Once they found some land, Ryan and Femradiel also found the first enemies. They were zombies made out of humans' souls again. While his parents weren't in that group, Ryan felt that some of them seemed familiar…

"That son of a bitch…" Ryan clenched his teeth in angel when he recognized a certain woman in that group.

It was Lucia, the leader of a group of survivors that fought alongside Ryan to clear Mephisto's dungeon. Her entire group was killed when Mephisto assumed the body of a magma demon and then used an attack that destroyed all life in a several kilometers range. Ryan escaped, but at that time, he lost both his legs.

The zombies fired hundreds of magic projectiles toward Ryan and Femradiel, but none of them hit them. Femradiel blocked all of them with an ice wall.

"Focus on attacking," Femradiel said.

Femradiel didn't have to say that twice. The very moment the ice wall appeared, Ryan had already summoned copies of his Holy Crossbow, and then he fired. Even in his human form, Ryan's attacks decimated the zombies. If Thanatos imagined that Ryan would hesitate in defeating them, he was dead wrong. However, Ryan still felt an annoying feeling in his chest when Lucia turned into dust.

Congratulations! The skill Rage has leveled up.

Congratulations! The skill Rage has leveled up.

"This is what he is aiming for," Femradiel said. "That you get pissed and charge at him like a mad bull. He must be laughing at you right now."

Ryan knew that, but knowing didn't make things any easier. If anything, knowing that his enemy wanted to play dirty only made him even more annoyed. After defeating the first wave of enemies, Ryan and Femradiel moved toward the direction the zombies came from, but they eventually found another group. This time, Ryan didn't find anyone that he had met, but his blood began to boil anyway because the zombies this time were all kids.

"... I guess I can deal with them," Femradiel said after a long sigh. "Just focus on repelling the attacks."

For someone like Ryan, who always planned to become a teacher, attacking kids was something he couldn't do, even if they were zombies or his enemies. Thanatos really marked all the points of Ryan's life that could be useful to him when he read his mind a few months ago. He used his parents against him, the people he failed to protect, and those that didn't have the chance to protect themselves.

In the end, Femradiel was more logical than Ryan, so she froze all the zombies and killed them instantly. However, it seemed that such a strategy was a waste of time. As soon as they began to move again, they felt something approaching them from behind… It was Lucia and the first group.

"To think that he can revive the zombies so easily and from so far away…" Femradiel said, visibly surprised. "He is really planning to wear us out while he plays with us."

Defeating the zombies wasn't enough. Ryan and Femradiel had to seal them or at least make sure that they would be unable to move. While they could ice magic, it was too risky. If Thanatos could revive them from so far away, naturally, he also could free them if he so wishes for it. In the end, the only solution was to seal all the souls… and that will take a long while.

"What are we going to do, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "We don't have time for this."

"We have, no matter how long this might take, I will defeat this asshole," Ryan said. "I will make sure that these people won't be tormented by him again."

Still, sealing all the souls will take a long while, even without considering the time he will need to forge new weapons. He had a few in-store, but it wasn't nearly enough for the number of zombies. Fortunately, Ryan had a certain idea.

"Focus on freezing them, Femradiel," Ryan said.

As usual, Femradiel has no idea what might happen when Ryan decides to improvise. As usual, she decided to trust him absolutely. Even though they were all humans who didn't have many chances to obtain classes, they still were pretty resistant to ice. So, Femradiel had a hard time freezing them. Just as Ryan expected, Thanatos watched all his fights and decided to come up with some countermeasures. Without ice, Femradiel's power was extremely limited.

However, before things could become messy. Ryan finished his preparations and knocked down dozens of zombies at the same time, and Femradiel couldn't help but frown at the weapon in his hands… It was an iron chain.

Due to the fact that the massively thick iron chains had been enchanted with holy magic, the zombies became unable to move when touched, so Ryan had the chance to Seal them.

Tormented Iron Chains

Effect: special chains made with the souls of those who had been used by the god of death. The souls imbued in this weapon can only find peace once this weapon serves its purpose. When used against enemies that can use dark and death magic, this weapon will cause fifty percent more damage.

Strength + 10, Dexterity +10

Durability: 30/30

The description was a bit weird, even though Ryan decided to use the weapon only for that. Perhaps the souls of those who had been tormented by Thanatos also wanted the same, which was why it had such effects. Still, while that impressive, the most fantastic thing on that weapon was that Ryan only enchanted a single link, and the more he enchants others, the more influential the weapon will become.

"Let's see if that asshole is crazy enough to keep sending zombies after us," Ryan said while smirking.

The chain was massive since Ryan wanted to use it on his Draconic form. Still, since it was a weapon, he decided to create using numerous souls. The durability was terrible. Unless Ryan seals hundreds of zombies in there, he won't achieve his goal.