Control

Zhao Si rubbed his wrist, unease creeping into his heart. Even an idiot could figure it out: something was controlling him.

The Lands Between was the chessboard, and the Greater Will was the player. It had placed gods on the board as pieces, and those gods in turn chose their own followers and agents.

People in the Lands Between beat each other bloody, all to decide on a victor who would become the Greater Will's sole representative.

He couldn't understand what made the Lands Between such a prize. Did this many aliens really need to meddle in its fights?

If there were agents, then what about Zhao Si?

Whose agent am I? Who chose me?

A chill settled deep in Zhao Si's heart. He had known it wouldn't be that simple. There were fingerprints in the burn on his wrist. He had no idea which god or finger had left him that message, but it definitely wasn't the one at the Roundtable Hold.

Should I find Finger Reader Enia?

The idea occurred to Zhao Si. But Finger Reader Enia wasn't a giant rat. While nothing had gone wrong with the Golden Order, Finger Reader Enia should have been in places like Leyndell, not wandering around everywhere.

Besides, they were closely connected to the fingers. Asking careless questions would be as good as telling the Two Fingers.

Just then, Blaidd? crouched low and crept over to Zhao Si, using the trees as cover.

"Are you all right?" Blaidd? sounded a little worried.

"I'm fine. It's all right now." Zhao Si took several deep breaths.

"What did it feel like when that fireball shone on you?" Blaidd? wanted to learn more about the frenzied flame.

"Phew..." Zhao Si steadied his breathing. "Burning hot, maddening, my head was a complete mess. It felt awful."

"I wonder if Alberich's ice magic would help." Blaidd? looked toward the two women still waiting outside its range.

Zhao Si shook his head. "If ice magic were enough, the frenzied flame wouldn't be so frightening."

"Then what do we do about that fireball?" Blaidd? couldn't think of a solution.

Even if his opponent were a troll or a flying dragon, he would dare to charge straight in with his sword. But a blade was no use against this eerie supernatural business.

Zhao Si slapped his cheeks. "I'll handle it. Go tell them to get ready. As soon as the fireball goes out, charge in and save me!"

For that brief moment, Zhao Si actually seemed like a leader.

A chuckle came from inside Blaidd?'s helmet. "Heh, looks like some of your combat memories have come back."

"Really?" Zhao Si paused. "Oh, just go already."

Blaidd? checked one more time. "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

"The fewer people involved, the easier this will be." Zhao Si was absolutely certain.

Blaidd? stopped dragging his feet and jogged back. Zhao Si picked up his weapons again, drew in great lungfuls of air, then charged!

Kill those villagers first, and the fireball will go out.

At that moment, the scene from the game overlapped with reality, and Zhao Si put aside his initial pity. He had to move faster than the frenzied flame could infect him with madness if he wanted to make it back alive.

With his life on the line, he couldn't afford distracting thoughts.

Those repeated deep breaths had been to focus his attention and keep himself from thinking, I'm going to kill people.

If he could kill giant rats, he could kill people with frenzied flame sickness. There was no difference.

Blaidd? was right. His combat memories really had begun to awaken, pushing him toward becoming an agile, cold-blooded warrior.

Using obstacles along the way to conceal himself and avoid infection by the frenzied flame, he reached the church like a shadow.

His Estoc and parrying dagger flashed as he lunged in. Blades fell, and blood sprayed.

A man on the church roof watched everything unfold, yellow frenzied flame blazing in his eyes.

"Are you the Lord of Frenzied Flame? Come, let me see whether you have what it takes to become a lord."

Having what it took to become a lord sounded rather mystical. In plain terms, it meant whether you could fight.

In the clearing before the church, Zhao Si was like a tiger among sheep. Those afflicted with frenzied flame sickness had no power to fight back. He slaughtered them at will.

Sure enough, the Frenzied Flame Ball above the church began to die out. Without prayers and offerings, it had lost its "fuel."

Suddenly, the church doors were kicked open with tremendous force, sending a heavy door panel flying toward Zhao Si.

Zhao Si's scalp prickled. He instantly dropped to his knees and leaned backward, watching the door skim past the tip of his nose. It snapped a tree before finally coming to a stop.

"I'll kill you! Defile you good and proper!!!" An utterly savage voice rang in Zhao Si's ears.

Zhao Si's heart leaped into his throat. It was the Dung Eater-Milos.

Frenzied flame burned over Milos's body. Clearly, it had taken control of him.

The frenzied flame had fully awakened his murderous nature. Zhao Si didn't know how far the infection had progressed, but Milos already possessed the properties of a curse. Who knew how those would interact with the frenzied flame?

Zhao Si had no time to think. Milos's peculiar greatsword came crashing down.

A straightforward jumping cleave, packed with power.

Zhao Si felt his skin sting and hurriedly rolled out of the way. Even as he rolled, he remembered to slash at Milos's foot with his Estoc.

Sparks flew as the Estoc scraped against Milos's distinctive armor. The fellow had wrapped himself up like a tin can, leaving the Estoc almost useless.

Using an Estoc against plate armor was laughable. Rather than laboriously searching for gaps to stab through, Zhao Si had a better answer.

He sprang up from the ground with a kip-up, reached behind his back with his left hand, and switched weapons through his Inventory.

A hand axe appeared in his hand. His right hand did the same, switching to a large wooden club.

"Let me show you..." Zhao Si spoke as he attacked with the hand axe in his left hand.

Milos parried the hand axe with his greatsword. That was the opening. Zhao Si brought the large wooden club smashing down on Milos's head!

Thud!

A dull impact rang from Milos's pumpkin-shaped helmet. Zhao Si could picture how dizzy he must have been.

Using the large wooden club also drained more of Zhao Si's stamina. He still couldn't wield such a heavy weapon freely.

This is clearly a fantasy world. Do we really need this kind of realistic mechanic thrown in?

Zhao Si couldn't help grumbling inwardly. Fortunately, he had taken advantage of his Inventory to prepare several extra weapons. Otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

Melee fighters really got no love. A mighty mage could have cleared everything out with a single meteor. But there was nothing he could do. This place had no cheat-like boosts such as battle aura or internal energy.

Otherwise, even a handsome fellow with skinny arms and legs could beat a burly man flat.

Zhao Si drove forward with a step, raising his left hand to follow up with the axe. But unexpectedly, Milos let out a howl that froze Zhao Si in place.

Zhao Si felt his head swim and his ears ache. His limbs went weak and numb, barely able to move.

Milos raised his greatsword. In his hands, the heavy weapon swung much like an ordinary straight sword

-with effortless ease.

Another straightforward downward cleave, carrying an unstoppable momentum.

The greatsword descended toward Zhao Si's head, while he remained immobilized and unable to dodge.

Gritting his teeth, he raised the large wooden club to block. But his strength was impaired, and he had no confidence that he could stop Milos's mountain-splitting blow.

He abandoned the hand axe in his left hand and crushed the Baldachin's Blessing. A thin "film" covered his body. This was his only means of staying alive.

Swish!

As expected, the large wooden club couldn't stop Milos's sword. It delayed the blade for only an instant before being cut in two, the severed surfaces clean and smooth. The serrated edge landed on Zhao Si's shoulder. The Deathbed Companion's gentle care barely held it back, giving Zhao Si another fleeting chance.

Move! Come on, move!

Splash!

Blood sprayed, and Zhao Si was sent flying backward, crashing into the corpses of the afflicted villagers.