"Whoaaaa..." - Mira

All of us had to agree with her there, despite all of us not saying it out loud.

The tunnel rose while underground and exited from a cave on top of a small hill. From there, we could see over most of the Cursed Island of Velantas. 

The place looks like a typical fantasy city, with a huge wall covering the city. There's a castle located, not exactly, but pretty close to the middle of the city, on the top of another hill, surrounded by another thick wall. The rest of the encapsulated area is littered with buildings, except for some open spaces. Probably parks.

The buildings looked gothic with spires on top and built of dark-colored bricks and metals. Some of the buildings look like they've been bombed though. The trees looked withered and dead, but they still bore leaves... albeit, dark-blue ones. Really dark.

Many rivers run through the city, originating from the castle on top of the hill, or maybe they're aqueducts? The strange thing about them is that some hold clear water, and others are filled with black goop. The strangest thing about them is that the clear water runs upward the "royal hill", while the black goop running normally downwards.

To finish things is the jet-black "carpet" covering the whole island. It extends from the outer walls containing the whole city, and it looks like a piece of the night sky. Only the moon and the stars are missing from it. Strangely, it still emits some light, making the whole city barely visible for those without night vision skills. The dark lighting only intensifies the grimness of the place though.

"I... I don't know if I should be impressed, or scared." - Noire

"Be scared. That's the safest option." - Alf

...Wait a minute... Identification.

"...Tch. Knew it. An Area Effect." - Garami

"Whazzat?" - Mira

"The place itself inflicts the Fear Ailment on people." - Garami

An Area Effect is a special effect of an area itself, not due to a skill or something, but because of, let's say, the aether in the area acting like a skill or spell, all on its own.

"As if this place wasn't spooky enough. Is there something else?" - Alf

"...Darkness up. Death up. And Undead up. The last increase is even stronger than the previous ones. And something called 'Everlasting Darkness'. Need me to explain that?" - Garami

"No need, I get the point." - Alf

Undeads have virtually no weaknesses here if the sun's never rising. Damn that black carpet. No one could have guessed this effect just by looking from the outside of the wall, since the carpet's not visible from that point. People did know that there was some sort of barrier though, even if they couldn't see it. Some Birdkin and other flying humanoids tried to breach the wall by flying over. They crashed head-first into that thing up there.

"Hey, Iron. Couldn't you have told us that there was something like this here?" - Noire

"...No one asked." - Iron

Why am I not surprised~? The rest of the group are looking at Iron with exasperation in their eyes. Better fix this...

"Iron, it is fine to speak up if it's something important, even if others didn't ask for your opinion." - Garami

"...Affirmative." - Iron

Is it? Is it really?

We started to descend from the hill down to the streets. Nothing has tried to attack us yet. Some small undeads are hiding in the shadows, like Skeleton Mice, but none of them tries to stick their head out to "greet" us.

"Uwaa, this place is too creepy. Can we not just, blast the whole area with magic attacks and be done with it?" - Noire

"And risk being swarmed by who knows how many undeads... wait, we do have someone in the know." - Alf

"...Many. Really many. Don't know how many, but many anyway." - Iron

That's too many if you ask me.

"...Fine. But can we keep talking at least? The silence is sending shivers down my spine..." - Noire

"Then, talk about what? How this place turned all 'cursed and spooky'?" - Garami

"I know that one!" - Mira

"Really? By all means then." - Alf

"Ehem, a long, long time ago, when people first arrived in this region, one man led the people to a beautiful island. The man created a castle on the island with the help of his people and became the king of this small land.

"He was a man of the people and listened closely to their problems and suggestions, all in the hope of turning his little kingdom into a place where people could live in peace and prosperity.

"However, one day, a child, who was identical to the royal princess, switched places with the princess, throwing the princess out of her home and lived a life in debauchery.

"The changeling was soon found out, and the king raged at his people for them tricking him through this act. However, the child who had stolen the princess's place tried to escape her punishment and activated a forbidden artifact, hidden deep in the castle. The artifact spread out a massive amount of miasma across the island, turning the island into a land of the dead. The End." - Mira

......What?

"Wait, wait, wait a sec! Isn't that overreacting a little too much!? And what's with that 'The End' there!?" - Alf

"Do I need to explain anymore? We're looking at the result. Besides, that legend is several centuries old. There's not many that remember that far back." - Mira

"...From the sound of it, the disaster must have affected more than only the island. And if the only living habitat for people back then was here..." - Garami

"...They must have been among the casualties then." - Noire

"See? It's lucky we even know something about what happened!" - Mira

Fine, fine. Just don't...

"Enemies incoming." - Iron

...Shout...

"Miraaaaaa..." - Noire & Alf

"...I am so sorry. Please forgive me!" - Mira

---

"Damn, that was unnecessary! We've even not decided on a base yet, so don't give us more trouble than needed!" shouted Alf to Mira, as the one who hates having to do more work than necessary the most of us all.

"You say that, but your voice is also a tad too loud now, Alf." - Noire

The boomerang hit Alf with so much force that he froze on the spot, before bowing to Mira in apology. Geez...

"Stop with the comedy acts and sharpen up. We need to find a safe area before we can rest. Iron, any ideas?" - Garami

"...The place I used to live in should be safe." - Iron

Iron's previous home...! Turn Undead!

The black smog that tried to peek at us was sent to the next life due to the spell. I got to Identify it before it passed on, and just as I guessed, it was a Geist.

"Just asking, you got possessed when..." I asked Iron, who looked at the spot the Geist used to be.

"While looking for 'wild' ones. A long way from home. Those didn't come close to there." - Iron

"Your proof?" - Garami

"They can't. Barrier." - Iron

A barrier? For "wild" undeads only? Sounds like a place that can give us some clues.

"Hey, we're going to Iron's place. Keep a lookout for more Geists." - Garami

"Roger!"

Once in a while, they listen to me... 

---

We followed Iron through the streets for a good hour, taking out several of the "wild ones" while traveling.

All the Nether Magic and conversion of the undead remains, along with commanding the six undeads of our party, had advanced my Spectermancer class to go past Lv.30, earning me the [Undead Resistance] skill. The Light attribute skills also went up... but not enough to evolve [Lesser Light Element]. Damn it...

The trip wasn't as bad as we had feared, except the one time we met a Remnant for the first time. Worst of all, it was a Remnant Spearsman.

There was some fortune in the misfortune though, as the guy was all alone. Alf, the more experienced warrior with long-handle weapons, managed to crush the guy in a one-on-one fight with energy to spare. However, I didn't get any new blueprints even with that guy. Damn it again...

Except for the Remnant, we traveled at a high pace while keeping watch for anything trying to sneak upon us. With both me and Mira on guard, something like that's practically impossible though.

I even changed the two attack-type Skeleton Spiders to scout-types, so they could keep an eye or four on each other, so they wouldn't be ambushed by a Geist. Don't know if they can attach themselves to "fake" undeads I've created, but you can never be too careful. This place ain't a straight tunnel either, so the more eyes on the scout-job, the better.

"...Hey, is that the place?" - Alf

"Affirmative." - Iron

Finally~. But I didn't show my happiness and rather ordered the others to keep their guards up. Who knows what could have happened to the place during the time Iron has been away?

The place Alf had pointed out was a large street lightened with torches, bathing the place in a warm light. To be honest, I just wanted to relax in that place after all the hours in the gloom and darkness, despite being a demon of it. 

"I think they noticed us." - Mira

Mira's report turned out to be true, as a Skeleton emerged from the shadow of the left pillar. However...

"Hey, everyone!! Iron's back with some humans!" - Skeleton

"...If he talks, he can be classified as a 'rational' one?" - Noire

"Affirmative." - Iron

It turns out that the rational undeads had been safe despite Iron being away from the place. And we got a warm welcome from them all as we were allowed to enter the street.

As we passed the two pillars, I noticed a thin, film-like barrier between the two. It was of no problem for us of the living. Iron and the created undeads were also okay.

Undeads of many varieties started to flood out of the houses in the street to greet Iron who had returned. Skeletons, zombies, some animated objects operated by ghosts, "real" ghosts that looked like bleached variants of the Geists we had encountered sometimes... 

It's like a parade of a hundred demons--er, undeads! Many of them looked at us with curiosity, probably since we must be the first living creatures they've encountered. There's one common point between them: they're all rank F or below. Only a handful is rank E, and those are limited to class-based evolutions and Living Armors like Iron. Their abilities are a large notch lower than his as well.

In other words, no one here's obtained an Extra Race evolution. The classes they all have ain't nothing to write home about either...hm?

(Hey, they're all got "Tirnog" as their last name.) I whispered to Alf.

(Maybe they've got some leader that names the different undeads... wait, "Tirnog"? As in "Tir na Nog"?) - Alf

(I also only noticed now. Something's up here...) - Garami

Mira was busy talking with the undeads, probably to gather information, while the fallen angel simply glared at most of them. Is she having a problem with them due to "being a servant of the gods", or something? Iron is stoic as always, simply returning the greetings he receives. 

We were taken into a plaza made in the middle of the street, where one Skeleton drabbed in robes was waiting. Iron, the first who arrived. fell to one knee in front of the Skeleton.

"Lord Merwell, I have returned." - Iron

"Glad to see you are not hurt, young Iron. And your friends are?" - Skeleton

Wow, the Skeleton talked with fluid words. He's... Skeleton Wiser? That's not a class... the long-sought-after Extra Race evolution I looked for in the crowd?! Seems to be INT-based... oh? One of his titles is "King of Skulls". Only available for a Skeleton who has been selected as the lord of his peers. Comes with [Royal Authority] even. Then this guy is the one who allowed Iron to obtain the Squire class...

"A pleasure to meet you, lord Merwell. My name is Garami, currently a commander from the organization, Nequitia." - Garami

Am actually a General though. The last gig sealed the deal. Just gotta wait for the paperwork to be done back at the HQ.

I introduced myself with as much etiquette as I could muster out. Ignore the stares behind me~. Punish them later for looking at me like a leopard changing its spots~.

"Oh, a pleasure indeed. If you could enlighten me, what is your relationship with our Iron here?" the Skeleton Wiser named Merwell asked. 

"To put it bluntly, Iron here was affected by some bad influence, which made him attack our group, and we knocked some sense into him again." - Garami

"SAY WHAT!?" - Merwell

What, too blunt? Merwell looked like his jaw would fall off... or rather, that happened to some of the other undeads that heard our conversation. They're hurryingly trying to attach them back.

"Wait, you are telling me... the disease of madness?" - Merwell

"Disease? If you're referring to the Geists, then yes." - Garami

I mean, a disease that affects undeads?

"I knew it! Undeads cannot be sick, so there had to be something going on!" - Merwell

Oh, he's not that stupid. Just lacking in information-gathering abilities.

"There were some other undeads that were alongside him during their attack, but we managed to knock several of them into their senses. They are currently taken care of by our comrades on a different island." - Garami

Removing the formal speech, I just told this guy that we're holding the life of the other undeads after they attacked us, and that they're outside his reach. Now, how will this guy react?

"...I see. Then, Iron is here because he wants to repay his and the others' debts?" - Merwell

"Something like that. The others need to 'clean their own mess', so to say. They are safe, of course." - Garami

"...That is good. Now, bones and corpses, do not just stand there and rot. We have to entertain our guests and our champion's saviors!" - Merwell

The undeads made a shout of joy and excitement and started to take out musical instruments and decorations. Guess even the dead need a good night of party now and then.

"Miss Garami, may we continue our conversation inside?" - Merwell

The Skeleton managed to project a conflicted expression on his face, despite being all bones. I accepted his proposal and we entered one of the buildings. Mira and the rest remained in the plaza with the partying undeads. Of course, so did the Skeletons I had with me, all several times stronger than the natural undeads.

---

"Alright, what is your goal here?" asked Merwell after we had taken place by the long table in the house. There was no one else present other than the two of us. Music started flowing into the house from the plaza, preventing anyone from hearing our voices from the outside.

"Nothing that special. We're just on a treasure hunt." I replied plainly.

"...T-treasure hunt? Then, what is your goal for arriving at our settlement?" - Merwell

"Just looking for a place to take a rest. It was Iron's idea by the way. We had no plans of coming to this place at the beginning. Mostly due to us arriving at this place for the first time." - Garami

"Iron did... Fine. I will believe you on that account. And the undeads you have in custody?" - Merwell

"They are all fine. As I said before, we simply ask for them to pay back the debt they have to us for saving their lives, Iron included. We ain't gonna ask them for anything inhuman... even if they ain't human." - Garami

"...Alright, I will believe you on that point-" - Merwell

"And that offer extends to you guys as well." - Garami

"Huh?" - Merwell

"As I said, if your 'settlement' agrees to work for our organization, we will promise to improve your ways of living. The small festival outside is so that the undeads won't break down from the pressure of being prisoners in their own home, right?" I asked while pointing outside from where the music came from.

"...It is as you say. Even if undeads are practically immortal, those capable of rational thoughts are still vulnerable to stress and despair." - Merwell

"Like I thought. Therefore, as long as you can accept that we keep whatever we find of valuables in the city without an owner, meaning a 'rational' undead, we will do our best to resolve this problem of yours. And we will keep the corpses of the slain enemies. Okay?" - Garami

"...If you come across some of our people possessed by the Geists..." - Merwell

"Then it depends on them. To be honest, the only method we know that works on the Geists is kinda brutal. There's not many that can survive the process." - Garami

"...Fine then. I will not ask for something impossible. That you can save some at least is better than none." - Merwell

Alright~. I got the contract~.

Just as we were about to go over the details of the plan-

*Crank!*

"Garami! There's trouble by the entrance!" - Alf

---

"...Alf. This isn't 'trouble'." - Garami

"Then what do you call it?" - Alf

I looked at the undeads that had flocked to the entrance of the streets. Their numbers should be... around a good hundred? Some more?

"This is a chance. Mira, fallen angel, get those magic blasts ready!" - Garami

We've got the barrier preventing those things from touching us, meaning we can fire one-sidedly at them from here!

"Wait, that won't work! An attack filled with the intent to harm will be blocked by the barrier!" shouted Merwell who had arrived with us.

Eh~. Then, it's really a problem...

"Hey, does this barrier-thingy go all the way to the roof?" - Garami

"The roof? ...No, it stops right above it. The wild ones cannot get through if that is what you are worried about... ah." - Merwell

You're quick on catching on stuff, old lord Merwell.

I threw a thread up to the roof of the three-story building and climbed up. I also ordered the fallen angel to come up as well. Mira, the final one capable of using magic, is grounded. She's got no method to climb the building fast enough or flying like the fallen angel.

At the top, I dismissed the three spider siblings and the tortoise for another set of Skeleton Fairies with Fire and Wind.

"All hands... FIRE!" - Garami

The four Skeleton Fairies and the fallen angel released their respective magic at the crowd of wild undeads. It didn't finish them off with one blast, but at this height, we can take it easy while waiting for the MP to reco...ver... arrows, ahead!

Some, what should I call them, Skeleton Archers, aimed at us with their bows... or, ain't those headed solely for me!?

I wanted to run away, but the fallen angel's gonna end up like a pincushion. Let's parry them instead. Their trajectory is easy to see, only the amount's being a bitch.

The result? 32 of 33! 

Mwa-hahaha! This new... self-defense style(?) I got truly live up to the 15 Points I wasted--no, used on it. One of the skill's strong points is that, compared to the original [Parry], is that the movement I do is many times smoother than before. Even Mira shouted "what the hell!?!?" when she saw me testing it out before we left.

Obviously, the success rate is increased several-fold. And with smoother movements, even the small rain of arrows just now's no big deal. I couldn't react to the last one, but it's only gonna nick my right arm, so no big deal-!?

I-IT HURST!! It hurts, hurts, hurthurthurthurthurt, IT HURST LIKE HELL!!!

What in hell was that arrow!? The wound feels like it's on fire! It's smokin' hot! I'll gladly accept comments like that normally, but NOT IN THIS CASE!! Hey, ain't it actually smoking!? S-someone! Is there a firefighter in the ghost town!? Or, a doctor! I meant a doctor! Or better yet, both!

An acid arrow? Was it an acid arrow!? Did those bone-for-brains get their hands on some sort of legendary arrow made of solid acid!? Where did my above-average LUC stat go to!? This is one of the few times I'm actually counting on it!!

I took a look at the arrows that had fallen to the ground... such extravagance... the arrow-tip is made of solid gold. Why gold? 

"Garami! What's wrong... Demonbane!?" - Noire

"Say what n-ouch!" - Garami

"S-s-s-s-stay c-c-c-calm! D-d-don't strain y-y-y-yourself!" - Noire

"Calm down yourself and focus on the horde!" I shouted back at her. The long-range capable undeads have already been defeated, but there's still quite the lot left, hammering at the barrier.

"A-a-alright, you got it!" - Noire

"Yeah... wait, before that, tell me short about that 'demonbane' you just mentioned." - Garami

"You don't know about it? It is golden weapons forged through a special procedure, granting it equal properties such as silver for certain Moon attribute creatures and-" - Noire

"That's good. Return to blasting the bones away." - Garami

In other words, these arrows are super-expensive, demon-slaying items. No way those undeads had these just by coincidence. And considering the numbers...

Guess I underestimated this island. Both its threat level... and the gains from crushing this place. Time to call some fiery reinforcement. Ku-ku-ku... it hurts...

---

"That's why I told you not to be stingy with your archers!" 

Silence, mortal. Our decisions are never flawed.

"It sure is now! That thing's not going to rest until it has crushed the whole island now that you have baited her with those items!"

Hmph. We would like to see them try.

"Hey, that's what the Migrants calls a 'death flag' right there. I bet my 'stache on it."

Then there is nothing to worry about. Death is just another servant of ours.

"ARRRGHH!! Why do all my business partners have to have such big egos!?"