Annan felt he was close to the truth...
But a mysterious mage who could produce something as valuable as the Fruit of Corruption and foresee the future should have foreseen Annan interfering, shouldn't he? Or did the mysterious mage think Annan would give it to Babartod?
Annan didn't think so. Someone else had come to mind.
In front of Little Bat, Annan opened a Portal to the Land of the Dead and asked the Skeleton King if he needed the Fruit of Corruption.
The Skeleton King politely declined. Little Bat, meanwhile, grumbled inwardly about Annan giving away a treasure so casually—why not give it to him?
"I'm glad you thought of me, but I don't need it."
The Skeleton King nodded to the uneasy Little Bat, then continued, "Cold and Death have become part of me. If I lost them, I'd lose my power as well."
"All right..."
Apparently, the Skeleton King wasn't the right answer.
After considering everyone he could think of, Annan took the Fruit of Corruption to the Dungeon to see Babartod.
"I... told you everything I know..." Babartod looked miserable.
Annan hadn't come to squeeze more information out of him. "I got the Fruit of Corruption."
"What Fruit of Corruption...?"
"The thing the mysterious mage left for you."
Babartod's eyes lit up. Then he remembered Annan had it, and his face fell again. "What does the fruit do?"
"It turns a Lich into an undead. Unless you've been hiding some other way to transform a Lich?"
Babartod didn't answer. He froze as if something had occurred to him, his expression shifting between wild joy and dejection, delight and grief.
A long time passed before he calmed down.
"What did you think of?" Annan asked.
Babartod sat quietly, a trace of his former composure returning. "You're not