Undead Godknight… Level 70 too.

  Why did the puzzle suddenly scatter just when everything was about to click?

  “We just have to overcome him,” Jack growled. “This Godknight”

  “We will, Jack,” Suna said, eyeing the Tiefling. Jack was not someone who was suicidal. But taking into account how close Floundea was to him, and how eager he was to see her again, this was something Suna needed to keep in mind. He needed to pay attention to his allies.

  Otherwise, what happened to Noa…when he went to Slea and invited her to leave together, might happen again, in the form of Jack sneaking out.

  “We will,” he reassured once more. “Can you tell us how the fight progressed? Neither the Thiefmasters nor the Humans were dead, right?”

  “No, of course there were some close calls,” Wendy said, her body shivering as she wrapped the Spirit Rabbit Cloak tighter around herself. The [Truth Maiden]’s breath quaked, but it was probably not because of the cold. “S—Sorry, it’s just… it was almost zero,” Wendy said.

  She continued, “There was a tradition the Kingdom had—the Kingdom side would offer a duel—and their opponent got to choose who to fight before the war truly started. I think this tradition is part of the resonance-acting method that the [Necromancer] implements, so only the truly strong classes are available. The Tieflings chose to duel the Queen; I don’t know why. When the duel was about to happen, the one they sent was a human. A scaled human. That human killed the Queen, and the King became enraged. The duel venue turned into a battlefield, and ever since then, the fighting has continued in small skirmishes as the Tieflings’ forces launched raid after raid.”

  “A duel? Who was from the human side?”

  “She had the class called [Serpentine Witch]. Level… what was it again? 43 I think?” Wendy looked at the [Berseker] for an answer.

  “I—I could not see her level, lass; my mind was too hazy,” Nathan said. “But it sure felt good when the Queen died.”

  “Slea?” Suna asked Jack.

  “Who else?” Jack said. “No way it was Floundea.”

  “First killing Thiefmasters, now the Queen.” Suna shook his head.

  A small smile tugged at the corner of Jack’s lips. “You’re not any better, my friend.”

  I guess I am.

  He let out a small laugh. They were safe, at least for now—now his options got wider. Sure, this [Undead Godknight] was worrying, but the human side was slowly getting stronger.

  “You know her?” Wendy perked up.

  “Yes, anything else we need to know about the battle?”

  “Hmm, I think the Tieflings’ army’s aim was to dismantle society itself. Other than another duel challenge that was obviously a trap? No, I don’t think so. But what was concerning was that the Tieflings’ army seemed unable to get over the wall. Obviously, siege were not an option given their numbers. And there were prisoners still inside the castle walls, waiting to be delivered to the Third Depth…”

  Wendy trailed off, mumbling incoherently, like she had just remembered something.

  “Ah! There was a conflict with the [Necromancer]!”

  Conflict? With the very being that created them? Well, granted, Delia also fought against the System, and the [Necromancer] also did so.

  “The [Necromancer] wanted the King to stop sending forces out to seek the [Serpentine Witch]. But the King refused, so the King instead sealed the entrance to the Third Depth, refusing to open it, even assigning the [Undead Godknight] to guard it.”

  “A coup? By the very Undead he created?” Suna said, more to himself. “Good, good, the others and I can take our time and level up then.” He grinned. Maybe overcoming this [Undead Godknight] would be more doable than he thought.

  Still, there was like 21-levels difference between them. And their runes… who knows how many the Godknight had consumed.

  “Oh! If you want to level up, then you might want to go to Ashen Castle,” Wendy said.

  “Ashen castle?”

  “Yes, a rogue Undead attained the Second Stage of Drowfication. Ah, Drowfication is—”

  “I know what it is.”

  “Oh, okay. So that Undead can make any Undead who only had the First Stage of Drowfication an offer to serve him, and in return, they would receive a stat bonus. And surprisingly enough, most of the Undead who received the offer chose to accept!”

  “This Undead…Was it an Integrator too?”

  “No, no. This one was created by the [Necromancer]. It’s an Undead that started as an [Undead Peasant] and proceeded to win the annual tournament year after year, eventually becoming an [Undead Champion]. Then, ever since it attained the Second Stage, it has been an [Undead Shadow Rebel], since it built its own castle, which we call Ashen Castle. The [Necromancer] and the [King] had sent forces again and again, but each force was defeated. Of course, its castle was nowhere grand, much smaller, but it was intent on toppling everything.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “They did not send the Godknight? Did it have a Drowfication?”

  “No, I think they didn’t want to commit the Godknight because the Godknight is the only successful experiment the [Necromancer] had. Well, half-successful.”

  “Why, then, did you recommend that we go to this Ashen Castle?” Jack asked, crossing his arms. “It seemed dangerous.”

  “Yeah, but the Tieflings’ forces clearly struggle against the wall… their only hope to get stronger is through the humans… I think you could find humans hunting there too, while the Tieflings keep some of the Kingdom’s offensive forces off their backs.”

  “It does make sense,” Suna said. He wondered if the others got class upgrades too; they should, since Slea had gotten two classes upgraded already. But that meant there was nothing to stop Suna from getting a class upgrade either. Did he subconsciously believe that he had just gotten one, so he expected the second class upgrade to still await him in the future?

  Maybe so, or perhaps he did not use his Pyre Flame or Spirit Rabbit Cloak enough. Still, Suna would love to have a third option. He was nearing level 50; another skill choice would await him. He should hunt soon.

  “Ah, sorry, I—just…” Wendy trembled. Her head sagged down. Rabbit’s ear twitched, and they stopped.

  Suna could see something change, a soft blue hue. Reminding him of…

  He leapt to his feet, almost smashing his head against the cave ceiling in the process. “Wendy?” Sweat began to drip from his neck despite the cold air. He was the one who recommended she use this cloak… If anything happened…

  “Wendy? Lass?” Nathan squirmed, but the small space was clearly too small for the man to even turn unless Wendy, beside him, moved first.

  The [Truth Maiden]’s hand rose. A bluish, almost purple hand, looking almost translucent, yet when one looked closely, it was clearly not. Her skin was a mix of blue and purple; the violet was slightly stronger, causing a strange blend of the two colors.

  Wendy removed her cloak, and she was no longer human.

  “Your ear…” Suna said, not bothering to hide his surprise.

  It was the exact same ear he had seen on his other self. Her ears now flopped down like bunny ears, well, the type that had drooped ears anyway.

  Wendy looked up at him, her eyes shimmering like a star, retina-less eyes.

  Should he apologize?

  But was she still…

  Wendy jumped and suddenly engulfed him in a hug. With the Emberwind’s light, Suna could see her tears running down her purple cheek, taking on a molten hue.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled to his shoulder. Her veil rubbed against his cheek; it was so soft.

  “You are no longer human.”

  “You think I care?” she sniffled, wiping her nose with the cloak again.

  “First of all, let's wipe the cloak on the snow before handing it to Nathan.”

  --

  The frosted air still sent a chill down his body. Yet…

  Yet it was warm.

  Suna rested his head on his knee, sitting at the small cave exit with Nathan now wearing the Spirit Rabbit Cloak.

  Inside, lit by the orange glow of the Emberwind, two figures danced. Jack and Wendy shared a laugh as they twirled together. They didn’t need music; their laughter was enough. Wendy’s feet kicked up a fistful of snow, causing her to almost fall. She yelped, but Jack smoothly spun and caught her.

  “Not bad, Jack!” Suna cheered.

  The Tiefling laughed, showing a joy he rarely revealed when their lives weren’t in danger. They decided to wait out the sudden blaring blizzard before proceeding toward the Ashen Castle.

  “Come on, Suna!” Wendy called, flashing him a wink.

  Suna was startled, taken aback by the request, and an almost intuitive response took over his body.

  He shook his head. “No, you two have fun.”

  “Oh, come on, my friend! I will teach you the Thief Dance,” Jack said, joining Wendy’s side. “This dance was perfect to train so one could slide behind a Drow and slit their throat!”

  “Not for me, Jack.”

  “Oh, boo,” Wendy pouted as they danced in this strange light-step using their heel.

  Suna chuckled, and he was almost disappointed in himself. Why did his first response need to be a refusal? Maybe it was a habit thing.

  “The winner is the one who enjoyed himself, lad,” Nathan said, the [Berserker]’s skin now looking better. He estimated that in a few hours, he would turn into a Lunarian too. Suna was still not sure if it was a good thing or not, but it certainly beat being Undead. Wendy had broken free of the [Necromancer]’s control after all.

  “I did enjoy myself,” Suna said, trying to find a defense. “Right now too.”

  “Stubborn one, aren’t you?” he whistled. Nathan’s eyes flitted away to the endless blizzard. Part of the windblown snow hit half of their bodies. But none raised any complaint. Suna did not want to ruin Jack and Wendy’s dance, nor did Nathan.

  The [Berserker] gaze went long, like he was lost in the blizzard.

  “They might still be alive,” Suna said. “Whoever you wanted to see”

  His eyes went to him and dropped down. “It’s been a long time; how long, I’m not sure. And I’m afraid to confirm it with Jack.” The man took a small rock and drew a letter, a name. “What if fifty years had passed?”

  “That…” Suna tried to imagine. The people he wanted to see again he could count on his fingers. Not many, really, but still. “That would suck, but you should still ask Jack. It’s important.” He pushed.

  Nathan let out a wry smile. “Yes, I should. And I will. For now, I just want to stay in my delusion a bit.”

  Suna wanted to point out it might not be a delusion, but he didn’t want to push. It was just a bit hard to watch the man holding onto what was seemingly an invisible thread of hope.

  “The one who wins is the one having fun, was it?” Suna brushed off his pants and offered a hand.

  Nathan raised his eyebrow, not hiding his confused face.

  “Come on,” Suna said, nodding his head toward Jack and Wendy.

  “It's too small,” the man laughed.

  “Nope, there's just enough space!” Wendy called.

  “Indeed, come both of you. The point of the Thief dance was to make use of any of your surroundings. This is perfect,” Jack exclaimed.

  “This is ridiculous,” Nathan grumbled under his breath. The old man took Suna’s hand.

  He grinned and pulled him up.

  But then, something pricked him.

  The sky… it shone with glimmering green. It was as if a veil just blanketed the whole wide world. Energy gathered, and Suna could sense Mana swirling around. They formed into one point. A coelacing energy that cannot be held.

  It's about to explode.

  Green.

  The [Necromancer] had hair that looked like a green flame. Was it his magic?

  “Get away from me!” Nathan shouted, forcing urgency into his voice and souring the calm mood. Before Suna knew it, the man pushed him to the ground.

  Snow softened his fall. Suna’s eyes zeroed in on Nathan. The man's skin was clean, thanks to the Spirit Rabbit Cloak, but then it began to pucker again.

  “Nathan?” Wendy asked, her voice tainted with concern.

  In a sickening crunch, Nathan’s head jerked in a turn, neck snapped.

  All of them were silent, still registering the crunching sound. Suna's world went blurry, and his body felt frozen.

  He was still trying to register what had happened. But cruelly, Nathan removed his axes and stared down at him. The dead, familiar eyes seized him.

  The Undead decided it couldn’t fight all three of them. So the [Undead Berserker] turned away and ran out of the cave.

  Suna's body jumped into action, and he lurched forward, his fingers grasping the end of his Spirit Rabbit Cloak. But the [Undead Berserker] burst out of the cave and began braving the blizzard, out of his reach.

  “Jack! Let's go!” Suna shouted. He stood, then a voice cut him off.

  “Wait! What happened?” Jack asked.

  “He is dead,” an answer came from Wendy. Tear slivered down her full violet eyes. “He just died, did he?”

  “Yes,” Suna said. “Yes, he did.”

  Something was tugging at him. A bond between him and the Spirit Rabbit cloak.

  “I can track him,” Suna said, turning to both of them. “Let’s free his soul at least.”