Distant sounds of slaughter were dimmed by the tree mass, while a pair of soldiers hurried to finish their cruel deed.
There still a full village of work, we have no time to spend on these wenches!
As armor plates moved with the man carrying them, so as the sound of metal, closer and closer to the frightened village girls who tried to outrun their own impending doom.
"Seeing the older one clinging to the kid, they are probably sisters, good, they will die as they lived - together"
As a closer soldier raised his hand to strike, a taller girl, without a second thought, turned to face him with a punch too strong for her own good – sound of bones breaking in collision with hardened metal traveled through the scene while confused knight fell back into the hands of his associate.
What are you doing – being beaten by small girls! Use your damned sword, we CAN'T let them get away!
Pushed in the direction of the prey, Bart continued running, even faster than before.
Reluctant to admit the strength of the girl man decided to kill them as fast as possible. Now he saw them not as just sheep to butcher, no, they were a living, breathing monument to his weakness.
And he, as a noble and proud knight, would not let such a thing to exist.
"She dared!" – shouted inside his mind, while blood dripped from the front of his helmet.
Astonishment mixed with rage inside a man's body. Girl poured all she had into this strike, just to leave him with her own blood – he would not stop until he got every last drop of it from the girl's body. Knight's wish to drain the one who punched him was so strong, he could taste that bumpkin blood on his lips!
"Cornered beast can do wonders, huh" – shifting gaze from prey to his fellow knight, Louis picked up a pace to match the sped up soldier.
Beholding front of the helm twisted after the strike, he noted how the central metal part of it now pierces the knight's nose, dripping fresh red blood onto the man's lips.
"Well, I wouldn't let such a thing happen to me," – thought Louis, gripping his sword even tighter.
Now their prey was within their reach – while the blooded knight missed his strike, nearly tripping on the tree branch, Louis wasn't going to blunder.
Aiming at a smaller girl, he made a precise strike at her neck-
-Aaaugh!
A loud scream pierced the knight's ears as their prey fell on the forest ground. It seemed that the bigger girl used her body to protect a child, only to get a wide cut on her own back.
Looking into the girl's eyes as she tried to hide kid from bloodied swords, knights saw a blend of sorrow and anger inside them. She clung to her life, tears dripping on her face, only to protect someone dear to her.
-Your game ends here, little girl. As I thought – you will die together, you can thank us for that!
As the tiring chase came to an end, Louis stepped to the side, allowing his damaged associate the pleasure of ending the sisters lives, in hopes that such a gesture would help to calm the disgruntled knight.
Yet the blade didn't come down to splash the villager's blood all over the grass. It seemed someone decided to prolong girl's suffering, which of course wasn't a distraction they could afford right now.
-Hey, Bart, you will have time later, we still have plenty-
Bart was frozen in place. "Could a whole knight be terrified by two small women's gazes?" - thought his comrade, only to second his reaction a moment later.
The space behind defenseless girls changed: filled with silent, ever-changing darkness, it gave off an ominous feeling of dread that took a hold of the seemingly very souls of armed men.
"G-gods, what is that?!" – Louis tried to scream, yet no sound left his mouth. He was terrified of the dark void that stood before the knight's eyes.
No story, book or bard's song told of something like this, he couldn't fathom what in the world it was. But inside, he knew that the only good way of action was to run – run as fast as he could.
No, run even faster—faster, not than himself—than any human could. Yet he stood, terrified to his core, unable to move an inch of his own body.
And only a moment later, both soldiers understood, that they should not be afraid of darkness, but of what lurks behind it.
A veil of lightless black was crossed by a tall figure. A robe in the color of volcanic glass was fluttering in the wind, covering the body of a person – not a person, undead.
Perfectly white bone fingers were housing an assortment of rings while carrying a magnificent scepter, one worthy to be carried not by a simple skeleton but a god.
The empty eye sockets of the undead skull burned red, and the armed man knew that stare. It is the one that all the undead had, a manifestation of hate towards not just humans – all living. But why is it here?! What does such a terrifying creature need in such a godforsaken village? Why now – Louis thought while his body started to move, but not away.
It began to tremble with fear, filling the surrounding space with the sound of clanking metal.
So, you are only able to fight little girls?
Undead spoke with regal altitude, his voice carried power and authority, but what mattered the most-
[Grasp Heart]
-it delivered death.
As the magic happened, Bart's body crashed onto the earth – like a puppet whose strings were cut, filling the earth with blood violently flowing from his mouth.
That was the moment when Louis understood that there was not just a terrifying undead standing before him.
His mother scared him with bedtime stories of unimaginably powerful monsters living in the caves and forests – Liches, undead masters of magic and sorcery—so her naughty child would not wander too far into the woods. His comrades told stories about liches residing in crypts and forgotten castles, monsters that command hordes of tireless undead minions and can cast spells of 3rd level. His eyes saw what was left of the group, which had bad luck finding an undead mage.
Yet he knew—this isn't it!
Commanding death without the fire of ice, a divine scepter worthy of gods, and a body not of a half-decayed corpse but of perfect white bone.
Surshana – one of the Six Great Gods, the God of Death, was in front of his eyes. One venerated not due to hope but fear. What could he's done to anger such a being!
Since I came here, there are nothing wrong with conducting some experiments…
The burning gaze of a divine creature has been addressing Louis, whose body finally unfroze from the shock. Filled with fear, he dashed away from the Death, which he by now knew awaited him. This is all only to hear its voice once more:
And now, you will die together with your friend, why don't you thank me for that? [Dragon Lightning]
A bolt of dragon-shaped lightning slipped from his bone finger and rushed for the remaining knight, whose mind faded away as man body electrocuted by a magic spell. Louis now lifeless body crashed on the earth, filling the air with the smell of burned flesh.
His body changed: formed by dark magic, the corpse grew taller and wider, filled with death and power by its creator.
Towering on the previous owner of this flesh, Death Knights stand towering before his master gaze.
"Master, there is no higher honor than being your servant, o my Lord!" – undead thought as lights of hate sparked inside its deformed eye sockets.
He stood there, awaiting Master's orders, and looked around, analyzing others who were present. His sight stopped at one place - near the portal, behind his Master back, was a pair of small female humans. They were without armor or weapons and looked very weak – an easy win for the mighty Death Knight, yet Master didn't order his creation to kill them. Maybe later? Or are they useful to Him?
My apologies, preparation took longer than expected. My late arrival is unforgivable, Lord Momonga!
From the portal behind the benevolent summoner emerged the Devil – one of the masters' other underlings. The new one wore strange red clothing, a pair of glasses, and had a metallic tail behind his back. In his words, he did not fulfill his order, "What an unimaginable sin to one of my Master creations!" – thought Death Knight.
Demiurge, you have nothing to apologize for. Your arrival was timed perfectly.
Thank you, Lord Momonga! I will be working even harder to live up to your kindness! – Devil bowed deeply.
That's… great. Are our forces ready?
As Master spoke, the devil Demiurge gestured towards the portal – They all ready.
Devils and demons of different statures and colors poured through, filling the place with a few invisible entities between them. Death Knight knew they were master servants, if not for that, he wouldn't be able to even know they were here. He didn't have any detection skills, for that matter.
Nazarick forces are ready to scout the perimeter and protect you, my Lord. – newly arrived formed a half-circle around Master, and all bent the knee, showing their unending loyalty to him. "As they should!" thought the undead servant.
Great, send a scouting party and prepare others to be our shield in case we need protection. Until then, keep them hidden, we should not give the enemy more information than they need to know. In case of immediate danger, you will summon your own summons to buy time until we can get out through the Gate spell.
Master's great plan… I could only envy creatures such as this devil who could understand it, but what a bliss it would be to die enabling its completion, or even better - protecting my Lord!
As you wish, all will be done! But what do you plan to do with those lowly creatures? – Demiurge pointed at two human girls sitting terrified near Lord Momonga. – Should I get rid of them in your place, or do you want to use their bodies for other purposes?
Demiurge, what Did Sebas tell you?
Devil remained silent for a second, contemplating his mistake and trying to understand which action of his displeased his master. Unable to find the answer, he deeply bowed and said:
That you got here to save the village…
Exactly, My intention is to save the village and its people. Our enemies are knights like this, who attacked this settlement, not people who were under attack. – Saying this, Master pointed one of his fingers at a corpse clad in metallic armor.
A few minutes before, Death Knight was a similar corpse, but now instead of lazily lying on the ground, he can serve Master with all his might!
As creatures that arrived with the devil started dispersing into the forest, Lord Momonga came to terrified girls wanting to say something, but at that moment he remembered his fresh creation, the Death Knight.
"Yes Master! Give me your order! I am eager to serve!" – sounded inside an undead minion.
You, go into the village and kill all the knights like this, no one of them should leave this place alive.
As the undead Overlord finally gave order for his loyal creature, it cried a terrifying roar and ran to the village. For humans, it was something mind shaking, yet for Death Knight, it was a sound of happiness to do his Master's will or perish in the process. There is no better life than one dedicated to serving your creator – that was a common sentiment through Nazarick, and it was shared by the Death Knight.
As he ran through the forest, an undead monstrosity appeared on the verge of a village, with many more knights in sight. Terrified by his presence, their eyes showed fear and terror upon understanding the nature of the creature, which came from the woods.
"What a delightful sight! I will turn those pathetic human screams into melody for my Master's ears!"
Gripping his wave-like sword with newfound strength, he rushed to armored targets with killing intent, which seemingly could kill by itself.
It was time to fulfill Lord Momonga's orders.