It is known that minotaurs tend to cling onto the things that they desire or love the most. Minotaurs, for example, are known to have a single partner for life. When they lose their mate, minotaurs tend to grieve for a long time.

Colossus minotaurs are similar to their smaller cousins. They are not only physically bigger, but their emotional state is also much more intense. Minotaurs might be heartbroken for decades, but colossus minotaurs tend to live in bitterness for centuries.

The worst are the female colossus minotaurs that lost their mate. These oversized sources of salt and pessimism tend to cry in the corner of some mountain for many years. Their intense emotions would physically manifest into large buckets of ice cream or other daily products to soothe their sorrows.

Such is the case with the colossus minotaur known as ‘Mooscly’.

“WAAAAGHHH! YOU JUST WANT TO HURT ME!” The oversized lady cow thrashed her fist around angrily while hugging a container full of magic ice cream.

Rookie threw his body into the air, rolling around the floor to avoid the unhappy minotaur’s fist. Although it was nice not getting smashed by the equivalent of a mountain being hurdled at you, it was still uncomfortable being slapped by walls of undead meat.

Mooscly tried to charge at Rookie but was tripped onto the ground by the chain held by Musclella. Her back smashed onto the stone floor, causing Rookie to jump unintentionally. Despite the hard crash, the floor still remained intact.

It would’ve seemed that this entire floor was enchanted and reinforced. As expected of a magic tower.

“What do we do?!” Rookie shouted at Musclella.

“Get protein!” Musclella pointed at the large tub of ice cream the colossus minotaur was holding.

“Although this plan seems disagreeable, it would have appeared that I have no choice! Have at you!” Rookie charged at Mooscly as she dipped her hand into the jar, taking in a mouthful of magic ice cream.

I could feel my copper-worth spectating room shrink as Rookie tightened his muscles to conjure a muscle spell. Green streaks of light flashed across the undead flesh walls, all meeting to one side, towards his right arm.

“Earth spell; Collapsing Plates!” Rookie cast his spell as he threw his body forward, turning himself into a massive rock arrow while Mooscly was still busy weeping.

What we did not expect was for Mooscly to react with lightning speed. With one palm, she blocked Rookie’s spell. The vibration of the impact shook both me and Satel inside Rookie’s body, causing me to chatter unintentionally.

“Damn you, Harold! Break up with me for some dumb teleporter, huh?!” Mooscly bellowed at no one in particular. “Giving me the crappy ‘But Mooscly, I must protect it, the demon succubi told me to do so!’ excuse. Bah! All bulls are the same! Never dating a minotaur ever again!”

As Mooscly sulked, she quickly closed her palm on Rookie, holding him in. She raised us up and threw us as she shouted ‘THEN MARRY THAT TELEPORTER!’

“Internals Shielding!” Rookie shouted as his body rag-dolled through the air, slamming onto the ground and tumbling like a smooth pebble skipping across a lake. Rookie apparently focused defending the inside of his body in order to protect us.

“Get up, Rookie!” I shouted. “Damn it, you idiot! You should know that something like this won’t damage me! Focus on protecting yourself!”

“Y-y..you don’t have to worry about me, Boss!” Rookie croaked as he struggled to stand up.

I peered through my observation hole and saw another imminent danger. A blurry brown figure was hurdling towards us at great speed.

I pressed my palm against Rookie’s inner flesh walls and boosted his speed. The undead abomination threw all his effort in dodging sideways to avoid the incoming giant punch. With a loud ‘CLANG’ followed by a small earthquake, Mooscly’s fist crashed against the arena’s bars.

“Dispersed Explosions!” Rookie opened his palms and faced them towards Mooscly, using traditional magic to cause magic explosions around Mooscly’s gigantic body.

“Careful! Protein!” Musclella shouted at us from a distance as she struggled to keep the chains from escaping her hands.

“Oh dear! It slipped my mind!” Rookie stopped his explosions but was immediately met with the intense impact as Mooscly rammed her fist at Rookie’s side.

My vision rolled around and around and around and…So this is how it feels like to be in a barrel and thrown down a hill…

As soon as Rookie managed to balance himself, he had to dash forward as Mooscly’s fist came down crashing. With the help of my boost, Rookie circled around Mooscly, dodging against the colossus minotaur’s attacks.

“W..we won’t be able to fight like this, Boss! What do we do?!” Rookie’s voice boomed.

“I’m thinking. I’m thinking,” I repeated to myself. I looked down to my fellow spectator, Satel, but apparently she was suffering from motion sickness.

“You think you can hurt me?! Harold leaving me only made me stronger! He…uwaaa…UWAAAAAHHHH! HAROLD, COME BACK!” Mooscly started to weep again as she gorged herself on ice cream.

“This looks like a good opportunity! Now’s the time to strike!” Rookie shouted as he stopped circling around and charged forward.

Wait…wouldn’t it be a bad time to attack a salty, heartbroken minotaur while she’s still eating her ice cream?! I, too, would be pissed if someone tries to disturb me while I eat my snack when I’m despressed!

“NO!” Musclella shouted but it was too late.

Mooscly lifted her head from the ice cream tub and assaulted Rookie with her free hand. Rookie had no active defensive spell as he thought it was a good time to pour all his power into the offense. Rookie’s body flew and crashed against the bars, knocking the life…or unlife…out of him.

“ROOKIE!” I shouted as I beat my hands against his walls. His arms twitched whenever I beat the walls, but it doesn’t exactly mean he was responding to me.

“Shit! He’s unconscious!” Satel concluded.

Rookie’s body was lying down on his sides so we could still see through the observation hole. Mooscly was charging at us with a powered up punch.

D-damn it! I can’t use my spells from inside! I don’t want to destroy Rookie’s body!

Unexpectedly, something blocked the cow’s angered punch. Like a brick wall standing defiantly against a meteor, Musclella held the minotaur back.

“Musclella?!” I shouted.

“Big man still awake?” Musclella asked. Apparently she mistook my own shouts for Rookie’s.

“Y-yeah! But what about you? Who’s holding the chain back?!” I replied.

“That not matter! You go pull stick! Get out of here! Me hold Mooscly back!”

“B-but…”

“No buts! Me must protect boyfriend’s friends! Me strong! Me protect weak!”

“Y..you…” My fist curled up into a ball as I sniffled. The fist shook with anger as voices started to flood my head. A thousand years I have lived. Yet in those years I was alive, countless numbers had sacrificed themselves for me. All for what?

Me?

A weakling?

…Am I?

No…

NO.

I pulled both of my arms back then threw them forward, digging deep into the rotted flesh walls inside Rookie’s body.

“B-Boss?” Satel nervously asked me.

I wiggled my hand around as I poured my intentions into the veins of Rookie. Mana started to fill the undead corpse and slowly, Rookie’s body started to respond.

“Satel. You’re taking the lower parts of his body. You’ve done this before, right?” I ordered.

“A..Aaah! I got you!” Satel looked around confused then buried her hands randomly onto the flesh walls. With a bit of tampering, Rookie’s legs started to move.

“This is insane…I’m controlling a body controlling a body…” Satel muttered.

I linked Rookie’s mind with my mind directly, slaving his master controls to me. It was starting to feel like I had another set of limbs to control. Closing my vision, a new voice was heard.

Greater-undead Mobile Suit Manual Controls Activated.

Enslaving Unit to Pilot.

Loading…Please wait.

Enslaving Successful.

Gundead Mobile Suit Online.

“Activate Gundead Mobile Suit, Combat Mode!” I shouted.

Rookie’s body started to rise as his flesh and bones started to take shape. Sharp pointed bones started to protrude out of his skin, and his left hand started to form a bone shell resembling a shield.

A mix of flesh and bone matter started to create a helmet around Rookie’s mithril face plating. The inside of Rookie was also starting to change to accommodate Satel and me, turning into a meaty cockpit. In front of Satel, bright light started to flicker in the shape of a rectangle until it started to form images.

“This is…a screen?” She wondered.

“I’m looking through Rookie’s eyes but you’re practically blind. I’ll project what I see in front of you using light magic.”

“Wouldn’t the drain you?”

“My authority will not be questioned by the mana.”

Not only was the inside modified, bones started to wrap around Rookie’s exposed outer vital parts, acting like plates of armor. Rookie’s long tongue started to retract since the minotaur could just grab it easily, however it was still usable as a hidden weapon.

With the right hand, I concentrated offensive spells into it. Despite my focus, the magic was still spilling wildly into the air, losing form. I modified Rookie’s body to grow a bone wand from his right palm, forming a base for my offensive spells. Concentrating all mana onto the wand, lightning chaotically spewed from it until it formed the shape of a straight saber. Since my job was to knock the giant cow out, I could only use lightning to stun it.

“T-this is…” Satel was left confused as she sat on the co-pilot seat, just below me.

“Indeed. This the next generation of undead mobile suits: The Gundead Mobile Suit!”

“WHAT?! What do you mean next generation?! There were older versions?!”

“Now, then…Let’s make some protein…” I gripped onto the fleshy controls and moved forward.

*

*

*

‘Eliminate those that oppose the flag of truth. Cut those unwilling to bend. Burn and eradicate the pathetic existences that dare defy my will.

With love,

Your loving Boss

xoxoxo’

I neatly folded the message passed to me by Boss into my pocket. The orders appeared to be vague, but Boss trusted that I knew what had to be done. He was never one to give us specific orders unless it was something like ‘Massage me’ since he always enjoyed watching how we finish his task.

No.

Even something like ‘Massage me’ would cause a few headaches as there was nothing to massage. Was there anything to knead? Must we tickle his ribs?

Nevertheless, we are Boss’ minions. No matter the task, Boss had always enjoyed watching us dance on his palms, even if we are the one pulling the strings to move ourselves to his wills.

Now, another abstract task was folded in my pocket. I simply knew Boss was watching us right this very moment, evaluating our every move.

“Gardener, this person wore the same thing as the killer that killed you, right?” I asked the minion next to me. He was a friendly, care-free fellow that always seemed to try to befriend the enemy. His friendliness was what got him killed in the first place, yet he refuses to change.

“Indeed.” Gardener raised the unconscious man’s head as two undead knights held the man up by his shoulders. “Must you really treat him this badly, Thyros?”

“They are the aggressors; we are simply defending our right to exist. Why should they attack us without accepting the implication that their lives would be, in turn, forfeit?” I scratched my black mask, pondering.

“Really, just because you’re a lich doesn’t mean you should be this bloodthirsty.” Gardener just shrugged while shaking his head in disapproval.

“I deny being bloodthirsty. If anything, I am tour-thirsty. As Boss’ lieutenant, I enjoy nothing less than enjoying what Boss likes, which is touring. Also, I prefer you call me ‘Temp-Boss’ while I am in-charge here,” I waved off his disapproval.

Using Gardener and the underground criminal network, we searched for possible targets to capture and interrogate. The only thing we knew was that a group of crazy gravediggers had been roaming near Rallas. Even so, there must be at least one inside Rallas itself.

It didn’t take long for a gravedigger to be found spying on the musclemen. Cornering him into a secluded alleyway, we didn’t have to expend too much effort subduing him.

“Right, Temp-Boss. What will you do with him?” Gardener pointed at the unconscious man.

“It would be a waste killing him here. I’ll do what I do best.” I raised my war cane and thumped it onto the floor. A pulse of light washed across the alley, passing through all the undead harmlessly.

The two undead knights let the gravedigger down and stepped back to give me space. Crouching down, I started shaking him.

“W-w..what? Huh? Where am I?” The man got up, frightened. He started to look around in a panic, looking for his weapons.

“Calm down, friend. Do you know who we are?” I asked him in a calm manner as I sat him upright properly.

“O-oh…it’s you guys. I…I thought you were still scouting out the city.” The man rubbed his head confused.

I used a subversion spell to disguise us in his vision into the people the man trusts the most. This spell would change the target’s senses against the spell caster, even how the caster smells, feels and sounds. Although this spell would be problematic to use on narcissistic people such as Boss.

If I was correct about him being a spy in this city, the people he would trust the most right this moment would be his fellow gravediggers lollygagging around the plains of Rallas.

“Don’t worry. We were sent here to get you when we felt that something was off. Were you attacked?” I inquired.

“Yes! I was! Did you see who attacked me?” The man started to become wary, looking at the surroundings.

“Hold. Let us relax for a minute. As you know we are in a city of sorcerers. There is a possibility that you could be a sorcerer spy.”

“Me?! Impossible!”

“Relax. Just answer my questions and we can confirm that you are really you.”

“R-right…”

“First of all. What is your name?”

“It’s Alanur of the Order.”

“And what is the Order?”

“The Order of the Returned Knights, of course!”

“And what is our motive?”

“To eradicate all irregularities in this world.”

“And who set this motive?” I leaned in closer, trying to press him on.

“W-what? What do you mean? It’s the Grandmaster, obviously. Who else? Why are you asking all these? Are we done?”

“No, not yet. What is your mission here in Rallas?”

“To…wait, I’m not allowed to say this. You should know this, Sepiah...”

“Ha ha, I was simply testing you. You never know if you’re just a muscleman in disguise.”

“That’s nonsense. We could simply use our amulet to…” He raised his see-through amulet worn around his neck and looked at me through it. He hands started to shake and his left gauntlet emit a black glow. My senses started to spark as I felt the threat rising from him.

Without hesitation, I swiped my war cane towards his neck. Not only was my cane coming at him, my two undead knights were both swinging their swords down towards him.

Unexpectedly, we were blasted into the air as a black barrier flew out of his left gauntlet to defend him. I recovered mid-air, allowing my feet to slide across the stone floor. I casually leaned against my cane and scratched my head.

“I did not expect that amulet and gauntlet to be like that,” I commented.

“Filthy undead. I don’t know how you fooled me, but I am lucky the Order had provided me well. Now, I must give back to the Order by destroying you all,” The man shouted as he got up and took up an unarmed fighting stance.

Despite having no weapon, I still felt that he was a big threat. I kicked my war cane into the air and grabbed it with one hand. Using my free hand, I signaled my two death knights to guard my flanks. Gardener stood behind me and held his steel mace in anticipation.

“Gardener. You’ve fought these guys before. Any tips?”

“Well, Temp-Boss, his gauntlet could become a connection to the Abyss itself, sucking mana in the air. Not only that, they know cosmic spells. Overall, magic is useless in this fight.”

Are they demon worshippers? How did they make those gauntlets? Truly, Boss had infected me with his useless thoughtfulness. Questions could be answered later when I am busy not fightin-…

I turned my head as I dodged a black bolt. Continuing my turn, I twisted my body forward and started kicking towards the order knight. My two undead knights charged first, pressing their shields forward like a battering ram.

The order knight raised another black barrier with his spells and brought his left arm forward, defiantly standing against us.

Noticing this, all three of us started chanting spells. My cane started to glow with a purple and brown hue while the two death knights’ shields started to burst into flames.

“Don’t go near him! Use magic to range him from afar!” I ordered loudly.

“Magic is useless while I am-…” The order knight was mercilessly smashed by two shields and a war cane. We all proceeded to gang on him, beating him brutally. Gardener, too, did not hesitate to perform facial surgery on the man’s face with his mace.

The fight ended as fast as it started. The answer to his anti-magic barrier was pretty simple – We did the opposite of what I ordered and just used brute force. In the first place, he was unarmed and alone. Magic alone wouldn’t be able to handle all four undead who are combat veterans for a thousand years.

As the order knight’s life escaped him, we stopped and backed away a few steps. We surrounded him like we were inspecting an interesting pile of shit and silence permeated for a while.

“That…was anticlimactic,” I commented.

“As brutal as ever…” Gardener sighed and facepalmed.