Investigating the Cause of the Undead Horde:

The next morning Maximus awoke with Aqua facing him. Seeing the peaceful yet hilarious position she was in made him laugh a little and grinned. He saw her mouth was open and a carefree expression on her face as though she was enjoying a dream. He dared not move to disturb her slumber.

The next moment the rooster crowed at first morning's light and the annoying sound echoed across the whole farm, slightly woke her up. She opened her eyes and saw he was awake.

"Hey, how long have you been awake?" She inquired.

"Not but mere moments before the rooster sounded off." He said and sat up. "You know, you never did show me around town."

She smiled a little and sat up in haste. "Well, allow me to give you the grand tour." She said feeling excited.

The two made their way into town and she began to show him several places they had been to before. In the marketplace they indulged on several food delicacies from fried toads to sea foods that were brought in. Maximus noticed she was carrying a large smile the whole time and she did not dare let go of his arm except to eat at a couple of spots.

The sun rose in the middle of the sky to indicate it was a midday and the two were laying down under a tree near the river. She sat up and saw another couple across the ways. She noticed the man was resting his head upon the woman's lap.

"I wonder if people who are serious about each other do this sort of thing. Then again, I do remember seeing that quite often when looking down upon Kazuma's world. So, maybe I should give it a try." She thought to herself and turned to Maximus. "Hey, Maximus, will you place your head on my lap with your legs stretched out to the river?" She asked.

Maximus looked towards her and noticed the genial and welcoming look in her eyes that was accompanied by a grin.

"Uh, sure." He replied not sure why she wanted to have him be like that.

He maneuvered himself into position and moments later soon felt relaxed. The softness of her skin was far more than he expected. Her thighs were well toned with the right amount of firmness that nearly rivaled a firm pillow. She noticed his whole body was not so tense as before and she began to rub his forehead.

"I don't know why, but the soreness I felt this morning seems to be dissipating. I think we should do this more often." He said looking into her eyes.

"Do you think it could be the stables cobblestone that is causing you these pains?" She inquired feeling a little concerned for his well-being.

"Maybe, but whatever is causing it we can worry about it another time. In the meantime, we should see about finding a suitable bed. I am not even sure how I was able to put up with it for as long as you say I did. Not to mention you, were you not feeling comfortable every morning like I was?" He inquired wondering about her experience during the mornings rise.

"Well, now that you mention it, I never felt too bad when I would wake up every morning." She replied looking up to think about it briefly.

"That is good to hear, but strange that only I am feeling the overwhelming soreness and not you. But I am glad you are not in any sort of pain." He said.

The next moment before they could continue the other three approached them.

"Maximus, Aqua," Megumin shouted to get their attention and they turned to her direction. "What have you two been doing, we were trying to look for you two for a while now. Also, why are you laying down with your head on her lap?" She inquired.

"Why do you want to know and why did you have to ruin our bonding moment?" Aqua snapped at them.

"Well, Maximus did tell me once that if two people in the party were going to have a relationship, just ensure you act professional with the others. So, it only makes sense they would want some alone time." Kazuma said.

"What do you mean by that?" Megumin asked not making any connection.

"Come on, surely you saw it before. The times he would give her a little more attention than the others. Not to mention she was having him carry her to town the other day." Kazuma explained.

"Well, you are here now, let us get this over with. What's the big emergency that I can sense in your voice?" Maximus inquired still laying his head on Aqua's lap and eyes closed.

"We have a new quest to go on!" Megumin shouted enthusiastically.

"Really, what kind of quest?" Aqua asked.

"The Guild wanted us to go and search for the location the Undead Army originated from and no one else wants to go out there." Kazuma informed them.

"I wonder why that is?" Maximus asked out loud.

"Who knows." Kazuma replied and had paused to wonder the same question. "Maybe there is something out there no one is mentioning that might scare even some of the bravest amongst them." He finished with his hand on his chin.

"Well, shall we head out right now Maximus? Can we, can we?" Darkness asked with her usual crazed smile nearly pressing her face against his and her hands grasping his coat.

"Hey, what's with you Darkness, don't get too close to him, give him his space!" Aqua shouted at her and Darkness shot a quick glance her way. "What's with her all of a sudden, getting so close to him in that manner and trying to make a declaration of intent with that smile of hers?" She said to herself.

"Well, that ruined the mood of my personal time with Aqua." Maximus said and began to stand up.

"Uh, hey,"

Before Aqua could continue, he stretched his hand down to help her stand up from the ground.

"Don't worry, we can pick this up later." He whispered and winked at her.

"I'll hold you to that." She smiled back and flicked his forehead.

"Well it's not like we could do anything being outnumbered three to two on this one." Maximus continued.

"Actually, I accepted it for all of us." Darkness said.

"Well, now I am not so sure about this at all." Maximus said feeling a little annoyed.

"Not that I am complaining, but what is going on with you lately, this is the second quest you have accepted on our behalf without even consulting the whole party?" Megumin asked.

"Please don't tell me you are hoping to experience more pain just to satisfy your desires for pleasure." Maximus said folding his arms with a hint of annoyance.

"Th-that is not the case!" Darkness protested. "I only wish to ensure the safety of everyone in town and to find the location where the Undead had originated from. Besides, it is not in the Knight's Code to seek out after pleasures." She said turning to the side pressing her arms together and rubbing her hands with a nervous look in her eyes. Her cheeks were turning red as the rose and they all could see she was lying.

"Nice cover genius." Kazuma said.

"Here stands Darkness, the Hypocritical Knight. Honestly, I thought all knights were sworn to honor, duty, loyalty, and to never tell a lie." Maximus said to berate her a little and began to walk away. "Come on, let's get this over with." He finished. "That way Aqua and I could get back to enjoying each other's company." He said to himself.

Darkness giggled a little after being berated by him.

They all caught up to him and began to walk where the general direction the Undead had marched from as well as seeing the footprints leading into the distance. Aqua took hold of his right arm to walk beside him and the two grinned at each other. They followed the road for some distance and both Megumin and Kazuma noticed they were walking down the same road the two would go every day to fire Explosion spells on Verdia's castle.

"Oh, hey, I just realized this is the same road we used to travel to that old castle." Kazuma said out loud starting to feel a little nervous.

"Really, you are serious when you say an actual castle?" Maximus inquired of him feeling a little excited.

"Yeah." Kazuma said noticing his excitement.

"Why do you sound a little excited?" Aqua inquired.

"When I was a kid I always wanted to live in a castle." Maximus confessed. "Me and my friends would play in a tree and have it be whatever we wanted it to be Those were fun times with them." He chuckled remembering his friends and could not help but wonder how they were doing.

"I can't really imagine you being a kid, considering how you are now." Aqua giggled.

"Seriously, are you sure you weren't born as you are now." Kazuma joked.

"Believe it or not, I was once a small lad like yourself in my youth. That is before I eventually grew up over time to what I am now." He said remembering how some of his friends reacted to his height.

"Maximus, Kazuma!" Darkness quickly shouted with joy.

"That's our names." Kazuma replied.

"Look there, upon that hilltop, a castle!" She said unable to contain her excitement.

Maximus focused his gaze upon it and soon saw the damages it had endured. "That's quite the castle," He paused for a moment to study it further.

"Are you sure, it looks as though it has gone through the ringer a couple of times." Aqua said with her hand over her eyes, studying it closer and could barely see the damages from the distance they stood from it.

"From this moment henceforth, this castle is mine." Maximus said with a childish grin forming on his face as he continued towards it.

"What, no, you cannot claim it for yourself!" Megumin protested. "Besides, what if that castle is being used for some other purpose or has already been claimed by someone else?" She inquired as she tried to hide her face.

"Wait, don't tell me this is the same castle Kazuma told me about. The same structure Verdia, one of the Demon King's Generals, was stationed at to watch over Axel for some reason? That very same one?" Maximus inquired noticing she was hiding her face. "Also, why are you hiding your face as though you are ashamed to admit something?"

"Well,"

Before Megumin could answer Kazuma placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a thumbs up. She nodded her head, trusting him.

"You see, the reason why she blows up that castle is because," He paused to take a deep breath. "She is super crazy about casting the Explosion spell and ever since she started to cast that spell onto it, she can't seem to get nowhere near the same satisfaction when blowing up a random open plain!" He shouted as he pointed at her.

"Th-that's not true!" She shouted at him feeling betrayed. "Well, actually he is right. Ever since I casted my magic upon something so big and hard, it wouldn't bring me any satisfaction at all if I cast my Explosion magic on anything else." She painfully admitted while holding her hat down over her face.

"Does she get aroused by doing that, how disturbing this little kid is." Maximus said to himself feeling disturbed by her. "And here I thought she would have been just an ordinary girl who was a little obsessed with magic, but to go that far." He shivered in disgust. "Well, it is my castle now so, no more blowing it up." He said and continued on towards it.

"B-but that is not fair! What else am I supposed to cast my spell on?" She whined like a young child who was punished.

"You will live without casting the spell I am sure of it." He shot back.

"N-no, a Crimson Demon must cast Explosion every day, for if not; it will die!" She informed him with a serious tone, in an effort to bluff her claim.

"What?!" Maximus stopped and turned back at her. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't." She said with a serious look in her eyes.

"Yes, you did." He shot back.

"No, I am serious!" She shouted with desperation.

"Ha, I knew it, with the way you just shouted confirmed it so, no more blowing up my castle." He said and continued.

"Fine then, Explosion!" She shouted and fired her spell upon the castle.

Before Maximus could react, the castle was rocked with a powerful explosion spell.

"What are you doing, that was going to be my new place to live, since it would have been a lot better than sleeping in some stupid stable! The thought of being in an actual bed would have been warmer and cozier to sleep in than some silly haystack! Plus, why did you use your one attack spell here and now?!" Maximus shouted in anger as the cloud of smoke engulfed it from view.

Megumin fell to the ground and giggled. "Burn to ash. If I cannot have it to use my Explosion magic on it, then you can't have it to live in either." The next moment her body was feeling tingling sensations all over it. "Wow, that felt amazing."

Maximus stood there feeling as though he were a child that had a precious new toy ripped away from him. Aqua stood next to him seeing the devastated look on his face and felt a little sad for him.

"Well, if nothing else, we can always try to see if there are any houses available in town." She suggested in a cheerful way to ease his discomfort.

"And there lies the problem, even after checking this morning before meeting up with you two, there still wasn't anything available." Kazuma said feeling the same discomfort as Maximus. He too was thinking about how awesome it would be to live in a castle. "I was going to be warm for the first time since the fall cold nights started." He sniffed his nose with tears beginning to form. "And now, it's back to the torturous nights in the stables."

Darkness could not help but wanting to be hit with Megumin's spell. "Oh, if only you could have,"

"Shut up!" Both Maximus and Kazuma shouted at her.

"Oh yes, berate me more!" She said with orgasmic bliss.

"Ugh, why did we even bother doing that?" Kazuma said with the same defeated tone from earlier.

"Doesn't matter now, let's just keep going and find,"

Before Maximus could go on, he cast his eyes up and saw the castle was still standing.

"No way," He said with slight amazement and turned around at Megumin. "Looks like your stupid spell wasn't going to cut it this time. You couldn't even destroy it completely. It seems I get to have my castle after all." He said and laughed a little more.

"Hello to my new comfy warm nights, goodbye to the torturous long cold ones." Kazuma shouted with joy. "But wait, won't we have to fix it now and isn't it going to take too long to do so?" He inquired.

"That won't be a problem, I know a spell which can fix it all up in no time flat." Maximus said grinning and began to walk towards it. "Oh, by the way, looks like someone is going to carry Megumin from here on."

"I'll go ahead and do that, since we usually go together anyway." Kazuma sighed.

"I can't believe he called my spell stupid, when I get my strength back, I'm going to blow him up within that castle." She said feeling grumpy.

They proceeded to the castle all the while noticing the footprints were now originating from the castle. The five of them stood before it and wondered. Maximus could sense a disturbing aura surrounding it and coming from within. Aqua was hanging back behind Maximus sensing the spookiness of the castle's appearance. Darkness began to take a step towards it.

"Wait," Maximus said to get her attention.

She turned around and was about to inquire when he shook his finger side-to-side. He picked up a small stone and tossed it forward. The moment it was a few feet from the opened gates, it instantly disintegrated and a barrier was visible for a moment.

"Just as I thought when we got here, someone is still occupying this place." He said as he inspected it further.

Meanwhile within the castle, three individuals were watching the front gates through a crystal ball.

"Masters Wolbach and Sylvia, what are your orders from here on?" An Undead man asked the two women. He wore a robe over his head and held a glowing purple orb. The last little scraps of flesh nearly falling off his bones.

"I think we should test this man out a little more, see what he is truly capable of. What do you think of that Sylvia?" Wolbach inquired.

"Do you think this Lich will be enough to tango with him? Considering Verdia's prowess,"

"Verdia was weak to allow himself to be killed by that man, even if he did transform in some bizarre way to win." Wolbach said interrupting her while looking into another crystal orb which showed images of Verdia and Maximus' battle. "Besides, the Lich has gathered a massive amount of mana within his orb, perhaps it could prove more than enough."

"And if he should fail, what then?" Sylvia asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, besides, we should not keep the Demon King waiting long." Wolbach answered and teleported the two of them away. "Kill him by any means necessary." Her voice echoed in the dark hall.

"Yes master, it shall be done." The Lich said with a smile and his only eye on the right side of his face glowed yellow.

Meanwhile back at the front gate, Maximus was studying the barrier a little further. Lightly tapping caused it to be visible if only for a moment. He pressed a little harder and instantly was zapped. He withdrew his hand from it and noticed the intense bolt of lightning caused his finger to be injured. His whole arm went numb and a little jolting sensation was still lingering within him.

"Just as I thought," He said standing up from squatting and began to rub his finger. "This barrier won't be easy to pass through." He informed them.

"Is your hand really that bad?" Aqua inquired as she stood next to him and held out her hands. "Heal."

The next moment her healing spell began to reverse the injury upon his finger and the rest of his arm. Once the spell finished returning life to his arm and calming the jolting sensation, he turned to her and nodded his head.

"Thanks." He said feeling grateful to her.

Darkness had an overly excited grin on her face and before anyone could react, she quickly dashed forward. The moment she reached the same spot the stone was last; she hit the barrier and began to be shocked with powerful bolts of red lightning.

"Darkness!" Everyone shouted at her.

She screamed out in pain feeling her body go numb and her armor began to glow.

"That idiot, what was she thinking," Maximus stopped himself. "Oh wait, never mind."

Darkness was on the ground feeling ecstatic from the pain she received after running against the barrier. Her armor continued to glow brighter and soon started flashing at a slow pulse which began to quicken in pace.

Maximus had an unnerving feeling about the light from her armor and Kazuma turned to him.

"Maximus, her armor is going to blow up!" He shouted with urgency.

Maximus quickly snapped his fingers and the next moment her armor was stripped of her, leaving only the clothing she wore underneath. The metallic objects floated above her and he motioned his hands upward. Her armor immediately barreled towards the heavens, flying high in the sky at hypersonic speeds. Moments later, a titanic ball of crimson light covered the face of the blue sky, expanding over the horizon. A few moments after the expanding light flashed, a massive sonic boom echoed throughout the whole countryside, shaking the entire ground as though an earthquake was in progress.

Aqua quickly huddled against Maximus and he turned around feeling as though the explosive light would rain down upon them. He held her close, wrapping his arms around her acting as a shield. The winds from the explosion raced down and brushed violently against them all. Kazuma dropped Megumin and squatted down hugging his head. Darkness watched in awe as the light show was coming to an end. The crimson light began to dissipate and the blue of the sky was becoming visible. Everyone looked up and saw the clear sky with no clouds in sight.

"That was the biggest explosion I have ever seen, someday, my magic will be as great as that." Megumin giggled at the prospect.

"Are you insane, if you unleash a spell like that, you'll end up killing yourself along with everyone within range!" Kazuma retorted.

Aqua was enjoying being in the comfort of Maximus' embrace, seeing his concerned face and smiled at his instant reaction of covering her. "He shielded me without hesitating, I am in literal Heaven right now." She said to herself.

Darkness gasped thinking about the explosion. "If only I were to be able to endure such torment from that," She stopped as she struggled to crawl towards the barrier.

"I highly doubt any one of us could survive that explosion and live to tell about." Maximus said interrupting her.

He turned down to glance at Aqua, noticing her smile and he grinned back with a wink.

Meanwhile within the castle, the Lich was watching them for a moment before holding out his hand with the orb.

"Come forth from the River of Sticks and crossover into the Land of the Living. Bind your soul to the form you once took and let your spirit take up the sword of vengeance. Prey upon the one whose life you wish to take here and now!" The Lich commanded.

The next moment an armored figure appeared in the shadows with a red glowing eye.

"Go and defeat him." The Lich ordered.

"With pleasure." He said and began to laugh.

Meanwhile back at the gates, Maximus was helping Darkness to her feet after Aqua had healed her. The moment she was on her feet, Darkness began to walk towards the barrier once more.

"I must experience this torment once more, for I had not quenched my thirst and I must experience that explosion firsthand!" She declared to them.

"Sacred Dispel!" Aqua shouted and a ray of light crashed upon the barrier as Maximus held Darkness back.

"No, what are you doing, unhand me you fiend!" Darkness shouted.

The next moment the barrier was destroyed and Darkness became depressed. Maximus let her go and she squatted down in the fetal position sinking further into her depressed state. The thought of experiencing the devasting blow was fading into obscurity.

"She knows how to use focused Anti-Magic to dispel magical properties?" Maximus said to himself with a surprised look. "No, wait, that wasn't necessarily Anti-Magic, it was more refined and even divine, not at all the raw type I had discovered when I encountered the Kraken on my homeworld." He finished his thought.

Aqua giggled and turned to him. "As you can see, dispelling a barrier such as this is no laughing matter for a Goddess such as I." She explained to them.

Maximus approached her. "Impressive, I think I'll have you teach me that sometime, maybe when we get back." He said.

"Sure, it will be no problem at all." She said smiling.

The next moment Maximus felt the ominous presence move towards them and at the doorway into the castle, stood a familiar foe. His dark aura was visible for them to see, dancing upward like a calm fire. His glowing red eye fixated on them.

"Hello Maximus, welcome to my humble abode. I am glad you received the invitation to come out and play." He paused for a moment. "Now then, where is my sword so I may cut you down here and now." His voice deepened.

Verdia raised his free hand up and the next moment his sword appeared in his grasp.

"No way, how is he still alive!" Kazuma shouted in disbelief.

"Pardon me, I do not believe you and I are acquainted." Maximus said wondering who the headless knight was and how he knew of him.

"Are you serious, you're joking with me, right?" Verdia snapped at him. "How could you forget about me, was I that forgettable to you?!" He continued to shout in anger.

"Actually, he died the other day and lost all his memories of being on this world." Aqua informed him.

"Well, that's annoying," He paused pointing his sword at him. "But it makes no difference, you will pay for ending my life. I have come for my revenge!" He shouted declaring his intent.

"Very well then," Maximus stopped to use his magic to create two short swords. "Let us reenact out battle from before."

Maximus instantly dashed towards his foe and Verdia matched him. Both of them staring down each other as they closed the distance to begin their battle. Maximus crossed his arms and the moment they were within range, their weapons clashed against each other.