Murphy hurried to the "Death Hut," where the lich Bella lived, as soon as he received Adele's message. But the moment he arrived, he saw Lady Bernice riding her skeletal warhorse back and forth through the tunnel below, with five elite skeleton attendants at her side.
Compared with the lich Bella, who had been forced to serve Murphy and Scarlet Castle and complained about it constantly, this Netherworld knight whom Hogg had brought back from Plaguepoison Town by devious means seemed much more easygoing.
When she saw Murphy emerge from the shadows, she nodded to him from atop her horse, displaying Lady Bernice's elegant bearing.
Well, "elegant" did feel like a strange word to use for the dead.
"Good day, Lady Bernice. Have you been well during your stay at Scarlet Castle?"
Murphy landed, beating his wings, and asked softly. A hoarse laugh came from beneath the Netherworld knight's shadowed helmet.
"Couldn't be better. Compared with Plaguepoison Town, this place is practically a peaceful paradise for the dead.
"Of course, your lively and strange warriors occasionally get on my nerves. They keep following me around, trying to talk to me so they can trigger some kind of 'quest,' but it's nothing I can't handle.
"Adele taught me how to deal with them.
"For the dark amusement of the dead, I asked them to bring me elite skeletal servants. I thought it would take a very long time, but they managed it all in just three days.
"I can tell these elite skeleton soldiers came from Westco City. So, have you and your warriors decided to enter that dangerous area?"
"That's a plan for later."
Murphy glanced at the skeleton soldiers standing beside Lady Bernice.
Blue flames flickered in their hollow eye sockets. Bound by the Netherworld knight's power to control