"Run—run—Mire, run—"
Not a trace of light shone in the dark sky. Mire, a young girl, huddled beneath Canfor's city walls as the midnight bells rang without end, like the wails of the dying.
"They're coming—they're coming—they're coming! I heard them. They're here!" A woman hiding in a corner screamed in terror. "Those monsters will tear us to pieces! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
Putrid hands pounded desperately against the heavy gates. Alderbu's walls, built from massive stones, stood as a barrier protecting the residents within—and cutting off the civilians outside.
"Save me—"
"Save me—"
As the woman's hysteria spread, the many refugees who had fled north from Canfoer City began to cry out as well.
"Save us—save us—"
"Dolahoya, make those people below quiet down..." General Lapidemi sat calmly atop the battlements, wiping the blade in his hand until not a speck of dust remained.
"Yes—" A man in silver armor answered softly. Moments later, no more sounds came from beneath Alderbu's gates.
"General, those people below fled here from Canfoer... Isn't this a little too heartless...?"
The necromancer Boyabolo looked at the charred corpses below the walls and could not help saying, "What a pity... What a pity... I had wanted to keep one or two for research..."
"Hmph." Lapidemi snorted coldly. "Have you not watched long enough from these walls?"
"I should have... seen enough..." Boyabolo lowered his hood, revealing long black hair as dark as soil. If one smelled carefully, there was even a faint azalea fragrance in his hair.
The elegant young man held a skull staff. With the magic contained within it, Boyabolo could easily manipulate the dead, though such desecration of corpses was forbidden in Alderbu.
"If you've seen enough, tell me what you found. Stop hiding it!" Lapidemi shouted.
"Yes, yes, yes... my General..." Boyabolo saluted the general guarding this region with his hood. "As everyone knows, zombies created through necromancy are not contagious. But under certain conditions, some zombies can spread curses and plagues to the living. Such curses are usually transmitted from the dead to the living through wounds, and the most obvious late-stage symptom in those infected is hysteria..."
"How many people beneath Alderbu's walls have been infected by the curse?" Lapidemi asked.
"All of them—" Boyabolo did not sound as though he were joking. "If these refugees were allowed into Alderbu, every resident of Alderbu would become a zombie within two days... Your decision was extremely wise..."
"Oh—" Lapidemi merely answered coldly. He then stood atop the city wall and looked toward Canfoer several miles away. A long trail of blood stretched from beneath Canfoer's walls all the way here.
"They've come..." Mire rubbed her eyes. Before the twelve-year-old girl was a tide of undead creatures.
Zombies, skeletons, ghouls... These monsters screamed and roared. Tears no longer had any meaning. No one would save the girl, nor the impoverished people trapped outside the walls with her. The people beneath Canfoer's walls knew their time of death had come. They stopped sobbing, wailing, and praying.
"Come..." Mire whispered her final farewell.
Fear came from the unknown, but when death truly descended, fear vanished as well. Crying, wailing, and unease became meaningless in the instant one faced death...
"Radfu... I hope... after I become a zombie... you'll still remember me..."
Despair often arrived without warning, yet light had always remained at the other end of the shadows.
"May the High God protect us—"
A solemn voice came from atop Canfoer's walls. Divine radiance illuminated the entire night sky and lit up the people struggling bitterly in the darkness. Mire stared blankly toward the source of that hope.
A nun, as holy as the Virgin Mother, stood before the countless undead monsters. Her bright white clerical robes gave off warm golden light like the sun. Her not-so-broad back nevertheless gave everyone steadfast hope. The domed cross in her hand gradually extended into a barrier, blocking the monsters from the refugees' sight.
"May the High God protect us—" The nun's solemn voice rang out again, and tears fell from Mire's eyes without her realizing it. The many survivors found their voices once more.
Tears—
Crying—
Tears shed for hope, anguished cries for life, prayers that the High God had not abandoned His followers.
"Hope has never left..." Latmimi's voice stunned everyone present—the surging sea of corpses, the refugees hiding behind the barrier, and even the city residents watching from the sidelines.
Snow-white wings spread from behind Latmimi. The domed cross transformed into a battle axe. The holy four-winged angel flew like a sword into the sea of dead, and amid the endless corpses, Latmimi seemed to notice some other... anomaly.
"New God's lapdog..." Eliyi looked contemptuously at Latmimi as she fought the horde of corpses. "Your speech may have been a success, but unfortunately, you are not the protagonist of this incident..."
The wind in the darkness seemed to be telling a story. In a deep, shadowy courtyard, the candles of Tatuqi gave off a bleak, cold glow. Evergreen trees grew unusually large in the greenhouse-like garden, while roses, Chinese roses, carnations, lilies... delicate flowers adorned every corner.
Along the pebble-paved corridor, Yetara danced a waltz in sheer gauze as he moved toward the center of the inner courtyard. The Voice of Spring played on an endless loop from the marble record player on the table.
"Hero~ Hero~" Even singing loudly could not conceal his joy. "Ah~ Lord Hero... Lord Hero, I can finally taste you again—"
Beneath black wings lay the splendor of night. The Fourteen Witches had their names engraved for them in hell. As hunters of souls, they possessed power close to that of gods.
"Klauna—Setana—heed my summons! In the name of the Fourteen Witches, appear before me—" Strange light appeared around Yetara as he chanted. The contract he had made with the demons of hell began to exert its proper effect.
Arcane energy surged across the demon-summoning array. A twisted inverted cross revealed the true names of the Fourteen Witches.
Blood—severed arms and mutilated bodies—poured through the dark formation into Yetara's courtyard.
"Samara—I XXXXXXX!"
An unidentified object shot out of the formation toward Yetara at the speed of light. Half a second later, Yetara and the object rolled together into the mansion. With a series of clatters, pots, bowls, and dishes shattered across Yetara's home.
"This guy..." Yetara carefully examined the "unidentified object" that had crashed into him: black hair, golden eyes, a jaw with a faint stubble, and that... familiar scent.
"This is Lord Hero's descendant—" Yetara hugged the unconscious Tiadam and shouted, "Lord Hero—Lord Hero—I finally have you today!"
"Hey—Samara!"
Before Yetara could revel in his triumph, a pair of delicate female feet stepped onto his face. Dark silk stockings, slender ankles, and the scent of blood.
"Hey—Samara, I'm warning you! Don't ever give us such dangerous work again. Our contract with you isn't just for show. Don't treat the two of us like your personal maids—"
The demon sisters Klauna and Setana each planted one foot on Yetara's face.
"Wh-what happened..." Yetara was pinned to the ground by their feet, unable to move. "My dear friends... what exactly happened...?"
"What happened?" Klauna pulled her sister Setana over. "Look, look! Because of your mission, half of my sister's body was eaten!"
"H-how is that possible!" Yetara said in shock. "You two are high-ranking demons. How could you have been beaten into this state by this boy... Even Lord Hero at the height of his power did not possess such strength! This is impossible!"
"Who said Lord Hero's descendant did this!?" Klauna pressed down even harder. Her broken ram horn and the half of her bull tail that remained slowly began to regenerate. "The one who ate half of Setana's body is a subordinate of the Demon King..."
"What is going on?" Yetara was utterly confused. "Wasn't the evil god Rosa Kevin killed long ago by that brat Okasht with the Holy Sword? How could this be...?"
"I don't know either..."
While Klauna spoke with Yetara, the wounds on her body had already healed completely. But her younger sister Setana's injuries began to worsen. "Perhaps it was a subordinate who escaped when Rosa Kevin was slain... But no matter what..."
Klauna reached out toward the wall, and a blood-red barrier opened within it.
"Setana's injuries are too severe. I need to take care of her for a while. Don't disturb us during that time! And double the number of souls offered during her recovery—"
"Eh???"
"You disagree?" Klauna pressed down even harder.
"N-no problem..."
"Good—" Klauna carried what remained of Setana's body into the barrier. "The two of us will not interrupt your happy time... Sweet dreams..."
"B-bye..." Yetara grinned lewdly like a rat.
Klauna did not even feel like looking at Yetara again. She vanished directly into the barrier. Letting out a long breath, Yetara stroked Tiadam's chest and slowly said:
"My dear Lord Hero... now it is time for just the two of us..."
Before you continue