Re:Animated, Reliving Life in Another World From Zero

by Tall-Gothic-Guy

A Necromancer is easy to describe, but what people rarely ever know about them is that Death is their final wish above everything else. To return to dust and Rest in Peace in the Afterlife. Give a Death Mage the Curse of 'Return by Death', however, then Emurdol Viandegroc will eventually realize that dying in another world is easier said than done. (Graphic and Mature content)

18. Forsaken Pandemonium

"Being in your lonesome again, my dear Lady Beatrice?"

"Indeed, I suppose. It's difficult to see why it's any of your business, in fact. Shouldn't you be with your beloved daughter instead?"

"Right back at you, shouldn't you be with Meili? Aren't you two close?"

"Betty isn't obligated to be with your daughter. Though we share the same learnings from her Tome, that does not make her Betty's friend."

"I beg to differ. So here, take this."

"Using juice as bribery will not persuade Betty either, I suppose. Betty is not that simple and easy, in fact."

"Silly. I'm being kind, now do you want it or not?"

With a slight grumble, Beatrice took the glass of juice off his hand. Leaning against the railing of the balcony, Emurdol took a slow sip of the wine in his skeleton hand, now painted black, savoring in its aged taste. He looked up to the skies and marveled at the millions of millions of stars, the scattered parts of Vra'Ugthol since Her disintegration.

"I'm thankful, for giving me a few moments of your time to teach me the art of Dark Magic."

"It wasn't for you." Coldly, Beatrice retorted. "It was only because Bubby insisted, nothing more, I suppose."

"Either way, you deserved my thanks." With a silent grunt, he vaulted over the railing and sat on it next to Beatrice, his black pointy stilts hanging down towards the ground a dozen feet below him alongside her.

"In your condition, you might fall to your death, I suppose."

Emurdol inwardly smirked at her not rejecting his presence despite the derisive tone she carried with her at most times. He's making progress with being more than just acquaintances with her. "Not to worry, my body can repel the intoxication if I wished. And being drunk is the last thing I'd rather be in this festive night."

"Normally, it'd be the opposite for other men, in fact."

"Those 'other men' would make mistakes in their intoxication. I am not like 'other men'." Taking a light sip of the tasty wine in his hand, he looked up to the skies again, "Once again, the stars are truly different compared to what I'm used to."

"Stars don't change, I suppose." Beatrice pointed out, looking to the sky as well. "From what Betty's great memory can remember, the stars haven't changed a bit, in fact. Is the wine getting into your head?"

Emurdol's impassive face shifted for the first time since the feast began, pursing his lips and a twinge of hesitation in his eyes. The Spirit noticed it and began to frown in question, wondering what's going through the usually unreadable Death Mage's head.

"Beatrice."

"Mm?"

"Would you care to form a minor Contract with me? Just to keep the things I will share to you this moment to yourself?"

Grimaced, Beatrice sat up a little straighter and addressed him very firmly, "Now what has brought that on?"

"I'm in the mood to tell you all about the anecdotes my people had regarding the stars in the sky. Though I have little amount of hobbies, recounting the names of stars to myself is one of my favorites, something I shared with my kin." He looked over his shoulder to look at the others enjoying themselves in the feast: an intoxicated Emilia and Rem were cuddling very intimately; Ram was admiring the sight of the two with a drink in her head, barely intoxicated since her 5th bottle; Puck and Roswaal were engaged in amicable conversation; Meili and Viandegroc were trying out snow-creatures on the floor; and Mother simply stood by the wall, watching everything go by passively. "Considering that you and I are the only ones without company, I might as well give us both something to pass the time. Keen to know?"

Apparently, she is. If the little smile on her face and the shine of readable interest in her eyes was any indication, but it was quickly replaced by question again, "Why does this concern Betty's secrecy?"

With nonchalance, he told her, "Because beyond the Great Waterfall, the stars are formed differently there."

The Spirit was taken greatly aback, her eyes completely wide as she just heard something completely phenomenal about the Death Mage in front of her. She had doubt in her butterfly pupils at first, trying to see if he was joking around. After a few seconds when she realized that he is absolutely not joking, she could barely let out the words.

"N-no wonder…..I suppose…."

"Indeed," Emurdol nodded, knowing that she is finally piecing together things she gathered about him ever since meeting him, "No wonder, indeed." He held out his white hand towards her, palm open and fingers splayed out, "I simply ask that you tell no one about this."

She stared at his hand, back to his face, then to the hand again. "Not even your daughter?"

He shrugged, "Not to worry. She already knows."

Her face slowly loosened its stiff muscles, and she let out a deep sigh before taking his hand into hers, interlocking fingers. After saying the incantation, the Contract is finally made.

With a slight rise on the corner of his lips, Emurdol shifted closer to Beatrice and held her opposite shoulder, her nearest shoulder touching his side. "W-what are you doing, in fact?"

"I cannot name these stars before us for their names are not known to me, therefore I shall show you my stars instead." He began surging her mana to her system, and he felt her slightly shaking in his grasp, energized by it, "A literal Memory Walk."

With a flash of his green eyes and his hand holding her shoulder brewing with great energy, Beatrice is taken away to a certain point of Life, at the day when the young Emurdol first saw the Above-World for the very first time.

The smell of life, grass, freshness, dew, water, and ripe earth was overwhelming. The feeling of wind, grass, and earth was beyond imagination. Beatrice's borrowed eyes looked up to the sky, the eyes that had seen darkness for all of its 14 years in the world below, unable to process all these new sensations for the first time, and Vra'Ugthol greeted her with a countless salutations as Her Eye gazed upon her motherly.

Emurdol's voice of a countless sounds took a tone that she had never heard before, strangely calming but equally unsettling, "I bid you welcome, to the forsaken and forgiven world of Pandemonium, Beatrice."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

An armored right hand sporting sharp steel on the fingertips reached up to cover a yawning mouth, revealing a red tongue and impossibly white teeth before it closed.

"Now that I noticed, Emurdol…" He turned to Emilia, wondering what she noticed about him. "I've never actually seen you yawn before. Are you sleepy or something? Do you want to go back to the lodge and call it a day for now?"

He shook his head, white locks swishing in waves, dismissing the offer as he began moving forward and took a bite out of his apple. In this world, they call them 'appas' apparently. Ridiculous, in my opinion.

So long as they are delicious, however, then he will not care. Besides, it was nice of Emilia to cool the temperature of the fruit for him without a prompt, making it as if pulled out of the refrigerator. There was one factor about apples that he preferred over anything else, and the girl remembers. Such a good friend.

"I wish Remi could come thoouugh….." Meili muttered, finishing the last of her second apple, easily bisecting the core into several pieces with her pointy teeth and swallowing before taking out her third serving of fruit. "And she wanted to come too….busy maidyyy."

Too bad the dear maid was busy with her duties. If it wasn't for that, Rem would have been the one to be with the pair instead of Emilia. Or he and Meili could have gone on their own, separate from each other on the way, and see if she could navigate back to the lodge on her own. A training exercise in the middle of a free day where they could do as they wished. His daughter is a strong girl, thugs sending mischief her way will incur her wrath, so he isn't worried. Even if there was trouble that she could not handle, Viandegroc will be close by. As of now, the Flesh Golem is somewhere, hiding from sight and only coming out once needed.

Unfortunately, it isn't a free day, and someone who knows the streets of the Capital, even if a little, is a must. He may have been here once but his navigation over it is very lacking. Tailing Emilia during his first day on this world wasn't rewarding, considering the circumstances. At least he can track his original path back then, from the bazaar and leading to the Slums. But he doesn't know where the garrison is. Seeing Reinhard will be a priority for the day, to exercise Meili's combat ability for the first time against somebody that's not him or his creations, Viandegroc included.

Considering how that knight seemed to be idealistically friendly that he declared Emurdol a friend instantly the sooner the latter suggested it, the opportunity couldn't be wasted. A strong knight like him, powerful enough to destroy the building and what's in front of it into rubble and debris with a single sword swing, his presence will be called to the Royal Selection, for security or other reasons alike.

If he doesn't find him today, that's fine. There's still armor to find, someone capable of enchanting a knife, and information gathering. He's going to be very busy with the Souls in a day later or two.

Walking through the populated streets, filled with human and nonhuman persons made him feel queasy for the first time since being in this world. Beastmen; lizardmen; those with animal-like traits like beastly ears or tail on a human body; average-built; so gigantic they completely looked hostile despite doing regular things; or as ridiculously small as a dog—these beings were enemies in Pandemonium, deserving to be put to the scythe and their Souls sent to the Dragon for judgment. Walking among them as if they were no different than the regular human didn't sit right with him at the moment. Seeing the cat-like emissary two days ago alone was one thing but so many in sight was another. It's making him tense, bordering to the point of paranoia.

Whenever he sees one in his old world, he would not think twice about killing it unless information is to be tortured out of it. Even if it's been more than an hour now, his nerves aren't loosening at all due to the natural instinct to be on the lookout for a sneak attack in the presence of these beings.

"Tsk."

He needs to adapt to this. If he's not careful, he will become a liability to anyone associated with him the sooner his name was found out.

"I'll hold you back whenever I have to, okay, Papaaa?" Meili suddenly chimed, bringing his attention out of his ruminations and to her.

Processing her words, he found out that her Link allowed her to find out why he's being tense underneath the neutral and monotonous demeanor around him without being told about it, and she gave him assurance, granting ease in his situation.

Hmph. A funny thought it makes. He's entrusted with Rem's leash, his leash is suddenly in the hands of his daughter. He nodded her his gratitude. "Thank you, An'k."

"You're welcooome."

"Eh?" Emilia turned an oblivious look to the little one on her right, then to Emurdol on her left. Zigzagging a couple times, she asked, "What was that, Little Meili?"

"Papa's getting uneasy with the crooowd." She gestured to the people in front of her with her apple hand, comprising of all races, especially the nonhuman ones. With her wording, it would sound as if Emurdol didn't like crowds, even though he was okay with the people of Earlham. "It's just his issues, it'll be gooone. Ah, is that the place, Emilyyy?"

"Ah, yes it is."

Emurdol turned his eyes to the location Meili pointed at, and found himself scowling murderously, eyes glowing a bright green and his dagger-like sneer showing, doing nothing to hide his spite. There was a wall in front of him, as if a section of the city is divided. Connected to the wall was a building that served more as a gateway or checkpoint. Past that checkpoint was a place definitely called the Nobles' District. Compared to the market street or the one behind him, the District is far more glamorous. The roads, the buildings, the trees, the walls, the people—everything is made refined, clearly by the insane amount of money invested to appear superior to those on his side of the wall. Who lived at the Upper Crest and who lived beneath were immediately clear just by looking at which side you are on at this wall.

The visible divide of social class did nothing but stir his hatred. Pandemonium or not, Idiots never change.

Above-Worlders and their fucking hierarchies.

"Emilyyy, care to do the honors?" Meili gestured with a gloved hand towards the door of the garrison, not wishing for the half-elf to notice his face, "I don't think me or Papa will look perfect knocking on their doooors."

"Oh, okay. Wait here." As she stepped up to door and was about to knock on it, it suddenly opened and a young man poked his face out, looking at Emilia in slight surprise.

"Well, well. If it isn't Lady Emilia. It isn't often that I meet an acquaintance in a place like this." The man stepped out and bowed elegantly to the half-elf, "It is nice to see you again, Lady Emilia. You haven't changed since then."

The man recognized her despite the concealing hood. The site of it made the father and daughter pair's green eyes flash brightly, but Emilia's response immediately dissuaded all tension.

"Yes, thank you. No changes in particular. I see you are also well, Julius." Her voice was polite but carrying the tinge of informality and ease as she answered, signifying that this man is safe company.

"I am honored to be remembered by you, and your beauty has only grown more, Lady Emilia." Polished in a fine mixture of gentlemanliness and soldierly-conduct, he complimented Emilia, further cementing his status as an indiscriminate individual who doesn't care about the half-elf's lineage, allowing more incentive for Emurdol to give the man a fairer treatment. He's quite handsome as well, with his tidy violet hair and elegant frame. His red and white regalia clearly denotes his status as a Royal Knight instead of a simple guardsman like the ones he's seen patrolling the regular streets. The primary indication of his rank was his sword, an ornate rapier hanging from his hip.

"Isn't it rare for a Royal Knight like you to be here at the garrison?" Emilia asked, confirming Emurdol's thoughts.

"I've come to express appreciation to the soldiers for their continued service and take the opportunity to observe the city as I go. But for now, not today. A friend of mine asked me to pay a visit, and I supposed it is good to put friends first once in a while. After all, I was able to lay my eyes upon a beautiful flower along the path."

With motions as polished as his attitude and uniform, he knelt to one knee before Emilia, grasped her hand and kissed the knuckles.

Hmm. So some courtesies are consistent, Emurdol mentally noted. The gesture was considered old-fashioned back in Pandemonium, and it was just recently revived in the Above-World not many years prior before he was forced to this world.

"Thank you, Julius. Forgive me for the sudden request but I would like to get in touch with the castle about a certain matter."

Julius turned to Emurdol and Meili, his eyes lingering on the bone cuirass behind the necromagus' crossed arms. "I assume this matter concerns those two as well? Could they be relatives of yours?"

It must be the hair. Emurdol commented mentally, with Meili nodding in agreement to him silently.

"Oh, no they aren't but yes, it concerns them as well." Emilia turned to the two, gesturing to the knight, "This is Julius Euclius, an acquaintance of mine."

Meili stepped forward, take out the bone wand strapped to her belt and had it click the rhythm of greetings as she placed it against her chest and bowed, her other arm holding the paper bag of 20 apples close to her side. Emurdol matched the beat, clapping his hands in greetings and inclining his head. "My name's Meili Sinnuldel, Ser Kniiiight. Behind me is my Papa, Emurdol Viandegroc. Pardon his silence, his speech is halted for the momeeent." She introduced, speaking in a noble's tongue as she holstered her wand.

The knight calmly marveled at her sophisticated vocabulary, responding with the same respect she had in her tone; neutral. "It is my privilege to meet you both, and I express my condolences to you and your father, Miss Meili."

Emurdol did not like the way he almost came off as condescending with his words. Robotically, he nodded as if to accept it but mainly for the courtesy.

Turning to Emilia, Julius said, "I shall guide you to the conference mirrors, then, Lady Emilia. Though it pains my heart to bring you into a humble place such as this, Lady Emilia."

Emurdol doesn't like him as much anymore. Such words commonly carried so much false sincerity it's so palpable to him that he could literally see it. However, this man seemed to be genuinely honest with his pained feelings for bringing the half-elf to the garrison.

Not something he'd see everyday. He has more encounters with liars and snobbish nobles who only say those things to be polite and never out of sincerity.

"You needn't be concerned. I'm quite all right, so would you kindly?" Emilia requested again.

"Very well, come in."

With that, Julius went back inside the building.

"Emilyyy! We'll wait outside, okayyy?" Meili warned, already backing away from the garrison doors.

Emilia nodded, entering the door and leaving the two to themselves.

He turned to his daughter, patting her shoulder with his armored hand. "Wise move."

Meili giggled, leaning her head against his wrist, "I don't want anybody inside to recognize me anyway, even with my hair white."

She's maintaining her caution, and he's proud of that. He turned around and headed to an alley, to get away from the sun. Meili quickly followed beside him, satisfied with her appetite and not taking another apple from the bag as she held his armored left hand.

Then she suddenly called out, "Papa."

His Link giving him the urge to look to the right, his eyes found a woman wearing a dress of pure red going to a back alley, led by shady-looking characters.

Whoever those characters might be, they had the balls to do their business in front of the garrison if they happened to be thugs or rapists. However, it happened in a garrison's blind spot. There was no way they could have been noticed. If there was any reason for them to be noticed, even without Meili's enhanced eyesight, it was because of the color red of that dress seeming to sear into anyone's eyes, even if glanced.

"Wanna check it oout?" Meili suggested.

"I'd like to." His reply was instantaneous, finding himself in the mood to commit mild violence against another person once again, but he quickly held the urge down, not needing Emotion Suppression to do so. "But you told the Dear Girl that we would wait here."

"Then how about I gooo?"

He turned to his daughter, raising an eyebrow in awe, "Are you sure? Can you handle it?"

"Yeah!" She immediately affirmed, excited to have a moment to exert her independence. "You're planning to get me lost in the Capital anyway so why nooot?"

He found himself nodding in agreement, just a bit surprised. So she found out his motives through the Link. No matter, he had confidence that she'll find her way back anyway. Her training could cover for such an issue. He's just giving her an opportunity to do whatever she liked in the Capital, to either explore or buy something she liked before coming back. Life in the Mansion must have been a little dull for her by now.

"You have to keep three things in mind."

"Uh huh?"

"Do not use your spells. Do not remove your glove. If you feel forced to use magic, call for the Idiot."

Not once did Meili ever hear her father address Viandegroc by any other name besides 'Idiot'. The grudge he held against him for releasing the Shade still hung on to this day. Even if the decay on his body is removed or healed, would Emurdol still forgive him then?

She's not certain of it, but that's none of her concern.

"Basically, don't draw attention." She summarized, earning a nod from Emurdol. "Okay, you hold this nooow." She put the bag of apples to his hands and gave him a quick kiss to his cheek before heading out into the closest alley. "Gotta goooo."

"Take care, An'k."

"I knooow. Love you, Papaaa." With that finished, Meili's form suddenly disappeared in a blur, perfectly performing a dash that she couldn't do weeks ago. Looking up, he found his daughter lifting herself up the edge of the roof and slickly disappearing out of sight like a daylight ghost. Without even trying, her body is moving in a certain grace only Priestesses of the Serpent could do.

She's growing up. Her ordaining may be sooner than expected. Would her attitude fit the criteria by then, however?

But these questions are not for today. For now, he's going to wait at the corner of an alley and see if Emilia's got ahold of Reinhardt through whatever means were possible to contact somebody from faraway. Conference mirrors, yes? It could be like the ones in the laboratories owned by magi and wizards back in Pandemonium, contacting Kings or other magicians easily by turning the mirror into a visual portal, transmitting sound and sight.

A few minutes after waiting, he heard the rustling of metal trash bins, and his green eyes turned to look. He saw a blatantly suspicious-looking man lifting up the lids and looking down inside of them, as if expecting to find gold or a person in there.

A shiny black knight helmet with a red ponytail worn over the head, a rugged capelet hiding the shoulders, an open vest showing well-built muscles, simple leather pants and sandals. His attire is quite disorganized, as if they were all he had, and with the broadsword horizontally placed and sheathed on the back of his belt, he completely filled the image of a bandit. Emurdol questioned how this man was not questioned or arrested already.

What he wondered more, however, was how this man lost a whole left arm.

He could hear the man singing a tune despite how his 20 meter distance, not caring about the rhythm or melody, clearly taking his time in whatever the hell he's doing.

"Duh-dum, duh-dum, tuh-duh-duh-duh-duh. Duh-dum, duh-dum, tuh-duh-duh-duh-duh."

Emurdol's blood suddenly froze, his breath turning still and his eyes widened in complete horror. The pattern of the riff, the melody itself….it couldn't be possible. There's no way…

…..I know that song.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"I see, so yer associated to that white guy from a month ago?" The old Giant stated, scratching his large rugged chin with his thick fingers.

"I'm his brother, actually. It's my pleasure, Mr. Rom." The handsome boy held out a small hand to Rom, his wide sleeves hanging off his slim arm, and the latter's bigger own practically smushed the former's as he took it, shaking it up and down in a gentle fashion. "How come you here in the Capital?"

"I was gonna ask ya same." Rom retorted, sitting on the ground and folding his legs, "What'sa relative of that guy doing here? Ergh, Viandegroc, right?"

The flesh golem nodded, "To accompany him in his business. In your case, if I were to hazard a guess, you are looking for the Little One named Felt, aren't you?"

"Then I don' need to ask ya." Rom nodded, "Yeah, I am. D'ya know where my granddaughter went runnin' off to? It's been a month."

"I see you aren't informed." Viandegroc emoted a frown on his face, the thousands of compacted flesh contorting to express inquiry, "But how could you not? You were left in Ser Reinhardt's care, last I've heard from the white elf."

"Meh. I ran outta the garrison the sooner I could stand up, not that I'm not thankin' their healing me though…anyway, where'd she go?"

"Under Ser Reinhardt's care and custody, though even I do not know the reasons why he did what he did." He informed, motionless but keeping his face mobile, from eye-blink to facial cheek muscles, making sure it doesn't look unnatural but completely human-like in the process. "Beyond that, I know nothing more."

Rom sighed heavily, scratching his bald head and looking at a direction where the Royal Castle would be seen from a high vantage point. "But….the House of Astrea….of all things…."

"If it's any assurance to you, my Brother could possibly be speaking with Ser Reinhardt this very moment. I'm very certain he will inquire about Felt." He leaned forward, placing a hand on Rom's gigantic shoulder, making the size of his hand very infantile in comparison to the Giant before him, "I will relay your concerns to him, and I shall inform you on whatever information Brother has received about your dear granddaughter."

"Can I trust ya though?" Rom quirked an eyebrow in caution and question, "Too good t'be true, what yer tellin' me here."

"My Brother is benevolent, and I perform his will. Whether he speaks it or not, he would tell you whatever news he got from Ser Reinhardt." Patting him once in the shoulder, Viandegroc let him go and leaned back upright, "He has a soft spot for those who would give all that they have for their family, related or not. The choice to believe me or not is up to you."

Rom stared, his creases deepening as he looked closely for any signs of a deceit. Eventually, the hope in the old Giant's eyes practically lit up, as his expressions began to lighten and regarded the flesh golem differently now, "For a young'n, yer quite mature for yer looks."

"If that is a compliment, then I shall accept."

"But still, thanks." Wistfully, his eyes went downward, "I care so much for that girl…I couldn't thank ya enough for that. I'll pay ya back with what I can, I swear."

"Reward my Brother, not me." Viandegroc performed a courteous bow, "Once I am notified, how can I contact you?"

"Right…." Rom rubbed his chin in thought for a few moments before having an idea, "There's a fruit vendor in the market named Cadmon. Tell'm my name and he'll know what to do."

"What a coincidence. That's the same person my Brother and his daughter had bought apples from."

"Apples?" The Giant wore a weird look over the terminology used, "Don't ya mean Appas?"

"UUUNCLLLLLEEEE!" A shrill call came from the run-down street, bringing Rom's attention to the owner, completely missing the way Viandegroc's head completely turned a complete 110 degrees to the right that a normal human neck would have snapped from it before he righted his posture to look convincing. "I'M IN TROUUUBLLLLEEE!"

"Such a bothersome caterwauling thee maketh, beest silent, whelp. It vexes mine own ears."

Here was Meili running over to him at top speeds, entering through the gap between buildings and into the narrow alley where Rom and Viandegroc were, her hood down, her white hair suddenly free of its braid and holding a very bewitching woman's hand as she ran, the former amazingly catching up to the little one despite the extravagant dress and the heels she wore.

If Viandegroc had a human mind, he would have gawked at the intense amount of beauty the woman had. She had brilliant orange hair, almost as if the sun had dyed her locks itself. Her red eyes were defiant and fierce, and her skin was as white as snow, partially comparable to Emurdol's, Meili's or even Emilia's. Her pure red dress looked incredibly magnificent, clashing against the decrepit environment around them, and the jewelry she had on her neck, ears and fingers looked as if they will cost five times more than everything a simple man has ever owned in his house.

The kind of beauty she had was otherworldly, something only the Corruption of Gluttony could ever match against. While Sally was built like honey, to lure and entice all who gaze upon her, this woman was a poisonous flower, beautiful but clearly best unapproached when knowing better.

Still, Flesh Golem's do not have fleshly desires, so Viandegroc gave her only a glance, regarding her as a simple entity, and turned to Meili with arms crossed, "What have you done, Niece?"

"Buncha bad guys!" She quickly informed, and Viandegroc knew the rest from there straightaway. "I was gonna handle 'em myself but Papa didn't let me use magic, and I didn't wanna hit them since it'd cause attention so I tried to get them confused with the Ghosties and ran outta there with this lady the sooner they were distracted."

"Those peasants wouldst not giveth up." The lady in red added boredly, crossing her arms under her bountiful breast, showing a bountiful amount of skin on her shoulders and cleavage from her dress, "Tenacious, I might sayeth myself, but none less significant than a bunch of rabid hounds."

Meili looked behind her, expecting a group of angry men with sticks and knives to come out at any moment. She turned to Viandegroc, "Can you deal with them, Uncle? I don't think I can beat them without magic on my own."

"If I do, that will only draw even more attention than those of just scum."

"Hide this way then, quick!" Rom indicated to a pile of wood scraps, meager by appearance but effective enough to be ignored immediately, and it's big enough to fit her and the woman in red. "I'll keep 'em off ya."

Forcefully, Meili pulled the woman into the indicated spot, clamping her mouth with her gloved hand and shoving her in before getting herself inside. She's highly visible with the opening in direct line of sight in the path where the thugs would pass by. "Um, I think I'm exposed here!"

"I'll hide ya with my body, but be quiet." Rom quickly squatted down in front of the hiding spot's opening, his large frame serving as a good cover. With the way it looked from Viandegroc's point of view, it is very convincing.

The Flesh Golem quickly crawled up the walls and to the rooftops like a lizard, creeping out the Giant who watched it all before the gang was heard coming, their raucous footsteps and angry shouting getting closer and closer. Coming out of the gap in-between the buildings, the leader of the group eyed Rom distastefully. "Thought it was the brats but it's just you, old man!"

"What'd you want?" That simple inquiry alone without any added incentive from Rom sounded as if an aggravated bear was the one asking, and it made the group's eyes widen and took a slight step back.

One of the punks, however, pointed at the old Giant and jeered, "Hey, it's Gramps Cromwell, should ya really be talkin' smack to us here?"

Viandegroc, perched from the edge of the roof, looked down on the thugs like an eagle spotting a horde of trapped rabbits, his handsome features morphing into an inhuman quality of calm that it could be considered unnatural, eyeing the person most likely to lash out to violence at the given opportunity to do so, readying his fist to pound the bastard's face straight to the ground upon descending down like a rock.

"Don't call me by that name, I'll send ya flyin'."

"Bugger off, old man, or we'll trash that house of yours and make ya a laughingstock of the slums."

"Actually, the place is turning into a pile'a shit over the years. Ya'd be doin' me a favor so I'll just sit here."

Immediately defeated, the thug switched topics, "Fine. Ya see two brats runnin' this way?"

"Didn't see 'em. Do you know where my blond daughter is?"

"The hell do I know? Ya picked her off the street so what's it to ya? Yer going senile, old man!" The group of thugs went away, laughing derisively at the old Giant. Rom held himself and his anger back, biting his lip and stiffening his crossed arms.

His head following after their leaving forms, never leaving his perch until they were truly gone, Viandegroc pitched himself off the edge and fell headfirst towards the ground, only to flip and land soundlessly on his feet as he touched the stony floors, puffing up a cloud of dust in the process.

"Hoo! That was close! Thanks, Old Man!" Meili stepped out of the hiding spot and hugged Rom's massive arm before running over to Viandegroc, smacking herself against his waist, her arms wrapped around him. The latter moved to pat her back and head, easing her nerves if she were rattled. She looked up to his handsome face, looking fresh from something exciting instead of something harrowing like nearly getting caught by unkind men. "Am I glad to see yoouu."

"And I assume your idea of getting lost is finding trouble then." Viandegroc knew the original plan of the day Emurdol had for Meili, equally sharing his optimism for the little one to find her way back, but this is beyond what was expected. "Drawing attention is not our way. Our magic is a natural taboo to society, have we not taught you about this?"

Meili squeezed Viandegroc's waist fiercely, and it would have crushed his pelvis if he had one in the first place, "I know thaaat! It's just a buncha bad guys and rapists so nobody's gonna believe theeeem, and I got Papa's permission. Just no magic and no changing my hand, and run if I can't handle iiiit."

"I seeth thou art speaking to this young man v'ry intimately." The woman in red stepped up to the pair, ignoring Rom behind her, "What be his name? Answer."

Closing her eyes, suppressing the irritation that's been brewing up ever since she found out the kind of personality she had, Meili opened her eyes again and gestured to the robed boy, "It's my Uncle. We're close, and my Papa's his brotheeer."

The woman in red hummed, her mouth covered by her ornate fan as she regarded Viandegroc very sharply. Then, she snapped her fan close and pointed it at the flesh golem, "Thee and thy uncle has't charm unlike most of the ingraft'rs I've ev'r did lay mine own eyes on. Rejoice and revel, f'r mine own praise isn't simply given."

The Flesh Golem emoted a raised eyebrow, "You speak as if the world revolves around you—"

"And it does. This world is built to mine convenience. Nothing occurs that is not to mine own benefit. 'tis from mine own will that nothing hath befallen me or thee, whelp, so thy gratitude shall become thy debt to me."

…..

…...…..

…...…..…..

Everything without a hint of irony or doubt, as if it was obvious, irrefutable, undebatable, unquestionable, and absolute, completely speaking as if it were common sense—she completely believes everything she just said.

Viandegroc was glad that Meili didn't try to retaliate against those thugs with her physical power, only presenting herself under the persona of a simple daddy's girl, one that could run faster than a grown adult, apparently.

Viandegroc was well-versed with Madness, thanks to his company in the Court, but he's also familiar with the face of Greed and Arrogance. Whoever this woman is, she cannot be handled carelessly lest dreadful consequences befall him or anyone else associated to him. Any other human or nonhuman and Viandegroc will not be merciful with shoving reality down anyone's throats….but not this one. Even he knows that Emurdol will be very careful in handling this image of Arrogance.

If this had been Pandemonium or Emurdol was uninvolved with anyone in this world, the freedom to take this girl's head would have been handed over to anyone with the balls to do so. Viandegroc would have taken it without a second wasted. She'd make a fine addition to the Court, and her flesh would look beautiful on Mother's new body.

Turning to Rom, who was silent the whole time, Viandegroc said his farewells, "I will be seeing you again, Rom. I'll relay whatever information I have about Felt to you as soon as I can."

"Thanks." The old Giant nodded, rising to his feet, "Remember, it's Cadmon the Fruit Vendor." He turned to Meili, "Ya be careful, Missy. Might not be around to help ya a second time if ya rile up those boys again."

And with that, Rom walked away with his every light step a stomp.

Turning to Meili, her left hand still clutching his robes, he held her cheek with his leather-covered hand to face him, "Can you find your way back?"

She nodded, the light of her olive green eyes now dull from the influence of Emotion Suppression. She had the urge to give the woman a piece of her mind and she stopped herself from doing so, aware of the consequences if she dared let herself fall to her irritation. A smart thing to do.

"Then go." He gestured to the direction where Emurdol was, pointing directly at a wall, and past many, many layers from there, her father and Emilia will be right there in the entrance of the alley she entered from, waiting. "Brother is waiting."

Nodding one more time, she pulled him close to give him her obligatory kiss on the cheek and began walking away, unhurried in her speed as she pulled her hood up. Pulling his own hood over his head as well and putting on his kitty mask, Viandegroc glided away around the corner, disappearing from sight, leaving only the woman in red watching him go before she walked after the little one.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Whoa….man, that is…really? I mean…last time, I was just goin' to school like usual back in my world. Does time move differently there or something compared to here? I mean….damn. Seriously though, the Rapture? The Rapture happened while I was gone?"

This bandit-looking chap, Aldebaran or Al for short, looked quite lax and unperturbed despite hearing what could possibly be a mind-blowing fact regarding the world he came from. Or the world Pandemonium used to be.

Emurdol slightly tilted his head in wonder, "You don't seem quite shocked as I expect you to be."

"Hey, man." Al waved it off with his only hand, "After 18 years in this world, I don't think much's gonna surprise me anymore, you know?"

"18 years, hm?" A pronounced frown made its way to Emurdol's face. 18 years is far too short a time. How could this be? "The Rapture happened many, many Millennia ago. The Old World is dead, gone forever. Earth is no longer Earth. The Planet has grown bigger than before and there's still more territory to be explored and charted down before I was brought to this world."

"Well, I thought Earth was bigger already but damn." He rested the cheek of his black helm on his fist, "Ya guys still didn't chart everything after a thousand years? Must be a hell of an adventure to whoever's gutsy enough to do it."

Emurdol inwardly smirked. The Order of the Serpent has explored many, many parts of the uncharted places in Pandemonium that the Above-World could barely hope to match the feats. Even he himself went further and further down into more dangerous territory, killing any monstrosity that came his way while he searched for good materials besides bones and flesh.

Does the Above-World need the maps the Order has made over the years? No.

"What about skyscrapers and electricity? Modern tech? They all gone too?"

Emurdol nodded, feeling nostalgic to hear those words once again, "Hell and its Demons destroyed everything of the Old World. The only thing that never changed were the Stars. This modern technology and electricity you speak of is but a thing of the Past."

"Buuut….considerin' ya recognize the tune of Sorcerer's Apprentice, I think some songs managed to stay alive, didn't it?"

"It recurred, actually. It was theorized by many that memories of the Old World were returning to the consciousness of any living generation." He turned to Al, looking deeply into the slits of his black visor, "The fact that you come from the Old World and know the song solidifies the theory. It isn't certain if it's either a sign of humanity healing itself or a sign that the Rapture will repeat itself. Songs were a first, but steadily, ideas and concepts of the Old World were the next to return. Good or bad, it was growing back into our minds."

"Well…" Al turned to face Emurdol's way, leaning slightly a bit forward to look closely, "Lookin' at you, seems like things turned out fine back on Earth, didn't it?"

Emurdol nodded. Even if Idiots heavily populated the Above-World, the fact that everything remained stable despite their inherent evil nature as human beings deserves praise.

They are still idiots though, and Emurdol will never change his mind regarding that. All the good humans were taken up unto Heaven when the Rapture began, anyway.

"Earth is dead." The eldritch voice was very firm. The term itself is considered taboo, even in the Underground City. "Pandemonium is its name now, the land of demons and condemned souls who do not deserve Heaven. It was but a Millennia ago when the humans usurped the World back into their hands. We killed our demons and restored the World back to Life when the Seraphim came down to grant us a second chance to go to Heaven."

"Ah, could it be the Second Coming of Christ?" Al excitedly asked, "It's gotta be, right? I mean, if those 6 winged angels are gonna come down and say every soul in Hell's got a chance for cloudy Heaven, it has to be the case. Man, how could I miss it?"

"It is." Emurdol solemnly nodded, "A large majority of the first Redeemed humans devoted themselves to a life of repentance and goodness according to the so-called 'will of God', making sure they abandon their old ways and live for the sake of good. Some chose to live by their own rules, not according to vague guides dictated by God's angels but by their own way of living without succumbing to their old ways. The rift born from it still lives on to this day."

"Okay, and how'd that go?"

Emurdol harrumphed, contemplating how despite being pushed to the point of no hope in their history, humans never changed. "Time happened. It has been a Millennia since then, and their devotion to goodness and repentance wasted away to stagnation, bringing back the mundane life that was once ripe back in the Old World. The discovery of magic created even more diversions from the straight and narrow path."

"Then what happened to those who lived by their own rules?"

"They created the next generations of humans that lived beneath the ground." Emurdol unlocked the clasps of his gauntlet and removed it, revealing his black skeleton hand, "Humans like me. We lived in a search for fulfillment and enlightenment—we lived for the sake of Living, not for the aftermath of our Death. And compared to the others who lived under the 'will of God', we never changed no matter how long time has passed."

"Ah ha! Necromancers!" Al looked quite excited at the sight of his hand, and he easily deducted Emurdol's profession with just that. "Right, I gotcha! Man, I miss Diablo 2."

"Do not call me a Necromancer." The monstrous voice in Al's head got even more ferocious, and Emurdol's eyes glowed a blinding green, comparable to an Old World illumination device called a flashlight pointed at one's general direction. "Necromancers are those who use dark magic for their own deranged reasons. A depravity of our sacred practice. My kind, the Order of the Serpent, are Necromagi. There is a difference. Compared to them, we practice dark magic for the sake of knowledge and growth."

Al was silent for a bit, then his helm nodded, "Right. I gotcha. Sorry for offendin' ya, man. Didn't think people like you got a lot more structure in your profession than that."

So the Old World knows much about their kind before its birth, then? Or maybe, it was the idea that had grown back to the founders of the Order of the Serpent's consciousness that brought his kind to existence? He never considered that before.

"Hey, I gotta ask." Al held up a finger, friendly in speech and demeanor ever since this conversation began, "When the humans took back the world, uh Pandemonium you call it now, and they wiped out the demons of hell and all, are those monsters really gone or are there still survivors?"

Emurdol shook his head slowly.

"They cannot truly be wiped out." Unfortunately, that was a truth in Pandemonium's Reality, and fortunately, their existence maintains an assuring thought of knowing what is truly Evil and what makes a person not. "No matter the effort, they will keep coming back to existence, so every human must either learn how to fight as early as possible, or let themselves be put under the protection of Kings and Kingdoms."

"Were there adventurers or the like to fight those monsters?"

"Some do so for the common good, some do so for profit, some do so for research, some do so for glory, some do so for knowledge, some do so for catharsis—kinds of people would hunt down Hellspawn for their own reasons." He will say nothing about the Supreme Sins, the Evil that grows inside humanity, not outside of them. It is the most dangerous kind where no one realizes what's happening until it's too late. "Pandemonium is ripe with eccentric varieties. But compared to this world…." Emurdol turned to look at the townsfolk walking by the entrance of the alley they sat idly by with Emilia, who listened in on the entire conversation. "….any nonhuman existence we see is considered an enemy, considering the first instinct they have against humanity is to kill them, eat them, or rape them for procreation."

"Damn." Al's tone didn't sound like it came with a frown, it sounded as if it meant nothing unusual to him. "You doin' alright in this world, with all the demihumans walking around like normal people, doing normal things and living normal lives?"

"It is unusual and shocking, but I can adapt."

"Hope you do, man." Al leaned back into the wall, shifting lightly in the stool made out of ivory he sat on, its appearance looking like a normal wooden chair painted bone-white. "By the way, you sure your kiddo found my companion?"

Emurdol tapped his head with his skeleton hand before putting on his gauntlet again, clasping the locks and straps back on, "When it comes to her, I am rarely ever wrong. We simply wait and see what happens."

"Um, while we do," Finally, Emilia decided to speak up, raising a hand up and pulling an apple out of the paper bag she held, "Why don't we eat some appas? We don't want to be seen by our missing companions asleep, do we?"

"Sure, I am feeling kinda hungry right now. Can I have one?"

"Help yourself." Instead of throwing it to him, Emilia stood up from her stool and approached Al, holding out the opening of the paper bag to the chap as he took out an apple with his only hand.

"Thanks, girl." Nodding to Emilia, he turned to Emurdol, lifting up the fruit in hand. "Appas, eh? They still call 'em 'apples' back home?"

"Yes, I enjoy them."

"Alrighty then." With an outstretched finger of his hand holding the apple, he lifted up his helm just a bit to reveal his mouth and a bit of his nose before taking a big bite out of the fruit.

And Emurdol saw many scars on his flesh. Whatever Al went through when he came to this world, 'past the Great Waterfall', as common knowledge seems to put it like Meili did, it did not went easily. He could have been a simple man in the Old World, not knowing anything about combat or worry, and he barely survived it. It could possibly explain the loss of his arm.

"You want some, Emurdol?" Emilia held out the bag to him.

He shook his head, "I have enough for today."

"Okay." She returned to her seat beside him. Compared to the two, Emurdol had his legs form four legs that stood on the ground and supported his rear, practically forming a chair. "You two got along swell."

"I find it strange." Emurdol began to unclasp his left gauntlet, letting his white hand feel the cool of the air before taking Emilia's right hand, interlocking fingers with her.

"Cold." The girl isn't opposed to it, merely squeezing against the cool of his arm with her own warmth.

"Emilia."

"Yes, Emurdol?"

"I'm going to tell you a couple of things regarding where I come from, but I want you to make me a promise."

The word 'promise' made her straighten her back, her grip on his hand tightening a little more, and her amethyst eyes hardened in resolve. The way she looked so determined over something so small was cute.

"Never tell this to anyone besides yourself and Puck." For the sake of protection, this is something that must never be spread out carelessly. Pandemonium should not get involved with this world, untainted and untouched by its Evil. Curiosity will only make things worse. "It will only be up to me to tell others about it."

Placing the bag of apples down, she placed her left hand on his own together with the other and swore, "I promise, Emurdol. What you shall say to me will never reach the ears of others from my mouth."

Bringing her close to bump foreheads, he squeezed her two hands tightly, "Trust." Leaning back against the wall and releasing her hand, he began, "In a time when the world moved on and humanity remained the same, the Rapture happened."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

She let out a sigh as she placed the last stack of boxes on the back of the carriage, wiping her forehead even though there's no sweat to begin with. "That must be all of it."

"Ah, thank you, my dear Zakurah." The elderly merchant thanked, wiping his sweaty brow with the towel hung around his neck. "I feel quite ashamed that an old man like me needs help with his packing, especially with a girl."

"Oh no," Zakurah shook her head, her braided blond hair wiggling like a snake in the motion. "It would not right for you to handle everything by yourself. I mean, you could hurt yourself."

"It's a lot more embarrassing that you can actually carry three stacks of those boxes by your little self." The merchant commented with a jest tone, scratching his head that was beginning to lose its hair, "I mean, those things have urns in them. And I could still only carry one even if I was as young as you are."

"Please." Modestly and politely, the blond waved off the compliments, "This strength isn't my own. It's given to me by the Lord, and He could easily take it away from me, so I don't deserve the credit."

The old man only laughed, drawing a questioning frown on Zakurah's forehead, "Oh, I like you, little one. These days, modesty is decaying on people your age so it's a real breath of fresh of air." He dug into his pockets, pulled out a small pouch that jingled with the coins inside, and threw it to the blond.

Zakurah caught it without thinking, and when her mind caught up to what was happening, she began frowning again, "I…I can't. I was merely helping."

"And that deserves a reward, my dear Zakurah. No refunds." He moved to climb up to the box seat of his dragon carriage. "Kindness is lacking in this world, you know." With a grunt, he got himself to his elevated seat and cracked the reins.

In no time, the dragon carriage was far away.

"Truly, these dragons outmatch horses quite easily." She commented in awe, then looked down on the pouch of money in her hands and shook it, counting maybe 30 pieces inside from the sound. "I guess I could buy Raeburn's favorite burger with it. Maybe three, and one for me."

Stuffing it in her pockets and heading on her way, she looked up to the skies, noting that they are starting to turn orange. "It's been a month, hasn't it? Yet, I still don't know why God has brought me to this world."

She greatly envies Raeburn. He's been around in this world for more than 5 years and he's doing remarkably well in surviving it, especially in a Nation that professes the Philosophy of 'Might Makes Right' in its whole structure. Compared to her, she felt as if she has nothing left. Even with her doing anything she could to help whoever is in need, or doing whatever she can inside Raeburn's household to avoid freeloading, she still felt unfulfilled.

She took an oath, the very same one her master had took when he made the initiative to purge the corruption of the Church; to protect all that is good, stand above all temptation, and devote all of her heart and soul into the duty she has as a Holy Knight. She had devoted her life to that duty for the last 3 years ever since her master died.

Yet, once she takes a look at her surroundings, where everything is simple and quiet, no worry over a hellspawn suddenly coming out of nowhere, with all of these demihumans walking alongside humans, the very same kind she has been fighting and killing for the sake of the people who are terrorized by them, it clearly gives away the fact that she's not needed here.

She sighed heavily, scratching her head. "I wonder if the other Knights ever asked themselves if the world ever needs them anymore once their duty is done, hypothetically. Those monsters never stop coming, not to say the Corruption too…..huh?"

She suddenly felt hostility, aimed at her. She found herself stop walking, her natural instincts sending her body into high alert and her hand reaching for her waist, only to realize that she left her sword at Raeburn's house, including her shield and armor. She's left only in a simple dress she had difficulty wearing at first.

This hostility has a certain tinge to it, something she didn't think would pick up again ever since coming to this world. It was very familiar.

The hostility of the Undead.

Her guard up, fists clenched, she raised her gaze from the ground and looked straight forward, right into lightless dark blue eyes glaring directly at her, the beautiful face concealed under the hood of a dark red robe.

The ornate pipe the hooded woman had in hand immediately gave her the sign that she was in complete danger, including the populace around her. Even if it's only five years and she has never seen it for herself, she cannot mistake its design for anything else, "Gluttony…."

Seeming to have been recognized, Gluttony pointed a finger upwards, the middle one. Zakurah looked up without moving her head, and she gasped internally before back to the diabolical woman.

There were daggers and stakes made out of green vapors floating above every innocent in the area, aiming directly at their heads. They are all being held hostage without even knowing it, and if she got too hasty, they'd be killed and no one will be able to track down the culprit since the murder weapon is made out of smoke.

The pedestrians passed by her and Gluttony, completely oblivious to the conflict of death glares happening between them, unaware of the precarious situation this place has become.

Gluttony looked to her right and jerked her head to the direction, indicating an alleyway before she glided her way through it, silently sending the threat: 'Follow, or they die'.

Gritting her teeth, righteous fury boiling inside her heart, she immediately made her decision. Armored or not, armed or not, she will stop this crises before any innocent lives are taken. She is a Holy Knight, sworn to protect the innocent, and today, she will fully realize her role.

Pericus didn't neglect training her in situations if she is ever caught unarmed.

Briskly, she went over to the alleyway Gluttony went into and prepared for the worst. It's clearly a trap, but walking into one is different from knowing that it's there. Besides, what she's dealing with is an Undead woman. She had her fair share of them back in Pandemonium, but one happening to be the Supreme Corruption of Gluttony who was killed years ago by the Hero of Pandemonium is a first.

Stepping into the darkness of the alley, and walking through a series of turns that sent her further and further away from the busy streets, leading her into one of the abandoned streets of the Capital where desolate and broken buildings were found, isolated from human activity. And she saw Gluttony stood in the middle of a ruin like a beautiful figure of a painting who just walked out of the frame, leering at her venomously and murderously, the lip of the pipe in-between her sharp teeth. The green vapors were forming a cloud above her head and trailing around her body like a sash.

Zakurah didn't fail to sense sharp objects pointed down on her head and behind her the sooner she was here, just like the other weapons of vapor surrounding her in a circle, from knife to axe.

With steel in her voice, the blonde demanded, "Leave the innocents out of this. This is only between you and me, Gluttony."

"Innocent…." The sharp hiss escaped out of her lips as if it were bitter, trails of green smoke seeping out through her teeth, "Innocent…..yes, innocent…..Are they as innocent as the Holy Knights were when they razed an innocent village just for performing sacred hospitality to a Priest of the Serpent who saved their lives?"

Her hand instantly flew to the center of her chest, and a blinding white light erupted from her entire body, dissipating every green projectile that rocketed towards her form into nothing, including the aroma that could have forced her tense muscles to loosen.

Lowering her hand down from her chest, the holy rosary shining through the cloth of her blouse and her fists glowing a sanctifying yellow, she created a practical bubble of protection around her form just in time, shredding any trace of the Smoky Bull whenever it came near.

Despite the blessing she's done to purify anything around her, always reliable in instantly annihilating any undead that was ever in the vicinity with the Holy Light, Gluttony still stood as if nothing has affected her.

Zakurah squared her stance, raising her fists coated with holy energy at eye level, "Of course you still live."

"Wrong…." The Undead woman continued glaring at her, blowing out a larger cloud in front of her, creating even more implements of murder and pelting her aura of protection in vain, "…..I've been dead ever since the Death Mage who entered my chambers melted my facccce…."

The blonde stomped the ground, her leather shoes shattering the stony earth and she smoothly grabbed the biggest chunk of cement off the cracks with one hand, effortlessly whirling the stone around her in a circle before she threw it straight to Gluttony's face, flying in the speed of an arrow.

The woman jerked her pipe upwards and the green vapors gathered in front of her, the stone shattering apart upon meeting contact with the smoke as if it was the sturdiest walls of a fortress.

"I remember the first Holy Knight who stepped into my chambersss…..he showed me how all of you are complete liars before I ate him….." Speaking in ever-so-lustful tones that is trying to break into her consciousness, forcing her to submit to temptation while the vapors continued to pepper her shield with every means of splitting her body apart, Gluttony literally did nothing else except stand still and smoke her pipe while glaring.

"Breakers of their oaths be damned." She swung her right fist sideways, clearing out the cloud that's trying to surround her before she kicked the shattered ground forward, sending clumps and bits of stone flying at dangerous speeds. They pierced right through the ruins, creating even more cracks and damages, but they never so much as rippled the mist of the Smoky Bull, leaving the monster behind it untouched. "That cur deserves to die if he ever falls to your temptations."

"You and your Order are no different than me and the other Sins….." Figures of hellspawns that ran amok in Pandemonium began forming around Zakurah, sporting vaporing teeth and claws that are guaranteed to rip her apart instead of dispersing once they touched her, "...even if I have never met him, I can perfectly tell before that the Cardinal was corrupted with the Sin of Wrath….."

A hulking hellspawn swung a club-like arm at her head, only for the wrist to meet the wrath of her fist and dissipate into nothingness. An imitation of a hell knight, sporting thorny armor and a serrated blade swung its sword at her neck, only to hit her hand that went to block it and break the weapon to simple air, as if her arm had the durability of a mountain, before an uppercut sent its head flying and its entire form to thin air.

The gigantic maw that was about to bite her head off only lost its teeth and its entire upper jaw with its entire form being next, thanks to her strengthening the aura around her form. With a whirl, her hands boiling with the magic she learned from Raeburn, her fingers exhumed superheated rays of light and swung it like a claw to the remaining smoky imitations, chanting a fierce canto, "Jiwald!"

Hellspawns made out of living vapors were incinerated to nothing, and whatever ruins were in the direction of her swing were cut to pieces, like a hot knife through butter, before they toppled over in clean slices and created a cloud of dust in its fall.

She whirled back to face Gluttony, just in time to see a large chunk of cement flying straight to her mug, payback for what she gave to the woman. And her mien was fully intact, especially her hair, when the hard stone collided against her skin and crumbled apart, leaving only her blouse and skirt to suffer the brunt of the punishment by sustaining shreds and cuts.

As if she didn't suffer a faceful of cement, Zakurah retorted, "The Cardinal and his zealots are all dead. His evil is no more. My Master made sure of that."

"Hmph…" A giant blade emerged from the green cloud escaping Gluttony's lips and swung towards her horizontally, promising to bisect the blonde in half, and Zakurah's slim arm coated with holy energy easily stopped the strike, without the slightest budge or flinch, "…and you expect yourself to be forgiven….? The sins of your Order and your fellow knights absolved and be loved again by the humans….?"

Giant axes spun towards the girl, flying like thrown hatchets, and Zakurah blocked every single one with her bare forearms, not the slightest mark or cut on her skin each time, and her braid is still intact despite the movement she's making.

"Why do you continue that forsaken duty of yours when the Order is founded on poison and lies…? The Order of the Serpent are loved more than your accursed Church will ever be…..now your filth has managed to reach this world as well…."

With a cry, she raised her fists high in a cross and spread them apart, sending out another blast of blinding light from her form, the pupils in her eyes lost in the bright of the Heavens and decimating the smoky weapons coming her way before she leapt towards Gluttony, cracking the ground behind her and rearing her fist back.

Her fist sunk elbow-deep into the cement, the place the Undead woman had been before she was suddenly in the last place Zakurah had been. A radical position-switch.

"Forget yourself being brought back to Life and why." She pulled her fist out of the ground, grey powder coating her fist all the way to the elbow, before turning around to face Gluttony, swatting aside a thrown boulder aside as if it were a paper ball, asking, "How are you in this world? Were you brought here by the same rift that did the same to me? Was the Necromancer who reanimated you also here as well?"

"None of that matters….." She blew out large quantities of smoke, gathering to the fallen ruins Zakurah felled with her Light spell of Jiwald, picking them up with a green mist underneath each rubble and lifting them up high as if they weighed no more than air, counting to more than 50 chunks, some the size of two fists together and some big enough to crush ten men flat. "…I will rid this world of your filth and be done with it, then I'll deliver your corpse to the boy."

With a point of her finger, the middle one, a storm of stone and mortar fell upon Zakurah.

The impact created an even bigger cloud of dust and an even louder sound that the guards patrolling the Capital streets could definitely see and hear it from afar, now drawing attention to the trouble that was happening in one of the abandoned parts of the City.

When the dust cleared, what was left of Zakurah was a giant tower shield that stood diagonally towards the sky, the front bearing the engravings of the Holy Cross and the Archangel Michael, the symbol of the Order of Holy Knights.

With an audible grunt and a click of metal, the tower shield split in the middle and Zakurah was seen kneeling against the ground before she stood up, the two heavy halves strapped to each of her arms and easily lifted up as if they weighed like a cut of parchment, their size so large compared to her average stature of 5'8" that they had to be angled horizontally by her side.

The blond watched the vivid shock on Gluttony's face, surprising even herself to see it on the Undead woman when the latter impressed her as dispassionate and detached from the world except to her own hunger and wanton lust of the flesh.

Zakurah watched the surprise slowly devolved into lividness. Wrath. The Undead woman was suddenly angry, the murder in her dark blue eyes burning bright with hatred and loathing as they burned a hole into the blonde's skull.

"Why….." Gone was that honeysweet tone of hers, and a monstrous dialogue escaped out of her morphing mouth. "…do you have that…!?"

Zakurah frowned cautiously and stood back, her shields at the ready, suddenly feeling that things are about to get a lot worse than it already had. The pressure of Gluttony's presence had expanded, and it wore down on her confidence when she didn't have her armor and sword with her.

The woman's eyes melted, sinking back into her head before she no longer had any sockets. A second mouth filled with sharp teeth took its place, drooling and growling.

Her dark red robes suddenly slipped off her form, as if her body had suddenly became too small for it, and they fell to the ground, revealing a featureless body that sported many, many mouths full of teeth. Their deep growls shook the ground, vibrated her chest, and filled the air with a haunting omen.

Then her torso contorted, shifted, expanded, enlarging to gigantic sizes while her lower half shrunk, the legs melting into nothing but stubs and merging together into a tail that ended in a dangerous spike that toppled down a rundown building's wall.

In a matter of seconds, the multi-mouthed half of a blind giant glowered over her with an apparent spite in its features, screaming the voice of a Legion that shook the world.

"WhY iS pErIcUs' ShIeLd iN yOuR hAnDs!?"

In a speed defying its size, the Abomination raised its four-fingered hand towards the sky and swung it down on her as soon as she put the tower shield together above her, blocking the strike that could have destroyed an entire building. Yet Zakurah suffered the blow without the slightest budge, one knee on the ground and the floors beneath her cracking, sinking her down by several meters.

Her mind wasn't focused on the current situation at hand or a plan of action to defeat Gluttony, but more to the fact that this monster had suddenly said her Master's name and even recognized the shield as having once belonged to him when he lived.

With a cry, she pushed against the abomination's hand, sending it high enough before she jumped away and escaped the fate of being flattened on the crater by the monster's fist. One half of the shield facing the creature, the other held horizontally and protecting her side, she asked in a shout, "How do you know my Master's name!? The Hero, Emurdol Viandegroc, and Kozam Ironhand were the only ones he told his name to! So how do you know him!?"

Gluttony's response was to scream bloody murder, mixing the sounds of screaming babies, yelling women, and roaring men together, loud enough to shake the very earth as if an earthquake was occurring as she reared back a fist and threw it viciously like a battering ram.

The force of the blow five times the might of a boulder launched by a trebuchet, including the fact that she isn't wearing her armor, she couldn't hold herself in place and ended up sliding a few meters backwards, destroying her shoes in the process, her left shield blocking the blow while the right shield faced behind her, the bottom digging into the ground and leaving a long trench as she tried to stop the momentum. The shockwave of the punch knocked over the weakest structures around them as well.

The right shield hitting the wall of a ruin and stopping her momentum entirely, destroying the decrepit structure behind her after absorbing the force of her impact, she put both halves together in front of her and charged, leaping off the ground and heading straight towards the Abomination's face, moving in the speed of an arrow.

Gluttony quickly caught Zakurah in the air with her massive hand and smashed her straight to the ground, the lack of armor giving her no favors in being an unstoppable juggernaut and instead rendering her power halved.

Due to the power granted to her, the damage she suffered wasn't enough to kill nor even harm her, her spine and the skin of her back perfectly intact save for her blouse, but she was left pinned under the weight of the abomination's hand, held back by the giant tower shield, the crater she's in sinking deeper and deeper, the cracks of the ground widening with her in the epicenter.

Then it stopped.

The suddenness of the lack of hostility and pressure made her open her tightly-closed eyes, looking up to the giant palm and peeking through the gaps of its fingers, looking at Gluttony staring at a direction to the right, as if there was someone calling her.

Then the Abomination growled, sending powerful vibrations across her body from mere contact with its hand that it could have killed a lesser warrior before it was lifted off her. Sitting up quickly, separating the shield into two halves again, she watched as Gluttony began shrinking, her many mouths closing and disappearing into the flesh before she was now an extremely beautiful and alluring woman again, having the perfect curves and a face that would burn all hearts.

The Smoky Bull pipe suddenly appearing in her hands, she took a deep pull before letting out an idle smoke, the venomous glare returning to her dark blue orbs, "You've earned the chance for an audience…." Seductive and full of temptation, she walked over to her discarded robes and picked it up with her toes before bringing it to her free hand, hiding the front of her featureless body with it like an innocent maiden, all without breaking eye contact.

An extremely enticing action.

Zakurah was glad for her training in strength and spirit, for lesser men and women would have lost their minds at the mere sight of her.

"Tomorrow, return to this place and I will entertain you civilly. We shall exchange information and answers…." The green cloud surrounded her form, every bit of her flesh within sight slowly being shrouded into concealment, and the murder in her eyes became even more palpable, "….if it weren't for the mercy of the Hero of Pandemonium, I will never let you live another second in my presencccce…!"

With the last few words of her sentence turning demonic, the Corruption of Gluttony was fully cocooned in her vapors and glided away into the darkness of a nearby alley, practically sinking into the shadows and vanishing like a ghost.

At the exact moment she was gone, the city guards arrived into the scene, swords drawn and forms tense, and once they saw a roughed-up woman buried into a crater, they were quick to come to her aid.

"Miss, are you alright!?" One asked, kneeling down beside her and placing an armored hand on her shoulder, "What happened here!?"

"By the Dragon, what on earth happened here?" Another guard asked, looking at the amount of damage this place had sustained.

"John, the woman. How is she?" The third guard asked the one next to her, looking at all directions for who could have caused this mess.

"Miss, can you hear me?" The guard shook her shoulder gently, trying to get her attention. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

Zakurah half-listened to the guard and blankly raised a hand to show she's fine, not answering any of his questions but only raising more.

She said 'Hero of Pandemonium'…..there was only one Hero since a millennia ago…and he disappeared 5 years ago.

Her eyes widened in realization and disbelief, unsure whether this was a complete coincidence or God had actually sent her the blessing she has been praying for.

"Miss…are you alright?"

…it can't be…..it can't be him….

…...but Emurdol Viandegroc was the only one who slain Gluttony, and he was a Priest of the Serpent….it has to be him. There's no way she could have been Undead and be here otherwise…..

"Oh Lord, you truly work in mysterious ways." She muttered, a small smile on her lips despite what just happened minutes ago.

"Miss?"

She lightly huffed in a small chuckle, shaking her head, her braid swinging back and forth before she stood up on her feet, rolling her shoulders one by one. Then she finally noticed the shreds on her clothes and her lack of footwear. Her bare feet were pristinely immaculate, never having suffered the worst of the struggle, "Oh dear."

"Mi-miss?" Suddenly, the guard attending her was timid, looking to the side.

Turning a questioning gaze to the man, "Yes?"

"Y-your back." He stuttered, still looking away while gesturing to her back, "The back of your garments are….lacking."

Raising her eyebrows, she looked at the other men and noticed that they were also looking away from her. She patted her rear, the long skirt dirty but thankfully not too damaged. She patted her back, she felt her bare skin powdered by shattered cement and stone.

"Ah, I see…" Instead of being flustered, she simply picked up the two halves of her Master's shield, baffling the men as they watched a girl with an average build lift up thick blocks of ornate steel with her bare hands and slammed them together, creating a deafening sound and forming the biggest tower shield they ever laid eyes on before she strapped it to her back, effectively hiding her shame.

The girl never so much as buckled from the weight of carrying what's practically a gate like a backpack.

"There, that's better." Patting the guard's shoulders and addressing the rest, who are still wide-eyed and frozen in shock, she told them, "Thank you for your continued service to the public. I'll pray that you will all be rewarded for doing your duties."

With that, she walked out of the ruins, walked sideways through the alleyway she entered from, and left behind speechless guardsmen who came to find out what's wrong only to end up questioning their sanity.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Papa~~" Meili quickly ran up to him the sooner he was in her sights.

Emurdol stood up, bent his knees and received his daughter, raising her high in the air before squeezing her to himself, kissing her in the left eye.

"Aw, ain't that sweet?" Cooed Al, patting his chest softly, "Stayin' sane ain't easy 'less ya got something to work hard for or go home to, and I see ya got one."

"Yes," Emilia agreed, smiling at the hugging pair. "Though she's adopted, they love each other very much."

"Hmm…so necros can actually have kids and love 'em, eh…" Al said in awe and wonder, then shrugged, "Well, you learn something new everyday, right?"

Parting the hugs only at the chest, Meili remaining clung onto him with her legs around his waist and keeping her from slipping off with his arms around her rear, Emurdol adjusted her position till she sat on his left forearm and gestured to the bandit-looking chap, "Meili, this is Aldebaran. A fellow from Beyond the Waterfall, just like me."

"Hello!" Al greeted cheerfully, enthusiastically waving his hand. "You're a lot cuter than I expected, kiddo. Daddy must be so lucky to have ya in the house, eh?"

Meili, still under the influence of Emotion Suppression, held out a hand towards him, palms facing the man and fingers splayed apart, "Meili's my name. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Al reached out and interlocked fingers with the little one, dwarfing Meili's hand with his larger own, then shook it up and down, drawing out a robotic smile from her lips.

"Mmm, How p'rceptive of thee to waiteth f'r me at mine own destination, Al." The woman that Meili had brought with her commented, addressing Al. "Thy loyalty is commendable."

Al laughed, releasing Meili's hand, "To be honest, I wanna say that he's the one who knew you were coming but that's just gonna tick you off so I'm just gonna agree. Yep! It's just like you said, Princess! Truly knew you were comin'!"

If Meili's emotions were unrestrained, she would be baffled looking at the bandit-looking chap ruffle the domineering woman's orange hair with his palm and receiving no backlash for his audacity. Her mind only acknowledged a close relationship between the woman in red and Al.

The latter looked at his companion, then turned to the three and said, "Oh yeah, I just realized, the people we were lookin' for just happened to be together. Don't you think its fate, man?"

"I don't believe in Fate." Emurdol's voice was very derisive, "It's just a fantasy made by spineless idiots who do not know what they want."

There were many prophecies in the archives of any scholar or wizard back in Pandemonium, and they were proven wrong time and time again by the hands of humans.

Humans are wonderful beings.

Suddenly, he felt Emilia suddenly hide behind him, pulling her hood down even further and hiding from what's in front of him.

Intrigue rose up in Emurdol's mind when it was the woman in red the half-elf was hiding from, staring at her sharply and intently with his green orbs, trying to see what could be the reason she's cowering from her.

"What? Staring at me, peasant?" The woman suddenly asked Emurdol, haughtily and pompously, "Drinking in the beauty thee shall dearly misseth once I depart? C'rtainly, mine own beauty is so divine 'tis sinful but 'tis malapert to stareth in silence."

Emurdol successfully forced himself into Emotion Suppression before he made a biting retort, stopping the remark he has about her disgusting Soul that resided in a useless lump of meat that deserved to be preserved in one of his jars from coming out, "Now that we have received who we are waiting for, shall we part?"

Strangely, the woman didn't react to the eldritch voice in her head. He wanted to see her freak out.

"Yeah, sure." Al shrugged, "Would'a liked to talk a little more but guess we got some business to do, eh?"

Nodding, he turned around, with Emilia following the same motion, and he pushed her forward, making sure she isn't seen by using his frame to cover her, made bigger by the cloak on his shoulders. "I'll pick these up."

He crouched down to pick up the bag of apples and pass it to Meili's hands. Emilia was visibly stiff under her concealing cloak when she was briefly exposed but he quickly assured her by putting an armored hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"Wait." The woman called out, forcing Emurdol to stop walking. "What is in the bag the whelp carries?"

"Appas." Meili answered before he could. Emurdol turned around once again just to face her. His daughter pulled one fruit out, showing it to her, "See?"

The woman blinked, then snorted and regarded her like an imbecile, "Lie. Do not joke to me. Appas are white, understood? I has't absolutely nev'r seen fruit like that."

The surprise that crossed Meili and Emurdol's mind was enough to break through the Emotion Suppression and release the emotion free, letting it show on their once-blank faces. "Y…you never seen an unpeeled appaaaa?"

"Indeed not. I have never seen one that was not at the dinner table."

SPOILED.

That was the only thought that crossed both their minds, and they successfully held down the fire that lit up in their hearts before it forced their faces to sneer viciously and derisively. Only a light glow of their green eyes was all that indicated it.

Meili threw the apple in hand to the woman, and she caught it with both hands. "They're tasty even if unpeeeled."

Since his daughter was benevolent enough to give one to somebody she loathed, Emurdol did the same and threw one to Al. The latter caught it easily with his only hand before saluting them with a finger gratefully. "Thanks, you two! Ya'll are so kind."

Leaving it at that, Emurdol nodded and walked away, pushing Emilia along by the shoulder, keeping his arm draped around it to assure her. She kept her head down all the way.

"Thanks for helpin' out with my search, you guys!"

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Haaaa, what a daaaayyyy…." Meili sighed, leaning against Emurdol's chest, fighting back the urge to close her eyes while she's gently and pleasantly rocked as she sat on his forearm, her father and Emilia walking side by side back to the lodge.

Emurdol eyed the grim look on the half-elf's face, and it's been there ever since leaving the woman and Al. "If there is something wrong, Dear Girl, you can tell us."

A brief silence passed by before she suddenly stopped walking, lifting her gaze up to look Meili in the eye. Meili noticed her demeanor and met her gaze, "Little Meili….where did…..why…..how did you meet that girl?"

Meili stared at Emilia. Meili turned to face Emurdol. Emurdol met her glance. Both turned back to Emilia and the daughter answered, "Curiosityyy? I thought she was about to get in trouble so Papa gave me permission to help but noooo. She didn't actually neeeed it."

Emurdol smoothed some locks that fell on Meili's face to behind her ears, bouncing her lightly in his arm, "She was the trouble, apparently. Cocky woman."

"I already haaaate her."

Emilia let out a relieved sigh for the answers, "That girl…the one in red? I don't know if she told you but she is actually the—"

"Fucking there you are! Been lookin' all over for ya, damn it!"

Instead of being surprised at the sudden hostility, Meili and Emurdol only closed their eyes in resignation, wondering just how their animosity is still fresh despite the amount of time that's passed.

Looking around them, the thugs from earlier had surrounded the three, blocking the streets on both sides and cutting off any escape, some brandishing mean weapons. Meili eyed them pitifully for failing to realize what they are in for if they actually want this fight.

At the vanguard was somebody Emurdol vaguely remembered, one of the first three thugs he's ever met since coming to this world. That bulky idiot with the green vest and a fat belly. He thought he broke this bastard's jaw. "I've been lookin' for you and that woman to pay ya back for trickin' me before….!"

Doesn't seem to remember him, perfectly fitting for a nickname like 'Idiot'.

Instead of acknowledging the threat, Emurdol turned to face his daughter, who looked down in shame. "I thought you neutralized them, Meili. What happened?"

Looking up, weakly smiling, she gave her best reasoning, "Because it'd be loud…?"

Sighing, he set her down and crossed his arms, looking at her, "Clean up your mess. I'll be watching."

As if she was told to clean her room instead of being told to get rid of a group of grown men by herself, Meili's gaze went downwards in resignation, "Okaayyy." Turning to Emilia, she held out the bag of apples in her hands, "Hold this, pleeaaase."

Wordlesssly, the half-elf took them before Meili faced the crowd of thugs and pulled off the glove of her hand, flexing her brown fingers and rotating her wrist. The demeanor of an admonished little girl disappeared, giving way for the presence of a tiger to take her place, emanating a pressure of danger just by standing and staring at them with glowing olive green eyes, the thugs were taken aback by it.

Just as she was about to perform her best dash towards the fat idiot, his head was suddenly pressed into the ground, buried into the stony floors, shocking the others.

Instead of Meili's fist taking the credit, a shoe was the one who done the deed.

"Rem came here tracking Ser Emurdol's scent. What kind of disturbance is this?"

The familiar voice and the recognizable figure that stood over the fat idiot's head sent the battle mindset off Meili's head and instead filled her with glee, "Remiiii!"

"Yes. It's your lovable and favorite maid, Rem." With a cute smile, Rem primly performed a curtsy to Meili and the two behind her, as if she isn't standing above someone's head very painfully. "Is something the problem?"

Meili opened her mouth, raising up a finger before she pointed at the body below the maid's feet, "Is he okayyy?"

Rem looked down below her feet, the idiot letting out one final groan before losing consciousness altogether.

"He is breathing."

"Yaaay!" Meili began clapping her hands jubilantly, as if she just watched an attraction play out, "And she didn't even kill him despite breaking the floooor! I'd kill somebody if I triiied! Look, everybodyyyy! That's my and Papa's cute wiiiife!"

"Oh no….I am Ser Emudol's wife…it makes me blush…."

The atmosphere between Meili and a blushing Rem contrasted the thugs' own, who reeled at her sudden arrival of violence, but they quickly got their bearings back. "D-don't think we're done here! Ya think ya'll gonna get outta this alive…!?"

The shaking of that voice didn't help with the weak force of threat, but it was enough to make Rem revert to that professional maid persona of hers and face the group of thugs calmly but viciously, "Rem judges that these men threaten the safety of Ser Emurdol, Meili and Lady Emilia."

The thugs faltered yet again, seeing something so innocent become instantly hostile for the second time in no less than two minutes.

"Rem?"

The maid looked over her shoulder, "Yes?"

Stepping forward, cracking the knuckles of his left hand, with Meili following beside him and doing the same thing, Emurdol's face finally broke out of its constant neutral visage, presenting a rare sadistic smile that threatened to split his head in half, reserved for only when he's about to commit violence and harm. His daughter managed to overpower him in terms of terror quality by turning her teeth into sharp points.

"Leave some for me and my daughter. And please, spare their lives."

"You're as magnanimous as ever, Ser Emurdol!" Rem gushed, then turned back to the mob and said the next words in a pleasant mixture of loveliness and violence, "Rem shall half-kill them, then!"

With a fury, the three leapt to the crowd. Meili, cackling wickedly, was the first to land a blow, grabbing a bastard's face and sent it slamming to the ground. Rem sent more than a few flying with a single punch at a time. The wyrmm dodged a fist coming for the back of her head by leaning sideways and sent the assailant spinning to the ground with a backhand slap of her brown hand. Those who lunged the maid were easily sent flying to the walls or thrashed thoroughly.

Whoever tried to run from the fight, Emurdol made sure they never did by grabbing them off the ground and throwing them back to the vicious pair of sweet little girls as if being fed to the lions. Those who cowered received impartial treatment, punched by a delicate fist or whacked by a hand made out of witchbeast flesh.

Like a spider with the longest legs, with tentacle-like appendages made out of flexible spinal columns grabbing any fleeing idiot and throwing them back into the fight, Emurdol glowered over the horrified mob of thugs at a height of 12 feet off the ground, emulating the day he fed William the Supreme Corruption of Pride to the vengeful Army of the Dead, smiling wickedly and spreading his arms to the side. Eyes burning brightly, and his hair flaring out like a fan it framed his face terrifyingly, he burned a traumatic memory on all of them, the sound of monstrous laughing in their minds promising to haunt their sleep for the rest of their lives.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Here you go, Zakurah." With a smile, the black haired boy set a cup of warm tea before her on the table.

Nodding gratefully, she took the cup in her hands and blew into it, "Thank you as always, Ser Raeburn." Since coming back from the fight with the tower shield now put away, she put on another set of fresh clothes to replace her damaged ones. Now returned to her friend's home, meaning to tell him all about it, she is seated down to take a breath and have a cup of tea.

Chuckling good-naturedly and sighing exasperatingly, holding the teapot close to his chest, he replied, "Again, Zakurah, you slipped. How many times is it this time? You're not afraid to tell me that you enjoy battling and killing hellspawns even though the Knights of the Inverted Cross were supposed to be virtuous yet you always talk formally around me?"

Huffing in a short laugh, the Holy Knight brought the edge of the cup to her lips, "Forgive me….sorry, Raeburn, I lost count. You should understand, the habit could not be controlled." She then took a gentle sip, relishing in the good taste.

Raeburn put the kettle down on the table, sitting down on a chair across her, "I know, I know, but come on, it's been three weeks already. Shouldn't it be time for you to stop addressing me with 'Ser' since, I don't know, maybe two weeks ago?"

Lowering the cup to the table, licking her lips, she replied with a resolute tone, "Here or Pandemonium, I will slave if I must for the redemption of the Order's faith. My predecessors' wrath have caused so much pain to the innocents and it must be paid, not just in the things we do but in the way we are." She turned to face him, "We had this conversation before. You suffered from us once, I must pay for it."

The boy pursed his lips, having no argument on her resolve. For one thing, he had personally experienced the cruelty the Order of Holy Knights were capable of, and his village suffered a lot more. Being abandoned by them was one thing, but being demonized as heretics for using small parts of hellspawn anatomy as materials just to survive a single winter is completely inexcusable. They were completely cut off from the rest of the world, unable to trade for seeds and goods from passing merchants or even contact people from other civilizations. If it weren't for their tenacious efforts to create a self-sustaining environment, they would have starved to death a long time ago.

The Order of Holy Knights were supposed to protect the innocents, yet they leave the helpless behind for the smallest of slights whenever it concerned their dogma.

The mad Cultists took the opportunity the sooner it showed itself when the village was completely vulnerable and unprotected. If it weren't for Raeburn's gifts of dispelling curses and impurities that came when using hellspawn flesh as materials, they would have eradicated the village long ago. Being used as their tool was worth it if it kept them safe from their hands.

Clenching his fist, he sighed once as he looked back at the past, the only sound present being the crackling of the fireplace and Zakurah's steady breathing.

"Right…." Resting his crossed arms on the table, he looked the Holy Knight in the eye, "….you were meaning to tell me something, regarding what happened to you earlier?"

Zakurah nodded, "Yes, and I am not sure if you would believe me."

"Try me. 5 years in this world, where magic is fundamentally different and a great number of sentient species aren't even human, I'm pretty sure I could take it."

The blonde eyed him with scrutiny, trying to find any sort of bravado in his features and seeing only a serious air, she decided that she can try him, "But first, I have to ask."

"Yes?"

"Before you were forced to this world, what significant event can you remember has happened in Pandemonium?"

"Significant event? Hmm…." Raeburn rubbed his chin in thought, "…egh….um, you have to forgive me. My village was isolated from much of the world thanks to the Holy Order, and I've been a tool to cultists for more than a few years, so I'm not really up to speed with going ons in Pandemonium."

Zakurah lowered her head, "I'm sorry."

"No, no. It's okay." He waved her off, "I put it all behind me….however, there was one thing that spread throughout any civilization like wildfire. The Supreme Corruption of Gluttony, the monster woman that not even the Holy Knights could kill, was dead. I found it hard to believe at first but when I tried to see if it was true by going to her lair, I found her head on a pike in front of the entrance as if it was some sort of twisted trophy or sign that she's truly dead. When I tried to get inside and find her body, it was already caved-in."

Zakurah remembered her master talking about it when he last checked the place the Hero walked out of with a broken arm and a bleeding side when he killed Gluttony: the face was melted nearly to the bone, with little amount of skin or hair left, "Was that before or after you nearly died?"

His brow furrowed to remember, reaching to rub his right side and felt the scar through his tunic. The same place a black bone knife had sunk itself to years ago and nearly killed him. "….I think it was before. The Cultists wouldn't stop talking about it around me."

The Holy Knight nodded in understanding, then took a deep breath and braced herself, "…she's here."

Raeburn became still. Very still. His orange gaze slowly became dull, and his inquiry was monotonous, "Say again?"

Zakurah was stone-faced, "Gluttony is here, in this world with us. She was the one who attacked me earlier." She quickly raised her hand to stop him before the boy was fully stood up to his feet from his chair, "Before you do anything, hear me out."

Grim concern lingered in Raeburn's eyes but he hesitantly sat back down, trusting in the possibility that his friend could bear some good news as well, "I'm listening."

Taking her cup to her lips and drinking it whole, she put it down gently and continued, "If you think she actually survived, no. She's dead, fully and completely. But she has been brought back to life, and it's obviously by the work of necromancy."

Raeburn remained still. "How do you know it was her?"

A grim light took over her blue orbs, "She had a pipe with gold engravings that symbolized a bull. She was so beautiful she could tempt a man to sin with a mere whisper, and her hair was so red it could almost be mistaken for blood. She even tried to kill me with the green smoke of her pipe as if they were alive. There's no doubt that it's her."

Living green smoke from a pipe and impossible beauty that no one in Pandemonium could hold a candle to, the stories Raeburn heard about her clearly matched. Compared to the other Supreme Sins where their identities, faces, or locations are heavily secret, Gluttony was the most well-known. It's a remarkable feat for the witnesses themselves how they managed to know even the quality of her beauty and her methods of killing people without getting eaten by her.

"But when I summoned my Master's shields, Gluttony was suddenly clouded in rage when she looked at them." The information brought a frown on Raeburn's face, "She questioned why I have them. She even screamed my Master's name, as if she never expected me to have them in the first place."

An even deeper frown made its way to the boy's brow, "I thought you said your Master never fought a single Supreme Sin except Wrath, who was the Cardinal of the Church. How does she of all people know his name? Don't Holy Knights keep their identities secret?"

"That leads me to a certain possibility that even I couldn't believe but have to, considering the amount of evidence I noticed." Zakurah leaned forward, raising up a finger, speaking in the most hushed tones, "I told you before that the Hero who vanquished Gluttony, Envy, Pride and Greed, was a Priest of the Serpent, yes?"

Silently, Raeburn pondered over it, fiddling with his lower lip, and after a dozen seconds, he pieced it all together, the conclusion causing his eyes to open so widely that they threatened to pop out of his sockets.

Gluttony; back from the dead by necromancy; here in this world; knowing Pericus' name; and the Hero of Pandemonium disappeared five years ago.

When he tried to verbalize his thoughts, he nearly couldn't let it out, the weight of it practically making him crumble on the inside, and only by sheer force of will did he manage it, "The Hero…."

"Yes." Stiffly, the Holy Knight nodded. "The Hero, Emurdol Viandegroc is here in this world. When he finally killed Pride, he disappeared from existence a month and a half later. The last time he was ever seen was when he departed from the village that celebrated him to return to the City deep Underground. However, the only Priest of the Serpent I managed to have an audience with told me that he has never arrived to them. "

So, basically, the Hero was forced in the same circumstances as the two of them.

"And the reason why Gluttony is even alive right now, is because of him?" His voice was strained despite the whisper.

"That's very likely, yes." She interlocked her fingers in front of her mouth, "And Gluttony said I earned the chance for an audience tomorrow. She even said that if it weren't for the Hero of Pandemonium's mercy, she would not let me live another second in her presence."

He reached up to grab his hair and pulled, trying to make sense with what he's hearing. Subconsciously, his other hand went to rub the stab scar on his right side again. "It could be a trap."

"It could be, or maybe not, but I'm going anyway. This time, however, I'm not going there unprepared." Zakurah's determination shined from her blue eyes despite the dim lighting of the room, "I must meet the Hero of Pandemonium."

Raeburn learned a lot of things about the blonde in front of him since he found her lost and confused in the wilderness, but the most prominent among them was that once she decided upon something, she will live up to her name as a Holy Knight—she will never stop. Persuading her otherwise will yield no reward whatsoever. It will be like talking to a wall, because she is. She's a walking Metal Gate.

He sighed, resigned to the prospect of tomorrow, and stood up, walking to his room. Coming out of the door a few seconds later, he had a weapon resting on his shoulder, as long as his arm and just as thick. A long wooden shaft lined with blue magic stones with a stake-like metal pommel, and its head was a stack consisting of two blunt weapons: a flanged mace and above it an octagonal metal length with studs and spikes protruding across each side.

"I'll halt my daily jams for tomorrow." He held his club with both hands and began spinning it stylishly, the small magic stones glowing and leaving trails of mana in the air, showing experience and veteran handling with the weapon, "I'll come with you then. If it's going to end in a fight, then you will need me. As you know, I happen to be very skilled at fighting Death Mages."

"Hm." Knowing his strength and his record of surviving 5 years in this world in the Gladiator Islands of Ginunhive in Vollachia, Zakurah can trust in his strength. She held her chin, remembering the story of his life after she told him hers. "If I could remember, your first fight against a Priest of the Serpent led you to an inch of your life remaining."

"Remember, I was distracted when he stabbed me, and we had to work together to kill a Dracolich the Cult was actually making." Without missing a beat in the spins and twirls of his club, he retorted her with a pointed tone. "The fact that I didn't die means my 'murderer' decided I was worth sparing."

"You earned the right to live, Raeburn." The Holy Knight firmly pointed out, "You could have fallen to their evil but you didn't. He realized your plan to destroy the Cult from the inside and made sure the poison he stabbed into you doesn't kill you completely."

"You sound so sure, Zakurah, even though you haven't met him yet."

"And I am. My Master speaks very highly of him, and I believe his every word when he says that Emurdol Viandegroc is a good man despite his ways. I mean, why else would he bring you to an accomplished healer by himself when he could have just left you to die?"

"Well…that I can't deny." He couldn't believe the words of the High Empress who healed him when he came to that day. It altered the views he had on Priests of the Serpent completely, wrought by the propaganda of the Holy Knights, where it blatantly showed that the Pale Ones are not complete demons. "I have planned to track him down and thank him once I was fully recovered that day, but a group of insurgents in Vollachia forced me to this world before I could."

"And it's safe to say your gratitude involves clubbing, Raeburn?" Zakurah asked with a hint of a snark.

He chuckled, "It's not me, Zakurah." He stopped spinning his club and held it with both hands, looking at her ironically, "It's him you should be concerned about. The last impression I had of this Hero of yours is that he does not talk. The first thing he did once he saw me was to behead me with one of his six arms. If he sees you, a Holy Knight, his natural enemy at that, I'm very certain he will do worse than he did me."

"If it means I get to see the Hero of Pandemonium in action, then I shall accept whatever he throws at me." Zakurah reached inside her blouse and pulled out her silver rosary, kissing the Cross. "So long as God wills this power within me, I shall never fall."

He sighed, resting Schlangenbiss, Snake Bite, on his shoulder, hoping that this inevitable meeting ends well as fellow Pandemonians to another.