The undead

What Otherworld? Lumian's heart jolted, and he hurriedly turned to look out the window.

He should have seen mountains, meadows, and trees, but instead, a wilderness met his eyes. Pale clouds piled high overhead, blocking out all the sunlight and leaving everything seemingly shrouded in an immense shadow.

At that moment, figure after figure wandered and paced across the dark brown wilderness. Most wore white linen robes, their faces pale with a bluish tinge, their eyes utterly vacant, and their mouths slightly open.

They clearly weren't normal people.

Among the countless figures, some ran madly toward the far end of the wilderness or back from it, as though they could never stop and find the rest they had long craved.

At the far end of the wilderness, near what appeared to be a cliff, he could faintly make out pitch-black monsters with goat horns and humanlike bodies. Every so often, they grabbed a figure in white linen and hurled them over the edge.

That was where the screams came from, faintly reaching Lumian and Aurora's ears.

Clop, clop, clop. Among the countless figures, a tall human clad in deep-black full plate armor rode a white horse so emaciated it seemed to be nothing but skin and bones. Sometimes he walked slowly, sometimes he galloped back and forth, as though herding sheep.

Lumian's eyesight was excellent. When the rider turned, he made out "his" appearance despite the considerable distance.

Inside "his" metallic helmet, two crimson lights flickered like flames. A hideous wound stretched from his neck to his navel, almost splitting "him" in two and leaving a long stretch of pale intestines dangling outside.

Without needing any further evidence, a thought flashed through Lumian's mind:

A Death Knight!

This was a Death Knight, a frequent presence in Intis's many folk legends!

Just then, the carriage carrying him and Aurora stopped.

Without a word, Naroka opened the door and stepped down.

Apart from her clothing, her bluish-white face, vacant eyes, and numb expression increasingly resembled those of the figures in white linen.

Aurora drew her gaze back from the window and said gravely, "They're all undead.

"Whatever happens, don't leave my side."

As she spoke, she took out a brooch made of gold and pinned it to her chest.

At the same time, her other hand pulled a handful of grayish-black powder from a concealed pocket in her clothes.

Lumian leaned toward the front to look at the driver's seat. He discovered that Sever had become just like Naroka, his face bluish-white and his eyes vacant. He was slowly walking deeper into the wilderness, as though he had been dead for a long time.

He hurriedly told Aurora, "Sis, I'm already a Beyonder. You deal with the undead, and I'll drive us out of here as quickly as possible!"

Since he had no abilities suited to dealing with undead or ghosts, he could only serve as the driver for now.

Of course, if that Death Knight charged at them, he would also do his best to help hold him off.

Aurora was startled, but with no time to ask further questions, she reminded him, "Check what condition the horses are in!"

Only then did Lumian realize his oversight and examine the horses ahead.

Their flesh and blood seemed to have been drained away. Their withered hides clung to their bones, and they stood motionless.

"Those two horses look dead," Lumian reported.

Before Aurora could speak, the undead wandering around them seemed to catch the scent of the living. They all changed direction and surged toward the carriage, trying to get inside.

"XXX." Aurora uttered a word in a language Lumian couldn't understand.

With that word, the golden brooch on her chest glowed faintly. The grayish-black powder in her left hand instantly ignited, emitting an intense but gentle golden light.

The light flowed outward like water. The moment the undead touched it, they screamed instinctively, bluish smoke rising from their "bodies."

They tried to retreat, but more undead were surging forward. Countless figures were forced to crowd around the carriage, with "people" constantly evaporating and vanishing.

Lumian watched with both envy and a heavy heart.

Angry that he could do nothing to help, he longed even more to advance his Sequence and gain more abilities.

Seeing that the powder in Aurora's hand was almost burned up while the undead farther away continued to surge toward them, utterly heedless of the figures ahead dissolving in the light, Lumian hastily reminded her, "We can't stay here forever.

"Let's break out!"

Even if his sister had prepared ample materials, she couldn't deal with so many undead!

Besides, the Death Knight and the creatures resembling devils at the far end of the wilderness had yet to approach.

Their best option now was to force their way out of this wilderness called the "Otherworld" before their materials ran out.

Aurora nodded and said simply, "Follow me."

As soon as she finished speaking, the grayish-black powder in her hand burned out. The empty stretch of wilderness around them instantly filled with the surging undead again.

Aurora hurriedly took out another handful of materials and used the golden brooch on her chest to make them ignite on their own, producing brilliant golden light.

The undead that had just approached the carriage let out screams and melted away in the light.

Aurora immediately jumped from the carriage and ran toward the nearest edge of the wilderness, with Lumian close behind.

Suddenly, a hand reached out of the golden light and grabbed at Lumian's arm.

With his exceptional intuition and keen senses, Lumian detected the danger in advance. He turned his forearm and lashed it against the hand.

Smack!

It felt as though he had struck a block of hard ice. An intense chill flooded his body, briefly leaving him almost frozen stiff.

As his teeth chattered, Lumian saw the owner of that hand.

It was another undead in white linen, but it wore a mask made of white paper. Its figure evaporated very slowly in the golden light.

Seeing Lumian stop, the strange undead abruptly turned incorporeal and moved to merge with him.

Just then, a pure, holy beam of light shone over and landed on the masked undead.

It froze in place, its body burning fiercely before dispersing in wisps of black vapor.

"Don't stop!" Aurora pulled her right hand away from the golden brooch and resumed her sprint.

Lumian shook off the cold and followed his sister with long strides.

Relying on handful after handful of grayish-black powder and a Warlock's spells, the two forced their way across the wilderness, one behind the other. Countless undead in white linen evaporated in the golden light.

Unfortunately, Aurora couldn't prepare just one type of material and fill every pocket with the same thing. As a Warlock, she had to account for all sorts of situations and circumstances.

Before long, the concealed pocket holding her sunflower powder was empty.

At that point, they were still several hundred meters from the edge of the wilderness, while the undead around them seemed endless.

More frightening still, the Death Knight seemed to notice the commotion and turned his horse toward them.

Within the golden light, Aurora's expression shifted several times. She slowed, gritted her teeth, and said, "Silly little brother, when you hear me shout 'three,' sprint toward the edge of the wilderness. Don't look back!"

Lumian was about to object when Aurora added, "Don't worry, I'll follow behind you. Staying here will only interfere with a powerful spell I need to use and hold me back from escaping."

As she spoke, she unpinned the golden brooch from her chest and handed it to Lumian, who had also slowed, then instructed him:

"Concentrate your spirituality and extend it into this brooch. When you run, repeat this word, 'XXX'!"

Lumian couldn't understand the word, but he forced himself to memorize its pronunciation.

The moment he took the golden brooch, he felt warm light shining over him. Many dark thoughts vanished, leaving his thinking slightly sluggish.

He instinctively pinned on the brooch, focused as his sister had instructed, and extended his spirituality.

Seeing the grayish-black powder in her hand dwindle, Aurora took out another material and shouted, "One, two, three!"

Not wanting to hold his sister back, Lumian broke into a sprint.

Almost simultaneously, he shouted that word with all his might:

"XXX!"

The golden brooch lit up, spilling rays of pale-gold sunlight.

At that moment, it was as though Lumian wore a little sun on his chest. The undead around him instinctively shied away.

Thud, thud, thud!

Even as he sprinted with long strides, he couldn't stop worrying about his sister. Unable to help himself, he twisted slightly and turned his head to look toward Aurora.

Aurora had stayed where she was, wisps of black vapor swirling around her.

The black vapor seemed to hold an irresistible attraction for the undead, causing them to abandon Lumian and surge toward Aurora instead.

Lumian wasn't a fool. The moment he saw this, he understood that his sister's promise to "follow behind" had been a lie.

"Aurora!"

He shouted, slammed to a halt, and turned around in the same motion.

He feared that anyone who died within the loop would truly die when the loop ended.

Aurora looked back at his voice. Seeing that he had stopped, she hastily shouted, "Are you an idiot? Run!"

Lumian said nothing and sprinted toward Aurora. Under the golden brooch's light, the undead ahead all moved aside.

Seeing this, Aurora lowered her head slightly and muttered, "What an idiot..."

She immediately took out another kind of material and scattered the iron-black substance toward Lumian.

An immense invisible hand instantly pinned Lumian down and forcibly pushed him toward the edge of the wilderness.

He struggled fiercely, but could find nothing to brace himself against.

The next second, he saw Aurora, her blonde hair pinned up, give him a faintly sorrowful smile.

Aurora called softly, "Silly little brother, live well..."

Before she finished speaking, the undead had completely devoured the black vapor around her.

She was left directly exposed to the countless figures and the Death Knight.

"Aurora!"

Lumian's eyes widened to their utmost, as though their corners might tear apart. Countless red veins appeared in his eyes and across the surface of his skin.

Yet he still couldn't stop himself from being pushed toward the edge of the wilderness.

Just then, all the undead stopped moving.

Something seemed to be happening in the distance.

Sensing something, Aurora looked over in astonishment and saw an open carriage pass by.

The carriage resembled both a conch and a cradle, its entire body dark red. Rather than horses, two pitch-black creatures with goat horns, seemingly devils, pulled it.

A woman sat inside, wearing a crown of flowers and a green dress. Her features closely resembled Madame Pualis's.

Unlike Madame Pualis, however, she possessed an intensely majestic air.

The Death Knight turned his horse and began following the lady.

All the undead in the wilderness made the same choice. They crowded behind the carriage and headed toward the hazy mountains on the other side of the wilderness.