“I’ve misjudged you, Cordelia Flameu.” Red spoke, his voice seeping with cold fury. “I once believed you an honorable woman. But it’s clear I was mistaken.”

“You know nothing about me, Sir Red,” the necromancer replied with a smirk. “I am a black-hearted necromancer through and through. And I would not hesitate on doing what necromancers do best, making you fight your own dead comrades.” As they spoke, both Duke and Mirth had moved to join her side. And one by one, the corpses she had brought with her began to stand up as well.

It was clear as day that they were now outnumbered.

“I really do not wish to kill any of you, you know,” she continued her speech. “Well, that bald man over there deserved it.” She glanced towards Duke. “The elf mage was right. He nearly killed that whimpering cleric over there.” She looked at Majorka, who was now kneeling down, looking with tear-filled horror at her direction. “I saved her, you know. Told my puppets to push her out of the way.”

“Y-you did?” The elf mage looked at her with an expression of disbelief.

“You witnessed it yourself, didn’t you? Don’t lie to yourself now. I won’t hesitate in killing someone, but I’m not wasteful. I took lives for a purpose. And that girl? She’s no threat to me whatsoever.”

“Then why are you doing all this, huh?” Arcturus, who had been frozen with fright all this time, finally gathered enough courage to speak. “You killed the king, you killed our friends, and you killed all those soldiers. You just want to feed your selfish greed for power. Using your necromancy, you’re planning to take over this kingdom, don’t you?” He pointed his left finger in the most accusatory manner.

The necromancer turned to face him, before bursting into a shrill, witch-like laugh.

“That’s a great idea! Why don’t I use my zombies to conquer this pathetic little kingdom?” Her laugh disappeared. “No. My goal is much grander than that. But you would like it, don’t you? To believe that I’m a simple bad guy, to be slain by a hero such as you.” A look of disgust flashed on her face. “No, you are no hero. You are but a foolish glory-seeker. And I couldn’t be happier to know that your little band of friends had abandoned you.”

Unbeknownst to the man, Felicia had kept somewhat of a close eye on him. She knew that before this, he had spent the last few months simply drinking his sorrows away as his party and clan distanced himself from him. Only Red was willing to give him a second chance.

“S-shut up, you witch!” He yelled back in anger. “Thanks to you and that little friend of yours, I’ve lost everything! And now I’m going to take it back by cutting off your head!”

In a reckless act only befitting the most novices of adventurers, he charged forward, performing a forward sword slash, sending a wave of energy towards her direction. It never reached her, however, as she used the corpses to block the incoming blow. Still, Arcturus continued to run, before jumping upwards and raining down more slashes towards her.

“Damn that fool!” Red cursed.

More corpses sacrificed themselves to protect their mistress, but Arcturus’ assault had just begun. As many as his character flaws might be, he was undoubtedly a good swordsman of the Lancelot variety.

Duke jumped as well to protect Felicia, but Grit pierced him with his lance. Mirth followed as well, only to receive a blow to the head from Red’s fist.

“Aaaaaahhh! Take this, you evil bitch!”

The length of his sword suddenly increased tenfold, with the added length made of his aura.

Covetous Longsword. It was a Lancelot-school technique that allowed a massive increase of the range of one’s sword. With it, one can cut through an entire army with a single swing. Well, if you can get it big enough, anyway. 

For Arcturus, this was his ultimate attack. He would’ve used it more liberally against the swarm of drakes that ended his reputation, but with the terrible visibility granted by the blizzard, and the fact that the drakes had broken up and scattered their formation, he couldn’t use it without killing his allies as well.

Arcturus brought the massive horizontal slash down onto the necromancer, not caring that his comrades might be caught in the move. It bisected the rest of the corpses into two. As for Felicia herself, however…

“Come forth, o spirit of sorrow!”

A figure manifested out of darkness, blocking the move with what bizarrely looked to be an opened parasol, with the help of Felicia’s Shadow Wall.

It was a woman, wearing what could only be described as a pitch black noblewoman’s dress (though a tad more revealing). The parasol she held had a similar color as well. She had absurdly long silver hair, tied in a single thick braid all the way down to her feet. Her eyes were red and she was floating in mid-air, giving the impression that she was not human.

“You called, Milady?” She spoke, her tone tinged with pride and amusement.

“Yes,” Felicia replied. “Kill that man, will you?”

“Of course, Milady.”

Even with his attack being repelled, however, Arcturus had no plans to let up. Like a drill, he spun both his body and his sword as he plunged downwards towards the necromancer. And once more, he was blocked by the woman’s parasol, combined with the necromancer’s Shadow Wall.

“Graaahh! Just die already!”

“I’m already dead, you silly man.” The woman giggled.

Arcturus gave an irked glance to his friends. Red and Grif were occupied with fighting zombified Duke and Mirth, while Ilfridil had gone to Majorka’s side, choosing not to take part in the fight.

Those useless bastards!

At last, he regained a bit of his sanity back. He jumped backwards and began bombarding the pair with ranged sword slashes, trying to poke and prod their weakness. He cursed the fact that his strength wasn’t enough to break their defense in a straightforward manner. They ran an ever stronger shield than a dragon’s scale.

“Arcturus! Don’t be reckless!” Red yelled. “I’ll be there soon!” He dodged a swing from Duke’s axe before countering with his foot, sending the zombie flying to the other side of the room. Before he could rejoin his friend, however—

“Oh, no you don’t!” Felicia spoke.

Feeling a sense of danger coming from behind him, Red sharply changed the direction of his run, sidestepping instead of going straight to where Arcturus was. It saved him from being bisected by the water blades the twin zombie mages had conjured.

“Tch!” Red gritted his teeth. He had to take care of them as well if he was going to come to Arcturus’ aid. He gave a glance towards Duke. As he expected, he still failed to keep him down for any significant amount of time. The zombie was slowly standing up, even with all the holes he had made in his body.

Exorcism magic would be really handy to have right now.

“Majorka! Ilfridil! What are you doing over there?!” Grit yelled as he planted his lance into Mirth’s head for what must be the third time. The zombie fell backwards, only to stand up again, even without a head. “We need you here! Ilfridil! You have to burn these corpses if we’re going to survive!”

“I would suggest not heeding their words, Sir Elf,” Felicia interrupted with a grin. “For I am still willing to spare you and your lady friend if you stay out of this. Think about it. Do you believe that they’re worth risking your life and your lady friend’s life for? Remember how they treated you two before. If I had to guess, you’re probably the newest members, which meant you are expendable to them.”

“That’s not true!” Red shouted back as he hit the ground with his fist. It would have pulverized one of the mages if not for the fact that he managed to dodge by propelling itself away with a water jet. In the end, the attack only left a decently sized crater behind. “You two are a valuable member of Desert Bandits! You think we could’ve gotten this far without you two? Don’t listen to her lies!”

“It is your choice, Sir Mage.” Felicia continued. “Like I’ve said, I do not take lives meaninglessly.”

A blow finally landed on one of the mages, sending her spinning upwards before crashing down to the ground. Red then tried to make his way to Arcturus once more, only for Duke and the other mage to block his path. To make matters worse, the other zombies—the other members of their clan, had risen back up once more, after they finished sewing themselves together once more, repairing the damage Arcturus’ long sword technique had done.

It had been a grave mistake, not having an exorcist-specialized cleric with them. But how could they be blamed? They had fought undead before but none had ever been this resilient. They couldn’t just reattach themselves together like this!

“Well, let’s end this little game of ours, shall we?” Felicia spoke again. “I still need to take care of those Inquisitors, you see. To be frank, now that I see how you and your friends are up close like this, they are clearly much more of a threat than you are. You simply don’t have the tools or skills necessary to fight against a necromancer of my caliber.” She bragged with an all-too-proud smile as she placed a hand above her chest.

“S-shut up, you evil witch! I swear on my honor I will defeat you!”

Arcturus’ expression betrayed him, however. His breath was short and labored and an unmistakable display of fear was plastered on his face. His most powerful attack had just been repelled and he had tired himself from all the rapid attacks he had been making.

“Hey, you damn useless bitch! Stop sitting there and heal me or something! My stamina needs some refilling here!” He yelled at Majorka, not caring in the slightest that Ilfridil was also there.

“I-I can’t…” She whispered back. “My spells can’t restore your vitality. They can only heal your wounds.”

“What?! Speak louder! I can’t hear you from all the way here!”

“You shut your mouth, you imbecile!” Ilfridil stood up in anger, aiming his staff at him.

“Arcturus! Stop it! That’s my party member you’re talking to! You don’t have the right to order her around!” Red growled as he dodged a spell coming from the twins.

Witnessing all this bickering gave joy and disgust for the necromancer. Joy that she was proven right and disgust from what she was seeing. What a truly pathetic band of people. Better if I put them out of misery.

“Diona, use that attack, if you would. The thing we talked about.”

“Of course, Milady.”

Felicia then melted into the shadows once more, just in time before the woman took a deep, deep breath—

To let out an inhumanly high-pitched, ear-splitting scream.

“GYAAAHHHHHH!”

The scream took everyone else in the room by surprise.

“W-what? What was that?” Arcturus was the first to respond. “W-what? M-my hands… m-my legs… they won’t—they won’t move…”

“G-gah, t-that scream… damn it, that woman’s a banshee?!” Red followed

The adventurers had no idea that it was coming, thanks to the fact that the woman’s banshee nature eluded them. They believed she was just a ghost she had summoned with her dark magic, as banshees looked nothing like her. They wouldn’t look like a fully dressed humanlike woman. Instead, they would be misty and transparent, as if they were made of swirling fog—a bodyless creature, possessing only faces in the middle of said fog. A ghost on the other hand could indeed appear with a fully human like form like that.

Little did they know that Diona was indeed a ghost, but one that had gained the ability of a banshee.

Felicia reformed behind Arcturus—a victory smile on her face.

“Well, you’re first, Arcturus.” She whispered to his ear. “Too bad instead of penetrating me, I’m the one penetrating you, huh?”

“W-wait, I-I give! I surrender! P-please! Spare my—guaahh!”

His plea fell into deaf ears as Felicia stabbed his stomach from his back, just like she did with Duke.

“I’m sick of men like you, to be honest.” Felicia continued, pure venom in her voice. “Vain, unfaithful, and perverse. People like you do not have a place in my new world. So goodbye and enjoy watching from the afterlife as I made you my lovely, obedient puppet.”

His last moments were spent looking at Red’s direction with tears in his eyes.

“H-help me, friend…”

He fell over, blood pouring out from his corpse, forming a puddle that barely avoided touching Felicia’s slippers.

“Graaaaggghh!”

Red exploded with fury, slowly but surely moving his arms and feet before flinging himself towards the necromancer. It seemed his anger had given him strength to break free from the paralysis, and now the only thought he had in his mind was to avenge his friend’s death. 

They had been through a lot. He owed him a life debt as their first meeting was Arcturus saving him. That day, he nearly lost his life from a poison a snake monster had given him, and Arcturus just so happened to find him crawling in pain in the wilderness. Without asking for anything in return, he immediately searched for the antidote, abandoning his original purpose of climbing that mountain.

He was so different in those days. His strength and fame had gotten to him and Red had failed to steer him away from that path.

Still, like a true beastman, he intended to keep his promise for the rest of his life, that he would come to his rescue whenever he needed it, even if it meant sacrificing his own life.

And so, he got exactly what he wanted.

“Aargh!”

A spear made of blood—his friend’s blood—had impaled him mid-air as he tried to land on top of Felicia.

The bearkin let out a roar of pain right as he whiffed his attack. Felicia had barely managed to melt herself into the shadows before his blow could land.

He was too late. If he had been just a millisecond faster, he would have gouged her head open.

But now, he was lying down on the ground, gravely wounded from the gaping hole he had on his abdomen.

“Red!” Grit yelled. “Damn you! Haaaahhhhh!”

Slowly but surely, he started to break himself from Diona’s paralysis. Inch by inch, his legs and arms began to move again.

Until Duke decapitated him with a single swing of his axe.

His head rolled around like a morbid wheel around his collapsed body—a pure look of horror frozen to its face.

Felicia then reshaped herself over the beastkin with a sorrowful look on her face.

“It’s a shame it has to end like this. Alas, you are too stubborn to let go of your pride. An honorable fool through and through.”

“Y-you… gah!” He coughed blood as he looked up to her. “Grit too… Damnit… Damnit!” He punched the ground with his fist.

“Well, that’s a surprise.” A smirk grew on her face. “You still have strength to be angry. I was pretty sure my blood spear had pierced your heart. A beastfolk really is as durable as they say.”

He replied not by words, but by spatting the blood in his mouth to her feet.

“... I see. Too bad I’m already used to having blood in my hands and feet.”

A dark blade pierced through his head, ending his life instantaneously.

And, for just a short moment, pain and sadness flashed across her face.

She then walked towards the elven mage and the cleric who were now huddled together in the corner of the room. Diona’s paralysis hadn’t affected them much, as they were further away than the rest of their party when the ability was used.

“S-stay back! Don’t come any closer!” Ilfridil stepped forward, aiming his staff towards her. “You can take my life, but I will not allow you take hers!”

“Truly? Even after all that, you still wish to fight me?” The necromancer returned with an amused smirk.

“I-I don’t care! I will not let you harm Majorka!”

“A-and I won’t let you harm him either!”

To Felicia’s surprise, the meek cleric had gained some courage as she stepped up, taking out her staff as well.

“Hoo? What’s this? The cowardly pair finally stood up for themselves? How cute. Perhaps you should have done this stunt earlier, when your friends were still alive.”

She slowly inched further and further, seemingly enjoying the display of fright the two were displaying.

“O lord of volcanoes, burn my foes into ashes! Flame Spout!”

The elf fired the spell point blank, bathing the necromancer with flames coming out from the tip of his staff.

Or he would have, if not for the shadows protecting her.

“Come now, do you think I wouldn’t prepare myself beforehand?” Her smirk grew larger. “This level of spell could never pierce my shadows. Not in a million years.”

“O Lord of Light! Grant us your protection so we might survive the evil that blights our path! Barrier!”

The cleric managed to put her barrier up, just in time, before the necromancer could cast a counterspell.

“And now, the barrier. Not something I couldn’t pierce through.”

She raised her left hand as once again, a blade of shadow manifested in her hand.

She brought it down to the barrier, using the tip to stab into the tough force field. Crackles of holy energy burst forth, but she didn’t falter. She continued pushing and pushing until—

*CLANG*

The sword pierced through before the barrier shattered into pieces.

“Aahh!”

The cleric took a few steps backwards. She didn’t lose her consciousness this time around, but she nearly lost her balance.

“Weak. Not structurally sound enough. If I have to guess, you never properly spread your mana around.”

“Damn it! You’re not getting any closer!”

Ilfridil fired a simple fireball that did nothing. He then charged forward to hit the necromancer with his staff, only for her to trip him with her shadows, causing him to fall down to the floor in the most pathetic manner.

“You. I like you. I’ll let you and your girlfriend live after all.”

At her words, the two’s expressions considerably brightened. The elven mage stood back up and asked, “T-truly?” His expression was one of a mixture of hope and fear.

“Of course!” Felicia replied with a smile. “Have I ever lied to you before?”

They then exchanged looks. Neither of them really trusted the necromancer’s words but it was clearly the only hope they had to leave this hell alive.

“But, before I do so, I would have to ask for you to hand over the map you and your friends have made of this place. You have it, don’t you? You were on map duty after all.”

“Y-you’ve been spying at me?” the elf replied.

“Not just you, but everyone else in your little band of adventurers. Just so you know, I can see everything that occurs in this dungeon.”

He complied, taking out the map from his dimensional storage. He threw it to the ground in front of her.

She picked it up, and sure enough, it was a well-detailed map of the dungeon.

“Nice drawing. Almost a shame I would have to burn it.”

A spark appeared from her hand. She let the map fall as the flame consumed it, turning it into ash.

“And one more thing.” Her smile grew larger. “Tell your other adventurer friends to leave this place. Whatever the prime minister promised to give you to have my head, it’s simply not worth it. Unless they wish to be turned into one of my monstrosities.”

He frantically nodded.

“Good. I see we now have an understanding. Then, I would ask you two to sleep.”

“S-sleep?”

The last thing they remembered was the scream coming from behind them.

The two fell to the ground, unconscious. As Felicia expected, in their current mental state, they wouldn’t be able to resist her familiar’s scream.

Diona had sneaked behind them, and with one scream, knocked them out both.

“Mistress, you will not kill these two?” she asked.

“No,” The necromancer smiled. “I have no use for weaklings like them.”

“You’re lying.” She pouted. “You’re just being nice. I say kill them both. If they’re willing to fight you just because you got rid of that monster, then they’re just as guilty as he was!” She suddenly yelled as she pointed her closed parasol towards them.

Felicia didn’t reply. She instead only looked at her familiar with a wistful gaze. Ah, my vengeful spirit, Diona. I wonder if you would ever find peace one day.

After what you have suffered, perhaps you never would.