would cause more than just a few frowns and a whole slew of righteously angry whispers since such a thing clearly went against the teachings of the church of the system''s faith. Normally. Because one look at the monster''s equipment was enough for even the stupidest and the drunkest patrons to figure out that the undead is either a high-ranked monster or his owner is ridiculously wealthy and doesn''t hesitate to use her money - neither of that options left much to the imagination as both reeked of serious trouble on a mile. Well, that, as well as the fact that the people of the gluttony territory were more used to living with monsters than most - after all the ruling family of Gluttony had the inborn ability to transform into monsters and wasn''t hiding it at all. It was actually quite easy to meet a werewolf walking down the street or enter the inn to grab a drink after a hunt or training session. The kingdom''s army used monsters and coincidentally the Gluttony family was the one in charge of the army. Alright, maybe not coincidentally... Since no one was drunk enough at the moment to want or try to start a fight with renowned adventurers and the two they were most likely escorting, the table with space for seven has been freed and yielded with no trouble whatsoever. ...and everyone instantly realized that there was no need for seven ces actually, as the red-haired girl went ahead and sat at the blue undead''sp the moment that he sat down. "That armor is quite a bother - I hope you don''t intend to wear it to sleep tonight." The red-haired girl furrowed her brows and gently knocked on the ck ted with her knuckles. "!!!!" The big-eyed healer of the Dandelions flinched and clenched her fists in a surge of strong emotions after witnessing the scene. Some of the patrons nodded with understanding - In''re of the Dandelions was a well-known healer whom many people called a saint - of course, someone like she was against humans and ck undead monsters staying in close contact with each other... "...unfair... I want him too..." The so-called saint made a pouty face andined loud enough for the bystanders to catch her words and go wide-eyed from disbelief. "Dear guests, what can I help you with today?" The tinum-haired barmaid approached them almost immediately and asked with a friendly smile. "...?" The warrior slightly on the bigger side, Rotte looked at her, he suddenly furrowed his brows and tilted his head, before nudging the ck-haired elven mage, Lairs, in the side. "...the fuck? What do you...?" She flinched and turned to him in concussion, but Rotte merely motioned at the barmaid with his chin. "Ah...! It''s you!" Lairs raised her brow before looking carefully at the woman - and then she gasped and stood up from her seat. "Dear customer...?" The tinum-haired, copper-eyed woman tilted her head asked innocently, trying to y a fool but not pushing her act too far. "You are the waitress from the inn on the way to the Durian''s estate!" "Former Durian''s estate." Lairs eximed excitedly and didn''t even care when Cranberry smirked and corrected her. "That''s right, it''s me - I was passing through and a friend of mine had asked me to rece her for a few hours - Is there a problem, miss...?" The woman asked, sounding slightly cautious. "N-no! The opposite actually!" Lairs blushed and blurted out while fidgeting. "...this is cute and all, but we got here to eat and have a rest - Lairs, you can ask the nicedy out after she will be finished with her work, now, sit down and order food." "!!!" The blue undead knight rolled his eyes and shook his hand dismissively, causing the ck-haired elf to blush and sit down immediately as if she lost all her courage and started staring at her knees. "...haa..." Cranberry breathed out and furrowed her brows at her husband who clearly didn''t need his golden shield to block others. The group ordered food and ate in peace - and Lairs sent Zombie only a few evil res once every five minutes or so. "Say... Ti will be following us everywhere from now on?" When the copper-eyed barmaid was taking their tes, the blue undead leaned down to the red-haired girl and whispered in her ear. "Most likely - and you are the reason for that." She nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "What did I do?" Zombie frowned and asked "You didn''t kill her as you did with all the previous spies tailing you so the queen assigned her away from Cri and Cal and put her on the duty." Cranberry revealed taking a sip from her cup. "Than maybe I should kill her to keep up the tradition?" "If you want - as I told before, Ti isn''t necessary for achieving the ending we want... but Lairs will cry if you mess with her - you saw how she got while you revealed her attempts at seduction." Zombie giggled and joked yfully but Cranberry responded in a rather serious voice. "...that said, I think I should get her and Rotte the same book I showed them before..." The red-haired girl nodded to herself, putting the empty ss to the side so it would be picked up by the tinum-haired barmaid. "...interrupted? But I only answered the question that was bothering Ti." Zombie smirked and nuzzled against Cranberry. "...bothering her...?" The red-haired girl furrowed her brows and looked at the tinum-haired woman who was picking the dirty dishes from the ck-haired elf. The barmaid was about to walk away before she nced back at the elven made. "...Miss... I... I am free in an hour..." Ti said before turning back and walking away carrying the dishes. "Ha! I see now." Cranberry nodded and her stare softened. "...wha...? What the fuck just happened...?!" Lairs shook her head and looked between all of her friends in disbelief. "You''re wee." Zombie called out and waved at the ck-haired elven mage. Chapter 511 - Reclaiming The Land (part 1)

Chapter 511 - Reiming The Land (part 1)

The baseball bat crackling with electricity got swung time after time and with each hit the monster was brought down. "M-maybe we should try negotiation after all...?" Uresha spoke awkwardly, looking at the pitiful creatures spasming on the ground as the electricity was coursing through their bodies constantly refreshing the paralysis status effect. "Negotiating, with those...?" *WHAM* *SPLAT* The red-haired Cranberry furrowed her brows before bringing the blunt weapon to the moss-covered head of the stone troll, splitting it apart and causing the brain matter to spill to the sides. "Do monsters negotiate with humans? Did they negotiate with your vige before raiding it, killing your neighbors, and razing your homes?" The red-haired girl raised her brow and shrugged her shoulders, shaking off the viscera from her baseball bat and moving onto the other troll - finishing it off with the same indifference as every single one before. "...well..." The big woman fidgeted, the short answer was no - but it didn''t sit well with the kindhearted tank of the Dandelions. "Sometimes the best revenge is living a good peaceful life." She went ahead and punted out, as Cranberry was walking from one monster to the other getting rid of all of them. "Good for you - being the bigger person figuratively and literally. It suits your personality - but not mine." The red-haired girl, making the jet ck baseball bat catch on fire with a spell to clean it up and resting the weapon on her shoulder afterward. "I got the EXP from helping to kill the sigil monster but it wasn''t enough to get me to the high-level category and I need to change that. My lovely husband is already a high-ranked monster, early high-rank but a high-rank nheless." She added, shrugging her shoulders and sounding as if that has exined everything. "That''s right! Your husband, Zombie - is he really okay with the violence towards monsters?" Uresha perked up and asked as if she just got a new set of arguments to continue proving her point. "...haa... Uresha, not every monster that can imitate human speech is as intelligent as you think it is..." Cranberry shook her head and spoke in a slightly tired voice - they two of them were been killing stone trolls since early morning - or rather Cranberry was killing them while Uresha was making sure that the red-haired girl will cot get harmed in the process while trying to deter her from the ughter. "I am not saying that those who can be negotiated with do not exist but... really Uresha? Trolls? Forget about humans, they kill everything that enters disturbs their slumber be it another monster, an animal, or a passing human... you did see how the old camp we''ve passed on our way here looked - do you think that they were actively trying to get ughtered or are you suddenly an advocate for the monsters right of indiscriminately killing everything because of their nature." The red-haired girl breathed out and started a lengthy exnation while waving her hand, showing off tens of sleeping stone trolls that didn''t even wake up from their slumber even while their neighbors got destroyed. "...no..." For a second it looked like therge woman was going to try and argue back but she lost the fighting spirit and slouched before shaking her head. "Good thing that we have cleared that out. I almost thought that you were going to say something about humans disturbing the natural habitat of the stone trolls while those beasts we have here are migrating because there is literally nothing weak enough for them to kill and devour in their old location." Cranberry nodded and dered before she walked up to another slumbering beast - getting in the extremely short range of their detection and aggroing it. "Your kindness isn''t a bad thing, alright? The problem is that sometimes kindheartedness is only a step away from naive misconception. Monsters are not animals - as long as we don''t eradicate the entire species and get the extinction achievement, the monsters that you are killing will continue to spawn into the world. Do you understand? No bnce will get disturbed." The red-haired girl changed the electrical augmentations on her baseball bat for the less obvious water one and actually lobbed the standing-up troll''s head off with a single, perfectly performed, and executed swing. "All that said - I got a question for you." Cranberry smirked seeing one of the trolls get hit with the head of his dead colleague and was looking around in confusion. "What it is, Mrs...?" Therge woman furrowed her brows, tilting her head. "Back in our camp, as you were cooking, I noticed that neither you nor Shanks are wearing your rings... did something happen?" The red-haired girl asked with concern, looking back at the shocked eight-foot-tall woman. "Rings...? But we do? I have two ring artifacts, one raising my HP the more I fight, and the other that increases the range of my taunt. Shanks have at least four that raise his agility and physical damage." Uresha answered, sounding innocently confused. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out and shook her head. "Artifacts are good, but I don''t mean those kinds of rings - I meant this." She dered, raising her left hand, showing off the ancient wedding ring ced upon her ring finger by her beloved undead. "Even if you are saving up all your money in order for buying out thend where your vige was, getting a wedding ring that''s also enchanted isn''t that expensive - and let me tell you this, showing off to other people that you are married does feel pretty good." Cranberry boasted, wiggling her ring finger to the sides "...!" "...?" But as Uresha flinched and put her hands to her face to hide it - even though she was already wearing a full helmet covering it, made Cranberry furrow her brows. "M-mrs... Sh-shanks and I aren''t married...!" Therge woman let out a cute voice and crouched down turning away in embarrassment. "...ha....? HA?! What do you mean you aren''t married?!" The red-haired girl asked, dumbfounded. "Uuu... Mrs... don''t tease me, please, how did you figure out I like him in the first ce...?" Therge woman cried out like a squeaky toy and nced at the red-haired girl before turning right back and shaking her head. "I was trying so hard not to make it obvious..." Uresha cried pitifully. "..." Cranberry didn''t even need to say anything else and therge woman already started talking on her own. "It''s weird, right? Someone so needlessly big like me liking someone else... I bet Shanks would like someone shorter than me... I don''t have a chance, so why even bother..." She started sulking and even Raised her shield and hid herself from the red-haired girl''s sight. "...and here I thought that we''ve missed on that event..." "Eh...? Mrs...?" Cranberry muttered to herself, causing Uresha''s confusion. "Alright. First order of business after we''ll be done with the stone trolls here - getting you two together." "EH?!" Cranberry made a serious face and nodded - making therge woman gasp in disbelief. Chapter 512 - Honing Ones Skills

Chapter 512 - Honing One''s Skills

"...stupid master..." The sword in the expensive scabbard at Zombie''s waist vibrated and created a high-pitched noise that turned into words ofint. "I''m sorry, but it had to be done - you share memories with my Cranberry, right? You know that I had to leave Monty with Roan so that they will be friends and the secret quest could start the moment that the weakling prince will get the title of the avatar of greed." Zombie smiled softly and patted the sword''s crossguard but he could feel that she doesn''t like it at all - way too mad at him. "It''s okay, don''t forget that Monty is still my subject and I can summon it back in need - but I won''t for now. I know that he would make you snacks all the time, I''ll make sure to give you lots of them too, alright?" He added in a calming voice. "No...! I want only Monty''s snacks!" The sword scoffed sounding very upset and went quiet. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows and lowered his shield as the marble troll champion ran out of breath after unleashing a volley of punches of which not even a single one managed to get past the ridiculously high defense of the blue undead knight. "Yo. Can''t you try a bit harder - none of my skills were raised..." Zombie sighed and looked at the massive monster with disappointment. "...ghro... argh...!" The creature was so out of breath that even its angry groan sounded pitiful. "Huh... damn you are useless..." The blue undead shook his head and adjusted the golden shield. ********* The next moment the ruby mana stone in the shield''s center shone and unleashed a ray of light that pierced right through the troll''s head. "...!" Surprisingly enough even with a hole in its forehead, the creature was still alive and only stumbled back. It either had unbelievable HP and regeneration capabilities or its brain was very small and the beam had somehow missed it while passing through... *WHAM* *crumble* /High-level monster defeated You receive EXP\\\\ /Title rank up Champion yer ??? Champion''s cmity\\\\ The blue undead finished it off by bashing in whatever was left of the creature''s head with his shield, making the troll champion''s skull crumble like a brittle rock - and two system messages showed up confirming the kill. "Nice." Zombie nodded to himself before turning around towards the four Dandelions fighting with two more troll champions. "Need some help, oh mighty Sunflowers?" The blue undead called out to the group right as the rat-faced thief used the blink skill and dissected the smaller marble troll champion with his dagger and the ck-haired elven mage turned the monster''s separated head into dust with a powerful st of fire. "I will take it as a no. Damn it is weird to see you all being useful for anything other than gathering materials..." Zombie put his hands on his sides and dered nodding. Instead of responding to his words which might have been taken as either apliment or a rudement, Rotte parried the other troll''s fist and stabbed his sword through its stomach. *SHING* *SMASH* With the perfectly timed strength buff from In''re, the warrior slightly on the bigger side managed to cut up, tearing right through the troll''s stone-hard body, freeing his de and after receiving the earth augmentation, he broke the beast''s head with his sword''s pommel. "Whew... and here I thought that we will be the ones showing off to you this time." Shanks breathed out, sheathing his daggers, and smirked at the blue undead. "You aren''t bad though you definitely need more practice. It''s not on the level of Durian''s ves, but the sudden increase of power that you got from ying sigil monsters sure did mess with your skills masteries." Zombie smirked back and dered. "Since you can defeat a champion troll two on one it means that you can deal with a normal one, one on one. Split up and get yourself a single opponent then try out all kinds of skills without killing it. Repeat until it you will be able to naturally activate the skill without having to stop and focus on activating it. That should be a good exercise for all of you." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Rotte and Lairs are almost there, good job." "...!" Zombie nodded at the warrior and mage, causing Rotte to flinch since the blue undead called him by his actual name instead of Moldde. "Shiv, I know that your muscle memory is set for a different weapon, but you can''t freeze before dealing a blow - if that was something with a faster reaction time than a troll, you would have been in trouble." The blue undead turned to the rat-faced man and put up his hand decisively. "It''s Shanks, not Shiv." Shanks furrowed his brows and corrected Zombie. "I will get your name right when you will get your skills right, Shiv." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and moved on to thest of the four Dandelions present. "In''out, you would bepletely fine if you didn''t peek at me every five seconds to see if I''m looking at you - not only does it slow your casting time, it also makes you distracted - if it wasn''t for Rotte, you would have to use your healing magic to put back your teeth since, without his timely reaction, you would get punched square in the face." He breathed out shaking his head. "Not to mention that my Cranberry will break your legs - again - if you will make her feel like you are aiming for me." Zombie added, giving the healer a fair warning. "Well, I am aiming for you though~ And I like the pet name you gave me too~!" The big-eyed healer smiled and winked at him in response. "Please, don''t - seriously - Cranberry already broke your legs once today, that should be enough, don''t you think?" The blue undead started massaging his forehead and sighed in a tired voice while the short healer couldn''t look happier. "That only helps me train my healing skills!" In''re puffed out her chest and dered without a hint of hesitation - or shame. "I... don''t know whether to apud your spirit or to feel sorry for you." Zombie blinked a few times before looking away. "My spirit was broken long ago by the church of the system''s faith when they banished me - I will gratefully take a pity hug - although having you scold me feels good too~!" In''re smiled brightly and spread her arms, actually waiting to be showered with affection. "...?" Zombie nced at her before turning to the other three Dandelions with a questioning look. "Yes. That''s how she always is." Shanks made an awkward expression and nodded. Chapter 513 - Reclaiming The Land (part 2)

Chapter 513 - Reiming The Land (part 2)

Having to deal with various variants of the trolls, starting with the weak moss ones and ending all the way to the champion ones had taken Cranberry, Zombie, and the Dandelions somewhere around two weeks all moving around four miles. The distance they traveled was ridiculously short when put into perspective on how much time it took to traverse it but considering that there was a row of trolls every twenty feet or so, and neither Cranberry nor Zombie wanted to leave even a single one alive and miss on the experience. was still a good distance, all in all. Thankfully after that, the blue trolls migration got turned into a mass extinction-like event, their group could pick up the peace tremendously, moving past the recent border of the Gluttonys territory and encroaching on the monsternd. At first, the only thing that changed was theck of the recent human presence, the travelers were passing the traces of formerly alive merchants and hunters who got the short end of the stick and died when approached by the somewhat intelligent monsters organized into something akin to an army. The crumbling remains of the deceased and whatever was deemed unnecessary or uninteresting by their killers, now rotting and or mostly dposed, wasn''t the prettiest sight to behold but at the same time it was merely an echo of the tragedy long past with no fresh blood spilled in recent decade or so. "Do you remember where your vige was?" Cranberry asked, ncing at the remaining ribs of the burnt-down cart with shattered wheels before she turned around to the silent cautious Dandelions. The five of them looked at each other - they all thought about returning to their home at one point but the sudden proposition that they had no real choice but to ept made them shiver restless. "...I remember that it took us at least a few hours to reach the next settlement, after the initial attack. We thought that we were going for help, but instead, they all started packing whatever belongings they had and escape..." In''re was the first to speak up and surprisingly enough she sounded serious and somber for once - actually recounting her memories instead of trying to score some pity points with the blue undead. "That''s a start. As long as you have more details - did your vige have a name, did that other settlement have a name, do you remember in what general direction we should go to find it." Cranberry nodded but certainly didn''t let herself be distracted and asked for details. "We didn''t have any official name but the traveling merchants were calling it the lumberjacks cove. It was thest human settlement, well within the Great Eastern Forrest - it was the final part of the chain of simr viges spaced around twenty-five miles from one another, cutting deep into the forest. We are going in the right direction, once we encounter the first vige - that actually served as the first outpost - as long as it wasn''t thoroughly razed down we should recognize it easily and continue from then on." Shanks dered with a calm expression, easily recalling the necessary details. "Ha. Was it a part of the expansion initiative that the king and the avatar of greed from four generations ago founded all form his own pocket?" The red-haired girl perked up and asked curiously. "Yes, as far as I know, at least." The rat-faced man nodded and stopped to look around. "All fine and dandy, but why was that outpost the first human settlement in the chain and your vige thest, I''m pretty sure that there should be an outpost there too." Zombie raised his brow and voiced his dissatisfaction with theckluster administration and doubtful decisions of the previous rulers. "Oh, there was - for quite a while before it fell to the monsters and each vige had to fend for themselves swept into madness of the monsters attacks." Rotte waved his hand dismissively to assure that whoever came up with the idea wasn''t that reckless. "Believe it or not, but in the past, this was a very peaceful region - that''s why it was decided to try and settle here in the first ce. It took around sixty years for the aggressive monsters to show up in an organized manner and start harassing all of us at once." Uresha added in a mncholic way. "We had a wooden wall to protect ourselves from frenzy wolves - the bronze ones - that would show up from time to time and mess with our domesticated monsters, so you can imagine that anything with a little bit more brains - even the gray ones - could pose us a serious threat." Therge woman added, meting out a shirt shallow sight. "The outpost was overwhelmed by small fries like goblins but only because most of the soldiers were on patrols at the time. They merely issued warnings to raise our defenses and be prepared for the possible attack of the few stragglers after they would gather more forces and reim the outpost." "...yeah, fucking idiots..." Rotte pointed out and Lairs clicked her tongue and shook her head, angry because of the mere memory of that event. "Needless to say, the monsters that settled in the outpost weren''t just goblins and the soldiers got wiped out - but we learned about it muchter, after the monsters began showing up more frequently as if they were testing the water - originally all the vigers thought that those were the stragglers that soldiers talked about but after more and more beasts started showing up including goblins riding the brown frenzy wolves and even an orc or two." Shanks nodded to Rotte and continued what the warrior started. "By that time the adults took some of the wood that was waiting to get shipped back to the Greeds territory and constructed a proper wall - because at that point no one thought about evacuation as the vige was their home form many years already as most of the people were the descendants of the first settlers and had no intentions of leaving the ce that was their parents and grandparents dream." He made a mncholic smile and looked down. "Yeah, the vige leader even went ahead and bought himself a Sloth-made weapon that he even got himself a proficiency skill for. Since up until that point it was a peaceful area, no one was really prepared for what was toe...." Chapter 514 - Goblins Stronghold (part 1)

Chapter 514 - Goblins Stronghold (part 1)

"That''s quite the unexpected sight..." Zombie made a bitter expression, reaching out his hand and moving a part of the brush out of his way. What he was looking at and referring to was an outpost ¨C a fort with a tall wooden outlook tower from atop of which the vast area of the forest entrance could be surveyed. Since the Dandelions had vaguely recognized the general location - as the terrain hasn''t been altered in any major way since thest time they were there - all five of them came to a conclusion that it must have been the first link in the chain of settlements that would lead them to their vige. This was of course a good thing, but it certainly wasn''t as great as it could be. Why? Mainly because the outpost that they hade into contact with wasn''t an abandoned ruin that they expected but a fully fortified, fully manned fort. Although manned wasn''t exactly the correct term to use here considering that the forces that imed the structure for themselves weren''t a part of the intelligent races... Monsters. The fort was choc-full of various goblins. Zombie could easily spot the life signatures of at least one one-hundred and fifty creatures ¨C of which most were surprisingly powerful considering their species, not to mention the good number of actually strong ones that could pose a problem if not taken care of first. ...especially since a peculiar life signature in the building inside the fort - that was originally amand headquarters - seemed to carry some traces of Eternal''s energy, although the creature itself wasn''t exactly a sigil monster... "Tsk...! Look at those fuckers... they aren''t normal goblins, they look even fucking creepier..." Lairs clocked her tongue and backed off with a disgusted face. "Cranberry, let''s fucking roast those shits and be done with it!" The ck-haired elven mage scoffed and raised her crystal ball, nodding at the red-haired girl at the blue undead''s side and motioning towards the goblin''s fort with an evil gleam in her eyes. "Hm~" Zombie nced at her and smirked ¨C Lairs was the first Dandelions whopletely dropped her guard and stopped being wary with Cranberry in him even after the initial bad impression and ckmail ¨C and there was no doubt in the blue undead knight''s head that it was mostly due to Cranberry''s daughter of the elves title. "Laii... Although Ipletely agree ¨C we should first investigate." As everyone could hear, the red-haired girl was also veryfortable with the Lairs, going as far as to call her using the affectionate nickname that elven children would use towards their older siblings. "Yes. Young miss is right, we need to try and learn as much as possible." The rat-faced Shanks crouched on Zombie''s other side moved back and nodded, agreeing with the red-haired. "Like fucking what...? A good goblin is a dead goblin!" Lairs made a bitter expression and started ying with her crystal ball with a sulking expression. "Whether it is just a random base that some random goblins have captured and taken as a base or is it something more. You already noticed that there was something off about those goblins themselves, but to tell you the truth, the outpost doesn''t look like it has been used by any low-rank monsters." "...?" Shanks shook his head and exined, prompting Lairs to furrow her brows and lean to the side to catch another glimpse of the stronghold. "Goblins are weak and nowhere near as smart as humans, kobolds, or elves, but they are capable of formingmunities and even building some primitive structures. The thing is that their live spawn is far too short to allow them to gain proficiency in, for example, carpentry and masonry that would allow them to build and maintain any structure that''s moreplicated than a shack or a primitive animal pen ¨C even if they were taught by someone or something much smarter." Cranberry looked at Lairs and exined, showing off her knowledge on the subject. "That''s the reason why they aren''t counted amongst the intelligent races ¨C because they live for at most six years their natural attention span deters them from learning any skill above the tier 1 ones? ¨C even the goblin mages. Their rank-up versions, hobgoblins aren''t much better in that regard and it''s even more outrageous to mention champions, as they are fully offensive-oriented and can think only of destruction, not creation." The red-haired girl continued, Rotte, In''re, and Uresha were listening to her with wide eyes as she mentioned details that they weren''t aware of, while Zombie, Shanks, and Lairs nodded, at her words. "Now, think carefully, from the buildings we''ve seen when a group of goblins was returning from hunting ¨C which one was the most surprising one?" Cranberry smirked and suddenly quizzed the ck-haired elf. "W-which one...? Fuck... A-all of them...?" Lairs flinched and blushed, embarrassed for apparently not paying as much attention to details as she should have. "They all fucking looked properly maintained and all? As if the fucking goblins had the craftsmen to aid them?" She looked to the side, nervously rubbing the back of her neck while scrambling for an answer. "Good observation, but that wasn''t the most astounding part." Cranberry nodded and smiled at the ck-haired elf who lowered her head in embarrassment anyway. "Then, what was it...?" Lairs fidgetted and asked curiously. "The outhouse." The red-haired girl looked the ck-haired elven mage in the eyes and dered with a serious face. "The... the fucking what...?" Lairs shook her head and asked in disbelief. "There was an outhouse in there." Cranberry repeated, smiling at Lairs''s confusion. "The weirdest part about those goblins is how much they care about the hygiene. You noticed that the structures were properly maintained, but they were also clean. And that''s not how normal goblins from our world are. Even if by some stroke of luck a goblin or hobgoblin ended up learning high-level construction skills, they would not learn that they should clean themselves and their surroundings. Hell, even king-rank goblins are filthy creatures. Hence, there''s no need for them to ever bother constructing an outhouse in their settlement." The red-haired girl exined. "And before you ask ¨C no there are no other types of monsters living there, just goblins, hobgoblins, a few champions, and something that might be a lord...? There''s a life signature that carries the trace of Eternal''s energy, but it is not a sigil monster." "!!!!" Zombie noticed Shanks opening his mouth and decided that it was a good ce to share his observation. "You could have started with that, you know...?" The rat-faced man squinted his eyes and sighed. "Is it strong?" Cranberry made a concerned expression and asked ¨C looking as if she was thinking deeply about something, most likely searching through Patience''s memories in search of any clue that would be useful in their situation. "Stronger than a champion marble troll at least. Actually, even the weakest goblin in that fort is around the same level as a moss troll." "..." Zombie nodded and said, making others gopletely silent. "...did... did you just say that the weakest goblin is almost as strong as a moss troll ¨C goblin ¨C a single goblin - isparable to a moss troll?!" Shanks gasped, taken aback, looking up at the blue undead ads if he lost his mind for spouting such nonsense. "Yeah. Does that change anything...?" Zombie smirked and scoffed at the bbergasted thief. Chapter 515 - Goblins Stronghold (part 2)

Chapter 515 - Goblins Stronghold (part 2)

"Ha... looking closely, there are some crumbled rocks to the left of the fort... The trolls must have passed by here but those who aggroed on the fort were dealt with..." Cranberry breathed out and pointed out after checking out the outpost from behind the cover of the vegetation. "...sir Zombie, you are asking what does it change? It changes everything! Moss trolls are middle-rank monsters! There is a ridiculous difference between normal goblins and moss trolls!" Shanks groan shaking his head. "Trolls, in general, are dangerous because of their ridiculous regeneration, but even a weak moss troll can pose a threat to low-level adventurers with their strength! And what about their numbers?! How many of them are there...?" "Slightly below one-hundred-fifty." The rat-faced man shook his head in disbelief and asked ¨C receiving the answer immediately. "..." That made him close his mouth and breath out as if he was doing his best to stay calm. "...then, from what we know we are up against a one-hundred and fifty units strong group of humanoid monsters that look simr to goblins but are each as strong as goblin champions or lords... That''s like fightingpletely unknown monsters" Shanks dered, closing his eyes as he started massaging his temples with an exhausted expression. "We might have fought with a whole army of trolls but those only aggroed one by one as long as we''re careful, and now we have clearly fully organized force to deal with? Screw this! Lairs, you and the young miss should go on ahead and blow it to all hell while we get the upper hand from an ambush!" He breathed out and dered getting slightly agitated. "And then what? This is the worst scenario and the monsters have literally taken over and appropriated every single settlement, we will be simply warning them what''s toe. What if they retreat to gather more troops and by the time we reach your vige we will be faced with an army that''s a couple thousand strong? No, rejected. We will deal with them without wiping out the fort itself ¨C besides, if we are reiming thend it would be best to use existing structures instead of wasting time, effort, and resources on erecting new ones." Cranberry decisively cut the rat-faced man off, refusing his opinion on the matter. "And how do you want to achieve that, young miss?" Shanks rolled his eye and stared at the red-haired girl with a bitter expression. "...asked the stealthiest member of our group..." Cranberry red back at him and raised her brow. "Miss ¨C since we are basically clueless about the capabilities of those goblin-like creatures we can''t be sure that they don''t have a detection skill ¨C they might not fond us out yet, but that doesn''t mean that won''t change if I sneak in and start cutting their throats in their sleep. A wide-scale attack that will wipe them out at once is the best option." The rat-faced man shook his head and crossed his arm, adamant about his decision. "Yeah, what about their resistances? What if the spells we use will not work as good as you think and we will get them all hot at our trail?| Cranberry scoffed back at him. "Nonsense, primal-rank spells outright ignore resistances and lower made nullification block only one-third of damage! Both of you can use primal-type spells and as we are now you have more than enough time to cast it without trouble!" Shanks shrugged his shoulders dismissively, not looking convinced in the slightest. "OR! Laii, In''re, and I can cast high-level cloaking and blocking spells that would cut the fort from the outside world while you all go in and deal with the goblins up close!" Cranberry stomped her foot ¨C but not too loud to not identally rm the goblins'' lookout at the top of the guard tower. "Wha...?! Those spells are a continuous-cast type of spells, right? To make that n work you would be exposed to danger while we will getting ourselves overrun there! No! Rejected! It''s so stupid that it doesn''t even get to be put up to vote!" Shanks dered getting as angry as Cranberry. "...you...!" The red-haired girl gritted her teeth, clenching her fists on her baseball bat ¨C with a brand new magic crystal in ce ¨C so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Hey, Marshmallow,e here." "...?" All of a sudden, the blue undead turned back and beckoned Uresha to approach him, and the surprised woman walked up to him with a confused expression. "Wh-what do you want from her...?" Shanks flinched and put down his hands, ready to grab a knife if the need arose. "I have something to discuss with a prettydy of course. What? Jealous?" "!!!" "!!!!!!!!!!" The blue undead knight smirked mockingly, looking down at the much shorter man and not only beckoned Uresha to lean down, but once she lowered her head, he put his arm over her shoulders and got her very close to whisper into her ear ¨C which resulted in the very angry grimaces of Shanks ad Cranberry, although both of them were being jealous over someone else. "S-sir Zombie...?" "Shh... listen... We''re making Shank''s jealous now, alright? He has been feeling too good with no guys approaching you and all." Therge woman with a personality of a small animal gasped in confusion ¨C but the words of the blue undead certainly didn''t clear anything for her. "E-eh...? EH?!" On the contrary, it got her even more shocked and she wanted to back off but Zombie had a strong grip on her shoulders and did not let her. "Shh... no, seriously. I''ve heard from Cranberry that the two of you are somehow still not together. And since you seem to be too shy to confess to him first, we got to make him worked up enough to show any sort of reaction, don''t you think?" Zombie grinned at Uresha before ncing back at the short rat-faced man who looked as if he had a lot to say but was still somehow keeping it down. "S-sir Zombie, this is not a time and ce for talking about embarrassing stuff like that...!" Uresha blushed deeply and fidgetted pitifully crying in a soft shy voice. "Nonsense. Listen, we will go with my wife''s n, alright? But with slight adjustments ¨C only I will be going to clear out the fort. As long as you, Rotte, and your pint-sized loverboy, Shiv, will all stay back and guard all the magic casters there should be no problem, don''t you think?" The blue undead waved his hand dismissively and dered. "But that will be dangerous for you!" Uresha made a worried expression and shook her head. "Whoa, seriously, don''t give me that look, you are a cutie but I am married already, alright?" "E-eh?! N-no! I didn''t mean it like that...! a-and his name is Shanks..." The blud undead raised his brows and showed up his left hand with the ancient wedding ring, causing therge woman to get even more embarrassed. "I know, I know ¨C but why don''t you try talking like that to Shiv? You will get a perfect chance while I will be clearing out the fort. With that in mind, you will agree with my adjustment to the proposition, right?" Zombie had no intention of letting her go if she didn''t agree, after all, he really wanted to level up his shield and poison skills, and their entire group constantly getting in his way he would never get anywhere near the amount of practice that he wanted. Getting his way and helping out the pair of adventurers ¨C those were the two birds he was currently aiming at. "You do know what Kopia is capable of doing, right? Just go along with my n and you''ll see that everything will be fine~" Zombie smirked but at the same time, he could feel the furious gaze of Cranberry dilling into his back. Although she was the one who told Zombie to help Shanks and Uresha get together, she clearly didn''t consider Zombie going for the jealousy strategy. ..after all, she was definitely the most jealous person there and she was already on the verge of keeping her word about executing any woman that will get too cozy with her husband... "...a... alright..." And just in time ¨C Uresha fold in and agreed! Chapter 516 - Goblins Stronghold (part 3)

Chapter 516 - Goblins Stronghold (part 3)

Although there were still a good few hours until the sunset, the sky was already getting dark over the fort. "...ghee, hate bad weather..." The unnaturally skinny goblin in a scally armor ¨C that was in fact not armor at all but its deformed body''s protective growths - red at the heavy cloud taking over the sky. "Yeah... Mist is here too, annoying..." "Hate rain. Watch duty in rain, annoying." Its twopanions that looked like its carbon copies chimed in their screechy voices and all three of them sighed looking at the mist rising up around the fort. "Maybe should tell themander that visibility so bad, watch duty make no sense?" "Nah,mander will shout. Will say you want ck off." One of them deformed goblins asked with a hopeful voice but the first goblin shook his slightly oversized head and waved his skinny hand dismissively. *boom* "Ghaa...?" The long ears of all three of them perked up as the faraway sound of explosion got their attention ¨C and all three instantly turned in that direction. "What that...?" The first screeched in squinting his eyes. "There! In forest west!" The second one pointed at the spot where the mist was thinner and swirling upwards as if the sudden air current was forcing it up... ...or as if something had jumped up high with unbelievable strength... "What you thi...?" *SPLAT* The two goblins turned back to ask their thirdpanion for his take on the case and were just in time to see him being crushed into a greenish pulp by a golden shield wielded by a blue undead wearing ck armor. The opponent had fallen at them straight from the sky and while his body glowed with white light he used the strength of the attack that liquidated the third deformed goblin to lose the speed he gained by the fall and jumped right back up softlynding right by the other two monsters. "Yo." *SMASH* The blue undead raised his right hand in a greeting and then beheaded the second goblin with a single shield-bash, powerful enough to send the monster''s head far out of the perimeter of the fort and deep into the forest. "...!" Before the first goblin could even shake off the initial shock, it already got a chance to carefully inspect the golden shield that the blue undead used to annihte itspanions... *WHAM* ...well, in the end, the shield wasn''t there for the monster to inspect, but rather to show it how it would feel if an entire castle smashed into it with the speed of a snapping whip... The answer was ¨C instant death and dismemberment. /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ The system message popped up slightly cooling down the blue undead''s enthusiasm. "...ohe on! Shouldn''t I get at least one level up from doing a falling shield bash like that?! It was so spectacr though, it must have raised my proficiency by a lot...!" Zombieined, shaking off the goblins'' blood off of his shield. "..." He waited for a moment before he realized that there is o longer, anyone, inside his head who would be able to answer him. ...but if not in his head, then maybe at his waist...? "Say, Kopia, don''t you want to go on a little killing spree...?" The blue undead smirked while looking down the tower, seeing the tens of life signatures below ¨C it didn''t seem like he was noticed, but it was only a matter of time. The head of the second goblin gotunched out of bounds and was saved but the other goblin got sttered into many parts which at least half rained down below the tower ¨C it was only a matter of time before it will be spotted and the rm will be raised. "...no..." The sentient sword vibrated and let out an angry voice. "Huh? Wait, you are seriously that upset about separating from Monty...?" Zombie raised his brows and asked in disbelief. "Yes! Monty is mine! As long as it will not impact the story, I will not help you at all, stupid master!" Kopia cried out angrily and a dozen of crimson threads burst from her pommel and coiled around her expensive scabbard to assure that it will be impossible to pull her out of there. "Whoa... Well, I only asked because I wanted to lift your mood. A no is a no." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and patted Kopia''s scabbard before putting leaning over the tform and locking on his next target, even though it was the bigger one ¨C most likely a champion... "Now then... I want to try and aim for maxing out shield bash~!" He giggled and leaned into the fall, shield first... *SPLAT* /High-level monster defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ "Khahaha...!" Once again because of the added force of gravity it was ridiculously easy to make another creature lose its head for him, and the system message that popped up assured him about the monster''s rank. "Ghaa?! Attack! We under attack!" Just as Zombie expected, once he got off the tower he was found out immediately. Still, since the immediate reaction of the deformed goblins was to ring the rm bell ¨C it cleared out another doubt that the blue undead had about them. They were far too intelligent for goblins... Their reaction time and decision-making were easily on par with humans... ...maybe even better... *WHAM* *SLAM* *SMASH* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ Even though he was zipping around, one-shotting the creatures with well-aimed shield bashing, the panic didn''t spread amongst the ranks of the deformed goblins who actually managed to get into formation ¨C multiple ones to boot ¨C and surrounded the blue undead. "Oh-ho...!" Zombie raised his brows and nodded his head. The closer he observed the monsters they previously mistook for goblins, the more differences he saw between the different species. Their heads were much biggerpared to their skinny and somewhatnky bodies, ut the biggest difference must have been the defensive equipment. Instead of actually making their clothes and armor, those deformed monsters seemed to be growing their own armor straight out of their torsos, making them more simr to armadillos from Zombie''s old-world than any other creature ¨C especially goblins. Oddly enough, the weapons they were using, be it pikes, maces, or even crude swords, seemed to be somehow made with the same tissue thatposed their self-grown armors. "Khahaha! I must stop ripping you all apart and save some for research purposes! My Cranberry might want to write a book about you~!" "Gh...! Get him!" One of the champion monsters that was leading a group trying to get the blue undead from behind growled furiously and waved his pike ordering his underlings to attack. Chapter 517 - Goblins Stronghold (part 4)

Chapter 517 - Goblins Stronghold (part 4)

"Get me...?" Zombie nced back and a malicious grin bloomed on his face. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "!!!!!!" The next second the ground that he stood on split apart under the power of his kick and the sound of the starting explosion mixed up with the sound of the monster''s bodies getting torn apart, decimating the group and causing fear in many others. /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated High-level monster defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ "The only getting that you are allowed to do is getting in line for me to kill." The blue undead smirked at them from the other side of the fort with his legs stained with the murky green blood on his armored legs, before all pieces of the decimated monster squad managed to fall back down to the ground. "Ahhh... I forgot how good the kicking is~ I''m definitely grabbing the boots of the phoenix the first chance I''ll get~" Zombie hummed to himself, lightly tapping the wooden walls of the fort with his foot, before readying his shield again. "Now, get in that line! I was serious about wanting to preserve at least a few of you in a good condition and that will not be possible if I will have to use my legs. Now, any volunteers? Oh." *BOOOOOM* His mocking speech was interrupted by literal rain of spears and pikes that the monster decided to throw at him all at once with surprisingly good uracy, forcing the blue undead tounch himself to safety... *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* ...or rather straight into the two groups that decided to throw away their weapons, and very quickly realized how bad an idea it was when the blue undead spilled their gray matter all over the ce with the help of his trust golden shield. /Multiple high-level monsters defeated Multiple mid-level monsters defeated\\\\ You receive the EXP\\\\ /Proficiency level reached Skills level up Shield mastery (level 1) ????Sheld mastery (level 2) Shield bash (level 9) ????Shield bash (level 10 [max]) Skill rank up Shield bash (level 10 [max]) ????Power bash (level 1)\\\\ "Khahaha! Finally!" The blue undeadughed triumphantly after the system message informed him about the increase in his skill levels that he was waiting for, for quite a while. "Perfect! I was starting to feel like a punching back and honestly, I do not want to relieve that bullshit~ Good thing that I can train the shield skills in offensive~" He giggled and... *BOOOOOOM* *BOOOOM* "WOOOOOO!" ...heunched himself into the group with the defensive formation and decimated them all with a powerful skill that even created a shockwave that caused concussion to the monsters that weren''t killed in one shot, staggering them. /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated High-level monster defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ /Level up Level 9 All skills level up Base status points increased\\\\ /You receive 37 new quests\\\\ /Youpleted 8 Rewards granted\\\\ "Ohh... I am going to love this new toy..." The blue undead knight shivered from joy, looking at the destruction caused by only a single strike. "Surround him! Attack all same time! Force him defend!" The newmands were being shouted and the deformed goblins all listened to them without hesitation or dy. "Now then... There are a little too many of you, after all, I do not want to get overrun. I have no intention of proving Shiv right." Zombie watched them for a second. Those goblin-like creatures might have been as strong as the moss trolls but they certainlycked the trolls'' defense and regeneration abilities, one on one they were many times easier to take care of ¨C but their strengthy in coordination and numbers. A single creature didn''t need overly heavy armor that made them sluggish as long as they had arade that could attack the monster from the side, right next to them. Therefore, Zombie''s n wasughably easy ¨C as long as he would not get surrounded, everything would be fine. The problems would start if, for example, he got pinned down and dog-piled ¨C a single nce at the scratches that the monsters'' weaponry left in the golden shield was enough to make the blue undead understand the threat that they posed. *BOOOOOOM* "GHAAAA!" "HOLD LINE!" "NOT LET PASS!" "CUT OFF ESCAPE!" Despite using the powerful skills the deformed goblins were actually getting better and better at reading him the more the fight prolonged. Zombie, as an undead, did not tire out but he did have a limit on mana and therefore on how many skills he could use while the monsters had the numbers advantage over him but in the end, they had a finite amount of troops... ¡­Or did they...? *BOOOOOOM* While more and more corpses were stacking on the ground akin it was more difficult to move around for both the blue undead and the deformed scally goblins, Zombie actually noticed something rather disturbing and worrisome. While they still were some monsters that kept their distance from him since the beginning of the fight, the fresh troops that would walk out from the headquarter building seemed... ...actually fresh... It was as odd as it sounded ¨C the newly arrived ones were far easier to kill than the ones at the beginning ¨C it almost felt like their scales were... soft and oddly shiny ¨C as if they were butterflies that left the chrysalis and didn''t have the time to fry out their new wings. ...it was a far too niceparison, but it worked... *BOOOOM* *SPLAT* "The hell...?" When the same attack that would previously crush monsters'' bodies ended up turning the fresh troops into pulp the blue undead finally realized the problem. It wasn''t like the reserves were diminishing a tall! The more he killed the more poured out from the headquarters building while the original ones were huddled back in defensive cautiously waiting for Zombie to mess up and give them a chance to get him. "..." The blue undead knight frowned and his eyes began glowing with a reddish light. He saw the world basked in the light of life signatures and... "Oh, you little bastards!" He called out furiously. The number of monsters currently attacking him was greater than the number of monsters that he originally saw before he rushed in! The former human headquarters building was the spawning point where the monster with the odd life signature was literally spawning the new ones in real-time! Now the reason for the new units'' squishiness despite their clearly superior tactics seemingly created purposefully to counter his attack ¨C they all were actually newborn monsters whose armors did not harden yet! "AS YOU WISH! I WAS GOING TO SAVE IT JUST FOR YOU WHEN YOU COME OUT, BUT FUCK THAT SHIT!" Zombie rared and raised his shield. ************************************************************************ But instead of unleashing another power bash, the ruby crystal in the middle shone with a bright light and a ray of light erupted, far stronger than ever before ¨C as it did not stop immediately and continued as a continuous ray that the blue undead used to literally cut through three-quarters of the monsters approaching him. He could have killed them all but that would damage some of the buildings so he chose to go the less destructive route... /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated Multiple high-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ /Level up Level 10 All skills level up Base status points increased\\\\ /You receive 43 new quests \\\\ /Youpleted 5 Rewards granted\\\\ /yer reached level 10\\\\ /ss unlocked\\\\ /Calcting\\\\ /ss has been asigned\\\\ /Dragon knight\\\\ /You receive ss-exclusive skills Dragon sh (level 1) Dragon bash (level 1) Dragon breath (level) Dragon rage (level 1) Dragon scales (level 1)\\\\ /Skills rank up Dragon sh (level 1) + Pierce (level 15 [max]) ??? Impale (level 1) Dragon breath (level 1) + All melting venom (level 7 [max] ??? Corrosive breath (level 1) Dragon scales (level 1) and Superbia (level 7) resonate with some skills: Dragon bash (level ) + Power bash (level 1) + Reflect (level 10 [max]) ??? Shield of pride (level 1) /Thanks to your bond with your mount you unlocked the ability to learn nature magic.\\\\ /Pick the path you wish to follow: Fire (bonus points from the red dragon affinity) Air Water Earth Holy (negative points from the yer species) Death (bonus points from the yer species)\\\\ "..." For more than just a few seconds that allowed the disfigured goblins to regroup, the blue undead was just staring at the series of messages in disbelief. "Now, chance! Get him!" The champion monsters called out to their troops and lead the charge at the stunning undead. Chapter 518 - Goblins Stronghold (part 5)

Chapter 518 - Goblins Stronghold (part 5)

"How about no?" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The blue undead scoffed at the approaching deformed goblins andunched himself straight up, disappearing in the thick fog above the fort with no trace whatsoever. "Wh-where he go?!" The mutated goblin-like creatures growled frantically looking around. "Stay formation!" Champions kept them all in check, although they were just as much confused and confounded as their underlings. The blue undead knight appeared out of nowhere, killing a staggering amount of their troops, and then, just as it looked like they would have an actual chance to counter-attack, he just went and backed off?! No. The creatures instinctively knew that the blue undead didn''t leave them alone and that he will be right back - the only hope all - even the champions - had, was that theirmander will be able to continue spawning enough new troops so that they would not be the ones facing the opponent like that. They regrouped and reinforced their defensive positions and waited, attentively observing the surroundings and trying to pierce the thick mist in front of them with their beady eyes. --- Meanwhile, somewhere above the goblins fort, the blue undead was slowly losing the speed of his ascension, while pondering about his next step. Which magic would be the best? Of course, holy magic was out of the question - even though he had the resistance about it, that did not overwrite the natural weakness of his species and pointless self-harm wasn''t part of his battle tactics ¨C as hard as it was to believe. Simrly, with fire - the only reason it had the bonus points was because of the affinity with his mount - which apparently must have been Baron, as no one else had fit the bill, considering that the ss that Zombie received, was called Dragon knight, and the mount had an affinity with it. Yes, fire was Baron''s element, but it certainly wasn''t Zombie''s - it was the second most effective method of getting rid of the pesky undead from the caverns and crypts hence that the adventurers used - the probability of setting himself on fire during the everyday life was already extremely high and it was with no additional sources of mes. That left him with the remaining four. Though, honestly, the choice was already made, right? Even though the air, water, and earth might have been good too, the blue undead had no reason to pick any of them up - the promise of the bonus points was far too promising to let it pass - besides since the knowledge of magic was a requirement for one of his higher-ranked formes, wouldn''t it be appropriate t stay in the same theme? "System, I chose death branch." The blue undead spoke out loud just as the force of gravity started iming him back. /Death branch of nature magic selected\\\\ /You receive subss: Death magician\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Your affinity with death granted you two magic spells Draining touch (level 1) Mark (level 1)\\\\ The system messages popped up one after another, proving to him that his decision wasn''t wrong ¨C after all normally, the magician has to learn the skills for themselves or level up their ss ¨C o subss as it was in Zombie''s case ¨C before they will be able to use any spells at all. "Khahaha! This is fun~ let''s see what exactly those two do!" Zombie couldn''t hold back and startedughing while the wind was howling in his ears as he was falling through the fog. The blue undead''s eyes shone with white light and his golden shield began glowing with a slightly off-color white light that seemed almost gray but not quite. The next moment he passed the thickest fog and the goblin''s fort with all the deformed creatures was right there below him ¨C all of the monsters were at the ready and in formation, learned prepared for the undead''s return. "Perfect~!" Zombie giggled using the emergency dodge and acrobatic skills to make himself stay on target ¨C the strongest champion goblin of the bunch outside that surrounded himself with other champions and at least five dozens of the basic deformed goblins. Though, even though they were supposed to be champions ¨C so monsters that looked different than a standard creature out of the batch, those ones in the fort were only slightly bigger than the basic kind. It was an interesting observation, but it could have waited ¨C the ground, not so much. "LET''S BEGIN ROUND TWO!" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Roared the blue undead knight bashing his golden shield into the champion monster that did its best to counter but failed miserably under the strongest explosion yet. /Multiple high-level monsters defeated Multiple mid-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ "UGHAAAAA...!" The choir of pained voices raised as the shockwave caused by the hit that one-shot a whole bunch of strange creatures while all that survived not only got a concussion and had trouble withstanding up straight but also gained a new interesting decoration ¨C above their bulky heads a burning ck me appeared, pulsating in the rhythm of their heart. *tump* "Oh-ho!" The blue undeadnded amongst the green pulp that was still a squad of deformed goblins troops only a second ago and raised his brow, watching at the pulsating ck mes wi curiosity. "Fascinating ¨C the drain had replenished my HP or so it feels, but what will happen if I will kill someone who has been marked?" *SPLAT* The blue undead pondered and immediately put his n into motion, smashing the squishy new troop with his golden shield and sending his sticky remains into the wall of the canteen. "Hmm... I don''t feel much difference, but I think it did something? Maybe it replenished more of my HP?" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*th Zombie thought out loud before going wild on the goblin-like monsters, although he actually managed to properly hold back and not mutte at least some of them. ...too much... /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ The blue undead grinned seeing the new but very familiar message and grinned before his shield shone with violet light. *WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* With a strange, buzzing sound the shockwave that erupted froth was actually vaguely violet which allowed Zombie to notice that it was actually shaped like his own shield... "GHAA!" "RETREAT! RETREAT!" /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated Multiple high-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ Tey dying words of the goblins getting crushed behind the walls of their fort and the violet shockwave shield turned into an entire choir as the attack cleared out most of the forces in one go. It definitely had to take a lot of mana, but for some reason, the blue undead didn''t notice the particr feeling that should e present when a yer spent a vast amount of mana at once. "Hmmm...? Could it be that as long as the monster is marked by the ck mes, when I will kill them I will not only recover the HP but MP too? That would be ridiculously convenient!" Zombie gasped and straightened his back, looking at his shield with approval. "Khahaha! Kopia, did you see? You were jealous about the swords but in the end, the shield may turn into my favorite equipment while you are sulking~" "!!!!!!" The blue undeadughed and spoke to the sheathed sword at his waist ¨C the sword that trembled as if she flinched from shock... ...but even with that taunt, Kopia didn''t release her threads that she kept herself sheathed with... "Oh,e on, I have skills I want to test out! Aren''t you curious about Impale? It must be something good since the dragon name didn''t overpower it~" "..." He added but the sentient sword remained silent as if she was just another run of the mile sword. "Fine ¨C I do have other skills want to test out after all." The bleu undead shrugged his shoulders before turning to the former headquarters building which was clearly the spawning ground for the deformed creatures. "Hey! You there ¨C whoever you are! Keep your troopsing! I love me some more EXP and training!" The blue undead smirked and shouted, putting his hand next to his mouth to make himself louder. He called out as another batch of creatures emerged from the inside. "...?" Surprisingly enough some of them looked almost like scaly balls because their growths were som overgrown while some had basically none of them and were clearly far more agile. "Interesting... Are you perhaps adjusting your creation settings in real-time? If I wasn''t concerned that there''s an odd goblin orgy going on inside I would actually go and check what''s going on on the inside!" The blud undeadughed mockingly while already preparing and unleashing another skill that destroyed the squishy new troops with ease. "Hmm... I wonder if this whole corrosive breath will affect the buildings or not... do I want to risk it...?" The blue undead whopletely lost the sense of urgency as honestly as long as the new spawns had time to properly ''dry out'' and mature even a little bit, their defense was nonexistent. Zombie went ahead and checked on the life signature pulsating inside the headquarters ¨C surprisingly enough despite pumping out a monster after a monster I did not seem to get any weaker than it was at the beginning. Though, as Zombie was going to go back to the easy EXP grind, the signature started moving and stood up! "...huh...?" The blue undead tilted his head and furrowed his brows, - the part that he took for the torso of the monster turned out to be the creature''s head - in which case it meant that its bulbous head was at least five times bigger than its body. After standing up, the creature started moving towards the exit with wobbly steps without creating new underlings, and after a few seconds, the massive double door opened n full - because that was the only reason for the creature''s head to pass through them. "Eww..." Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed in disgust ring at the creature that appeared in front of him. Chapter 519 - Goblins Stronghold (part 6)

Chapter 519 - Goblins Stronghold (part 6)

The creature that came out did look like some grotesque tree It had short stubby legs with massive ws that would help it stay upright, it''s torso was extremely creepy ¨C it looked like a column with faces of various monsters and creatures sticking right out of it as if they were trying to get out... But even worse was the part that gave the creature its tree-like appearance ¨C the massive bulbous head that seemed to beprised of constantly growing bodies of the deformed goblins. Yes ¨C growing ¨C the embryo would sprout and transform up into a fully formed monster within seconds and tear away from the spawning monster as if it was a ripe fruit. "Commander! No, you go back!" "Silence." One of the champion monsters gasped and eximed but was silenced by the spawning creature as it waved itsnky arm with long, brittle-looking fingers. "...interesting.." The blue undead straightened his back and looked curiously at the odd monstrosity that already managed to create at least two dozens of new troops just since it went outside the building of the former headquarters. "You cannot kill it ¨C I want it, it will be a good material..." The spawning creature''s voice sounded like a dragging a nail on the chalkboard ¨C but not only its voice was bad, its words were even worse. The bulbous monster red at the idle blue undead and tapped the faces on his torso ¨C each one of them had pain and fear permanently engraved into their frozen expressions ¨C so t might have been safe to assume that they weren''t merely a decoration nor did they be a part of the odd monster willingly. "..." Zombie tilted his head curiously ¨C there were at least two humans, a kobold, and an elf, someone who had to be a dwarf, a frenzy wolf, a moss troll, and a whole bunch of goblins of various sizes. "Commander...! Even if you say that ¨C it too strong...!" The champion monster showed a great deal of insight and shook its head with desperation ¨C after all, the problem was that they all wanted to kill the blue undead knight up until that point but was unable to ¨C how in the world were they supposed to capture it, not to mention let theirmander assimte him?! "Tsk..! Useless ¨C I need to grow some braver headers, your batch is too warry." The bulbous monster scoffed, shaking its massive head and causing at least a dozen fresh monsters to drop on the ground around it. As it did ¨C the monster close its eyes and its body released a faint murky red and ck glow that seemed simr to the Eternal''s energy with the only difference being that this one was thin and almostpletely transparent, with an only tinge of color to it. Once it did a brand new batch of embryos sprouted up ¨C those grew up to a much bigger size than the ones that fell to the ground before them, and once they separated from the bulbous monster and fell to the ground, most of them had actually crushed their older siblings without much interest. "Cap... ture...! Capture...!" The newborn champion monsters growled, stumbling towards the motionless blue undead. "..." Zombie nced at them all, at their brand new ad not even harder scales, and then he looked towards the old champion monsters. "I''m starting to feel sorry for you." *BOOOOOOOOM* /Multiple high-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ The blue undead shrugged his shoulders before his shield unleashed a violet light and turned the approaching creatures into mush without even looking at them. "...! Y-you...!" The bulbous monster stumbled back and fell, hitting the ground and shaking off many of the still-maturing monsters before they were ready which resulted in them shivering and writhing in pain before drying up and dying at an elerated rate. "Seriously...? I thought that you went out because you noticed that I''ve been massacring your troops and you were some bigshot that would pose a problem for me, but you just wanted to go check up on what was causing the ruckus outside, didn''t you?" The blue undead scoffed, shaking his head with a mocking smile, ring down at the scowling bulbous creature. "I guess that your peculiar life signature is caused by the umtion of all the beings you somehow gathered... and although I think that my Cranberry would love to study the mechanics of an oddity like you... I think it would be best to just get rid of you before you''ll turn into a sigil monster and start causing real trouble." "!!!!!!!" Zombie lowered his head and took a menacing step towards the bulbous creature that flinched and tried to crawl back into the building but it had trouble even lifting its massive head once it hit the ground. "N-no...! Stop...! You know about the sigil! You must know about Eternal!" The creature raised its thin hand and reached it towards the blue undead knight as if it was looking for connection. "So? What about it?" Zombie''s smirk bloomed into a full-on evil grin as he walked closer and closer with his shield up making the bulbous monster visibly panic more and more. "You are a sentient undead...! You ¨C you must be with the church of the system''s faith, aren''t you? Their assassin? I told them before that I need more humans to make my amalgamations stronger and more human-like, but they just kept giving me goblins! Don''t kill me! Just tell them that if they''ll give me humans I''ll give them strong amalgamations!" "..." |...huh...?| With the desperate yelp of the bulbous monster, a surprising piece of information was leaked... |I was sure that the system''s faith had clearly stated they are deeming the undead as damned beasts that can influence the story and steer it in a wrong... way...| Zombie thought to himself fully aware that Kopia could read his mind, but just as he was doing so, a sudden idea popped up into his mind. ...what if ¨C and only IF ¨C by some odd chance ¨C the talk about undead''s influencing the story wasn''t about all reanimated creatures, but rather just one... Him. The blue undead who has been going around and messing everything up since the first ythrough... ...but for that to make sense, someone would have to be aware of his presence even before he appeared in this world... The wild idea got fleshed out in Zombie''s head in a sh. What if the system''s faith church actually wants Eternal to wake up, whether because they think that they can control it or because they are just insane and have a death wish ¨C and they somehow knew that he, Zombie, wanted to get rid of their precious overpowered monster. They feed the people some farfetched information about the supposed bad influence of the undead so that fewer and fewer people would try and pursue the necromancy so that the possibility of the undead trying to kill the Eternal would be lower, while at the same time they are practicing the necromancy just so they would be able to control the undead... Or...! Or they are training in the necromancy so that they would be the ones who would control the undead that could threaten Eternal and by that gain control over the super-secret final boss...! ...still, it might be actually in order to defeat Eternal as well.... Chapter 520 - Goblins Stronghold (part 7)

Chapter 520 - Goblins Stronghold (part 7)

In the end, they may not be as power-hungry - or crazy - as Zombie instantly assumed them to be... The blue undead''s eyes widened. The best option would be to ask Cranberry as she had the memories of Patience, and would be able to answer him immediately... Or... In''re. Since she was banished by the church herself, she might know something that might clear out the troublesome part. After all ¨C it was important to know whether the major religion was actually his ally or enemy... Not to mention that it might have been the reason for the healer''s essential character setting. "..." As the blue undead seemed to have lost himself in thought, the bulbous monster nced away from him and waved hisnky arm at the deformed creatures left alive, silently ordering them to ambush their opponent. For a second, it seemed that they would actually aplish it... *BOOOOOOOOM* Until Zombie didn''t lift one foot and unleashed a devastating kick that tore through the sneaking forces as if they were all made out of paper. /Multiple high-level monsters defeated Multiple mid-level monsters defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ "Curious... very curious indeed..." The blue undead returned to his idle stance and a mocking smirk returned to his face as the destruction that he caused had left only a handful of deformed creatures alive ¨C and that included the bulbous spawner monster. "Hey~ Why don''t you tell me more about what the church had in mind while sending you... materials..." "...!" Zombie''s eyes shed with pale blue light and the bulbous monster trembled like a leave faced with the hurricane. "...I...I...!" For a few seconds, it actually looked as if the monster was going to resist the power of tier 2 lust-based skill, mind break... "...they... the people of the system''s faith church... they knew bout me... They knew that I have been blessed by the ruler of the monster city and they offered to help me get more strength and recognition in exchange for information... " But in the end, not only the creature''s original face but even the faces that were growing out of its torso twisted into a lovestruck expression and the bulbous creature started talking without hesitation, wanting nothing more than to please the blud undead. "Once I proved useful, they offered me a method of absorbing other creatures... I don''t know where did they learned about my inborn unique ability, overgrowth, but I wasn''t going to ask them as long as I got what I wanted. With the materials they delivered to me, I was able to create an army of capable warriors that earned me the recognition of the monster city''s ruler, and he granted me the privilege of taking over thest outpost guarding the trade route... the one we are here now..." The creature boasted, trying to prop up its enormous head to look more distinguished, but failing. "...I see..." Zombie nodded furrowing his brows. "What about the church people?" He asked in a slightly annoyed tone because it seemed like the bulbous monster was happy with whatever he said up until that point and was just staring in awe at the blue undead knight. "They... After I send them a batch of my amalgamations, they said that they are not interested and that my ability is not what they were looking for in the end..." The monster revealed with a scowl. "So they didn''t threaten you or anything? Then why would you think that I was sent by them?" Zombie furrowed his brows even more and squinted his eyes at the creature. "...because of the information, I shared with them..." The bulbous monster revealed with a hint of worry. "If I gave them information about a monster that was close to the ruler of the monster city, that monster would either join their side or be assassinated by an undead... The messenger that brought me instructions of what to do for them was an undead too... It only seemed reasonable to think that they would want to get rid of me to..." Although it was under the lust-based charm spell, the bulbous creature showed a glimpse of the actual intellect... Maybe before the church of system''s faith''s people messed with it, this particr monster was a cunning and clever one... "Fascinating... You know what? I decided that I will keep you alive ¨C if it turns out that it''s just a part of the story, and my Cranberry will know what''s going on, I will kill you off immediately, but as long as it''s something that shouldn''t be happening, you will be spared at least while we will have a talk with In\\\\re about those church people, how does it sound to you?" The blue undead asked ¨C constantly keeping up the mind break skill active and focused on the bulbous monster. "Ah! Doing your bidding is a pleasure!" The face of the creature turned more green which probably meant that it was blushing, but honestly, the blue undead didn''t want to think about it. "I will help you in whatever way I ca-GHOUGH...!" "!!!" The creature dered with a flushed face but before it could finish the sentence, its eyes bulged out and became bloodshot. As it started frothing, its massive head began glowing with pulsating light and a sigil began burning itself into its massive forehead. "Tsk...! AS IF!" The blue undead clicked his tongue from dissatisfaction and reached out to Kopia without hesitation. Before the sentient sword could protest that she will not leave her scabbard in a protest for getting separated from Monty, Zombie went ahead and detached the scabbard from his waist...! *STAB* ...the sheathed sword started glowing with a threatening white light with a violet tinge and the blue undead trusted it just like that into the creature''s head, puncturing the sigil before it even properly formed. *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* *stab* "...oh...!" The blue undead raised his brow as the skill he used ¨C impale ¨C did not just add to the thrusting power of the single attack but as an added effect, tens of holes had been suddenly poked into every single vital spot adding an honestly unnecessary step to the already deadly attack. /Unique monster -Ceaseless Spawner- has been defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ /Killing a unique monster had granted you a special reward\\\\ /Skill: Acquired sense (level 1) [Passive. The more monsters of a certain kind you kill, the more damage the monsters of their kind receive. Synergizes with the already received titles of the hunter-type.]\\\\ "...tsk..." The blue undead furrowed his brows looking at the message - that went a step further than normal and exined the skill to him. It seemed like since the sigil hasn''t been properly formed, the creature didn''t count as a sigil monster ¨C so he didn''t receive the massive amount of EXP. Still, the skill he got was good ¨C amazing even - depending on the situation and opponent. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows, staring at the mutted body of the Ceaseless Spawner ¨C or more urately ¨C at the half-burnt sigil of the Eternal. The timing of the creature''s change was... rather unfortunate to say the least... "...there''s another thing I have to worry about now, isn''t that perfect..." The blue undead scoffed before turning to the remaining deformed monsters called amalgamations. "Well, sorry ¨C now I have to be extra careful..." He said with an expression that told them that he wasn''t sorry at all ¨C before both the sheathed sword in his right hand and the golden shield on his left hand started glowing with intense light.... Chapter 521 - The Suspicion And Hesitation

Chapter 521 - The Suspicion And Hesitation

"What do you mean by ¨C the church is involved - ?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and stared at Zombie in confusion. "Uh-huh. So, is it something that I''m not supposed to know or is it really something new?" The blue undead raised his brow and asked calmly while he was in the middle of searching through the headquarter''s building together with the Dandelions. "...I... I actually don''t know anything about it ¨C there was the thing about the church knowing about the prophecy of the Eternal, as it was mentioned with In''re''s quest, but it did not involve them messing around with the monster city... It doesn''t make sense..." The red-haired girl shook her head and frowned in concern. "Huh... then it really sucks that the Spawner went and almost changed into the sigil monster and had to kill him." Zombie just shrugged his shoulders ad was about to go about another chest ¨C maybe this one would not be empty like the previous three... *tug* "...?" But then he felt something pulling on his arm and when he turned around he was faced with actually concerned Cranberry. "No, Zombie, you don''t understand ¨C in In''re''s questline she was banished from the church because she had the inborn skill that allowed her to control undead. The people of the system''s faith should, by all means, hate the undead monsters ¨C they should have no information about you or any undead for that matter, that would be able to interact with the super-secretst boss." The girl looked so worried that the blue undead didn''t even joke around and just carefully observed the red-haired viiness waiting for her to continue. "In''re''s quest was supposed to start soon after we would finish setting up the vige ¨C as the church would catch the wind of one of their banished ck sheep getting too influential and they would send out an assassin to deal with her quickly- that would start a whole chain of events that would lead us to run some errands for the church to forgive and forget about our dead-infatuated saint. The final errand would be to deal with the lord-rank undead that had been raising in power very close to the monster city." Cranberry exined biting her lips and looking away in distress. "I... I don''t feel the seal of the Eternal getting closer to unlocking or anything, but that is very bothersome on its own. Why is the system''s faith church suddenly getting chummy with both normal and undead monsters...? This is..." The red-haired girl flinched and her eyes widened. "...say, back when I was sealed and we were both in the sin of origin nucleus, you said that the piece of human filth that is supposed to be my sister in this world has been doing exactly what she should be doing..." Zombie read well into her expression and lowered his head, hiding his own face. "!!!!" Cranberry didn''t say anything but since she was holding onto the blue undead''s arm, he could feel that she tensed up at the question ¨C confirming his suspicion. "Huh... that''s not very encouraging... do you think that she would be able to influence anyone important so that they would actually change their policy about my kind?" "..." Zombie didn''t feel obliged to y around with the question and simply asked it straight, making the red-haired girl let go of his hand and back off. "...as far as I know, she didn''t seek anyone from the system''s faith in particr... before you got sealed for eight years..." The girl spoke up without looking the blue undead knight in the eyes. "I see. Then I can assume that she managed to get herself at least a stable foothold in their organization ¨C if not getting straight to the tom and is actually pulling the strings from behind. Great. Perfect!" Zombie read Cranberry''s behavior as the sign admitting to the absolute worst oue and just nodded his head, gritting his teeth harder and harder with each second. "Superb... istn;t that just... I AM GOING TO FUCKING TEAR THAT REPUGNANT FILTH LIMB FROM LIMB!" *THUMP* *RUMBLE* "!!!!" The blue undead continued nodding and tapping his foot until he exploded into a furious roar, and stomped on the ground s heard that he caused an actual small-scale earthquake that shook the entire building, despite it having a quite sturdy construction. "Zombie...!" Cranberry staggered and called out in shock staring at the outraged undead knight. "I AM CALM!" Zombie roared, clenching his fists that started glowing first with white and then with violet light. "What fucking event is worth keeping her alive!? If not that bullshit about her being the essential character I would have alreadyid waste to that pile of spoiled garbage!" He asked, ring at the red-haired girl with the intensity she never expected him to show. "She... haa... After all, the secret quests from all the capture targets would bepleted, she is necessary for triggering the question that would lead us back to In''re who would give us the info about the location of the temple of the Eternal ¨C but In''re will only learn that location after weplete her quest about reconciling her with the church!" Cranberry made a pitiful expression and exined, lowering her head and looking away as if she was ashamed of something. "..." The blue undead straightened his back taken aback, watching the suddenly embarrassed red-haired girl. "Wait... putting this ythrough aside for a moment ¨C are you saying that in our first ythrough we fucked ourselves up basically from the start? That''s why Patience couldn''t make the secret route happen was because we literally killed the most important quest giver within five minutes of meeting her...?" "..." The blue undead asked, blinking repeatedly in disbelief, and seeing Cranberry grit her teeth and turn away, even more, told him that he waspletely right. "...stupid idiot..." "...!" Zombie sighed and shook his head- before walking to the ashamed red-haired girl and locking her in a protective,fortably cool, embrace. "...I didn''t really want to tell you why In''re was so important..." Cranberry admitted with her forehead pressed against the cold te of Zombie''s chestte. "Yeah, I imagine that you must feel pretty stupid knowing that you were directly responsible for bringing your own downfall. Still... sorry for freaking out. I just really want to kill Caramel already. Being on the same as she is already filling me with rage." The blue undead sighed and apologized, lowering his head enough to kiss the top of the red-haired girl''s head. "...ehem..." "...?" "...!" A soft cough has caught them both off guard and the pair flinched and turn to face the rat-faced Shanks standing with a respectable distance away from them. "Sorry to bother you after you just reconciled, but we are done with securing the perimeter ¨C there was nothing of an immediate mary value, but we''ve found those..." Shanks raised his hand holding a neat stack of meticulously filled-out paper. "This is something quite interesting, and I thought that you would like to have a look." He revealed with a smirk. "You might find it interesting to know that the ruler of the monster city had created quite an interesting trade route using the chain of viges the taken from humans.... If the reports in here are actually true, our journey might involve something aside from ughtering everything we wille in contact with~" Chapter 522 - Decisions And Preparations

Chapter 522 - Decisions And Preparations

"Let me have a look." After ¨C unwillingly ¨C getting away from her blue undead knight, the red-haired girl reached out her hand for the stack of reports. "Here." The rat-faced man handed it to her with a smile. "Oh, just so you know, those are written in..." "Thenguage of the lizardfolk, I can see it. The one writing it had problems with grammar, but nothin that would make it impossible to read." Shanks snickered, fully expecting the red-haired girl to be in a slump with the foreignnguage of the lesser race that wasn''t officially recognized as intelligent as elves, humans, dwarves, or kobolds ¨C but got disappointed greatly when Cranberry simple shrugged her shoulders andmented offhandedly while reading through the repot with incredible speed. "Fun fact, did you know that the lizardfolk actually derived their writtennguage from old elvish? The officially approved sources exin it as them settling in the ruins of the old elven kingdom after it was destroyed bydy Envy hundreds of years ago, but I happen to be a daughter of elves old enough to actually remember those times and the truth is that it''s because both the ancient elves and the dragonewts helped each other greatly and the elves helped them develop a proper writtennguage.| Cranberry exined with a bright expression while being almost finished with the stack of papers. "Even though lizardfolk are degraded dragonewts, the oldermunities managed to hold on to the knowledge of the ancient times." She added before nodding to herself and reaching out her hand, returning the reports to the stunned Shanks. "Wait... your parents are elves...? But weren''t you from the Pride family, young miss...?" The rat-faced man asked dumbfounded while taking back the papers. "..." The red-haired girl raised her brow and started staring at him in silence. "Come one, Shiv! I would understand if Rotte asked such a question, but you?" "...ah...!" Zombie sighed and shook his head at the stunned rat-faced man who flinched and gasped at his words, realizing his silliness. "Anyway, more importantly... Since the reports were written in the lizardfolk''snguage, are you telling me that spawner was a lizardfolk? Holy crap, what the hell did the system''s church people do to it?" The blue undead knight frowned and nced back at the pile of ash from the pyre they burnt all the corpses that they didn''t really have anything to do with ¨C of course, the smoke has been taken care of by Lairs and Cranberry''s wind spells so that it wouldn''t rm the possible enemy ahead. "I am curious about that myself, but ¨C whether your friend was a lizardfolk or not, may not be as important as you think. Those reports were made for someone and judging by the mistakes, it seems that the monster who wrote them learned to write just to be able to create those reports. It makes sense to assume that it is the official writtennguage of the monster city ¨C since what I took from those reports, their ruler is not going to stop on just a city, and wants to create an entire country ¨C and one that would be officially recognized too, even by humans and the rest of the intelligent races." The red-haired girl turned around and started walking back and forth, thinking out loud while doing so. "..." Zombie and Shanks exchanged surprised nces. "The monsters are using those viges they took away from humans to actually set up a trade route with Fruit Sd. They apparently send out envoys to both Lust and Gluttony family, but the messengers never returned ¨C If you ask me that was a waste of time, they should just go straight to Greeds. After all our royal family would be actually willing to listen to anyone as long as there was a possibility of making a good business." Cranberry smirked and nced at the two staring at her like very confused sheep. "Gluttonys'' can transform into a monster and are really wild ¨C no discussion ¨C but they are also responsible for maintaining the safety of the kingdom''s borders ¨C if they see a group of monsters approaching, waiting and listening what they have to say would be thest thing on their minds ¨C I bet that the envoys got devoured before any negotiations could begin." he red-haired girl exined, waving her hand dismissively. "What about Lusts...? Aren''t they the descendants of the god of chaos, Love? They do have some monster blood flowing in their veins." Zombie raised his brows and pointed out. "Lusts... You think they are alright only because you never met anyone besides ymore, Don''t worry ¨C we will have to go and do some business in their territory and you will understand what I mean." "I know what you mean, young miss." The red-haired girl waved her hand dismissively, and even Shanks nodded his head in support. "Anyway. On our way to your former vige, we will have to go through at least three more outposts guarded by troops with simr strengths to those here." Cranberry turned to the rat-faced man and dered. "But there will be other settlements too, many set up for the production, not hostility." She added. "Well, yes ¨C I already told you that we won''t have to ughter everything in our path," The rat-faced man confirmed. "Good. Say, did Lairs manage to contact miss Xavi?" Cranberry nodded and immediately asked. "Yes... Knowing that Banana was just a nickname and offering her a somewhat safe ce away from the queen''s reach sure did help with the negotiations ¨C she promised to arrive and take over the outpost with a few of her trusted people within a week." "Good." The rat-faced man reported, and the red-haired girl smirked with satisfaction. "The sooner we will get her here the better." She breathed out and it looked like some weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. "Should we wait for her? If the outpost will get taken over by some other monsters, seeing the hostiles might lead Xavi to believe that we have set her up." Shanks sped his hands together and tilted his head with an awkward expression, waiting for the pair''s reaction. "You have the correct idea ¨C but there''s no reason for all of us to stay ¨C we will split up here for the time being." The red-haired girl smirked and grabbed and leaned on the blue undead knight''s arm. "Shanks, the Dandelions will keep the fort and help our friends settle here while my husband and I will go on a little bit of a honeymoon, though it will be a shorter one than I wished for ¨C since Xavi said that it will take them a week to get here, let''s just say that Zombie and I will go check up on the few next viges to gauge out whether they really are so peaceful as they are supposed to." She decided without even batting an eye. "How does that sound?" Cranberry asked with a bright smile. Shanks furrowed his brows deep in thoughts for a while. "Alright. Just don''t actually take over our vige with just the two of you, alright? It''s our home and we want to help at least a little bit." In the end, he nodded and agreed with a certain rather silly condition. "No problem~ I give you word that we will wait with that just for you five." Cranberry snickered and promised. "Oh, and before we go... I will have to ask you to either find or make me a certain something." "Hmm...?" The red-haired girl hesitated before speaking to Shanks while looking straight at the intrigued Zombie, who tilted his head and looked back at her furrowing his brows with suspicion. "What is it, young miss...?" The rat-faced man asked curiously. Cranberry eyed out the blue undead''s neck for a little it before suddenly smiling. "A cor and a leash, of course, ~!" She revealed with a giggle. Chapter 523 - Honeymoon (part 1)

Chapter 523 - Honeymoon (part 1)

The fishermen''s vige was bustling as always, with the lizardfolk casting theirs on the vastke. Saidke wasn''t there when humans were still ruling over that area, and instead was created almost a decade after they left, thanks to the help of a few giants blocking the valley from both sides and a whole army of goblin, orkish, and lizardfolk''s shamans causing rainfall for five month''s straight. After that, it was only a short work for the merfolk to help introduce the fastest breeding fishes and vi! The vigers'' catch would be used to feed the vigers - of course - but the surplus would get transported by a monster with an ice ability to both other viges and even the monster city itself. The fishermen''s vige was also prepared to start trading with humans when - or even if - such an option bes a possibility. Although... as things looked it seemed that in recent days the policy of the ruler of the monster city seemed to have changed... They greatly increased the quota of fish that the vigers had to send back to the monster city, which left the vigers barely having time and strength to catch anything for themselves. ...what was most worrisome, the ice-wielding monster who would transport the goods has revealed to the vigers that the increase in quota happened because the ruler of the monster city is preparing a grand army that the world has never seen. The vigers were wary about the possibility of therge-scale conflict... First of all, they were sure that their peaceful ruler wouldn''t be the one to attack the other races first - especially not humans whom they strived to make amends with as well as starting a trade, possibly entering a nonbat alliance But with that in mind, the only reason for amassing an army would be... Humans rejecting the peace talks and preparing for war themselves. The fishermen vige was right behind the final outpost before the border of the human kingdom, and honestly, if the humans were going to attack, the vigers were more than likely to get swept into the mes of war - either as the troops integrated into the monster army, or coteral damage. Seriously... The trouble dide in pairs, just as the elders would say - the fishermen''s vige was almost wiped out by the migrating trolls, mere weeks before, and now this whole conflict between monsters and humans was brewing... "At least we have a good haul today..." One of the lizardfolk, arge green one, muttered to himself while pulling out a full of shimmering tasty fish. "Yeah...though the shaman said that if we keep going at this rate, there will be no fish left in a few weeks..." Hispanion, a teal scale shorter one, nodded and sighed dispiritedly. "We should be fine though, right? The guy at the outpost can literally create hundreds of those goblin-like creatures... if there will be a sneak attack from humans, he alone should be able to stall them long enough for us to evacuate, right?" The green one frowned and his hands stopped pulling out the as he looked at the teal one hoping for affirmation. "Hopefully, still, aren''t you like the strongest guy in the vige? Why are you so worried about the war? You could take on a bunch of humans, easily." And his teal-scaled friend did affirm him but not in a way the green lizardfolk had hoped for... "I''m not worried about myself... it''s Currant... she''s sitting on eggs, and you know..." The green lizardfolk sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Ah! The worries of a first-time father, I see!" The teal one smirked and stood up straight before patting his friend''s back reassuringly. "It will be alright! We will see the armying for sure! And that''s if they areing in the first ce! And you won''t have to leave your partner and kids." He dered making sure to sound confident - even though he was not confident at all - beforeughing. "Don''t worry - the only situation that would be a problem for us would be if the fort was suddenly hit and taken over by a small group of humans powerful enough to wipe out everyone there in less than half an hour so they wouldn''t be able to notify anyone." The teal-scaled lizardfolk shook from theughter, imagining such an outrageous, improbable, andpletely impossible scenario. "Yeah, right, as if that could happen to a Ceaseless Spawner! They even received a blessing from the ruler!" The green lizardfolk breathed out in relief and nodded gratefully to his tealrade. "Yeah, that''s exactly right. Good, now let''s get this job done so you could get back to your girl!" The teal-scaled lizardfolk grinned, showing his fangs, and the two of them started pulling back the onto their boat. As the two strongest members of the vige, it wasn''t odd that they were the ones who had brought back their haul the fastest amongst all the other boats on the entireke. Theye ashore and pass their catch to the four smaller lizardfolk who were in charge of gutting and preparing the fish to be either distribute amongst the members of theirmunity or sent out to the monster city at noon when the ice-wielding monster would show up with his cart. "Good job, as always, Plum, Pear." The fifth lizardfolk, a tall and slender hazelnut-brown-scaled female one smiled - looking mostly at the teal-scaled one with warm light feeling her eyes. "Of course! As if I ever could disappoint the dragon who stole my heart!" And the teal one, Plum,ughed and approached the hazelnut-brown female and leaned down so they could rub their snouts together in a gesture that would be equivalent to kissing amongst humans. "Dork. Were you eating on the boat again, you''re so impatient." She giggled and took a loose fish scale off Plum''s jaw. "You know me the best, Kiwi. I''ll go have a drink or two with Pear and grab you a bite from Tomato''s." Plum smiled while already walking away with his arm over his friend''s shoulders. "Don''t make him drink too much or Currant will bite your tail off!" "But of course! Moderation is my middle name! The hazelnut-brown Kiwi called out after they and Plum raised his hand and responded without looking back, all cool. When the two lizardfolk were walking through their vige, responding to the greetings of rowdy kids running around and the elderly sitting in front of their houses, enjoying the warm sunlight on their whitening scales. "...?" As the two lizardfolk were about to enter the inn, Plum flinched and looked towards the road leading to the final outpost before the border with the human kingdom. "Hmm? What is it...?" Pear furrowed his brows and also turned that way, rmed by themotion. Someone was walking towards their vige. And it wasn''t a goblin-like creature or the Ceaseless Spawner either... The kids were the first to react, the more timid ones hid or run back and told the adults, while the more rowdy and naive ones run towards the approaching pair. "...guess our drink will have to wait a bit..." Plum muttered, tapping the chest of his muchrger friend and also walking towards the new faces. Literally new. There first one was someone who looked just like a human female, she was tall, had shoulder-length hair the color of dark blood, and many freckles on her curious face. The one behind her, was arge blue-skinned knight in jet-ck armor, with a golden shield on his left arm... and a least... "Hey, hey! I have never seen monsters like you! Who are you?" "Are you traders?" The kids were jumping around the pair asking curiously - before the teal-scaled Pear could get to them. "Something like that..." The red-haired female nodded her head and asked with a confident expression. Then, she looked up from the young lizardfolk faces and saw the approaching Pear. "Ha! Are you the lea-HURGH...!" She smirked at him, but just as she was asking, the undead behind her pulled on the leash attached to the cor around the female''s neck and forced her back a few steps. "Sorry if my pet had caused you to unnecessarily worry. My name is Zombie, and I''m an undead knight." The blue-skinned undead stepped forward and spoke to the teal-scaled lizardfolk, while the red-haired female was rubbing her neck where the cor has choked her. "I''ve heard about the monster city, and wanted to check it out - am I on the right path? I''m a little bit lost." He added with a friendly smile. Chapter 524 - Honeymoon (part 2)

Chapter 524 - Honeymoon (part 2)

Plum was weary - the only contact he had with the undead monsters was by dealing with low-level skeletons, zombies, or ghouls that would sometimes arise from the dead if some poor creature''s corpse wasn''t properly disposed of with fire. The teal-scaled lizardfolk was aware that the high-ranked undead monsters should be able to gain consciousness and intelligence that was just as good as the one possessed by any living creature - but at the same time, he also knew that the hatred for the living that every undead was carrying in their lifeless bodies wasn''t something that could be controlled... Still... Apparently, that hatred was directed only to the living beings of the same species that the undead was originally - so maybe it wasn''t that strange that the undead knight calling himself Zombie was acting considerably friendly towards the lizardfolk, even going as far as patting the head of one of the children that were staring up at him in awe, admiring his armor. After all, going by the facial features and the head structure - and the shape of ears... mostly the shape of ears...- the blue-skinned undead knight must have been a human before turning. But then, what was the exnation for the obviously human-looking red-haired girl that he had on a leash and was calling a pet? Creatures like him shouldn''t care for causing pain ¨C they should only crave to bring the lives of their former gene-rted to an end. "Hello, Zombie. My name is Plum, wee to our humble vige." In the end, the lizardfolk Plum had to say something as prolonging his silent observation could tick off the blue undead the wrong way and end his peaceful behavior in a sh. ...and the blue undead suddenly getting violent while surrounded by the children encouraged by his friendly demeanor was not something that Plum would ever want to let happen... "It''s a pleasure. I was traveling from the north, moving on the edge of the sea of mist and before I knew it, I was here." The blue undead knight sighed and shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. "Did you say that you were lost? Did you miss the outpost on the way here? The troops there are a nice bunch and would help you out, maybe even give you an escort." The teal-scaled lizardfolk asked, carefully tiptoeing around straight up asking the blue undead knight about his purpose while keenly observing his reaction about the news of the outpost... ...would he flinch...? ...would he be taken aback by the mention of a military force...? If he was someone with hostile intentions that should be the case... "They would? That''s amazing!" "...!" And to Plum''s surprise and relief at the same time, the blue undead perked up, looking genuinely happy about the information he got. "How far back will I have to go to get to that outpost you are talking about, kind mister Plum?" Zombie asked straight up turning away and showing his back in apletely defenseless manner. ...maybe he really wasn''t a threat...? Plum thought to himself before answering the question. "In human measurement, it would be more or less twenty-five miles. How fast would it take you depends on your speed, though." The teal-scaled lizardfolk exined without getting closer to the blue undead and the grumpy-looking human female who was still very much bothered by the cor on her neck. "Twenty-five miles you say..." The blue undead knight tilted his head and frowned before turning and moving towards the red-haired female. "...?" She red at him with a grudge in her gree eyes but he clearly wasn''t bothered by it. Instead, he raised his hands and adjusted her cor, making sure that it isn''t strangling her in that position, and wiped the little bit of drool from the corner of her mouth that came out when he pulled her back with his leash., with his thumb. "I am terribly sorry to impose on you, kind mister Plum, but is there a chance for my pet to get some rest at your vige before I leave? Humans don''t have that whole stamina and exhaust easily and we''ve been walking quite a bit - I don''t want to make this one die from exhaustion on me. I got used to having her around." Zombie said while smirking confidently right in the face of the human female before turning back and facing Plum with a perfectly friendly and not at all threatening smile. "..." The teal-scaled lizardfolk stiffened, trying to figure out the right thing to do at that point ¨C all while analyzing Zombie''s words. The undead knight just suggested that it was normal for him to have humans as pets and that at least one have died from exhaustion because he did not remember that only undead don''t tire out. "Oh, don''t worry - she is well trained and won''t cause any trouble..." Seeing Plum''s hesitation, Zombie waved his hand dismissively, leaning away from his pet human. "...right...?" He added, lightly tugging on the leash and making the girl take a step forward. "...yes... master..." She red at him for a moment but then looked down all timidly and nodded with a slight blush. "..." "!!!!" The satisfied, and absolutely viinous-looking, pure evil smile that bloomed on Zombie''s face made Plum suddenly start to reconsider putting any sort of trust into the blue undead knight... ...for a moment it looked as if the undead''s ck eyes glowed with a pale blue light but it must have been a mere trick of the light because itsted only for a split second... "No problem. Zombie, you said that you came from the north ¨C are you a northerner yourself?" "P-Pear...?!" While plum was considering what should be the best option, the green-scaled Pear walked in front of him and agreed ¨C not only that, he started a friendly conversation with the undead and started leading him towards the inn! "Plum, the undead said that he came from the north want''s to see the monster city ¨C not that he was invited or scouted... You know what''s in the north, right...? He must be someone really strong, or at least someone we don''t want to mess with ¨C if we cooperate with him, he will go away faster." But, right as the teal-scaled lizardfolk was about to start questioning his friend''s sanity, Pear leaned towards him and whispered in a conspicuous tone. "...!" That made Plum flinch and open his mouth in realization. Considering all the pros and cons, it really was best to go along with the blue undead knight. "Oh, I''m nning to have a look at the monster city but before I decide whether to settle there or not, I will need to return north ¨C I have a pair of boots waiting there for me after all~" "O-okay... Anyway,e with us." Zombie smiled mischievously while Plum raised his brow in confusion and started leading him to the inn. --- The lizardfolk children were tagging along behind them, so Cranberry couldn''t really properly speak with Zombie without being too suspicious, but even so, she ended up grabbing onto the finger of his armored glove and tugging on it to the undead''s attention. "...?" Zombie didn''t straight up answer or turn to her, but instead, he leaned slightly back and lent the red-haired girl his ear. "I know it was my idea but... aren''t you enjoying the situation a little bit too much...?" She asked showing off her cor with a grumpy expression. "Sweetie, the thing you''re doing is called projecting - look it up in Patience''s knowledge." "Ha...? E-eh...?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?" Zombie snorted and his offhanded sentence caused Cranberry''s face to be bright pink from the extremely heavy blush. Chapter 525 - Honeymoon (part 3)

Chapter 525 - Honeymoon (part 3)

"Ah, I see, so this ce was created around the n of trading with humans. Good idea, in these regions there aren''t many bodies of water so the supply of fish is rather scarce. That could really work." Zombie nodded with Cranberry sitting on hisp was listening in closely while munching on the food the lizardfolk have offered the two of them. "Humans are tricky creatures. Do you know? Even if the alliance between the Fruit Sd and the future monster kingdom will be forged, it doesn''t mean that all humans will instantly be open-minded about monsters, even as intelligent as you all." Zombie pointed out while looking around the inn where various lizardfolk gathered to catch a glimpse of the newly arrived undead knight who had a human pet with him. "Yeah... that''s not surprising - whether it be humans or monsters there always will be some fishes amongst the stored haul..." The teal-scaled Plum nodded his head and waved at the pink-scaled bartender to pour him another mug. "..." Zombie raised his brows but didn''tment - there ought to be differences inmonly used phrases when the culture is different after all. "...m-master..." "...yes...?" The red-haired girl on hisp fidgeted, though, and looked up at him until the blue undead leaned down so that she could whisper into his ear. "Lizardfolky eggs, bad egg or rotten egg is considered a very sad and even tragic thing because it means that the embryo is dead, the bad egg is also a grave insult that they will not forgive if someone calls them that. The diet of the lizardfolk consists mainly of fish, and the rotten fish also smells awful, so that''s where their version of the sayinges from." Cranberry exined before returning to her meal. "Khaha...!" Zombie giggled and burrowed his face in the red-haired viiness hair, amused that she couldn''t resist the urge to exin things to him. Even in the first ythrough, Cranberry liked sharing her knowledge with others, but after mixing with Patience, that liking changed into a powerful urge there was no chance of fighting against. ...and the blue undead knight just so happened to find it very adorable... So he ended up hugging her too. "!!!!" With his face against her head, Zombie noticed that few of the lizardfolk look away in distress. Like, they were not embarrassed but actually disturbed about something... Then, he looked down at the really, really embarrassed girl, with her face bright pink - unable to continue her meal. "...ah...!" He gaped in realization and looked up at the worried lizardfolk. "No, no. Don''t worry, I''m not going to eat her right here or anything." "...whew..." Zombie assured the other patrons in the inn and they all stopped holding their breaths at the same time. "That has to wait forter." "!!!!!!!" The blue undead knight added and leaned down, casually licking off a crumb of crust from the corner of the girl''s lips, causing her to basically melt on hisp, leaning on his chest with a pouting expression. "I''m sorry. All jokes aside. So you are basically saying that if humans actually arrived here then you wouldn''t mind starting a trade with them?" Zombie patted Cranberry''s head apologetically and looked between Plum, Pear, and every other lizardfolk currently at the inn. "Well, as long as they wouldn''t attack us first or didn''t try to steal our stuff - sure. To tell the truth, most of us were selected as the settlers because neither of us held any grudge against the other races." Plum nodded and exined. "I don''t hope you don''t find that, troublesome..." The teal-scaled lizardfolk added, looking at the blue undead over his mug. "Not at all, on the contrary, I find it very interesting. If that''s the case I might bring some of her friendster on, after I''ll check the monster city." Zombie smiled, still holding Cranberry close but not bothering her anymore while she was finishing her meal. "You have more human pets...?" The pink-scaled bartender behind the counter gasped and eximed in awe. "A few of them, yes. I just find it really amusing that normally is the necromancer and mages who keep creatures of my kind as their pets, but in my case, it''s the other way around." The blue undead knight smiled magnanimously and shrugged as if it was nothing that impressive, which in turn made him look many times more impressive. "Speaking of which, if you don''t mind me saying that, you seem for different from the undead that anyone here has heard about..." Plum asked curiously while ying around with his half-empty mug. Once he voiced that question, nearly all the other lizardfolk went silent, eager to hear the reason for the unusual calmness and ssy behavior of the undead monster whose kind was known for being particrly violent and ruthless. "Oh, the answer is pretty simple actually, I''m a unique monster, that''s all." Zombie shrugged without much interest in the subject while the murmur of understanding resounded thorough the whole inn. "Ohh...! You are one of those, too!" Plum gasped and nodded as everyone there knew the Ceaseless Spawner, who was supposed to be a unique lizardfolk, believe it or not, so actually seeing a unique undead acting all kind and friendly was actually quite reasonable inparison to endlessly growing subordinate creatures out of one''s head... "Oh? Do you have a unique monster in your vige?" The blue undead acted all interested and intrigues even though he had already killed the very creature the vigers were talking about. "Not really in the vige - a unique lizardfolk had been put in charge of guarding the outpost that I mentioned before." Plum exined. "I see. So that lizardfolk will be throne whom should I ask for a guide?" Zombie asked curiously... ...bust just as he did, he also blinked... As an undead Zombie didn''t have to do many things, for example, he didn''t have to breathe and most certainly didn''t have to blink. He only did so to hide the pale blue light of the mindbreak skill that he used on all of the lizardfolk who had their eyes glued to him. "You know what...? About that guide... we should not bother the guards at the outpost, after all. They already have more on their te than they can handle." Plum, who this time didn''t have the luck of escaping the power of the lust-based skill, frowned and spoke in a roundabout way while staring at his mug. "What are you suggesting then? It''spletely okay for you to point me in the right direction and I''ll be off." The blue undead knight said while cuddling up close to the red-haired girl who just finished eating and nested herself on hisp morefortably. "You see since you have that pet of yours with you, you might want to consider using a different means of transport ¨C for example, a certain undead is traveling back and forth between the viges and outposts every day before passing all the cargo to a wyvern raider that carries it back to the monster city. You know, that undead isn''t nearly as eloquent as you are, but it sometimes agrees to take passengers on their cart." Plum exined while swaying from right to left. "If you want, I could have a word with them and convince them to take both of you ¨C maybe not as far as the monster city itself because as far as I know the wyvern raider refuses to carry anything that''s still alive, but it will at least get you a nice chunk of the way there..." The teal-scaled lizard said, looking up at the blue undead knight. "Kind sir Plum ¨C I would be very grateful if you would do that for me." Zombie smiled brightly and lowered his head to the slightly drunk lizardfolk. Chapter 526 - Honeymoon (part 4)

Chapter 526 - Honeymoon (part 4)

What was originally supposed to be a short break for the blue undead knight''s human pet, turned out to be a few hours of storytelling from the wide world to the unexpectedly warm and open lizardfolk - although the aid of the well-timed mindbreak skill to sway their affection on Zombie''s side certainly did have a lot to do with that. "Neigh...!" "Oh...?" The sound of a horseing from outside made the teal-scaled lizardfolk straighten his back and turn to the inn''s door. "Could it be it''s noon already...? Zombie, wait a bit - I''m going to check." He furrowed his brows and nodded at the blue undead knight with the red-haired human girl on hisp. Plum stood up from his seat and walked outside with a swaying step. "Could it be the undead courier you you were talking about before?" The blue undead turned to the other lizardfolk gathered around him in the inn. "It should be. She''s quite a scary creature if you ask me - not really someone you picture in your head when thinking about making deliveries." The green-scaled Pear nodded, scratching the back of his head while stretching. "Shh! Pear, don''t talk so loud! What if she could hear you!" The pink-scaled bartender put his finger to his mouth, scolding the slightly drunk patron. "...I see..." Zombie nodded and muttered to himself while his eyes shone with a murky red light and the world around him lighted up with the life signature of the lizardfolk, the fishes in theirke, and... nothing. There certainly wasn''t even a single life signature of an animal capable of making horse-like sounds anywhere in the hearing distance... ...therefore the only exnation for the neigh before was - an undead steed. *poke* "...?" Zombie prodded Cranberry''s side to get her attention before lowering his head and putting his mouth to her ear. "The lizardfolk here are nice, but the courier is most likely au undeath knight too - quite the specimen to put in charge of making deliveries, don''t you think?" "...!" He whispered and saw the red-haired girl''s brows shoot up She turned to him and stretched up to reach his ear. "Undead knight? Are you sure it''s not just an undead squire? It should be just an undead squire..." Cranberry''s voice was as surprised as it was quiet - which let Zombie know that in the memories of the game she inherited from Patience, the creature wasn''t supposed to be an early high-rank monster at all. "Zombie! Come out! She agreed to give you and your pet a ride!" At that moment, Plum peeked back inside the inn and called out, waving his hand at the blue undead and the red-haired girl. "It''s just that you have toe quickly because they almost finished loading her cart and she isn''t the type to wait." "It''s alright, I''m going." The teal-scaled lizardfolk added apologetically, but Zombie waved his hand dismissively and instead of getting Cranberry down and leading her on a leash, he picked her up and carried her on his forearm. "It was a pleasure talking with all of you - stay safe, and I wish you all happiness." Before the blue undead left the inn, he turned around and said his farewell to the gathered lizardfolk while his eyes were straight-up glowing in bright blue light as he shamelessly used the lust-based skill on all of them. "Same to you, Zombie!" "Yeah,e back if you''ll find the time!" The green-scaled Pear, the red pink-scaled bartender, as well as the other vigers responded with enthusiasm that should be addressed only to the cherished loved ones and not a random traveler that they met merely a couple of hours ago. "Khaha! Sure~" Zombie giggled and walked out of the building right into the warm sunlight... "...!" Except that Cranberry on his arm instantly shivered from the sudden ice-cold breeze that hit them as they exit the inn. Simrly, the sight that they saw wasn''t something that they had expected either - even for Zombie who was already prepared to see an undead knight with their steed - a first one except for himself that he would ever meet. It was so shocking, because, in a ce where he thought to see an undead horse, he saw four zombie horses pulling a rather sinister-looking wagon. Next to the wagon stood the undead knight in person. The first thing that was hogging all attention was her long ashen hair and pointy ears sticking out from beneath it, next was her polished steel armor with a deep blue gem in the middle of the breastte, and then was the ashen-skin of her strict but pretty face and pale blue eyes with dark bags underneath them. If not for the color of her skin and a rather ghastly aura surrounding her, it would be very hard to even say that she was undead in the first ce. The ashen undead knight was carefully writing down each crate that the lizardfolk loaded on her wagon before putting her hand on the lids and - while the blue gem in her breastte shone - she would use a skill that would encase the crate in ice and produce the burst of frigid air that Zombie and Cranberry experienced before. The blue undead approached her still carrying the red-haired girl on his forearm. The ashen undead knight did not pay any attention to them until thest crate was properly written down and loaded on the wagon. Once she confirmed everything, the ashen undead nodded to herself and turned around. "...!" And as she faced the blue undead, her eyes widened and she froze for a few seconds. "Hello. I''ve been told that you agreed to give us a lift." Zombie smiled at her, he was seven feet tall while the female undead was around six feet and six inches, so he ended up looking down on her. "...you...?" The ashen undead knight asked in a raspy voice sounding as if she rarely got to use it before she looked at the teal-scaled Plum sanding by the inn and then looked back at Zombie. "...?" Then her eyes ended up on Cranberry sitting at Zombie''s forearm with her arms wrapped around his neck to keep her bnce, and she tilted her headpletely dumbfounded. "...is something the matter...?" The blue undead knight also tilted his head to match the ashen one''s gesture and asked, raising his brow. "Sometimes the light has to use shadow for the peace of the world." The ashen undead knight shook off the surprise and asked said after straightening her back. "The world will bend down to my will or there will be no world." Zombie didn''t even blink, the smile disappeared from his face leaving only a deadly serious, almost disgusted expression, and he responded with no hesitation. "?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!?!" That certainly wasn''t a response that the ashen undead knight expected as she flinched in an almost panicked way and lowered her head with her eyes darting all over the ce while she seemed to be desperately trying to decipher the words she just heard. Still, there was nothing to decipher as what Zombie had said was simply his honest thought. "...she''s with the church..." "...haa, yeah, I know..." Zombie muttered to Cranberry, and the red-haired girl nodded back at him. "Four steeds, I see. You must be quite a strong one." The blue undead wasn''t going to just leave the ashen undead knight to take forever on thinking whether he was an ally or not and asked a first random question that came to his mind, motioning at the zombie horses in front of the loaded wagon. "...where is yours...?" The ashen undead flinched and furrowed her brows in a realization. "I lost it a long time ago. That''s why I need a lift." "..." Zombie lied smoothly without even bothering toe up with a better story, but his words seemed to bother her even more than anything that he said before, as she squinted her eyes, ring at him - clearly very deeply offended. "...bad move...! Undead knights should be very prideful, their steeds are the sign of their status that differentiates them from the lower rank undead''s! You were far too lighthearted when saying that you lost yours...!" Cranberry instantly flinched and climbed to his ear, whispering hastily. "It''s alright." But Zombie wasn''t even half as bothered as her, and he reached out his other hand to pat the girl''s back - ''identally'' covering himself and the red-haired girl with his shield. "Don''t worry - I will either kill her or give her to In''re. She doesn''t have to like me." "...ha...?" He smirked menacingly and gave Cranberry a little wink, leaving the girl speechless. Chapter 527 - Honeymoon (part 5)

Chapter 527 - Honeymoon (part 5)

Without further ado, the blue undead walked up to the wagon. The four zombie horses neighed nervously, feeling a threatening aura of someone with the bane of the undead title, and were hoofing the ground greatly disturbed. "Up you go~" Zombie smiled while lifting Cranberry, and put her on the wagon as far away from the frozen crates with the stored fishes prepared by the lizardfolk and the ashen undead knight. *THUMP* Then, lightly kicking the ground, he himself got on a cart and shamelessly sit on all the frozen crates as if it was a throne. "I have been told that you are short on time. Why don''t we go already, then? I would hate it if you werete because of me." The blue undead knight turned around to face the unamused ashen undead knight and smirked at her mockingly. "...notte... I like to be punctual..." The ashen undead knight frowned even more but in the end, she rolled the paper that she was writing on and put it safely into the pouch at her waist, and exined while going for the wagon too. As she took her seat she took up the reins and the zombie horses got into a full gallop instantly, without any warning or the need to get a proper start. "...!" Cranberry flinched but Zombie was already expecting something like that so he made sure to support the red-haired girl with his hand. "Khahaha...! Is this a part of you being punctual or do you just want to show off your mounts?" "..." Zombie openlyughed but the ashen undead did not respond,pletely ignoring him... The lizardfolk fishermen''s vige disappeared behind their back in a sh - which was to be expected, as the zombie horses had no trouble running at their respective peak speed at all times as they could not get tired or had a need for food or water like their alive counterparts. Both the blue undead knight and the crimson-haired girl were looking at the surroundings passing by with a great speed that couldn''t be surpassed by any human under the high-level realm of strength. They passed through the vige of half-snake people -mias or nagas, depending on the source - without stopping, and judging by thepletely empty road and the vigers looking their way with caution in their reptile eyes. "...those horses were turned into undead together with me... of course, they will be fast..." "...ha...?" "...oh...? All of a sudden, the ashen undead knight looked away from the road and said towards the surprised Cranberry and Zombie. "Ha? Wait, is she answering your question only now?" The red-haired girl was especially surprised and whispered to the blue undead. "..." Zombie tilted his head and shrugged his arm indifferently, before looking back up at the back of the ashen undead knight. "Oh? How did it happen? Funnily enough, me getting turned involved horses too, and a carriage - but I was run over and died - how it was for you?" The blue undead asked the ashen-skinned one and patiently waited for an answer as they were passing through yet another vige - this one was popted by web-weaving half-human half-spider arachnes, some of who even waved at the wagon and got waved back at by the ashen undead knight. "...I was chased by the Envy family''s people. They already captured my cousin, and the sister of the woman who stole her beauty wanted to look simr at all cost, hence they started targeting me..." The ashen undead knight revealed, further confirming that her long ears weren''t a trait of undead but of the race, she belonged to before turning into an undead... "I was working as a courier and it really wasn''t that hard to find me as long as they knew who to ask. They chased me into the night and forced me to choose a treacherous path, including an old bridge at the abandoned part of the Wraths territory. I had to try to go through the bridge or let them take me. I chose the bridge, and it copsed under us. We fell and we died. Then the system told me I cannot die so it resurrected me. I didn''t have much conscience back then and tried to eat the carcass of my horses, but ended up turning them into my minions. After that, we hunted together. I leveled up and got stronger. Got turned into a unique undead knight... And then the system''s ch..." It seemed like the ashen undead knight had started to get a hand on talking as she was getting quite into her story, all good until she realized that she started talking about something that she definitely shouldn''t be talking about and shut her mouth, looking as if she wasn''t going to open them again. "Ah, I see, so you were an elf! Yes, that was easy to guess, not going to lie - you are very pretty." Zombie smirked and nodded, trying to make her open up again by showing that he has no interest in the information she let slip - deciding to go and try using the lust-based mindbreak skill on the ashen undead knight since it didn''t seem like she had the rotten brain title, as far as he could tell... *bump* ...and got kicked in his shin by the pouting, jealous Cranberry scowling at him from her spot... "...long ago, yes..." Surprisingly enough, Zombie''s n worked perfectly as the female undead nodded and tucked back her hair behind her ear revealing a soft smile on her ashen-skinned face. "...it has been around one hundred years already..." She added in a mncholic voice. "...!" Suddenly Cranberry flinched and started staring at the ashen undead knight in disbelief. The red-haired girl then lowered her head and furrowed her brows, thinking about something very intently. "..." Zombie also furrowed his brow, but he was looking at the girl by his side - he recognized the aura surrounding her. Cranberry was surely searching through the joint memories of hers and the system overseer, Patience, because something that the ashen undead had said must have sounded familiar. And the blue undead thought that he knows what it was about - the ashen undead they''ve encountered had to be an essential character, and Cranberry was checking whether she was important for the ending they were aiming for. So he decided to make the red-haired girl''s search a bit easier... "Say, I introduced myself already, but you never had a chance to do the same. What''s your name if you don''t mind me asking?" Zombie inquired in a polite manner while continuously using the lust-based skill since he didn''t receive any system message telling him it''s blocked or ineffective. "...sure..." The ashen undead nodded with a surprisingly pleasant expression and straight-up turned around to face Zombie. ...as it turned out, she didn''t have to actually hold the reins to steer the horses, as the undead animals kept to the road without any change whatsoever... "I had a name before I died, but after the system resurrected me, I stopped carrying about it - and you shouldn''t care about it either." The ashen undead said in a yful tone which she definitely was unable to pull off a minute before. "That... doesn''t really answer my question though..." Zombie raised his brow, going as far as to start using the overpower on Cranberry''s magic attack stat to bust the effectiveness of the mindbreak skill. "Tehehe~ aww... thank you~ finally someone is using a lust-based skill on me~ I honestly thought that I would always stay in the doll-like state, since nobody would bother trying to charm an undead~" "!!!!" This was the time for Zombie to be the one flinching - he instantly turned off his skills, staring in disbelief at the undead elf whose dark bags under her blue eyes became much lighter and her lips became rosy as if she put on a tasteful light lipstick. "Rx, friend, I am not your opponent~! On the other hand, I am so grateful that I''ll even tell you why my former name doesn''t matter anymore after I got ressurected~" The ashen undead giggled and waved her hand dismissively. "...no way... how in the world did you get here...? You aren''t supposed to be anywhere near this ce!" Cranberry finally raised her head and straight up looked at the ashen undead knight withplete disbelief - but got ignored by both undead knights carefully observing each other. "After I died, I got resurrected as the physical remnant of the god of chaos, Love~" The ashen undead revealed, winking and blowing a kiss at the blue undead. Chapter 528 - Honeymoon (part 6)

Chapter 528 - Honeymoon (part 6)

"Wait, you are the remnant of Love? Then what about ymore?" Zombie frowned and red at the smiling ashen undead. "Ha...?" The one who responded to him was the red-haired Cranberry next to him - and she was somehow even more confused than when she realized who the ashen undead really was. "Wait, did you think that ymore was a remnant of a god? That''s not how it works at all! They are a capture target - and no capture target can be a remnant, that would make no sense considering the nature of the special secret questline connecting the two roles!" Cranberryined in disbelief, shaking her head at the carelessness of the blue undead knight. "Oh...? You two seem to be confused aboutpletely different things than I expected you to be... a remnant of a god is quite strong you know? Aren''t you worried about traveling with me?" The ashen undead tilted her head and asked in a cutesy voice that has fit her surprisingly well. "Not really? I mean, I already got two other remnants as my subjects already?" "...eh...?" The blue undead knight shrugged his shoulders dismissively and revealed one of his secrets offhandedly, causing quite the shock to the ashen undead knight. "Wait... so you are an undead who possess a lust-based skill AND you already have subjects - remnants of the fallen gods to boot - even though you aren''t a lord?" She gasped, wide-eyed. "Amongst other things." "Ah...! I... I see..." Zombie leaned back on the crates with a pure evil smirk that made the ashen undead move back and turn away back to the road, all timid and intimidated. In the time of their conversation their wagon bolted through yet another vige - this time full of curious harpies - and were closing in on another outpost, looking almost identical to the one that Zombie took over a day before - with the obviousck of the Ceaseless Spawner and their amalgamations. "..." The ashen undead knight pulled on the reins and pulled over towards the fort. "Wait a bit, two of those are actually for the soldiers here." The ashen undead knight raised her hand apologetically before jumping off the wagon. She then hurriedly grabbed the two crates with frozen fish and carried them to the gate. Before she even get close enough to be able to knock on it though, the gate opened wide and two four-armed humanoid monsters - tetra arms - came out to greet her. The ashen knight didn''t seem to keen on going with them but in the end, the gate closed behind the three of them, leaving the blue undead and the red-haired girl together on the wagon, while the four zombie horses were neighing and nervously hoofing the ground while cautiously looking back at blue undead knight whom they felt an outrageously imposing aura emanating from. "Master, allow me..." "...?" All of a sudden, as the blue undead was observing the fort with his eyes glowing murky red, Cranberry spoke up in a bashful voice and moved from her spot right on hisp... ...which honestly had to be quite cold since he was an undead wearing a te armor, sitting on basic boxes with ice... "..." Zombie was about to ask her why was she putting up an act even though the ashen undead knight wasn''t there, but then he realized that since the zombie horses were together with the ashen knight since she turned into an undead, they could not be just some mindless creatures and at least had a way tomunicate with their master. In the end, it was necessary to continue keeping up their act. "My, my. What a needy pet." In response to Cranberry''s action, Zombie went ahead and hugged her, burrowing his face in her hair... "...what is the problem...?" ...so he could easily whisper in her ear without having to raise his voice and risk getting overheard... "Do not get fooled. She actually is the remnant of the god of chaos, Love, but remember how the other remnant were before you made them your subjects." The red-haired girl pointed out in a cautious voice. "They tried to kill me. No exception." Zombie smirked and answered lightheartedly. "Exactly. But now, our situation is even worse. That undead elf has already outed herself as someone working for the church - we need to be extra careful around her..." Cranberry didn''t share his easygoing feeling and dered while subconsciously reaching for Zombie''s abs hidden under the jet-ck armor. "You think that she went inside the outpost so that she could send out a warning to the church of the system''s faith people?" The blue undead murmured while yfully tracing the line of the girl''s spine through her clothes with his finger. "Haa... yes, that''s very likely the case. You using the mindbreak skill was a back idea... I believe that I told you before to never use the sin-exclusive skills against others." The red-haired girl sighed andined raising her arms end coiling them around Zombie''s beck before she started nuzzling against his neck. "No. I clearly remember you saying that I should be careful with using the sin-based skill on avatars of sin because they are quite overpowered and I can get punished if my skills are of lower level than theirs." Zombie smirked and lightly shook his head before poking the girl''s side. "It''s very simr with the remnants, only that they will power up if you use weaker level sin-based skill on them instead of putting debuffs on the attacker." Cranberry nce back at the fort exining with unease. "Well, for me it just seems like the tetra arms went and asked our courier for help since one of their troops is about to turn into a sigil monster. Zombieughed it off and patted the girl''s head in reassurance while watching the life signatures of every living monster in the fort. "Wait, what?" The red-haired girl flinched and pulled away from the blue undead knight, with the absolutely confused face. "Oh, I imagine that the monster''s there think that she can do something about it before it will get out of con- ah. Toote." "...ha...?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders while carefully observing a particr life signature that was pulling a staggering amount of mana out of the thin air... and ended up transforming into a different, higher-ranked creature... *BOOOOOOOOOM* The explosion shook the earth and scared the zombie horses, but not enough to make the move from the spot that the ashen undead has left them by. "Oh-ho!" Zombie''s smile blossomed into a grin when arge monster suddenly raised over the outpost''s wall. The new sigil monster was only half of the size of the sigil Gorut they killed in the debris of the Durian''s mansion, but the aura surrounding it seemed far more violent, and condensed. As if his frame was holding up far more energy than it ever should be able to withstand. The creature keeping its humanoid shape rose to imposing size, but instead of having four arms, it had six now, as well as two sets of horns - one goat-like growing out from its forehead - on both sides of the sigil burning brightly in the middle of the - and the other like a ram, growing out in a spiral fashion from both sides of his head, Chapter 529 - Sigil Monster

Chapter 529 - Sigil Monster

"Say, since the ruler of the monster city is apparently a sigil monster but did not destroy his ce, does that mean that the sigil monster can not hold back?" Zombie asked curiously while watching the six-armed sigil monster spread open all of its arms and... "DIIIIIIIIIIIE!" *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* ...roared and unleashed a volley of devastating punches on someone or something hidden from Zombie and Cranberry''s sight by the wall surrounding the outpost, as the red and ck dome extended outwards enveloping a surprisingly wast area ¨C truth be told it might even reach both the previous and the next vige form the outpost. "That should be enough of an answer, don''t you think!?" Cranberry called out and jumped off of his pulling out her baseball bat scepter from the bag on her back. "LOWER LIFE-FORMS, I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE THE BUGS YOU ARE, TREMBLE BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE ETERNAL!" The sigil monster growled raising his arms once more to rain the destruction upon its formerrades. "...oh...?" Zombie raised his brow curiously ¨C the next moment the ashen undead knight appeared above the wall too ¨C she was wielding a buckler and a saber entirely made out of the translucent ice. She jumped up and shed at the sigil monster without hesitation as her body shone with white light. "FULLISH UNDEAD! PERISH!" The beast roared and punched at the ashen undead knight with only one of its hands, clearly aiming to turn her into a pulp with that one punch, but once the ice saber met the fist... *SHATTER* The sigil monster''s fist froze solid and shattered into thousands of pieces. "GHAAUURGHHH! YOU UNDEAD FILTH!" The six-armed sigil monster howled in pain and stumbled back ¨C the ashen undead didn''t respond and instead rushed at him with another attack! "AS IF!" *CRUSH* *WHAM* The sigil monster roared and with a staggering speed, it grabbed one of the buildings of the fort, tore it off the ground, and used it as a buffer between its own body ad the freezing de, resulting in swatting the ashen undead out of the sky and smashing it down together with the building. "GUHUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOL! AS IF SOMEONE LIKE YOU STANDS A CHANCE AGAINST ME!" The massive monster shook fromughter before turning back to his former colleagues down at his feet. Without as much as frowning ¨C it grabbed the wrist of the headless arm that got frozen and broken off, and riped the frostbitten part by itself ¨C the red and ck smoke erupted from the wound but after a few seconds it suddenly started thickening and coagting and before a full minute passed, the creature had regrown is hand perfectly. "NOW THEN, AS FOR YOU ALL ¨C IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO WITNESS THE GLORIOUS POWER OF ETERNAL!" Its face twisted with a cruel smile. --- "I was wondering where she had her equipment. So she is actually pretty versatile with her ice..." The blue undead nodded to himself, with a mischievous smirk. "Zombie! What are you waiting for? Do you want to miss out on the experience?!" Cranberry was standing on the cart, aiming the manna crystal at the base of her baseball bat towards the rampaging sigil monster. "Sure, sure ¨C only one question ¨C what do you think about trying to impress her by showing off some power?" "Wh-what...?" Zombie waved his hand dismissively, causing Cranberry to almost stumble and fall down even though she was staying in ce. "Since killing her permanently is out of the question since we''ve learned that she is the remnant of Love, I don''t want to give her to In''re after all ¨C since I already have two remnants as my subjects, I might as well try to get them all~" The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and exined, though his words caused the red-haired girl''s eyes to widen in shock. "Wait... I... I mean it''s not bad to have her as your subject early... but... haa... What do you mean by impressing her?" The red-haired girl flinched and looked confused between the sigil monster and her smiling blue undead knight. "Simple ¨C you cast a butt on me, or attack the sigil monster with something fast to assure your part of EXP and let me do the rest." Zombie shrugged his shoulders, reaching his hand towards the six-armed beast about to unleash hell upon the troops in the fort... "No, I''m serious, what are you nning to d...?!" Cranberry shook her head in annoyance and asked, but the words got stuck in her throat once the blue undead''s body started shining with vibrant violet light as he was staring right at her, and she understood what his n was. "HA? You can select the speels I''m not even using? Already?! Haaa...!" *ZAP* She gasped in shock before both buffing the blue undead as well as sending a singr lighting bolt at the sigil monster and hitting it perfectly in its left eye. "GHUAAARGH...! WHO DARES...?!" The sigil monster growled, squinting the tearing up eye, the damage wasn''t anything impressive, it was equal to the human having a grain of sand stuck behind their eyelid ¨C but it was damage nheless. And when the six-armed monster howled furiously and turn in the direction that the attack few at him, he saw the odd distortion in the air ¨C as if the space itself had shattered and broke apart in a single spot on top of the wagon right outside the fort. Then, before it could even open its mouth for another roar... ***************************************************** --- "...urgh..." The ashen undead knight dug her way up from the debris of the entire cantine that the sigil monster has hit her with. It was so embarrassing and annoying ¨C she especially made sure to be seen from the outside so that the blue undead knight would see how strong she was and that it wasn''t worth trying to mess with her on their way, but that n wasn''t going so well. Just her luck ¨C of course, the monster suffering from the Eternal''s energy pollution that she decided to use for her advantage turned out to actually be somewhat strong. "Nevermind that... I''ll just go for the legs and chop up that overgrown spider-wannabe..." She muttered to herself, pushing off thest few pieces of wood blocking her from the outside world. Finally, after more than a minute she was ready to go back into action and show the other undead knight who was...! ***************************************************** The ashen knight looked up at the sigil monster with perfect timing to see its head and half of the torso got absolutely decimated by the electrical discharge so powerful that both the air and the ground trembled from the raw power ¨C the attack didn''t even stop on a sigil monster for a split of a second as if the creature wasn''t even considered as an obstacle, and smashed into the red and ck barrier that also popped like a soap bubble since the beast who controlled it literally disintegrated in one attack...! /You receive EXP Locked skill has been unsealed: Temptation of chaos\\\\ "...what in the world...?!" The ashen undead knight gasped in disbelief, stumbling onto the degree and almost falling down on her face as the system message showed up momentarily blocking her vision. Thankfully, no one from the tetra-arms manning the fort saw it, as everyone who was alive was staring in disbelief at the spot where the massive sigil monster was just a second ago. The air smelled sharp and no one dared to move. No one except for the ashen undead of course. She Clenched her hands on her buckler and saber and moved towards the hole in the wall that the humongous magic attack had caused ¨C the edges of the haole were crystalized, further proving that it was done by someone who shouldn''t be there. "...another wild sigil monster...? No, maybe even the ruler himself...?! Or some higher-up from the church?" The ashen undead muttered to herself for a second before she gathered the courage to peek through the hole at whoever pulled off a one-shot kill like that.... Chapter 530 - Honeymoon (part 7)

Chapter 530 - Honeymoon (part 7)

When the ashen undead knight peeked through the hole in the defensive wall created by the outrageously powerful attack, what or rather who she saw was... --- "Well, this is rather awkward..." Zombie sighed, furrowing his brows while dragging the fourth knocked-down zombie horse back to the toppled wagon before Cranberry went and rolled it back in the proper position. "How much stronger that primal thunder was...?" The red-haired girl asked as she started picking up the boxes with fish and stacking them back on the wagon. The problem was that because of the power and heat of the attack, all the ice created by the ashen undead melted off leaving the wet smelly cargo in a rather pitiful state. "I guess around four or six times. It was really something, though the bacsh was rather... unexpected." Zombie nodded, waving his right hand that got stripped of the skin and a good chunk of meat off of its bones and then got charred ck by the overwhelming strength of the overpower skill used on the primal thunder spell. "Since when can you pick a spell to use your overpower on without someone using, or at least beginning to use it?" Cranberry added curiously, using the ice spells on her own to freeze back the crates that she kept on putting back on the wagon. "Not sure. It''s not as if I care about it either. It''s just that recently when I activate overpower, the lists with things I can select to use it on, have been enriched by the spells that a person has in their arsenal." The blue undead knight said indifferently while shrugging his shoulders dismissively. He was more focused back in the fort, or rather - more specifically - on the part of the defensive wall that got unintentionally caught in the st and ended up evaporating - as the ashen undead knight who admitted to being a remnant of the god of chaos, Love, was currently peeking through said destroyed wall, staring at him with consternation. "Khahaha! Do you think that she will be willing to join?" Zombieughed and waved at the ashen undead knight with a big old smile - which prompted her to hurriedly hide back. "Haa... honestly, I doubt it. The EXP was good, the stronger we get the better, but considering that she has connections to the church of the system''s faith, I honestly doubt that we''ll get her in this part. Honestly, we should only encounter her after the hub vige is created and wepleted at least two other secret quests of the capture targets." The red-haired girl shook her head and approached her husband, reaching out for his damaged hand and inspecting it with a bitter expression. "Haa... this is a mess. No wonder that Cranberry from this ythrough went and basically died while using the primal thunder without a proper procedure. Are you alright? Can you move it? Did you suffer any other damage?" Cranberry furrowed her brows touching the exposed bones charred ck and the coarse burnt flesh. "There was that feeling of something trying to smash my brain against the back of my skull but it passed with no trouble." Zombie smiled and reached out to touch the girl''s face with his left hand. "How about you?" He asked caressing her cheek. "Oh, are you worried that the shockwave that toppled the carriage and knocked out the zombie horses have harmed me too? That''s actually cute." The red-haired girl smiled and while still bothered about Zombie''s damaged hand. "Well, I''ve seen you die before and if I reach far enough I can connect it with you not telling me things that bothered you, so there you have it." The blue undead knight tilted his head and smirked, looking down at the red-haired girl, who flinched and looked back at him with a bitter expression. "I''m fine, only the caster can suffer mental damage from this spell if they use it without proper preparation, the worst thing that happened to me was getting thrown out of the cart and getting some bruises, but with the level up even that got healed up instantly, so there. Actually, nothing to worry about. But about your hand..." Cranberry rolled her eyes and exined before she brought back the subject on the wounded hand. "It''s fine since we don''t have a mend skill and even with the holy power resistance the normal healing spells cannot heal me, the best option is to either use the life drain or something or simply wait for the HP recovery to do its thing." Zombie exined while Cranberry leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. "Rotten brain." She pouted looking away. "Hey! Zombie! Was that you?! That giant lightning?!" "...haa..." But the touching moment was not meant tost as almost as soon as Cranberry made a move suggesting that she wanted to hug, the ashen undead knight hastily approached the two of them and called out. "That''s right, I hope you aren''t angry that I decided to step in and join in for the EXP, right? You seemed to be rather preupied." Zombie and Cranberry stepped away from each other and the blue undead smiled at the shaken ashen undead... ...he was just a little bit annoyed that she interrupted them... "...how...?" The ashen undead knight furrowed her brows in confusion and asked, taken aback. "Hey, you aren''t the only unique undead around, you know? I might not be a remnant, but I am plenty special on my own." Zombie didn''t have the liar title for nothing - there was nothing in his appearance or tone of voice that would suggest that he was dissatisfied that the ashen undead didn''t take a little longer to return. "You have ice, I have something else." The blue undeadughed while tapping the jet-ck gem in the middle of his chestte. "...!" The ashen undead''s eyes widened as she saw that the hand zombie was tapping his crystal was severely damaged. "Oh, and yes, it isn''t something I can do without any bacsh." Zombie saw what was she looking at and nodded, moving his finger around the best he could in their current state. "Aren''t you worried about your steeds? Oh, and while we''re at it, sorry about your steeds." He changed the subject, pointing at the knocked-out zombie horses. ...hopefully only knocked out as it was really hard to say with the undead as they didn''t have the life signature so Zombie''s skill wasn''t very useful - although there was no message about defeating anything else other than the sigil monster had popped up, so the not lethal option was the most likely one. "Don''t worry about them, they might have fallen but it''s only for a moment. I can see their HP, they are fine, though in a serious daze." The undead elf waved her hand dismissively and instead began picking up the rest of the crates and putting them back on the wagon while freezing them as she went. "We need to hurry now, at this rate I''m going to bete, and I hate not being punctual." She added hurriedly moving around busily. "Of course. So, it means that we are done here? You did what you wanted to do in this outpost?" Zombie waved his hand dismissively and helped Cranberry get onto the wagon before climbing on it himself. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. Wake up, we''re going." The ashen undead nced at him and nodded dismissively before she snapped her fingers and called them out, which caused the zombie horses to flinch and get back up immediately as if nothing happened so that she could tie them back to the wagon. With all that done the ashen undead got onto the driver''s seat and snapped the reins at the zombie horses, and their journey reassumed. Chapter 531 - Honeymoon (part 8)

Chapter 531 - Honeymoon (part 8)

Centaurs, minotaurs, driads, they passed by a vige after a vige, but this time even though just like in the arachnes vige, some of the vigers were raising their hands in a greeting towards the ashen undead knight, she didn''t realize turned the gesture to them, too focused on the road. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows in silence. Cranberry was carefully observing the surroundings that they were passing through with great speed as if she wanted to take in all the different views... Even though the only different part about the surroundings were different species of monsters that were intelligent but not enough to be a part of the main intelligent races of the world settling it. The areas themselves were just like any other viges built on the deforested ground, alongside the peaceful but very shallow river that couldn''t even power a mill. "...hmm..." Still, that were only Cranberry''s observations, Zombie was focused on the ashen undead, the physical remnant of the god of chaos, Love. And he actually noticed something that was off. The undead elf was actually fidgeting in unease from time to time and sometimes even turned slightly to nce at the two in the back of the wagon as if checking whether they are still there. She really did changepletely after being exposed to the power of the lust-based mindbreak skill. ...the question that started to bother the blue undead was - did he use the mindbreak skill on her enough topletely restore her personality? ...as backward as it sounds... She did mention that she thought that she will be trapped in the doll-like state forever, which obviously meant that her real personality was indeed blocked off at some point, after all... "..." So he went ahead and first used the overpower skill on Cranberry to get her MAT, and then, before anyone could stop him, he focused on the back of the ashen undead''s head and his eyes shone blue as he used mindbreak at full power... "...!" The effect was instantaneous - the undead elf long ears dropped down, downcast as if she was anxious or worried, and her fidgetting increased many times. "...hey, say... who are you, really? Both of you...?" In the end, the ashen undead couldn''t resist any longer and looked back at the blue undead knight and the red-haired girl. Her voice also changed, it sounded like the voice of an unsure young adult and not of an undead over one hundred years old. "I''m just your normal everyday neighbor undead. I''m slightly stronger than the average, but honestly, I''m sure you know a few imposing beings yourself." Zombie wanted as neither surprised nor concerned about her question or how to answer it. To him it was obvious that he should lie, so he did. "This living here, she is a lovely pet that I picked up on my way here." The blue undead added, pulling gently on the leash attached to the cor around Cranberry''s neck, prompting her to approach him and nest on hisp. Once she did, he hugged her and rested his chin on her head. "She is mine and I am very attached to her, if something will threaten her, I will crush it, no exception." He added in a voice that was more fitting for a friendly chat over a cup of tea and not at all suitable for the words he had chosen to use. "...I see..." The ashen undead looked upset, the tips of her long ears slumped even lower as if she thought of something unpleasant. "Could it be that you lost your mount because of her?" She asked ncing at Zombie with a serious expression. "Oh? Interesting idea, but no. If anything, she is the reason why I had one in the first ce." "...ooohhh...!" The blue undead knight answered with a mysterious smirk, but that was enough for the ashen undead knight toe to a false conclusion that the red-haired girl was so important for him because of the supposedly dead mount. "Can I talk to her?" Unexpectedly, the ashen undead looked at Cranberry and asked, her tone suggested that she was treating the red-haired girl like a pet and she just asked the owner whether she could pet her or not. "Sure. But whether she responds or not will be up to her." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and did not change his position at all, waiting. "Where did your master pick you up from?" "...!" The ashen undead asked and Cranberry had already flinched, showing that it was something that she didn''t want to have brought up. |...haaa... of course, no acting skills whatsoever...| Zombie sighed internally, raising his head and looking down at the top of the red-haired girl''s head. "...are you from the Gluttonys territory...? No, wait, the lizardfolk told me that you came from the north, are you someone from the Sloths territory?" The ashen undead asked, tilting her head curiously. "E-envys territory..." "Eh...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows with a grumpy expression and gave an answer that shocked the ashen undead. "Envys territory...? That''s not very north though..." The undead elf''s voice was sharp and rather upset. "...tell me, you don''t really have the aura of amoner... are you a noble? Then, does that mean that you are from the Envy family...?" She asked, suddenly sounding borderline hostile and the aura surrounding her became ice-cold. "..." Zombie raised his brow looking at Cranberry - he supported her not admitting that she was from the Pride family, just in case, but mentioning the territory of the family, whose people tried to kidnap the ashen undead which resulted in her bing the undead in the first ce, was just a straight-up out of character stupid decision... "N...no... I was born in a different territory, and the brought to the Envy territory, once then, I was picked up by a pair of hiding elves that took me as their daughter." ...but then Cranberry shook her head and dered, proudly puffing out her chest. "...elves you say..." "...?" "..." The ashen undead furrowed her brows and muttered, causing the red-haired girl to raise her brow in confusion while the blue undead rolled his eyes. Cranberry mentioning the elves was a good idea because it allowed her to use her real experience to not make aplete fool out of herself by straight-upying, but she missed the part about undead hating the species they were originally - in this case, the ashen undead knight, was an undead elf, so any mention of her own race, would make her angry, especially if she didn''t see them for a long time and couldn''t ease up the boiling rage that every undead monster carried, by killing them. Lots of silly mistakes... that after some consideration, might have been intentional... "..." Zombie tilted his head in silence and waited for the next move of either the red-haired girl in hisp or the ashen undead knight. "You say that you were kidnapped, don''t you? Do you remember which family were you from originally?" Interestingly, the ashen undead knight seemed to have pushed aside her own aggression and inquired, squinting her eyes suspiciously. |Ah...! I see, she wants my Cranberry to admit that she is from the Pride family...! Interesting... so she must have contacted the church and got some information on us that she wants to confirm...| Zombie smirked in realization, squinting his eyes. Chapter 532 - Honeymoon (part 9)

Chapter 532 - Honeymoon (part 9)

"No, not really. Sorry." The red-haired girl shook her head and lowered her head apologetically which was already a surprising improvement in her acting skills - or maybe just the result of mixing of three personalities in one body. "..." The ashen undead''s expression soured - she looked like she was on the verge of straight-up asking Cranberry whether she was from the Pride family or not, but ended up deciding that it wasn''t worth it. "Alright, you bothered my cute pet, now it''s my turn to ask you something." "...!" Zombie figured out that letting the ashen undead knight question Cranberry more wouldn''t be a good idea and ck made the red-haired girl turn around so she was facing him, while he hugged her and focused on the shocked undead elf. "What do you want to know...?" The ashen undead in her current, well-fed with the lust-basked skill, form wasughably easy to read and her hesitation very clear. "Well, to start, why didn''t we pass any more viges in a while? Were the driads thest settlers? Oh, and while we''re at it, I''m pretty sure I''ve heard something about two or three outposts but we passed only one. Why is that? Are you taking us somewhere else than we agreed upon?" The blue undead throw the ball right back at the ashen undead andpletely changed the subject while looking around at the walls of trees growing on both sides of the speeding wagon. "..." Cranberry moved slightly in his arms, Zombie felt her taking her head against his neck. She didn''t want him to either press the ashen undead too much or keep asking about the viges. "Ah... that..." Whatever the cause of her action was, it seemed that the undead elf didn''t particrly mind that question, although she tilted her head looking as if she was considering whether it was alright for her to respond or not. "You see, it wasn''t like there weren''t any more viges at the beginning... the thing is that since the apostles started popping up left and right around fifteen years ago, the settlement project had to be altered." She exined straightening her back and waving her hand around as if she was trying to add her words to the right tempo with only the power of that gesture. "It''s not that the vigers in the lizardfolk vige have lied to you - I''m pretty sure that they believe that there actually are more viges there as well as outpost''s, but the truth is that a good few of them got destroyed when a guard or a random viger suddenly fell to the corruption of the Eternal and ended up transforming into apostles and destroying everything in their surroundings - wiping out the settlement after settlement until they were brought down." The ashen undead pointed at the spot with rtively young trees growing out. After a closer inspection, the blue undead and the red-haired girl noticed the elements of the houses that gotpletely destroyed and which nature had already reimed as if it was nothing. "The lizardfolk must have told you that the ruler''s focus has shifted from the peaceful coexistence into a more radical stance with the humans - they said that because I told them about it." The undead elf exined with a shrug. "What I didn''t tell them about, was that the settlement project got changed straight into the food production project, and honestly, those few settlements bring so littlepared to therge farms close to the monster city, that no one wants to resettle the destroyed areas. The monster''s already living here aren''t even treated seriously since their non-aggressive nature, so they are basically left as something akin to an early rm system, or maybe a buffer for when the monster ruler will decide to begin therge-scale conflict with humans. Anyway, what I originally meant to say was - the vigers from the viges we passed don''t leave their settlements. Those who got to live long enough to remember setting out to settle the area still think that there are at least fifteen viges and three outposts." The ashen undead went on quite the same rant, going off-topic, bringing it back, and then going off-topic once again. it was also the moment when Zombie started regretting using the lust-based skill on her so much in order topletely awaken her personality, as it turned out that her personality was rather all over the ce and very, very talkative. "Though there is one more outpost on the way to the monster city, and we are going towards it. Although, it''s not an outpost so to speak, but rather anding ground for the wyvern. You see I am going back and forth grabbing crates from each vige one by one because of the guy who''s riding it." The ashen undead knight suddenly got all conspicuous for some reason and leaned in lowering her voice. "He''s really proud of himself because his mount is a flying monster, but said flying monster isn''t too impressive and can''t carry much in one trip between here and the monster city, plus it needs some time to rest too. At the beginning of my duty in this ce, I would just grab everything in one trip and just wait for him to go back and forth, but that guy was getting furious that he was working so hard while I was cking around, so I got instructions to just work less efficient to boost that guy''s morale. Isn''t it annoying?" "Haa... Very annoying." It looked like once the undead elf started talking, there was no stopping her - her endless banter caused Cranberry to breathe out and mutter, although thanks to the impable timing herint ended up sounding as if she was agreeing with the ashen undead instead. "Pffft...!" Even so, her real intention did not escape the blue undead and he snickered, shaking his head while ncing at the red-haired girl. "NEIGH!" "...oh...?" One of the horses made the rming sound and the ashen knight turned back to face the road. "We''re almost there, actually." She added without turning back. "..." Zombie furrowed his brows and his eyes shone with murky red light as he scouted the area ahead. He noticed two life signatures in the sky approaching from the opposite direction so it was reasonable to assume that it was the prideful raider and his mount. "Say, why did the lizardfolk tell us this guy will refuse to carry us no matter what?" Zombie asked curiously. "Oh, it''s because his wyvern is too small to properly carry anyone else than him on its back, not strong enough to carry anything exceeding a certain weight, and doesn''t have enough endurance to make more than seven trips in a day." The ashen undead exined with a mocking scoff. "Just don''t tell him I''ve said that! Though... you two don''t have to worry about any of that." She added with a mysterious smile that instantly set out the rms in Zombie and Cranberry''s minds. "Huh... alright." "..." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders dismissively not letting her know that he noticed that something was off, and Cranberry simply stayed quiet since her acting skills weren''t suitable for the situation. Then, one second they were going through the road surrounded by forest, and the next one they were riding through a massive clearance in the trees that was leading them straight to two guard towers built right at the edge of a massive cliff. The ashen undead pulled on the reins and the zombie horses slowed down before stoppingpletely, slightly before the two towers but perfectly in the middle of them too. "There he is." The ashen undead pointed at the sky where the Zombie already saw two life signatures approaching from a distance... "...?" And he raised his brow. There was a wyvern flying towards them... But it actually had a dark-green-skinned undead in steel armor with a jade crystal in the middle of his chestte. ...the wyvern was alive but the raider was an undead without a life signature - then, to who belonged the second life signature, and why they were hiding....? Chapter 533 - Honeymoon (part 10)

Chapter 533 - Honeymoon (part 10)

Just as the ashen undead knight has said, the wyvern wasn''t too impressive - especially for someone who had already seen a true dragon like Baron. The winged lizard - that didn''t have four limbs and a pair of wings but it''s had bat-like wings instead had a torso that was only around the size of two zombie horses put together. It had a snake-like head on a snake-like neck and its scales were in a muddled greenish-brown color. The wyvern''s hind legs were tiny and could be onlypared to thending gear of small nes, while its tail was another part that seemed like it belonged to a snake. "...whoaa! So cute...!" Zombie''s eyes sparkled from excitement, as he also noticed a carrying bag attached to the wyvern''s body - though, of course, his gasp was addressed towards the wyvern itself, forgetting about the undead riding it as well as the mysterious life signature that was arriving with them. "...haa... I almost forgot..." Cranberry breathed out and tried to keep down the smile that was forcing its way on her face. "What do you mean...?" The undead elf furrowed her brows and leaned towards the red-haired girl in a surprisingly familiar manner... "...! I...! Never mind." So familiar in fact that once she realized what she was doing, even the undead elf herself has moved back with a confused and slightly worried expression. "...!" Cranberry''s eyes widened and the corner of her mouth lifted in a tiny smirk once she realized what happened. "My master really loves animals, he even has a beast master affinity." She went ahead and exined even though the ashen undead didn''t look as if she wanted to know the answer anymore. "And, as you''ve heard - he thinks that this monster is cute." Cranberry added, looking back at the excited blue undead. "Kopia...! Look at it! Don''t you think that Monty would look really cute if it made a shell like this for itself?" Meanwhile, the blue undead was caressing the crossguard of his sword while observing the descending wyvern. "...?" The ashen undead knight furrowed her brows wondering who was he referring to, and nced at Cranberry, expecting that Kopia was actually her name. But the red-haired girl did not deny nor confirm that suspicion and instead followed after the blue undead that jumped out of the wagon and approached the spot where the wyvern and its rides were about tond. "Hey! You there! Blue one, get the hell away from here or my Strawberry will bite your head off!" The wyvern rider who after closer inspection turned out to be an undead orc called out and waved his armored arm in an imposing manner. "SGHHHHH....! (Bite! Bite! Me bite!)" The wyvern put out her split tongue and hissed angrily, but the blue undead didn''t even flinch and instead extended his hand towards the flying creature just at all her short legs touched the ground. "Hmph! So be it! Strawberry, get him!" "SGHHHH! (YES!)" The undead orc scoffed and waved his hand dismissively, making the exciting wyvern bite at the undead right in front of her. "Hmph!" As the green undead knight expected, the blue undead didn''t manage to dodge in time and now his wyvern was feasting on his head as it should... "Ah! So your name is Strawberry? What a cute name for such a cute girl like you!" "Huh...?" But his prideful thoughts got interrupted by the voice of supposedly dead blue undead who just so happened to be gushing over the adorableness of the wyvern... It definitely shouldn''t be like this - Strawberry was pping her wings and wagging her tail just as she did when she was eating something... but then, where did the voicee from...? "...?" The confused undead orc furrowed his brows and looked down, over his mount''s long neck... "...!" Just to see her getting scratched under her chin and receiving affectionate headpats that she definitely wasn''t opposed to, all from the blue undead knight in the jet-ck armor...! "Wh-who the hell are you?! Get away from my mount!" "SGHHHSHAA...! (Master, no...! Me like him! He nice...!)" The green undead knight called out and pulled on the reins of the snake-head wyvern, making her take a few steps back to get away from the blue undead despite her loud protest. "You! Who the hell are you?!" The undead orc called out again, now many times more aggressively than before. "Just the guy you brought this living for." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and answered casually... *WHAM* *SPLAT* ...before he spun around his own axis and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of the pouch carried by the wyvern - crushing whoever was hiding inside and causing their blood to spill out of the bag, all without hurting the winged monster. /Mid-level yer defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ A message popped up, and thankfully the bet that Zombie made has paid off, whoever it was, wasn''t an essential character. "Whoops, I broke them~" Zombie''s face twisted with a wicked smile as he jumped back ready for a counterattack. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD...!" The undead orc roared and the jade crystal in his chestte started shining with an intense light... "Idiot! We need to get away from him, now!" But the next moment, the ashen undead passed the blue undead and jumped at the wyvern''s back and shouted at the green undead. "Wh-what...? Get off my mount, elf!" The undead orc gasped, taken aback but the undead elf was having none of it, she grabbed the reins off of his hands and made the wyvern spread her wings and get off of the ground. "You moron! You couldn''t even safely transport the priest! We''re getting away! Return!" The ashen undead scoffed at the green undead before she reached out her hand towards the wagon, making all four zombie horses disappear in a sh of white light. "Huh?! Since when you are so talkative?! Give that back, elf!" "Shut it! We need to get away from here!" The undead orc shook his head in confusion before reaching for the reins but his hand got pped back by the ashen undead, looking back at the blue undead. How did he figure out her n so easily?! That thought would not leave the head of the undead elf as she red at the confidently smirking Zombie back on the ground. "What the hell are you on about?!" The undead orc growled, still attempting to regain control over his mount. "You empty-handed moron! Didn''t they tell you anything?! That blue one over there might be the one that the priestess talked about! And you let him kill the priest that was supposed to take control over him! Just you wait until she''ll hear about it!" *WHAM* *crack* The undead elf roared right back and elbowed the green undead in the face, breaking his nose. "Observe him carefully! I saw him use a ranged spell that one-shotted a sigil monster as if it was nothing! A hit like that and we''re actually dead!" She added, nervously continuing to nce back. "Fucking bitch...!" The undead grabbed his crushed nose and forced it back into its rightful position before obediently turning around. "Are you sure about his strength? A mountless undead knight like him... he doesn''t look capable of...!" The green undead knight scoffed, shrugging his shoulders before he noticed that the blue undead back on the ground raised his hand and pointed at them while saying something with a nasty smile... ------- *click* "Baron! Give them a little scare!" Zombie snapped his finger, which caused a massive red dragon to appear right next to him out of a thin air, andmanded him with an overjoyed smile. "(As you wish, master!)" Baronughed,municating his thought via the telepathy skill, dug his massive ws into the ground, breathing in a ridiculous amount of air that caused his chest to expand at least twice its normal size before his entire neck and jaws shone with intense white light, and unleashed a concentrated stream of blood-red fire that pierced the sky like aser beam, almost knocking the wyvern and two undead knight''s out of the sky. Almost. Chapter 534 - Honeymoon (part 11)

Chapter 534 - Honeymoon (part 11)

"Tsk...!" Zombie clicked his tongue, ring at the small dot disappearing in the sky that was the wyvern and two undead knights. "(Master, should I have actually grazed the little lizard instead?)" Baron asked and his bellowing voice filled the blue undead''s head, as he thought that his master was dissatisfied with the effect of his attack. "Hmm...? Oh, no, no. It wasn''t directed at you. You did great, Baron." Zombie raised his brows before smiling and shaking his head. He reached out his hand and started rubbing the scales around the base of the red dragon''s neck. "I''m just disappointed because I was right, and I wanted to be wrong." "(I... see...)" The blue undead smirked at the confused dragon and then he turned back to the red-haired girl walking over towards them both. "What are the chances that didn''t realize who we are and just tried to forcefully get me to join them?" He asked in a tone suggesting that he did not expect a favorable answer at all. "Haa... Slim. Very much so." Cranberry breathed out and shook her head. "What annoys me the most is that they, well, the ashen one at least - were talking about some priestess." She furrowed her brows and put a hand on to her mouth in consternation. "The thing is, I have no idea who that priestess might be, there is no information about a specific character who is or poses as a priestess amongst the system''s faith church. Especially not one who is looking for a pair like us." The red-haired girl raised her head and looked up at her blue undead knight. "Oh, I have an idea." Zombie scoffed and shook his head in annoyance. "Zombie. No. To my knowledge - to our knowledge - Caramel isn''t involved in this, she is staying on the side still fearing for her life at the mention of your name." Cranberry rolled her eyes and shook her head from left to right, easily guessing who the blue undead had in mind while oozing such hateful aura. "...you sure...?" After hearing her exnation, the blue undead knight''s shoulders slumped and he made a sour expression. "I really did hope that she will be behind this and that it is a part of thest quest she would be important for so that I would be finally able to kill her and be at peace." The tall undead knight sulked and kicked a pebble unlucky enough to have found itself by his leg. "Ha! Yes, I am serious." Cranberry snickered and grabbed his hand with a smile. "I will immediately tell you when you will be able to do that, so for now rx and let''s try to figure out what and why is going on right now." The girl delicately caressed the burnt right hand of the blue undead who didn''t even start healing properly yet. "Andst but not least, hello Baron, it''s nice to see you, how is everyone back home?" Then, without letting go of her husband, Cranberry leaned to the side and called out to the massive red dragon. "(Greetings,dy Cranberry. Everyone is fine, they are training and getting stronger. The kobold girl has be attached to the butler, because he reminds her of her grandfather, and the elvish de dancer is all over the warrior you brought back from your previous trip - if I recall correctly, the elf called the warrior ''almost as cool as Zombie'' so I guess they are getting along just fine.)"? Baron lowered his head politely and responded telepathically, sounding rather content with the progress Of hisrades. "...haa... you heard that? If we don''t get bring them sooner your only male harem member will get taken away from you~" Cranberry snickered and nudged the blue undead to the side. "Nah, I don''t think so." "!!!!!" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and smirked, causing the red-haired girl to go wide-eyed and straighten her back in exasperation. "You! You rotten-hearted yboy! You were supposed to deny the harem thing! Or at least get flustered over it! As your wife, I refuse to let you have anyone other than me! You hear me?!" "Pfft...! KHAHAHAHAHA!" The red-haired girl''s face became bright red and she cried out in an embarrassed and furious voice, ring at the nimbleughing blue undead. She got so angry that she became teary-eyed. "(...)" *rustle* The red dragon said nothing but his wings flinched as if something underneath them seem restless. "Do notugh at me!" Cranberry stomped her foot and eximed getting more embarrassed than angry. "That''s what I wanted to see. My confident wife all flustered." Zombie smirked and leaned down, gently kissing the fuming girl that no one else in sound mind would want to approach in her angered state. "...!" The red-haired girl flinched but didn''t reject the kiss and when Zombie moved back, she followed him for another one. "Rotten brain... why do you want me to be jealous? I am awful when I''m jealous." Cranberry stooped tiptoeing and looked down, breathing out with a bitter expression. "True, you are a psychopath after all - but at the same time, I can handle you just fine, so it''s fine. You don''t have to hold back with me... just don''t kill any of the important characters before we will be done with the secret true ending and will be actually free." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and hugged the red-haired girl, ending up kissing the top of her head. "...really...?" Cranberry asked timidly before looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Then, while we are at it - you didn''t reject that you have a harem - what''s with that? Ha?!" ...but the sparkles dimmed immediately, as she frowned and red at the blue undead, scoffing at him with usation. "Hey, Baron, what''s with your wings? I have noticed you are keeping them up in a rather unusual way." Zombie changed the subject immediately and pointed at the red dragon''s back. "Ha...?" *rustle* *rustle* Cranberry raised her brow and nced at the dragon too - indeed, it almost looked like Baron was hiding something on his back using his massive wings - and that something clearly wanted to get out...! "(Oh, this...?)" The red dragon raised his head, looking away dismissively. "(It''s just that you have summoned me in the middle of babysitting, master.)" Baron exined, dodging the subject. "Babysitting, you don''t mean...?!" Cranberry furrowed her brows before raising her brows in disbelief and stepping away from the blue undead. "(Indeed. I was babysitting a certain pigeon.)" The red dragon confirmed her suspicion and spread his wings open for a grand reveal. "SKWEEE...! (PU-HUWAH...!) Skwee! (Baron, you bully!) Skwee...?! (Why did you suddenly...?!) Skwee...? (Eh...?) Skwee?! (Where are we?!) Skwee?! (Are we eloping?!) Skwee! (Ah, mommy!)" A big blue griffin raised up on the dragon''s back freed from his wings, shaking her head and screechingints and questions before she noticed the red-haired girl on the ground below and screeched happily jumping down. "Skwee! (Mommy, I missed you!) Skwee?! (Oh? Daddy is here too?!)" The blue griffin started jumping up and down excitedly. "She''s blue?" "(She turned blue, yes.)" Zombie leaned to the side and asked Baron conspicuously and the red dragon responded in a hushed thought. "Anyway. Since visiting the monster city was a cover, to begin with, how about we continue the journey with all four of us?" Zombie walked toward the red-haired girl and the blue griffin and ask while affectionately patting both of them on the head. "Sure, but it will be a journey back - look, I''m pretty sure that those are the remains of the vige where the Dandelions grew up in." Cranberry nodded while pointing at the old debris by the edge of the clearance made for anding strip. Chapter 535 - Honeymoon (part 12)

Chapter 535 - Honeymoon (part 12)

Their journey on their way back to the overthrown Goblin outpost was slightly less interesting and not that much exciting as the travel on the wagon - which had stayed by the wyvern''s hiding spot at the ashen undead knight recalled her zombie horses and got away on the wyvern of the green undead knight. Even though Zombie and Cranberry could enlist the help of their flying beasts - and although they did travel on them, each on their own, Cranberry on the blue griffin Blueberry and the blue undead on the red dragon Baron - they did not get straight back. After all, two weeks away is two weeks away - they promised that they will return only after the group of adventurers led by Xavi - or how she was more widely known as, Banana - would arrive and settle in, allowing for the currently residing there Dandelions to move around again. The outpost itself was an important strategic point and it would be silly to just abandon it - especially considering the apparent worsening rtionship between the human kingdom and the monster city. After all, it seemed like monsters - the more intelligent ones at least, were amassing the army under the banner of the ruler of the monster city - that apparently had be a sigil monster - and therefore it was safe to assume that the army will not be just for show. Honestly, it was extremely surprising to learn about a monster that had not turned into a raging killing machine that did not bother about such trivialities like enemies and allies - usually, together with the strength, the monster was given such a massive boost to their self-esteem that they would all turn murderous with the drop of a figurative hat, mostly because that was what their base instinct was telling them. But the ruler of the monster city seemed to be different from that stereotype - although considering the gathering army, in their case it was simply that their hostility was directed at the intelligent races. That made Zombie think. What the pollution of the Eternal actually was - up until that point he thought it was simply something sinister that once sipped through the seal would poison the minds of monsters making them crazy, like some sort of overpowered magic rabies - but with recent monsters... was that actually the case? How did the ruler of the monster city fit into that category then? It honestly looked like the Eternal''s pollution didn''t just force the monster to go into a power-drunk hostile frenzy, but rather brought up the beast''s inner desire. The only problem was, that desire was, more often than not, a killing spree to appease a bloodlust. The more the blue undead knight had thought about it, the more reasonable exnation it was. The first sigil monster that he met was a centipede who wanted to their hunger, the bicorn went into a frenzy because it was hurt... even Monty before it joined the blue undead''s party, was actually just wanting to take revenge on humans that caught and imprisoned it. Even the newest one that Zombie and Cranberry encountered while apanying the ashen undead knight - the six-armed giant at the tetra arm outpost - it seemed to have held a grudge against its former colleagues and straight-up taking revenge for some past injustice... ...and it wasn''t even that hard to imagine something like that happening... Then, once again, Zombie''s thoughts turned towards the ruler of the monster city with his obviously hostile but not straight-up aggressive actions. Whatever monster they were, they didn''t hate their fellow beasts, and they actually managed to hold back their hatred for the members of the intelligent races just enough to not hear the masses of monsters up to the border without any preparations whatsoever. "Hey, Cranberry, you said that you don''t know who that priestess the remnant of Love was talking about - and you were worried about theck of that information - then, does that, by any chance implies that you actually know who the monster city ruler is?" The kids... The red dragon and the blue griffin were busily moving around the forest, sessively destroying the local hostile wildlife, while the blue undead and the red-haired girl were enjoying themselves in a different way. "Haa... yes. I do. Though originally in the game the ruler was never actually that important of a character - it was something like a looming threat on the horizon - most likely a setup for a sequel or something, made by the original game developers, that was left in ce by the careless god that created this world for fun." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders while concentrating very much on the shape of Zombie''s abs as she was sitting on hisp, facing the blue undead with a serious expression. "You do seem to be changing a subject. That whole leader, who is it?" Zombie smirked and asked after shaking his head slightly. "I wonder, you can figure that out - we have met him in our first ythrough actually, and we killed him too, but the message for an essential character didn''t pop up for us because, as I just said, the ruler of the monster city isn''t an important character." Cranberry responded absentmindedly while tracing each and every separate muscle whit her fingers, entranced by the magnificently chiseled torso of the blue undead knight. "That is not really helpful, we killed a lot of monsters and humans back then." Zombie rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Haa... Yes, but if I told you who it actually was you would want to go to the monster city to kill them, but currently you are too weak to do so, and there is no need to waste your time and energy on a pointless revenge quest." The red-haired girl sighed and admitted, before looking up at her grumpy undead and smiling. "That makes the list smaller but not by much... is it the phoenix...? No wait, that''s not a good guess. The phoenix is a remnant and therefore it is important..." Zombie frowned and asked but then immediately answered to himself with a scoff. "...haa... Will you listen to me, and stop thinking about it if I do this?" Cranberry sighed, shaking her head before she leaned in and kissed the blue undead knight. "Hmm... this might not be enough, I am a very stubborn, single-minded individual after all." Zombie smirked and went for another kiss himself. ------ "Skwee...! (Baron, Baron, look...!) Skwee...! (Mommy and daddy are kissing....!)" Blueberry screeched excitedly while pecking on Baron''s leg that she was using as a cover. "(Yes, they are. What about it?)" The red dragon shrugged his wings indifferently while watching the pair from a distance just as keenly as the blue griffin by his side. The two of them had already thoroughly dealt with any and all monsters who roamed the woods and were on their way back but decided to stay away for a little bit longer and give the pair a little more private time... ...while observing them... "Skwee? (Why do humans kiss?)" Blueberry looked up at Baron and asked curiously. "(I am not sure. To show affection and love, would be my guess.)" The red dragon nce at the much smaller griffin and answered after a short consideration. "Skwee...! (Oooohhhh...!) Skwee! (I see!)" Blueberry nodded her head in understanding, even though she didn''t really seem to be understanding all that much. "Skwee? (Hey, Baron, do you want to kiss?)" She suddenly looked up at him again and screeched, fluttering her wings with excitement as if she came up with the greatest idea ever. "(...)" Baron nced at her in silence before turning back to the pair in the distance. "(No.)" He ended up responding. "SKWEE?! (EH?!) SKWEE?! (WHY?!)" Blueberry gasped, spreading her wings in shock and screeching loudly. "(Shhh.)" *squash* "...skwee...! (...ughyaa...!)" Baron shushed the rowdy griffin and pushed her down with one of his wings, making her let out a funny squeaky screech. "Skwee...! (Baron, you bully...!)" Blueberryined, turning her head around and pecking at the scarlet wing. "(First of all, you might have not realized, but we cannot imitate humans, if I tried to imitate them, you would end up without a head.)" "Skwee? (Eh, Baron?)" To the blue griffin''s great surprise, the red dragon didn''t drop the subject and after a few moments started exining his reasoning. "(Second - and most important one - you are a pigeon. That''s it.)" "SKWEE?! (HEY, WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!)" Baron thought and caused Blueberry to start furiously struggling to break free. "Skwee! (Baron, you''re a bully!) Skwee! (Stupid lizard!) Skwee! (I hate you!)" The blue griffin screeched out, pping her wings in an angry fit while also pecking at the dragon''s wing. "(Yeah. I hate you too, you selfish pigeon.)" Baronughed and mover his head towards the struggling griffin, his red split tongue showed up for a second, and licked the side of Blueberry''s beak, before the red dragon stood up and released her. "(Master has spotted us and is waving for us to return - let''s go.)" "..." Baron motioned at the blue undead and the red-haired girl in the distance with his chin and started walking, while the blue griffin was left in ce, frozen in shock. "(You''re going or not...?)" The red dragon turned around to check up on the unusually silent griffin, but then... "SKWEE! (MOMMY, DADDY!) SKWEE~! (BARON KISSED ME~!) SKWEE~! (BARON KISSED ME~!)" The blue griffin passed him with great speed as she frolicked towards their masters while screeching, absolutely ecstatic. "(Wha...?! N-no I did not!)" Baring suddenly got embarrassed and took a step back... "(NO, I DID NOT! DON''T LISTEN TO THE PIGEON, MASTER! LADY CRANBERRY!)" The red dragon used wide-range telepathy and called out. "Skwee! (Yes, he did!) Skwee! (He totally did!) Skwee! (Aha - I knew that he likes me too!)" Blueberryughed and skillfully dodged Baron''s attempt to catch her. "(THAT DOESN''T COUNT!)" "Skwee~! (Yes, it does~!)" Chapter 536 - Honeymoon (part 13)

Chapter 536 - Honeymoon (part 13)

"...!" *smash* A small female monster with greenish skin and bright orange hair dropped a pot that fell on the ground and shatter, as she stood in ce,pletely bbergasted. "Wh-what are you doing?! No! I just finished...!" Her roommate, another driad - this one with bright green hair, gasped seeing the broken pieces of the baked y and cried out in terror. "Damn it Or-ange...! Do you know how much time did I spent on this...?!" The green-haired driadined raising a few pieces of the destroyed container and raising them up for the orange-haired one to see. "Hello-? Or-ange? Why aren''t you res...!" *smash* She called out in confusion, realizing that herpanion didn''t even flinch since the moment she dropped the pot and was still staring at something outside - and once she looked that way too to confirm what was such a big deal, she also went ahead and dropped the pieces she was holding, cashing them to fall down and shatter into even smaller pieces. The driad''s shock wasn''t all that outrageous, considering that an actual true dragon was currently strolling right under their window. Its scarlet scale glistened in the sun and it looked... "(Stop pushing into me when we''re walking, pigeon.)" ...bothered by the blue griffin about one-third of his size that was doing her best to both nuzzle to the dragon''s side and walk together with him at the same time. "Skwee! (Ha!) Skwee! (You might say that, but I know that you like it when I do this!)" The blue griffin screeched proudly, without even the slightest indication that she was going pull away. "(That is a lie that your small pigeon brain is telling you.)" Even Baron''s thoughts shared via telepathy skill became quieter as he turned his head away dismissively. "SKWEE! (HEY!) SKWEE! (I AM NOT A PIGEON, YOU EVIL LIZARD!)" Blueberry screeched and pecked at the dragon''s side angrily - but even after that, she didn''t try to get away. "(Oh, so you don''t deny having a small brain?)" "...!" Baron snickered, moving his head back just so slightly so that he could nce at the stunned griffin who just realized her mistake. "Skwee! (Hmph!) Skwee! (Everyone has a small brain whenpared to such big-headed bully like you!)" She scoffed andined, turning her head away. "...shouldn''t we make them stop bickering? It looks like Blueberry is thinking that Baron is seriously trying to bully her, and Baron is acting slightly too cold, someone should teach him when to show the caring side, or she will seriously hate him" "(...)" Cranberry, who was sitting on Blueberry''s back in ady-like fashion with both of her legs on one side, looked up at Zombie raiding on Baron''s back and whispered conspicuously. "I think that you did give him a few good pointers." The blue undead felt the red dragon flinching when the red-haired girl mentioned the blue griffin hating him, and smiled in amusement while responding. "(...)" Baron looked to the side, not exactly knowing what he should do in that situation - because he definitely wasn''t going to apologize. The group was passing by the driads'' vige, but because of the walking methrower in the form of the red dragon, not a single driad wanted to even try to approach them and start a conversation. "Do you think that they will give a lot of experience points? The blue undead smirked while motioning with his chin at the fragile-looking short light-green-skinned monsters who looked like young human girls. "Driads are useful because of their affinity with nature, and I won''t t mean nature-based magic spells but actual nature. They are very useful in orchards as long as you make sure that they will not be too possessive over those, or the trouble might start. As for the amount of experience they give..." The red-haired girl furrowed her brows and looked up, trying to remember the correct information on the subject. "...I think it''s around the level of a slightly stronger goblin...?" She said tilting her head while looking back at the blue undead knight. "Only that much, huh...? Considering that they are quite rare I thought it would be better." Zombie nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Probably because with the rules put up about a species getting recognized as a member of the intelligent races, they check out all the boxes, and the only reason why they aren''t is that in the end, they cannot pick a single ruler that would represent them - funnily enough, every single driad thinks that she is the most important ones and will not submit to the orders ced upon them by another driad." The red-haired girl ended her sentence by moving her arms, showcasing the vige they were passing by. Truth be told, the settlement of the short monster looked more like a miniature town with shops and other recreational facilities. "Why do I get the feeling that you don''t want to turn them into our experience points?" The blue undead knight rolled his eyes and asked with a bitter expression. "Because I don''t, they will be useful as our neighbors. Alive ones." Cranberry dered without hesitation, looking straight into the ck eyes of her undead husband. "What can I say, fruits aren''t the best source of nutrients, but they definitely are a variation in the nd menu. Since we will be living in the vige, why not make sure that we will have itfortable?" She added. "...unless you like watching me get sick of eating the same thing over and over again... if so, be my guest, go wild at them." ...and she even waved her hand at him to start attacking. "Ohe on..." Zombie scoffed, and grabbed the girl''s hand, pulling her up onto Baron''s back and putting her right into hisp. "Skwee?! (Baron, did you hear?!) Skwee! (We are hunting the driads now!)" Thinking that the red-haired girl actually meant her words, the blue griffin screeched all rearing to go and her talons and wings had already started shining With the light of the activated skills. "(Idiot!)" "Skwee?! (Ughyaa?!)" The red dragon was the fastest one to respond - he hurriedly spread and closed his wing, scooping the much smaller griffin with it, and immobilized her by trapping her between his side and the membrane of his wing. Chapter 537 - Honeymoon (part 14)

Chapter 537 - Honeymoon (part 14)

"...skwee.... (...how was I supposed to know what a sackrasm is...)" Although the group had already left the driad''s vige since after what almost happened none of the small monsters even dared to get out of their houses, the blue griffin was still made to stay under the dragon''s wing - literally. Blueberry''s legs were dangling from underneath Baron''s scarlet wing and she was screeching very much upset with her head against his side. "(It is pronounced sarcasm and we already talked about it before. You simply aren''t paying enough attention to what is going on around you. Seriously ¨C that single brain-cell in your pigeon brain must be extremely lonely.)" "Skwee... (...I don''t care anymore...)" Baron used his telepathy skill to correct Blueberry''s mistake ¨C and added some snarkyments on top of that - which only caused the blue griffin to get actually upset and start sulking for real - She even went ahead and did the best avable equivalent of walking away - she turned her head and tucked her beak between her own body and Baron''s scales. "(Pigeon? Pigeon~?)" "..." The red dragon called out but the blue griffin stayed silent and didn''t respond to him at all. "Haa... now he has done it..." Cranberry breathed out and shook her head watching the scene y out from Zombie''sp. "If you are constantly cold and never show any warmth, how is she supposed to know that there even is any warmth, to begin with?" The red-haired girl breathed out and leaned to the side to pat the dragon''s back. "(...)" Baron flinched and looked to the side, acting as if he didn''t hear Cranberry at all, adamantly refusing to admit his mistake, while digging his massive ws into the road. "...oohh...? Are you talking from experience? But then whose experience is it - miss I-didn''t-told-you-I-can-understand-your-groans-all-along-for-seven-years? It cannot be yours, right...?" "..ghhh...!" The blue undead joined the conversation too, but in his case, he merely leaned down, rest his chin on Cranberry''s right shoulder, and asked while ring at her with usation. "Ha?! That''s apletely different story! Besides, Cranberry from the first ythrough showed you plenty of affection even before she admitted that she can understand you!" The red-haired girl blushed heavily and dered while immediately facing the other way, acting just like the red dragon and turning away while calling out. "...mhmm... sure, sure... of course... hey! Are you listening...?" "..." Zombie stared at her for a few seconds, but then, when he realized that she will not turn back he simply... *mlem* "KYAAH!" ...licked the red-haired girl''s neck and make her jolt up with an embarrassing, high-pitched scream... "You...! You rotten brain! What do you think you''re doing?!" *smack* Cranberry went from embarrassed straight to being angry and she called out, pping on Zombie''s arm with an angry expression. "Nothing much - just wanted to point out there''s a group of quite strong-looking monsters a mile or two in that direction and wanted to take you with me." The blue undead shrugged his shoulders while pointing at the forest as if he didn''t just do something embarrassing. "Ha...? Wha...? I... I guess that''s alright...?" "Perfect~" The red-haired girl was thrown for a loop and didn''t really know how to respond other than agree with the smiling undead knight''s proposition. "Baron, you and Blueberry can sit this one out - see you in an hour." Zombie called out, grabbing the red-haired girl and picking her up in a princess carry, before jumping down the dragon''s back and rushing towards the direction he has pointed beforehand. And that left Baron alone with the sulking griffin under his wing. "(...)" The red dragon made sure that his master actually left before breathing out heavily and slowly moving his head towards the tucked-away griffin. *mlem* "SKWEE?! (KYAAH?!)" Then he turned quickly licked Blueberry''s neck and she reacted just like Cranberry did before - with a shocked squeak of embarrassment. "Skwee! (Stupid lizard!) Skwee...? (Who do you think you are...?)" *mlem* Blueberry screech angrily, but then the front of her beak got licked by the dragon''s split tongue too, and the blue griffin went silent. "(I will say that once, and only once okay...?)" Baron muttered while his eyes didn''t want to focus on Blueberry and he kept looking away. "(...I am... sorry... I didn''t want to upset you...)" The red dragon ended up apologizing, and it really sounded as if this was his first apology to anyone other than his master. "...skwee... (...I will not forgive you...)" "GHROAR...?!" Blueberry let out a tiny screech and made the whole dragon jump up in shock and actually let out a real, bellowing growl of confusion, which waspletely unexpected since Baron was always using the telepathy skill instead ofmunicating with noises he made. "...skwee... (...unless you give me another kiss...)" The blue griffin added, slowly raising her head to look into therge dragon''s eyes. "(...seriously, don''t scare me like that...)" Baron breathed out in relief before rubbing his nose against Blueberry''s beak. "...skwee...? (...how about that sackrazm...?) Skwee? (Who isughing now?)" The blue griffin scoffed, stretching her neck to prolong the contact for as long as possible. "(No, seriously ¨C that''s not what sarcasm is, you pigeon.)" The red dragon sighed before his tongue showed up again and affectionately licked the griffin''s beak. -------- "She has him wrapped around her little talon, huh?" Zombie smirked, watching the situation y out from a distance. "Oh, if we use a human measurement of time, Baron might be older than Blueberry ¨C but if we take into consideration how long it takes for griffins and dragons to reach maturity in their respective species, then Baron is actually the freshman trying to impress the yful senior." Cranberry ¨C who was also observing the situation, safely, from behind Zombie''s wide back ¨C exined with a boastful expression brimming with self-satisfaction from being so knowledgeable on the subject. "That''s how it looks through the expert''s eyes... and while we are at it, so now you are even giving the examples from my previous world? Aren''t you adorable?" "...!" Zombie smirked and lean in, leaving a quick kiss on the girl''s forehead. "...say, are they even any monsters in this direction...?" Cranberry fidgetted and tugged grabbed onto his arm, looking up at him with expectations. "Nope~ I just wanted to leave those two alone to see what will happen, and I was not disappointed." Zombie shrugged his shoulders dismissively and revealed. "...only that...?" The red-haired girl lowered her head and asked in a hopeful voice ¨C which caused an evil-looking smirk to bloom on Zombie''s face. "No, not only because of that." He responded and turned around to face her. Chapter 538 - Honeymoon (part 15)

Chapter 538 - Honeymoon (part 15)

"You two have been disturbing the bnce of the forest! We are hunters! How are we supposed to hunt where there are no beasts to hunt?!" Arge minotaur shook his bull head and roared, waving a massive bow around. "...?" Zombie and Cranberry looked at each other with consternation, and?then, together with Blueberry and Baron, they all looked back at the same time to check who was the angry monster talking to. But the road was behind them was empty, only a few females and children were looking at them fearfully. "Do you think that this fellow doesn''t notice us up here or...?" Zombie raised his brow, staring at the agitated monster, and leaned towards Cranberry to ask her in a conspicuous whisper. "Grrrr...!" ...which of course was meant to agitate the minotaur even more - which it did, considering the angry growl that came out of his beastly throat. "I want to say no, but honestly, the minotaurs are a species that is a little bit special." Cranberry went along with her blue undead knight and furrowed her brows, wondering out loud with exaggeration. "You can usually judge how intelligent and aggressive the specimen will be by the percentage of their body being that of a beast. This one here has his whole head looking like a bull, so I kind of doubt that he can be either perceptive or smart enough to count to four." She exined while pointing between the furious one in front of them, and another male one that looked simply like arge human with bull horns, a tail, and hooves. "...!" The most human-like minotaur flinched once he was pointed at and backed off into his house, protecting the horned woman and a young horned child curiously peeking at the passing group. "Oh! So that''s it! But then - so, we were just unlucky enough to run into a vige idiot, huh?" "You...!" Zombie nodded, looking down at the enraged beastly minotaur with pity. "No, not really." Cranberry shook her head, also ignoring the monster in front of them. "Minotaurs find the aggression to be a good trait, so this one is most likely their chief - yes, look he even has the tribal ne that shows his social position." She added, motioning at the minotaur clenching his hand on the massive bow. "This is their leader? Oh dear, poor creatures..." The blue undead sighed, shaking his head... "ENOUGH OF THIS! YOU RUN WILD IN OUR FORREST AND THEN REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR WRONGS! NOW, YOU ARE GOING TO EXPERIENCE THE HOSPITALITY OF THE MINOTAUR VILLAGE!" ...and as it turns out, it was a straw that broke the camel''s - or rather minotaur''s - back. The beast roared furiously, put an arrow on a bowstring, and raised the bow, aiming straight at the blue undead. *rustle* *ng* *ng* Instantly, at least a dozen of the beastly minotaurs all armed with enormous bows that even a mid-level adventurer wouldn''t be able to dream about using with their STR stat emerged. Some of them stepped from behind the houses, some of them were on the roofs, there was even one that must have beenying on wait inside one of the houses because it was aiming at the group from behind a window. "GET THEM!" The leader growled in a beastly roar and... *BOOOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* ...the blue undead vanished from the red dragon''s back to the series of loud explosions, just to reappear in the same spot only a secondter... *WHOOOOOSH* *SPLAT* The shockwave hit the surroundings and the blood and viscera of all the beastly minotaurs sshed around as only their legs remained intact from the lighting fast series of kicks that turned their heads and torsos into some gruesome fireworks. /Multiple mid-level monsters defeated Your receive EXP\\\\ /Level up\\\\ "Hmph." Zombie scoffed and shook off the nonexistent dust from his metal-d legs - his armor was releasing distinct steam caused by the metal heating up from the extreme speed of his attacks. "..." At first, the vige was silent. For a good few seconds, the vigers couldn''t evenprehend what has happened. "...!" One of the minotaur females that was unfortunate enough to be standing close and got showered with the gore slowly raised her blood-stained hands and took a loud, panicked breathe before she opened her mouth and... "Now, now, it''s okay." "...!" ...the blue undead jumped down the dragon''s back and approached her and began gently patting her head - and he had to be reaching up as the human-looking female minotaur who was a whole head taller than him, even though she wasn''t the tallest one around - and his eyes were shining blue the whole time. "I hope that this makes you all realize that we don''t appreciate getting threatened." Zombie dered, turning around while continuing to caress the one female minotaur who stuck close to him and even stepped a bit closer and tilted her head so that she could lean onto his armor. "Zombie - I hope that you know that you are making me jealous because you are making me very jealous." Cranberry called out from Blueberry''s back looking very upset - she even already had her hands on the baseball bat scepter and was ring down the minotaur by Zombie''s side with all of her cow-sized features. "Oh, thene over here too." "!!!" Zombie smirked and started caressing the female minotaur''s cow-like ear which caused her to visibly shiver and her eyes ended up losing focus. "Ah...! Weak point located~" Zombie gasped and pointed out with an evil smirk while the female minotaur was leaning onto him more and more as her brain was turning into mush from the pleasure - which may or may not have anything to do with the mindbreak skill that the blue undead used a moment earlier. *WHOOSH* *WHA-thunk* The next second a baseball bat had fallen down right onto the unexpecting minotaur''s head but was blockedst second by the blue undead himself who had caught it in one hand which caused the hollow sound. "...what are you doing, haa...? I told you that I will kill any girl who tries to steal you away from me..." Cranberry grumbled in an ice-cold voice, ring down at her blue undead knight, she tried to take back the bat, but Zombie wasn''t going to release it. "...let it go..." The red-haired girl demanded in a low voice and red up at the blue undead. "Remember when I told you that I can handle you?" "...HA...?!" Zombie asked quickly and as Cranberry gasped in disbelief, with her face twisting in a furious expression, the blue undead tugged on the ck baseball bat and pulled her close, sealing her angry lips with his own, pleasantly cool ones. "!!!!" At first, she wanted to struggle, but at the same time she was far more reluctant to leave - she merely red into the clear ck eyes as Zombie didn''t need any skill to keep her with him - and ended up calming down slightly and at least rxed her grip on her weapon just a little bit. "Are you willing to listen now?" Zombie asked with a smile pulling away only a little bit. "...maybe..." Cranberry pouted and send one evil look towards the female minotaur who was so much into getting spoiled that she didn''t even realize how close she was from death just a few seconds ago. "We decided that we will take hostages... that is, ambassadors, from each vige so that we could establish the one that we will create as open for other cultures. Well, since the driads can be recruited at any time because of their low defense, thin one seems like a good match for the first ambassador." The blue undead pointed out whit a light shrug. "...I really meant ambassadors, you know - willing ones...?" Cranberry sighed and red at the blue undead while rolling her eyes in disbelief. "Oh, minor detail. My method simply assures that there will be no hostile ones amongst them, that''s all." Zombie smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Ha? So do I have to expect that the others will all be women too?" The red-haired girl gasped, straightening her back and giving the blue undead knight an ice-cold death stare. "No?" Zombie furrowed his brows and shrugged his shoulders looking back at his furious wife with confusion. "I''m picking the ones with the strongest life signatures of course." He feltfortable enough to release Cranberry''s baseball bat and waved his hand dismissively. *thump* "...?" "...haa...?" Suddenly a soft noise - and in Zombie''s case, a sudden tug on his other hand - got the attention of the pair. ...it was the blood-sttered female minotaur - she fell to her knees. She was panting heavily and was clinging to Zombie''s hand with her bright red face while clenching her legs together as if she was struggling to hold something back. "...chief..." She whispered, staring dreamily at the blue undead who has raised his brows as he honestly didn''t think that ear-rubbing would bring forth such a reaction. "Pardon me, but what did you say...?" Zombie blinked a few times before leaning toward the minotaur and asking. "...you have defeated our strongest hunters... and you have brought me down... you are the new chief of our vige..." The female minotaur moaned in exnation and reached out to her neck. She then snapped off an intricate ne and while pulling away from Zombie''s hand with visible struggle as she wanted him to keep caressing her, she put her ne into his hand. "...I also offer myself as the concubine for our new chief..." She dered, closing her eyes and bowing her head down to the blue undead. "Shit...!" Zombie cursed and... *SMAS-thunk* *WHOOOOSH* *tter* ...hurriedly blocked the baseball bat from crushing the minotaur''s head the second time in less than five minutes - this hit was so powerful that it caused a shockwave so strong that it doused the window in the houses to tremble. "I AM GOING TO KILL THAT BITCH!" Cranberry growled furiously, clenching her fists on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white. "...this will take a while to resolve, will it not...?" Zombie sighed, shaking his head. Chapter 539 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 1)

Chapter 539 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 1)

Zombie, Cranberry, Baron, and Blueberry ¨C together with a few other monsters tagging along after them ¨C finally ended up back at the goblins outpost. Though, the fort could not be called like that anymore. Even though it was mere two weeks since the blue undead knight and the red-haired girl left to scout the way ahead, the frot was transformed into an actual fortress, including the stone wall ¨C with two-feet radius magic stones atop of every corner, and deep moat riddled with razor-sharp spikes. "They really went all out with that, didn''t they?" Zombie raised his brows and whistled, looking at the imposing outpost that wouldn''t be out of ce even in the Sloth''s territory''s second line of defense. "That didn''t look like this thest time I had to make a delivery..." Plum ¨C the teal-scaled lizardfolk walking by the side of a massive arachne with furry ck carapace with venomous green ents and a shape of a horned skull on her abdomen ¨C gasped in disbelief. "It looks like a quite splendid abode ¨C as expected of the lord of venom." The arachne wasn''t all that surprised and merely looked at Zombie''s back and bowed her head with a soft smile. "True. I expected nothing less of our chief." Therge minotaur woman agreed with the arachne and nodded her head vigorously. "I don''t understand why all of you like the enclosed spaces like that... what is it worth if our lord cannot use his full speed while inside?" A massive centaur d in the extremely heavy-looking armor scoffed and waved their armored hand dismissively. "Oh, right! Coconut ¨C I have a question!" Plum the lizardfolk turned to the centaur and spoke curiously. "Ask away, sir Plum." The centaur nodded their head benevolently and responded with their voice being distorted by the horned helmet. "You always seem to talk about speed, but honestly, how fast can you be with all of that metal? Honestly from all what I''ve heard about your kind, centaurs love speed but ¨C you don''t really strike me the same way..." The teal-scaled lizardfolk asked tilting his head while carefully observing the equipment that must have wight the same as the entire centaur donning it. "Oh, you would be surprised! I actually have an inborn affinity that increases my speed the more defense I have ¨C steam engine!" The centaur boasted reaching back towards their horse-torso and picked up the enormous tower shield that they then heald in front of them with much pride. "With this, my charge skill, and the ram skill, the only being who ever outspeed me was our lord~!" They cheered sounding was too happy over being slower than anyone ¨C although it maybe wasn''t that weird considering who they wereparing themselves to. "Ooooohhhhh!" The unanimous gasp of amazement spread amongst the group, making the centaur visibly happy even with all the armor on them. "Hey... I might be seeing things incorrectly but... why does it seem like whoever is manning the fort isn''t keen to open it for our master...?" A young naga, a young beautiful man with the lower half being that of a giant rattlesnake raised his hand and pointed at the panicked silhouettes on the fort walls, running back and forth in obvious panic after seeing the group of monsters ¨C that included a house-sized red dragon ¨C approaching. "Nonsense, Safou ¨C this is our lord''s base of operation, why would want to keep him away ¨C I am sure that they are merely excited overseeing his return and are scrambling to throw a wee party!" Coconut, the armored centaur, waved their hand dismissively while looking back at Safou the naga. "Coconut, stop...!" "Eh...?" The arachne reached out her hand trying to stop the centaur from taking another step, but she was toote, even though Coconut did turn to her to see why she was trying to stop them. *ng* ...and they ended up walking into the blue undead knight who was standing still with his hand raised so that the others would stop... "M-my lord! Please forgive me!" Although nothing happened as the armors of the undead knight and the armored centaur touched barely enough for them to cause a creaking sound of metal bumping into metal ¨C the centaur was in a panic as if theymit some grave sin by touching their sovereign. "Hmm? Oh, hey, little Coconut, you want some attention~?" Zombie nced at them and smirked before he turned back to the outpost as his eyes were glowing murky red. "Sorry, but you must wait a bit, there''s something unexpected going on at our destination." He added reaching out and patting the armor on the centaur''s stomach. "M-m-m-m-m-my l-l-l-lo-lo-lord...! I-I am not worthy of your time...!" Coconut smashed their fist into their breastte and backed of stuttering heavily from the embarrassment and backed off so much that both Plum and Safou had to scuttle to the sides not to get trampled under their hooves. "...hmph... at least some of them know their ce..." The only human in the party ¨C the red-haired Cranberry, nced at the centaur and scoffed angrily before she kicked at Zombie''s shin. "...?" "Hmph...!" The blue undead raised his brow and nced at her but the girl just pouted and looked away. Right at that time... **************** The closest magic stone shone with a bright light and unleashed a concentrated beam of a pale blue light straight at the arriving group! *TING* And yet, before it could deal any damage to anyone, the blue undead knight rushed at it head-on as his shield was shining with bright white light, and not only did he block the oing beam but straight-up reflected it right back at the magic crystal... *BOOOOM* *crumble* ...shattering into tiny pieces in the oue... "You...! YOU DARE TO ATTACK MY LORD?!" *BOOOOOOM* "???" The sudden attack from a supposedly friendly location came as a surprise to almost everyone except Zombie ¨C but the thing that surprised everyone equally and without any exception was the furious shout of the armored centaur, who started glowing with bright violet light and shoot forward like a speeding bullet straight at the fort''s barricaded gate with their shield raised...! Coconut wasn''t just saying things out of empty pride before ¨C their speed was basically that of a teleport skill! *WHAM* With the tower shield, the armored centaur became a living battering ram and destroyed the gate with ridiculous ease, sending the pieces of metal-reinforced wood everywhere. Chapter 540 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 2)

Chapter 540 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 2)

*WHOOOOOOO* "GHHHH...!" A cone of fire erupted right in the face of the armored centaur who immediately raised their shield in that direction - Coconut''s charge was stopped, and they were about to face the consequences of their rash decision. "...!" Even while receiving the brunt of the continuous powerful fire spell that was heating up the tower shield in the centaur''s hand as well as slowly raising the temperature of the entire armor too ¨C Coconut saw two new opponents except for the fire user. A nimble small one falling at her from the above and therge one armored up almost as much as they were was approaching from the side ¨C and the armored one had a tower shield just like Coconut! "!!!" The one approaching from above would be faster ¨C obviously ¨C their body twisted in the air as they unleashed a volley of skill-empowered daggers before reaching out for their main weapon ¨C a heavy dagger that seemed created with armor-piercing in mind. "HMPH!" *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* *ng* Coconut scoffed and straightened their back, locking up all the joints on their back, rendering all the descending daggers useless ¨C then, without even a moment of hesitation, the armored centaur moved, allowing for the stream of fire to crush against it torso and... *SLAM* "UGH-AGRGH...!" *WHAM* "KHH...!" ...swatted the agile opponent to the side like an annoying bug and positioned themselves in a perfect spot to kick with both of their hind legs right at the shocked armored opponent ¨C who still managed to block the attack with their shield but ended up getting sent back anyway, leaving the deep trail in the ground. "OH, YOU FUCKING BITCH! THUNDER!" "!!!" *BOOOM* The stream of fire cut out just to be followed by a powerful electric discharge that hit the armored centaur, making them flinch... "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BITCH, YOU BITCH?!" ...but the paralysis effect did not activate and the infuriated Coconut shouted back,unching at the cursing mage! "FUCK!" The mage ended up dodging to the side while cursing loudly but ended up right where the centaur wanted them ¨C in a perfect position to get trampled. "!!!!!" Coconutgot on their hind legs, raising their massive body, and then stomped right at the horrified mage who froze in ce! *THUNK* *THUNK* "URGHHH...!" "GHH...! Damn, this guy''s heavy...!" But luckily enough for the mage ¨C two warriors got right in at the perfect moment and blocked the hoves with their shields, letting out gasps of shock ¨C the stomping attack turned out to be far beyond their expectations and they couldn''t even counterattack it as they originally intended. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE ANYONE WHO ATTACKS MY LORD!" "WH-WHAT THE...?!" If anyone thought that the centaur would stop at that moment, they would be dead wrong ¨C instead of backing off immediately, Coconut reached down and grabbed both warriors and lifted them up with terrifying ease. *SMASH* "GHAAA-RGH...!" "URGH... ! FUCK...! My leg...!" The first one got it easy, they merely got thrown back down right at the mage trying to get up. As for the other one... *SLAM* "!!!!!!!!" The other warrior ended up getting headbutted and went limp ¨C losing consciousness with a single hit ¨C but their problem was, Coconut wasn''t going to stop at that... The enraged armored centaur immediately went for another headbutt clearly aiming to finish the warrior offpletely, even though the blood was pouring out of their opponent''s indented helmet already ¨C as there was a clear difference with the built quality of their armors and the warrior had some outdated equipment, to begin with. "AS IF I LET YOU!" "...?!" *WHAM* Getting lost in anger turned out to be the Coconut''s downfall ¨C literally ¨C as when they were about to deal with their opponent, the armored one with a tower shield ended up ramming right into their back, sending the centaur tumbling back like a metal-d ragdoll. "Ughhhh...! Eh?!" Coconut gritted their teeth while trying to scramble back on their hooves, but then they saw the end business end of a scepter pointed right in their face... "A shame you''re not an undead..." Another mage sighed, shaking their head. "Holy smit-UKYAAAAH...!" *thump* They called out an incantation before suddenly a stream of spider web hit them and they got pulled back so fast that they dropped the scepter. "Pawpaw!" Coconut turned their head and gasped, just to see the massive arachne handing down from the wall as she turned the second mage in an immobile cocoon in less than five seconds. *SPLASH**SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "PARALYZING VENOM ¨C DON''T LET IT HIT YOU!" Pawpaw ¨C the ck and green arachne ¨C only smirked reassuringly at the fallen centaur before she unleashed a barrage of poison-filled orbs that rained down upon the people manning the fort. "Coconut, are you alright? Divine recovery!" In the next moment, the armored centaur got approached by the female minotaur who used a healing spell on them without even waiting for the answer. "Tangelo! Thank you!" Coconut gasped and got back up with the help of the female minotaur. By the time the armored centaur was ready to battle again the armored warrior with a tower shield and both of those with small shields as well as the agile one hit by their shield, got entangled by the webs shot out by Pawpaw ¨C the one who managed to remain free was the first mage who had simply burnt the webbing before it reached them. "What in the...!" "THERE''S MORE OF THEM?!" Five more people appeared as theye out of the headquarters building to the sight of carnage. A warrior, a tank, a mage, a healer, and a rogue ¨C all young humans that didn''t have the same threatening aura as the first opponents, but who seemed to be capable of holding their own ground too. "I DON''T CARE WHOEVER ARE YOU ALL, BUT KNOW ONE THING! EVERYONE WHO DARES TO TAKE OVER OUR LORDS PROPERTY WILL BE ERADICATED! LEAVE ON YOUR OWN OR PREPARE FOR YOUR DEMISE!" Coconut stomped their front-left hoof angrily and raised their shield back up. "That''s right! EMPOWERING AURA!" Tangelo the minotaur agreed, raising her hand and unleashing an area of effect buff spell on all of her allies in the fort. "..." The five that arrived didn''t back off and instead took out their weapons... It was time for wave two. Chapter 541 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 3)

Chapter 541 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 3)

"Aren''t you going to help them?!" Cranberry gasped while holding up her baseball bat scepter as she was in the middle of conjuring a powerful primal spell ¨C the proper way this time. "Nah, they got this ¨C just make sure to have our spell ready just in case." Zombie snickered and waved his hand dismissively. "...haa... fine ¨C I hope that you know what you''re doing." The red-haired girl breathed out and shook her head with a worried expression. "Aww... look at you ¨C how does it feel to be the one who doesn''t have all information for a change~?" "...!" The blue undead knight smiled happily and asked, causing the red-haired girl to flinch. "Skwee...? (Mommy and daddy are quarreling, should we go help our new friends...?)" Blueberry looked between Cranberry and Zombie while leaning on Baron''s side. "(No. Master said that we should sit that one out so we will do just that.)" The red dragon responded and spread one of his wings to cover the blue griffin just in case she would want to straight-up rush the fort too ¨C but for a change, he didn''t squeeze her to his side only nketing her gently. "Skwee...? (Eeeehhhh...?)" Blueberry screeched in aint but ended up only nuzzling closer to Baron. ------ Meanwhile inside the outpost atmosphere wasn''t anywhere near as rxed as outside... "The lord''s property...?! They must be the reinforcements! We cannot allow those creatures to take over this outpost!" The young-looking leader of the group of five that showed up called out, clenching his weapon ¨C the holy-element empowered sword. "Lime, Lemon, make sure to release the rest! Avocado, and I will protect you! Lychee, try to do something about the spider monster!" He called out to hisrades, raising his kite shield with a determined expression... *CRUSH* "GU-HUAH...!" ...just in time to block a rock spear that flew at him from the direction of the smashed gate. "Cherry!" "I-I''m alright! The spider web is weak to fire, free the others!" The two magic casters called out in panic but their leader waved his hand dismissively and shook his head in response. "Tsk... Talk about luck." Plum ¨C the teal-scaled lizardfolk clicked his split tongue while reaching out his glowing hand as another rock spear formed and raised up from the ground for him to pick up. "Have another one!" The lizardfolk called out and threw the rock spear ¨C this time he aimed at the spellcasters at the back. "IN YOUR DREAMS!" The tank of the human group shouted and blocked the attack, gritting his teeth and getting pushed back ¨C but not faltering from the power. Using that moment the spellcasters shot out fireballs at their trappedrades ¨C or at least the ones who could still fight ¨C with that, the armored centaur was again locked into battle with the armored warrior with a tower shield, the warrior with the bastard sword and shieldbo, and the mage. "Good! Avocado ¨C I''m leaving the girls to you, I''ll take on the lizardman!" Cherry ¨C the leader of the human party that enter the stage fashionably and annoyinglyte called out while pointing his sword at the smirking Plum who already had another spear prepared and aimed. After activating all of his empowering skills the young man charged straight at the lizardfolk with no hesitation whatsoever... "Hay ¨C the spider keeps that one cocooned up close to her ¨C doesn''t that mean that she considers her a threat? Free her next!" "Ugh- shut up, Avocado, we know what we have to do!" Lime, the money-hungry healer, snapped at the tank. "Now, now ¨C if you will be so harsh with him, he will never start to like you back." Her older twin sister, Lemon, the mage ¨C snickered, teasing her younger sister even in the dangerous situation that they have found themselves in. "Shut up! I don''t like him at all!" Lime snapped back with her facepletely red. Their talk would have been overjoyed seeing and hearing the girl''s reaction... "Got chuu~!" "UWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" If not for the fact that he got caught by a swooping harpy whose ws dug into the armor on his shoulders giving the half-woman half-bird a proper grasp on his so that she could lift-off back into the sky with ease. ------ "Ah-ah! What a nice voice! You are making Sumac blush~!" The colorful harpy called out in a cheerful tone that did not fit the situation at all. "Very funny, you overgrown sparrow...!" Avocado gasped, grabbing onto one of her legs ¨C for a second, the tank considered to cut it or hit It hard enough for the flying monster to release him, but one look at the ground far beneath them was enough to discourage a decision like that. "Ehehe~! I''m funny ¨C so you like me~? Hey, nice human, I like you too! Say, I want to have chicks but the king had refused me ¨C do you want to help me out instead~?" "H-huh...?" Avocado gasped, he managed to tear his eyes off of the fort that from their height looked like a toybox and stared at the excited harpy,pletely dumbfounded. ------- Meanwhile back on the ground... *SLAM* "GU-HUGH!" The rogue, Lychee, got caught by Pawpaw, the arachne, and smashed against the wall which caused the girl to lose both her weapons and her breath. With her next move, Pawpaw pushed lychee down and the spider''s lower body turned her into another cacoon within a few short seconds. With that the arachne had a good view at the entire battlefield ¨C including the colorful harpy, Sumac, stealing away the tank of the new arrivals, which left the spellcasters alone and prime for getting attached. "Hmmm?" But right as she was about to shower them with poison, Pawpaw flinched, seeing another monster slithering his way towards them, so she instead turned to Tangelo and Coconut who had far more trouble with the three humans than could be expected from the initial oue. As it turned out, the cooperation between the tank, the warrior, and the mage was on a whole another level and even the armored centaur empowered by the minotaur shaman couldn''t do anything against them. Chapter 542 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 4)

Chapter 542 - Return To The Outpost - Retaking The Outpost...? (part 4)

"System-damn it, Avocado you moron!" Lime called out in disbelief after the tank was swept away by the harpy. "You will go after himter! See?! Lychee got caught by the spider too! Damn it, why mister Shanks isn''t doing anything?!" Lemon called out angrily while ncing back at the headquarters building. Yet, the next moment that she did that... *THUMP* "OWW!" "UGH...! Lime, what the hell?!" Both sisters ended up bumping heads against their will when suddenly something wrapped around the two of them, squeezing them enough to make them lose their breaths. "Hello, magic casters~! My name is Safou and my inborn affinity is called dispell~ Care to guess what it does~?" A handsome male naga wrapped around the two girls smiled lightheartedly. "...!" "You...!" The twins gasped but neither could actually conjure any spell no matter how hard they try. "Now, now ¨C since lord Zombie didn''t show up immediately, then my guess is that he actually doesn''t want any of you killed ¨C so do me a favor and don''t struggle~ I might get too excited and squeeze you both too hard...?" The handsome naga exined with a polite expression but then he looked down at the faces of the spellcasters and closed his mouth in genuine shock. "Whoa... humans can be this pretty...?!" "!!!" "!!!" Safou gasped, leaning down to have a closer look at the shocked twins. ------ "You have guts to try to take this fort right from under Zombie''s nose, human." Plum, the teal-scaled lizardfolk, scoffed while blocking the sh of the holy-element empowered sword and ring down at the human wielding it. "Huh?! You must be kidding me ¨C we are the ones guarding this outpost for sir Zombie from the likes of you!" Cherry, the leader of the adventurer party Brave Swords, called out before pushing himself away from the lizardfolk ¨C he intended to push the monster away but his strength stat turned out to be too low for that. "...?" "...?" The two of them furrowed their brows looking at each other in disbelief. "...just to be sure ¨C is the Zombie that you talk about a big blue-skinned undead knight who has a red-haired human girl by his side...?" The teal-scaled lizardfolk asked staring down the human warrior. "...he is..." Cherry blinked a few times, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Then why did you attack our group?! He literally gathered all of us and is here with us!" Plum called out in anger rising his spear back up. "Wait... ! What?! Impossible!" Cherry gasped in disbelief and he actually lowered his holy-empowered sword. "Oh, it is very much possible ¨C you bastards evenunched a beam out of one of the magic crystals!" The teal-scaled lizardfolk scoffed in annoyance and pointed towards the broken-down gate. "But the guards on the walls..." Cherry muttered in disbelief, looking at all the cacoons sitting atop of the walls after the ck and green arachne had dealt with all of the people who were panicking at the sight of the monster group. *swoosh* "...?" "...?" Then, a sudden gust of wind made almost everyone in the fort stop whatever they were doing and looked up. "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And they all became stunned at the sight of the clouded sky slowly breaking apart as something extremely threatening was forming up there, ready to descend at the outpost at any given moment. The space itself seemed to be shattered and the shards kept on falling down from the erging crevice but they disintegrated mid-air to never reach the ground. "Oh, what the fuck...?" A new person entered the scene ¨C or rather a new pair ¨C but their entrance was slowed down considerably once they saw the state of the sky. "Wait... isn''t this...?" The other one of the pair gasped, as her eyes widened and she grabbed onto the first one''s sleeve. "EVERYONE AT THE OUTPOST ¨C STOP FIGHTING IMMEDIATELY ¨C IF NOT, I WILL ACTUALLY RELEASE THE HEAVEN''S FALL AND YOU WILL NOT EVEN HAVE THE TIME TO REGRET YOUR STUPIDITY!" "!!!!" The voice of a certain red-haired girl resounded in the entire outpost making the already frozen people and monsters flinch and step away from each other. Even those who didn''t know the voice''s over knew better than to mess with someone who conjured something sou ridiculously powerful... "That was our Cranberry, wasn''t it?" Olive ¨C one of the two elves who showed upte and didn''t even properly take part in any fighting gasped and looked at the woman at his side. "It was! So she is safe! Fuuuuuck...! I was so worried about her!" Mirabelle breathed out in relief, leaning against Olive''s shoulder. "I told you it was fucking nothing. As long as she''s with Zombie she will be fine." He leaned in and rubbed her back reassuringly. "ARE YOU DONE FIGHTING? BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO ENTER THE FORT AND IF SOMEBODY IS STILL FIGHTING I WILL MAKE THEM REGRET IT!" The pompous and prideful voice resounded again, right before a blue undead knight entered the fort through the broken gate, followed by the red-haired girl riding a blue griffin, and a red dragon that climbed his way over the wall instead of squeezing through the small opening. "Zombie?!" "My lord?" "THE FUCK?! YOUR LORD?" The more voices called out the more all the fighters confused themselves as the fact that they were all on the same side slowly dawned upon them. "Ha...? HA?! MOM!? DAD!" *phuaaaaaaaaa* Also, as soon as Cranberry noticed Mirabelle and Olive, she instantly released the ready spell without activating it and the mana sizzled out with a sound simr to a person exhaling in relief as the sky returned to its rightful appearance, and the red-haired girl rushed towards the pair of elves. "Cranbaby~!" Mirabelle cheered out and spread her arms at which Cranberry threw herself without any hesitation whatsoever. "Mom! Mom, I missed you so much...!" The red-haired girl cried out, desperately clinging to the elven woman with all her might as if she was afraid that she would disappear on her if she let her go. "Hey there, sweetie. Now, now. Mommy is happy to see you two." Mirabelleughed, surprised but very much happy because of the reaction that the red-haired girl had ¨C mainly because she was feeling the same way ¨C and returned the tight hug. "You had a quite interesting situation going on in here, didn''t you?" Olive smirked and asked while patting Cranberry''s head. "A certain someone decided to charge instead of checking up what happened after the magic crystal fired at us, and then Zombie thought it would be fine to let everyone fight as long as no one dies, and I agreed..." "...!" The red-haired girl revealed ¨C after sending an evil re towards the armored centaur who twitched nervously and backed away a few steps under her heavy stare. "All well that ends well ¨C right?" Zombie walked up to the happy family of three and waved his hand dismissively. "Haa... yeah, I guess... Did you know that mom and dad will be here?!" Cranberry breathed out and nodded, before furrowing her brows and staring at the blue undead knight while still cuddled up to Mirabell and Olive. "Sure I did~ I even knew the timing of their arrival ¨C why do you think I asked you to conjure a spell that would stop the fighting at the right time?" Zombie smirked confidently and shrugged his shoulders without a shred of guilt. Chapter 543 - At The Outpost... (part 1)

Chapter 543 - At The Outpost... (part 1)

Since all was resolved and the wounded were carried away and treated with healing magic the rtive peace returned to the outpost. Shanks who thanks to his detection skills knew that the group of monsters arriving was led by the blue undead knight, never even left the headquarters'' building, and was the onlypletely unharmed person from not only his own party but the entire fort''s crew. As for the oue of the battle... Uresha ended up with a fewrge bruises and an indented shield from fighting the armored centaur, Coconut. In''re ended up with sprained ankle and wrist, mostly because the ck and green arachne, Pawpaw, didn''t particrly care about the state of a person she was turning into a cacoon. Out of the Dandelions, Lairs was the one who was hit the most, with few broken ribs and a leg, coupled with bruises, cuts, and wrist strain - all because of the initial encounter with Coconut - except the strained wrist since that she got from trying to get her crystal ball back from Pawpaw''s webbing without using fire magic. Rotte ended up with a few sprains, a broken rib, and a whole lot of bruises - he even was found out to suffer a concussion but he was holding up surprisingly well and without Tangelo''s expertise, they would not have even realized that since their main healer didn''t arrive in time. From the Brave swords... Avocado the tank - his state was unknown but the special artifact that Cherry, their party leader had, was showing that his HP was full so it was only a matter of time when he and Sumac the harpy will return... ...although ording to Cranberry''s book knowledge supported by the helpful rtion of the few vigers who interacted with the harpies, that might take some time because their species was well known for having a good memory but a terrible attention span... As for Cherry himself, the warrior and the leader of the group was only slightly bruised and had a sprained elbow from taking the initial rock spear without any preparation and was up and running about the fastest out of all the injured people. The twin spellcasters of the Brave Swords, Lime and lemon were merely strained and had little bruises around their eyebrows from bumping heads, as Safou the naga''s snake body wrapping around them didn''t leave any traces whatsoever on their bodies - mainly because spellcasters rarely trained their bodies and Safou''s ability - dispell - blocked the spells from being conjured, cutting of the girls only real chance of fighting back. Lychee... Well, Lychee was hit the hardest, she suffered damages to her throat and her ribs ended up broken - thankfully it all was healed, still, it took a lot more time than some of the previous injuries... ...but that also left the two defenders with the worst injuries... The first one was Xavi - more widely known as Banana. She was the agile person attacking Coconut from above - the same one who got swatted like a bug with the massive tower shield that the armored centaur wielded with overwhelming proficiency. She ended up with a concussion, broken ribs, broken wrist, broken leg and a sprained and was knocked unconscious before Pawpaw managed to immobilize her with her webbing. Thest one was Laura. Laura, the ex-adventurer who was the friend of Zombie''s real parents, the woman who had taken him in to provide guidance that would lead to the right path... ...which definitely didn''t work out at all, but at least she tried... Laura ended up in by far the worst state, her old gear provided to be insufficient - especially her helmet - which lead to her skull getting cracked coupled with a serious concussion and multiple other broken bones. Without a certain overpowered healer, it was highly improbable that she would be healed up and ready to move around in less than two or three months even with the healing magic of all the healersbined. ...but who said that the healer was necessary in the first ce...? ------- Apletely separate room that was prepared especially for Laura''s long-term stay got flooded by a violet light before everything returned to normal. "..." Laura''s eyelids shook... "...?" And after a short while, she opened her eyes and started blinking in confusion. "Hello there, Laura. How are you feeling?" Zombie resting his chin on the mattress right by the woman''s hand asked, observing the woman with a gentle expression. He was prepared for her to start shouting after finding out an undead like him by her bedside... "...Zombie...? Ugh... my head feels so weird... what happened?" ...but instead of a shocked reaction like that, Laura merely moved up to a half-sitting position and massaged her forehead - surprised to find bandages all around her head... "One of the new friends that I brought went a bit too hard on all of you... you got me scared you know? I never expected you to be here. Let me help you with that - it''s no longer necessary." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and got up, offering his help after seeing the woman struggling with taking the bandages off. "That armored centaur was your friend? Warn me the next time you will be bringing back such reckless ones - I will make sure to stay home!" Laura smirked and joked around, which made Zombie breathe out in relief - if she couldugh things off like that, she really must have been fine and his overpower used on Tangelo''s healing spell must have worked as intended. "Whoa...! Look all those gray hair! You''re a grandma now, Laura!" The blue undead removed thest of the bandages and Laura''s hair was released. "Hey, I picked you up from your parents sixteen years ago, are you expect ady in herte fifties to still have lush colorful hair?" She furrowed her brows but there was no anger in her eyes when she looked over at the blue undead knight. "No. But I also didn''t expect ady like that to be running about trying to stop a centaur''s attack." Zombie responded with a smirk and sat back down by Laura''s bed. "Yeah... well... someone had to do something, the elven girl was about to get stomped and her friend charged in without thinking, to help her - and the centaur looked really strong - too fir him to handle alone." The woman pointed out. "True. Coconut is the strongest monster amongst the group we gathered. But seriously, acting like a hero at your age? Think of your health a little bit." The blue undead breathed out and shook his head. Chapter 544 - At The Outpost... (part 2)

Chapter 544 - At The Outpost... (part 2)

"Oh? As if you are the one to talk! Watch my health! Good one! Said the boy who worked himself to death and then just continued working harder and harder." "..." Laura smiled and looked at the Zombie who looked away awkwardly. "I am not scolding you - as ridiculous it might sound, I kind of expected that you pull off something so crazy in the end... You never learned how to hold back..." Sheughed and reached doubt to pat the blue undead''s head ¨C and he bowed slightly so that she had an easier time reaching it. "...did Banana tell you about that...?" Zombie ended up asking, slightly embarrassed from the warm, affectionate touch. "Yes. And Mia, and Luke too. Even some of the passing folks have had some gossip about you from time to time - it seems like you were around the Envys territory a lot..." Laura pointed out, leaning her head down to nce at Zombie''s face. "I''m sorry... I feel like such a brat for not visiting... I... I think that part of me didn''t want to make you worry, but I guess it was mostly due to the fact that as an undead I feel the urge to kill humans, and I didn''t want to feel like that around you..." The blue undead admitted, lowering his head even more. "Aww... you were always a good kid... very deep inside your heart - but that still counts~!" Laura smiled brightly, tousling Zombie''s hair, which caused the blue undead to raise his head and smile back at her. "So you say, but I bet that you would scold me for a whole week straight if I showed up looking like this on your doorstep!" "Pffft...!" The blue undead dered while spreading his arms open to show himself off, which caused the woman to snort and giggle uncontrobly. "Treu, true ¨C I would have talked your ears off for never taking it easy as e always advised you..." Laura nodded with a gentle smile. "Ah! That''s right! I almost forgot! How about Papaya? Did hee here with you or did he stay behind to watch the farm? You see, Nagas and arachne are incredible with making both poison and medicine - I bet that an apothecary like him would love to..." "...!" "...to check it out...?" Zombie'' face brightened up as he started talking about the man living together with Laura, an apothecary who always tried his best to keep up with the lively woman as well as doing his best at being the support for their little farm - but then the blue undead saw Laura flinching, and he furrowed his brows and stopped talking with a bad feeling. "Ah. That''s right... you don''t know..." "...!" The woman looked away with an awkward, insincere smile, which made the blue undead cautious... "Papaya died five years ago..." "WHAT?! WHO DID IT...?!" Laura revealed in a sad voice which cause Zombie to stand up and roar in vengeful anger. /Proficiency level reached You receive a skill Ira (level 1)\\\\ /Error\\\\ /You already received the skill in the past\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Changing the reward\\\\ /You receive a skill Vengeance (level 1) [Passive skill - After a member of your party bes injured, all your stats increase by 50%]\\\\ A series of system messages had popped up for the blue undead, but he couldn''t care less about them at the moment... "No. It''s not like that, sit down..." "...?" Laura shook her head and grabbed Zombie''s hand, guiding him back on the chair by her bed, causing his confusion... "Papaya wasn''t killed by anyone... it was just a normal day, our newest kids have already left the farm and we were just cleaning up... I told him that I will move the heavy boxes myself, but you know how he was - he said that I should let him be a man of the house from time to time and rely on him more - and went to the shed anyway..." Laura started exining, and with each word, her shoulders shook more and more. "...around noon, I heard a noise... I thought that he dropped something so I went to go nag him that he should have waited for me and... he was justying there... it looked like he was stacking the boxes up and got on adder to put thest one and... he fell..." "Laura..." The woman bit her lips as she couldn''t hold back the tears welling up in her eyes, and the blue undead grabbed her hand. "...I took him and went to find a medic immediately, but... it was toote. I always told him that he should raise his level and not just focus on his job''s skills... his defense was so weak... Papaya died on the spot once he hit his head against the ground..." "..." The blue undead didn''t say anything and simply reached out and hugged the woman who never stopped carrying about him. "I-I''m sorry. It has already been five years, I really am getting old... I''m such a fool." Laura cried in Zombie''s shoulder and he was patting her back reassuringly. "No... of course, you are not... I''m so sorry that I didn''t visit you earlier..." The blue undead gritted his teeth whileforting the woman. "No, no... that not''s how it works, kiddo... you have your own life..." She shook her head and tried to reassure the blue undead but ended up breaking into tears... ...the blue undead stayed with her until she fell cried herself to sleep, once she did, he tucked her in and left... "You." "S-sir...?!" In front of the building, he grabbed the shoulder of the terrified girl that came together with Xavi and pointed her at the entrance. "Your new duty is to make sure that Laura has everything that she could ever wish for. Do not leave her side unless you would absolutely have to ¨C and if you do, make sure to get someone else to watch her." "Ye-yes, sir!" The horrified girl hurriedly nodded her head and entered the building fearing for her deal life. "...haa..." Zombie breathed out and looked towards the headquarters building that was upied by the family gathering of Cranberry, Mirabelle, and Olive. Chapter 545 - Dangerous Event Starting - Lonely Undead (part 1)

Chapter 545 - Dangerous Event Starting - Lonely Undead (part 1)

Zombie walked over to the headquarters building and peeked through the window. Cranberry was smiling brightly as she talked about something excitedly while sitting in between the two elves, Mirabelle and Olive. A picture of a happy family. "..." Zombie smirked before turning around and walking away without even trying to get into the building. If there was a person who truly wanted to experience the actual familiar bond and deserved it fully too - in Zombie''s opinion it was obviously his Cranberry. The Cranberry that was a mixture of three personalities sure did already experience it through the memories of the Cranberry from the current ythrough but reminiscing about something through the obtained memories and actually living through it must have been quite different, and the red-haired girl was clearly enjoying it to the fullest. "I guess I can give her some time to y around." The blue undead knight thought to himself. He didn''t want to admit but the information about Papaya''s death shook him greatly, far more than it ever affect an undead like him. Zombie waspletely used to death - funnily enough, the species that he belonged to currently was existing solely for bringing it upon all of the livings, but... ...people can die outside ofbat too... The blue undead felt the odd sensation in his chest - something that an undead shouldn''t be even able to feel in the first ce. The most shocking part was that the machine mind skill wasn''t affecting it at all and no matter what Zombie''s brain didn''t return to its default calm state... Did that mean that how he was feeling at the moment was supposed, to be his default state...? "...hmm..." The blue undead knight furrowed his brows - he rubbed his hands together feeling as if he was missing something important - and walked back towards the barracks but this time he went for the emergency hospital wing that they set up to amodate all the people who weren''t lucky enough to get their wounds healed at once. "Chief...!" As soon as he entered, Zombie was greeted by a surprised gasp of the female minotaur, Tangelo. "Sup'', are you free for a moment or two?" He asked looking around - he waved his hand at Lairs,ying in the bed in the corner, with Rotte sitting by her side. Besides that even Xavi had already gone to another quarter. "Of course. Chief, for you I will always have time!" Tangelo dered with a smile and hurriedly made sure that the decorations on her horns are properly in ce before she walked over to the blue undead awaiting hismand. "Let''s go." Zombie waved his hand at her and the minotaur woman followed him without raising a question, leaving two mildly curious Dandelions alone. "Let''s go to your room. Lead the way." "Ah...! As you wish, chief!" Once they left, Zombie added without sounding particrly amused, but Tangelo blushed and nodded, hurriedly taking the lead. After a little while, they entered one of the few single rooms - or how rather after a closer inspection, a double room with two beds put together to amodate the sheer size of the minotaur woman. "...sorry for getting excited for no reason, chief... what it is that you want from..." Tangelo breathed out to calm herself - after all, no matter what her imagination was telling her, there was no way that Zombie shared them. He was an undead, after all, and undeads... *thunk* "...me...?!" The female minotaur flinched once she heard an unexpectedly loud noise and turned around, just to see the blue undead knight who removed his chestte and put it aside without much care - which resulted in the piece of armor falling and creating the noise. "..." The blue undead was standing in the middle of Tangelo''s room bare-chested as if showing off his outstandingly sculpted body with pristine blue skin. He nced at the stunning minotaur and smirked. "I seekfort - I figured out that since you even offered yourself as a concubine you will not have anything against it." "!!!!!" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and spoke dismissively, causing the minotaur to blush so strongly that she looked as if her face started glowing. "Just so you know, it''s perfectly fine to refuse. I am selfish, but I try to not be aplete asshole to my allies." "!!!" He raised his hand and assured her, but it seemed like the movement of his musclespletely entranced the minotaur woman to the point where she forgot herself and just stared at Zombie''s torso. "Hmm~" Zombie smirked and walked over towards the taller horned woman. "You don''t have to just stare, it''s okay to touch - I''m not an antique at a disy - oh, and while you at it, do you have any skills that can tell you about the health of your target?" The blue undead knight tilted his head and spoke softly. "..." At first, Tangelo hid her face behind her hands, deeply embarrassed, but after a few seconds, she realized that Zombie wasn''t joking or messing with her. She flinched and slowly, very slowly reached out her hand towards the blue undead knight''s body... ------ "See you around, miss concubine~" Around two hourster Zombie left the room and waved the minotaur woman goodbye. He was about to close the door when... "My lord! It''s good to see you!" The ck and green arachne, Pawpaw, raised her hand while squeezing through the corridor that was definitely too small to amodate her massive lower body. "If you are free, I wanted to ask you for help with this little alchemic experiment. Your venom would be much appricia... eh...?" Pawpaw spoke enthusiastically until one out of four pairs of eyes wandered off and ended up sneaking a peek inside the room... ...and spotting Tangello, fidgetting on the bed with an overjoyed expression while radiating the womanly charm... *thunk* "!!!" Zombie nced back and closed the door behind him, causing the arachne to flinch. "Sorry to turn you down, but I already have some other ns - maybe tomorrow." The blue undead raised his head apologetically and winked at her, before squeezing by and walking down the hallway. "My... my lord...!" "Hmm....?" Pawpaw called out causing the blue undead to turn around and look at her with surprise. "Can... can I... I... I mean if you want..." The ck and green arachne fidgeted and started patting down her fringe to hide her eyes with both her humanoid arms and the front spider legs. "...can... can I be next...?" She ended up asking timidly while looking up surprisingly bashfully at the blue undead knight. "Sure. But tomorrow. We can y around after your venom experiment... and since you have high venom nullification skills we can y experiment with it in another way too~" "My lord~!" Zombie smirked and waved his hand before leaving the excited arachne behind. -------- "Eh...?" Pawpaw suddenly tilted her head in confusion looking after the leaving undead - and ened up entering Tangelo''s room. "Yeah, sorry for interrupting your moment, but did lord left his ring here? You know, the ancient artifact one?" She asked the female minotaur. "We were just cuddling, I swear! W-wait, what did you...?" Tangelo flinched and cowered herself but then she tilted and shook her head. "No... that''s odd. Chief didn''t have it from the start... " The female minotaur realizaed in confusion. Chapter 546 - Dangerous Event Starting - Lonely Undead (part 2)

Chapter 546 - Dangerous Event Starting - Lonely Undead (part 2)

The odd feeling in his chest did not disappear, but at least he now knew that it wasn''t anything connected with damage. The blue undead knight strolled around the fort - moving his left hand as if it was itching, and checking up on the different members of the crew - he even visited Laura again. The older woman tried to apologize for being sentimental once again, but the blue undead stopped her with a reassuring hug. He then walked up to the headquarters building... ...just to see the same situation as before... With how things were Cranberry must have been reporting everything that happened since shest saw the two... Well, it wasn''t as if the person she was now had actually encountered the elves pair like this, so maybe it wasn''t so surprising. This time he stayed by the window a little longer, and... /Proficiency level reached You revive a skill Mirror image (level 1)\\\\ "Huh...?" Zombie took a step back and frowned in confusion. What this was about? Was he even doing anything in particr? Howe he was given skill for just standing in ce? It was something odd enough to captivate his attention. He turned around and walked back toward one of the buildings. "You, Shanks, how''s your knowledge about skills? I got a question." He entered a storage building that didn''t even have to undergo any major changes with the addition of a desk a chair - and found the Dandelion that he was looking for. Since the headquarters were clearly upied by the happy family of three, Shanks had to momentarily move the administration there. "Ah, sir Zom... wait...! What?! You have said my actual name?!" The rat-faced man raised his hand before he froze and then suddenly mmed his hand down on the desk, gasping in disbelief. "Yeah, yeah, you can cry tears of joyter." Zombie rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed at himself that he forgot about teasing the man, and shrugged his shoulders. "I have a skill that I received in rather particr circumstances - the name suggests what it does but still I would like to make sure." The blue undead shook his head and revealed. "...well, it''s not like I can tell you everything, but there are a few things that I do know..." Shanks furrowed his brows and said slowly as if hesitant to hype up the blue undead knight in case he end up knowing nothing. "Mirror image." Zombie spoke up without any unnecessary ir and waited. "..." The rat-faced man stood still for a little while with his eyes closed. "That skill allows the user to copy either the looks or the skill of the target. As far as I know, it''s supposedly the tier 1 envy-based skill that is required for the future avatar of envy in order to acquire invidia." Shanks exined before opening his eyes and looking at the blue undead. "Did you seriously just receive that? Don''t get me wrong but I was sure that monsters were unable to get any avatars-rted skills..." He added, raising his brows with surprise. "Envy...? So what, I received the skill because I was... jealous...?" Zombie frowned and almost shrugged the idea off, before ncing through the only window of the storehouse looking between the building where Laura''s room was and the headquarters with Cranberry and her elven parents. "...oh..." He gasped to himself in realization. "Interesting... thanks for the help, Shanks. Oh, and by the way, how things are going between you and Uresha." The blue undead changed the subject and smirked mischievously at the short rat-faced man. "...it''s going..." Shanks flinched and fidgeted awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with himself under Zombie''s gaze. "You do realize that even if she is tough and only needed a bit of healing, she still is a big fluffy girl who blushes when she sees you ncing at her?" "..." The blue undead said while on the way to the door. "Whatever you are doing can wait unless it is something that my Cranberry asked you to do. In any other case, just leave it for an hour or two and gofort her, she has a big heart and is probably feeling down because she mes herself for not protecting everyone." Zombie added before walking out - and smirked to himself once he heard the rat-faced man scrambling to put the papers in order before he also went to the exit. That left the blue undead knight wandering around the fort again. He thought about going out to hunt some monsters, but there were no hostile life signatures anywhere within the range of his detection skill. But then he remembered something... One of the monsters that they brought with them talked about the very efficient hunting ground where monsters spawned only when there was someone nearby. The monster who mentioned that was of course the armored centaur, Coconut, so the blue undead stopped simply wandering around and instead focused on the centaur''s life signature. "...?" And with quite a surprise the blue undead realized that they were... Sitting down in front of the recently restored gate to the fort... Confused about why Coconut decided to separate from the others even though they seemed to very much enjoy thepany - since from the beginning centaurs were a rather extroverted race and each member subconsciously sought to belong in a group of some sort. With that in mind, the blue undead walked over to the wall and opened the gate for himself. Once outside the fort, Zombie realized that his initial assumption was wrong - Coconut wasn''t sitting down, they were kneeling down which must have been very ufortable. But either way, Coconut was kneeling by the gate, she removed her armor so it was now possible to look at the crestfallen centaur girl who was previously hiding underneath it, and had her voice distorted by the horned helmet. Coconut''s hair and mane were deep violet, just like the color of the light that her skills produced - it was only slightly less intense than the light of Zombie''s superbia. Either way, the centaur girl kept her hair in a short ponytail, her horse lower body was that of a splendid mare with strong legs and massive hooves. Forparison, Coconut was easily twice as big as the ashen undead knight''s zombie horses. When it came to her human side, her size was surprisingly small - and the best way to describe her was - slender. It was honestly hard to believe that her thin arms were able to even lift the massive tower shield she was swinging around a few hours before. "My lord...!" Coconut gasped and bowed down with a guilty expression. "I am so sorry...! I am unworthy of following your lead, I injured our allies and... and I have also learned that there was a woman that was like a mother to you amongst them too..." The centaur girl fidgeted and basicallyid t on the ground in deep regret. "You mean Laura, the one who you headbutted?" "!!!!" Zombie smirked and asked, seeing how Coconut''s hooves dig into the ground from nervousness. "Don''t worry, she''s a tough one. And she doesn''t hold any hard feelings toward you. " Since the centaur girl didn''t look even remotely willing to stand up, the blue undead knight kneeled by her and started patting her head. "You thought that you were helping right? Then don''t worry - I should have stopped you earlier but I wanted to check how strong you really are. And the results are quite satisfactory." Zombie praised the girl and changed his position into a casual sit. "But if you feel like yous should make up for it - I would like you to take me to your secret training ground." "You would?! Can we go together?!" Before he even finished his sentence properly, Coconut jumped up on her hooves and cheered excitedly. A proper name for someone like her would be - musclebrain. "Of course." Zombie nodded and patted her side reassuringly - which made the centaur girl blush. "My lord... if you wish... I can carry you there... on my back..." She offered bashfully, ncing at the blue undead with eyes full of expectation. "Sure, why not~" Zombie nodded and spread his arm on the centaur''s horseback and jumped on without any hesitation. "My lord...! You are so bold...!" Coconut gasped, cowering her face with both hands and fidgeting, hoofing her front legs with excitement. "Now then..." Because of theck of any saddle or scales or horns whatsoever like how it was with Baron, to make sure that he will not fall down the blue undead leaned forward and hugged the human part of the centaur girl securely - he rested his chin on her shoulder and coiled his arms around her stomach. "Alright, I''m ready." He dered with a mischievous smirk and rubbed Coconut''s exposed stomach. "...m-my lord...!" The bright red centaur girl gasped and grabbed his hands to take them away. "...?" And once looking down she realized that something was missing. "My lord....? Where is your ancient wedding ring?" Coconut asked staring at Zombie''s left hand. "Huh? What are you talking about? It''s right he...?! HUH!?" The blue undead knight shook his head dismissively and straightened his back, raising his left hand in front of his face... ...and he froze wide-eyed,pletely stunned... "...sorry Coconut, but our training session will have to wait...!" Zombie dered in a worried voice and jumped down the cenaur girl''s back and rushed straight back to the fort beelining it towards the headquarters where Cranberry was. Chapter 547 - Betrayal

Chapter 547 - Betrayal

It wasn''t like Zombie shouldn''t feel like he did, lonely, sad, jealous over families of livings of all the thing, and in need offort and contact - he literally COULDN''T have been feeling like that! He was an undead! That''s not how things work for him! Coconut pointing out the absence of the ancient wedding ring on the blue undead knight''s ring finger was like the missing piece of the puzzle - unfortunately, that piece did not respond to reveal the entire picture but rather posed many more questions. Thankfully, Zombie knew someone who was a walking book guide or at least a splendid tutorial. *WHAM* "!!!!!" "The fuck?!" "Zombie?! What''s going on?!" The blue undead knight didn''t even bother slowing down to open the door to the headquarters building and just straight up kicked them open fiercely, causing both elves and the red-haired girl inside to jump in shock and confusion. "My ancient wedding ring is gone." Zombie dered raising his left hand to show the absence of the artifact. "Wh-what?! But you still had it when we were entering the fort!" Cranberry gasped in confusion, standing up and walking towards her undead knight. She grabbed his hand and carefully studied his fingers as if expecting to see something suspicious. "Did you remove it...?" She asked cautiously, already preemptively getting angry. "Oh, yeah, sure. I took it off and then came running to you for attention." Zombie scoffed, rolling his eyes, and shook his head. "Zombie, this artifact cannot be removed, unless the wielder wishes it - or their finger would get removed together with the ring." Olive also stood up and walked over to the blue undead and the red-haired girl. "Well, they''re clearly is a third option that we don''t know about because I am sure as hell that I didn''t take it off!" "...!" Zombie scoffed with an unusual agitation andined - that made both Cranberry and Olive look at each other with concern. "Say... you didn''t juste here to inform me about the ring, did you...?" It was inly obvious that something was wrong with the blue undead, at it made the red-haired girl worried. "Exactly. I have this weird feeling inside of me, grief, jealousy, definitely something that shouldn''t be there." The blue undead knight exined while tapping his chest. "I visited Tangelo and had her check me up, but she said that everything was fine - no status effect or anything." He added with a slight shrug. "Haa... rotten brain, it''s literally impossible for you to suffer from any status effect in the first ce - you have the superbia skill, remember?" Cranberry breathed out but she sounded more concerned than annoyed. "How long are you feeling different?" Mirabelle also joined them and asked while using a skill on her own to confirm whether the statement about Zombie beingpletely normal was true or false. "I don''t know? A few hours?" Zombie furrowed his brows and responded with a worried expression. "Could it be possible that it happened once you lost the ring?" The leader of the elven vige asked carefully. "I didn''t lose it - it went missing!" Zombie scoffed, rolling his eyes in a fussy fit. "Of course, it''s not your fault." Mirabelle reassured him while ncing meaningfully at the other two. "Now, wait here a little bit." She added before pulling Cranberry and Olive to the side. "What is going on with Zombie, even without the ancient wedding ring he should be immune to any outside influence..." Mirabelle asked Olive in a hushed voice. "That''s not it. An owner of the superbia skill is immune to every control skill - including charms, possessions, brainwash, and even the subdue undead - which would be my guess to what happened - if not for the fact that he has superbia." Olive shook his head and dered with a bothered expression. "Wait, you mean that all this time, he could have fallen for hexes, curses, and simr lesser skills...?!" "...!" Mirabelle shook her head in disbelief and something that she said made Cranberry flinch and go wide-eyed in realization. "Also not really - he is resistant to curses because of his species - hex might be the case... or some other shamanic art..." Olive pointed out making a meaningful expression. "No. It''s not any of the monsters that we brought with us..." "...?" "Cranbaby?" The red-haired girl shook her head and started massaging her forehead, causing her elven parents to turn to her in confusion. "What do you mean it''s not the monsters? Then, after all, do you know what is going on with him?" Olive frowned and motioned at the patiently waiting undead at their back. "...yes..." Cranberry nodded her head with a bitter expression. "Why do you sound as if that''s not a good thing?" Mirabelle asked in confusion after exchanging worried looks with Olive. "Because the thing that happened, happened because of me underestimating the enemy..." Cranberry bit her lip and said in a voice that suggested just how furious she was at herself. "Excuse me for a moment." She apologized and returned to the blue undead, grabbed his hand, and led him outside. She made sure that they were alone and even used the detection+ [hearing] to check just in case. It was very important to not have anyone around for what was about to happen. "What''s going on? Why did you bring me here?" Zombie furrowed his brows, defensively crossing his arms and ring at Cranberry as if she wasn''t trustworthy at all ¨C which honestly made the red-haired girl quite pissed in and of itself... "Zombie ¨C focused on me. " The red-haired girl managed to calm down and waved her hand to get the blue undead''s attention. "...?" In response, Zombie did shut up but he kept ring at her with distrust. "Alright... You were right and I was wrong. I''m sorry." "...! Huh...?!" Cranberry did the unthinkable and bowed down her head in an honest apology, causing Zombie to take a step back in shock. "What do you mean...?" He took another step back, staring at the red-haired girl in disbelief. "You were right ¨C the only exnation for this situation is that..." Cranberry didn''t try to follow him and instead raised her head and shrugged her shoulders. "It is Caramel ¨C your older sister started messing with the system and is trying to force the events to happen ¨C the way you act now is because of her skill, suggestion ¨C which..." "THAT PIECE OF FILTH IS SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE?!" the red-haired girl wanted to exin things properly, but before she managed to speak even half of what she hoped to say, the blue undead exploded in pure anger, activating every single offensive skill that he had in pure, unadulterated rage. "WHERE IS SHE...?" Zombie growled in a low, threatening voice that sent chills down even Cranberry''s back, as his eyes began glowing murky red and he turned around scanning the entire fort in search of his most hated life signature in the world. "Zombie ¨C Zombie ¨C look at me." The red-haired girl smiled with satisfaction, already seeing the change in both behavior and aura of the blue undead knight, and approached him ¨C she even reached out and gently grabbed his face before ¨C not so gently ¨C turning it towards herself. "Caramel won''t be here, but the person or people she sent here to steal your ring surely will - now, think." Cranberry demanded looking into furious ck eyes. "Your ancient wedding ring went missing ¨C inside the fort ¨C it must have ¨C I always make sure to nce at it to boost my mood and I clearly remember seeing it on your finger as we entered." She exined while Zombie was gritting his teeth in anger, opening and clenching his fists as if he feel the urge to destroy something with them but was holding back just for the red-haired girl. "I will exin things in-depthter, but for now let''s just say that you were freed from Caramel''s suggestion skill because you used superbia skill." "But I remember getting so angry that I used superbia inside the fort..." Cranberry said but was interrupted by the confused Zombie. "Ha!" The red-haired girl gasped triumphantly. "Do you remember who you were around after thest time you used superbia?" She asked with a cunning smile. "..." Zombie''s eyes widened in realization. "...someone I met after that point is working with that pile of human waste..." He muttered feeling more and more anger coursing through his veins... /You receive a skill Ira (level 1)\\\\ /Error\\\\ /You already received the skill in the past\\\\ /Calcting...\\\\ /Changing the reward\\\\ /You receive a skill Resentment (level 1)\\\\ "..." Zombie froze, staring at the chain of system messages popping up in front of his eyes. "Zombie? Why are you standing here for? We need to get going and start looking for the culprit before they will realize that you are back to normal." Cranberry tapped the blue undead''s cheek and stepped away from him. "...I know who did it..." "Ha...? Already? Are you certain...?" Zombie spoke and made Cranberry raise her brows. "Yeah... and I honestly fucking can''t believe it..." He nodded and dered slowly turning around and ring straight at the building where a certain patient was supposed to be staying long term... ...the same one whom he healed a few hours before.... Chapter 548 - The Mystery Solved - The Heads Will Fall

Chapter 548 - The Mystery Solved - The Heads Will Fall

The blue undead walked through the fort emanating so much pressure and hostility that every single creature in his wake literally ran away fearing for their lives ¨C and that included Uresha of the dandelions, Coconut, and even Olive and Mirabelle who came outside to check up on him and Cranberry. Well... "..." The red-haired girl was toddling behind her blue undead knight with a very serious expression ¨C and the baseball bat scepter at the ready too. "Are they still...?" "Yes ¨C she is right where I left her, but the girl I ordered to watch over her is about to leave." Cranberry asked but before she even finished formting the question she received the answer in tandem with the sound of teeth-gritting. The sheer level of pure hatred reminded Cranberry of how Zombie acted in Durian''s mansion during the first ythrough. *click* The door to the building opened just before the blue undead managed to break them open and a young female adventurer with an anxious expression showed up... "...KYAAAAAH...!" And once she raised her head and saw the blue undead knight ring down at her she screamed in fear and fell back inside. "I-I was going to g-get someone else to watch over miss Laura ¨C I swear...!" "..." The girl cried out raising her hands defensively but Zombie merely nced at her with his eyes glowing murky red and passed by without uttering a single word of exnation, going straight for Laura''s room. "...what was that...? HIIIIH...?!" The female adventurer breathed out and was about to stand up when she suddenly saw the business end of the baseball bat that stopped a mere fraction of an inch away from her face. "You are going back with us." Cranberry dered before taking back her weapon and resting it on her shoulder. "Move." She added motioning after the blue undead who was about to enter the room... *WHAM* ...she added motioning after the blue undead who kicked in the door to the room and enter the room... "B-but... I really need to go... answer the call of nature, please..." The female adventurer''s face grew bright red and she rubbed her stomach with a pitiful expression. "Then you will shit yourself back in that room or I will kill you here and now - your choice." "!!!" If the girl was hoping for even a shred of mercy from Cranberry, well, she definitely made the wrong bet. The only thing that was certain was that the red-haired girl already activated her skills and readied her arm for an overhead strike that would crush the unlucky adventurer''s head like a watermelon. "N-no...! I''m going! I''m going...!" The girl teared up and ran back towards Laura''s room on all fours. "...haa... so it''s this event... guess we cannot dy it, might as well trigger it properly..." Cranberry breathed out with annoyance and was thest one to properlye inside. "..." The blue undead knight standing over the bed where the woman in herte fifties was resting ¨C he nced at the red-haired girl, raising his brow at the female adventurer who scambled into the room before her, Cranberry nodded at him with a serious expression and he nodded back before turning to the confused Laura. "Zombie...? What is going o...?" "Do you have anything for your defense?" The woman asked but was cut off by the cold voice of the blue undead. "Defence? Now, what are you talking about?" Laura furrowed her brows and shook her head with an innocent expression. "Are there any quest that requires her to be alive that we need toplete?" Instead of answering her, Zombie asked without getting the woman out of her sight. "Zombie ¨C what are you...?!" "Sir Zombie, you cannot be serious...! Laura gasped and tried to stand up while the female adventurer still on the floor looked up and gasped with a ghastly pale face. "Not a single quest we need is connected with this person." No matter what the two tried to aplish ¨C the verdict had been decided the moment Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and shook her head dismissively. *BOOOOM* *SPLAT* Not even bothering to utter any farewell the blue undead turned his body and annihted Laura''s head with a single kick ¨C making the blood, shattered pieces of skull, and mashed up gray matter paint the wall by the bed as the lifeless corpse fell out of the bed and the copious amount of blood poured from the gruesome wound on the headless body... "RAMBUTAN! NOOOOOO!" The female adventurer cried out in despair and threw herself towards Laura''s corpse and began using healing spells immediately. "...Rambutan...?" Zombie straightened his back and red down at thementing female adventurer trying to resurrect a corpse with mediocre healing magic. "Just wait for a second and you will see ¨C or did you seriously think that you were killing that whole Laura...?" "...?!" Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smirked mockingly causing her blue undead knight to raise his brows. /High-level yer character defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ /Avatar of pride has in the avatar of envy\\\\ /All sin-based skills'' levels increased\\\\ To further confirm Cranberry''s words the message that popped up proved that the beheaded victim wasn''t the Laura that Zombie knew. And something was happening to the body too... The clothes that it was wearing were moving as if the body underneath them was moving ¨C contorting and changing shape ¨C because that was most likely the case. Within the next few seconds, the headless female body shrunk and changed into the headless male boy of a rather short individual. "See? I told you that there will be no quests connected with this person in the future~" The red-haired girl raised her head proudly and puffed out her chest with triumph as if she did a great job. "Rambutan...! No... it cannot be...! Rambuta, please...!" But the corpse wasn''t the only one changing. The female adventurer who wasn''t giving up on using the healing skills also changed her appearance ¨C her short hair grew long, her body also became bigger ¨C almost too big for the gear that she was wearing and... The two human ears grew into long elf ears with outstanding speed. "...Rambutan and Sk...!" Zombie uttered in a murderous tone and clenched his fists ring at Lairs''s mother who abandoned her daughter and betrayed her entire race. Chapter 549 - A Little Chat~

Chapter 549 - A Little Chat~

"Remember when I once exined to you that the avatar of envy or the hair to the throne of envy can even steal someone''s life signature? That''s what happened." Cranberry exined with a big bright smile... "GHAAAAAAAAAA...! NOOO! LET ME GOO! I NEED TO HELP MY HUSBAND!" ...while grabbing on Sk''s hair and forcefully pulling her away from Rambutan''s headless corpse, causing the elven woman to scream and struggle with all of her might. "Shut up." *SLAM* *SPLATTER* Zombie scoffed at the elf and stomped at her lover''s body, turning it into a paste with a single attack. "...!" *plop* Sk trembled as the hand of her deceased husband flew past her head and hit the window where it slowly slid down the ss before falling onto the floor with a pitiful sound. "Zombie ¨C check the fort with your signature detection now ¨C with the avatar dead, everyone who changed their appearance and life signatures thanks to him will now reveal themselves." Cranberry added looking back at her blue undead knight and smiling. "..." Zombie nodded and his eyes instantly started glowing with murky red light. "No ¨C no changes... If they have another aplice they aren''t hiding by using the same skill... Or it''s Mason ¨C he is the heir... well, now he is the avatar, right?" The blue undead knight reported before walking towards the red-haired girl ¨C or rather the elven woman that she was holding down. "..." Then, the blue undead lifted his leg with the clear intention of ending Sk''s life. "AUUGHHH!" "Stop ¨C I know that you are angry but she needs to mention someone else so that Mason''s special quest could begin." ...but he was stopped by Cranberry who pulled the elven woman from right under his foot. "I was sure that we were supposed to start another special quest first ¨C or at least have the hub vige set up." Zombie furrowed his brows and took back his leg. "This one can be started before any of that other nonsense ¨C which you should know about since you almost triggered it before." The red-haired girl scoffed shaking her head in disbelief. "First of all ¨C no, Mason is definitely not involved in any of that nonsense ¨C though he must be pretty shocked to suddenly receive the title of the avatar. And if those two didn''t have another ally here then... check her pockets." "ARGH...! S-stop it! Release me you murderous beast! You killed my Rambutan! You won''t get away with this I swear!" Cranberry dered, before shaking Sk''s head a little bit, causing the female elf to call out in pain and fury. "Pfff...! Khahahaha! Did you hear that? A fucking spy and a robber entered our fort and stole our property and now has the guts to threaten us?!" The blue undeadughed mockingly before shaking his head and stepping over the elf to search. "D-don''t touch me you filthy undead! I ¨C GUH-HUAGH...!" *SMASH* Sk tried to throw him off but Cranberry pulled back her head and pped her with just enough power to break two of her teeth. "You really don''t understand your situation now, do you? Even if you somehow forgot about your previous encounter with my Zombie, the priestess Caramel surely must have warned you about us... or at least about him." The red-haired girl pulled Sk''s head even further back and asked staring into her eyes. "How did you learn about the priestess...?!" Sk gasped in disbelief ¨C making the red-haired girl smile triumphantly since her guess was confirmed without any effort. "I called it earlier, and you said I was in the wrong ¨C why are you acting as if you knew from the start?" "...haa..." Zombie frowned, staring at the red-haired girl with usation ¨C at which she reacted with a heavy sigh. "You were just guessing because you hate her with all your heart and want her dead ¨C I was making an educated guess based on all the memories at my disposal." Cranberry frowned and stared right back at the blue undead knight. "Hmm...?" Zombie frowned, raising his brow, and pulled his hand out of the inner pocket of the already way too tight shirt of Sk''s vest. "There it is... So, you were leaving because your dearte Rambutan passed you the ring ¨C if you two weren''t so cautious and slow, then who knows? Maybe he would be still alive." The blue undead knight scoffed, putting the ancient wedding ring right where it belonged ¨C on his left hand''s ring finger. He even ended up putting his armored glove over it just in case. "...bastard...!" Sk gritted her teeth and her eyes filled with tears once she nced at the mass of gore that was once her husband. "H-hey...! Aren''t you curious what happened to that woman ¨C Laura? If you harm me you will never find her!" Suddenly the elf changed her approach and called out with an evil smile. "Huh...? And why should I care?" "Eh...?" ...but the indifferent response from the blue undead made her gasp in confusion. "Don''t ''eh'' me now. The weird emotional mess you saw before was merely caused by that repugnant filth''s skill ¨C what was it called again? Suggestion? What is it exactly?" Zombie smirked right back at the shocked elven woman before ncing at the red-haired girl. "Suggestion is the skill of the person with the support character role ¨C in the game, a question mark would appear by some of the words or in certain situations and Caramel would talk straight to the person in front of the skill. In our world that works in a way that she can directly put some thoughts into her target''s conscience without them realizing anything. It leaves no trace, it''s not a control type of skill or a charm ¨C it just nts a suggestion that the brain will start following." Cranberry fulfilled her role as a tutorial guide and exined instantly. "I didn''t hear her voice or anything though ¨C and that would definitely piss me off enough to make me activate superbia." Zombie made a sour expression and looked to the side with a hint of shame. "That''s not how it works ¨C suggestion affects the subconscious ¨C of course, you didn''t hear anything that''s not how influencing the subconscious works." Cranberry smirked and waved her hand dismissively. "Alright... you will have to save the rest forter ¨C now..." Zombie added and a cruel, evil grin bloomed on his face as he looked at the wall of the room with his eyes glowing with murky red light. "I really want to see her die already ¨C and the person who will definitely share my opinion is alreadying here..." "...!" He revealed cheerfully. "Ha? Weren''t Lairs still injured?" "Lairs?!" Cranberry raised her brows ¨C and Sk gasped and her face became even more pale than it was before. "Rotte is helping her walk to here ¨C I wonder if she somehow sensed her dearest mother being near or something~" Zombie giggled ncing down at the horrified elf. "N-no! Not her! Just kill me already if you have to! I beg of you...!" Sk gasped in panic ¨C still trying to free herself despite her own words. "Ah~! That''s the reaction I love to see~! You know that she became strong, right? I wonder how will she repay you for abandoning her~?" The blue undead knight chuckled over the elven woman''s despair. Chapter 550 - Secret Quest - Actiated!

Chapter 550 - Secret Quest - Actiated!

"Laii, are you sure that you don''t want to rest a bit more...?" Rotte the warrior slightly on the bigger side asked the ck-haired elven sage while supporting her walking towards one of the buildings in the fort. "...yeah, I am fucking sure... I honestly hope that I am wrong..." Lairs nodded, with one arm over Rotte''s shoulders while clenching her crystal orb in her left hand, close to her heart. "What is that supposed to mean...?" The warrior asked in confusion but didn''t try to actually stop the elf since he knew her long enough to realize that even without his help she would end up crawling to her destination if she had to. "Mana... all of a sudden someone with a lot of mana showed up and stirred up the nature-based mana in the air ¨C another elf just popped up right there, and she didn''t even use the teleportation skill. That would cause apletely different reaction..." Lairs shook her head and dered, gritting her teeth ring at the building with the half-opened door as if she tried to see through the wooden walls with her determination alone and see the person inside. "Elf you say? And you sure that wasn''t either of the two with Mrs. Pride...?" Rotte raised his brows and looked towards the headquarters. "No. I never met those two before ¨C but the mana of that new one... I recognize it... vaguely... I must check it...! I must make sure...!" Lairs nodded, gritting her teeth so hard as if she tried to ground them into dust. "..." The warrior closed his mouth and furrowed his brows thinking deeply ¨C he wasn''t the smartest out of the Dandelions and he could be quite dense ¨C but he also wasn''tpletely stupid. Once he managed to control his tendency to rushing to conclusion and connect the dots ¨C he understood his elven older sister''s behavior. "Laii... considering all we know, there''s really no reason for your mothe..." "I fucking know! But I sense that whore''s mana in that fucking building, alright?!" Rotte breathed out trying to cool down the agitated Lairs, but the ck-haired elf growled in fury, clenching her hand on the crystal orb so hard that she broke her nails, making her fingers bleed. "...oh...! See ¨C it''s just Zombie...!" Then someone walked out of the building ¨C it was the blue undead knight ¨C and Rotte breathed out in relief, but... "Good, good ¨C stay there and save your energy ¨C we have a present just for you, Lairs~!" "...!" The blue undead knight looked straight at them and his face twisted with a cruel smile befitting the demon emperor and he ended up motioning at Rotte and Lairs to stop. "You will need some space to act freely." Zombie added and make way for someone behind him. "..." The next person that showed up was of course the red-haired Cranberry who smiled cheerfully and waved at the two Dandelions... "N-NOO! NOOO! STOOP! I BEG YOU!" "!!!!!!!!!!!" ...and dragged out the struggling elven woman... "Lairs... Is this...?" Rotte asked ¨C but he really didn''t have a need for the ck-haired elven woman to answer him as the moment the captured elf showed up, Lairs tensed up and her breath hastened bing irregr as if she was about to suffocate. With her eyes focused on the captured woman, Lairs bared her teeth as if she was a wild animal ready to pounce at her prey to rip her apart. -------- "N-NOOO! NOT HER! KILL ME! JUST KILL ME NOW! DON''T GIVE ME TO THAT CURSED CHILD!" /Secret quest -Cursed sister- begins\\\\ /Quest''s objectives: Learn about the curse from one of the blood rtives of the victim (required for triggering the quest) pleted] Find avatar''s sister pleted] Confront the siblings Research the method of dispelling the curse* Dispell the curse* [* - avatar of envy is required as an active member of the yer''s party]\\\\ /Reward: ???\\\\ While struggling, Sk caught a glimpse of Lairs in the corner of her eye and went into a frenzy, screaming, crying, and kicking up her legs ¨C which was apparently enough to start a quest because both Cranberry and Zombie received the series of system messages at the same time. "Oh-ho! Very good! I was worried that we will need Marlo to be here with us, but it seems that being a yer character is enough~!" Zombie chuckled, stepping to the side so that Cranberry could pass him. "Ha? Nope ¨C no way ¨C no special quest can be triggered without the heroine." "Huh...?" The red-haired girl frowned and nced at him in disbelief ¨C leaving the blue undead knight dumbfounded for the first time in a while. "Then what the hell were those, huh? Or are you saying that Mindy is here too, but she found a way to fool my life signature detection?" Zombie frowned back and asked. "No, Mary is back at the capital together with Roan ¨C and I bet she must be stunned seeing a special quest pop up just like that~ Lairs ¨C here ¨C a gift for you!" Cranberry''s expression changed into a smirk as she answered her husband before she turned to the ck-haired elf supported by the warrior... "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH...!" *thump* ...and she threw the horrified Sk right under their feet... "How do you know where she is...?" Zombie''s eyes followed the elven woman but he still asked Cranberry with curiosity. "Oh, it''s very simple ¨C Mary is my follower ¨C as such I know where she is and roughly know what she is doing ¨C I also can add her to my party whenever I want. Isn''t that convinient~?" The red-haired girl smirked, taking out a handkerchief and wiping her hands thoroughly. "Perfect~" Zombie grinned and nodded, pleasantly surprised. "Should we grab Lairs and go to the Envy''s territory immediately then?" He asked lightheartedly. "What? And miss on the show? Are you insane?" Cranberry scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. "I don''t know about you but I am certainly not a person that stops others from taking revenge on the people that wrong them. Watching matricide is still my third favorite thing to do!" The red-haired girl dered proudly. "What about the second and the first?" The blue undeadughed and asked although he knew the answers. "Second ismitting it myself..." Cranberry counted down on her fingers with a lighthearted expression. "And the first one is being with you." She tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders as if it wasn''t a big deal at all. "That''s why I will definitely kill that bitch cow whose smell is all over you." She added ¨C and her voice turned ice-cold instantly. "Honestly ¨C I can''t me you on that ¨C in your ce, I would do exactly the same." The blue undead nodded with an indifferent expression. "You aren''t going to try and defend her by saying it was Caramel''s fault because she used suggestion skill on you and turned you into a fucking idiot?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and asked. "Do you want me to? Wow, you aren''t even half as obsessed with me as I am with you. That''s disheartening. I would annihte the entire species of the creature you cheated on me with - willingly or not." "Pffft! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha! I love you, you selfish rotten hearted hypocrite." The blue undead knight and the red-haired girl grinned at each other and then turned back to the revenge spectacle starting.... Chapter 551 - Cursed Sister

Chapter 551 - Cursed Sister

"G-GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sk shouted and tried to crawl away from the ck-haired elven mage supported by the human warrior. "...there was a time when I had hope that you would return for me... you know...?" "...!" Lairs''s voice was so calm andposed that it made Rotte flinch and look at her in confusion ¨C and then the warrior slightly on the bigger side had realized that it was absolutely not the case... The ck-haired elf''s anger simply went over a certain threshold and it was no longer possible to express it with a furious expression, hence Lairs''s face lost all emotion. "You...! Who would have returned for you! Because I gave birth to you I was banished from my home! I sacrificed everything for you and then you turned out to be cursed! The only mistake I made was to not kill you off immediately once I saw your disgusting ck hair!" Sk managed to scramble herself back on her feet and growled at her daughter ¨C although at first nce it was hard to believe as the elves'' aging process differed greatly from the human one. Sk looked barely any older than Lairs ¨C and the two of them weren''t even simr ¨C whoever Lairs''s father was, she definitely inherited most of his traits. "...yeah. Maybe you should..." "Laii...!" "...!" The ck-haired elven mage nodded her head with an indifferent expression ¨C which prompted Rotte to call out to her in a worried voice while making her mother misunderstand and grin triumphantly. "Nothing that can''t be fixed now!" Sk scoffed and reached out her hand that started glowing with white light. "Lightni...!" "Thunder." *BOOOOM* As Sk was calling out the spell''s foolishly thinking that she had a chance, Lairs scoffed and both her hand and crystal ball shone with a blinding white light ¨C within an instant, the sky above the overconfident light-haired elf darkened and an electrical discharge struck her from above, charring her body. "...ghugh...!" A cloud of ck smoke escaped Sk''s open mouth and she crumbled down to her knees, already on the verge of dying." "Heal." "...?!" Lairs sighed and her weapon shone brightly once more ¨C within an instant all the damage dealt with Sk healed up, leaving her utterly confused. "Wh-why did you...?!" She gasped, but Lairs''s intention became abundantly clear the very next second. "Acid ball." *SPLASH* "AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHEHHAHAGAGHAAGAHEGAHAG...!" The ck-haired elf called out and an orb of extremely corrosive liquid materialized in front of her and shoot out and hit Sk straight in the face eating into her face, burning up skin, flesh, and bones, sending the woman down into seizures as her attempts to get rid of the liquid only added to the pain she was experiencing. "Ice spear. Ice spear." *stab* *stab* "AAAUUUUUUUURRGRRGHGRHRGRG...!" Two massive icicles shot out and pierced Sk''s legs, basically separating her knees from her calves instead of just pinning her down. "Ah ¨C right ¨C I guess you never bothered to check so you don''t know..." Lairs stopped conjuring new spells for a moment and spoke ¨C more to herself than to her mother as it was doubtful that sk was even able to hear her too busy wailing in agony like a mindless monster getting butchered. "I was born with the stack skill ¨C it is incredibly useful for making up quite mean spells..." The dark-haired elf smiled softly and reached out her crystal ball. "Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball. Fireball." Lairs repeated the same incantation over and over again but only a single orb of fire ever appeared in front of her ¨C but although at first it was red by the time that the ck-haired elven mage was satisfied and stopped adding on to it, the color of mes changed into pure white ¨C and it produced enough heat to make Rotte gritted his teeth from difort even though Lairs made sure to conjure the spell at the safe distance away from herself and him. "I can make things like that out of basic spells, you know? Isn''t it amazing? Here, check for yourself." The ck-haired elf shrugged her shoulders and chucked the white fireball at her wriggling mother. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The ice spears evaporated before even the ball of white fire touched Sk''s body ¨C but when it actually made contact, the flesh of the elven woman wasn''t much different to ice either. Sk''s flesh turned into charcoal and blew apart ¨C her legs, stomach, and hands all disappeared as she screamed her throat sore in agony. "Truth be told I don''t even need to repeat it like that. See? Heal." Lars smirked and once again healed her mother ¨C but even the stacked healing spell merely recovered whatever was left of her ¨C it didn''t cause the burnt-out parts to regrow or anything. "...you...! You...!" Sk growled, ring with hatred at her daughter whom she abandoned ¨C but as she was merely a torso head and stumpsying down on her back unable to do anything, she wasn''t even remotely threatening. "Say... was it worth it? Abandoning me and selling out your entire fucking race? Just because my hair is ck?" Lairs''s indifferent expression broke and her face twisted in disgust. "...because your hair is ck...? ¡­eh...? Impossible... You don''t even know what your curse is?! Pfft...! Ahaha...! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Even in her situation, Sk flinched after hearing Lairs''s words and startedughing maniacally. "I see... I get it... No elf wanted to talk with you, so you never learned about it... You idiotic child...! Don''t tell me that this whole time you thought it''s about your hair color...!? Hair color! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The horribly mutted elven woman couldn''t stop herself from ridiculing the ck-haired. "Wh-what...?!" Her words made Lairs shudder and gasp in bewilderment. "YOU CRETIN! IF IT WAS ABOUT YOUR BLACK HAIR THEN YOUR FATHER WOULD STILL BE ALIVE AND MY WHOLE FAMILY TOO! THE COLOR OF YOUR HAIR IS MERELY THE MARK OF THE CURSE BEARER! YOU ARE THE PLAGUE THAT WILL BRING THIS WORLD''S DESTRUCTION UNLESS YOU ARE DEALT WITH!" "...!" Sk roared, leaving Lairs speechless. "I WAS RUNNING AWAY FROM YOU AND ACCIDENTALLY MET WITH MY BELOVED RAMBUTAN ¨C HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WOULD HEAR ME OUT, AND HE EVEN FIGURED A WAY TO SAVE ME FROM YOUR CURSE ¨C HE FOUND YOU AND USED THE POWERS OF THE AVATAR OF ENVY TO STEAL IT AND SEALED IT AWAY ¨C BUT NOW THAT YOUR FILTHY FRIENDS KILLED HIM TOO, THE CURSE''S FULL POWER WILL REVEAL ITSELF AGAIN AND IT WILL BE ALL OVER! YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE! THOSE YOU HOLD DEAR WILL DIE! AND THEN THE WHOLE WORLD WILL...!" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "!!!!!!!" Sk was indulging herself in the wild pleasure of seeing her daughter look more and more horrified with each word that she spoke ¨C but then a single unbelievably powerful hit from a jet-ck baseball bat annihted her head and caused a massive tremor that shook the entire fort and could be felt even at the driads'' vige. "Haa... Sorry for stealing your kill, Lairs. That bitch was so annoying that I couldn''t stop myself ¨C seriously, it was like listening to the woman who gave birth to me..." Cranberry sighed and straightened her back, nodding apologetically to the petrified ck-haired elf. "Still ¨C what she said about your curse was true ¨C that''s why you, me, and my Zombie need to go to the Envy''s territory immediately so we can solve this little problem as fast as possible before any of your friends will die." She added with a lighthearted smile. Chapter 552 - Volume 10th Epilogue - Onwards To The Envys Territory!

Chapter 552 - Volume 10th Epilogue - Onwards To The Envys'' Territory!

"...let''s talk more about suggestion skill..." While traveling inside the carriage Zombie looked at the sleeping Cranberry leaning against his shoulder and spoke softly. "Hmm~? Sure. What do you want to know about it...?" The red-haired girl opened her eyes showing that she was only pretending to be taking a nap and asked. "It nts suggestion into the target''s mind and isn''t even properly detected by appraisers and healers but it has the power to alter the target''s personality to a ridiculous degree ¨C doesn''t that sound too overpowered? Why that piece of filth ever bothered gathering any allies during the first ythrough if she had it at her disposal?" The blue undead knight asked in a serious voice, furrowing his brows. "...haa..." Seeing him like that Cranberry smirked and breathed out. "Oh, she did ¨C she definitely did, just not on you ¨C do you remember how Cranberry from the first ythrough was really down in the dumps ¨C Caramel used suggestion skill to tell her that she is worthless and should kill herself." She revealed with a lighthearted shrug right into the indifferent face of the blue undead. "Oh...? It didn''t even make you flinch?" The red-haired girl raised her brows and tilted her head curiously at theck of reaction from her husband. "Nope, sorry ¨C it is literally impossible for me to despise that pile of human waste even more than I already do ¨C but if this will make you feel better I will allow you tond a single hit on her before I obliterate her... that said ¨C do you want me to tell you how will I murder her after we will deal with Eternal?" Zombie scoffed without changing his expression and even smiled a little bit by the end ¨C excited by the prospect of sharing the extremely detailed n he had in mind. "Pfffft...! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha! You rotten brain!" Hearing him, Cranberry burst into a burst of uglyughter that resembled the barking of a dog and even had to wipe a tear that showed up in the corner of her eye because she wasughing too much. "Thanks." The red-haired girl intertwined her fingers with the blue undead''s fingers and looked at their matching ancient wedding rings and smiled. "And back to the skill exnation ¨C suggestion can fail if the ntedmandpletely outrageous for the target ¨C for example ¨C you love seeing me being jealous so deep within you don''t mind fooling with other women ¨C I am different and that kind of suggestion wouldn''t work on me ¨C that what happened to the first Cranberry too, she got really depressed but never actually tried to kill herself despite Caramel''s wishes." Cranberry revealed ying with Zombie''s fingers. "Noment." The blue undead knight smirked, using his right to remain silent on the matter ¨C which of course revealed his real answer. "As you already know, there are skills that have a limited number of usage ¨C Fillia''s unique magic steal was a one-time skill ¨C from what we know Mary from the first ythrough received a Wish skill ¨C which is a special-tier one-time use spell. And the suggestion isn''t much different ¨C in-game ¨C during the second ythrough especially ¨C the yer could use a hint only five times ¨C and that''s how many times Caramel can use it too in the current ythrough. I think she didn''t actually realize that she had unlimited use of it during the first ythrough because she chose to go with her dream giver ability instead... but that honestly worked in our favor." The red-haired girl added in a matter-of-fact voice. "Of course, since she used one of her chances on you, she''s left with four ¨C although considering how much you''ve traumatized her, I wouldn''t be surprised if she wanted to use all of them on you." She smirked ncing at her blue undead knight. "Aww! You are just saying that because you want to make me feel better~!" Zombie giggled, grinning his teeth like a viin as if nothing could make him happier than making Caramel suffer as much as possible. "But still ¨C haa - I am certain that she used that skill at least once to get herself a position in the church of the system''s faith... And honestly, that''s way better decision than getting Radiance on her side..." Cranberry breathed out and nodded to herself. "Radiance...?" Zombie raised his brow and looked at her in confusion. "The angel-ss king monster ¨C the kid that locked us in system walls." "Ooohhh, that little trash... It died like a coward so I didn''t bother to memorize their name." The red-haired girl exined and only then the blue undead knight nod in realization. "Haa... Zombie ¨C do not underestimate the problem ¨C Caramel in the church''s ranks is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to us ¨C and we had a taste of that with Rambutan and Sk casually making their way into our fort." "borate on that, please." The girl sighed, shaking her head and the undead motioned at her to continue. "Except for the Pride and Greed family, the church of the system''s faith is connected to the remaining main noble families ¨C haa... - honestly ¨C putting aside the fact that Mason''s secret quest could be triggered the fastest, I think that Caramel has sent us a message by using the Envy''s as her pawns." "..." Cranberry dered furrowing her brows. "In normal circumstances, no matter how much Rambutan would hate us, he would never try to do something as ridiculous as showing up on his own, and he definitely wouldn''t risk bringing Sk with him... I am seventy percent sure that Caramel is actually trying to make usplete the secret quests as soon as possible..." She frowned and rested her head back on Zombie''s shoulder. "...but that would mean that she also aims for Eternal''s destruction though...?" The blue undead knight pointed out with a bitter expression as if he hated the mere thought of his own ns aligning with the ns of his most hated person. "...no... even afterpleting all secret quests and rid of Eternal''s Invictus title, that thing still remains the lunatic level super secret endgame final boss(+) and should be the strongest creature in this world... if anything, Caramel, with the aid of the church of the system''s faith no doubt, ended up figuring out a way to gain control over it... Who knows? Maybe suggestion will work on it too?" Cranberry breathed out, shaking her head. "Then, what was it about a message that this repugnant filth had sent us...?" Zombie groaned and rested his head against Cranberry''s head. "If she can make use of Envys'' she can make other families act at the same time ¨C it is possible for two or more special quests to be active simultaneously... and the problematic part of that is that even though it would be possible toplete, we ¨C and I mean you and I ¨C could end up losing all our allies and be at the major disadvantage in the fight against Eternal." The red-haired girlined with a bitter expression. "So what you''re saying is she wants to assure that we will do all the dirty job for her to just perish in the final battle so she would be able to step in and snatch all the benefits with minimum effort..." Zombie growled, sounding absolutely done with thepletely unfair situation. "Haa... exactly..." Cranberry nodded cuddling up to his arm. "I am definitely killing her the moment that her final quest triggers ¨C I even cut up the time I want to torture her in half!" "...pffft...! What sacrifice...!" Zombie dered causing Cranberry to snort with mockery. "...what the fuck are you two talking about...?" Asked the ck-haired Lairs from the opposite seat inside the carriage. "Ha! I see that miss down-in-the-dumps has finally decided to return to the outside world. Great ¨C we''re almost at the capital of the Envys territory." Cranberry smiled cheerfully and turned to the anxious elven mage. "...seriously, what the fuck was that about games and shit...? And why the fuck did you refer to yourself as if there were fucking multiple versions of you - seriously, what the fuck...?" Lairs mumbled, slouching and rubbing her arms awkwardly. "Hey - rx - it must feels weird to travel without your friends for the first time ever, but you don''t have to worry about every single detail. We didn''t leave rebuilding the vige in their hands just so you could be pissed at us, and... Since you were listening... you should at least realize how deep shit we are in if we not deal with your curse as soon as possible. So you know - don''t be aplete bitch to your half-brother when the timees, alright?" The red-haired girl ignored her questions and instead started instructing her in a confident manner. "I...!" Still, the ck-haired elf seemed like she wanted to argue with her... "...unless you want the other Dandelions to start dropping like flies... Your mother was serious when she said that your friends will be the first ones to die because of your curse - the curse affects the people and creatures closest to you - and I don''t mean the distance." "...!" But Cranberry''s exnation followed by a lengthy sigh shut the elven woman up immediately. Chapter 553 - Mason Envy (part 1)

Chapter 553 - Mason Envy (part 1)

The starless night befell the capital of the Envy territory and most of the city poption went to sleep - with the exception of the entrainment district and their clients, of course. But still, there were people still up who weren''t either the entertainers or wanted to be entertained by others... "...fuck... are we seriously going to do it your way...? That is a ridiculous idea!" Lairs muttered under her breath before she hurriedly pulled her hood over her face the moment that some random passerby walked by them. "What else are you expect us to do? Walk up to the main gate and ask for the audience with Mason? He was a figurehead leader of the Envys before so it was already unlikely for others to meet him but now he actually became the avatar thanks to yours truly, and that unlikely changed to no way - impossible, really, really fast." Zombie scoffed, shrugging his shoulders dismissively while making sure that his cloak is covering him properly. "I am pretty sure that back in the fucking carriage one of you had mentioned that you fucking knew him!" The ck-haired elf didn''t give up the subject andined with usation. "Haa... Lairs, seriously, if you wanted a cheerful family reunion, then in our current circumstances you are the one who made a fool out of yourself." Cranberryined while being the only person to not be bothered by her cloak whatsoever. The three of them had snuck into the city under the cover of the night, and thanks to the cloudy sky it was shockingly easy to pass by the city guards without much care effort. Of course, it might have been that the corrupted guards weren''t paying enough attention, to begin with, but since Cranberry and Lairs were the ones responsible for the thick clouds, that gathered over the city they were going to stick to pricing that version instead. "Oh, and just a reminder - let''s not mention Mason that we are responsible for suddenly advancing his social status, alright? He might be a naive guy as of now but even a kindhearted kid wouldn''t be willing to help people who murdered the shit out of his parents." Cranberry raised her head in realization and turned back to the blue undead knight and the ck-haired elven mage to remind them. "...if we''re going to keep it a fucking secret from him then why are we going for the fucking stealthy approach from the start? Wouldn''t it be more convincing if we asked in front of fucking witnesses and then act surprised when they give us the fucking information that he became an avatar of Envy and his schedule is stacked? If we did just fucking that and act fucking shocked as fuck, then even if we showed up in the middle of the night like we intend to do anyway, Mason would not end up suspicious about us?" Lairs dered crossing her arms and pointing out. "Or, alternatively..." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and looked expectantly at her blue undead knight. "I will be right back." Zombie grinned and effortlessly jumped over the wall before the ck-haired elf could do or say anything else. "...Lairs came up with a smarter idea than me... the world went mad... Who else is going to do that next? Rotte?" The blue undeadnded on the other side and scoffed to himself in disbelief before walking towards the mansion. With his life signature detection, he had no problem walking past any and all guards and started climbing the mansion right to the window of Mason''s room. "...?" He peeked inside curiously and saw the adult Mason - the tall handsome youngster with unbelievably green eyes and curly brown hair, sitting at the desk reading through the stack of papers. This situation was very simr to the time when Zombie was breaking inside the Envy''s mansion to talk with Fig only to realize that it was actually Fillia... Back then the blue undead managed to get in thanks to young Manson letting him in - of course mostly because Zombie used the tier 1 lust-based skill on the child. "I wonder if he still remembers that..." Zombie smirked and since he had tier 2 of the lust-based skill at his disposal now, he decided to y around just a little bit. *tap* *tap* *tap* ...and lightly knocked at the window''s ss to get the attention of the capture the other capture target. "...?" While peeking inside the blue undead knight saw Mason furrowing his brows in confusion and slowly looking straight at him from over the documents "Yo!" Zombie grinned at him and saluted with one hand in a friendly greeting. "..." ...just for Mason to look straight back down at his papers...! "Whoa... must be something important." Zombie nodded to himself slightly disappointed over the absoluteck of reaction on Mason''s part - but it was probably partially caused by Zombie himself. In the end, all those years ago he did warn the young Mason to never open his window to anyone, and it seemed that the advice stuck with the capture target good. And so the blue undead knight was about to use the mindbreak skill but then... *shhhh* "...hmm...?" Zombie noticed the movement on the inside of Mason''s room and nced back inside expecting the young man to run away - but instead what he saw there were the papers that fell out of Mason''s hands as the green-eyed youngster dropped them while staring wide-eyed right at the blue undead. "Pffft...! As, so it was a double take! That seriously happens?" Zombie snickered and waved his hand in a friendly matter for the second time. "!!!!!!" Seeing that Mason immediately reached out for the window and opened it at full width. "You are the undead that my older sister always talked about!" "Huh... yeah, I guess that''s correct...?" Mason called out, grabbing the hand of the honestly confused undead - and pulled him inside without even a second of hesitation...! "My sister was the only person who treated me like a part of her family even without all that circus that my fool of a father pulled off to try and erase the sins of our ancestors! I always wanted to thank you! My big sister Fillia told me that if you ever showed up looking for help I should do everything in my power to aid you! Mister Zombie, how can I help you?! You cannot even imagine how happy I am to finally see met you!" The waterfall of words that left Mason''s mouth washed over the blue undead leaving him speechless. |Huh... so... good karma is a thing, I guess...?| Zombie thought to himself as the teary eyes Mason was shaking his hand as if he met his greatest idol. ...but then the passive machine mind skill kicked in and the awkwardness disappeared as if it was never there. "Hey there kid - it''s good to see you healthy - I returned to the outside world only a while ago and ended up learning about Fi, and decided to check up on you." The blue undead put his other hand - the one not held by the emotional Mason - and put it on the young man''s shoulder. "...mister Zombie...!" Mason flinched and... the tears he was holding back actually run down his face. "Please, don''t me yourself - miss Mary and prince Roan both sent me letters exining what happened... you were sealed off by the queen herself, there really was nothing that you could do!" The green-eyed young man dered, wiping his eyes in embarrassment and smiling through tears. Chapter 554 - Chatting To Kill Time

Chapter 554 - Chatting To Kill Time

"...how fucking long will it take him to return...? Fuck..." The ck-haired elven woman cursed, looking up and down the empty street nervously. "Haa... I don''t know but if you won''t shut up and stopining I will reconsider my opinion about you and knock you out." The red-haired girl red at her and raised her baseball bat scepter threateningly, making the mage huddle up her shoulders defensively although it felt like the ck-haired elf simply chose toin in a hushed voice instead of actually shutting up. "Lairs... I expected you to act a bit different because now you know about your curse and it is active, but seriously - I am using a detection skill to figure stuff out so you don''t worry so could you really stopining like a spoiled baby?" "...!" Cranberry breathed out in annoyance and tucked her red hair behind her ear - revealing said ear to be glowing with the white light of a skill which made the elven woman flinch and lower her head, this time to hide a blush of shame. "...I am... sorry... that really was fucking shitty behavior on my part..." This time Lairs apologized sounding genuine and actually closed her mouth. "Thank you. It always feels nice when my friends aren''t trying to actively annoy me into bashing their skulls in - ha...?!" Cranberry smirked and nodded at the ck-haired elf before she suddenly flinched and gasped in disbelief. "You wanted to bash my skull in...?!" Lairs gasped and took a step back. "Yeah, but only a little. That''s not important now - my Zombie managed to find us a way in - in a few minutes two guards wille here and take us to the mansion for an audience with Mason." The red-haired girl waved her hand dismissively and revealed, as the white light faded from her ear. "Are you sure they will not forgivee here to escort us to prison - or a private Envy-owned dungeon or something?" The ck-haired elven mage crossed her arms and scoffed, keeping her distance from Cranberry, while keeping an eye on the girl''s baseball bat scepter. "Should we go and meet them by the main gate to make things easier faster?" Lairs added after a moment of silence. "No. A few minutes will not change anything in our current situation and it might get annoying if the guards start doubting us and we ended up killing them." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the wall with a bored expression. "Also the secret dungeon of the Envy family had been turned into a storage room since the kidnapped elves were freed - you don''t have to worry, in this ythrough you will not end up in there." The red-haired girl added lightheartedly picking the dropped conversation back up. "And there you go again with weird words like in the carriage... you make it seem as if there are multiple versions of me." Lairs furrowed her brows and red at Cranberry with a pouty expression - because of how elves aged, the ck-haired sage looked as if she was the younger one of the two. "No, no - there is only one of you, don''t worry - but when the current you didn''t still didn''t exist there was another version - a previous one." Cranberry shook her head, more than happy to kill some boredom of waiting for the guards to show up with a random tutorial moment. "...uh-huh... and let''s say that I believe you - did the previous I also had to deal with the reactivated curse? What happened? Was she killed or did the world die together with her and that''s why the current me is here?" Lairs rolled her eyes and ended up ying along even though she didn''t believe what the red-haired girl was saying. "No. Her curse did not reactivate and her life sucked a little bit less than yours even if we would not take it into consideration. She was caught by the Envys and had her beauty stolen for a few days. She also was nowhere near as strong as you are now - none of the Dandelions was as a matter of fact - and neither the curse nor the Cursed sister quest has never triggered because it was stopped by the system''s over... by a higher power." The red-haired girl revealed without any hesitation as she knew that Lairs wasn''t taking her seriously anyway, and she only hesitated and changed the way she addressed Presence. "Fuck, she got ugly and was weak and imprisoned...? That sucks - got lucky with that whole higher power but something tells me that I can''t count on simr luck, huh... still - both you and Zombie are acting as ifpleting my quest and dispelling the curse is merely a matter of ''when'' not ''if''... so why makes you say that this whole previous me had a better life overall?" The ck-haired elven woman frowned and quilted her eyes in suspicion, looking at the rxed red-haired girl. "She found herself a girlfriend." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders lightly and smirked mockingly while looking to the side. "Oh, fuck you, you little shit! That what was this whole setup was about?! To make fun of me being single? Who told you that I can''t find myself a date anyway? Was it that bbermouth Uresha? Fuck, she never could keep a secret... or was it Rotte?! No... he''s in the same situation as I am and is a good younger brother, he wouldn''t make fun of me like that..." Lairs scoffed angrily and started mumbling in annoyance while her face was burning with an embarrassed blush. "That girl exists now too, and honestly, this time around your chances with her are even better than then." "Oh, fuck off. What is this, married-woman-teases-a-lonely-single day?! For fuck''s sake..." Cranberry giggled which resulted in Lairs getting way more miserable than the red-haired girl intended. "Alright, alright - listen, putting the ythroughs and past incarnations aside, I wasn''t joking about a girl who is interested in you - my Zombie told me about her - you two actually already met, but you couldn''t stay there for long so he asked me to remind you, alright?" Cranberry felt actually bad for going overboard and decided to make up for it. "...eh...? Really...?" Lairs gasped with an innocent expression full of hope but then she instantly frowned and pouted. "Yeah, right, you are just fucking with me..." She scoffed and turned around. "Her name is Ti - does that ring a bell?" Cranberry asked with a friendly voice. "T? What the fuck, her name starts with a letter T? So what, you meant the minotaur girl Tangelo back in the fort...? As if - the two of us talked and she said she''s only into guys!" But in the end, the ck-haired elf misunderstood her and ended up even grumpier. "Haa... no. What I meant was..." "Please excuse us, Misses, are you friends with lord Zombie...?" The red-haired girl wanted to make things clear but right at that moment two guards from the Envy mansion approached the and the taller one asked politely. "Yes, it''s us - but you got one thing wrong - For me it''s Mrs. Not Miss, Zombie is my husband. This one is a Miss, though." Cranberry nodded but ended up correcting the way that the tall guard addressed her out of habit... "Oh, fucking hell, I knew it! You fucker was messing with me all along!" ...and ended up solidifying Lairs'' misunderstanding even more. "...umm..." The two guards looked at each other in confusion after witnessing the outburst, trying to figure out how to act. "Haa... don''t mind her, like I said, yes, we are with Zombie - what is it about?" Cranberry breathed out and addressed the guards. "Ah, I see! If that''s the case, please, follow us - both lord Zombie and our beloved lord Mason are waiting for the two of you." Both guards bowed to the two women and guided them to the mansion. Chapter 555 - Mason Envy (part 2)

Chapter 555 - Mason Envy (part 2)

Both girls followed after the guards and entered the Envys'' mansion. "...I''m fucking cursed..." "...!" Lairs breathed out pulling the hood lower and lower over her face - and ended up making Cranberry raise her brows in realization. "Oh...! That''s why you always say that when something you don''t like happens! I never realized that before!" The red-haired girl gasped smiled to herself while the elven mage hunched her back and looked away, closing her mouth - visibly showing that she was angry at the human girl and didn''t want to talk to her. "Haa... Listen, I was teasing you before but I was serious about the girl who likes you - after we talk with Mason you should just go and ask my Zombie about it, and hear it straight from him. Cranberry breathed out and rolled her eyes before leaning towards the grumpy elf and advising her. "..." Lairs moved her head and red at the red-haired girl from the corner of her vision. "Ladies, please excuse my interruption but, we have arrived." Before the ck-haired elf decided on to whether respond to the red-haired human, the guard leading them walked over to one of the doors and the taller one bowed his head towards them with one hand on the doorknob. "Ha. Alright. We are ready." Cranberry scoffed and shrugged her shoulders at Lairs''s behavior and nodded at the servant, who hurriedly knocked on the door before opening them for the girls. "...and thanks to that... hmm...?" The brown-haired young man with piercing green eyes was in the middle of excitedly telling some sort of story to the blue undead knight sitting ratherfortably on the armchair right next to his -but stopped talking and turned his head curiously to the side to check up on who was entering the room. "And there they are!" Zombie stood up from his seat and dered with a confident voice, which made him sound as if he was the owner of the ce. The blue undead walked over to the two hooded girls and gave them both a light push on the back before closing the door before either of the guards could enter. "Mason, those are the two I told you about." Zombie put his hands on the shoulders of the two newly arrived girls and faced the green-eyed capture target. "..." Cranberry fidgeted and removed her hood, her blood-like hair spilled out and she swiped them to the side before raising her head with pride. "Zombie''s wife - Cranberry Pride." She introduced herself, as always putting more pressure on her marital status than anything else - and even ended up raising her left hand to show off the wedding ring on her finger. "Lady Pride!" Mason gasped and approached her slightly intimidated but somehow also ended up grabbing her hand and shaking it vigorously. "My big sister has told me so much about you! I cannot even begin to convey how happy I am to see you safe and sound. Whenever Fillia was home she always talked about you, you really meant a lot to her." Before Cranberry could shake him off angrily, Mason spoke up in a slightly hoarse voice and his eyes filled with tears at the memory of his older sister who sacrificed herself so that the red-haired girl could survive. "...!" Cranberry flinched and opened her mouth, but ended up closing it immediately and awkwardly looked at her attendant. She motioned at the teary-eyed Mason and then raised her brow at her blue undead knight keeping himself to the side. "...?" Zombie furrowed his brows, pouted at his eyes, and tilted his head. "..." "..." Cranberry nodded vigorously and motioned at Mason again - at which the blue undead shook his head and bared his teeth in a cheeky grin. With that exchange Cranberry was asking her blue undead whether or not did he used the mindbreak skill on the green-eyed capture target - but the answer to that was no. Mason was actually acting like that on his own - and honestly, that was the best oue. Even Zombie could clearly remember that Mason from the previous ythrough was a trusting and innocent cinnamon roll, and his story would turn dark only after him bing the fallen half-elf. "...thank you for your kind words, sir Mason..." Cranberry managed to speak up while blushing slightly. "Fig... that is, Fillia was an amazing friend and I never forget what she did." "..." Cranberry smiled softly and lightly patted Mason''s hand holding her left hand, with her right hand. "She was very careful to not reveal her real identity up until the veryst moment, but even while disguising herself, she and I had many conversations and she would keep bringing up her younger brother." The red-haired girl lowered her head a little bit and revealed, and the Cranberry from the current ythrough personality shone the brightest as she was the one eternally grateful but also extremely sad over Fillia''s sacrifice. "Yes... she was really good with the envy-based spells, she was the heir to the registered throne of envy before me after all." Mason nodded his head and nodded with a mncholic look in his eyes. "Mason, I..." "Lady Pride ¨C please, don''t apologize for what happened ¨C it wasn''t your fault." The red-haired girl tried to speak up but the brown-haired young man shook his head and stepped back from her, letting go of her hand and raising his arm to stop the girl from talking. "There is only one guilty side in the tragedy that urred on that night a couple of years ago ¨C the corrupted main branch of the Envy family." "...!" Mason''s words most definitely surprised both Cranberry and Lairs, as the still hooded Laris visibly flinched under her cloak. "I always knew that something was wrong but I kept quiet because I wanted everyone to ept me, so I did everything in my might to adjust... thankfully my sister was there to point me the right way or I would have actually believed my father when he dered that he wants to change the direction that our family was taking and started to act as if he was innocent..." "...!" Mason lowered his head, staring at his feet with a bitter expression ¨C but after only a few seconds he straightened his back and looked straight at the disguised elven mage. "I''m sorry ¨C I was going on and on about myte older sister without inviting the sister I never met to sit down. Please, if you may ¨C it''s nice to meet you. My name is Mason Envy. I''m the new avatar of envy." He said, extending his hand for a handshake towards the shocked elf. "...fuck...! You...! You already know..?! I-I mean...!" Lairs flinched, staring at the offered hand in disbelief, taken by surprise by the fact that Mason correctly guessed who she was ¨C well, or at least their rtion. "Hmm...? Ah! Could it be?" Mason titled his head, furrowing his brows while wondering whether something that he said was all that shocking, but then he gasped and his green eyes widened. "Am I the only one who received the quest named -cursed sister-? Did I perhaps misunderstand what we talked about before, Zombie?" The brown-haired boy blushed awkwardly and took back his hand slightly dispirited. "No. You hot it right. So right that you startled poor Lairs." Zombie smirked and shook his head before tugging sharply on the elf''s cloak and pulling off her hood in one go. Chapter 556 - Mason Envy (part 3)

Chapter 556 - Mason Envy (part 3)

"Wh- what the fuck are you doing?!" Lairs cried out in anger, reaching back with her hands to pull the hood back on to her head to cover her hair and face but it was already toote as the curtain of her long jet-ck hair was already unleashed. For someone who thought that she was abandoned simply because her hair had a different color than normally without knowing about the actual meaning of the curse she had on herself, Lais was sure taking great care of her hair as in terms of length it was easily reaching her calves. "...where did you hide all of that under that hood...?" Zombie wasn''t particrly bothered by the cursing elf and asked tugging on her cloak and leaning down to have a better look at the piece of clothing. "...fucking...! Can''t...! Breathe...!" ...but since the cloak was still under the elf''s neck, that action ended up resulting in poor Lairs getting unintentionally choked... "Whoops..." Zombie raised his brows and raised his hand once he noticed and sidestepped towards the red-haired girl ring at him. "...was it a bad idea to try and lighten the mood...?" The blue undead leaned down and whispered in Cranberry''s ear. "Zombie, you aren''t supposed to be aedic relief in the second ythrough." The red-haired girl whispered back, rolling her eyes. "...aren''t you baffled by those cloaks though? How can they hide so much ¨C I mean look..." Zombie smirked mischievously and grabbed Cranberry''s cloak just to pull it open revealing the incredibly voluptuous curves of the red-haired girl''s body. "..." "..." Both Mason and Lairs ended up staring at a certain region of Cranberry''s bodypletely smitten by the sheer size and allure, which brought any sort of a conversation to a halt. "Oh, hey ¨C at least we now have proof that they are siblings ¨C look at those faces." Zombie scoffed carefully wrapping Cranberry''s body back in the cloak and hugging her from behind in both jealous and protective hug ¨C even though the initiative to partially disrobe her came from him alone ¨C while pointing at the two half-siblings. "...alright, now you two are staring too much ¨C this is a private property!" Even after getting covered, the certain area of Cranberry''s body was continuing to pull the eyes of both the brown-haired young man and the ck-haired elf and ended up making the blue undead knight jealous enough to actually pick the red-haired girl up and walk with her to the armchair and sat down while putting her on hisp ¨C facing him. "...just so you know, I knew that''s how you would react - this is how I feel most of the time when you fool around..." Cranberry snorted mockingly into his ear before leaning into his embrace ¨C the siblings ogling her weren''t the only ones who forgot why they arrived at the room in the first ce. "Hey! You two! The show is over! Get back to the matter at hand ¨C cursed sister quest! Mason Envy this is Lairs, she''s Sk''s daughter and is a full elf, so she might look your age but is in her thirties. Lairs, this is Mason Envy, he''s the child that your mother had with the former head of the Envy family, Rambutan Envy. He is a half-elf and a current avatar of envy." Zombie frowned and dered in a cold voice that worked like a bucket of cold water dumped on the heads of the listeners. Of course, getting their heads out of the gutter wasn''t the only reason that the blue undead began the information dumping - although it was his personal main one ¨C the problem was that even though Mason and Lairs were in the same room and confronting each other per se ¨C the system message showing the secret quest progression didn''t show up. And that meant only one thing ¨C they were still missing something... "Nice to meet you." "Likewise." The half-elf and the ck-haired elf bowed their heads towards each other and exchanged polite greetings ¨C which was already something almost unheard of from Lairs. "Lairs is an adventurer from the party known as the Dandelions..." "Ah! I heard of them! Aren''t they the best adventurers in the kingdom?" Zombie said and instantly got interrupted by the overexcited Mason. "...Nah, you''re fucking with me ¨C we are not that good...!" Which was definitely a nice ice-breaker because it made the ck-haired elf fidget with a very happy expression blooming on her face despite her words. She definitely had no immunity built up against getting sweet-talked, but on the other hand that definitely wasn''t Mason''s intention here ¨C the green-eyed young man was genuinely impressed. "Well, the thing is that might not be the case for much longer, since the curse sister quest activated because of Rambutan and Sk''s death - which means that the curse Lairs has on her will start working its foul magic, and living will start dropping like flies ¨C starting with the one''s closet to her ¨C which means the four other Dandelions. That''s why we can''t just sit around doing nothing." "...!" "!!!" Zombie frowned, hugging Cranberry a bit tighter and dering in a grim voice. "...what happened to you wanting to actually lift the mood? You just brought it down to the ground and started digging..." Cranberry snickered into the blue undead''s ear. "...I am a hypocrite, and since you own me, I own you too ¨C and that''s why I got jealous." Zombie responded grumpily, feeling the very satisfied red-haired girl nuzzling against him. "...that said ¨C why the quest isn''t progressing...? Do we have to actually make them fight or something...?" He added furrowing his brows over theck of any substantial progress. "Haa... now you remember to ask me? Alright ¨C I will handle it from now on." The red-haired girl smirked and pulled away from him to turn away ¨C but in the showcase of petty jealousy, the blue undead turned on the armchair so that he was showing his back to the half-siblings while Cranberry''s fae was peeking at them from above his shoulder. "...pffft...!" Cranberry barely contained herughter ¨C at the end of the day, she knew that the blue undead was mostly acting overly protective and extremely jealous because he wanted to redeem himself after what he had done under the influence of Caramel''s suggestion skill... ...although even while knowing that, Cranberry couldn''t just stop herself from enjoying the situation... "...ehem...! Haa. Mason, you have received the quest, and Laris, we have told you what the quest is about. Are you two okay with working together ¨C Mason, that would require you take a little break from the official duties of the head of the Envy family, alright?" The red-haired girl cleared her throat, breathed out, and asked after adding a few important details to everything that was already said by the blue undead knight beforehand. "..." Mason lowered his head and looked away, deep in thoughts. "...?" His silence made Zombie furrow his brows and nced back as considering their conversation form before the girls have shown up, the green-eyed capture target seemed all up for ANY task that Zombie coulde up with... "My private library doesn''t have any books on curses... I suppose we will have to check the archives first..." Suddenly, Mason murmured under his breath with concern. "The fuck?! So you are okay with helping us in the end?! Lairs gasped in disbelief, unknowingly voicing Zombie''s thoughts. "Huh!? O-of course I agree!" The brown-haired young straightened his back, staring at the others in confusion as if they were the odd ones for not figuring that out. "For fuck''s sake... yeah, there definitely is a blood rtion between the two of us, fuck..." The ck-haired elven mage sighed and shook her head in disbelief before patting Mason''s back with her open palm. ¡­at that moment... /Special quest progression Confront the siblings pleted]\\\\ The system message that Zombie and Cranberry were waiting for finally decided to show up. Chapter 557 - Mason Envy (part 4)

Chapter 557 - Mason Envy (part 4)

"They really let their avatar take a vacation and leave even though the previous one had died only a few days ago?" Zombie asked in a curious voice, clearly wanting to steer the conversation on the topic that interested him the most. Their group of four that included the blue undead knight, the red-haired human girl, the brown-haired half-elf young man, and the ck-haired elven woman - whose appearance made her seem as if she was the youngest one there even though she was most definitely not - was traveling in a simple carriage drawn by two horse monsters. The role of a coachperson was taken up by one of the guards from the Envys'' mansion, so the rest could just rx inside. "...fucking hell, Zombie, I didn''t personally like the guy who was fucking my mother after she abandoned me, but can''t you be a little more delicate...?" The ck-haired elf furrowed her brows and protectively put her arm over Mason''s shoulders, staring at the blue undead knight with a scolding expression. "It''s okay, Laii, sir Zombie is right asking that question." Mason smiled shyly at his half-sister and fidgeted, not used to having anyone dot on him like that. "Answer to it is also very simple." The green-eyed young man added, looking u at the blue undead knight. "Most of the people from the main branch of the Envy family don''t like me in the position of any power - they would prefer me to stay as a figurehead who makes them look good for having the family head who is a half-human half-elf." He exined shrugging his shoulders. "I wouldn''t be too surprised if we encounter an assassin or two aiming for my head on our journey either - let me apologize for that in advance." Mason lowered his head towards Zombie and Cranberry, who was currently resting with her head on Zombie''sp. "Yeah, that very well may be the case." "This fucking sucks..." The blue undead knight nodded his head with an indifferent expression while the ck-haired elven mage made a sour face and patted Mason''s back in understanding. "I wonder about that." "...?" But Cranberry who up until that point was enjoying getting caressed by her husband spoke up and disagreed with them all, raising a few brows amongst the other three. "...what exactly do you mean...?" Mason tilted his head and asked slowly. "Your parents were sent on a mission by the church of the system''s faith - you have said so yourself. The thing is that the church, or rather the person who somehow managed to get herself in a position of power has wanted us toplete this mission. Not a single person with even a speck of connection to the church should try and stay in our way on this quest." The red-haired girl revealed twisting her body so that she ended up on her back, looking up at her blue undead before she reached out to touch his face. "..." She wasn''t even properly looking at Mason, too busy ying around with Zombie''s face... "Haa... what is it...?" ...but once the brown-haired half-elf started fidgetting awkwardly, she ended up breathing out and moving her head to face him. "I cannot speak up for other main noble families, but what I learned about my family is that it''s not a good idea to put your faith in the decision-making skills of other members." Mason revealed, smiling awkwardly. "Ha...!?" Cranberry raised her brow and let out a confused sound- though whether that was in response to the half-elf''s words or because of Zombie suddenly leaning down and kissing her unguarded neck, was a mystery. "Y-you see..." Mason was blushing like an innocent maiden at the bold showcase of affection and stuttered, but ended up braving through and continued talking. "We of the Envy family are a really jealous lot, and I am not an exception to that though I would like to think that with me it is more of a jealousy of the close rtionships that others have which Ick and the need to create emotional bonds - but most of my rtives are focused on the glory, prestige, and wealth." He exin flustered over his own words as if he was ashamed of voicing them out loud for the first time to someone else than his own reflection. "No, wait, are you seriously implying that some people of your rtives might think that they will be better off without the church''s backing? From my perspective, it looks like they would be fighting against each other just to be the ones to revive some backing." Cranberry grabbed Zombie''s head and pushed it into her chest to make him stop acting up and confronted the green-eyed capture target with her thoughts on the matter. "Hmm... sorry to disappoint you,dy Pride, but that''s how Greeds would act - unfortunately after living amongst the Envy and seeing them act unreasonably because of their own pettiness, I can assure you that whoever got the backing of the church also earned themselves the jealousy and anger of the rest of the family." Mason shook his head and exined. "With envy family, it is never - I want that too, I will work towards the goal of aplishing the same thing - and instead it is always - you have something that I want, that''s unfair, I hate you, I will destroy you for having what I want." He revealed with a bitter expression. "What a lovely bunch." Zombie''s muffled voice came from between Cranberry''s ample chest. "Well, I know for a fact that my older sister Fillia wasn''t like that - but she ended up dying because of that." Mason shrugged his shoulders and breathed out with a solemn expression. "...sorry..." Cranberry made a bitter expression and apologized in a small voice. "No, please, don''t be - what happened to Fillia is fully a fault of my family being irresponsible and overconfident in the abilities they clearlycked. They were jealous of the Pride family and tried to bring them down using the Gluttony family, which came biting them back. When ites to Fillia, she sacrificed herself for her what she believed. She showed me that not every Envy must live only for themselves." Mason shook his head and smiled Chapter 558 - Secret Quest (part 1)

Chapter 558 - Secret Quest (part 1)

"You know, I was honestly expecting Lairs to be actively annoyed by Mason, but the trick with calling her Laii really is working wonders. Do you think that she will melt into a motherly poodle if even I start calling her that?" Zombie leaned towards Cranberry''s ear and whispered with a mischievous smile while watching both the ck-haired elf and the brown-haired half-elf sleeping soundlessly leaning against each other on the opposite seat. "Who knows? You could try ¨C though I expect that she would actually be a lot meeker and you wouldn''t have half as much fun teasing her as you are now." The red-haired girl breathed out and rolled her eyes as she shrugged her shoulders before adjusting her position. "True ¨C also I don''t want anyone trying to go and protect me from an attack or something dumb like that, and she seems like an idiot who would go for it in a tense situation." The blue undead knight frowned and straightened his back, ring at the peacefully napping elven woman. "...why does it feel like you aren''t talking just about her...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and asked. "Yeah, I wonder who else could be an idiot like that." Zombie scoffed, ring down at her with a serious expression. "Haa... I didn''t do it enough times to earn myself such treatment." The red-haired girl breathed out and red back at her blue undead knight. "You did that more times than zero, so in my book, you are under the potentially dangerous category ¨C especially now that the piece of filth is trying to stick her filthy nose in our business and y around with the toys we worked so hard to set up on the yground." Zombieined before reaching down to Cranberry''s face and tracing her warm lips with his cold index finger. "We have to y along with her until we will ensure that we can defeat Eternal ¨C you should know the best how strong that creature is with its Invictus title in ce." The red-haired girl pointed out while reaching out her hand up and tracing Zombie''s cold lips with her warm index finger. "It''s annoying, can''t we just patch it out or something?" "pffft...! Ha ha! Do I look like I have the game dev vocation?" Zombie frowned and made Cranberry burst out into uglyughter simr to the dog barks. "Oh? Are you saying that if we find someone with a job like that we can make them change the game?" The blue undead raised his brows and asked, with eyes widening at the attention. "No, sorry ¨C if someone so convenient like this actually existed in this world I would have led you to them without hesitation, be over with this stupidity and just stay with you forever." Cranberry shook her head and touched Zombie''s face with a mncholic expression. "I never had a day where I could do what I want, when I want, without worrying about the consequences, so imagining azying around with you for all eternity sounds like an amazing prospect..." The blue undead smiled softly and covered Cranberry''s hand with his own while nuzzling against it. "...yeah..." The red-haired girl breathed out smiled softly at Zombie. "...just look at us... two strongest, most bloodthirsty beasts of the first ythrough talk about living peacefully ¨C how crazy is that?" The blue undead scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief before smirking like a bonafide viin. "Ha! Are you trying to say that we wouldn''t be able to sit still or something?" Cranberry snickered and asked back, raising her brow in doubt. "I don''t know ¨C would we?" Zombie giggled and asked back as the carriage was moving past the fields of the Envys territory on route to the forest where the not-so-hidden-anymore vige of the elves was. ------- "...holy fucking shit..." The purple-haired keeper of the archives cursed at the mere sight of the tall blue undead knight and the red-haired girl and the two hooded people that they brought back with them. "Uncle Gooseberry, we need to find a certain information in your library ¨C is that okay with you?" Cranberry stepped forward and asked with a cute smile. "Shut the fuck up with that ditzy tone ¨C you brat know full well that you have full ess to the archives as long as I am alive ¨C same with your fuckboy." Although the words sounded harsh at first, Gooseberry clearly had no problem with them returning to the vige all of a sudden even without Mirabelle and Olive apanying them. "Yeah, I missed you too a lot, uncle~!" Cranberry onlyughed and hugged the elf, making him blush slightly and look away before he reached up and patted her head. "Yeah, yeah... just remember to show your face to Cranbie or he will cry for two fucking weeks straight like thest time you just ghosted him." Gooseberry scoffed while tousling the girl''s head. "Of course, we will!" Cranberry dered cheerfully and stepped away from the librarian to give him some space as he wasn''t really the one for being overly intimate for prolonged periods of time. "...what about those fuckers? It doesn''t feel like I''ve met them before, though they do have some familiar aura around them..." Gooseberry breathed out and straightened his clothes to regain someposure and asked when his face regained its baster-like color, pointing at Lairs and Mason. "..." Cranberry turned her head and also looked at the hooded pair with a bit of concern. ...no elf had ever talked with Lairs about her curse so she never knew the truth about it ¨C and going even further, most of the elves straight up refused to talk to her, period. Taking into consideration how crude Gooseberry was with people he liked, straight up revealing the identity of the ck-haired elf ¨C or even showing her ck hair in the first ce ¨C could prove to be a bad idea. Simrly, Gooseberry''s animosity towards all humans and his clear hatred towards the Envy family didn''t bode well for introducing him to Mason... But while Cranberry was pondering how to be as gentle as possible with her exnation so the purple-haired elf wouldn''t freak out and straight-up attack the other two, Zombie was thinking that it was best to rip that bandaid right of and be done with it. So he made sure to activate his body-enhancing skills and equip his golden shield to intercept any attack that Gooseberry might throw out in anger ¨C and pulled both Laris and Mason''s hoofs off. "The fuck?! Again?!" "S-sir Zombie...?!" The ck-haired elf and the brown-haired half-elf gasped in disbelief over the sudden action and nced at the indifferent blue undead knight before slowly turning towards the stunned purple-haired elf. "..." And stunned was the correct word to use ¨C poor Gooseberry actually had the expression of someone who just got hit over his head with a mace and forgot who he was. "...haa... thanks, Zombie..." Cranberry breathed out, massaging her forehead with annoyance. "So, umm... uncle ¨C this is..." "...Lairs..." "...!" The red-haired girl pointed at the two and tried to introduce the ck-haired elven mage first, but as it turned out it was unnecessary as Gooseberry muttered her name, staring at the elven woman,pletely taken aback. "The fuck? And how the fuck do you know me?" Lairs furrowed her brows and took a step back, huddling up her shoulders defensively. "...my wife... she was Sk''s sister..." "!!!!!!!!!!" Gooseberry gasped sounding just as shocked as Lairs, causing everyone to flinch in shock. Chapter 559 - Secret Quest (part 2)

Chapter 559 - Secret Quest (part 2)

"A... a what...?" Lairs gasped and took a step back, staring at the purple-haired elf, blinking her eyes repeatedly. "..." Gooseberry was looking at her with the same kind of expression as she was, before looking between the ck-haired elf and the brown-haired half-elf. "...both of you look like her... but... who are you then...?" The old keeper of the archives of the elven vige asked, staring at Mason in confusion. "...?" Cranberry and Zombie nced at each other in confusion - after the blue undead managed to free the elves all the years back, they released prisoners should most definitely spread the news about the elven woman who was coborating with the Envy family... ...and even if not then Rambutan officially announcing Sk as his wife and proiming Mason to be the next head of the Envy family in order to save himself from consequences, should do the trick for them... And yet there they were, standing by the disgruntled purple-haired elf who seemed unable to recognize the brown-haired half-elf in front of him despite all that. "Uncle, you don''t really check up on the information from the outside world, do you...?" Cranberry was the first to figure out the reason, and asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why would I do that? As long as they leave our vige the fuck alone, I will do the same for them - there is no reason for me actively looking into their fucking business." Gooseberry scoffed confirming the red-haired girl''s suspicion and shrugged his shoulders. "He is a kid that Sk had after abandoning Lairs - currently we are on a quest to dispel the curse and he is necessary for that." Zombie stepped up and dered with a smile, walking over to the brown-haired half-elf and patting his shoulder while smiling reassuringly at the purple-haired elf. "...there is a way to dispel the ancient blood curse...? Oh, that''s what you want to search up in the archives..." Gooseberry raised his brow and made a bitter expression. "Yeah, we do - is there a problem?" The blue undead knight nodded and tilted his head, looking at the concerned elf. "...fuck... no, I would not call it a problem..." Gooseberry shook his head and let out a tired sigh. "It is just that you will not find anything in the archive..." "!!!" He spoke with an awkward expression and leaned back, massaging his nape and causing Lairs to get pale as a sheet. "...eh...? The fuck...? What do you mean there''s nothing in the archives? Cranberry said that there will be...!" The ck-haired elven woman gasped in disbelief, sounding angry at the purple-haired elven man - funnily enough, she wasn''t angry at Cranberry for giving her hope but instead she was most definitely angry at Gooseberry for implying that the red-haired girl was wrong. "Do you know how much time we wasteding here?! That bullshit curse of mine can start working at any moment and my friends will be the first to suffer from it!" Lairs clenched her fists and red at the purple-haired elven librarian. "That''s not what I fucking mean... though, I do understand where this ising from so I will not get angry at your tant fucking impertinence, my bratty niece." Gooseberry groaned, rolling his eyes, and breathed out ring at the mage. "Laii, uncle called it an ancient blood curse, it probably means that he does know something about it - if I have to guess then someone from your family was doing research about the curse and removed the books about it from the archives." Cranberry stepped between the angry Lairs and the annoyed Gooseberry and calmly voiced her opinion, giving the ck-haired elf a stern look. "Not just fucking any member of her family - my wife, so your aunt, cheeky brat, spent almost every waking moment prior to her death looking for a way to get rid of the curse without killing you." Gooseberry scoffed turning around. "...she died before solving that mystery, and honestly I didn''t think about continuing her research because I was sure that Sk has killed you after losing everyone close to her - but, I never got rid of the research itself and left the books out of the archives..." The old elf who looked as if he was barely in his mid-twenties added before waving his hand at the rest to follow him. "Wait...! Hold, the fuck, on! Are you telling me that my mother was from this vige?!" Lairs froze in ce, staring in disbelief at the back of the purple-haired elf. "No." "...eh...?" The short answer made her start moving again as it wasn''t the one she expected to hear. "Is that so surprising? I met my wife in one of the elven settlements near the Gluttonys territory, and she moved here with me - she wanted her family to move here too since it was a far safer ce for our kind than anywhere else in the world, but they refused. While she was alive, we often traveled there to visit since she couldn''t really abandon the rest - though that was until the moment that your curse started acting up, and they all died." "...!" Gooseberry exined with a shrug and started walking making everyone else who wanted to hear him continue the story move together with him. "You see, the curse you are bearing isn''t just some skill-based effect ¨C you can forget about cleansing it with an overpowered healing skill." The purple-haired elf spoke while ncing back at the blue undead knight. "Yeah ¨C we know ¨C that was the first thing that we''ve tried while on our way here." Zombie shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. "It does show up as a status effect when a healer is checking me up, though..." Lairs muttered in a dispirited voice. "If it didn''t, you wouldn''t even know that you were cursed until it was toote for your loved ones." Gooseberry shrugged his shoulders and smirked although only with his mouth as his eyes retained a rather sad expression... "I''ll show you my wife''s research ¨C she gathered every piece of information about the curse ¨C if there is a method to dispel that curse then it will be there." He dered while leading the group through the vige while every single viger was happily greeting Cranberry and Zombie before flinching and stopping in ce staring both at the ck-hairedirs and the half-elf Mason ¨C it seemed that everyone else aside from the purple-haired keeper of the archives was well aware of the green-eyed boy''s identity as the head of the heated Envy family that in recent years tried to act as if they never did any wrong to the elves even after kidnapping and imprisoning them for years in order to steal their beauty. "Here we are." After a couple of minutes of walking their group arrived at Gooseberry''s home that was right by the library building, but instead of going to the front doors, the old elf led them to the back to the small but surprisingly cute looking outbuilding shaped like a colorful fungus growing out of the main construction. "Ha! I always thought that it was a storage room or something!" Cranberry gasped, raising her brows and turning towards the purple-haired elf. "Well, I kept it closed because of the topic of the research..." Gooseberry shrugged his shoulders, not looking at the group, too busy opening the door that must have been sealed with both the physical and magical locks. "There we go..." He straightened his back and nodded once the door opened smoothly and soundlessly on the hinges. "I hope you will find something ¨C I''ll go look for Cranbie and tell him about your arrival." The old elf added, making way for the youngsters before straight up leaving. "Fuck me... well, then. Let''s check it out!" Lairs breathed out and entered first, closely followed by Mason. Cranberry was also going to join them but suddenly Zombie grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards himself. "...Gooseberry is hiding something, his life signature shows that he barely holding himself back from exploding..." The blue undead dered looking after the purple-haired elf with his murky-red-glowing eyes. "Haa... I know... Uncle never holds back on the curses unless he is trying to hide something. I don''t have any memories that covered any fighting with the elves residing here, but we can''t just rely on those ¨C no matter what happens remember that we need both Lairs and Mason alive ¨C If things go to shit, concentrate on protecting them first." The red-haired girl breathed out and dered with a serious expression. Chapter 560 - Secret Quest (part 3)

Chapter 560 - Secret Quest (part 3)

The inside of the mushroom-shaped outbuilding was much bigger than its outline would suggest, and ¨C at least at the first nce ¨C it looked like a proper research office. Stacks upon stacks of handwritten papers were piling on the shelves on one side while the shelves by the opposite walls were barely able to handle the weight of the ancient-looking books. ording to Gooseberry, the ce wasn''t used by anyone but that was really hard to believe considering that it was impossible to find even a speck of dust even in the furthest corner. "..." "..." Cranberry and Zombie exchanged grim nces and nodded at each other while the first thing that Lairs did was to go towards the shelves with the notes, grab a random stack, and start reading through it. Mason on the other hand went towards the books and grabbed the oldest-looking one which had a staggering amount of bookmarks stuck every few pages, and opened it up. "...Gooseberry said that he left everything how it was when his wife passed away, right...?" The blue undead knight stepped behind the red-haired girl and leaned down, muttering into her ear. "...yeah..." Cranberry nodded, looking around the room with a grim expression. "...then does that mean that she cleaned up her desk and neatly put away her research... I mean, she could be just a clean-freak but..." Zombie scoffed pointing out the unusual perfectly spotless state of the interior that looked more like a disy in a museum than a ce when someone used to research a deadly curse that was killing off their family members one by one. "Haa... this ce looks just like the library ¨C and the library looks perfect only because uncle is watching over it all the time... It could be that he took over the perfectionist attitude that his wife had, but it''s far more usible that he lied to us and was here many times." Cranberry furrowed her brows making a sour expression ¨C checking out for dust on the underside of the smallest bookshelf tucked in the corner right behind the door here almost no one would ever be bothered to swipe and found it spotless... "...still, that doesn''t mean that uncle actually read through anything ¨C he could be just cleaning this ce because it reminds him of his wife, and that''s all..." She added while checking up on the books and handwritten journals that were tucked away almost dismissively on the shelf that she checked for dust... "Yeah... sure..." Zombie scoffed, rolling his eyes while Cranberry opened the newest-looking journal out of the bunch and started reading through it. "..." The blue undead kept his life signature detection skill active and was standing still, crossing his arms by the red-haired girl''s side. "Hey, Mason, does your book has anything fucking useful?" Lairs called out to her half-brother while flipping the page of the notes she first grabbed. Her expression was clearly showing that she didn''t find anything helpful. "...just a few mentions of the curse itself, nothing about the method of dispelling it..." The brown-haired half-elf breathed out looking to the side with an awkward expression. "Oh? It says something about the origin of this fucking shit?" The ck-haired elf raised her head and looked over to the green-eyed young man. "..." ...who closed his mouth and fidgeted awkwardly... "Mason...?" Lairs furrowed her brows and turned to the silent half-elf in confusion. "Well... it does... but..." The green-eyed capture target flinched and started looking to the sides ¨C anywhere but not directly at his half-sister. "Oh,e the fuck on, just tell what you found, don''t fuck around because tiptoeing around the subject is honestly way more fucking annoying than hearing the bad news!" Lairs frowned andined crossing her arms while still holding on to the stack of documents written by the aunt she did not remember. "...alright..." Mason ended up giving in and pointed out the line in the book he was holding. "...the ancient blood curse is a personification of the anger of the god of spirits, Saint ¨C amongst all the known curses and hexes, this one is the only one with no known cure. To stop its devastating effects that can wipe out entire nations'' worth of lives is to kill the curse bearer ¨C as long as the ck-haired elf walks the earth, their curse will continue taking the lives of the creatures in their vicinity..." "...alright, fuck. Stop. Get another book, please." The green-eyed half-elf was about to continue reading out loud but Lairs raised her hand and called out as herplexion turned slightly green. "No. Mason, read the rest." "...!" Cranberry shook her head and dered in a domineering tone, making both Mason and Lairs flinch. "I think that it would be better to check more books first..." Mason cowered and murmured awkwardly while trying to put his book away and exchange it for another while motioning at Cranberry to act more conscious about the ck-haired elf. "No, kid. Read the rest." "..." But after the blue undead knight backed the red-haired girl, the poor green-eyed young man had little to no choice in the matter anymore ¨C he looked apologetically at the miserable airs and opened his mouth. "...first to go would be the creatures with the emotional connection to the curse bearer ¨C their loved ones would die one by one struck down by the god''s punishment, their bodies will dry out and their hair would turn ck before falling off and turning into dust. Then the curse would reach for the ones rted to the curse bearer through their bloodline, killing them one by one until none is left. Only then will the curse extend to the living beings around the curse bearer ¨C whoever the cursed one will touch, talk to, or even look at, they will perish without fail..." Mason read out loud, gulping down his saliva with a fearful expression. "...fucking hell, just top! Check the next book!" Lairs could bear it and threw the notes in her hand to the ground and reached out for another stack. "...Laii..." The green-eyed half-elf made a miserable expression and hurriedly put away the old book, taking up a different one as fast as he could so that this time no one could stop him. "...they totally think that you did that to be mean to Lairs..." Zombie frowned and whispered to Cranberry''s ear. "...haa... yeah I know..." The red-haired girl breathed out and nodded with a bitter expression while ncing down at the journal in her hands. "Ah! This one talks about dispelling the curse!" "!!!" Suddenly, Mason called out in excitement, while pointing at the sentence in the book that he just opened. "Where?!" Lairs gasped, throwing the papers behind her without any consideration for the mess she was creating and rushed towards him. "...ah...! No ¨C wait...!" But just as suddenly as he called out in joy, Mason''s expression darkened and he stepped back, trying to stop Lairs from looking at the text. "Mason, stop fucking around! You said that there''s something there about dispelling this fucking curse! Show it to me!" The ck-haired elf demanded, reaching out for the book, but the green-haired young man nimbly dodged her. "For fuck''s sake!" Lairs cursed out loud but since she was magic oriented, her physical prowess wasn''t nearly as good as her half-brother''s. "Haa... Mason ¨C show her." "!!!!" Cranberry breathed out and ordered in a serious voice ¨C making both the ck-haired elf and the half-elf flinch. "N-no... There must be a mistake here... maybe another book will..." Mason shook his head and pressed the book to his chest, doing his best to hide the text. "No, there will not be." Cranberry shook her head, lowering her gaze to the floor. "What the fuck are both of you talking about?!" Lairs called out in anger, looking between the two people keeping her out of the loop. "...the only way to dispel the ancient blood curse is to kill the curse bearer..." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and turned the journal she found around so that The other two could see what was written in there. ~There is no other way... to protect Cranberry, to protect my dearest son I there is no other way ¨C I kept searching and searching for a different solution but there is none. I can already feel the effects of the curse on my body ¨C I will be the next one to go ¨C but I cannot allow my innocent baby to perish after me... I''m sorry. I am so sorry. There is no other way. My niece must be killed or else our son will die next... Gooseberry, if you read this and I have perished before the Sk''s child is dead... please... protect our son... kill the ck-haired elf before it''s toote.~ "!!!!!" Lairs''s face turned from slightly green to straight-up blue as her eyes reached thest words. "B-but that means...!" She muttered in terror... "Gooseberry finished preparing the field ¨C he evacuated at least half of the vige away from this ce... and ising back here." ...but then she got interrupted by the blue undead knight looking at the door with his eyes glowing with a murky red light. "Haa... at least he gave us enough time to realize that there is no other way..." Cranberry breathed out, massaging her forehead with a bitter expression. And to make everything worse... /Secret quest progression Research the method of dispelling the curse pleted]\\\\ ...a system message showed up for everyone participating in the quest.... Chapter 561 - Secret Quest (part 4)

Chapter 561 - Secret Quest (part 4)

"Zombie bring out George." Cranberry looked up at her blue undead knight andmanded in a serious expression. "True ¨C I the middle of the forest e will be a serious powerhouse~ As I currently am I don''t think I can defeat Gooseberry without harming him, just on my own." Zombie nodded his head and smirked, reaching out his hand and opening his palm... "...haa... that''s not why we need your pet..." The red-haired girl fidgeted and looked away with ha n awkward expression earning herself the confused look from Mason, but both Lairs and Zombie were too busy ¨C the ck-haired elf took out her crystal ball and was clenching it firmly in both hands while the blue undead was simply too preupied on using one of his skills... "George!" Hemanded and with the shes of white light the green half-nt centipede with the lush green carapace showed up in the palm of his hand. "...hmmm...?" The centipede lifted herself up and looked around in confusion, shaking his head segment to get rid of the dizziness caused by the basically instantaneous transmission between two faraway ces. "Hello there, little bugger. You feeling up for a little exercise?" Zombie smiled at the centipede and moved him close to his face. "AH! MASTER~!" George screeched in delight and jumped over to the blue undead torso, coiling himself around his neck and then climbing up before showering his master with ticklish kisses. "Whoa there! Someone got really lonely! Didn''t you have others to y with?" Zombieughed in surprise and asked while patting the bushy carapace of his subject. "...I don''t care about the others... I only need master..." George dered timidly in a low voice and nervously tapped his many legs on the pleasantly cool skin of the blue undead. "Aww~ Little cuddle bug~" Zombie melted over the adorableness of his subject and nuzzled against him ¨C with Goerge instantly nuzzling right back against his face ¨C even though George was a centipede without any human-like features, even one nce was enough to tell the others how happy he was about being reunited with his beloved master. "Sorry for always leaving you behind ¨C but guess what ¨C since it looks like we might be getting secret quest after secret quest activated regardless of our will, I will definitely want to keep you around." Zombie dered with a soft smile, leaning slightly back so that the half-nt centipede could enter his field of vision. "...secret quests...?" "...?" But to his great surprise, George didn''t jump up with joy ¨C and instead, the green remnant of the spirit god, Saint, flinched and scuttled slightly back as if very much distressed. "Oh, don''t worry ¨C it will be fine ¨C for now we called you so that we could incapacitate a certain old old elf who is rather strong, without harming him ¨C at least without harming him too much. I will need your help. Are you up to the task?" The blue undead knight asked with a cheerful smile looking into the segmented eyes of his little subject nervously moving his mandibles. "...master... I don''t think that..." "Sorry, zombie, but we will need him here for dispelling the curse ¨C you need to stop uncle on your own." George lowered his head segment and looked away, visibly dispirited ¨C and Cranberry stepped forward and reached out her hand for him. "No..." Zombie furrowed his brows and instinctively took a step back when someone else wanted to take his property away from him. "First of all, exin what do you meant that you will need him for dispelling the curse ¨C the journal clearly said that only by killing the curse bearer the curse can be taken care of properly." Zombie frowned, squinting his eyes with suspicion at the red-haired girl, all while shielding the green centipede with his hand. ...truth be told, he already had a very bad feeling and a really worrying suspicion about the possible reasons for Cranberry''s request. "That''s because the author of that book didn''t have the remnant of the god at hand ¨C what o you expect a normal elf or any other creature casually writing a solution to the problem that''s supposed to be a challenge of the secret quest that leads to defeating Eternal?" The red-haired girl scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief, and waved her hand dismissively before reaching it right back out expectantly towards her blue undead knight. "...you know you are a terrible actor, right...?" Zombie straightened his back and frowned, looking down at the red-haired girl. "Master ¨C it''s alright! I know what has to be done - there''s nothing for you to worry about!" "George...?!" Suddenly, the green centipede called out and jumped over to Cranberry''s hand, nimbly moving around the blue hand spread out to protect him. The half-nt bug monster coiled around Cranberry''s palm and raised up facing the shocked blue undead. "Master, everything will be alright! It''s about the ck-haired elf, right? I know exactly what needs to be done ¨C leave everything to me!" George called out raising his head segment with pride and snapping his mandibles. "Watch out for yourself and don''t be too rough with uncle, okay?" Cranberry took back her hand with the remnant monster on top of it and started patting his bushy carapace as if to reassure Zombie that she doesn''t have any bad intentions towards the creature. "..." The blue undead knight furrowed his brows, looking between the two in silence for a couple of seconds ¨C he also nced at Lairs and Mason as the two of them also couldn''t really remain still in the pressing situation ¨C and finally, he nced towards the wall ¨C judging by the life signature outside, Gooseberry was already waiting for them. He wasn''t using any skills as of yet, but that might have been merely caused by the fact that he didn''t want to attack the ck-haired elf while she was inside histe wife''s research room ¨C though, the blue undead also felt like the purple-haired elf didn''t want to harm Cranberry either, which was uplifting once he thought about it. "...alright... I imagine that Gooseberry at least expected us to try and pick up a fight since he bothered evacuating the other vigers from within the range of his spells... Let me be clear ¨C I will do my best to stop him, but honestly, since I''m not supposed to kill him, the situation might turn bad on me really fast...." Zombie dered, breathing out and turning away to face the door. "Don''t worry ¨C I''m sure that uncle will not try to kill you either." "..." Cranberry dered with fake confidence ¨C which the blue undead most definitely caught on to. "Khahaha! I doubt that ¨C He might like me but I am nowhere near important to his as Cranbie." Zombie shook his head andughed out loud mockingly shaking his head. "..." Cranberry made a bitter expression and confirmed the guess with her silence before the blue undead walked outside. "..e the fuck on... you must have seen at least some research... there is no other fucking way ¨C you don''t want my son to die either, don''t you? Let''s just kill Lairs as painlessly as possible and be done with it." The purple-haired keeper of the archives shook his head seeing the blue undead knight exiting the mushroom-shaped outbuilding and breathed out in a tired voice. "Nope... no can do ¨C we are in the middle of the questpletion, and there are having a breakthrough over there. How about the two of us just wait here nice and peaceful until they are done?" Zombie shook his head and offered in a friendly manner. "...kid... you didn''t see your loved ones literally crumbling away in your arms...!" "...are you sure about that...?" Gooseberry scoffed, clenching his fist but Zombie merely scoffed with indifference and looked at his own arms ¨C the vision of the horribly wounded Cranberry getting evaporated by the system''s light right out of his hands passed through his mind and filled his voice with bitterness that stopped the purple-haired elf from talking. "...If you don''t want to do it yourself or at least get her here, then at least move..." Gooseberry sighed and asked ¨C genuinely disliking the idea of fighting the blue undead. "I will not let you do that." Zombie shook his head with a solemn expression and his body shone with vivid violet light enhanced by the white and even blue light of other skills ¨C the only one he had avable and didn''t use was the beast''s maw ¨C the gluttony-based devouring skill. "...yes, you will..." Gooseberry frowned and his body shone with pure white light. Chapter 562 - Secret Quest (part 5)

Chapter 562 - Secret Quest (part 5)

*BOOOOOOOM* *WHAM* *CRUSH* The purple-haired elf and the blue undead knight exchanged punches that caused destructive shockwaves to sh against the vige buildings ¨C going even as far as breaking windows and destroying fences. "...you grew quite strong..." Gooseberry smirked bitterly ¨C feeling both proud and distressed about the improvement that Zombie made since thest time they saw each other. "I would like to say the same about you, but you aren''t using even half of your strength ¨C let''s make this whole situation easier and stop fighting. Let Cranberry try out her method ¨C and then if it will not work, we can kill Lairs." Zombie scoffed and looked at his indented chestte with a bitter expression. "Fuck no ¨C I don''t know how was it possible for the ancient blood curse to stop working for twenty years but I am not going to risk my child''s life on mere spections while the clear answer is right in front of me!" The purple-haired elf called out clenching his fist and kicking off the ground, twisting in mid-air and stomping right at the blue undead''s head... *BOOOOM* The attack was dodged at thest possible second as Zombie''s body shed white and moved out of the way with an overwhelming speed ¨C but the attack wasn''t finished by just the single kick ¨C as soon as Gooseberry''s foot stomped on the ground, a spear-like rock formation erupted from the ground right under the undead''s feet, almost skewering him in one go...! *CLING* Zombie dodged it too, although this one was much closer than the kick itself ¨C the rocks hit against his armor leaving a deep cut into the metal which only served as proof of the magic spear''s sharpness. "...say, how''s your position resistance...?" "...huh...?!" The sudden question took the purple-haired elf by surprise ¨C and his eyes widened the moment that he saw the blue undead''s eyes and throat shining white ¨C before Zombie spread his jaws and the concentrated venomous breath attack hit Gooseberry straight in the face!" "!!!!!" The old elf backed off immediately, holding back his breath and closing his eyes the moment he saw the purple vapor, but the venomous skill wasn''t so convenient to block ¨C even without inhaling it directly, the mere contact with the elf''s skin caused the status effect... /You got poisoned\\\\ /You got paralised\\\\ /You receive a debuff ¨C stamina regeneration block\\\\ /You receive a debuff ¨C health regeneration block\\\\ /You receive a debuff ¨C mana regeneration block\\\\ "Tsk...! Aren''t you hard to deal with, kid?!" Gooseberry scoffed, gritting his teeth as the white light rose up from his body just to rain down upon him the next moment. /Poison status effect diminished\\\\ /You are no longer paralised\\\\ /Health regeneration block ¨C cleansed\\\\ "...fuck... you really are a piece of work..." The purple-haired elf smirked, wiping off the drop of blood that gathered in the corner of his eye like some sort of gruesome tear. "Just so we clear ¨C I am not trying to deal anysting damage ¨C so seriously, just tell me how is your resistance ¨C or else using the position against you might prove to be very unweed. Zombie scoffed, breathing out a cloud of violet mist to the side. "I know that you couldn''t get rid of all the side effects ¨C of that skill ¨C give it a rest already and just wait a little bit! Stop being so stubborn!" The blue undead called out with an annoyed expression ¨C thanks to using the overpower skill on the purple-haired elf, Zombie was stronger than him ¨C BUT ¨C someone as long-lived as Gooseberry made sure to train all of his stats ¨C and so, even though the blue undead knight had a single stat with four times the skill points number, the elf''s other stats made up for it. The thing would bepletely different if Zombie could kill Gooseberry ¨C in that situation the fight would be already over with a single devastating overpower-empowered attack that would shatter the old man into pieces. ...but Zombie both wanted, and was expected to keep the other party alive... No matter how he looked at the situation ¨C Gooseberry was strong ¨C and even as a background character without a unique name, he could be at least considered as a backup, just in case if Caramel''s n was just like Cranberry expected ¨C for the reincarnated girl to force multiple special quests to trigger at the same time to get rid of all any allies that the viiness and the undead capture target could gather on their way, just so they would end up getting killed by Eternal ¨C just so Caramel herself could sweep in and gain all the glory and possible bonuses from defeating the strongest monster in the system. Yes ¨C keeping the purple-haired elf alive was a way to go, definitely. The path with less bloodshed was always more difficult ¨C as the blue undead knight was experiencing firsthand at the moment. "I cannot give up and will fucking not give up until my son is assured to be safe from the curse!" Gooseberry dered furrowing his brows and ring coldly at the undead. "...!" After hearing that, Zombie''s eyes widened. "...what is it...?" The purple-haired elf twitched at the odd reaction and straightened his back with a challenging look. "...you stubborn fool... deep down you want to wait for Cranberry to try out her solution, but you also don''t want to unnecessarily get Cranbie in harm''s way ¨C so you just want to waste your time fighting me until the result of our option will be clear!" "!!!!!!" The blue undead dered in disbelief and the old elf flinched and stepped back with the expression of a person caught red-handed at the crime scene. "...I don''t know what you are talking about..." Even though Gooseberry really tried to keep hisposure, his voice trembled by the end of his sentence betraying him ¨C and the purple-haired elf ended up with his face bright red from embarrassment. "...so that''s why you aren''t using even half of your strength..." Zombie scoffed, shaking his head. "...How do you even know how strong I am ¨C we never actually fought..." Gooseberry asked, trying to push the topic away from himself at all cost to save his face as the crude, cold-hearted individual. "The current you didn''t fight the current me ¨C sure." "...?" Zombie nodded, admitting the truth in the words of the purple-haired elf, which honestly made him more confused than anything. |...but during the first ythrough I have ughtered this entire vige ¨C you included...| The blue undead thought silently, reminiscing about the past in another life. "Fine ¨C you helped out Cranberry with more than a few spells ¨C I can help you deal with this anxiety of yours!" The blue undead ended up smiling mischievously and deactivating his overpower skill ¨C with that, there was no chance of him killing the elf in one shot. "Thank you..." Gooseberry breathed out and smiled... "!!!!" ...before he disappeared in a sh of white light just to appear right behind the shocked blue undead... *BOOOOOOOM* With a single solid m to the back of the head, Zombie ended up smashing into the ground with enough power to get burrowed up to his elbows in the rock-hard soil. "...for being so naive..." Gooseberry scoffed with a grim expression ¨C there was not even a single trace of embarrassment or any other warm feeling on his face. "...you would do the same if Cranberry''s life was on the line, right...?" The purple-haired elf added, looking at the limp body of the half-burrowed undead before he walked towards the mushroom-shaped outbuilding. Chapter 563 - Secret Quest (part 6)

Chapter 563 - Secret Quest (part 6)

Gooseberry reached out his hand towards the door to the mushroom-shaped outbuilding that served as histe wife''s office when suddenly his insides tied up into a knot and the horrifying drear just dawned on him as if the reaper itself reached out its boney hand for his life. "...!" *SWOOOOSH* *BOOOOOOOOOM* The purple-haired elf ducked almost against his will ¨C his self-preservation instinct kicked in before any sane thought appeared in his mind ¨C and it was right in time as within the same heartbeat as the old elf got to the ground the armored leg passed through the air with an unbelievable sound and ended up causing a shockwave that both shook the entire house and shattered the windows in all the nearest buildings. "FUCK...!" Gooseberry cursed and immediately used the blink skill again to get out of the range of the effective range of the attacker ¨C but the moment the purple-haired elf appeared fifteen feet to the left, and even though he had chosen the spot at random...! *BOOOOOOM* "UGHUUAGGHHHH...!" The second shockwave hit him square in the back and sent him flying through the air until he crashed against the wall of the neighbor''s house. *BOOOOOOOOM* Before the keeper of the archives could even properly catch a breath the third shockwave smashed him through the wall, right into the house where he crashed into the firece by the opposite wall. "Ugh...! Ekhe! Ekhe...!" Gooseberry coughed up a few drops of blood and inhaled a fistful of ash before he managed to crawl back up on his feet ¨C still, just as he did... "...!" The elf was on his way to straighten his back and face his opponent, but before he could raise his head, he felt a cold hand grabbing onto his hair, and the next thing he saw was an armored knee flying straight to his face! *WHAM* *CRACK* The hit crushed his nose into a bloody pulp and sent him against the wall... *WHAM* ...or it would have if not for the opponent grabbing his long purple hair and pulling him right back for another kneeful. *grab* "AAAARGHH...! You little fuck let go of...!" The next moment the disoriented Gooseberry felt an armored fist clenching around his right ear, basically crushing it and causing the elf to cry out in pain and fury, spouting blood mixed with saliva. *SLAM* ...but the opponent didn''t even consider showing mercy and with the stable hold on the elven ear, he started assaulting the nearby wall with Gooseberry''s head. *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM**SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM* *SMASH* In the end, the wooden construction gave in and the elf was smashed through, falling to the outsides ¨C thanks to the blood gushing from the partially ripped-off ear the opponent lost the steady grip and Gooseberry managed to slip out. "...fuck... fuck...!" The purple-haired elf cursed, breathing heavily and clenching the gaping wound on the side of his head. After getting his head turned into a battering ram, his brain sure felt as if it turned into a mush ¨C it was almost impossible for the old elf to focus on the healing spell ¨C but even still, his first thought certainly wasn''t on that... ...after all, what use was of healing a single wound when in a second he might be straight-up dead...? Gooseberry''s experience was telling him to hide, assert the situation, heal up, and then counter-attack when the opportunity revealed itself. The only problem was... *SWOOSH* *CRACK* "GH-AH...!" *WHAM* The blue undead knight in jet-ck armor simply appeared right behind the purple-haired elf and casually swiped at his legs ¨C breaking both of the elf''s ankles and then mming him to the ground with his fist as if the initial attack wasn''t enough. "The head." Zombie spoke up coldly for the first time after Gooseberry used his goodwill against him. "..wha...?! The fuck...?!" The purple-haired elf groaned on the ground and twitched, trying to turn around to look the blue undead in the face. "The head is the most important part of the creature''s body." Zombie spoke indifferently as if he was never interrupted by the cursing elf. "A living creature that is." The blue undead raised his hand and pointed at his expressionless face. "But I am an undead ¨C every single organ in my body is unnecessary for me to remain active -my heart doesn''t beat, my lungs don''t inhale and exhale, the liquid circting in my veins is venom and not blood, and simrly, my brain does have very little to do with me thinking." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and he lowered his hand. "I will take damage ¨C a very substantial amount even ¨C as long as someone manages to destroy one of the organs I mentioned no matter how insignificant they actually are but that''s because it''s how the damage works in this world. Still ¨C attempting to knock me out by causing a concussion, and right after I put my trust in you..." He sighed shaking his head from left to right. "...now... that''s a proper way to make me angry..." Zombie scoffed, and his face twisted into a cold smirk. "Cranberry told me to not harm you, Gooseberry ¨C but honestly, borrowing the wise words of your kind ¨C I don''t give a fuck ¨C anyways, as long as it is possible to heal you, does it truly counts as harm...?" The blue undead knight raised his head and red down at the crawling purple-haired elf who most certainly was experiencing how living creatures react to head and brain trauma. Zombie raised his foot and casually aimed it at Gooseberry''s face. "Z-Zombie?! What are you doing to my father?!" "...?" Then, unexpectedly a scared and confused voice called out from the route leading to the center of the vige ¨C the blue undead turned his face and saw a young powder-pink-haired elf dressed up in the de dancer''s outfit coupled with a karabe strapped to his exposed waist. ...the young man''s hair grew longer and honestly, in his current getup it was near impossible to tell that he was actually a male, and not a small framed, slim girl... "...Me? I am simply demonstrating to him that it''s far better to have me as an ally than the enemy..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and... *WHAM* "GH...!" "FATHER...!" Dropped his foot straight on Gooseberry''s head, burrowing it into the ground, knocking the purple-haired elf unconscious at the same time. "See? Like that." Chapter 564 - Secret Quest (part 7)

Chapter 564 - Secret Quest (part 7)

"Zombie! Exin to me what is going on?! What is this about being your ally or enemy?! Of course, we are your allies!" The powder-pink-haired elven de dancer called out ¨C but what showcased his goodwill far better than his words was his stance - even after seeing his father getting kicked into the ground, the young elf didn''t even try to grab his sword and rush the blue undead, instead opting for approaching him in a trustful way ¨C Cranbie was shocked, but he didn''t doubt that Zombie had his reasons even for a moment. "Do you want the short version or the long one?" Zombie looked at him with a soft smirk and asked in a casual voice. "...e-eh...?" Cranbie gasped in shock as if he didn''t expect that the blue undead would actually be willing to exin anything. "The thing is that the curse that killed your mother got reactivated, and you might be the next one to die unless the curse bearer will be killed ¨C it just so happens that a friend of Cranberry and I is the curse bearer and we even received a quest about dispelling the damn thing. Cranberry is back in your mother''s workroom apparently checking the only other way of dealing with the curse that wouldn''t require killing our friend off, but your father here wasn''t willing to wait for the result ¨C and even went ahead and attacked me while I dropped my guard willing to believe him." Zombie exined on his own even without the powder-pink-haired elf picking an option. "Ah... oh... umm... okay...? Was that the short one or the long one...?" Cranbie blinked repeatedly and asked awkwardly, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy. "Who knows~?" Zombie smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "You know what? I will help you with taking Gooseberry back to your house ¨C but promise me to not try to heal him at least until my Cranberry will be done with testing out her solution, alright?" He added while looking down at the unconscious purple-haired elf with his head stuck in the ground. "...a-alright..." Cranbie looked between his father and the blue undead before ending up nodding his head and crouching down to delicately excavate the purple-haired elf''s head without casing him any additional harm. "...umm... Zombie... I don''t really have a healing skill in the normal sense, but can''t I at least try to do something about the bleeding...?" The powder-pink-haired elf asked in a timid voice as his face be pale and his shoulders trembled at the sight of his father''s wounds. "Sure ¨C I did almost tore off his ear after all. Still ¨C nothing that could wake him up ¨C or I will have to knock him back out." The blue undead knight shrugged his shoulders before raising his fist in a threatening manner. "Of course!" Cranbie gasped and nodded his head vigorously while his ears slumped down as if they had a will on their own and tried to hide from the undead''s sight under the elf''s hair. -------- At the same time inside the mushroom-shaped outbuilding... "...aren''t you worried about the purple dude...?" Lairs raised her brow and asked looking at the shattered ss from the broken window that fell inside and spread over some books and the floor. "...haa... Zombie gave him a chance ¨C and he actually wanted to be nice for once... as long as he will not kill uncle it should be fine. I hope." The red-haired girl breathed out with a concerned expression and massaged her temples. "Oh? And out of curiosity, what happened in the other life? How did my other self react to my supposed uncle being hellbent on fucking killing me without even allowing trying out a different method?" The ck-haired elven mange frowned and asked, ying around with her crystal ball to hide her anxiety. "Pffft....! Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha! Good one!" Cranberry burst out intoughter and shook her head in disbelief. "What...? The fuck? What was so funny?" Lairs asked furrowing her brows in confusion. "Bold of you to assume that this elven vige survived an encounter with Zombie ¨C interestingly enough, it was thanks to that ughter Zombie knew that there will be many useful artifacts here ¨C including those ¨C thanks to what he could formte a n of rescuing me." The red-haired girl answered boldly, showing off her left hand with the ancient wedding ring glistening in the sunrays bursting in through the broken window. "...I shouldn''t have asked..." Lairs''s expression turned sour and she looked away. "...Laii,dy Cranberry, could you please lower your voices a little bit ¨C I am not very proficient with using invidia ¨C also, Laii ¨C please, try to not move around as much..." The green-eyed half-elf, Mason, fidgetted on the chair right by the ck-haired elven mage and asked in a nervous voice while holding the half-nt green centipede on hisp. "Master is angry." The centipede raised his head segment and looked towards the window before sighing heavily and speaking in a low voice. "...he suspects what needs to happen for the guest to bepleted ¨C although he does hope that he is wrong..." Cranberry breathed out, not sounding very excited, and confirmed the centipede''s words. "Sorry for that, George, out of the other six remnants ¨C you are the only one who is required to perish for the secret quest to bepleted." The red-haired girl lowered her head and exined in an apologetic manner. "...I know... I do have the knowledge of the spirit god, Saint, remember?" George sounded as if he smiled with a bit of nostalgia, but because of his appearance, the only indication aside from his voice was the distinct movement of his mandibles. "...and you are aware that it will not be the same as before ¨C there will be noing back to life like it was when you were turning into the sigil monster..." The red-haired girl straight up looked away and murmured, using the detection+ [hearing] to make sure that Zombie isn''t anywhere near enough to overhear her saying that. "...master''s wife... did I stutter or something...?" The green centipede raised his head segment even higher and scoffed proudly. "Mister George...? Please, neither Laii nor you are supposed to move...! I''m sorry but invidia is really troublesome..." Mason flinched and grabbed the centipede''s bushy carapace and brought him down with two fingers to return him to the previous position. "...cheeky humans..." George scoffed, nervously snapping his mandibles but in the end, he obediently stayed in ce. The glistening green fog surrounding the centipede and the ck-haired elf started condensing, locking the two in shining green cocoons. ¡­ ¡­... The seconds turned into minutes and the green-eyed Mason was literally sweating buckets as the powerful avatar-exclusive skill was draining him mana at a record speed ¨C but still, in the end... /Special quest progression Dispell the curse pleted]\\\\ "...!" A system message popped up for everyone taking part in the quest making them flinch. ------ /Special quest progression Dispell the curse pleted]\\\\ "...!" *thump* "Zombie! You promised to be careful with him!" The system message showed up for the blue undead too, and he ended up dropping what he was carrying at the moment ¨C and that something coincidentally turned out to be the purple-haired elf. "...!" For a blissful second, Zombie thought that he was overthinking things before and that George didn''t have to take Lairs''s ce after all... ...but that thought was very short-lived... "...master, this is a goodbye..." "!!!!" The blue undead heard a weak voice and instantly turned in the direction that it wasing from and... ...he saw a small centipede standing in the broken window of the mushroom-shaped outbuilding... "Zombie, hey, what happ-?!" *crack* "-UMMMPFHHH...! Confused Cranbie who didn''t realize what was going on, asked in a confused voice and came closer to the blue undead to get his attention ¨C but in response Zombie merely reached out his hand without sparing him a single nce and blocked the elf''s mouth ending up identally breaking Cranbie''s nose in the process. ...it only happened before Zombie couldn''t take his eyes off of George... And that was because although it was undoubtedly George, his carapace wasn''t lush green and bushy anymore, but ratherpletely wilted and brown... ...and it was turning ck with a fearsome speed... "...bye-bye... I love you..." Then, George clicked his mandibles for thest time and turned to dust right where he stood ¨C and the passing breeze blew his remains off of the widow... /One of your subjects have died\\\\ /You received thepensation\\\\ /Level up\\\\ /All status points, skills, and affinities increased.\\\\ /You receive **** ** * ******* *******\\\\ /Quest -cursed sister-pleted\\\\ /Reward granted\\\\ /The wheels of fate begin to crumble away\\\\ The series of messages showed up, leaving the blue undead speechless. Chapter 565 - First Secret Quest Completed

Chapter 565 - First Secret Quest Completed

"Ugh...!" Zombie released Cranbie from his grasp and the powder-pink-haired elf fell on his butt while severe bleeding from his broken nose was staining his outfit. "...Zombie...?" Even with that, the elven young man gasped, looking up at the frozen blue undead knight and seeing the sorrow in his jet-ck eyes. "Zombie, is everything okay...?" Cranbie asked timidly while holding both hands to his nose in an attempt to stop the loss of blood. "..." The blue undead knight twitched and slowly looked down at the elf by his feet. "...Cranbie..." Zombie muttered, soundingpletely out of it. Without making any other sounds, the blue undead knight reached down and touched the powder-pink-haired elf''s face. "...mend..." *crack* His body shone with vibrant violet light and the next moment he muttered the name of a skill he shouldn''t have in his arsenal ¨C but even so, the young elf felt the all too familiar sensation of the cartges forcibly returning to their rightful ce and his nose mended itself back into its original shape. "...o..." Cranbie groaned in a quietint ¨C the only healing skill that didn''t have anything to do with the holy element was just as painful as he remembered it even though the blue undead was the one using it... ...though, after careful consideration, the powder-pink-haired elf realized that the effect of the skill doesn''t change depending on who is using it... "Here, let''s get you up..." "...! Ah...! Yes...!" At first, the powder-pink-haired elf didn''t realize the blue undead was talking to him, as he wasn''t used to Zombie being so helpful ¨C and so he only flinched and nodded his head once the blue hands showed up in front of his face. With how mend worked, all the blood that was spilled simply returned back to the wound as if it never left the target''s body, so Cranbie''s clothes were back to being spotless. "...eh...? Wait...! Eh...?!" Then, the young elf realized that Zombie was leading him away from his father only when the blue undead knight was leading him up the stairs of the mushroom-shaped outbuilding. "Zombie, what about my father...?" Cranbie asked nervously, honestly terrified of this silent Zombie that certainly didn''t act like that before. "..." The blue undead knight looked at the powder-pink-haired elf before ncing back at the fallen unconscious purple-haired elf. The next second Zombie''s body shone with the vibrant violet light and he raised his hand, pointing it at Gooseberry. "Mend." *CRACK* The blue undead knight called out and the old elf''s body twisted and turned until it finally let out a loud noise and fell back down on the ground. "...FUCKING HELL...!" Gooseberry was back on his feet within the next heartbeat, although his shout suggested that getting healed with mend was far more painful than getting wounded. "...you fucker now what is your n?! Can we finally get to killing the fucking ck-haired...!" "Shut the fuck up or I will crack your skull open once more." The purple-haired elf called out but was instantly silenced by the ice-cold voice of the blue undead knight. "Wha...? But ¨C you are going there with my son, that means...!" Gooseberry flinched and raised his hand, pointing at the ce where histe wife was tirelessly searching for the method of dispelling the ancient blood curse without killing the curse bearer and failing despite all her work. "The curse is gone and Lairs is still alive ¨C fucking asshole ¨C see, you moronic ass betrayed my trust because of fucking anxiety ¨C if that isn''t a pathetic suicide attempt, I don''t know what is." Zombie red back at the bbergasted keeper of the archives and shook his head in annoyance. "Wh... wait.. what...? What do you mean the curse is gone?" Gooseberry gasped, staring at the blue undead knight in utter shock. "...idiot..." Zombie frowned, gritting his teeth, and grabbed the doorknob... *CRACK* *THUMP* ...but instead of simply turning it and opening the door, he went ahead and ripped the door and the entire doorframe right out of the wall and threw it to the side. "There was no other choice." The first person who showed up in the created entrance, was the red-haired human girl, looking at the blue undead knight with a solemn expression. "...there better not have been..." "...!" The best showcase of how furious Zombie was about George''s fate was the way he addressed Cranberry. It wasn''t his usual ¨C I know, I trust you ¨C that the girl was used to hearing all the time during the first ythrough. Instead, she met emotionless jet-ck eyes and she certainly didn''t enjoy the blue undead knight looking at her in such a way. "...there really was not..." Cranberry repeated, lowering her head. "...during the next secret quest ¨C if the choice will be between one of my subjects and someone else ¨C I will personally kill that other living." Zombie scoffed, letting go of Cranbie and walking towards the apologetic Cranberry. "...I am not mad at you, stupid idiot, I am angry at the system... let''s destroy this thing as soon as possible and be done with it...." The blue undead knight leaned down and hugged the red-haired girl nuzzling his face against the top of her head. "...haa..." Cranberry breathed out in relief and returned the hug, going as far as climbing on her tiptoes and coiling her arms around Zombie''s neck. "I really like when you are honest with me ¨C I think I already earned your trust so don''t leave me out of the loop next time ¨C what, did you expect me to try and lob Lairs''s head off if I was faced with the choice of her life against George''s?" Zombie smirked lowering his head even more and murmured into the girl''s ear. "...honestly? Yes, I did..." Cranberry nodded her head and admitted in a low voice. "Khahaha! Well, you know me the best~" The blue undeadughed, not even trying to hide the truth from the red-haired girl. "You know that her death could make working with the other Dandelions more troublesome..." Cranberryined while pouting letting herself be picked up and carried outside. "Lairs ¨C show up already ¨C your uncle backstabbing, head punching, piece of shit of an uncle still can''t believe that the curse is gone!" "...!" Zombie has appeased thanks to the closeness of his red-haired girl and ended up turning back towards the building and shouting, once again not hiding his true feelings at all ¨C which caused both Cranbie and Gooseberry to flinch. "...fucking... sure..." Lairs called out from the inside, not sounding too happy. "What, are you telling me your hair all fell out or something and you are too ashamed to show up?" Zombie smirked and giggled in disbelief. "Oh, shut the fuck up!" ...which worked like a charm and caused the elven mage to finally show her face ¨C and more importantly, hair. "!!!" Gooseberry straightened his back as his eyes widened in shock, once the elven woman showed up. Lairs still the curtain of lush hair but instead of being ck like the starless night, now they turned out to be deep green, not lush and intense like fresh grass or newly sprouted leaves, but rather of the much gentler, almost moss-like hue. It was very reminiscent of the color of George''s carapace. "If you will tell me that you are grumpy because you don''t actually like green, I am going to punch your face." Zombie said, raising his free hand and clenching his palm into a fist. "Wha...?! No! It''s not about my new ¨C erm ¨C my original hair color!" The elven woman dered stomping her foot in anger. "I... I want to apologize for what happened to your subject... I''m sorry..." She breathed out and ended up bowing towards the blue undead knight. "Yeah. You better be." Zombie scoffed, ring down at the apologetic elf. "Zombie! This is the time where you should say something uplifting ¨C like ¨C I would prefer to hear words of gratitude towards him rather than an apology ¨C and forgive her" Cranberry breathed out and scoffed at her husband. "What? Fuck no ¨C I am the one upset and I will be the one to decide whether I will forgive her or not." But the blue undead wasn''t going to be cooperative about that, and instead scoffed and turned right back around. "Now ¨C since we are already here, we can go and pass through the Gluttony'' territory ¨C if I remember correctly there is supposed to be ake with an orange spirit somewhere around there... It''s the next remnant, isn''t it?" To prove he was serious, hepletely disregarded the green-haired elf still lowering her head and asked Cranberry sitting on his forearm. "...haa... fine... sure. That''s right. We can go check up on it, we just have to be careful ¨C that one will be a little more tricky than the previous ones." The red-haired girl gave up and nodded, before giving out a warning. "We will manage." "...!" Zombie shrugged his shoulders before ring at the purple-haired elf staring in disbelief at the green-haired elven mage whom he wanted to kill just a moment ago. "What? Feeling really stupid already or should I give you some more time for the truth to sink in." Zombie scoffed at Gooseberry before walking away. "Just so you know - next time I will tell you to trust me - trust me or I might not be so nice like? I was today." He dered. "Also - Lairs - you are returning to our fort on foot." The blue undead decided, making the elven mage flinch and finally raise her head. "Wait - what the fuck? Why?!" She gasped in disbelief and asked. "Because I will not forgive you otherwise." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and dered. Chapter 566 - Checking Out The Lake - And Learing A Lot

Chapter 566 - Checking Out The Lake - And Learing A Lot

*BOOOOOOOOM* The blue undead knight in jet-ck armor dropped out of the sky and crashnded right by the shore of a smallke that some might even call a pond- missing the surface of the water by more than ten feet and causing a small scale earthquake. "...going there alone or else a stupid spirit will note out, seriously..." Zombie mumbled to himself in annoyance while stumbling his way out of the crater that he himself had created. "Hmph...!" He scoffed shaking off the dust and soil away from his armor. Then, the blue undead knight''s eyes shone with a murky red light and he proceeded to look around checking for anything alive in the vicinity. Only some weak bird monsters and small rodents are even weaker than frenzy rabbits... All in all the rea seemed to be very peaceful ¨C and what was probably more surprising ¨Cpletely untouched by the human hand. It really looked as if no one found this ce since the young leader of the Brave Swords, Cherry, had stumbled his way across theke and received a holy sword from the mysterious orange spirit. "...that said... shouldn''t spirits have life signatures too...?" Zombie frowned, looking back at theke. There certainly wasn''t anything in there that could pass for the remnant of the abyss god, Hell. Actually ¨C there was absolutely nothing living in that body of water, period! ...but that was the concerning part ¨C how was it even possible...? "...hmm..." Zombie furrowed his brows and stepped towards theke ¨C the water looked normal, at least at the first nce... "Maybe the water is somehow blocking my skill...? It could be possible that a remnant of an administrator could pull something like that off, right...?" The blue undead knight asked, patting the crossguard of the sword at his waist. "..." The sword that remained silent... "Hello, Kopia...? Don''t tell me you are still angry about sending Monty together with the little Roan? You must have heard Cranberry talking about it ¨C apparently, their special quest is already on its way and if things go well we will not have to intervene at all ¨C after all, the heroine is supposedly the one who shouldplete the secret quests, to begin with." Zombie exined, gently caressing the crossguard and the pommel of the one-handed shortsword sheathed in an expensive-looking scabbard. "...I am angry... Monty is mine... what if the stupid humans will end up killing him as it happened to green...?" "...!" After a couple more seconds of stubborn silence, the sentient sword vibrated and the muffled high-pitched noise resounded in the air, forming into words while changing frequency. "...oh... I get it now ¨C that''s why you were angry from the very beginning... You do share memories with Pati, just like Cranberry does, you knew all about the secret quests and the possible oue from the start, didn''t you?" The blue undead knight gasped in realization and asked, momentarily forgetting about his original purpose. "...yes... master ¨C I don''t like this... most of those special quests can bepleted in three different ways, by killing the remnant in after it takes the important role for itself, killing the original target mentioned by the quest, or by figuring out the secret meaning behind the quest ¨C green didn''t stand a chance because the Envy quest could bepleted by a sacrifice ¨C the remnant from the Sloth quest will not even take part in the quest ¨C its role is to hang in the background threateningly ¨C but the rest can be figured out as long as the yers are willing to put in some work!" Kopia called out in a pitiful frequency and jumped out of the luxurious scabbard and changed into her humanoid form in the sh of white light without Zomei ever trying to stop her. "Why are we believing that humans will make the right call! What if they will straight up kill my Monty because it will be more convenient for them?!" The crimson-haired girl clenched her fists and cried out, gritting her teeth. "Is it that bad...? What exactly is Roan''s secret quest anyway? And shouldn''t it start only after it bes the avatar ¨C I thought the queen was still alive...!" Zombie frowned and asked, crossing his arm and keenly observing the crying girl in a fluffy dress. "No! Greed''s secret quest is all about the heir bing the avatar!" Kopia stomped her foot, puncturing the ground under her foot, and dered angrily. "No. No, seriously, wait. Am I going crazy here ¨C wasn''t Roan''s quest supposed to activate with Xavi''s help after the vige will bepleted?!" The blue undead knight flinched and stepped back, raising his hands defensively while his face betrayed the utter confusion. "It was supposed to go like that, right? Or am I going crazy?" He asked blinking repeatedly trying to figure out what was really going on. "...master..." Kopia breathed out, shaking her head. "With the help of the monster viger, the four other Dandelions and the adventurers who were brought there by Xavi managed to set up the vige already! Xavi also activated Roan''s secret quest by contacting him and revealing the secret about his birth ¨C and by doing so she also made the first step to activating the secret quest of Wrath." The girl revealed with a pouty expression as if Zombie was a father ying house with his daughter and he couldn''t keep up with the girl''s wild imagination. ...and that also was exactly how Zombie was feeling at the moment too... "What do you mean? Alright ¨C let''s say I can understand the whole secret of birth ¨C basically, Xavi told Roan that he isn''t the child of the current royal couple but rather the love child of the queen and Quince ¨C the same dude whom I killed and convinced the others that he ran away from servitude." The blue undead knight recounted counting on his fingers. "Since that''s the case I expect the quest to lead to some sort of secret plot from Roan, resulting in the current queen getting murdered and Roan receiving the avatar''s title but what the hell does it has to do with Wraths? That guy... what was his name... Corvus ¨C the white-haired one ¨C right? Will his quest start after the queen will be killed?" Zombie asked looking up at the crimson-haired sentient sword waiting for confirmation. "...master, you arepletely wrong... Seriously..." Kopia sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Wh-what...? Why so? If I am wrong then just tell me what it is about ¨C we aren''t even taking part in the quest, to begin with!" The blue undead scoffed and shook his head whileining. "The white-haired one, Crovus, he is the firstborn child of the royal couple ¨C but he was already born with an extreme LUC stat coupled with theck of upper limit of how high it can go ¨C and for someone from the Greed family that is absolutely uneptable ¨C all of their skills have a requirement of a really low LUC stat or they simply don''t work ¨C normally the child like that would be disposed of. The queen asked her trusted ¨C at that time ¨C friend of hers, to do it ¨C but the woman couldn''t get herself to just kill the child, and instead, she escaped with it to another territory where she left it with a group she considered friends. Still, a couple of yearster, said friends ¨C a group of adventurers ¨C ended up failing a mission and dying, leaving the kid out on the street fending for himself." Kopia revealed with indifference as if she didn''t just drop quite a lot of lore on Zombie''s head. "Greed quest is all about the heir learning about it, confronting his parents about the whole situation, once he does, the king ¨C who was told that the first child was stillborn ¨C would seek revenge and trick someone else into killing his wife. The whole quest is about figuring out that the king was behind all of that all along, which would result in the heir ¨C well, an avatar of greed - ascending the throne. - but like I said, thanks to the knowledge, the avatar of greed would want to find the half-brother that he never met ¨C which would, in turn, activate the Wrath quest." The crimson-haired girl stopped talking since she noticed Zombie started massaging his forehead with an annoyed expression. "Should I continue the exnation about the Wrath guest...?" She asked curiously. "...no... I do wish to wonder how in all of that Monty would be the one who might die in the Greed quest though." The blue undead breathed out and asked in a tired voice. "Oh... ¨C simple, actually ¨C Monty will be the one to get tricked into killing the queen ¨C since it''s possible toplete the quest after punishing the perpetrator, the bug in the original game makes it possible toplete the quest just by killing the killer without ever learning who the mastermind was." Kopia flinched and answered, getting visibly worried. "...and since this world is an exact copy of the game ¨C the bug got in here too..." "Exactly." Zombie groaned and the crimson-haired girl nodded her head vigorously in confirmation. Chapter 567 - Everything Is Under Control (Just Not Their Control...)

Chapter 567 - Everything Is Under Control (Just Not Their Control...)

"...that makes things all the more annoying..." Zombie furrowed his brows and red back at theke. "Say... why did Xavi contact the little prince all of a sudden ¨C did she feelfortable enough to escape the possible consequences of the queen''s anger? Because she shouldn''t be aware of the quest that would lead to that woman''s demise..." After confirming for a second time that theke was had nothing living in there whatsoever, the blue undead knight turned back towards the crimson-haired humanoid sword and breathed out. "...?" Kopia merely tilted her head and looked back at him with clueless eyes. "The skill that the piece of filth could use ¨C suggestion ¨C since she could use it on me, she could be using it on other people too, and I doubt many have a powerful enough counter-skill that could protect them from it...It sure seems like this little pile of waste is really activating all the secret quests as fast as she possibly can..." "...!" Zombie''s face twisted in anger at the mere thought of the reincarnated girl who was born as his older sister in this game-like world ¨C and he released aura fearsome enough for Kopia to flinch and step back a little bit. "What about this then ¨C do we have to do something special for the orange spirit to show up? Or is it not showing up because there are two of us instead of one?" The blue undead knight ended up shaking his head in annoyance and motioning at theke with his chin. "I am master''s equipment ¨C I do not count as a separate being, if the remnant was here it would have shown up already, as the only requirement to met is toe here alone at this specific hour." "Hmm...?" Kopia shook her head and dered in a worried tone ¨C and because she rarely showed up negative emotions ¨C with the exception of being worried about the gold snake, Monty ¨C it really got Zombie''s attention. "What ¨C are you telling me that it is gone? Even though it was supposed to be waiting? fo... fuck... No...! No fucking way...!" The blue undead knight shrugged his shoulders and asked absentmindedly ¨C before he suddenly flinched in realization and clenched his fists in fury. "That vile scum...! Did she send someone here to take the spirit so that she could activate another secret quest?!" He asked walking over to the water and staring at its surface intently as if that alone could change the absence of any lifeform in the depths. "...that seems to be the case ¨C most likely." Kopia nodded and walked towards him, stopping right by his side where she ducked down and reached out her hand. *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* Once her fingers broke the surface they released countless crimson threads that shoot through the water like mad whips and disturb it enough to make the water look as if it was boiling. "..." After a few seconds, the crimson-haired girl retracted her threads and took back her hand before looking up at the blue undead knight. "Any results...?" Zombie asked though he already knew the answer ¨C it was obvious considering that the humanoid sword didn''t show up anything and was looking up at him like a sad puppy. "...nothing ¨C in Pati''s memories there was supposed to be a lot of creatures living here ¨C even a certain rare monster, all beside the remnant ¨C but there is no trace of it anywhere." Kopia pouted, looking back at the calmke. "The orange spirit is the remnant of the abyss god, hell, isn''t it? It also represents gluttony ¨C so it could eat everything and just change its location, couldn''t it?" Zombie frowned, trying to look at the bright side that didn''t include a certain light-brown-haired girl whom he hated more than anything else in the whole world. "The remnant that was supposed to be here was a nature spirit who could never leave a specific area without bing someone''s subject ¨C at least those were supposed to be the rules of the system." The crimson-haired girl lowered her head and muttered, staring at theke with a frown. "...that doesn''t make sense then, does it? My Cranberry did say it would be tricky to get ¨C howe someone else, even that repugnant trash, ended up making it their allies?" Zombie sighed, ncing at the concerned Kopia. "Master ¨C I think that your situation is even worse than you thought..." "...!" The humanoid sword spoke up suddenly and looked up at her shocked master. "Even worse? What can be worse from that rotten pile of waste starting every single secret quest she can?" The blue undead knight asked with a frown and spread his arms open as if showing off the surroundings to his sentient weapon. "The edges and bottom of thiske aren''t normal ¨C when I was searching it up that there are strange markings all over it." Kopia reveled pointing back at the water''s surface with one hand. Zombie furrowed his brows and looked at the same point with a grim expression. "...you said that the system itself wouldn''t allow for the spirit to just leave this ce on its own ¨C but what if something else forcibly ripped it away from its home... like something stronger than the system itself... something gaining power from the sin of origin nucleus, for example...?" The blue undead knight breathed out heavily and started massaging his forehead in annoyance. "...yes... master, you are correct..." Kopia nodded her head timidly, feeling the scary aura being released from the blue undead''s body once again ¨C and this time it was even more threatening than a minute ago. "Those markings were left by fangs ¨C the avatar of gluttony must have been the one to get the remnant ¨C Gluttony and the church of the System''s faith are working together..." She added, slowly inching away from the overwhelmingly fearsome blue undead knight ¨C who instead of saying anything merely raised his foot and... *BOOOOOOOOM* ...briefly shone with vibrant violet light and dropped an overwhelmingly powerful kick onto the water surface ¨C evaporating the entire liquid in less than a second ¨C leaving only the bared empty basin ¨C scared with the markings of gigantic fangs that plowed through the soft mud, leaving deep, easy to recognize bruises... "...so, there are at least two currently active secret quests that we have no info on...?" Zombie asked without turning towards the scared Kopia. "N-not really... I-I mean, your red girl should be able to see the quests popping up since she said that she can have the heroine in her party whenever she wants but..." The crimson-haired girl spoke in a small voice... "We are going back." "Eh...?!" Zombie dered grabbing the humanoid sword''s hand ¨C causing her to flinch and gasp in surprise. "We are going back to Cranberry''s side ¨C immediately." *BOOOOOOOOOM* The blue undead knight dered and kicked off the ground creating a crater that connected with the emptiedke basin, causing it to be twice asrge. With that, the silence returned to the area... "Yes... Priestess, everything has happened just as you predicted." ...with the exception of the ashen-skinned undead knight who stood up from the opposite side of the formerke and used a skill to telepathically connect to the light-brown-haired girl hundreds of miles away. "...I understand - I shall move on to the next target and make contact with the Lust family..." She dered with a determined expression before her body shone with white light and a zombie horse appeared by her side out of nowhere. Chapter 568 - The Hub Village And The Worrisome News

Chapter 568 - The Hub Vige And The Worrisome News

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The blue undead appeared in the middle of thending tform in between tworge watchtowers, turning it from a perfect falt ground into a crater very simr to that of a simrly sized meteorite. "I-identify yourself!" A human adventurer on the left one called out, drawing a bow while his body shone with an intense white light showcasing that the skill he was using was undoubtedly a tier 3. "Hmph." Zombie merely nced at the guard and scoffed dismissively, standing up and walking towards the wall by the edge of the cliff - a wall that certainly wasn''t there thest time he had been in this ce, which meant that it could only be a part of the rebuilt vige. In the end, the hub vige really waspleted during his absence ¨C and judging by the very distinct life signatures moving around behind the structure ¨C Baron and Cranberry safely delivered Cranberry there already. Needless to say, the blue undead knight waspletely ignoring the nervous adventurer aiming the bow at him. "You...! What do you think you are doing, you fool?! Are you blind?! That''s lord Zombie!" The male minotaur from the right tower shouted in disbelief at the human adventurer... "What if it''s just someone dressing up as him?!" ...it seemed like the human adventurer wasn''t convinced by the monster''s words since he most certainly didn''t lower his weapon and instead seemed to be focusing even more. "You moron ¨C you are going to get yourself killed!" The minotaur called out clearly getting angry, but it didn''t look like the human adventurer was going to listen to him. "Shut up, cow ¨C monsters clearly have not enough brains to even consider others using disguises." "..." The scoffing from the human adventurer revealed a little bit of a problem ¨C that honestly wasn''t unexpected ¨C if you put humans who think of themselves as a superior species, together with intelligent monsters who have better instinct and intuition but learn skills slower, then, of course, humans would not ept the monsters as equals and would want to prove themselves better than them. ...unfortunately for the overconfident human adventurer ¨C the minotaur was absolutely right ¨C in the first ce, Kopia sheathed safely in her luxurious scabbard could confirm that even the avatar of Envy would have a hard time stealing and copying the hateful aura surrounding the blue undead who didn''t have even the slightest bit of patience to deal with some big-headed guard. "You! Where do you think you are going!? I told you to identify yourself!" The human adventurer shouted after the blue undead knight who simply started walking towards the vige,pletely ignoring the guard''s calls. "...you...! I told you to STOP!" *SWISH* The adventurer gritted his teeth and roared unleashing the empowered over that pierced the air with a clear and fearsome whistle ¨C but... *CLING* Without even looking in the direction of the attack, the blue undead knight pulled out his sword that shone with white light and reflected the arow right back at the overconfident archer. "...huh...?" *crack* *RIIIIP* *BOOOOM* Zombie''s reflect was on such a high level that it didn''t simply return the attack ¨C it increased its power by three times ¨C the arrow ended uping back, breaking?the adventurer''s bow, tearing through his hand and chest, and blowing off arge part of the tower''s roof ¨C all in a single strike before disappearing into the distance like a shooting star. /High-level yer character defeated You receive the EXP\\\\ A message showed up for the blue undead knight who didn''t even stop to look at the damages he has done and instead shook his head to make the window fade away faster, before returning Kopia to her scabbard. "...!" The minotaur from the right tower trembled and hurriedly got down, only daring to peek at the blue undead knight below, half-expecting to also get killed merely because he was assigned on the duty together with the impudent human adventurer ¨C but the minotaur was lucky ¨C Zombie certainly didn''t the tiniest speck of interest ¨C or ill will ¨C against those who didn''t stand in his way. Still ¨C the partial destruction of one of the watchtowers certainly did stir up the entire vige ¨C even the life signatures of Cranberry, Baron, and Blueberry seemed to be moving around in unrest ¨C which only made Zombie more concerned and caused him to hasten his step. He was around halfway towards the wall surrounding the rebuilt vige when the gate opened up and someone showed up ¨C this time it was someone with a more recognizable life signature... ...and appearance... "A criminal always returns to the scene of the crime!" The female centaur, Coconut ¨C in full armor together with her massive tower shield burst fo the shining with a violet light that looked exactly like the light of superbia, and charged straight at the blue undead knight with a battle cry that caused the blue undead to raise his brow. "...thick-headed girl''s are cute ¨C but I am not under that filth''s influence anymore..." Zombie scoffed while the armored centaur gained a tremendous amount of speed in an instant ¨C but for the blue undead knight, she could have been standingpletely still. When his own body shone violet and he gained four-times Coconut''s speed stat, the world around him literally slowed down. He had plenty of time to summon a golden shield upon his left arm and prepare for the impact ¨C or rather for intercepting it... "Eh...?! My lord?!" In the fraction of a second before the tower shield of the armored centaur shed with the golden shield of the blue undead knight, Coconut managed to take a peek at the being she was attacking and let out a shocked yelp. "Why don''t you..." Zombie scoffed back at her and... *BOOOOOOOM* "LOOK AT YOUR TARGET BEFORE YOU ATTACK, IDIOT?!" "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Thir shields smashed against each other but even with all the power gained thanks to her inborn skill, Coconut lost the sh and was sent flying by the extremely annoyed Zombie. Centaurs aren''t made to fly ¨C but surprisingly even with all the armor she had on, Coconut soared through the sky all the way back to the vige where... "MORON!" ...Pawpaw the ck and green arachne called out, unleashing an enormous amount of webbing that created a safety that managed to intercept the armored centaur before she crashed against the ground. "You alright...?" Pawpaw jumped onto her web and made her way towards the entangled Coconut. "...nooo... I made our lord angry..." The armored centaur cried pitifully in shame. "I meant your body, moron." Pawpaw sighed and shook her head. "...N-no ¨C but my shield on the other hand..." Coconut shook her head before raising her tower shield ¨C that turned into a crescent form where it got hit by the golden shield. "Zombie!" Cranberry passed under the two monster girls and ran up to the annoyed blue undead. "First some living piece of shit thinks that he can shoot me in the back, and then even the idiot I personally piked out is attacking me head-on shouting about criminals ¨C what is going on?" Zombie breathed out and slouched ¨C unintentionally making an extremely threatening pose, that caused even Cranberry to flinch and stop in ce. "...the Dandelions... while we were gone someone kidnapped the Dandelions..." The red-haired girl clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "What?! How many they got?!" Zombie straightened his back and called out in shock. "...all four except for Lairs, of course..." Cranberry lowered her head in shame and revealed. "...Zombie, Caramel made a fool out of me ¨C she definitely wants to activate andplete all of the quests as soon as possible ¨C she wants to force the global quest and the game script to end..." The red-haired took a deep breath and looked up at her blue undead knight. "...and I''m afraid that there is nothing that we can do to stop her...." Chapter 569 - The Unwanted Revelation

Chapter 569 - The Unwanted Revtion

The blue undead looked at the red-haired girl and walked up to her before she could react. He gently touched her face and made her look up to face him. "How many secret quests got activated?" He asked in a shockingly calm voice ¨C Cranberry honestly expected him to get angry enough to receive the Ira skill again, but her initial guess turned out to bepletely wrong. "Five..." She looked into his eyes and dered in an apologetic voice. "Five? Five out of the remaining six? How is that possible ¨C wasn''t Xavi supposed to be the one to activate half of them? Does that means that only mine isn''t ready to happen as of yet?" The blue undead knight inquired slowly caressing Cranberry''s cheeks with his thumbs. "...about her..." Cranberry sighed and moved her head while ncing to the side. "...?" Zombie looked in the same direction just to face the wall of one of the buildings. "Huh...?" He scoffed, raising his brows and his eyes shone with the murky red light as he activate the life signature detection skill. "..." ...and ended up instantly gritting his teeth in annoyance... Judging by the position of Xavi''s life signature, she was chained to a wall or immobilized in some other simr way. "...that filth''s suggestion...?| Zombie''s face twisted in disgust as he asked, ring at the wall of the building as if he was considering bringing it down with a single well-aimed kick. "...yes... Caramel isn''t messing around ¨C but at the same time ¨C her actions show that her target is different from what I initially expected." The red-haired girl fidgetted and spoke up, grabbing the blue undead knight''s hands and nuzzling her face against them. "Cranberry ¨C do not try to y the guessing game with me again ¨C this isn''t some sort of quest where I can experience personal growth by facing the difficulties and solving puzzles on my own." Zombie sighed and made a stern expression. "Haa..." Cranberry breathed out heavily as if the thing she was going to share was something she greatly despised. "Even though it seems slightly better - you aren''t going to like it either way." The red-haired girl dered, before looking back at her undead knight. "Of course, I won''t like it ¨C I hate everything that this filth does ¨C I honestly thought I made it obvious." Zombie scoffed rolling his eyes and pinching the girl''s cheeks, squishing and spreading them apart like a stress ball. "Shthop ith." "Finally." Cranberry demanded and her gaze grew stern enough for the blue undead to smirk with satisfaction and step away from her. "Then...? What are we dealing with?" He asked looking around at all the human adventurers and intelligent monsters peeking at them with worried expressions. "Do you remember when I be my current self? I said that I was an amalgamation of the Cranberry from the first ythrough, the Cranberry from this ythrough, and a fragment of Patience." The red-haired girl said before waving her hand at Zombie before she started walking towards the small but somewhat luxurious-looking building not looking behind, certain that he would follow her ¨C and he was. "...yeah ¨C I do recall you saying something like that..." Zombie nodded his head, squinting his eyes staring intently at the back of the girl''s head. "You never asked me what did I meant by just a fragment." The girl responded while casually opening the door and entering the building, letting the blue undead knight enter first. "...don''t be like that ¨C I had other things to worry about at that time ¨C your life being the major one." Zombie rolled his eyes and sat heavily on thefortable sofa. "Yeah... yeah... And I never mentioned it before because I thought we have a lot of time since I could see the percentage of Eternal''s seal being released and all." Cranberry nodded her head with a solemn expression before walking over and seating herself right on the undead''sp ignoring the spot that he left hor her by his side. "The situation sounds worse and worse for us by the second, and you didn''t even get to the point." Zombie breathed out, sounding more done with the farce than he ever was in any of his lives. "Well then? How deep is the pile of crap we are buried right now?" He asked, hugging the red-haired girl from behind and resting his chin on her head. "...going with your unsanitary example ¨C haa... - it is currently piling way over our heads..." Cranberry sighed nesting herself in his protective embrace and touching his hands with almost apologetic gentleness. "ording to Patience''s memories, once the system reset happened and eternal was swapped with her inside your body, it didn''t simply change ces ¨C only a small portion of your favorite system overseer became a part of you ¨C the nice part that actually wanted to change the system in order to make it a better ce like she always wanted ¨C but unfortunately, there was also the rest of her being which was fullymitted to carrying the will of her creator ¨C no matter how idiotic and selfish it was - and that part got mixed up with Eternal itself." "...!" The red-haired girl revealed bitterly, feeling all the more terrible once she felt the blue undead knight flinch at her words. "...Zombie... how would you react if I told you that I might know about the percentage of the Eternal''s seal only because the part of Patience that got mixed with it allowed me to do that ¨C and what if the current percentage I see ¨C the same one that hasn''t drop a single percent since the fight with the pleonexus hydra ¨C because that''s exactly what Patience wants me to see?" Cranberry asked in a worried voice, grasping Zombie''s hands and squeezing them tightly. "Hold on ¨C now you are making it sound as if that piece of shield knew about everything and was trying to deal with Eternal for the good of the world! No. Just, no. That''s not possible ¨C that pile of human waste isn''t a hero ¨C I refuse to believe that!" Zombie scoffed, shaking his head from left to right. "Are you sure you aren''t under the influence of her suggestion? She got to me, she got to Xavi ¨C and she got to you in the first ythrough too!" The blue undead knight dered leaning forward and lowering his head so that he was looking at Cranberry''s face. "No ¨C impossible ¨C My new skill set is just as good at repelling suggestions as your Superbia and..." She shook her head and her body started shining with pure white light. "...I made sure to use them all regrly just to be sure that Caramel isn''t messing with me this time around." The red-haired said with a bitter smile... "...also the remnant of the chaos god Love might have contacted me telepathically and exined everything while you were checking up the emptyke in the Gluttony''s territory..." She added, biting her lips and looking away ashamed... "How do you know that theke was empty...! Oh for fuck''s sake...!" Zombie gasped in disbelief before his eyes widened in realization and he released the threatening aura again. "Yes... I didn''t want to tell you that because I knew how you would react but... Caramel is actually trying to save this world because you are here ¨C surprisingly enough it seems that because the current you bullied her so much during her childhood, she clung to the memories of her original past life and swore to find the reincarnation of the boy she obsessed so much about... and that can''t be done until Eternal is gone." "..." Cranberry revealed in shame causing the blue undead knight to shudder. Chapter 570 - Much Needed Detail

Chapter 570 - Much Needed Detail

"Please say that you are joking." He took a deep breath and asked, attempting to remain calm but failing. "It''s the truth ¨C or at least the most usible version of it - considering all the avable information and all." The red-haired girl dered, squeezing Zombie''s cold hands apologetically. "Bullshit!" "!!!" Zombie roared, making the girl in hisp ump from shock. "If she really wanted to help ¨C why would she kidnap the Dandelions right from under our noses instead of offering a truce?!" He growled, trembling from the bottled-up fury. "...if you ask that you are seriously underestimating how much she fears you in this life ¨C she doesn''t know that you are the same boy she wants to save the world in order to find..." Cranberry exined calmly, gently caressing the blue undead''s hands ¨C but that insinuation wasn''t something that Zombie could ept. "DON''T CALL IT SAVING! YOU HAVE PATI''S MEMORIES ¨C YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED THE NIGHTMARE I HAD TO LIVE THROUGH! STOP BULLSHITTING ME ABOUT THAT FILTH''S GOOD INTENTIONS ¨C THERE ARE NONE! IF I HAVE TO BE FORCED TO WORK TOGETHER WITH HER THEN I WOULD RATHER SEE THIS WHOLE FUCKING WORLD DESTROYED!" "...Zombie..." The blue undead knight roared, making Cranberry hug him tighter with an apologetic expression. "That''s not what I meant ¨C you believe me on that, don''t you?" She asked, looking up at his handsome face twisted in fury. "I...!" He answered in a shout but he suddenly closed his eyes and breathed out through his nose, consciously using the machine mind skill to get himself back to the normal state of mind. "...yes, I do believe you, despite everything that already happened...." Zombie scoffed and lowered his, resting his chin on Cranberry''s shoulder. "Now, now... Zombie ¨C we might have to be forced to work together with Caramel ¨C but you are making me sound like I would end up giving you to her afterward ¨C and that makes you sound quite rotten brained if you ask me." The red-haired girl smirked softly at the agitated undead, adjusting her position and kissing his cheek. "...then why did you make it sound as if she was the good one trying to save the world...?" Zombie murmured in a sulking tone and leaned in to gently kiss Cranberry''s lips as if seeking constion. "Because she kind of is." "...wha...?!" The red-haired girl simply admitted without tiring to dodge the question, leaving the blue undead knight lost for words. "Hey ¨C why are you making a face like that? Are you forgetting who I am?" Seeing his expression Cranberry ended upughing and shook her head. "You are looking at a viiness ¨C my role is to oppose the heroine as the unreasonable and evil one ¨C will it be that shocking for me to turn my back on the world''s savior just to get what I want in the end?" The red-haired girl dered cheekily, clearly proud of herself ¨C and she most definitely looked the proudest she ever did. "Pffft...! Khahahahahaha! I see! Yes! Of course!" The blue undead knight raised his head and burst out into diabolicalughter. "In the end ¨C wouldn''t it feel the best if I killed that piece of filth after she thought that she had won?!" He chuckled, smiling wildly in the most evil grin. "Now that I think about it ¨C I would love to see her face once I would reveal to her that I was the very person that she wanted to find! Khahaha! Now I am interested to witness her reaction! What is stronger ¨C the past life''s obsession or the new trauma that I gracefully bestowed upon her filthy self!?" Zombie cheered with newfound confidence and drive. "Still ¨C how are you so sure that the ashen undead didn''t lie to you ¨C that very well might be a part of that pile of waste''s n." Just as suddenly as he was cheering, the blue undead knight suddenly be serious again and asked the red-haired girl. "Let''s call it an intuition ¨C although the same intuition is telling me that she will want to screw us over in the end ¨C and by us I mean you ¨C in the end, until she will learn that you are the one she wants, she will follow her original n that no doubt includes letting you get killed by Eternal." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and pointed out. "Well...truth be told, the perspective of screwing her over in that way is also tempting ¨C although I would not be able to witness her reaction ¨C a mere thought of the shock she would experience knowing that she had me so close this whole time and even killed me off without doing anything deviant as in out original lives is enough to make me consider dying." Zombie shrugged his shoulders and dered in an indifferent voice. "HA?! Now hold on a second!" Funnily enough ¨C now it was Cranberry''s turn to get angry. "You are mine ¨C MINE! You aren''t allowed to die just to get back at some slut!" She dered, reaching out and wrapping her arms around the undead''s neck and pulling him close, locking his lips in a long passionate kiss. "Khaha! So you say ¨C but in case that the world will be ending or something ¨C I n on getting myself killed before you." Zombie snorted and dered out of nowhere. "HA?!" Cranberry shouted angrily, ring at her impudent husband. "Hey ¨C I already watched you die enough times ¨C if worsees to worst ¨C I at least am going to make you realize how awful that feels." The blue undead knight dered with a mocking smile. "That''s not how it''s supposed to work! You are my knight ¨C sure ¨C but if you ever consider dying before me, I will kill you!" "Pfffft...! Khahahahahahaha!" The red-haired girl dered furiously, messing up and saying something silly in the end and causing her blue undead to burst into a fit of mockingughter. "Yeah - sure, that works too! I will keep you on that promise, you stupid idiot!" Zombie cheered and leaned in for another kiss that the furious Cranberry epted ¨C even though she originally looked as if she would bite his tongue, but ended up leaning all the way onto his strong body. Chapter 571 - What Still Can Be Done

Chapter 571 - What Still Can Be Done

With the most pressing discussion out of the way, Zombie reported everything that he and Kopia figured out by the emptyke ¨C and confronted it with the information that Cranberry received from the ashen undead knight who was the remnant of the god of chaos, Love. All the details matched ¨C though that alone didn''t mean that everything that the ashen undead shared was the absolute truth. "What are we supposed to do then? Go to the phoenix and start my quest ¨C or go find the remnant of the dragon god, War, to aid the piece of filth?" The blue undead knight furrowed his brows and asked with a mixed expression ¨C as if despite all that was said previously, he still couldn''t ept the thought of actually helping his most hated person in the entire world across multiple lives. "...yeah... so about the remnant of War..." Cranberryflinched and looked away awkwardly... "...oh for fuck''s sake..." Zombie merely looked at her and already knew what she was going to say since he expected it since the time that Monty became his subject... "Baron is the remnant of the dragon god, isn''t he." The blue undead knight sighed looking down and shaking his head in annoyance. "Yes... that''s why I ask you to not try and recall him for the foreseeable future until we are certain that his role in Corvus''s special quest hase to an end." The red-haired nodded her head and reached out to take Zombie''s hand. "What are you talking about ¨C I can still see his life signature right outside..." The blue undead furrowed his brows and his eyes shone with a murky red light as he turned around and looked through the building''s wall, to check n the red dragon who most certainly was there as he arrived at the vige just a little bit earlier. *CHOMP* "...!" Just as he did confirm Baron''s presence ¨C a sound of enormous jaws pping together echoed through the sky outside and the dragon was pulled back so fast that he could as well be teleported away. "...Cranberry..." "Hu-puah...!" Zombie scoffed and turned around instantly ¨C just to grab Cranbeery''s face with one hand and squish her cheeks so that lips formed a duck face. "Is there ANYTHING that we still have even the slightest bit of control over?!" The blue undead knight furrowed his brows and red at the squished red-haired girl. ''Yhour huesth." Cranberry responded in a muffled voice, not minding the blue undead ying with her at all. "A what?" Zombie scoffed and rxed the grip on the red-haired girl''s face but didn''t take back his hand. "Your quest ¨C you literally are required to go to and discover the phoenix''sir by yourself or it won''t trigger ¨C though since Arion is clearly on Caramel''s side, we can expect him to devour the distance between you and the cave at any point... Honestly, that wouldn''t even be so bad but I will ask you anyway ¨C do you want the two of us to go to the phoenix''sir and start your secret quest, mister proudest corpse / Capture target?" Cranberry smirked and asked grabbing onto his hand and leaning against it yfully. "...something tells me that I will have to school that cheeky pup about who he chooses to listen to..." Zombie scoffed furrowing his brows and looking away angrily. "About that ¨C haa... - considering that he was taken back by his family and is now working together with Caramel, we can safely assume that the Gluttonys asked Sloths for help and got him the humanoid titan-ss monsters to eat so that his curse would be broken." "..." The red-haired girl sighed and exined, making the blue undead turn back to her and stare in disbelief. "Then getting him to turn back into a human isn''t the secret quest?" He asked in annoyance rolling his eyes actually done with this entire scenario. "Of course not ¨C that is merely the necessary step that''s required for the secret quest''s activation -do you want to hear more about it?" Cranberry asked, tilting her head enjoying fooling around with the annoyed blue undead of hers. "No ¨C not at all. The less I know about it the less I will be bothered by the stupid shit they will pull of there." Zombie scoffed shaking his head before he stood up and grabbed the girl''s hand. "I don''t feel like waiting for the former wolf-puppy to use the powers of the avatar of glu..." He said pulling the red-haired girl up from the sofa but then he furrowed his brows. "Say. Is Arion the avatar already or just the heir?" He asked curiously looking down at the prideful girl. "...haa... that is a good question ¨C since his secret quest is apparently active, I would assume that he is the avatar..." Cranberry ended up responding while tilting her head with a cloudy expression. "Only assume...?" Zombie picked out on the hesitation in her voice and asked with a hesitant look in his eyes. "It''s difficult to say for sure with Gluttony family ¨C after all they very rarely actually have the previous avatar die so that the title could be passed on ¨C usually the heir takes the title for themselves devouring it with the G skill while leaving the previous user unharmed ¨C the only exception from that wasdy Goji who received her title after her father died during the battle at the border of our kingdom ¨C but that''s beside the point." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and waved her hand dismissively. "The main point is that the devoured title takes time to settle in and be actually registered in the system that the user was changed ¨C there have been cases of the heir''s getting rejected and the title of the avatar returning to its original owner ¨C or on very rare asions ¨C to straight-up move to apletely random person who was lucky - or unlucky ¨C enough to be in the vicinity when the devoured title was being regurgitated." The red-haired girl exined calmly. "It''s very simr to what my blood-rted father anddy Goji did to pass the title of avatar of pride to the pice of shit who just happened to give birth to me." She added as a bonus fun fact and smiled brightly after being reminded of the gruesome death thatdy Raspberry had in the current ythrough. "...I don''t like the implications of that... but anyway, do you want to go with me or do you prefer to stay here while I will go visit our chicken friend from the previous ythrough?" Zombie smirked too and asked, motioning with his chin in the rough direction of where the phoenix air was located ording to his memory. "And miss my favorite dinner? Why would I lose the chance to check out whether it remembers the first ythrough ¨C I am kind of curious whether it retains the memory of being eaten as an egg?" The schrly part of Cranberry''s personality showed up and the girl sped her hands together with a cheerful expression. "Khahaha! I wonder about that too! Also ¨C I was going to visit it anyway ¨C those aren''t bad but I miss the sturdiness and the powerful feeling I felt from the boots of the phoenix." Zombie nodded with a mocking smile and lifted his left leg showing off the armored shoe on a t sole. "Ha ha! Admit it ¨C you just miss wearing high-hills!" The red-haired girlughed and pointed out while walking right up to the blue undead and looking up at this face while leaning against his jet-ck armor. "You aren''t wrong there." Zombie simply nodded and grinned cheerfully. Chapter 572 - The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 1)

Chapter 572 - The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 1)

"Ha? Why are we stopping here? I told you that you don''t have to worry about me!" Cranberry nced at the inn set up in the center point of some vige in between the Gluttony and Envy territories before tightening her embrace around Zombie''s neck and furrowing her brows while voicing aint. "Try saying that when your face will not be that pale ¨C your DEF was always your week side and my tempo is too much for you to handle, the same thing with stamina, my little weakling." The blue undead openly mocked the red-haired girl and openly mocked her while kissing her forehead as she scowled at him for making such a mean remark. "My physical and magical attacks are still higher than yours though!" She scoffed leaning in and nuzzling to his neck while pouting. "Are they really? I haven''t been appraised in ages ¨C you were physically stronger than me during our first ythrough but that''s not the case anymore ¨C so cheer up ¨C in case we are too slow for that filth''s liking she will simply make the former puppy transport us straight to the phoenixirs'' entrance." The blue undead onlyughed it off and walked straight towards the inn without even considering to continue the breakneck-speed run ¨C he could clearly feel that Cranberry was barely holding on to him and a quick check with his life signature detection proved that her life essence was altering form extreme exhaustion despite the girl trying her best to appear tougher than she was. "...stupid rotten brain... I am fine..." Cranberryined though now that Zombie had seen right through her, there was no conviction in her voice at all. "Of course, of course ¨C but then how about checking up on Lairs then ¨C coincidentally she is in this very inn ¨C actually, the same could be said about one other person we''ve met in the past ythrough." The blue undead knight nodded his head patiently, ying along with the girl''s pride while coddling her in his arms with a soft smile. "Ha...? Ah! Is it Ti? I actually mentioned her to Lairs before but she thought I was making fun of her ¨C think that you can introduce the two of them?" The red-haired girl liven up and asked raising her head and gazed into Zombie''s eyes with expectations. "Someone''s getting lively here ¨C is there some quest where you get a nice reward for hooking the two of them up or something?" The blue undead asked curiously tilting his head and furrowing his brows. "No! Come on, is it bad for me to want my friend to be happy at least in one ythrough?" Cranberry scoffed at him and tapped his armor while making a sulking expression. "Khaha! Fine, fine ¨C if that is what it takes to make you rest a little bit before we continue our way towards the phoenix''sir ¨C sure. Let''s y matchmaking ¨C but not too much ¨C I can only give our elven friend a little push." Zombieughed and nodded his head agreeing to the request right before he pushed open the inn''s door. "What the...!" "An undead..!" The pair were greeted by shocked whispers of the vigers enjoying a drink after long hours of fieldwork. "Ah, yes ¨C I almost forgot that normal humans don''t like me! It''s so refreshing ¨C it was honestly suffocating being revered by all those monsters back in the hub vige and fort.. and all the monster viges in between." Zombie breathed out and smiled cheerfully, feeling actually refreshed from all the scared, shocked, and sometimes even hateful res he received while carrying his Cranberry through the door in a princess carry like a groom walking in with the bride. "...you n on killing them all after we will leave, don''t aren''t you...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and sighed with a tired expression. "...are you implying that there are some circumstances that would make killing them all problematic...?" Zombie answered her question with his own, all while smiling mockingly while his throat and eyes were already glowing white in preparation to release a noxious breath. "Stop it ¨C at least hold on until Lairs and Ti are inside!" Cranberry scoffed, pping his armor again. "Sure, sure... I''ll try to keep that in mind~" Zombie snorted and walked straight towards the table where a certain green-haired elf was being courted by a bunch of locals smitten by her beauty. "Miss- don''t be like that ¨C why won''t we have a meal together?" Some middle-aged manughed jovially no doubt in response to Lairs previous words that Zombie and Cranberry missed on. "Why don''t you fuck right off before I will burn this entire fucking dumpster to ash, huh? How about that?" The green-haired elf asked, raising her hand and conjuring a small fireball right above her palm. "Miss ¨C stop joking around ¨C why would a lovelydy like you do something so reckless ¨C all we want is a peaceful meal ¨C you see that other tables are already taken, right?" Another man ¨C this one slightly closer to Lairs actual age added, seeminglypletely disregarding the fire spell because of its size. ...which was a terrible mistake considering that the green-haired elf was simply condensing a normal fireball increasing its destructive power over and over again continuously casting the spell over and over again without chanting the incantation out loud. "Dear customers ¨C why won''t you leave thisdy alone?" "...!" Surprisingly ¨C or not ¨C another person came to Lairs rescue, and it was none other than the tinum-haired, copper-eyed woman, Ti. Ti was dressed up as a barmaid and was using a skill that interfered with the perception of everyone around her making her almost unrecognizable for the most. "Huh...? I haven''t seen you before ¨C are you a new hire?" Another man from the group furrowed his brows and straight-up reached for the young woman''s hand. "Come ¨C you can sit with us too! We shall order up a lot of food and drink so there should be no problem!" The viger cheered and tried to pull Ti to make her sit beside him but he severely underestimated her strength ¨C after all, one of the three bodyguards of the queen was already at level 99 which was the maximum level that a human yer character could achieve under normal circumstances, so some random viger had the same chance to make her move as he did lifting the entire inn off the ground with one hand. "...huh...?" The man noticed the fearsome sturdiness of the supposed barmaid and furrow his brows ¨C but then... "Hey, livings ¨C why don''t you fuck right off?" Zombie scoffed and grabbed the man''s shoulder and... *WHOOSH* *SLAM* "GU-HUAGH...!" threw the unfortunate viger over his shoulder causing him to bounce off of the ceiling and m down onto the floor with a pitiful sound. "You -UGHAGH...!" *WHOOSH* *SLAM* "Fucking undead wants to mess around wit-GHUUOGH!" *WHOOSH* *SLAM* The other two men who tried to convince Lairs to keep thempany while eating stood up just to receive the same kind of treatment ¨C with the only exception being that the first one got grabbed by the head while the second one by the throat. "Zombie?! Cranberry?!" Lairs gasped in shock, instantly recalling her fireball which mes had already turned yellow and were approaching white. "Sup ¨C I never expected you to actually try to go all the way by foot ¨C you know? The carriages are a thing." "UWAAAAAGHG!" *WHOOSH* *SLAM* Zombie greeted her by raising his hand ¨C in which he was already holding a fourth viger who kept quiet until that point. Chapter 573 - The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 2)

Chapter 573 - The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 2)

"Seriously ¨C I thought that elves'' cursing was supposed to be a defense mechanism against situations just like that." Zombie shook his head in disbelief and seated himself at Lair''s table, opposite to the stunning elven mage and right next to the shocked copper-eyed disguised bodyguard. "A food for and drink for my lovely wife, please ¨C all on her." The blue undead called out looking over at the hesitant Ti. "And for this one... I don''t care ¨C toss her a sd or something." He added motioning at Laris with his chin... "Zombie...!" Cranberry gasped and stared at him in disbelief. "What? Alright, fine, whatever is today''s special plus beer ¨C it''s not like I''m paying anyway." The blue undead knight didn''t even flinch and shrugged his shoulders, causing Cranberry to blush flustered ¨C unsure whether she understood him correctly or was just overthinking his choice of words. "Wait ¨C hold the fuck on ¨C what the fuck are the two of you even doing here?" Lairs shook her head and furrowed her brows staring in disbelief at the couple in front of her. "Taking a short break before starting an important quest ¨C what about it?" Zombie shrugged his shoulders and hugged Cranberry from behind as if she was a life-sized plush toy. "Do you want to go with us? I could use having more people in my party ¨C I kind of want to get the chance of using the vengeance skill ¨C but I will not be able to stay calm enough to actually focus on checking its effectiveness if Cranberry will be the one getting hurt." He added offhandedly, casually suggesting that he wants Lairs to join them as a potential punching bag for the potential enemies. "What? Fuck no!" The green-haired elf scoffed, shaking her head from right to left and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Fine. Still ¨C going back to that defense mechanism ¨C why are you continue doing it even though it doesn''t work at all?" "...!" Zombie nodded and tilted his head, repeating his initial question ¨C which caused Lairs to flinch and fidget awkwardly. "...it usually does work ¨C just... the thing is that sometimes some people are just that much of horndogs." She said, shaking her head lightly, causing her deep-green hair to cascade down with the grace of an emerald waterfall. "Ah ¨C so that''s the case." Zombie raised his brows and nodded with realization. "Eh...? The fuck ¨C what case? What are you talking about now?" Lairs furrowed her brows in confusion and asked, leaning forward. "Nothing ¨C just that since your hair turned green the aura surrounding you changed for a much gentler one ¨C you stopped thinking that you are cursed and aren''t as much on guard anymore." The blue undead night exined with a soft smile lowered his hand so that neither Lairs nor Cranberry would notice his palm shine with a soft murky white light as he activated one of the death-branch magic skills. ...after all, that one needed to be trained too and he had been sleeping on magic, solving all of his problems with superbia and overpower. "...which is a good thing ¨C but it looks like that makes creeps like that flock to you in droves." Zombie shrugged his shoulders as he started draining the life force of almost every single patron at the in at the same time. "I think I get what you mean, but honestly ¨C I don''t see a fucking speck of difference, fuckers like that were always a thing no matter what." Lairs furrowed her brows before shrugging her shoulders dismissively as her expression turned bitter. "Haaa... unfortunate." The blue undead knight, who didn''t start the conversation to be rtable but only to take the attention of the people who all started to suddenly be pale and feel sick because of his activated spell, let out a long breath and nodded his head which resulted in him resting his chin on Cranberry''s head. "What is that quest of yours, if you don''t mind me asking?" Lairs tilted her head and asked, looking between the blue undead and the red-haired girl, right as the tinum-haired barmaid was bringing them their order. "Thank you, miss." She added once a seaming te was put in front of her, followed by a big jug of beer with just the right amount of foam on top. "Yeah, thanks, Ti ¨C now sit down because there''s no reason for you to listen in to us from afar ¨C you can learn all the information you want right here." "!!!" Zombie nodded at the barmaid too and casually pointed at the chair next to him and Lairs ¨C but even though his words were calm and almost dismissive, they caused Ti to stiffen and hold up her round tray close to her body protectively. "Sir...? Have we met each other before...?" She asked, furrowing her brows, reapplying the vision disruption skill and ying it cool despite her life signature pulsating wildly from nervousness. "Yes we did ¨C not officially though ¨C and that''s why I feel like I should let you know that your skills have never worked on me ¨C though I can''t imagine why the queen keeps the most offensive-oriented members of the famous CriTiCal bodyguard trio from the Wrath family as a mere spy ¨C or tail, or however your current position is called." "..." The blue undead knight waved his hand dismissively while the red-haired girl on hisp was peacefully enjoying her meal while ncing at the copper-eyed woman... "...tsk..." ...who suddenly deactivated her skills and shook her head with an annoyed expression right before pulling out the chair for herself and seating on it heavily. "...I was kept on the surveince mission because I was the only one who managed to survive longer than a week..." "What the fuck?!" Ti revealed in an annoyed voice, dropping off the round tray and putting her elbows on the table before resting her chin on her hands and making Lairs gasp and almost choke on her beer. "...here..." "Ugh... ah... thanks..." Ti nced at her and offered the elven woman a handkerchief which Lairs gratefully epted without hesitation. Chapter 574 - The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 3)

Chapter 574 - The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 3)

"Sir, I will have you know that you have made yourself quite a lot of enemies... the spymaster knows that you are the one who got rid of all the previous agents keeping an eye on you ¨C that leaves the question, what made me so special since you know about me and my disruption skill didn''t actually have any effect on you?" The copper-eyed woman then sighed and turned back to the blue undead knight and dered with a stiff voice as if he half expected to be beheaded on the spot. "I don''t know what you are talking about ¨C I didn''t kill any of your colleagues and I thought that I made that clear ¨C if your spymaster was actually putting any work in his job instead of just jumping to the most obvious conclusions he would have known that there is someone who would love to see me in trouble and is the most obvious culprit ¨C but, you know, that would require that whole spymaster to put in some work." "..." Zombie shrugged his shoulders shamelessly lying without even batting an eye, making Ti furrow her brows and straighten her back ¨C she did have the lie detection skill ¨C a new asset that she gained after years of trying to learn it ¨C and it didn''t activate...! For her it really sounded like the blue undead was telling the truth ¨C but, that was all thanks to the liar title that disrupted skills like that up to tier 2 ones. "Wait ¨C hold the fuck on now ¨C so are you telling me that this beautifuldy was hanging out around the two of you this whole time while you were traveling? That''s why she is here now?" Lairs joined the conversation ¨C but, funnily enough, the person she was staring at the most was not the copper-eyed Ti but the red-haired Cranberry. Lairs was reminded of the girl''s words about a certain girl who was interested in her and who was supposedly noticed by the blue undead earlier on their journey. Despite sounding offended while she first heard about it and actually expecting it all to be a joke, that part got stuck in her mind nheless... "...yes... miss Lairs ¨C that''s roughly how it goes ¨C I usually follow sir Zombie around ¨C but whenever I lose his track I tend to stick with the people he hung around with." Ti leaned back on her chair and dered ¨C ncing at Lairs while making aposed expression. "Ha! Must have been boring eight years for you, you know, when the queen had sealed me off and all." Zombie smirked nuzzling up to Cranberry as she was just about finishing her meal. "I wouldn''t say so ¨C with your location and activity well known and documented I was able to enjoy the time back with my friends while only asionally checking up on the people from your surroundings..." The copper-eyed woman revealed while very discreetly ncing back at Lairs. "Oh, I see, I see ¨C so you didn''t stick with Lairs here because you wanted to have a chance to get closer to her?" "PFFGBUGBUHHUBGUH...!" The blue undead knight shrugged his shoulders and asked casually ¨C but even though his words were calm they sure did cause quite the reaction from the green-haired elf who was just taking a sip of beer ¨C but ended up actually shocking on it and spilling a whole lot on herself once her name was mentioned in such an obvious manner. "..." "MISS...!" Zombie and Cranberry didn''t even flinch but Ti on the other hand jumped over to the troubled elf so fast that she toppled the chair she was sitting on just to get to Lairs faster. "Is everything fine?" Ti pulled out another handkerchief and started helping out wiping the beer off of Lair''s face and chest before she actually realized what she was doing. "!!!" "AH! No ¨C wait that''s not what I...!" The copper-eyed woman unintentionally copped a feel and backed off immediately as her face was getting crimson red when... "Good enough for a start ¨C Zombie ¨C I''ve rested enough ¨C we can go, those two should work things out on their own from now on." "!!!!" "!!!!" Cranberry put down the empty jug next to the emptied te, looked up at the blue undead knight, and dered with satisfaction, causing both girls on the other side of the table to stare at her in shock. "Alrigh~" Zombie smirked and stood up together with his red-haired girl in a princess carry. "Ti ¨C don''t bother to follow me ¨C I''m going to the north to grab myself a pair of boots and then will be back forpleting a quest ¨C tell your spymaster that if I were him, I would look into the priestess of the church faith if he wants to find the new target for his anger ¨C oh, and since you are the bodyguard of the queen..." He added, looking down on Cranberry to make sure that it''s okay to tell Ti all of that ¨C but the red-haired girl didn''t seem to mind at all, so he continued. "...it would be best to check up on the king''s behavior too ¨C I''ve heard that he is quite a vengeful guy ¨C and something might have already popped up that would stir his revenge..." He added while turning around and walking out of the inn, leaving speechless Ti and Lairs behind. "Haa... well... color me impressed ¨C I thought that everyone would be dead before we leave, but here we are." Cranberry smirked andmented on a different thing than Zombie expected her to. "Well ¨C aren''t I full of surprises?" The blue undead smirked mischievously fully aware that the spell he used will kill every patron from the inn except for Lairs within the next twenty-four hours. "Now then... since you are ready..." "...ready..." Zombie smirked and said as his body shone with vibrant violet light, and Cranberry nodded her head, clinging to him close. *BOOOOOOOOM* The blue undead kicked off the ground causing a huge explosion that broke the road in front of the inn ¨C and shattered more than just a few windows of the surrounding buildings ¨C before disappearing towards the north where the phoenix''sir was located.... Chapter 575 - The Secret Quests (part 1)

Chapter 575 - The Secret Quests (part 1)

A familiar entrance to the familiar cave ¨C that was the impression that both Zombie and Cranberry got while walking down the tunnel leading to the phoenix''sir under the active volcano where the streams of burning hotva were crossing the steaming ground creating ponds and inds which were perfect habitat for the various types of fire-based monsters. /Secret quest -the proudest of the proud- activated Quest objectives: Find the phoenix''sir pleted] Defeat the phoenix Change the *******\\\\ The system message that popped up didn''t particrly faze either the blue undead knight or the red-haired girl. "Say ¨C is the number of stars random or is one equal to a single letter?" Zombie tilted his head and asked curiously staring a the fading window as if he expected the coded word to reveal itself on its own. "Haa... yes ¨C it does say Eternal ¨C your quest is supposed to be a final one before the heroine could go back to In''re and Xavi and receive the localization of the seal of the Eternal ¨C now we are certain that the special quest for the avatar of sloth has already started too ¨C or else it would be impossible to trigger yours." The red-haired girl breathed out and rolled her eyes ¨C she already knew what her blue undead knight was hinting at and straight-up answered him without trying to hide anything. "Huh... curious ¨C say who is the current avatar of sloth anyway ¨C because if it''s actually still Shank''s older brother I call bullshit." Zombie nodded and asked stretching out as the random patch of mes sprouted out from the ground and licked his jet-ck armor before it sizzled down because of theyer of ice created by Cranberry continuously casting the feezing spell to protect the two of them from the unpleasant and annoying side effects of walking through literal hell on earth ¨C or rather hell under earth. "Nope ¨C since Patience no longer preys upon the Sloth family they are basically just another noble family ¨C just much, much stronger than average since they still can raise their level over the human cap. The current avatar of sloth is called Severine ¨C he is the same age as us and supposedly is a lot more lively than the rest of his family ¨C he tends to fight on the frontline and is friends with many Sloth Soldiers. And is Shanks''s nephew." The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and exined casually, enjoying returning to her role of a tutorial. "Wild." "..." Zombie gasped with so much sarcasm that Cranberry had to close her mouth and red at him while considering turning off her ice spell just for a moment so the cheeky blue undead of hers would turn at least medium-rare ¨C but of course, she didn''t actually follow it up since in this ythrough she couldn''t share her fire immunity skill with Zombie. Of course, the blue undead could use the overpower skill on Cranberry''s fire immunity ¨C but that wouldn''t be a good use of the important skill when it could be used far more efficiently on defeating the phoenix waiting for them at the bottomyer of their. "I remember the small fries here being really annoying at the beginning ¨C shooting fireballs and diving in and out ofva... do you mind if I take them all down at once?" Zombie asked while his eyes and throat were already shining with a white light of a devastating breath skill. "...I think that my poison resistance is high enough... haa.. sure. Go for it." Cranberry furrowed her brows, momentarily considering the pros and cons, and ended up nodding her head benevolently while also pulling out a handkerchief and freezing it with a spell before covering her mouth and nose just to be sure that things won''t go south. "Perfect." Zombie nodded in response and took a really deep breath before leaning forward and unleashing a torrent of noxious fumes straight out of his mouth. *WHOOOOOSH* The breath attack stirred up the scorching hot air, spreading through the flood, sticking to every avable surface ¨C alive or not ¨C and creating a thick ¨C air-tight barrier after getting in contact with mes and magma. --------- The brown-haired heroine, Mary Hope, patted the back of the blond-haired capture target, Roan Greed. "I know that my words will not help ease our pain, but I am here for you." Mary spoke in a soft, slightly sad voice as the four guards were escorting the chained-up King ¨C Roan''s father, to the cell down below the royal castle. "...you are wrong about that, Mary ¨C yourpassion is greatly aiding me in this terrible situation...| The blond-haired young man shook his head lightly and turned to the heroine with a weak smile. "I just... never expected that both my mother and father could ever do all the things that we just learned about... I want to believe them both being good people but their behavior ended up being so unreasonable in my eyes that I honestly don''t know how to deal with it." He exined turning around towards the brown-haired girl and grabbing her hand. "Even though we are of the Greed family ¨C my own greed would never allow me to sacrifice my loved ones while both mother and father just..." "My prince ¨C you said it yourself ¨C the greed driving them is ¨C or was ¨C different than yours ¨C that''s all there is to it. I will not tell you topletely ignore it ¨C but you definitely shouldn''t feel like you mustprehend their motives." Roan sighed in a bitter voice ¨C but Mary didn''t let him delve into the dark thoughts for too long. "...yes..." The blond-haired prince nodded with a bitter expression, which caused the brown-haired heroine to make a worried expression... "...!" Until she realized something and her eyes lighted up. "My prince ¨C the kingdom is in the good hands of your uncle ¨C and with your new title of the avatar of greed no one would dare question your right to session..." "...indeed... where are you going with this...?| Mary gasped, shaking the hand that Roan was holding on to causing the blond boy to furrow his brows and ask in a slightly curious voice. "Still the coronation ceremony will surely take some time to prepare ¨C even the hastiest one ¨C why won''t we at least try to look for that older brother of yours...? Back when we were searching researching for the evidence for the mastermind of your mother''s murder, you did say that you wished to meet him." The brown-haired girl pointed out while motioning towards the world outside the castle''s window. "You said that the woman who told you about him also said that he was found and brought up by the Wraths family ¨C we don''t even need to bother anyone with the teleportation skill ¨C let''s just hop on Anry''s back and go check it out. That ought to get your mind off of this terrible situation!" Mary dered, forcing herself to sound cheerful, and pulled on Roan''s arm. "Well... You know what? That would be best ¨C I do wish to meet him." The blond prince easily epted the proposition and his expression brightened up. ¡­ ¡­... Around an hourter the two of them were already on the back of the jet-ck silver-beaked griffin nervously kicking the ground under his front wed legs while spreading and closing his winds. "Now, now, Anry ¨C rx and don''t try to show off too much or our prince might fall." "SCREE! (Master, I want the prince to praise me too!)" Mary patted the side of her griffin ¨C who screeched loudly and looked turned his head to take a peek at the nervous blond young man. "I might fall? Wait ¨C why would Anry want to show off in the first ce ¨C does he think that I''m hispetitor or something?" Roan twitched, fidgetting nervously on the saddle, cautiously ncing at the winged monster sparkling eyes. "Pffft...! N-no, my prince ¨C quite the opposite ¨C Anry likes you very much and wants you to praise how strong he be since thest time." Mary raised her hand to her mouth and giggled cutely, before realizing that she mighte off as rude and hurriedly exined the griffin''s screech to the worried prince. "Wait ¨C really?" Roan gasped, straightening his back and raising his brows in confusion. "Anry you seriously like me?" He added looking at the monster with suspicion. "S-scree... (N-not really...) Scree... SCREE! (I just kind of look up to you, dad, and how you care about momm... I mean, master!) Scree! (How you care about master!) Scree! (And I didn''t call you dad just now!)" Anry screeched, revealing his real feelings and instantly getting embarrassed over them, and screeched some more to cover it all up ¨C although it wasn''t really necessary since, without Mary''s trantion, the blond prince had no idea what any of the screeches meant. "Screee! (Master ¨C do not tell him I said that!)" The jet-ck griffin screeched again in embarrassment while hooving around extremely embarrassed. "...he doesn''t sound as if he likes me all that much..." Roan furrowed his brows and looked back at Mary with a worried expression. "Oh, don''t worry ¨C he does ¨C just doesn''t know how to properly convey it." The brown-haired heroine waved her hand dismissively and dered with a smile. "...If you say so..." The blond prince slouched down without any conviction behind his words and he just kept quiet while ncing at the griffin from time to time. "Now then ¨C Anry ¨C it''s time for us ¨C our target is the Wraths territory ¨C the Wraths family manor ¨C let''s learn about our prince''s long lost brother!" "Scree! (Yes!) Mary dered and pointed towards the sky, causing the jet-ck griffin to use a skill and p his wings, getting them all off of the ground within a single heartbeat. Chapter 576 - The Secret Quests (part 2)

Chapter 576 - The Secret Quests (part 2)

"We are almost there!" Mary turned around and called out pointing at the city down below to Roan, who was embracing her a lot tighter than it would be appropriate normally ¨C but while riding a griffin high into the sky, that level of precaution was understandable. "...oh, thank the heavens..." The blond prince breathed out, pale as a ghost. There was one thing that he learned on their air journey ¨C while he waspletely okay with short distance flights ¨C he most certainly couldn''t handle the long ones and was considering trying to use the powers of the avatar of greed to try and buy his ess to teleporting from the unstable back of the winged monster right back onto the stable ground. ...and he did try it ¨C just for a system message to show up informing him about insufficient funds and that his request couldn''t be granted... "I have heard that the capital of the Wraths territory is a very interesting city ¨C my prince if the opportunity arises maybe we could go check it out, just the two of us?" As Anry the griffin was lowering his flight, adjusting his trajectory for a softnding to not inconvenience the sick-looking prince, Mary fidgeted nervously and asked as her face became slightly red. "Sure... Mary, please, just let me down and make the shaking stop ¨C I''ll do whatever you want..." "!!!" Roan yelped pitifully, closing his eyes and pressing his face between Mary''s shoulder and neck ¨C he wasn''t trying to flirt or anything, he was just that done with the long flight already, but that still made Mary face be hot as she tensed up form excitement. Then... *WHOOOSH* *BOOOOM* "GYAAAAAAAAA...!" A ratherrge fireball barely missed the jet-ck griffin right wing and exploded dangerously close to his tail almost singing the fur on his butt. The shockwave and heat from the explosion caused the monster to struggle quite a bit to regain his bnce and not drop the pair on his back ¨C which of course wasn''t met with the calm reaction of the blond prince who was already nearing his limit with the regr calm flight ¨C resulting in him letting out a panicked scream and changing the position of his hand in a desperate struggle not to fall off. "!!!!!!" Well ¨C at least one of his hands did find a certain squishy and soft spot prime for the grabbing which resulted in the already blushing girl to feeze up as her head nk out momentarily. "SCREE?! (HUH?!) SCREE! (MASTER, SOMEONE IS ATTACKING US!)" Anry, who had no idea about the groping ident happening on his back, called out and his body shone with the light of the skill as he pped his wings and elerated... *WHOOSH* *BOOM* *WHOOSH* *BOOM* *WHOOSH* *BOOM* *SWISH* *ZAP* *WHOOSH* *BOOM* ¡­just in time to dodge a whole barrage of iing fireballs and asional ice-spear and an electrical discharge. "WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?!" Mary shouted in panic, calling out to Anry. "Scree?! (And how should I know?!)" "Don''t they know that they are shooting at the prince?! Is this a rebellion or something?!" The brown-haired heroine gritted her teeth in disbelief and muttered under her breath. "Scree? (Master ¨C do they even know that the prince is together with us?)" "!!!" Surprisingly enough her jet-ck griffin did hear her properly and asked back while dodging and weaving through all the spells, showing off his agility and skills. "Mary..." "!!!" Roan stuck to the heroine''s back was on the verge of fainting from all the spinning and dodging at a height far abovefort ended up whispering weakly into the girl''s ear ¨C his voice caused quite an effect, but not really the one he intended... "Anry! Go down! Whoever is shooting at us shouldn''t be stupid enough tounch an explosive spell on something only a few feet away ¨C we will force them to take a careful look at us!" The brown-haired girlmanded in a stern, confident voice, lowering herself closer to the griffin''s body and patting the side of his neck. "Scree...? (Master, you want to be seen like this...?) ...scree... (...mom, that will be so embarrassing though...)" "..eh...?" Anry quickly nced back at his riders and shook his feathery head, letting out a soft, quiet screech that made him sound like a kid who didn''t want his friends to meet his weird parents ¨C and caused Mary to gasp in confusion. "Scree! (Nothing!) Scree! (One charge without damaging the opponent ¨C roger!)" The jet-ck griffin shook his head dismissively, ignoring the shocked master of his, and instantly changed his trajectory ¨C instead of circling around the perimeter of the city, he dived straight down like a rock ¨C causing quite a stir amongst the attackers who couldn''t quite focus their spells for the next few seconds ¨C long enough for the griffin to get right in front of them, pping his wings wildly to stop himself from sttering against the ground. "STOP! WE AREN''T ENEMIES!" To make things easier to understand, Anry lowered his head to properly show off the humans riding on his back and Mary used the chance to raise her hands and call out. "I''m a tamer ¨C and this my tamed griffin, Anry ¨C we are traveling from the Greeds territory together with the prince Roan Greed! You are attacking the royal prince and the next king ¨C cease this madness!" She demanded immediately after seeing that some of the people were still raising their hands to aim all the offensive spells at them after her initial call. "...the prince...?" The elf on the forefront flinched and nced to the side at the short man furrowing his brows. "Lord Cri... is that really...?" The elf asked nervously, looking between the pair on the griffin and the other man. "...probably..." The man called Cri shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms with a mixed expression. "Though the prince I remember wasn''t groping girls chest." Cri leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of the face of the blond young man who was still stuck to the brown-haired heroine. "Wha...?! Ah! N-noo!" Mary flinched, realizing that Roan still hasn''t changed the cement of his hand, and was still holding onto her rather firmly ¨C which resulted in the heroine getting red from embarrassment and shaking the prince off... "What the?!" *thump* ...resulting in him gasping in shock before falling off the griffin''s back andnding on the pavement with a surprisingly soft sound... "...yeah ¨C that''s more like prince Roan..." "It IS the prince?! Everyone, quick! Help his majesty up!" Cri nodded his head and while his elven friend was panicking over the fallen prince, he ended up walking towards Mary and Anry. "Sir Cri... what is the meaning of this? You know all of us ¨C why were we attacked?! Ah, thank you." Mary gasped ¨C but ended up grabbing the hand that the man who wasn''t all that much older than her, silently offered her in order to help her get down from the griffin''s back. "Sorry ¨C I do know you ¨C but while something soars high in the sky it''s hard to tell the difference between deep blue and ck. That''s kind of on you for not realizing that it might be a problem." Cri apologized by bowing his head lightly but then waved his hand, pointing up with a bitter expression. "Eh...? What is that supposed to mean...?" Mary''s eyes widened and she asked, tilting her head in confusion and also looking up. "Oh... so you didn''te here as early reinforcements that we asked for..." The man''s expression became even more bitter and he sighed with disappointment. "..." The brown-haired girl was standing still inplete silence and staring at the former queen''s bodyguard, blinking repeatedly. "You see, miss Hope ¨C we have a little griffin problem on our hands that we cannot really deal with on our own." Cri took a deep breath and started exining. "Eh? But I was sure that all major griffin nesting grounds are in Prides territory though...?" The brown-haired girl muttered in confusion. "It''s not about a flock ¨C we have problem with just a single one ¨C but before you willugh at us, let me exin that form all that we know ¨C it''s none other than the extremely dangerous emperor griffin ¨C the subspecies that lives in the Sloth territory and is known for hunting down dragons." The man added, looking up at the heroine and dering. "To make everything even more shocking ¨C the attacks started immediately after a certain member of the Wrath''s house who was pronounced dead over twenty-something years ago was thrown at our doorstep..." "!!!" Cri looked to the side, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed that the story he was reporting sounded as if he was making it up on the spot... ...but the heroine wasn''t really paying attention to him ¨C she was far too busy staring at the system message that popped up for her as Cri mentioned the family member who was thought to be dead but returned... /Special quest -Let there be ruin!- activated Quest objectives: Learn about the troubles of the Wrath family pleted] Stop the griffin''s attack* Survive* [*Avatar of wrath is required to be in the party]\\\\ Chapter 577 - The Secret Quests (part 3)

Chapter 577 - The Secret Quests (part 3)

Cri was leading Mary, Roan, and Anry to the Wrath family mansion as the two humans were talking to each other in hushed voices while the griffin was listening in with unease. "That quest - it''s just like how it was with mine, right? But then why is this one so vague? at least mine had a concrete objective not just survive." Roan frowned, looking at the quest description on the active quests list. "...that is what worries me the most - survive? Survive what? Is this quest supposed tost all our lives? Why there is no time limit on it - it would make some sense then..." Mary nodded, nervously rubbing her hands together. Cri merely nced at them and furrow his brows one he turned back around. First of all, he had a detection+ [hearing] skill active, as did every single adventurer and guard protecting the city - amongst those who had that skill, of course - so he clearly heard every single word they said. To be fair - the man pointed that out to the royal prince and the griffin rider girl, but the two still seemed to prefer speaking in hushed voices - whether it had something to do with staying close together or simply because they felt better that way, the pair kept huddled next to each other, even after they all entered the mansion and were greeted by the head butler and head maid. ...Anry, as a well-behaved and trained tamed monster stopped before the front door and just sat down next to it like an oversize dog and waited patiently for his master''s return. "His majesty Roan Greed and his frienddy Mary Hope arrived." Cri reported to the two servants, showing a great deal of courtesy even though their position and level could hardly bepared to his own. "Although they did not arrive because of our summon, and they would want to discuss the topic with our young lord anddy." He exined after seeing the confusion on the faces of the two servants and smiled encouragingly. "At once, lord Cri." The maid and the butler bowed towards him and hurriedly left toplete their task. "...sir Cri...?" Once they turned the corner, the blond prince reached out and asked in a hesitant voice. "Yes, your majesty?" The former bodyguard of thete queen turned around and responded politely. "What did you mean by young lord anddy? I thought that we were going to meet the avatar of wrath, lord Pomegranate." The blond prince asked and the brown-haired heroine nodded her head vigorously. The secret quest clearly stated that they would need the avatar of wrath in their party, since the quest was already giving them both a bad feeling they really wanted to be prepared for it as soon as possible. "...you are going to see the avatar of wrath..." "...?" Cri straightened his back and looked the prince in the eyes. "The current avatar of wrath, young lord Corvus." "Huh...?" "Eh...?" He dered causing the pair to flinch and stare at him dumbfounded. "The emperor griffin attacking us is already a big problem, but not something that we of the Wrath family would ever think to bother other main families about. That was our initial thought at least." Cri sighed and started exining in a dispirited voice. "Considering that the avatar of wrath boasts the physical strength that is supposed to grow indefinitely as long as the person itself has enough mana to sustain the skill usage when the troublesome monster initially appeared, everyone thought that in the worst-case scenario - which at the time we merely considered as not being able to beat the emperor griffin by ourselves without lord Pomegranate - we would have to rely on his powers... then, the reality gave us the wake-up call rather quickly." The former bodyguard lowered his head in shame while the prince and the heroine stared at him wide-eyed waiting for his next words. "Lord Pomegranate was sick - he contracted the same illness that killed his older brother a few years back. It was making him weaker and weaker, so when the emperor griffin broke through our defense lines and attacked the mansion and he was forced to pick up the fight..." "..." Cri''s shoulders slumped as the grief squeezed his throat. "At first it looked like he will have no trouble with fist hitnding and almost knocking the monster out of the sky, but then almost immediately he started coughing up blood and the emperor griffin seized its chance without hesitation - the avatar of wrath can get ridiculously powerful all while thanks to the Ira skill negates the usual side effects that too much STR can destroy the yer''s body - lord Pomegranate DEF was affected by the illness the most which resulted in his... death..." Cri said and straightened his back, looking at the blond prince and the brown-haired heroine with eyes full of grief and anger. "But... that also brought something good - although we have all expected that lord Pomegranate''s daughter, youngdy Mika, who received the Ira skill at an early age, will be the one to receive the avatar title, but in a curious turn of events, the young prodigy taken in by the previous avatar and then brought up as a son by lord Pomegranate ended up receiving Ira while witnessing lord Pomegranate''s death, bing a second candidate - and from then on luck decided which one of them would gain the title." By the end of his speech, Cri allowed himself for a soft smile, as if mentioning Corvus and luck was some sort of old inside joke of the Wrath family. "..." "..." Roan and Mary exchanged surprised looks. "When did all of that happen?" The blond prince asked while Mary was clenching her fists. "Two days ago - we would be mourning lord Pomegranate''s death, but the emperor griffin keeps attacking our city... that is also why you were shot at the moment you showed up at the sky." Cri raised his hand, straightening two fingers and answering with a bitter smile. "...two days... alright then, then that means that our quest is definitely about lord Corvus... lord Cri, could you tell us how old is the new avatar of wrath?" The brown-haired heroine asked while ncing at the blond prince who seemed just as tense as she was - the story about the previous avatar dying was of course sad, but the brief mention about the person who became the new avatar was almost perfectly fitting all the clues that both of them had on Roan''s long lost older brother. "Well, he''s around twenty-two and up, but not over twenty-six, no one is sure about it since he was living on the streets before he was found by the previous avatar - who also happened to rescue me and my two other friends from the life in poverty." The man exined, making a curious expression and raising his brow. "...so the age roughly matches too..." "...and since he already is an avatar of wrath, he shouldn''t feel bitter about me being the avatar of greed..." "..." Mary and Roan huddled back together and whispered to each other, leaving Cri really confused whether those two were actually aware of their surroundings since they clearly didn''t pay attention to him and informing them about his detection skill being active. "Lord Cri - young lord anddy are waiting for the visitors." The head maid returned and approach respectfully approached the concerned Cri. "Perfect. Thank you very much - your majesty,dy Hope." The man bowed to the maid with just as much respect as she showed him, and turned to the murmuring prince and the brown-haired heroine. "Please, follow me." He added and lead the way as the head maid hurriedly bowed her head towards the guests and walked away to her other duties. After one flight of stairs and two hallways, the trio arrived at a certain unassuming door with a wooden te spelling Mika. Cri knocked on the door and waited. "Come on in." The voice inviting them ining from the inside certainly didn''t belong to Mika - which only left Corvus as the possible person. "...!" Hearing his voice Mary straightened her back and leaned towards the blond prince. "My prince, he sounds very simr to you...!" She gasped, grabbing onto Roan''s hand. "...it''s nothing certain yet - plus, we have that special quest to worry about too..." The blond prince responded under his breath but ended up squeezing Mary''s hand back, just in time for Cri to open the door and let the two of them in, while he stayed politely stayed outside. The pair entered the room, which turned out to be a bedroom, and their attention was instantly caught by the two people in the corner of the room. An ashen-haired girl wasying in a princess bed, ring at the two of them as if they were nothing but intruders messing up her ns, and a white-haired young man wearing only ck and white clothes who was cutting up an apple, undoubtedly to feed the indisposed girl by his side. "...your majesty, what an honor..." Corvus nodded his head towards Roan but that gesture look more like he was greeting some acquaintance he passed on the street and not a human prince and soon to be king. "..." Roan froze, staring at Corvus in disbelief. Hundreds of questions were popping up in his mind, but one seemed to be more relevant than all the others. "... besides the color of your hair and eyes, you look just like our mother..." "!!!" Roan spoke up without actually realizing it, and the atmosphere in the room changedpletely.... Chapter 578 - The Secret Quests (part 4)

Chapter 578 - The Secret Quests (part 4)

Even though Corvus''s face remained calm, the bright red light that enveloped his body proved that internally he was everything but calm. "S-stop!" What was even better than indicator than the light of the wrath-based skill itself, was the fact that in the blink of an eye the white-haired young man was right in front of the blond prince and he was holding him up by his cor, ring down at the shorter and younger youth, while the brown-haired heroine cried out and tried to get in between the two. "Your highness, I have no idea why would you say something like that. I am an orphan taken in by the Wrath family - don''t joke around about knowing my parents. It is very rude." Corvus''s tone of voice was absolutely calm and even more surprising was that even his eyes didn''t show any actual killing intent that his hands, shaking from the bottled-up fury, clearly conveyed. "What is going on? Corvus isn''t that the prince?! What are you doing?! Calm down and let go of him" Mika gaped and slid out of her bed, approaching the white-haired man from behind. "...I am perfectly calm, Mika, I don''t know what you mean..." Corvus responded to her in the same calm voice that he used towards the prince while still holding onto Roan''s shirt. "No, you are not! Why don''t you just...!" "SKWEEEEEEEEEEE!" Mika shook her head and scoffed - but her words were interrupted by a surprisingly loud screech of a monster,ing from the outside. "!!!!!" "WHAT?!" Mary and Roan gasped in shock while both Mika and Corvus rushed towards the window, looking outside with exactly the same furious expressions. "That damned creature is back!" Corvus roared furiously, opening the window as soon as a blue shape showed up in the sky - and before anyone else could stop him, he jumped out and rushed head-first at the blue griffin. "Wha...! Wait, what?! No! We need to stop him!" Mary gasped in panic, grabbing onto Roan''s arm and pulling him towards the window. "Lady Mika, we need to...!" "..." Roan tried to call out to the ashen-haired girl, but she didn''t even spare him a single nce, her body shone with a bright red light, exactly the same way that Corvus''s did and she also jumped out of the window, biting his lips, so focused on the approaching winged monster that she didn''t pay attention to anyone or anything else. "Of for the love of the system!" The blond prince cursed, watching the pair of Wraths run straight towards the approaching griffin - and although it wasn''t easy to discern one speeding griffin from another especially if they were the same color, even with his miserable LUC stat of 13 Roan was confident in betting on which griffin was attacking the capital of the Wraths territory. "My prince ¨C the way it screeches...!" Mary called out only confirming Ran''s suspicion. "Yeah ¨C it must be Blueberry ¨C but why on the system''s name is she attacking the Wrath''s mansion ¨C and she apparently killed lord Pomegranate too!" The blond prince shook his head in disbelief while clenching his head in disbelief. "My prince ¨C now is not the time to worry about that!" The brown-haired heroine gasped shaking her head with a panicked expression. "Yes, yes ¨C I know, we have the whole special quest toplete..." Roan nodded with a tired expression and put one leg on the windowsill with a clear intention of jumping out and following Corvus and Mika. "That too ¨C but more importantly ¨C my prince ¨C that is Blueberry!" "...?" But, surprisingly enough, Mary ended up grabbing onto the blond prince''s arm and stopping him while sounding absolutely terrified. "Yes ¨C I know ¨C still, we have to stop her for the quest and..." "The ones we need to stop are those two! My prince ¨C Cranberry and Zombie treat Blueberry as their daughter! What do you think will happen to this ce if someone will actually hurts her?!" Roan merely scoffed and shrugged his shoulders but the brown-haired heroine eximed in a trembling voice, causing the prince''s face to turn pale as a ghost''s... "...dear system...! Cranberry alone is capable of bringing down a sigil monster ¨C and sir Zombie...! Mary ¨C forget about the quest - we must stop those two at all cost!" Roan ended up reacting just like Mary, and jumped out of the window without any hesitation whatsoever, going as far as to use avaritia skill to buy himself more speed using the money that was put into the private treasury ording to his first royal order ¨C which was kind of abuse of power but ended up being the correct decision. "Lord Corvus! Lady Mika! Stop! You cannot harm that griffin!" "!!!" *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* The blond prince with his body shining with brilliant yellow light caught up to the shocking Wraths and called out just in time for the barrage of storm talons attack to be unleashed upon them by none other than the Blueberry herself. *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* Luckily, all of the attacks were misses and only the garden in the back of the mansion suffered the damages while the humans dodged to the sides. "Don''t harm it? Oh ¨C I will not harm it ¨C I will kill it!" Corvus, who ended up jumping close to Roan, called out in a furious voice and his body let out an even more vibrant red light that made the white-haired man look as if he was set on fire. "SKWEEE!" *WHOOOOOOOOSH* "GU-HUAGH...!" The emperor griffin screeched and dived straight down ¨C the single p of her glowing wings ended up both stopping herpletely and unleashing a devastating shockwave that young Mika didn''t manage to dodge in time and ended up getting ttened to the ground and spewed a mouthful of blood. "MIKA! YOU DAMNED BIRD!" Corvus roared and rushed towards the girl ¨C but ended up changing his direction at thest second and jumped up straight towards the massive blue griffin. "SKWEE?!" That clearly took Blueberry by surprise as she released a shocking screech and pped her wings desperately trying to get away but it was obvious that she messed up and would have to suffer the full power of the empowered punch by the absolutely furious avatar of wrath. "YOU CAN''T!" "...?!" "SKWEE! Wit and almost impable timing Mary riding on the champion griffin arrived and they both tacked Corvus, knocking him out of the sky, allowing Blueberry to gain some much-needed distance. *SLAM* "URGH...! Wha... WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!" The white-haired man crashnded into the flowerbed and got up in the flurry of multicolored petals, shouting in a frenzy, ring at the brown-haired girl and her jet-ck mount. "We are trying to tell you that if you harm that monster something far more threatening wille and...!" *WHAM* *SMASH* "GHU-UAGH...!" Roan ran to Corvus and tried to exin things to him, but was greeted by a devastating punch to the stomach that sent him flying right into the wall ¨C and through the wall. "MY PRINCE!" "SCREE!" Mary shouted in panic and Anry echoed her with his screech as he dived straight towards the incapacitated prince who most definitely didn''t have enough DEF to brush off the head-on attack of the ira-empowered avatar of wrath. "THAT THING KILLED LORD POMEGRANATE ¨C IT WILL DIE!" Corvus spared them but a single nce before pointing up at the emperor griffin watching them all from above while curiously tilting her head, as if amused that the humans are fighting amongst each other. "CRI ¨C CAPTURE THOSE FOOLS AND DON''T LET THEM INTERFERE ANYMORE! MIKA! HELP ME OUT! I NEED TO TO GET UP THERE!" The white-haired man shoutedmands without even checking whether anyone was listening ¨C but with his luck, that was obviously the case. Within a few seconds, Cri came rushing from the mansion together with a group of other humans and elves while the ashen-haired girl was by Corvus''s side before he even finished his sentence. "What am I supposed to do...?" Mika gasped, wiping off the blood from the corner of her mouth. "That blue shit thinks that it''s funny to watch us ¨C struggle ¨C I have a charge skill that can change direction up to three times ¨C I want you tounch me up ¨C once in the air I will down that damned bird and we will turn it into a mincemeat on the ground ¨C everyone, or at least the two of us." Corvus dered, reaching out his hand towards the younger girl. Chapter 579 - The Secret Quests (part 5)

Chapter 579 - The Secret Quests (part 5)

"I understand." Mika nodded and grabbed the offered arm ¨C and her body that never once lost the bright red glow twisted as she spun around and... *BOOOOOOOM* Acted as a monstrously powerful sling that shot out the human projectile straight at the winged monster high above. "SKWEEEE!" *WHOOOOOOSH* *WHOOOOOOSH* *WHOOOOOOSH* *WHOOOOOOSH* *WHOOOOOOSH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* *SWISH* Blueberry screeched and unleashed a series of wing attacks followed by a barrage of storm talons. "HMPH!" But Corvus merely scoffed and used the charge skill twice to wlessly dodged them which would only be possible for someone with an insanely high-level acrobatics skill ¨C or someone with ridiculously high LUC stat ¨C which was the case for the young avatar of wrath. "SKWEE?!" The emperor griffin screeched in shock and turned around to face the white-haired human ¨C both her wings and talons were already shining with the pure white light fraction of a second away from raining down more and more overwhelmingly strong attacks ¨C and this time it was in a position where monster''s skills would fall onto the actual city and surely kill off many innocent people. "SKWEE!" *WHOO-" But that wasn''t something that Corvus was going to allow ¨C not again ¨C with perfect timing he used thest charge while the blue griffin was in the middle of the pping its wings and he ended up right behind it... *SMASH* *CRUNCH* "...!" *BOOOOOM* Before Blueberry could release another screech an ira empowered punchpletely crushed her right wing and sent her spiraling down to the ground where she crashed against the bed of ironically blue roses. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! GOT YOU!" *BOOOM* Corvus roared while falling down ¨C but even though the height was nothing to scoff at, with his luck and the power from the ira skill, he managed to kick the ground just at the right time andpletely negate the force of gravity, resulting in a wless safending. "NOOOO! Blueberry! You don''t understand ¨C you cannot kill them!" Four people and three elves were holding down Anry while only one elf was enough to stop Mary from running towards the fallen griffin on the rose bed, looking around with unfocused violet eyes. "Don''t let them interfere!" Corvus pointed at Cri who was holding down the seemingly unconscious Roan. "Of course, my lord." The man nodded his head while nervously ncing at the prince ¨C he was clearly very uneasy with the possibility of the future monarch dying while so close to him ¨C the consequences of that happening could be far more fatal than killing the griffin was worth... "Mika,e." The white-haired avatar of wrath reached out his hand and beckoned the ashen-haired girl to approach him. "Let''s finish this thing together." "...alright..." Corvus breathed out and smiled at the ashen-haired girl who gulped down her saliva and nodded with a grim expression without taking her eyes off of the incapacitated griffin. "NOOO! YOU CAN-MPFHH...!" Mary tried to call out but her mouth was blocked by the elf holding her down. /Special quest update Stop the griffin''s attack pleted]\\\\ "Oh...? A special quest...?" "!!!" The message that popped up in front of Mary''s eyes- - and apparently Corvus''s too, judging by his reaction ¨C was very much tragic ¨C it was clear that it wasn''t necessary to kill the monster, but also it was clear that Corvus would not listen to the voices of reason. "On three." "Okay." The white-haired man looked at the ashen-haired girl and she nodded while already rising her hand still glowing with a red light. "One." Said Corvus. "Two..." Said Mika. "Three!" *SMASH* *CRUNCH* "AAAAAAAAAARGGHHHHHH!" "GHAAAAAAAAARGHHHH...!" They both shouted and attacked the downed griffin at the same time ¨C hitting the bright yellow shield that appeared over Blueberry out of the thin air and ended up screaming in pain as their hands broke on the barrier. "Wh-what...?!" Wide-eyed Cri gasped ¨C shocked until the moment he looked down and realized that the prince''s body is shining with a bright yellow light. "...I told you, to not kill that griffin..." Roan lifted his head and smirked while blood was slowly dripping down from his nose. "YOU FUCKING...!" *WHAM* *CRACK* Before anyone could react, Corvus was already by the prince and kneed him right in the face ¨C breaking his nose and knocking him out instantly, causing the blond young man to drop limply into Cri''s arms. "MHY PHINCHE...!" Even though her mouth was blocked, mary managed to cry out in panic but was unable to free herself. "Now... fuck...! Mika ¨C do you think you still can...?" Corvus cursed and clenched his broken right hand, ncing towards the ashen-haired girl. "Yeah... I have two hands -I will manage. I am a Wrath after all." Mika smiled while clenching her teeth and raised her right hand while her left one was hanging limply down along her torso. "You sure are." Corvus smiled back at her and walked back towards the emperor griffin who started to regain her senses. Blueberry wasn''t able to stand up but she could open her beak and screech... "SKWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" ...and screeched she did in the most pitiful and heartwrenching way possible... "You know that your end is near, you dumb beast? Good." Corvus nodded his head and smirked with satisfaction. "I couldn''t ask for more." He added and raised his hand, waiting for Mika to do the same. "SCREEEE! (STUPID HUMANS!) SCREEE! 9LET HER GO THIS INSTANT!)" "?!?!?!?" Suddenly ¨C the jet-ck started struggling and managed to free his beak to screech out a warning, but no one except his master could understand him... "Hmph ¨C doesn''t want one of his own kind to die? Whatever." Corvus scoffed and looked at Mika to confirm she was ready. "On three?" "One..." He asked again and the ashen-haired girl started counting... "Hmph~ Two." Corvus smirked and followed her up... "T-" "GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" *SMASH* The earth-shattering horrifying roar pierced the sky annihting every single piece of ss in the entire city... *thump* "...eh...?" *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* ...as well as knocking out every single person who had the dectection+ [hearing] skill active... "WHAT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE, CRI? CRI?!" Corvus shouted as the roar was still ringing out in his ears ¨C he looked first at Mika ¨C she ended up swaying on her feet also momentarily deafened just like he ¨C but when he turned around, he saw one of the strongest members of the wrath familyying on the ground right with blood pouring out of his ear, next to the unconscious prince... "Wh-what is this supposed to...?" The white-haired avatar of wrath gasped in confusion, turning around... Just to see a truly massive silhouette approaching them from the sky. Bright red scales and the body the size of a cathedral... The red dragon of Ruin, Baron, was descending upon the mortal''s word to bring onto them what was already said by his title. /Special quest update Survive [timed sub-event begins]\\\\ [01:00:00] [00:59:59] [00:59:58] A timer appeared in the right corner of the vision of everyone participating in the quest, right in time for the dragon''s throat and jaws to start glowing with a crimson light - and before even one more second could tick down... ************************************************* A crimsonser-like firey-energy beam erupted from Baron''s jaws and cut through the city... *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* ...annihting one-quarter of it in a single shot, causing an explosion that tore the earth apart and burrowed tens of buildings as if they were made out of sand... /Good luck\\\\ "...!" As if to mock the people tasked with the impossible quest, a short system message popped up before the crimson light shone through the dragon''s jaws once again.... Chapter 580 - The Secret Quests (part 6)

Chapter 580 - The Secret Quests (part 6)

"G-good luck...? Good luck?! Did the system message seriously just wish us good luck?! Corvus shook his head and blinked repeatedly, staring at the window fading away from his field of vision. "Mend! Mend! Mend!" instead of responding to him, the brown-haired heroine, Mary hurriedly used her healing speel consecutively on the knocked-out prince, then Anry, and then herself. "GHAAAAAARGH...!" "SCREE! (OOOOOWWWWW!)" "Ugh...!" Every single one of them ended up growling in pain as their wounds ¨C including the broken eardrums ¨C were forcefully welded back together without any sort of anesthesia. "What... what in the system''s name is going on?!" Roan shook his head and raised his head just in time to witness the crimson light surrounding Baron''s jaws and throat to reach its culmination stage and... ***************************************************************************** ...yet anotherser-beam of concentrated fire cut through the city like a red-hot knife passing through butter... *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "...!" Yet another explosion shook the earth and another part of the city has fallen, disintegrating into the rapidly expanding mes. "MEND!" "!!!!" Mary reached out her hands and grabbed bot the blond prince and her jet-ck griffin and had to cast her spell only once for it to pass through all of them, healing them back from the shock and once again broken eardrums. "Mary...! What is going on?! How long was I out of it?! And for the love of the system what is Baron doing here?! And why is he so huge now?!" Roan shook his head and grabbed onto the brown-haired heroine''s shoulder pointing at the massive red dragon pping his wings over the ruined city, looking around as if in search of something. "Scree! (Master!) Scree! (The dragon is looking for Blueberry!) Scree! (If he will find her like that, we will not have time to escape!)" The jet ck griffin, Anry, lowered his head and prodded Mary in the back with his beak while pping one of his winds to point out the wounded - and also concussed ¨C emperor griffin with the broken wind. "Yes, but also what if the two of them will join forces if we heal her?" Mary bit her lips and looked between the blue griffin on the ground and the red dragon in the sky facing a dilemma. "..." Roan nced at her in confusion as he could not understand Arny''s screeches ¨C but once he looked at the direction in which the tamed gridding was pointing, he figured out what his words must have been. "Mary ¨C don''t you remember? Baron might have always called her a pigeon and acted coldly, but he never allowed anything to happen to her ¨C not to mention that we won''t be able to survive attempting to escape once he sees her wounded like that! If we''ll make her fly up to him, we might have a chance to sneak out then! The quest is about surviving ¨C there''s nothing about staying in the same area!" The prince pointed out, moving his hand and grabbing Mary''s hand as he started hurriedly pulling her towards the fallen griffin, not even sparing the unsteady Corvus holding onto his bleeding ears a single nce. It seemed like at the moment all the possible positive emotions Roan could have had towards his older half-brother were dispersed by the punch and then the knee that Corvus had served him. "Blueberry ¨C Blueberry, do you recognize me?" Mary was unable to find any fault in the blond prince''s statement about Baron ¨C so she kneeled by the wounded emperor griffin and gently touched her neck ¨C but the winge monster seemed to bepletely out of it to the point that she didn''t even properly realize that someone was patting her neck. "...I only hope she will not screech too loud..." Mary muttered to herself as she nervously nced at the sky that suddenly got filled up with spells that every possible surviving mage or spellcaster in the cityunched at the creature that easily destroyed their normal lives within seconds. *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH* "...!" Every single person suddenly froze as every single spell dispersed in the air even without actually reaching Baron''s scales, snuffed out by the pressureing from him merely pping his wings to stay up in the air. "(Hmph! Weaklings.)" The red dragon shook his head, red down with his vertical-slit pupils, and reached out with a mocking telepathic message to every single living creature in the area. "(If even a single feather is missing from my pigeon''s head I will not stop on warning shots.)" Baron''s words echoed in everyone''s minds ¨C chilling the blood in the people''s veins. Warning shots. Apparently, the attacks that wiped half of the capital of the Wraths territory off the map were merely considered as warning shots...! "MEND!" That was far more than enough reason for the brown-haired heroine to stop worrying about the what-ifs and immediately use the healing spell on the downed griffin. *CRACK* "...skwee...? (...eh...?)" Not only were the shattered bones restored into one with a loud, disturbing sound, but even blood and loose feathers all returned and were welded back together onto the Blueberry''s body and she shook her head in confusion looking around as if unable toprehend what was she doing there. "Skwee...? (Ah, mommy''s friend ¨C why are we here...?) Skwee? (What is going on?)" Blueberry tilted her head and raised her front leg, gently prodding the brown-haired heroine''s side with the dull part of her talon. "...eh...? Wh-what? Blueberry, you were attacking the Wrath''s territory! Those two said that you''ve killed the previous avatar of wrath!" Mary stared at the confused griffin and pointed at the still indisposed duo of the ashen-haired Mika and the white-haired Corvus both staring at the sky wide-eyed. "Skwee? (Eh?) Skwee. (No way ¨C mommy told me to not kill humans or elves unless she will tell me to do so.) Skwee! (They might be important!)" Blueberry shook her head in a very human0like motion and dered in a confident tone ¨C before she ended up looking up to see what the others were staring at... "SKWEE?! (BARON?!)" She suddenly gasped, spreading her wings in shock as she noticed the red dragon hovering threateningly over the ruined city. "SKWEE! (BARON!) SKWEE! (MOMMY TOLD US TO NOT DESTROY THINGS WITHOUT HER PERMISSION!)" The blue griffin jumped up and used the skill empowered p of her massive wings to give herself a vertical take-off and she screeched loudly, sounding like a kid just about to tell on their older siblings to their parents for breaking the rules. "...just what is going on here...?" Mary took a step back, buffeted by the gust of wind caused by the emperor griffin, and watched her fly up higher and higher to meet up with the red dragon high above. "(Blueberry?! Are you unharmed?!)" Chapter 581 - The Secret Quests (part 7)

Chapter 581 - The Secret Quests (part 7)

Baron didn''t switch to directed telepathy so everyone could clearly hear his relieved voice as he decreased his altitude slowly descending towards the approaching griffin. "Skweee! (Of curse I am unharmed!) Skwee?! (What did you do, Baron?!) Skwee! (Mommy and daddy will scold you so much!)" Blueberry screeched out inint while looking down at the destruction and raised her head right back at the dragon several timesrger than her. "Skwee... (We should apologize and go ba...)" Blueberry screeched out in a tired voice and... *CHOMP* "(Blueberry...?)" ...disappeared without a trace right out of the air! She wasn''t taken down by an attack or anything, she just vanished into the thin air to the apaniment of the sound of enormous jaws pping together. "(...)" "..." For almost a full minute, it felt as if the entire world has stopped ¨C the survivors from the city below and the massive red dragon above them froze in disbelief, staring at the spot where the blue griffin disappeared from... Then... "(...you are all dead...)" Baron, barely able to hold back enough to keep the telepathy skill active dered before cutting off the connection ¨C the next moment, not just his throat and jaws started shining with the brilliant red light ¨C his entire body did. "GH-UGH...!" Mary gasped as instantly she felt the outrageous pressure forcing her down to the ground ¨C and it wasn''t even the attack itself ¨C merely the dragon''s wings empowered by whatever outrageous skill that he was using, were creating shockwave so strong that it was able to pin most people to the ground ¨C it was obvious that the actual attack would be unimaginably destructive inparison... But then, just as the end seemed to be right around the corner... *CHOMP* Another sound of jaws pping together resounded through the air ¨C but this time nothing seemed to happen... ...until... *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM**BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM**BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM* "GHROOOOUUUAAAAAGHHHH...!" A ridiculous barrage of various spells - fireballs, ice spears, explosive boulders, electrical discharges, holy smites, and the darkness bullets assaulted the dragon from both sides aiming at the membrane of his wings and at their base ¨C causing the monster to let out a shocked and utterly confused roar as the magic attacks that had no right to pierce through the high-level dragon scales ¨C which shouldpletely negate all mana-based damage ¨C actually got through and turned Baron''s wings into mincemeat, knocking the red beast straight out of the sky. "Wh-what...?!" Mary raised her head and stared in absolute shock at the falling dragon ¨C it was the most ridiculous thing that happened. [00:51:12] The timer in the right corner of the girl''s vision was counting down stubbornly as Baron crushed into the city below, far away from the Wrath''s mansion. Still ¨C the monster wasrge enough for him to be seen even from Mary''s position ¨C because even though he was downed and wounded, the red dragon of ruin certainly wasn''t going to keel over and die just like that... ...at least not in this ythrough... "GHROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!" ******************************************************************** *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Before the tip of his tail had the chance to touch the ground after the fall, Baron was already twisting his body unleashing a breath attack that annihted everything above the height of a one-story building ¨C in a sh, most of the buildings that survived the two initial attacks were gone or turned into rubble by the shockwave that followed the explosion. The wrath''s mansion wasn''t an exception ¨C only the bare walls of the ground floor were still somehow intact ¨C but aside from that, everything was gone ¨C including all the unlucky people who didn''t manage to evacuate in time. "...m-mend...!" Mary mumbled in a trembling voice, shaking so horribly that she felt as if her body was going to break apart at a moment''s notice. "...ghhh...!" She gritted her teeth as the pain of the healing spell working spread through her body singed by the st of heat caused by the attack and the brown-haired heroine gout up first on all fours and then on her own two feet and stumbled towards the first human she saw. "...mend..." "AAARRGGGGHHHHH...!" Mery called out pointing at the white-haired Corvus whose body arched while it was forcibly welded back together by pure mana. "Wha... what the hell is going on...?" The young avatar of wrath gasped standing up, shocked how normal he felt after the initial wave of pain ¨C it must have been his first time experiencing the mend skill firsthand. "That''s what I want to know..." Mary scoffed, biting her lips and walking from person to person using mend on every single one. Meanwhile at an area where the former entertainment district was... "The avatar of gluttony took the dragon''s magic immunity! Do not stop attacking!" The ashen undead knight roared amand and hundreds of people wearing the clothes and the pendants of the church of the system''s faith continued barraging the red dragon with the myriad of spells. "Aren''t you feeling toofortable, Lovie?" Suddenly, a ball of orange light jumped out from behind the undead knight''s back and asked while jumping around her head. "...Lovie...?" The ashen undead raised her brow and asked in confusion, staring at the dancing spirit. "You are the remnant of the god of chaos, Love and you don''t have your own official name ¨C so I decided to call you Lovie! Pretty right?" The orange light lost its intensity and the silhouette of a tiny humanoid creature with insect wings showed through the glow. "Whatever. What did you mean by feeling toofortable?" The ashen undead knight shook her head and asked, ring at the red dragon getting overwhelmed by the unceasing rain of spells. "Those humans ¨C they might be a lot of them, but they will not be able to defeat the remnant of War ¨C especially in his current form. Oh, and you can call me Helly~!" The fairy exined in a high-pitched voice and the orange light it gave out brightened up so much that its silhouette disappeared once again making it seem like the remnant of the abyss god, Hell, was only a ball of light and nothing else. "I don''t know what you are talking about ¨C the dragon looks pretty much defeated if you ask..." *SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING* *CHOMP* *RIIIIIP* *CRUSH* *RUMBLE* As Lovie was responding Helly with a dismissive smirk, Baronunched forward straight into the group of the system''s faith mages and ripped at least half of them with his enormous front ws before they could even react ¨C then, immediately followed it by opening his jaws and scooping up, and ripping apart the ones who somehow managed to survive his ws ¨C and finished the survivors with a tails swipe that caused an earthquake. ...all while the wounds the spells have caused him regenerated at an outrageous peace... "...me... That son of a ¡­!" Lovie finished her sentence and then her face twisted in anger and with a sh of white light, a translucent de made out of ice solidify in her hand out of thin air. Chapter 582 - The Secret Quests (part 8)

Chapter 582 - The Secret Quests (part 8)

"Tehehe! That''s what I''m talking about ¨C oh ¨C but make sure to not die ¨C Caramel needs you toplete the Lusts special quest, remember?" Helly giggled and danced above the ashen undead''s head. "Call her priestess, you ungrateful spirit! And if you don''t want me to die then let''s fight the dragon together! The heroine and the two capture targets need to survive an hour or everything is ruined ¨C let''s just kill the dragon and end it early!" Lovie called out and lunged forward making use of the cover of the barrage of spells sent out by the system''s faith church''s mages stationed behind her. "...hmmm... fine..." The orange glowing fairy bounced a few times before deciding on its next move and... "BLUEEEEERGH...!" ...it let out a gargling noise as if someone was vomiting, and immediately after that, a massive two-handed sword imbued with death element fell out of the orange light ¨C but it didn''t fall down to the ground ¨C instead it rose up as if the tiny glowing fairy was wielding theically oversized weapon... because that was exactly what was happening... "You guy''s better not slow down on the spells or if we lose I will tell your priestess that it was because of you!" Helly danced in the air dragging the massive sword behind it and called out to the mages who became pale and instantly increased the number of spells they were shooting out. "Tehehe!" The fairy giggled and pounced happily ¨C before itunched straight at Baron who was about to unleash a breath attack onto the remaining forces of the church of the system''s faith that appeared out of nowhere and knocked him out of the sky. "...?!" *SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING* Helly zipped right past the ashen undead knight, outspending her with ease, and delivered a full-on roundhouse sh right at the dragon''s neck, aiming to chop his head off in one clean swipe. *SHIIIIIII-KHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGH* "!!!!!!!!" Baron noticed the fairy and he instantly canceled the skill, deciding to counter the de with his ws ¨C while also intending to rip the odd orange fly together with it while he was at it ¨C but to his extreme surprise the de of the death attribute sword cut straight through his two ws and ended up embedding itself the third one. "Ah, shucks!" The orange glowing fairy called out in a fit of childish anger and... "BLEEEEEEUURGHHHHHHH!" Immediately vomited another sword for itself ¨C this one crackling with the electrical discharges. "How about this o-" *********************************************** The fairy giggled and asked ¨C but then it was engulfed in the beam of concentrated fire that turned the thunder sword into a puff of smoke in a sh. "SHIT! HELLY!" The ashen undead knight called out in panic and gritted her teeth, ring at the red dragon. "YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS, YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD!" She called out and shed at the dragon''s torso. "(Back off or you will perish too!)" Baron sent out a telepathic message and twisted his massive body with a shocking grace and speed, countering the ice sword with the tip of his tail. *SMASH* "GUAAAAAAAAAH...!" Lovie''s weapon shattered into tiny particles and she was sent back flying. "(Told you.)" Baron scoffed breathing loudly through his nostrils, ring down at the fallen female undead. "...idiot ¨C I''m not the loser here...!" Lovie scoffed, crawling back up while smirking triumphantly. "(Huh...?)" Boron gasped in confusion when... *crumble* "(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)" A massive part of his tail that got turned into ice after destroying the sword cracked and shattered, leaving the stunned red dragon staring in disbelief at the ice slowly climbing up the wound, taking over more and more of his body. "Tehehe! Yo! Dragon! Why did it sound like you thought that I was dead?" "(?!?!?!?!!?!)" To add insult to injury ¨C a high-pitched voice called out, revealing that the orange spirit didn''t perish just like the sword that it voimited and... "That was tasty ¨C it felt like it could actually fill me up here ¨C you should try it yourself! BLUEEEEEEEE...!" ***************************************** *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUURRRRGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Hellyughed happily and vomited out the exact same breathe attack that Baron shot at it a moment ago and hit the red dragon square in the face with it, causing Baron to roar in pain and stumble back as red scales and crimson blood sshed everywhere around. "You...! You''re alive?!" The ashen undead gasped, staring wide-eyed at the ball of orange light bouncing in the air in a dance-like motion. "Aww! Lovie! You were worried about me~! Also ¨C I heard you calling me Helly~! Tehehe! I love you too~!" The remnant of the abyss god hummed happily zipping straight to the ashen undead knight and started dancing around her head. "Sh-shut up! Mages! Finish off the dragon ¨C a remnant of Hell and I will go round up the heroine and capture targets like the priestess have asked us to..." *CHOMP* *RIIIIIIP* Lovie turned away from the orange glowing fairy and shouted at the members of the church of the system''s faith forces ¨C when suddenly she heard the most disturbing sound of flesh being torn apart, closely followed by the st of hot air against he back. "...?" She slowly turned around just to see the massive fangs of the red dragon bisecting theparatively tiny body of a humanoid fairy. "...L-Lovie... I messed up... r-run..." This time there was no joy in Helly''s voice ¨C after the message given with itsst breath, the tiny remnant of the abyss god turned into the particles of orange light and dispersed into the air, leaving no trace of its existence whatsoever. "H-Helly...?" The ashen undead knight gasped staring wide-eyed at the fangs ¨C and at the red light behind them growing more and more intense... "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" ******************************************************************** *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Lovie managed to dodge the breath attack at thest possible second ¨C which couldn''t be said about the mages working for the church of the system''s faith, who died in the scorching mes of Baron''s skill ¨C but was still pushed far away by the shockwave. *SLAM* "GHUAGH...! Fuck...! Fuck...! " She growled after smashing onto the ground, but it was obvious that she couldn''t just stay in the same ce like a sitting duck ¨C so Lovie cursed in panic and crawled back up activating the life signature detection skill and running towards the signature of the heroine and the capture targets that were still necessary forpleting the n... "Fuck...! Fuck...!" Lovie growled, putting all of her skills to use ¨C which included creating an ice armor around her own armor and sending out tens of ice sculpture copies of herself as a distraction. ******************************************************* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* "(ARION! IT''S BAD ¨C WORSE THAN BAD! WE LOST HELLY! WE LOST ALL MAGES! I WILL GET OUR TARGETS SO BE READY TO GET US OUT OF HERE!)" Baron''s eyes hurt by the regurgitated attack of the orange glowing fairy still didn''t heal up so the red dragon relied on the scent and vibration to aim his next attack ¨C but those were easily fooled by the ice decoys allowing the ashen undead knight to activate a long-rangemunication skill and contact her ally. "[What?! I just used the spell to get the griffin out of there ¨C do you have any idea how much mana it costs?!]" The confused voice of the man on the other side of the spell clearly showed that he wasn''t taking the situation seriously. "(SHUT THE FUCK UP AND BE READY TO GET US OUT OF HERE ¨C REMNANT OF THE DRAGON GOD, WAR IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A RAMPAGE AND IF YOU WON''T HELP ME YOUR FUCKING HEROINE WILL DIE BEFORE YOU COULD GET YOUR WAY WITH HER!)" Lovie roared in her mind, looking back at her rapidly decreasing copies being decimated by the trashing dragon. "[...]" Because of the heavy silence, the ashen undead knight thought that the man that the priestess of the church of the system''s faith helped break the curse of starvation and even made him the avatar of gluttony would refuse to help her out... "[Fine ¨C just make sure to grab all of them ¨C I really don''t have enough mana to use on multiple separate targets - get them all together and tell me when to get you.]" "...oh, thank the fucking system...!" Thankfully, her worries didn''te to fruition as Arion responded in a serious voice. "(WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING, ICE UNDEAD?)" "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A telepathic message that Lovie certainly didn''t want to hear ended up sending chills down her spine despite the fact that she was both an undead and an ice-magic user ¨C one nce over her shoulder was enough to confirm that the red dragon''s eyes were almostpletely healed ¨C and he was ring straight at her...! But at the same time, only a wall surrounding the former Wraths mansion was separating her from the heroine and the capture targets ¨C who were luckily gathered in a group looking as if they were discussing their options amongst themselves and some other people. "FUCK YOU!" *SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH* *CRACKLE* "GHRAAAAAAAAOOOOOOUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!" Lovie growled, jumping over the wall andunching the most powerful freezing spell right at the massive dragon ¨C hitting him square in the chest and stalling his movement at the cost of increasing his wrath by several magnitudes... "What the...?!" "!!!!" "!!!" "HUH?!" "EH?!" "Wha...!?" Seeing the flying ashen undead knight the people gathered behind the wall let out shocked gasps, while the undead herself... "(ARION, NOW!)" Dropped onto them, unceremoniously grabbing onto the heroine''s brown hair while also wrapping her legs around the white-haired capture target and catching the blond capture target shirt''s cor with her teeth and...! *CHOMP* "GRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* ...the sound of jaws pping together resounded through the area and the entire group disappeared from the area just in time to escape the outburst of blood-red light that engulfed the entire city and spread out swallowing one-third of the entire Wraths territory in its devastating st that broke the earth apart and caused an enormous earthquake that could be felt form thousands of miles away.... Chapter 583 - The Secret Quests (part 9) *SPLASH* A group of people suddenly appeared out of thin air and fell straight into a pond in the backyard of arge mansion. "Mika! Are you okay?!" The white-haired man pushed away from the legs of the ashen undead knight that were wrapping around him and pulled up the ashen-haired confused girl that he was holding hands right before the odd undead jumped at them and they teleported. "Wh-what happened?! Where is this supposed to be? The ashen-haired girl shook her head in confusion, but thankfully everything seemed to be alright with her. "That''s a good question - you, who are you and why did you save us?" Corvus breathed out and nodded at Mika''s question and red down at the ashen undead knight whonded in such an awkward position that her head was under the surface of the water. "My prince...? My prince?!" "...?" The brown-haired girl with a childish face and disproportionallyrge breast within her small frame managed to shake off the initial confusion - and freed her hair from the grip of the ashen undead knight - started looking around in a panic in search of a certain not very lucky blond-haired prince. *ssh* "Ghu-huagh...!" As if the heroine''s voice was the trigger, Lovie, the ashen undead knight twitched and pushed all the others aside just to stand up - and as it turned out, she was still holding onto Roan''s clothes - and by extension to Roan himself - with her teeth. "Ptfue..." "Wh-whoa...?" *ssh* "My prince!" Lovie spat out the young man who ended up sshing back into the pond, which in turn caused Mary to jump over to him with a worried expression. "Thank the fuck, we got back alright..." *rumble* "...!" The ashen undead knight shook her head, clearly recognizing their current location - but once she felt the odd sensation and the water surface trembled even though no one was moving at the time, she immediately turned around just to witness the sky turning red... "Fucking..." Lovie groaned making a furious expression and clenching her fists so hard that her armored gloves begin to dent in. "Heroine, capture targets - how is your special quest status?!" The ashen undead knight forced herself to look away from the crimson light show and asked the people around her. "Why would we have to tell you anything?" "...!" Corvus scoffed at her and pulled Mika close, hugging her protectively while turning to the side to shield the girl with his own body if necessary - causing the ashen-haired girl to look up at his face and blush, using this chance to nuzzle up to him. "...the timer is still there - we have a little over forty-five minutes left..." "!!!" "Why are you answering her?!" The brown-haired heroine - who for whatever reason was holding onto the blond prince''s face, looked back at the ashen undead knight and answered her question, earning herself a furious frown re from the white-haired Corvus. "Maybe because she ended up saving us? And didn''t you see all the spells that downed Baron? isn''t it normal to think that she is a part of the reinforcements that you have asked for to deal with the griffin?" "..." Mary frowned at the young avatar of wrath and crossed her arms defensively - unintentionally shoving Roan''s face between her breasts. ...funnily enough, she didn''t seem to realize that yet, and the blond prince kept quiet with no intention of stopping her... "The heroine is right - the avatar of wrath, I don''t have a... my name is Lovie, and I am the member of the church of the system''s faith." The ashen undead knight started her introduction as she always did in the past years but ended up stopping and actually using the name that the killed remnant of the abyss god have yfully given her. "As the avatar of greed can surely confirm, the royal family was in great turmoil the past few days making it impossible to deploy reinforcement but the insightfulte queen have turned to the high priest of the church of the system''s faith before she was murdered and asked them to lend their help." Lovie continued talking pointing out at the quiet prince. "Is that... so...?" Corvus frowned and red at Roan but then his expression turned into a surprised one when he saw the ratherpromising position that the blond young man was in. "Eh...? Ah! My prince, I am so sorry!" The brown-haired heroine looked at the white-haired man in confusion and then nced down, realizing what she was doing, and released the royal prince while bowing her head repeatably. "...I can''t confirm what mother did before she died, but truth be told asking others for favors doesn''t sound like her at all..." Roan''s response proved that he wasn''t only enjoying the sensation on his face and was actually carefully listening in on the conversation - and in the end, the blond prince''s words weren''t supporting Lovie''s im at all. "First of all, the church of the system''s faith is well known for condemning undead, your im to be working with them is ridiculous." Roan dered while standing up and helping the heroine do so as well. "My thoughts exactly." Although Corvus didn''t particrly like the idea of agreeing with his supposed younger brother, he ended up nodding his head and ring at the ashen undead knight as he clearly decided that Roan wasn''t his enemy - at least at the moment. "...you are correct when ites to the official stand of the church BUT it was made for a very specific reason - which he none of you young avatars know because you both received your titles recently and the messengers from the church weren''t dispatched yet to inform you about the hidden truth - the truth that is connected with the secret quests that started activating recently as a part of the global event." Lovie looked around as if looking for a backup, but their little group was the only one in the backyard of the mysterious mansion - although a few of the rooms ere lighted up, no one seemed to notice them yet - so she started backing off cautiously while exining. She had to be careful - although she felt reasonably confident in her ability to put up a fight - the three out of four people she brought were extremely important and the fate of the world literally depended on them - she couldn''t risk angering them and starting up a fight in which they could get hurt or worse. "That sounds like some empty excuses." Corvus frowned and his body started shining with vibrant red light. "Miss, it was nice of you to save us, but as someone from the Greed family, I am fully aware that there is nothing more expensive than a free favor. Everything has a price. You better tell us what is your real goal, or there will not be a reason for us to remain civil." Roan made sure that Mary is standing safely behind him and his body started glowing with a vibrant yellow light with a golden tint. "She is telling you the truth, though." "!!!!" Another voice joined in, startling the four humans. "Fuck... took you long enough! Don''t you remember that I am necessary for the Lust secret quest?!" Lovie seemed to be angry but stealthily breathed out in relief once a tall tanned muscr man with wild ck hair that had an orange tint to them snuck up on theming from the mansion and called out with a serious expression. "And who might you be? You are clearly her aplice, what makes you think that your words change anything?" Corvus red at the much taller man and the red light surrounding him grew in intensity to the point of looking more like smoke than actual light. "Lord Corvus, please rx, this really isn''t any scam. The same goes to you, lord Roan - I can assure you all that the undead knight is speaking the truth." The man whose outer appearance would suggest that he would be wild and ferocious like some sort of a monstrous wolf, spoke in a calm andposed manner, looking all the humans in the eyes as if that was supposed to convey anything. "You seem to be purposefully making me angry, have you not heard what I just said? Why would I or anyone else here care about the words of some nobody?!" "..." The white-haired Corvus scoffed and turned around to face the taller man and got even angrier once he realized that he had to look up at the ck-haired man''s face - but he got no answer as the newly arrived man was looking at the brown-haired heroine standing by the blond prince''s side. "...?" And he was doing so intently enough for Mary to flinch and step back hiding behind Roan and grabbing onto his shirt - the man''s eyes seemed familiar but she had most definitely never seen the stranger''s face before. "That''s it - you had your cha...!" "My name is Arion Gluttony..." "!!!!" Corvus had enough of being ignored and he stepped forward, fully intending on teaching the stranger his ce - but then the wild-looking man spoke up, shocking the others and straight up making Mary flinch and clench her fists on Roan''s shirt. "...and just like the two of you, I have be the new avatar of sin. The avatar of gluttony, of course." Arion who was clearly no longer a wolf, activated his skills which made him shine with a vibrant orange light as he smiled, looking at both Corvus and Roan before focusing back at the brown-haired girl whose face was steadily twisting from anger and disgust the more she red back at him. "With that in mind, considering the close connection my family has to the church of the system''s faith, I think that my word serves for enough of a proof." Arion dered calmly nodding toward the brown-haired girl. "It''s good to see you in good health, master, I was worried whether you were eating enough." He added in a friendly, almost familiar, manner. "Shut the fuck up, pervert!" "!!!" Mary responded spitefully, shocking everyone except Arion - yes, even Lovie was taken aback by the amount of hatred in the short girl''s voice. Chapter 584 - The Secret Quests (part 10) The group was led into the Gluttonys mansion and ended up in therge living room. The servants brought them food and drinks but no one was in the mood for touching anything - especially the brown-haired heroine who was glued to the back of the royal prince to the point of actually climbing on the armchair that Roan sat at and pushing her way between the backrest and the blond young man himself. "Master, please don''t act like that, technically speaking I am still your tamed beast." The ck-haired Arion sitting on a couch opposite the armchair taken by the prince and the heroine spoke up leaning to the side trying to catch a glimpse of the brown-haired girl. "In your dreams you disgusting creep! I don''t see you anywhere on my tamed monsters list!" Mary trembled from disgust and shouted from behind Roan''s back, cowering even more just so her former wolf monster wouldn''t be able toy his eyes on her. "...alright... How''s the timer?" Lovie, who although was on Arion''s side clearly wasn''t let in on the situation between the avatar of gluttony and the heroine, raised her brow and looked between the two sides. "Five more minutes... convincing this miss Hope to get in the same room as sir Arion was definitely more difficult and time-consuming than I thought." Corvus, sitting beside the ashen-haired Mika on a small couch next to the armchair taken by the prince, spoke up, sounding just as confused as the ashen undead knight was. "Master, you do know that we are not your enemy, right?" Arion continued talking as if he wasn''t chewed out by the brown-haired girl and smiled benevolently as if Mary''s disgust was just a tantrum of a cute toddler. "I told you to shut the fuck up already, didn''t I!? If you really still think of me as your master you can do it, can''t you?!" "..." The heroine had no intention of dealing with him, and the blond prince nced back at her, worried. Roan was aware that Arion was Mary''s first tamed monster and he was present when the brown-haired girl learned that her wolf wasn''t just a normal wolf but in fact human suffering from the curse of starvation, a magical ailment that the members of the Gluttony family could suffer from, that would change them in mindless monsters... ...but the blond prince was lost when it came to the reason why Mary hated Arion THAT much... In the end, a tamed monster is a monster - it was obvious for Roan that they had to be kept at a distance just in case. After all, there were plenty of stories going around about tamers getting killed by their tamed monsters that grew too powerful and overpowered their overconfident masters. That''s why he was sure that the younger Mary was keeping her distance and wasn''t treating the wolf Arion as a lovely pet. "Master, please, you know that I have a yful personality - you were having fun watching me ssh around in the water whenever we were taking a bath - and I know that you like me, otherwise you wouldn''t let me sleep by your side~" "!!!!" ...but human Arion''s words quickly proved him WRONG and left him utterly speechless. Baths? Sleeping together? "YOU DISGUSTING PERVERT HOW COME YOU CAN''T SEE HOW CREEPY YOU WERE!?" Mary couldn''t handle it anymore and stood up and leaned over Roan while holding on to his shoulders and shouted at the ck-haired avatar of gluttony. "I thought that I was taking care of a lovely good doggy that was incredibly smart and obedient! But then it turned out that I was living with A FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT PERVERT TRYING TO ACT LIKE MY DOG!" She burst out in absolute fury and clenched her fists on Roan''s shoulders. "I was a wolf." Arion shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "You had a body of a wolf but your mind was that of a human! Howe you fail toprehend it?! You pervert licked my face! You licked my hands! You sometimes even licked my feet! ALL WHILE MAKING USE OF THE FACT THAT I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE MY PET! I WAS TAKING BATHS WITH YOU BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE MY CUTE PET! I LET YOU IN MY BED BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE LONELY, YELPING IN THE BED I MADE FOR YOU! BUT YOU WERE USING MY NAIVETY!" Mary was trembling with her eyes burning with pure, primal fury. "I was always grateful for the nice views that you gave me, also, master, you are a heavy sleeper, I licked a lot more ces than just your face, hands, and feet~" "..." Arion responded with a yfulugh. "DIE!" Mary growled, baring her teeth in a frenzy and her hand shone with a brilliant white light, turning her fingers into massive talons! *SWOOOOSH* The storm talon skill that the heroine unleashed tore through the air flying straight at theid-back avatar of gluttony. *chomp* Arion merely opened and closed his jaws, pping his teeth together and the attack disappeared from the air as the fit was never there... "...!" *gulp* Mary''s face twisted in ire as the ck-haired man gulped down the indescribable mass that appeared in his mouth and smiled back at her. "It''s worth adding that I am currently the highest level avatar of sin from the ones gathered in this room - I appreciate the light snack, but don''t waste your time and strength. I am the host you are the guests - I am supposed to show hospitality here~" Arionughed and waved his hand dismissive while ncing meaningfully at Roan whose body was illuminating the room with its bright yellow glow. "...slow the fuck down with that, why don''t you? Must I remind you that ording to the priestess you aren''t a priority anymore since your special quest waspleted...?" "!!!" Surprisingly enough, the one who had the calmest and the most annoyed sounding response to the avatar of gluttony''s behavior was... the ashen undead, Lovie, who was supposed to be on his side. "...the priestess you are talking about...?" Mary red at Arion and turned to her, stirring back it down behind Roan''s back - it looked like hearing someone from Arion''s side talk to him with a fraction of the hatred she harbored for him was putting her at ease. "Miss heroine, don''t act like you don''t know who am I talking about! Caramel, the girl who was assigned the heroine''s supporter role!" Lovie smiled at the brown-haired girl and revealed, satisfied with the interest in her voice. "Caramel...? I... I think that I remember a girl like that - she was revealed to have a strong magic ability and my father took her in as his student - but she left shortly after - you''re saying that she became a high-ranked member of the church AND received a role of my supporter...?" For the brown-haired heroine, it was shocking enough news so that she straightened her back, showing from behind the blond-haired prince''s back without even ncing at the ck-haired Arion who was kept smiling at her with a rather disturbing look in his eyes. "It turned out that she had a powerful precognition ability too - she predicted the global event and a lot of smaller events without fail - she also knew that you will be the heroine and will be tasked with saving the world." Lovie casually dropped an information bomb on the four out of five humans gathered in the room. "Wait, what? What do you mean by saving the world - from what threat - is it that dragon...?!" The white-haired Corvus gasped and stood up, clenching his fists, staring intently at the ashen undead knight. "Oh, no - the red dragon of ruin can be a threat to the world, but if he was the main problem, we wouldn''t be in that much trouble as we are now." Lovie''s expression turned bitter and she shook her head before exining - making Corvus sit back down and blink in confusion. "Are you saying that there is something even worse than that thing?" The white-haired avatar of wrath asked in disbelief. "Well... if we''re talking about Baron, Zombie is - or at least was - stronger than him as far as I can remember... right?" "...?!" Roan spoke up, ncing back at Mary looking for confirmation all while making both Corvus and Mika stare at him in disbelief. "A zombie? Not even an undead knight like this one here but a normal zombie? What in the world are you talking about!?" The white-haired man shook his head and scoffed angrily at the avatar of greed. "He is talking about an undead knight called Zombie - who is the red dragon''s sovereign. Zombie is his name, not a species." Lovie pointed out while shrugging it off as something not important. "The dragon has a master?! Where is...!" [00:00:01] [00:00:00] /Special quest progress update Survive plete] /-Let there be ruin!- questpleted /Reward granted "...!" "...!" "...!" Corvus, Roan, and Mary all flinched at the same time when the series of system messages popped up for them the moment that the timer in the corner of their vision counted down to zero. "I see - the Wraths quest is over then, I assume?" Lovie stood up from her seat and casually walked to the door. "W-wait! Where are you going we are not done talking!" Corvus called out after her but she didn''t react to him at all and left. "You, sir Gluttony, what is that supposed to mean?" The white-haired avatar of wrath frowned and turned to Arion. "Oh, just wait a moment, it will..." /Special quest -Undying Love- start Objectives: Save the avatar of lust from the Lusts territory Just as the ck-haired avatar of gluttony started exining, a message popped up for all of them. "Another one of those?!" Corvus roared furiously. "This one seems even vaguer than the previous one too..." Roan furrowed his brows and exchanged worried looks with Mary. "It''s fine - you don''t have to worry about a thing." "!!!" "...?!" Arion surprised the others by snorting and waving his hand dismissively,pletely unfazed by anything that was happening. "The remnant of the chaos god will deal with everything - after all, we already know thanks to do because of the priestess help. That said - we need to move too." He added, smiling brightly. "Huh...? Where to? And why?" Roan furrowed his brows and red at Arion. "The ce where Eternal is sealed - Pride''s quest can be finished only after that thing had been released - without doing so, our world will be destroyed." The avatar of gluttony shrugged his shoulders and stood up, ready to go. "If that Eternal or whatever is sealed then what''s the problem? Just don''t bother it and it should be fine!" Corvus scoffed waving his hand angrily. "No - not really." But Arion shook his head with denial. "Not when the seal itself hinges on five percent of its power and is ready to break literally at any moment." He dered as the smile disappeared from his face reced by a serious expression. Chapter 585 - The Secret Quests (part 11) The ancient-looking ruins covered the entire mountain, the massive marble columns were sprouting up from the ground like the ribs of the gigantic beast - although if someone really wanted topare the structure to bones, the entire mountain would have to be a necropolis. In one short sentence - it was the final location of the game. A group of people appeared amongst the ruins overtaken by vegetation and was looking around in shock and awe. "Where exactly are we supposed to be? I would remember a ce like this being recorded in the chronicles written by my family!" A snow-white undead with brown hair gasped and run over to the nearest column and touched it with excitement. "ymore ¨C this might not be the best time for sightseeing." A handsome young man with a tired expression and dark bag underneath his eyes ¨C that somehow only added to his charm instead of being a demerit ¨C breathed out and approached the androgynous snow-white undead. "Isn''t that right? Miss priestess...?" The man put his hand on ymore''s shoulder and looked back at the light-brown-haired girl standing in the middle amongst the rest of the group. "Lord Severine is right ¨C the seal of the eternal hangs on one percent ¨C if we will not hold it back here until the avatar of pride arrives, that primordial god of destruction willy waste upon this world." The girl that seemed to be slightly older than the rest of her the people surrounding her, bowed her head down respectfully and dered with a calm expression. "Yes, yes ¨C the elven prophecy and whatnots ¨C just to let you know, miss Caramel ¨C if it wasn''t for me dying and getting resurrected by the ashen undead knight you''ve sent, I wouldn''t be helping you out at all." ymore shook their head and red at the priestess while leaning away from behind Severine. "I know that the Lust family doesn''t really like the church of the system''s faith, but as the avatar of lust, you have the responsibility to protect the world. Avatars powerse from the sin of origin nucleus ¨C it''s something very simr to the system and what equals it in power ¨C but while the system epasses the whole world with all the creatures within it, the sin of origin nucleus only feeds the powers of sin. You and the other avatars are the only beings capable of stalling Eternal long enough for all the special quest to bepleted which in turn will weaken that monstrosity enough so that it will be possible to kill it once and for all." The priestess dered, without raising her head while her voice was the embodiment ofposure and respect. "Apparently ¨C though I still believe that you should have just given us the location of this ce so that my artillery would level this entire mountain. That whole eternal might be powerful, but so are the titan-ss monsters that my family had been keeping at bay for generations." Severine twitched after hearing the girl''s words and crossed his arms, fully turning around and looking down at the top of her head with a slightly annoyed expression. "Lord Severine, please ¨C the beast that is sealed here is far stronger than the monstrous being lurking in the far north ¨C even after weakening it with the help of the special quests reward, it would still be too much for the Sloth artillery." "...that''s what you say..." The priestess shook her head and exined without changing her tone ¨C which caused the avatar of sloth to roll his eyes and scoff inin. "Oh, I actually fully agree with Sevie here." ymore joined in and dered while hugging the young man''s arm and leaning on it while ring at the light-brown-haired girl. "And in the first ce, I didn''t question the elven prophecy at all ¨C what I have a problem with ¨C is you." The avatar of lust dered in an annoyed tone and motioned at the surprised priestess with their chin. "Me...? Why is that? I most definitely never interacted with you and also never had a fight with the Lust family ¨C where is this angering from, my avatar?" Caramel straightened her back and tilted her head in confusion while her expression was the embodiment of innocence and cluelessness. "Oh, you know what I mean. Mary and Roan know what I am talking about too!" ymore scoffed and their face became even more grim which only resulted in them looking much more beautiful. "You are Zombie''s older sister ¨C Cranberry warned us about you many times ¨C you certainly aren''t a good person and this whole noble serving the world cause can''t be the only reason why you are here with us today." "..." The snow-white undead avatar of lust dered, waiting for a reaction from the light-brown-haired girl ¨C but she didn''t even blink, remaining stoic through their speech. "Avatar... as much as I wish to exin myself and refute all the lies that have been said about me behind my back ¨C that would surely take more time than what we have at our disposal in this situation. For now, to appease your worries so that fear of getting stabbed in the back I will tell you just this ¨C even if I am as bad asdy Cranberry and the undead who calls himself Zombie and was my younger brother when he was alive had described me as ¨C I cannot put any of those vile schemes into action if I am dead along with the rest of the world ¨C and if Eternal gets away from this mountain then it will mean the end of the world as we know it." The light-brown-haired girl merely shrugged her shoulders and dered sounding as indifferent as it was humanly possible ¨C which resulted in ymore being the one with a sour expression. "It is like the priestess is saying ¨C for now, let''s put aside our differences and concentrate on preventing the literal end of the world." A tanned muscr man joined in the conversation, stepping in front of the light-brown-haired girl shielding her from the annoyed looks of the avatars of lust and sloth. "Wow ¨C as if words of a mingy perverted piece of trash have any worth in this situation ¨C she only said that she will not do anything before the Eternal will be defeated ¨C what about after? ording to Cranberry, Zombie wants her dead no matter what ¨C I am not saying that he is some kind of saint, but he is a lot more reasonable than a lot of the creatures of his kind ¨C simr to how ymore is now." Another person joined in and this time it was no other than the brown-haired heroine who scoffed at the avatar of gluttony while hiding behind the avatar of greed. "That''s not a nice thing to say..." "Fuck off." Arion furrowed his brows and breathed out before looking at the brown-haired girl ¨C or trying to catch a glimpse of her since she shivered with disgust and cowered behind the blond prince to not let him see her face. "Wait ¨C hold on ¨C I was not told that Zombie had a problem with this woman...! Both he and Cranberry were very important friends of myte sister, and I absolutely refuse to help their enemy...!" The avatar of envy, Mason, the young man with curly brown hair and shockingly green eyes gasped and immediately stepped away from Caramel and Arion, ring at the priestess of the system''s faith church. "...lord Mason... even the avatar of lust had admitted that the elven prophecy is real ¨C that means there actually is an extremely powerful monster sealed on this mountain ¨C I will keep an eye on the priestess so that hse will not do anything suspicious, so could we just go? If the world will get destroyed that will include your precious friends too, right" Arion sighed and rolled his eyes while spreading his arms as a testament to his transparency. "..." ...and instantly got red at by basically everyone except for the light-brown-haired priestess herself... "Sorry ¨C someone like you, the head of the family who is well known for having a close rtionship with the church of the system''s faith all while being extremely devoted believers, your words hold very little value." The white-haired avatar of wrath, Corvus, waved his hand dismissively and started walking forward. "...that is why I will keep an eye on both of you just in case ¨C if our opponent really is as strong as you im it to be, ou fight with it will be long enough for the Ira skill to truly shine and boost my strength so much that in the worst-case scenario of this girl betraying us, I will be able to deal with anything that either of you will be able to throw at us." He dered, raising his head pridefully before ncing over his shoulder at the priestess and the avatar of gluttony. "Since you don''t have any bad intentions, you surely won''t mind that, right?" He asked, ring at them coldly. *RUMBLE* "...!" Suddenly the entire mountain shook in a tremor shocking every single one of them. "...but of course..." Caramel dered straightening her back after she almost lost her bnce due to the earthquake. "But now, as all of us felt ¨C the time of the Eternal''s awakening is near ¨C so let''s move to the actual location at the very top. She added for the first time sounding a little bit distressed... "I trust the avatar of wrath - let''s go and deal with that creature - and just so we are on the same page - Zombie will arrive in time, right? The objective of his quest is to face the eternal, which apparently means that he has to arrive after the battle starts - but will he manage to show up on time since we teleported here by using the artifact from the church of the system''s faith? will he be able to find this ce before all of us get killed?| Roan, the prince and the avatar of greed, dered before asking cautiously, looking at the light-brown-haired priestess. "She said that he will, so he will - priestess''s visions are always correct." His question wasn''t answered by Caramel but by Arion, who shrugged his shoulders and dered with conviction Chapter 586 - Fight With Eternal (part 1) At the very top of the mountain, there was a marble arena covered with moss and other vegetation making it hard to notice at the first nce ¨C what wasn''t hard to notice was the monument right behind the arena ¨C a massive opaque builder that looked so out of ce as if it didn''t belong into that world at all ¨C a half-digital, half material structure that was already riddled with crevices and the spiderweb-like cracks that let out an enormous amount of red and ck light all while giving off horrifyingly overwhelming energy. "...is this it...?" Roan felt Mary clinging to him in distress and so he turned to the light-brown-haired priestess and asked pointing at the crumbling builder. "The seal of the Eternal ¨C so that how it looks while it isn''t inside of the blue undead..." Caramel didn''t respond to the prince''s words, far too upied with gazing at the terrifying magnificence of the structure that hosted the most difficult creature that the game had to offer. "Inside of the blue undead? Why is that supposed to mean?" The snow-white undead, ymore furrowed their brows and red at her with confusion, but they didn''t get the response out of her either. "The priestess is talking about her visions, the Lust family had been informed about it but didn''t seem too interested." The one who did answer though was the tanned, tall, and muscr man with wild ck hair that had an orange tint to them, Arion. "If the future could actually be predicted from a vision there would be a skill that would allow one to do that ¨C and since there is not then such ability doesn''t exist. Isn''t that what we of the Lust family had answered to this ridiculous im?" Still, the snow-white undead didn''t get flustered and instead merely scoffed and waved their hand dismissively. "Then, shell we deal the preemptive strike? The seal is at one percent ¨C it literally will fall at any moment, why should we wait for Eternal to get out on its own?" The white-haired avatar of wrath, Corvus, asked while clenching his fists as his body started shining with vibrant red light. "Agreed ¨C wasting such an opportunity would be rather stupid on our part." The blond prince, Roan, nodded to that and his body began shining with an intense yellow glow while Mary let go of his hand and stepped away to not be a bother. "True ¨C unbeatable or not, it still should get shocked, maybe even stunned, if it will be greeted by thebined powers of six out of seven avatars of sin." The tired-looking but shockingly lively avatar of sloth, Severin, stretched his neck and reached out his hand as the brilliant light-blue shine he emitted almost blinded the others around him. "Sounds good enough from me." The brown-haired greened-eyed avatar of envy, Mason, nodded his head as he focused on the seal and became enveloped in a radiant green light. "If Sevie says so, I don''t mind." The avatar of lust, ymore smiled cutely as their snow-white body released a dazzling blue gleam. "You all should pay more attention to the priestess''s words ¨C do you think that the seal, even weakened as such would fall to our power when it holds down the strongest creature in existence?" But there was someone who didn''t share the initial enthusiasm of the others ¨C and that was surprisingly enough the avatar of gluttony, Arion, standing by the girl''s side while crossing his arms. "No ¨C they are right to prepare ¨C we are all here and that means that the seal will not hold on much longer ¨C you should also get ready if you don''t want to die and lose on our deal." The light-brown-haired priestess of the church of the system''s faith, Caramel, shook her head and touched the man''s forearm, warning him in a cautious voice. "...I see..." "..." The avatar of gluttony furrowed his brows and nced back at the nervous brown-haired heroine ¨C who as soon as she noticed him, flipped him a finger in a very rude gesture that should not be used in public ¨C and then his body lighted up with the luminous orange light. "...you didn''t deny that we won''t be able to break the seal on our own even if we try, though..." Arion ended up ncing back at Carmel and muttered, but closed his mouth the moment he saw the nervous expression that the priestess was making while staring at the crystal boulder. "It''s happening...!" Caramel whispered with trembling lips and... *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *CHOMP* "!!!!!!" The odd, unnatural crystal exploded with the power of the gigantic bomb, clearing out the top of the mountain from a great part of the loose rocks and vegetation, but interestingly enough leaving the marble arena intact ¨C now looking spotless as if it was created from somepletely different materials than everything else on the mountain that got destroyed. "IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?!" Through the dust settling down and the echo of the explosion, the future king called out in shock while making sure that the heroine was alive and safe behind him. *gulp* "Of course, you are all good ¨C I devoured the shockwave that would have hurt you all." The slightly annoyed voice of Arion answered him after the avatar of gluttony had swallowed whatever happened to appear in his mouth. *WHOOOOOSH* Suddenly the huge gust of wind chased away the dust raised by the explosion ¨C revealing for the fighters the figure of their opponent. A monster ¨C although peculiarly humanoid-shaped one. The monster was surrounded by such an immense aura of hate, violence, and death, that it simply couldn''t have been a creature from that world. "...you really are going along with this n...? I would rather see this world get destroyed than allow scum like you to rule it...!| The monstrosity that looked as if it was madepletely out of the red and ck smoke which was constantly swirling around, ceaselessly contracting and expanding but somehow staying in a clearly humanoid shape let out a growl, moving its featureless head as if it was looking at each and every person that gathered there. "You...! You puny humans havepleted almost all the secret quests?!" Although its first words were rather calm, at the sight of the snow-white undead the creature spread its arms and roared, clearly recognizing that it was in danger. "No! I will just kill you all before Zombie will get here ¨C I will not allow him to destroy everything AGAIN!" The beast roared and...! *WHAM* The white-haired Corvusunched at it and unleashed a devastating punch right on the creature''s chin! *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* A single hit turned into abo and each consecutive punch and kick was getting stronger than the ones preceding it. "That''s it?" "!!!" But even after receiving the onught of attack that would eviscerate most of the creatures of the world, the only response that Eternal has voiced were the words of disappointment. "Just die, you annoying speck of dust." *RIIIIIP* *CHOMP* The red and ck smoke monster shrugged and waved its hand dismissively, tearing through Corvus''s arm as if it was mist ¨C but before Eternal''s hand reached the avatar of wrath''s torso, the sound of the jaws biting down on the thin air resounded and the white-haired man disappeared just to reappear right by the avatar of gluttony. *gulp* ''Don''t stand there like that! Do something too!" Arion swallowed the unidentifiable mass that appeared in his mouth after he devoured the space between himself and Corvus and shouted at the other avatars of sin, prompting them to action. "How about...?!" "How about I show you what you have to deal with before you decide to make your death the most excruciating one?" ymore and Mason were about to use their skills but got surprised by the calm words that came out of Eternal''s featureless head. Before anyone could react, the monster smoke light body lighted up and... Name: Eternal (Patience) Race: Eternal Role: primordial god of destruction / lunatic level super secret endgame final boss(+) / anti piracy measure Level: 99999 HP: 999999999999999 MP: 9999999999999 ATK: 9999999999999 DEF: 9999999999999 MAT: 9999999999999 MDF: 9999999999999 HIT: 9999999999999 EVA: 9999999999999 AGI: 9999999999999 LUC: 666 Skills: Magic creation [max] Skill creation [max] mes of the end [max] Data drain [max] Consolemand disable [max] LoadSave game interruption [max] Resurrection interruption [max] Magic cancel [max] Skill cancel [max] Damage limiter [max] Unlocked Affinities: Only one try Essential character erasure pass Titles: Invictus End The ultimate challenge Bane of cheaters The window with the stats of the monster in front of them suddenly appeared before everyone''s eyes and made them stop in ce, for the first time making them realize what were they truly trying to face. "Kneel down and reject the thoughts of ever opposing me and I will lead this world to the better future, a future that will be ording to my creator''s will." Eternal dered sounding overwhelmingly proud and fearsome. "Did this change anything? Bitch I face titan-ss monsters every single day ¨C just shut up and die!" ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************ "!!!!!!!" *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The avatar of sloth rolled his eyes and unleashed the brilliant beam of light that ripped the space apart and crushed against the red and ck monster''s torso, pushing it back while annihting everything unfortunate enough to get in its wake! Chapter 587 - Fight (?) With Eternal (part 2) Name: Eternal (Patience) Race: Eternal Role: primordial god of destruction / lunatic level super secret endgame final boss(+) / anti piracy measure Level: 99999 HP: 999999999811111 MP: 9999999888111 ATK: 9999999999999 DEF: 9999999999999 MAT: 9999999999999 MDF: 9999999999999 HIT: 9999999999999 EVA: 9999999999999 AGI: 9999999999999 LUC: 666 Skills: Magic creation [max] Skill creation [max] mes of the end [max] Data drain [max] Consolemand disable [max] LoadSave game interruption [max] Resurrection interruption [max] Magic cancel [max] Skill cancel [max] Damage limiter [max] Unlocked Affinities: Only one try Essential character erasure pass Titles: Invictus End The ultimate challenge Bane of cheaters Before the window with Eternal''s apprisal results faded from the vision of the six avatars of sin, the heroine, and the priestess''s, the value of the HP and MP dropped by hundreds of thousands from that one attack dealt by the avatar of sloth ¨C but at the same time it showed off even more how ridiculously high the values were...! "Annoying dust! You are nothing in front of me!" The red and ck smoke monster took a step forward shaking off the remainings of the light blue glow and spreading its arms to the sides before raising its head and roaring. "..." With no response from the stunned avatars, it took another step forward and... ...stopped... Without any facial features, it was impossible to judge on the looks alone what was the creature looking at, but everyone felt the same ¨C Eternal was staring right at the light-brown-haired priestess, Caramel. "...that''s how it is... I see... Yes.. yes...! My creator cannot be wrong ¨C he does not make mistakes...!" The creature muttered to itself clenching its fists as if it was bracing itself for something. "...whew..." ...which in turn prompted Caramel to stealthily breathe out as she confirmed that her n would work...! "YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!" The wounded Corvus roared, crushing his bleeding stump with his other hand, brutally stopping the bleeding by forcefully sealing the wound ¨C and rushed at the red and ck smoke monster with even more ferocity than before ¨C prompting all the other avatars to get back into the fighting spirits too. The entire area lighted up with the multicolored glow of various sin-based skills and...! *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* ...Eternal disappeared for the duration of a single heartbeat and the sound of seven hits resounded through the mountain top... "...ugh...!" All the avatars and the brown-haired heroine let out painful groans and crumbled to the ground ¨C knocked out but not dead. Then the red and ck monster reappeared ¨C this time right in front of Caramel ¨C and stood above her appearing to be ring down at the light-haired girl with its featureless face. "You are the one fulfilling the will of my creator ¨C which route do you wish to follow?" The creature asked in aposed voice, waiting for the girl''s response. "Unfortunately it is the secret true ending one - the one in which you die ¨C to my defense I was forced into it by the actions of the seventh capture target, the current avatar of pride you seem to know already, Zombie..." Caramel spoke up unable to stop the shivers she got from the overwhelming pressure Eternal was giving off while simply standing near her. "Ah... yes... the other reincarnation that my creator brought to this world to make sure you will help to turn it into a mine... yes ¨C he is quite troublesome. But I don''t understand your concern? Following the will of my creator is the most important, me dying isn''t anything special." The red and ck smoke monster nodded its head in while its voice sounded almost pleased while talking about the blue undead ¨C as if it had a particr fondness of him... "...what...?" And yet, the words spoken by Eternal were like a thunderstrike to the light-brown-haired girl. "What is it, my creator''s chosen...?" Eternal tilted its head and asked in surprise, watching the wide-eyed girl''s face turn ghastly pale. "Repeat what you said about that... undead..." Caramel whispered hugging herself with her own arms as she started shivering, unable to even look up at the featureless face of the red and ck smoke monster. "He is quite troublesome ¨C a certain part of me is really fond of him ¨C maybe even too much. If I were you I would kill him off before he will mess with you as he did with me... that said ¨C who he was to you in your previous lives that my creator used him as a failsafe ¨C I think that I knew that but that knowledge disappeared from my mind after I was separated in two..." Eternal breathed out and answered while raising its hand and making a gesture as if it was massaging its head even though the only thing it achieved with it was to make the smoke of his hand fuse with the smoke of his head for a moment. "No...! No! No! No! It cannot be him! It cannot be him! Are you telling me that this piece of shit younger brother of mine is my lovely XXXX?!" Caramel shook her head while grabbing onto her hair and crumbling onto her knees in denial. "Oh? Curious... It seems that his name was censored by the system..." Eternal nodded its head and spoke in a curious voice while watching the light-brown-haired girl''s anguish. "Why am I even trying to do something with this stupid world... I don''t need this world...! I don''t need it...! It turned my XXXX into a bullying monster...! No! No! No...! You...! Eternal! Reset it! Reset the whole world ¨C you can do it, right?! You are the secret boss ¨C you can delete save files! You can restart everything, right! Start everything from the beginning!" Caramel ripped out her hair and reached out to the red and ck smoke monster, begging it in a desperate voice... "Reset everything? Why? This world is only a step away from turning into the energy mine for my creator. What''s the problem? You were told that you can do whatever you want to this world after you will save it from bing useless and now you know who the other reincarnation is. Just sit here and wait for the route to be over so you can live out your dreams." But Eternal didn''t have to listen to her crazy request and it didn''t ¨C it merely scoffed and moved away from the light-brown-haired girl so fast that she missed it and instead of clinging onto it she fell face-first onto the ground. "Now then... to wait for the person who would kill me~" Eternal hummed shockingly happy and turned its back on the wailing Caramel, looking towards the sky as if expecting something to appear there... *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* ...because something did appear there... In the sudden outburst of mes, a giant ming bird simply exploded into the space above the mountain immting the air as the deafening howl of the blood-red mes muffled any and all soundsing from below. "There she is~ But... without Zombie?" Eternal wondered to itself observing the phoenix circling the mountain before diving down andnding right in front of it... ...turning into a tall freckled girl with hair sharing the color with the dark blood... "New form?" The red and ck smoke monster asked sounding very happy for some reason. "Hey, I ate the phoenix''s egg in thest ythrough and was reborn as the phoenix in this world ¨C you should see Zombie''s face when I turned into the actual bird and was like -FACE ME ¨C and in the first ce, you''re the one to talk ¨C haa... - did you manage to properly take over Eternal ¨C it would be really awful to actually face it." Cranberry breathed out and smirked at the creature. Chapter 588 - Fight (?) With Eternal (part 3) "Of course I did! I am not like the weak part of me that actually settled on merging on equal terms ¨C although I must say that some of the original instincts have remained ¨C I had a hard time controlling myself when I was released and ended up wounding the white-haired avatar of wrath. I got angry even easier than during the first ythrough ¨C which should tell you all that you need to know." Eternal shrugged its shoulders and pointed back at the light-brown-haired girl crawling on the ground bawling her eyes out in despair. "Speaking of which ¨C what happened to her...?" Cranberry shrugged off the news about Corvus getting wounded and motioned at the priestess having a mental breakdown further away beside the unconscious avatar of gluttony. "I kind of told her that Zombie was the other reincarnation and she flipped out ¨C weird woman." Eternal shrugged its shoulders and exined in an indifferent tone. "HA! Good ¨C Zombie will love to see her like this before he kills her." Cranberryughed and pped her hands together. "Huh ¨C he will kill her? Weren''t they close in their original lives? I thought that was the reason why he was her failsafe...!" The red and ck smoke monster gasped in disbelief and turned towards the girl who got herself to the avatar of gluttony and was now crying while clinging to him rather intimately. "Ha ha! Close ¨C yeah ¨C so close that he was dreaming about torturing and killing her since he learned about her presence in this world." The red-haired girlughed in the ugly bark-like manner and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh ¨C so, where is our man? I''ve learned that we are doing the secret route ¨C which is very convenient for you I guess because without me you would have to actually fight with the real eternal and that would end up in a monstrous failure considering that this world isn''t a turn-based RPG like the original game." "Husband ¨C Zombie is my husband." Eternal asked sounding as if it was smiling ¨C but instead of answering Cranberry corrected it with a serious expression and took out a ck baseball bat with a magic crystal at the base and checked whether it withstood the mes of her phoenix form. "Also, didn''t you want to say that you are the lucky one? The body of the eternal will get destroyed so the secret true ending will bepleted but part of your mind that is the rest of Patience wille back to me and we will fuse. The only thing you will miss on is this rather impractical form ¨C and I can assure you that you will enjoy Zombie''s hugs through me far better than you would while staying like this." Cranberry added, satisfied with the state of her weapon and dered while resting it on her shoulder. "Cute ¨C that doesn''t answer my question ¨C where is the capture target in question?" Eternal asked in a slightly worried voice as it also grabbed its left hand with its right hand as if it was trying to act on its own. "...haa... you don''t have full control, do you...?" Cranberry furrowed her brows and asked in a grim voice. "...cut me some ck ¨C Eternal has MDF in billions..." The red and ck smoke monsterined turning its head to the side as if embarrassed. "As for Zombie... I exined everything to him ¨C like, everything-everything ¨C and he got slightly upset ¨C so I revealed to him how to get here and told him to catch up to me after he will be done sulking." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and finally revealed also looking to the side awkwardly. "Wha...?! You do know that this ce is in the middle of the OCEAN, right? How in the world will he get here without flying?! I will get him here with teleportation ¨C wait, I will create myself a skill." Eternal gasped and hurriedly put its hands together while its body began glowing with intense light. "Ha? No ¨C that won''t be necessary ¨C after all in the phoenix''syer Zombiereached the proper level to be the Undead Lord and..." *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Cranberry flinched and furrowed her brows, waving her hand dismissively, but her exnation was interrupted by something suddenly falling from the sky and crushing merely a few feet to their left ¨C right in the very center of the marble arena ¨C and ended uppletely destroying it despite the fact that even the overpowered charge cannon skill of the avatar of sloth didn''t do any damage to it... |Special quest update Face the Eternal [Completed] /Special quest -the proudest of the proud- [Completed] /Reward granted "!!!!!!!!" A system message popped up in cranberry''s vision while Eternal suddenly straightened its back and its red and ck smoke suddenly lost most of its luster tuning into murky reddish ck. "Hmph." And then, from the rubble of the marble arena, a tall undead stepped out. He was as blue as always but didn''t have the jet-ck armor anymore. His long ck hair was put into a low ponytail with a simple silver ring, he wore a long-sleeved white shirt which was cropped so that his perfectly sculped stomach was showing at all times, he also wore surprisingly puffy pants that were almostpletely disappearing into the thigh-high ck boots on a thirteen inch high heels ¨C adding even more verticality to the already massive undead. In short ¨C Zombie was looking almost exactly as he did during the first ythrough ¨C but now he was even taller. "Cranberry ¨C I don''t want you to apologize for hiding basically THE MOST IMPORTANT DETAILS from me this whole time ¨C but could you at least admit that our lives would be way easier if you were as open with me as I am with you?" The blue undead scoffed, wiping the dirt off of his shoulder, ring down at the red-haired girl who ¨C even though she was considerably tall, barely reached to his chest now. "Fine ¨C sorry for not telling you that the truth is even the other part of Patience will still be on our side considering that we are going to finish the scenario just as her creator wanted to form the beginning." "...!" The red-haired girl rolled her eyes, shrugged her shoulders, and... actually apologized...! Which was already shocking enough for the blue undead to flinch but not enough to make him take a step back. Chapter 589 - Fight (?) With Eternal (part 4) "I can''t even with you... On one side I am happy that you became more agreeable ¨C but on the other seeing you be so mean sets of the rm in my brain telling me that something is wrong with you again." Zombie breathed out and started massaging his forehead before straightening his back and ring down at the red and ck monster who was much shorter than his current undead lord form. "So this is how I looked like at the end of the first ythrough, huh?" "..." The blue undead furrowed his brows and scoffed while Eternal remained silent, staring at him with its featureless face. "I honestly thought that the other part of Pati will be hating me since the one which was reincarnated with me and liked me." He dered looking exactly where the creature''s eyes should be in an attempt of making eye contact. "...? Is that so...? But I never felt particrly angry at you ¨C only that I wished you were on my side?" Eternal tilted its head and looked as if it was looking back at the blue undead in confusion. "...huh...?" Zombie furrowed his back and nced at the red-haired girl by his side. "Yeah ¨C the part that got reincarnated inside of you was actually the part that disliked you ¨C but ended up developing a soft spot for you ¨C you really didn''t realize it?" Cranberry smirked and asked curiously, tilting her head in a very simr way to how Eternal was acting. "What? Seriously? That might be the biggest plot twist I''ve heard today! And today I also learned that you somewhat became the remnant of the fire god, Wing!" "Yeah ¨C that happened in the Durian''s mansion right after the merging of consciousnesses of the first Cranberry, the second Cranberry, and Pati ¨C I just never told you about the big message announcing me the next physical remnant of Wing." The blue undead gasped and the red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and pointed out casually. "...you two... I would love to chat a bit more, but could you kill me already...? The Invictus title is gone and most of my skills are down to hundreds of thousands, but still, I''m already at my limit... Finish it off now, please." Eternal called out while trembling and it stepped back while crossing its arms as if it wanted to stop itself from wreaking havoc all around it. "True ¨C don''t worry ¨C Patience''s consciousness will simply return to me so you don''t have to feel bad about her ¨C not to mention that once Eternal is down the story basically ends and nothing will stand in our way to world domination. Oh, and you will be able to finally kill your older sister." Cranberry walked over to her blue undead and dered, patting his shoulder and smiling cheerfully. "..." Zombie stiffened and his expression turned serious and he nced over the red and ck smoke monster''s shoulder at the mess that the light-brown-haired girl has be. "Finally... Say, Patience, how much HP do you have now? I don''t want to make you suffer unnecessarily so I will try to end in one go." The blue undead breathed out and dered before looking back at Eternal asking. "Fifteen million HP but with the nerfed damage limiter that makes it more like thirty million... I don''t think that one shooting me is possi..." "Thirty million ¨C alright ¨C easy enough as long as you will help me out, Cranberry~" The red and ck monster spoke up, lowering its head but getting interrupted by the lighthearted voice of the blue undead smiling cheerfully at the red-haired girl. "Sure, sure ¨C I hope you aren''t overestimating yourself with that ¨C it would be very cruel and she is our ally." Cranberry rolled her eyes and frowned at Zombie but still reached out her baseball bat scepter putting its mana crystal first towards him, already activating several strengthening spells. "Just so we are clear ¨C how much ATK do you have? I want to be urate with my calctions." Zombie who was already shining with various skills asked curiously confusing Eternal even more than it already was. "In hundreds of thousands, barely under a million... it''s my highest stat after HP." It answered in a worried voice while standing motionlessly. "Khahaha! Then there will be no trouble whatsoever." The blue undeadughed reassuringly as his body shone with overwhelmingly vibrant violet light, simrly, the heels of his boots erupted in violet mes that immediately charred the earth underneath his feet and... *CRUSH* *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* ...without any preparation or a run up the blue undead kicked at the red and ck smoke monster and unleashed a violent torrent of the violet inferno that evaporated the smoke in a sh before disappearing like a monstrous firework... /Eternal has been defeated You receive the EXP /You level up /The secret challenge had beenpleted /Calcting... /Global event ¨C finished A series of few short messages showed up with no fanfare or amazing reward whatsoever and simply informed the blue undead, the red-haired girl, and the whole world about the challengepletion. Most people were assigned the roles of background characters so it wasn''t as if they had big expectations ¨C but a lot of them breathed out in relief after realizing that there will be no huge war or the disastrous catastrophe they would have to recover from as it has supposedly happened during all the previous known global events. "..." Cranberry was standing still with her eyes closed and wasn''t saying anything, so Zombie approached her slowly and waited patiently until she opened her eyes. "How is it? You''re more of a Pati now or still my Cranberry?" He asked curiously, looking into the girl''s eyes while leaning down. "I would always be your Cranberry ¨C and funnily enough, I feel like have be more like I was in the first ythrough for some reason... interesting... I guess that part of Patience was more proudful than the one that resided in you before?" She responded confidently before tilting her head curiously, pondering about the reason for the change she experienced. "Alright... so with confirming the most important thing, now the time came for the pleasure! I am going to finally kill that piece of fil...! *CHOMP* Zombie cheered out with enthusiasm, smiling brightly ¨C but at that exact time, the gluttony-based skill activated right beside him with the dry sound of massive jaws pping together...! "HA?! What in the...?!" Cranberry ¨C who got tackled by her blue undead to the side just in time to dodge the attack, shook her head, and raise her baseball bat scepter ¨C just to see that the magic crystal on its end got devoured by the sin-based skill....! Chapter 590 - The Final Fight (part 1) *gulp* "Tsk... that''s a miss." Caramel swallowed whatever unidentifiable mass that got into her mouth and clicked her tongue in theint. "Wha...?! How the fuck do you have G?!" Zombie gasped ring furiously at the light-brown-haired girl. "Shut up, XXXX ¨C you have been polluted by this horrible world! It''s not toote ¨C that witch had messed up my n with that Patience bullshit, but I can still use the powers of the system to prevent you from ever bing like this after I reset everything!" Caramel growled and her mouth and throat shone with orange light as despite talking to Zombie, she focused on Cranberry...! "As if I''ll let you...!" *SLAM* The blue undead roared but then he was immediately punched and sent flying by the man shining with an intense red light surrounding him...! "You son of a... bitch...?! ARION?!" As the avatar of pride and the single creature with literally ridiculous DEF and MDF, Zombie was able to jump right back up, ready to start the fight, but then gotpletely taken aback when he realized that the signature color of the wrath-based ira skill was being emitted by the tall and muscr tanned man with long wild ck-haired with an orange tint to them...! "What the actual fuck?! You are the avatar of gluttony, why would you be able to use ira?!" Zombie growled in confusion but Arion didn''t bother to answer him and instead rushed and showered the blue undead in the violent onught of empowered punches and kicks that were as wild as they were impossible to block. "...you stalking piece of filth...! You didn''t...!" Cranberry clenched her baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white and she growled at the light-brown-haired girl. "Oh ¨C I knew that you of all people would catch up immediately ¨C yes ¨C it''s the same thing that your father did to pass on his avatar title to your mother. With my suggestion skill, it was easy to turn Arion into nothing more than my minion ¨C and when he devoured the avatar title and all the skills connected with it from Corvus, the only thing he had to do to keep them was to choose to get rid of the title of the avatar of gluttony ¨C which was passed on to the closest person!" Caramel nodded her head while pointing at the one-armed white-haired man lying unconscious a few feet away from her. "What did you expect me to actually be so desperate and broken to actually lose my mind and cry instead of doing something?" He added while her mouth was shining with brilliant orange light, ready to unleash the devouring g skill at any time, keeping Cranberry on edge. "Ira is the only skill that can threaten superbia from the start.... you are really annoyed with your decision-making skill." Cthe red-aired girl gritted her teeth and focused on activating all the physical boosting skills she knew ¨C she could use offensive spells but they came with the inconvenient requirement of her staying still for the casting ¨C which would give Caramel enough time to bite her head off before she would unleash even the fastest one ¨C after all ¨C the light-brown-haired girl had g skill at the ready already. "Hahahahahahahaha! Yes! That''s why I want to see it! Fear me! Despair! I want to torment you before I will restart this world and get XXXX to how he was in our previous life!" Caramelughed maniacally and dered confidently. "XXXX can''t use overpower consecutively so...!" *WHAM* The light-brown-haired girl''s word got interrupted by the mangled barely alive Arion crashing down right next to her. "Khahaha! That would be true if my overlevel and superbia were on a lower level ¨C but I got both of them to level 10, what now, you repugnant pile of filth?" The blue undead glowing with a vibrant violet light scoffed shaking off the blood from his fists with a wild green, staring intently at the shocked girl''s face with murderous intent. "..." Caramel flinched and...! *CHOMP* *gulp* Used the g skill and made Zombie disappear! "HA?! Impossible! You wouldn''t be able to use it on him unless you are a stronger avatar of sin than him...!" Cranberry gasped ¨C but at the same time, she was already behind the girl, using the window of opportunity to blink and swung her baseball bat right at Caramel''s head! *SLAM* "GU-HUAGH...!" But her hit did not connect as she got tackled and pinned to the ground by the terribly beaten up Arion. "F-fuck...! Ira mitigates the pain and increases the stamina as a bonus effect...!" Cranberry gritted her teeth as one of Arion''s exposed broken bones left a deep cut on her forehead causing fresh blood to pour down into her eyes, blocking her vision. "Don''t forget about the naturally high HP of the people from the Gluttony family. Mend." *CRACK* "GRAOUUUUUGHHHH...!" Caramel scoffed and casually head up the tanned man using the only healing skill that didn''t rely on holy magic, but had a side effect of being excruciatingly painful, making her target, Arion, howl in pain. "What did you do to my Zombie, you disgusting little shit?!" Cranberry roared but Arion who already shook off the side effects of mend was holding her down securely. "I didn''t attack him directly to not trigger the punishment rule and merely devoured the distance between him and the opposite side of the world ¨C he might be burning up in the''s core as far as I know ¨C but that doesn''t matter ¨C I will be resetting everything anyway and he won''t remember a thing." "YOU BITCH!" *CRACK* "AURGH...!" Cranberry growled and tried t break free to rush at the light-brown-haired girl but that only resulted in her hitting one of her arms broken by Arion. "Who is the real bitch here, eh? He was mine first ¨C and if it wasn''t for you messing up my original n, I wouldn''t even have to reset everything like I am going to do now!" Caramel shouted in fury as her mouth and throat shone orange and... *CHOMP* *gulp* "...?" She used the g skill and she devoured something ¨C but to Cranberry''s confusion that something didn''t end up to be her head... "...wait... Mary...?!" It took her a moment to realize that the brown-haired heroine was no longer near the blond prince...! "Yes, yes... with that, I can finally start the revised n... Good thing that I can use the devour glitch in this world too." Caramel grinned wildly and her mouth and throat lighted up with orange light again. "...devour glitch...? You don''t mean...?!" Cranberry furrowed her brows but then she recalled the corresponding information she had in her shared memory and her eyes widened in shock....! Chapter 591 - The Final Fight (part 2) *CHOMP* *gulp* *CHOMP* *gulp* *CHOMP* *gulp* *CHOMP* *gulp* The light-brown-haired girl used the g skill four consecutive times and with each bite, another unconscious avatar was disappearing together with a bit of soil on which they wereying. In a short time Roan, ymore, Mason, and even Corvus who had his title taken away from him already, ended up devoured by the unhinged priestess... "Yes~! As I devour the avatars I will gain ess to the consolemands of the game essentially bing the administrator ¨C so a new god of this world ¨C restarting everything will be just a child''s y then!" Caramelughed and trembled from joy at her own imagination. "As if that would...!" *CHOMP* "...!" The light-brown-girl used the g skill again and Cranberry closed her mouth because of the dreadful feeling she was experiencing. *gulp* "Oooohhhh! What nice skills and titles you had on you! I will gratefully take them all~!" Caramel gulped down whatever she had in her mouth and cheered out. "Alright... time to devour you too Arion ¨C but first ¨C kill her, bit slowly ¨C make her despair while she struggles powerlessly." She smirked and nodded at the tanned man. "..." *SLAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* Arion didn''t protest or made any sound whatsoever except for the sound of grabbing Cranberry''s clothes ¨C raising her up ¨C and then mming her down on the ground, followed by the repeated kicks onto her defenseless body. "Now ¨C cry for m..." "FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILTH!" *WHAM* *CRUSH* Caramel tried to mock the red-haired girl ¨C but then a roar of the spiteful undead filled the air and the next second the light-brown-haired girl was punched so hard in the side that her ribcage burst open and she mmed into the ground with her internal organs sttered all over the ground. "AND YOU!" Zombie roared, turning around just to see Arion standing over beaten-up Cranberry. "ARE DEAD!" *RIIIIIIP* He roared and kicked at the man with the vacant eyes and bisected him with one hit. "Cranberry! Cranberry! I can see that you are still alive! Say something!" Zombie got to the red-haired girl in an instant and propped her up while calling out in a worried voice ¨C thanks to his life signature detection skill he could see that she was still hanging onto her life ¨C although barely. He had to get Mary to heal her up with... "Huh...? Mary...?" Zombie asked, looking around in confusion, but the life signature of the heroine that he saw while on his way back to the final location was nowhere to be found now... "...system... heal me..." "!!!" Suddenly, he heard a whisper and turned around ¨C shockingly enough Caramel didn''t die...! ...or not shockingly at all,? considering that the system message informing the blue undead about her death never arrived... Instead of just quietly allowing her life to end she muttered some outrageous systemmand and... "...!" Got enveloped n a bright white light before standing back uppletely fine despite being basically ripped apart the moment earlier. *CHOMP* *gulp* And she didn''t waste any time on some pointless exnation and immediately used g on two halves of Arion ¨C who inexplicably was also still alive considering that the system message about his death also didn''t show up after Zombie bisected him. "What the fuck are you supposed to be doing?!" The blue undead growled furiously while holding Cranberry into his arms and stepping away from Caramel who started giving off a rather terrifying pressure. "Bing a god of the system ¨C although since you are here, I might go a step further and be something even better... If I devour you I will let go of the system, but I will be able to control the much more powerful sin of origin nucleus with all of its sin-based powers ¨C forget about resetting this world that turned you into this hateful creature who wanted my death ¨C with the power greater than the basic system, I will be able to create the world of my dreams without worrying about the basic system limitations!" The light-brown-haired girl boasted as her body started shining with all the colors of the avatars that she devoured plus the intense white light of the heroine. "As if I let you do something so dumb!" Zombie put down Cranberry and his body shone with violet light as soon as he activated his skills. "Ah? AAAAHHHHH! You used your sin-based skill on me?! ME?! I have thebined powers of the six avatars! I am the stronger avatar now!" /You tried to use an inferior skill on the avatar of greed You receive the punishment... /You tried to use an inferior skill on the avatar of gluttony You receive the punishment... /You tried to use an inferior skill on the avatar of envy You receive the punishment... /You tried to use an inferior skill on the avatar of lust You receive the punishment... /You tried to use an inferior skill on the avatar of wrath You receive the punishment... "...!" The system messages popped up one after another so fast that Zombie didn''t even have enough time to catch all of them ¨C but the next thing he knew was that he couldn''t use his overpower and his violet light was gone too...! "Now then... I should teach you a lesson first, right?" "!!!" Caramel giggled maliciously while staring at the blue undead. "That witch.... she dared to say that you are hers while you had always belonged to me... But apparently, she was your wife? Then... If I devour her like I did the others, then I will be your wife then, right~? Then we can build our new world on that foundation~!" The light-brown-haired girl cheered out and looked back down at Cranberry as her mouth and throat shone with orange light. "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zombie trembled and instantly turned around, rushing back towards the red-haired girl. "...nnn...? Z-Zombie...?" And it just so happened that Cranberry managed to regain her consciousness just in time to see Zombie reaching out his hands and pushing her away... *CHOMP* ...only to disappear to the sound of g... *gulp* "...ah... silly XXXX, just as naive as I remember him~!" Caramel swallowed whatever mass appeared in her mouth and patted her stomach with satisfaction... "Ah! I can sense it ¨C I am getting stronger~!" She also suddenly cheered out and her body shone with all the colors of the avatars of sin mixed with the vibrant white of the heroine. /Warning /You are leaving the system''s control Do you wish to reset yourself back to the default setting? Yes/No A ridiculous message had popped up and only made Caramelugh. "Stay with the system? While I have essentially be a new god? NO! This word is now mine and I will make it however I want!" /Choice confirmed The light-brown-haired girlughed maliciously and the final system message showed up for her... ...and then the world broke apart.... Chapter 592 - The Final Fight (part 3) The sky got swallowed by the darkness pouring from Caramel''s body, the reincarnated girl opened her eyes and smiled at the beaten-up Cranberry standing alone on the disintegrating battlefield as the world was shrinking in front of her very eyes. The viiness was holding on to her baseball bat even though her arm was clearly broken, with a pale bone sticking out through the ripped flesh. Even though all of her skills were stripped away and her beloved blue undead got swallowed after he pushed her out of the way and became a part of the self-appointed new God, Cranberry was standing tall. Blood from the wound on her forehead that the corrupted avatar of gluttony inflicted on her was pouring over her eye, partly blocking her vision, but the red-haired girl was still looking down on her opponent, clear f any doubt. Why should she be scared now? Everything was clearly going to end then and there ¨C why would she give her opponent the satisfaction of sing her break down in tear over her fate ¨C no, that was far beneath Cranberry Pride. "Pitiful viiness... you never stood a chance... without your skills, without anyone to support you, without the system that you could turn to... WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW!?" Caramel mocked Cranberry, either by choice or coincidence, the reincarnated girl spoke with all the voices of the capture targets and the heroine that she assimted with, at the same time. "How does it feel to lose everything? I suffered so much because of a pathetic character like you after you seduced my XXXX. Are you prepared to face the consequences of messing with my perfect n to change this world?! Eh... eh...? Wh-why cannot I restart it...? Where is the consolemand...?" Caramel''s voice was filling every inch of the disappearing world, thebined powers of seven sins and hope coursing through her body caused what was the remaining earth to shake. "Haa... annoying..." "Doesn''t matter ¨C I will find itter after will make you suff...! What did you just...?!" The amalgamation of character extended her hand and... her face twisted with fury when she realized what the viiness just said. "I said that you''re annoying. - you don''t even make sense ¨C I met Zombieter than you did, how the hell was I supposed to seduce him before the two of us met?" Cranberry spat to the side and slowly shook her head. "What, did you perhaps go deaf or something? Ack..!" She asked mockingly and raised her weapon, though she groaned as the broken bone gritted against her flesh scraping it off. "You dare to still oppose me?! You are even more stupid than I thought. I became a God! I have absolute power over this world!" Caramel raise her hands and everything trembled. "I am over the system ¨C look around you! I am destroying it all! I am!" She spread her arms showing off the darkness devouring everything in sight. "Haa... Let me tell you something, you reincarnated bitch." Cranberry breathed out, frowned, and pointed the baseball bat at the girl above. "This world needs only one ruler." The viiness raised her thumb and pointed it at herself. "Me. And of course my Zombie to stay by my side." She grinned as the blood was flowing down her face. "Pffft...! AHAHAHAHAHA...! You?! Idiot! Your role has alreadye to an end! Did you go insane after I removed all your skills? It must be it! Poor, delusional viiness... know my mercy. System, activate Admin Panel! Kill Cranberry Pride!" Caramel shouted triumphantly, waiting for the satisfying sound of Cranberry''s lifeless body hitting the ground. /Error /Third party''s attempt to interfere with the core system detected. /Calcting... "What...? Where is the admin panel? I could use it just fine before...?" Caramel flinched and gasped in confusion. "Ha? Wait a moment ¨C why are you trying to use the consolemand? You exited the system, didn''t you? What, did you not realize what would that mean?" Cranberry smiled beautifully and put down the baseball bat and supported herself on it like on a cane. "You didn''t even receive the error message just now, didn''t you? Ha ha! Now you are just an outsider trying to her in!" "What do you mean, outsider?! I gathered all of the sin of origin nucleus''s powers! I''ve be a God! I...!" Caramel growled but then stopped as soon as she remembered the message that she saw the moment after she assimted Zombie, the final capture target. "Yes, you got the powers of the sin of origin nucleus ¨C the ones made for the avatars to made the life of a yer a bit easier when they will partner with them. Good for you. You probably thought that the sin of origin nucleus s stronger than the system because it only supports fourteen people at most while the system epasses the whole world ¨C but, that is honestly a silly thing to do. The things that can and cannot be done by the two arepletely different ¨C and honestly ¨C the sin of origin nucleus cannot function without the system in the first ce. Idiot - ou went out of the System jurisdiction. Come on, you need to use your head, that clearly doesn''t mean that you control the system itself now. It just means that..." Even though her battered body was barely holding together, Cranberry started grinning triumphantly. "N-no...!" Caramel''s face twisted in sudden panic, and she shook her head in denial. "You''ve simply be an outsider, a third party - an enemy of the whole system. Congrattions, enjoy your power." Cranberry continued talking, and her eyes and smile were bing crueler with each word she spoke. "Shut up!" Caramel cried, shaking her head like a selfish child unable to ept reality. "But wait ¨C there''s something even more fun waiting in store for you! What do you think that the system will do when it detects that some third-party want''s to mess with its coreponents?" The viiness was trembling from holding back theughter. "I''ve said, SHUT UP!" When Caramel shrieked, everything broke down at the same time, leaving the two of them in the void. /Adjusting the story... /Thest survivor receives an emergency quest /Vanquish the unknown party trying to interfere with the core system of the world Reward: System will grant a single wish of thest survivor /Warning /Quest level: impossible to calcte /Special exception granted Thest survivor unlocks the Administrator''s privileges "Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha Ha!" Cranberry let out a shortugh. Hovering in the void, only her and Caramel, suddenly the two most powerful beings in that world. One with thebined powers of all the capture targets and the heroine that held the power of the sin of origin nucleus, and the other that was grantedplete control over the system unbound by upholding the entire world. "No! That''s not supposed to happen! DIE!" Caramel thrashed around in a tantrum and attacked Cranberry with every stolen sin exclusive skill at the same time. But... )*(^*&$&*^()*&*&%$*^&((*^% "!!!!" Jaws of gluttony exploded as soon as they appeared, pride''s overpower met its match and dissipated, greed''s conquest was halted, wrath''s bludgeon got countered, sloth''s charge cannon got intercepted, the powers steal of envy failed, and the bindings of lust got smashed away before they could connect. "Ha ha...! That''s it? Did you perhaps get weaker after abandoning the system?" Cranberry, now fully healed and angrier than ever lowered the steaming baseball bat and red at the baffled Caramel. "You dared to take away my husband for this...?" The viiness already low voice turned ice-cold as she took a step forward. "...! D-don''t even dare to approach me...! Stay away!" Caramel backed off, her face twisted in anger mixed with fear. "..." Cranberry red at her coldly and her body started glowing brightly... The next moment the viiness was right in front of the support character''s face. "...or what?" *WHAM* "GHU-HUAGH!" She asked with a light shrug as she delivered a devastating blow right in the head of the self-appointed God, and sent her crashing down. Even though there was no ground that could be seen, once the pitiful new God regained her bnce she stood up as if the void formed a steady footing for her. "This... THIS ISN''T HAPPENING!" Caramel yelled and turned back toward the viiness. "Haa... you know, you''re even more pathetic than I imagined." Cranberry shook her head disappointed. "YOU...!" Caramel growled and put her arms together. A pure white light gathered in her hands and an enormous blinding beam shot at the red-haired girl up above. "Ahahahaha! How do you like the heroine''s power, huh?! Viiness?!" Caramelughed like a maniac. "Abined power of the heroine and all the capture targets with maxed-out bonds and affection! No matter what powers do you have on your side, an antagonist like you will never be able to...!" She continuedughing until the light of the beam faded out. "Withstand... it...? WHAT DID YOU DO?!" But theugh turned into a panicked scream when the viiness showed uppletely unscratched and with a disgusted face. "What did I do? I dodged." Cranberry shrugged her shoulders. "Coward! If you have a system power by your side, why don''t you try and face my attacks head-on?! Are you scared?!" Caramel shouted with usation. "...?" Which made the viiness raise her brow. "No matter if you have the control of the System, a trash character that was created to be defeated, will get defeated, and you know it! Coward! Trash! Bullshit viiness!" Caramelughed. "You know that no matter what, you are bound to lose to the heroine''s power, and I have it now! You are simply scared!" As she talked veins bulged out on her neck and forehead and her face became red from anger. "You were always so proud of your power but look at yourself now! Hiding behind the powers of an administrator! No wonder you didn''t be the avatar yourself! Pride never suited trash like you! If you are that strong then face me without those privileges! Coward! Face me with your own strength alone!" Her lips formed into a creepy smile as she mocked the viiness. "But of course, you won''t do that. A weakling like you can''t do anything alone! Some pathetic viiness you are! Cheater!" Caramel spouted more and more abuse as she talked. "..." Cranberry red at her and frowned. The frown turned into a furious grimace. "Is that so...?" She asked coldly. "System, I request the deactivation of my Administrator''s privileges." The viiness demanded. /Request received /Calcting... /Warning /Without the status of an administrator thest survivor might be unable toplete the quest A system message popped up trying to stop her, but Cranberry only shook her head. "Haa... System, just give me back all of the powers that I have lost and get rid of the rest. I want only things I achieved on my own, I don''t care about the rest." "...!" At first, Caramel made a face as if she couldn''t believe her ears, but when Cranberry confirmed her decision to the system, that disbelief turned into an ted smile. /... /Request epted /Thest survivor''s Administrator''s privileges are disabled After that message showed up, Cranberry suddenly lost her footing and started falling through the emptiness. "Done." The red-haired girl dered and shrugged her shoulders. "You fool! You absolute moron! Ahahaha! I can''t believe you''ve fallen for that cheap taunt!" Caramel burst intoughter so violently, that she had to hold onto her stomach. "This is perfect! No! This is beyond perfect! A truly fitting end for a viiness! Taken down by her own pride!" She opened her arms and aimed them at the falling viiness. "Now, perish from my world!" A pure white light gathered towards her and a peerless beam even greater than before erupted with violent power. Chapter 593 - Final The Final Fight (part 4) A pure white light gathered towards the light-brown-haired girl and a peerless beam even greater than before erupted from her palm with violent power. Just before the attack could decimate the Cranberry, the viiness herself lifted her head and looked straight at it. "Haa..." She sighed disappointed and her body started glowing. The next moment she was charging around the roaring beam, aiming straight at the Caramel as if the destructive attack was merely a guiding light leading her to her target. "IMPOSSIBLE!" The furious self-proimed god roared and moved her hands, trying to change the course of the attack. But just as she was adjusting her aim, Cranberry was adjusting her own position ordingly. Once she got in the appropriate distance, the red-haired girl gripped her baseball bat a bit tighter, and in the next moment, the body of viiness shone even brighter than the beam that tried to swallow her, and disappeared...! "Eh...?!" Caramel couldn''t believe her eyes. "Do you think that putting others down makes you a better person than them...? Or worse - do you think that mere words are able to put ME down?" "YOU...!" Suddenly a voice came from behind her, she growled furiously but the next thing she knew, a series of crushing blows fell on her body, bending and breaking it in whatever way they connected. "GHAAAAAGh...!" Caramel gasped as she spat out blood and saliva. *CRUSH* *WHAM* *SLAM* *CRUSH* Next blows fell on her arms, breaking her shoulders have finally made her stop shooting out the beam. *CRUSH* "UGHGUUEEEGH...!" One more blow, this one to the side of the head, broke Caramel''s teeth and send her down beneath Cranberry''s feet. The red-haired viiness, who was standing on the void as if she never fell through it a moment before, crouched and pulled on Caramel''s hair, forcing the self-proimed god to look at her. "Haa, honestly, I really hate half-assed people like you, you know?" She sighed and shook her head. "You think that you deserve better than others but you don''t even put half as much effort into working hard as they do. Let me tell you something, as a viiness to the unexpected and unwanted secret boss after the secret boss." Cranberry tilted her head and looked coldly into Caramel''s eyes. "Just because you''ve reincarnated into this world with some mystical knowledge, doesn''t mean shit." "Guuh...!" Caramel growled and gasped for air, spitting blood. "S-system... Heal... me...! /Error /Third party''s attempt to connect to the system detected. /ess denied "Pffft...! Ha ha! Ha ha!" The red-haired viinessughed mockingly. "Would you look at that? You are not only annoying, but you are also a moron on top of that." She smirked looking at the message. "Did you consider for a second that you go up against not only someone who has the system overseer in her head ¨C but someone who has been living in this world before ¨C and although this one is not on you, do you want to know why I could beat you up so easily despite your sin of origin nucleus''s powers...?" Cranberry asked without changing her expression ¨C but started talking without waiting for the Caramel''s response anyway... "From the information that I have, the supposed strongest super-secret boss in the game ¨C that being Eternal ¨C had over nine billion of physical attack stat- now, do you want to know how much ATK I had during the first ythrough in which I died because of the bullshit one-hit kill ability? Fifteen billion. " "!!!!!!" The red-thread girl exined, swiping her hair behind her ear, causing the already wide-eyed Caramel to have her eyes bulge out of her eye sockets once she heard the number. "Ha! That was of course after counting all the modifiers and strengthening abilities, but overall, I wasn''t weakening myself when I asked the system to give me back my old strength in exchange for some silly privileges ¨C I was getting a huge boost. But once again - I cannot me missing this one detail on you, you clearly didn''t keep your memories from the first ythrough, so that put you at a huge disadvantage right from the start - let us just say, tough luck." The viiness dered with a truly viinous smile blooming on her face. "Oh, and one more thing." Cranberry stood up and pulled Caramel up together with her. "Guhaaah...!" The fallen god cried out. "This world doesn''t need a support character turned evil." Cranberry dered proudly. "I am the only viiness here, and this world will be mine and my husband''s, Zombie!" She roared and let go of Caramel''s head. And as the defeated foe was falling, Cranberry took a step back and grabbed her baseball bat with both hands. She clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white, and her eyes, body, and the bat itself, all started glowing brightly. "NOW, FUCK OFF FROM MY WORLD!" The viiness''s voice filled the air as she swung the baseball bat. *SLAM* *CRUNCH* *SPLAT* The mana swirling around the weapon tore into Caramel''s body shredding it into small particles of multicolored light. /Outsider defeated /You receive the EXP /Error ¨C unable to calcte the amount of EXP /Emergency questpleted Reward granted The self-appointed God never stood a chance. "Haa..." System message showed up as usual and Cranberry breathed out. /Say your wish The system asked. "Isn''t it obvious?" Cranberry let out a tired sigh. "How can I take over the world where there is nothing to rule? I wish that you will restore the world and everyone in it. We can''t let it stay like this. Oh- but don''t you dare to bring back the global quest and the overarching scenario ¨C that thing is done and over, forever. And the same thing with that girl Caramel." The red-haired girl pointed out in a serious expression and waited... As she looked around there was only darkness and the particles of light left by shredded Caramel as far as the eye could see. /Request received /Calcting... /Request approved /Restoration of the world in progress... And just as the message stated, the particles of light hovering all around swirled around and started morphing and expanding. First returned the earth, then the sky, then the nts, wildlife, and buildings ¨C well, the ruins that filled the mountain, but still ¨C the exact same restoration had to be happening all around the world. Different colored lights were slowly falling from the restored sky and reforming into people that were swallowed by Caramel''s gluttony''s g before, although they all were appearing to be sleeping. "...!" Cranberry started frantically looking around immediately after her feet touched the ground. Red, green, yellow, light blue, orange, and blue particles trickling from the sky reformed into the six capture targets, and the white particles turned into the heroine. "Nnngh... Wh-what happened...?" And it was the heroine who was the first one to wake up. "Cranberry...? What is going on...?" The brown-haired girl asked in confusion when she noticed the viiness anxiously walking around. But even though she called to her, Cranberry didn''t respond at all. Even though almost everyone else has already shown up and was regaining their consciousness, there was still someone missing. "Mary! Are you alright?!" The blond prince managed to stand up and limped towards the heroine, offering her his hand. "Ah! Roan! Y-yes I''m..." *ng* ""...?!"" A sudden noise interrupted them and they booked turned in that direction. The source turned out to be Cranberry, she dropped her baseball bat and was walking forward with her hands outstretched, peeling out her eyes and biting her lips. Blue particles were falling from the sky and the viiness was standing tight under, cradling them in her arms. And soon enough the blue particles materialized into a tall blue-skinned young man. He had long ck hair, tied up in a low ponytail, and was wearing an entric shirt that was showing off his muscr stomach, puffy ck short pants, and ck thigh-high boots with ridiculously high heels. "...Zombie..." Cranberry whispered with a gentle smile as she held her undead up in a bridal carry. "...? Zombie''s eyelids trembled in response. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Cranberry''s face. "Cranberry...?" He asked confused and looked around, his eyes widened as he noticed his position. "Cranberry... Are you alright? You''re not wounded, right? What about that piece of filth and everyone getting devoured...?!" He asked in a worried voice. "Ha! Do you even have to ask?! Who do you think was the only person left up to clean up that mess?" Cranberry shook her head happily and started walking, holding her servant close. "Did... did you win...?" Zombie asked bashfully just going with the flow and letting the red-haired girl have her way this time. "Do you even have to ask?" The viiness snorted and raised her head high with pride. "As always - I crushed it!" ~The Viiness and I, her Zombie~ ~~~~~~END~~~~~~ The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!