"~BUT YOU PROMISED!~" Tristan stopped right in front of me preventing from going any further.

"I know, but this is a very serious matter, once I return we can go to play outside like I..."

"~NO! I WANT TO GO NOW!~"

"Tristan. I will meet with very bad people, if I take you with me, they might hurt you."

Tristan went silent for a moment, but when the memories of his parents dying at the hands of soldiers leaked to me through our soul, I realized that I made mistake.

Signs of fear appeared in his eyes, but they slowly faded and were replaced by determination.

"~I WILL GO WITH YOU!~" he was no longer asking, this was a statement, and when his thoughts continued to leak through our soul I realized that it will be impossible to change his mind.

Tristan was already making changes to his body so he can use space-time magic and if I refused, planned to use our bond as a beacon to teleport to me once I am out of sight... Though when he was unable to use a pocket dimension even with space-time magic at the second level, he grew a bit anxious. From the feeling he received when tried to do so, I knew that his pocket dimension was linked to mine, which was still unstable after I received that 'gift' from the devil...

"Fine," I said and at the same time nodded my head to a templar that was supposed to escort him, hinting that it was no longer needed, "but you will listen to what I say, and if I tell you to run you will do just that."

I know that as a dragon Tristan was probably stronger than all of us combined, especially now that he could use more than half of my skills. But... I just couldn't stop to worry. He was just a child in my mind.

In the meantime, Aurora, now posing as a male priest, paid no mind to our little scene and glared at Zaos as we resumed walking for the portal. "I will not forget this!"

In the end, she was forced to keep her disguise when Evelyn gave an order. As for why she was angry at the leader of templars, it was him who suggested the idea.

Zaos retracted his gaze from Tristan and smiled when looked at 'her', "Consider this your punishment for what you did earlier..."

"What punishment?! I haven't done anything..."

"Have you already forgot about Liza? A priestess assigned as your supervisor? The one you teleported and then left in the middle of nowhere."

"Ah! Her..." 'Aurora' breathed out in understanding then narrowed 'her' eyes, "So I have to go through all of this..." she gestured at her face and clothes, "just because of a little prank?!"

The effects of a pill she was forced to swallow slightly altered her face and voice, and while it was a temporary change, I took a mental note that the real appearance of people we meet might be not necessarily what we see.

"A little prank?!" Zaos glared at her, "On her way to the town she was attacked by a pack of wolves and only through a sheer luck managed to escape unscratched."

"Hey, at least it's not in the middle of a desert. It's your own fault for leaving so many holes in our contract. When I was still working for the other side, there was this guy that thought he can..."

Zaos frowned, "Perhaps I should see to it that your punishment is extended... how does a month in disguise sound to you?"

"You wouldn't dare!" 'Aurora' glared at him with hostility but received only grin in return. "Fine, but I will make you regret it."

"Oh, and how do you plan to do that?"

"How? Let's see, what was his name? Derrick? Cameron?" with her words the expression of Zaos slightly changed, "Aha, so it's Cameron! Don't think I have missed the way you look at him. Let me tell you something, one should never underestimate the power woman's body holds over a man. I don't care how much time or effort it will take, but mark my words, I will make him mine."

"Leave him out of this!" Zaos glared at her.

All of us looked at Zaos surprised, his tone and face told me that Aurora hit the mark. While having a spouse for a priest or templar was quite normal in this world, a homosexual relationship was frowned upon by the society so it was quite unexpected that the one with the highest rank among the templars, was leaning that way.

"Cameron?" a dryad muttered by my side, "Is this that guy Mercedes was trying to date? No wonder she never made any progress..."

The name of the dryad was Jade and she was one of the champions accompanying us to the meeting.

So far our group consisted of two champions, me, Phoenix, now also Tristan in the mix, a few templars, and two priests. Gareth, a human priest, was actually the only priests in our group, as for Aurora, or just Nick now, she was a priest only in the name.

One of the templars was obviously Grand Master Zaos, leader of the templars who was now the center of our attention. The other was sadly one I already knew...

Kun was a cat beastkin and he was the one that delivered the message when Phoenix was still in the Arena. To say that he wasn't too fond of me would be an understatement. Still, as he was included in the group, it means that his skills in battle are not to be underestimated.

As for the dryad champion, the main reason for her joining us was a pixie sitting on her shoulder - Lorenzo. Despite his size, he was the strongest among the champions... well, at least in this world.

But only as long as he wasn't too far from his partner.

All pixies without exception were 'magi' from the birth and were a race with the largest mana pool. And as if that wasn't enough, even the worst among pixies could use wind manipulation and chantless incantation with ease. Well, sort off. It actually was related to the way their magic worked in general, and at the same time, the reason why they couldn't use it freely... not without a risk of drastically shortening their lifespan.

With time, the Pixies have found a solution to that.

By creating a spiritual bond with someone from a different race it was possible to negate the effect, which is why today you will never see a pixie without a partner. According to the books, even an animal would suffice for the role, but once formed, the bond couldn't be severed without suffering a heavy price, so very few pixies choose to do that. After all, who would want to follow a dumb beast for the rest of their lives?

The bond was symbiotic in nature, the pixie was finally able to fully utilize its magic, but because their mana was now linked with their partner, the other party enjoyed an increased mana pool and slightly better affinity with the magic.

Still.

Most were more interested in their hundred percent accurate ability to detect lies.

"Don't worry," 'Aurora' continued now with an evil smile, "after a month or two I will let you have him back... now if he will still be able to live without a woman is an entirely different question..."

The face of Zaos paled when he heard the pixie whisper to Jade. "Whoa... she really thinks that she can do that."

Zaos narrowed his eyebrows and looked at Aurora, "Hey, how about we forget about all of this, I was just joking earlier..."

I was right about her, she was very dangerous.

I wouldn't be surprised if by using her scent or illusions she was able to charm even someone with a different orientation, but the deal she made with the Goddess was preventing her from using her powers to seduce the others. Yet the number of men she caught in her web is steadily increasing... I guess I should be happy that my Phoenix isn't on the list.

*

Once we have reached the portal, which was now fixed by the way, I saw a few more champions with a group of templars making preparations for their 'departure to a dungeon'... all just an act. A similar sight probably could be seen at the temples all over the empire, with a squad of templars and some priests either preparing to 'visit the dungeon' or getting ready to set off for a 'patrol duty'.

A group of ten or twenty templars doing this was nothing out of ordinary for a town or city, but... If countless of those squads from all over empire suddenly used the portals leading to the same place... the resulting force would be enough to start a war... or even end it.

The trump card Zaos was speaking about wasn't Aurora but a disk in his possession. It could act as a temporary portal and if Harbingers took a bait when saw our little group, they were up for a very unpleasant surprise...

*

"...what about the other village?" Zaos asked the priest in front of him.

"So far we have received no news, but I heard that a group of adventurers accepted a request that had something to do with it..."

After we used the portal, our group was now in the temple of Sendmore Town as initially planned. Zaos and Phoenix were busy discussing with the local priests the upcoming meeting and the news of our surroundings, as for me...

"Sure, but I don't think I will be in a position to record the battle when it's my turn..." Tia answered. Her ghostly image was floating slightly ahead of me, a hologram projected by Catbit on my wrist.

... I was more concerned with the fights of our friends. I might be unable to watch their match personally, but that doesn't mean I can't ask for someone to record it with their catbit. Besides, dealing with boring stuff was one of the reasons why I pushed the position of a leader to Phoenix.

"I guess I will ask Turion," I replied and quickly checked the list on mana screen above my hand, "he might be still not used to the device, but it's better than asking Jack or Darson..."

"Hey is this... a communication device?" Jade approached me while looking with wide eyes at the mana screen above my hand.

"Among other things," I smiled when ended the call.

"Really?" she asked with the glint in her eyes. "What else could it do?"

"Well, not so much, to be honest..." I answered, "but the next model will have a barrier, a function to teleport, electromagnetic attack, the ability to control drones via distance..." I paused when realized that I might have revealed a bit more than I wanted.

While me and Phoenix could do most of what I just named by ourselves, our friends didn't... but only for now.

"Wow." the dryad breathed out, "Could you... mmm, make one for me as well? Not for free of course! I can pay!" she then quickly added.

"I have... yet to finish with the design." my hand slightly twitched when I was reminded of the last fiasco.

"~WHEN WILL WE GO TO MEET WITH BAD GUYS?~" Tristan asked by the side while yawning.

*

After some time we finally left the temple.

While it was very small when compared to the one at the Capital, or even the one at Endorod City, it was still the largest building for this small town.

Without using a portal, it would take us six days on a horse to get to Sendmore from the Capital, so for our meeting to take place so close to this town our enemy probably has some space-time mages on their side. Even so, their trap should pose us no danger. Even without reinforcements, our group alone was a force to be reckoned with and with three space-time mages on our side it wasn't a problem to escape if something went wrong.

Once we reached the meeting spot, that was near a large tree at the crossroad leading to nearby villages, there was no one in sight. Only when we got closer we saw the words written on a signboard lying on the ground.

Change of plans, we will meet in the village to the left.

All of us frowned. It was one thing to meet in the middle of nowhere, but with the villagers involved it might get ugly. Still, with countless paralyzing grenades Phoenix had in his pocket dimension, it shouldn't be impossible to deal even with this kind of situation. Little did we knew that it was already too late.

*

As we reached the village, a large flock of crows circled high in the air and a heavy stench reached us even from afar. With each step, it was only getting worse and soon we could see the cause with our own eyes.

"By the Goddess," the priest clenched his teeth while looking at the corpses scattered all over the village.

Some of them were lying on the road leading to the village, others were scattered on the fields. A corpse of a woman, fox beastkin judging from the ears, was leaning on the window of one house, the face twisted from fear.

*BLERGH*

I looked to the side and saw our dragon releasing the contents in his stomach on the ground. Tristan then looked at me with the tears in his eyes.

"~STINK TOO MUCH~"

Maybe it was really just the stench of corpses that caused this reaction, but considering how a few days ago he ate monsters and animals alike without any remorse, I suspect it was just an excuse. Most likely the sight has once again triggered the memories from our past life on Earth, but with his thoughts no longer leaking through our soul, I couldn't say for sure.

"Who could do this?!" Jade asked in anger.

"Is there even a need to ask?" Zaos replied while observing our surroundings, "Stay alert, the ones who did this might be still around."

I activated my catbit and scanned our surroundings, but save for our group and some animals we were the only living people in the radius of a few kilometers.

As we reached the first corpse on our way, Phoenix leaned and started to examine the body with transmutation.

"Some kind of poison, disease maybe..."

I could guess this much even before he said that. Save for a few exceptions, none of the bodies had wounds and even crows circling in the air still haven't landed to feast on the dead.

Gareth, the only real priest in our group, immediately activated a few group spells and I recognized them as protection from the poison and disease. Templars and priests were actually immune to any disease, but it wasn't the case for the poison. As for us, with our body manipulation and poison immunity, neither would have any effect, but it never hurts to be cautious.

"See what you can find with your 'peek into the past'." Zaos looked at Aurora.

This time without any complains 'she' approached us and after a moment her eyes lost focus, as if she was looking at something only she could see, "He is right. They started dying almost at the same time. As for the one who did this... most likely was done by a priest that was there a day ago..."

"Priest?" Phoenix and Zaos asked at the same time.

But I was more interested in the spell Aurora just used.

'Peek into the past'? Doesn't that mean that her space-time magic is already at level seven then? Maybe it's even higher... No, that's impossible, she wouldn't have lost if that was the case.

Just as the name implied 'peek into the past' allowed to look through time into the past events at your current location, but unlike 'peek into the future' it could do so more than a few seconds, hours, sometimes even weeks. It was a perfect tool for tracking someone down, but at the same time quite useless for a spell of this level. Still... with those two combined, the control one could achieve over space-time magic was much deeper.

Even reaching level eight with their help was only a matter of time, and this is where space-time mage becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Why? The answer is simple.

Stasis... a spell with almost unlimited potential.

Capturing someone who is way stronger than you, turning a rusty sword into a legendary weapon... nothing was impossible. If all nuclear weapons from Earth were used on the target affected by the spell all at once, not even a scratch would be left. For it is impossible to affect something when the time isn't even moving for it.

If Aurora was able to use this during our fight... with dungeon boost or not, there is no way it would have ended the way it did. After all, just like every spell of space-time magic, it could be cast without incantation and all you needed was a clear sight on the target.

The 'frozen' state doesn't last very long though, sometimes it's just a few minutes and only an expert could make it last more than an hour, but that's more than enough of time for space-time mage to put a collar on the body or let's say drop it into a crater of volcano. Once the spell wears off it would be very unpleasant... just as my thoughts reached there, memories from one book of a famous traveler suddenly surfaced in my mind.

'... and at the center of a hall, I saw Akmor the Second in all his glory. With a hammer in his hands and rage almost radiating from the eyes, even I had a hard time to believe that it was only a statue. They say that it is as old as the world itself and has existed for a long time even before the Dark Ages. It was found only recently at the ruins of the once glorious city of Golard and its very existence has helped to end many disputes among the historians about the origin of the first king...'

Something tells me that this 'frozen' state isn't always... 'short'.

"Help..." a weak voice of a man suddenly reached us from one of the buildings and it was so faint that only those among us with enhanced hearing managed to catch it.

"Strange," I muttered and mana screen popped up over my hand once again, "We should be the only one alive there..."

Zaos made a gesture with his hand and we slowly approached the building. Once there, I stayed outside with Tristan, with his size there was no way for him to fit in. As others entered inside, I approached the window and through the opening saw a figure of a dwarf lying on the floor. His face and body were obscured by a robe... but that wasn't enough to fool a templar.

"Undead!" Kun spat in disgust and then charged forward.

"Already exposed?" the dwarf nimbly dodged the first attack, "Do you have any idea how much time I spent on making up the story why I am the only survivor?!"

The templar attacked him again, but the undead somehow managed to avoid every attack, the robe on his head slid from the movement and revealed his zombie-like appearance. With one more swing aimed at him, the undead hit the broad side of the sword to redirect the blade...

*Hssss*

...but despite the perfect timing, his hand started to melt from the contact and soon only bones were left from his fingers. The zombie looked at his hand in disbelief and as he did so, the next swing sent his head flying.

"Aha ha ha ha Ha Ha..." suddenly a laughter reached me from behind.

"~AH!~" Tristan was startled by an unexpected and entered a battle stance, like a cat ready to pounce.

A corpse of a male cat beastkin we passed earlier was now laughing while lying on the ground with his gaze directed up at the hand he lifted in front of his head.

Was it pretending to be a corpse all this time? No, it wouldn't work against the templars, which means... it turned into undead only now!

Was it that mana pulse I felt earlier?

"Ha ha ha... ahh," the undead eventually stopped laughing, "forgot that have nothing on these bodies to defend against templars aura."

He then lifted both arms into the air and hit the ground, the impact was strong enough to raise him on the feet. The undead then took a battle stance and with a gesture of his hand, invited the templar from before to attack him.

"Filthy creature! How dare you to desecrate the dead!" the templar charged once again.

The others have also gathered from the house and just watched the show.

For a while, the zombie managed to avoid most of the attacks and his movement wasn't something you would expect from a zombie. His style was shifting from a snake to a monkey and even if slightly altered it was without a doubt kung-fu from the earth.

"Necromancer," I muttered and then looked at our surroundings.

The undead was obviously controlled, but it seems that the one behind him wasn't somewhere in the vicinity. I hope it wasn't the same necromancer I fought at that time. The one that used petrifying gaze to turn me into a stone, the one responsible for my meeting with the devil... the one that should be dead!

Don't tell me that in the end I still have failed to kill him?!

"Can you track him?" Zaos looked at Aurora.

"No." she shook her head, "He was never there in person. The only lead I have is that priest that was there earlier..."

"I can," Lorenzo on Jade's shoulder muttered, "but it will take some time, if he switch the bodies though I will have to start from the start."

Zaos looked at Kun battling the undead and quickly shouted, "Don't kill him!"

But it was too late.

Even if martial arts of the zombie were at the level of a master and its stats were higher as undead... his body was still only a level two farmer and the templar wasn't some weakling.

"Geuh!" a leg went flying, and shortly after, a head.

"He he he he," a moment later, another corpse lying a bit further started to rise on the feet, this time a human, "ha ha ha HA HA..."

A strong pulse of mana suddenly was launched from the body and the dead in the radius of hundred meters started to shake. A moment later bones and scraps of flesh were torn from their bodies and flew straight for the zombie.

The undead started to change, the muscles grew thicker with the extra flesh, and when the bones reached his body as well, took a shape of armor. Two massive swords formed in each hand from the bones, the blood still dripping on the surface. The undead now looked like a knight from some horror movie, white, fog-like miasma seeping from every pore in the body. The rest of the dead started to rise as well, but those acted like your usual zombies.

Is it really the same necromancer from before? Back then, to cast 'create undead' he had to do so with incantation, and now to cast it without, and even through undead... No. This must be someone else.

"B," I spoke while looking at the creature, and my suspicion was confirmed when it widened its eyes in surprise.

When the Harbingers separated into three groups, those that belonged to another almost never meet. Even Qin, a Harbinger whose soul I ate, knew very little about him. Harbingers had no habit to reveal their secrets easily even to each other. But... my gaze turned to Aurora, there was a Harbinger that knew quite a few of them very intimately...

From the information, I gained from her back then with the help of serum, and the memories of Qin... I made an educated guess who else among Harbingers could be a necromancer.

"They were right about you," the undead knight spoke with his gaze on me. "You are dangerous. No wonder they wanted my help."