AN: There's a twist in the story coming up soon~. Not going to tell you what it is until the next chapter. As always, folks, tell me whether or not you liked it down below, or if you have any questions or concerns.

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The little girl-princess-thing had given me quite the headache, as her kingdom was pretty much at war with each other and everyone else. It was, to be frank, a cliché. She and her bodyguard are this world's equivalent of a novel's Demon Race, and were at a constant war for dominance. "What a bother," I muttered whilst looting the dead of anything I found to be of interest. There were a few coins here and there, but their leather garb was too far gone, and their weapons were beyond repair. "It's too bad," my thoughts were laid bare, as I continued to rifle through their corpses. The only salvageable equipment were the metal caps, which turned into metal lumps when I crushed them and threw them into the pack.

As I was making my way back, I heard what sounded like metal falling on metal. This sound was followed by a couple of screams from the pair of demons I had "rescued". When I approached the noise, I sighed as I could see Zabartik lying on the ground with only his torso, arms, and head still moving. The rest of the body was now a pile of scrap, but there were a few legs in semi-workable condition. This allowed me to rebuild the hollowed armour back up, but I would need a new set if it was going to continue to act like a proper minion.

The little demon princess tried to inquire as to what I was, but was ignored while I worked on Zabartik. This led her to ask her bodyguard if he had seen anything like I did. To which he replied with, "...enchanter. I've seen a few people who are skilled enchanter do what IT does. Although, I've never seen other enchanters kill people, or command such a creature like that metal armour thing over there." He then whispered a, "...what is that thing?"

I shrugged my human shoulders, as I continued to work until Zabartik stood at attention. It still held a summoned tower shield, but there were a few cracks in the katar-lance that would need repair or a replacement sometime soon. Since there were no more enemies in the area, I decided to forgo the repair. I decided this based on another idea, which was to rest for an age and discuss where to take the little demon and her guard. I did not much care for them, and would gladly disposed of their bodies somewhere, but I had no knowledge of this world. Suffice to say, they were still necessary to keep around. However, once their usefulness was used up, they would be discarded immediately.

"Yes, I am cruel with my thoughts," growled the kitsune, "but if you had become an Undead creature who was generally hated by all, what would you do in my shoes? Try and help others while being hunted by those you are trying to help? Please. If it weren't for the fact that I had my enchantments to become other races, I would not be who I am today, nor would we have met."

"So," I rumbled slowly whilst leaning against a fallen tree, "where do I take you to collect a reward?"

My voice seemed to have startled the pair, because they had begun to stare at my resting body with wide eyes. "Um..." The little princess was at a loss on where to begin, "I-I'm Daleia. Thi-This I-is Sevrem. W-w-w-" She broke down into tears, and clung to the guard's non-wounded arm, of whom tried his best to calm her.

"She's been through too much already," he complained, but I was only annoyed.

"You both will be through much more, if we're to travel together." My growl was responded with a shocked glare at my response.

"Typical Undead," he muttered, and began to gasp for breath. His lack of breath only lasted for half a heartbeat, but it was enough to remind him of what had happened after he fell. This demon, who was wearing some sort of silver armour, now had a long trench coat covering his form. It was unknown where he retrieved it from, but it was enough to hide his frame from prying eyes. The princess on the other hand, still had her frilly dress, but also wore a torso length leather jacket.

"Watch your tongue, demon. The world may hunt me and mine into extinction, but it is you and yours that will soon follow me to the River Styx. It is there that we shall meet at the pier of the Ferryman, and where I shall enjoy tormenting your essence for all time." This statement seemed to frighten the demon, as he paled and shivered at the thoughts I placed upon his mind. The other, on the other hand, only showed a curious tear streaked expression, but pouted when the other shook his head.

"Well," I growled at the pair, "where is your home?"

The male pointed in the direction I assumed was north, and said, "About two days north, and four days west, is when we'll be at the castle."

"Uh-huh." I wasn't buying it, and voiced, "Is her family still in charge, or are you the type who is going to gather a large army and take back your kingdom?" The pair looked at me with slacked jawed expression, and I felt another non-existent headache forming within my skull. I even went as far as to rub my temples at such a cliché. "Whatever," I muttered at the pair, "Let's get going, then. I do not wish to be in your company any more than you who still breathe want to be in mine."

*****

I will not bore you with the details of the journey. To put it in a way for you to understand, if others see a six meter tall, four armed skeleton was seen walking through a decrepit forest, you too would run and hide. Suffice to say, it was boring, and having a curious princess who tried her best to "befriend the giant" had become quite annoying. Every hour, it seemed, she tried to climb my bones, and each time would always become stuck on something. At one point, she managed to have gotten stuck in a crack on my pelvic bone. How she managed to crawl under my robes without me noticing was beyond me, and we had to spend almost half the entire day prying her out without damaging me any further.

I told her, right then and there, that I would throw the pair of them as far as I could, if she continued to annoy me by climbing on my body. To make my point across, I uprooted a tree, and proceeded to hurl it through the air. Where it landed was a mystery to us, but it served to stop her efforts. Unfortunately, she seemed to have gotten into a habit of climbing Zabartik, who didn't care about anything, and followed me without a sound. Seems she wanted to be on my shoulders, because she continued to stare at them whilst upon the hollowed armour's.

This continued on after the first day when I had to carry them for a time. It seems they had been running for a long time, and had become exhausted. For some reason, the little princess had gotten it into her head that my carrying her at the beginning of our journey, when she was tired, gave her permission to try climbing my body from that point on. However, after throwing the tree far into the distance, her focus was turned towards Zabartik, who didn't complain at all.

If you are wondering how it is they fed themselves, it seems they didn't need to eat as others did. No, they both drank something from a small vial, which seemed to keep them satiated for a few days. I'll be honest, I was curious about the substance, but was too stubborn and proud to ask for it. On the other hand, I will be asking for its recipe after I deliver the pair, which placed a smile upon my non-existent lips. I did not need any sort of sustenance at that time, but it wouldn't hurt to have extra income in the long run.

Between where we began our uneventful journey, and our destination, was only one village. However, that village was nothing more than ash and burnt bodies. We stayed there for about half a day, while the princess cried heavily and the male searched for survivors. Myself, on the other hand, had become an old human once more. I only had one thought at the destruction I saw before me, which was, "Sloppy." There were tracks everywhere, and even a few bodies in melted armour which depicted them to be of some country.

When the male saw this, he grew infuriated, "How could they do this?" He shouted to the heavens, and cursed in an unknown dialect, but that did not matter to me. No, what mattered was a dust cloud in the distance, and was growing ever larger.

"Company," I muttered loud enough for the guard to hear, and pointed in the direction of the dust cloud.

"Princess," he shouted at the crying girl, who looked up and saw the approaching dust cloud.

"We have to hide," she yelled out, but it was a bit too late. The dust cloud's occupants had surrounded us. These people wore a similar leather garb as the ones I and Zabartik had previously killed, but they each had what seemed to be better weapon, and were on six-legged horse-like creatures. They were still horse shaped, but devoid of hair and skin. All I could wonder was what they tasted like.

"Demons!" One of them shouted, and all drew their weapons, or tightened their grips on their spears and bows.

"Please," the little princess begged.

"Will there be more rewards?" I muttered back at her, to which she nodded vigorously, and I grinned. ">," I roared, as my human form shattered into my skeletal frame. Laying two hands upon myself, one on the robe, and the last on Zabartik, I intoned the spell, > several times, before charging at the mounted humans.

I will say this, though, these humans were much more organised than the others. For they had brought out large hammers, and one of them was lucky enough to knock off one of the smaller arms, before being impaled by my hollowed armour's katar-lance. Around this time, however, I began to intone a new spell called ">". Translucent crimson spheres, about 25cm in diameter, appeared wherever I pointed, causing those caught to shrivel up into dried out husks. If an inanimate object was caught in the crossfire, they would either become extremely brittle, or fall into dust. I only used it on about a dozen, or so, heads before I was out of energy. Afterwards, I relied on my fists, clawed feet, and Zabartik.

Unfortunately, it seems the last of the humans had proven to be too difficult, or perhaps it was because my skeletal body was coming apart too quickly, because they seemed to have the upper hand. At that time, I was down to only one upper arm, and had to crawl around to get at the humans. My hollowed armour, on the other hand, was a pile of scrap metal once more. It was here that I turned my ever grinning skull towards the princess, who was crying as a very large hammer smashed my head in, and I knew no more.