At that, Rufus swipes the clip away with a swing of his cane. It makes Lilith frown,

“Hey! I wanna know what happens next!” to which, Cyan immediately scoffs,

“What do you think happens? The mad lad’s did it.” above Rufus awkwardly clearing his throat at her remark,

“They’re going to fuck, obviously.” Cyan shrugs,

“Don’t you know, that’s how death flags are raised. And that’s the biggest, foreshadowing death flag I’ve seen in a while.”

“You’re so morbid.”

“Are you blind? When two people promise each other eternity, one of them is definitely going to die. On the scale of one to death, that scene itself is the goddamn grim reaper.”

“Not in the stories I read, edgelord.” she rolls her eyes at him,

“Can’t you be wholesome for once?” following Rufus who’s wordlessly taking another two steps forward to the next clip, like he’s out of touch with the younger generation and he isn’t certain what he’s supposed to say under these circumstances.

“Welcome to the real world.” Cyan retorts sarcastically, “I’m always wholesome.”

“Like hell you are.”

Then he points,

“Here’s your whole bucket of wholesomeness.” towards the following clip.

It’s the day after the campfire. They’ve finally reached their destination. This village is vastly different from the last. It’s like the horseman’s warned, completely deserted with not a person in sight. Even the skies are grey with loom. Shunned away behind clouds like the sight is too atrocious to bear.

The party's meandering down the straw huts on one side and wilting plantation on the other. Feno's looking at crows scavenging at what looks like the remains of a beloved pet. The flies buzzing around it hints to her that must have smelled putrid. That and baldy kept gagging every second step in front of them.

“Dead dog. Very wholesome indeed.” Cyan’s so smug it makes Lilith want to hit him. Instead, she just clicks her tongue at his remark. At least Lanara’s back to herself again, repeatedly reminding them, safety first and if anything goes wrong, they should prioritize escaping.

After an hour or so of nothingness, they’ve finally reached what looks like the town center. Checking every building on the way here. Lanara’s refused to split them up. So, it took way longer than it would have. But every door, opens to more deserted houses, shops. Some of them even have food rotting on the table.

The villagers seem to have left in a hurry. Bringing nothing with them. So, bowl cut’s swiping at anything he presumes to have value in and stuffing it into the tiny bottomless pouch. A vase here, a watch there. Some expensive family heirloom. And when he gets confronted about it by the rest of his teammates, he simply defends, it doesn’t seem like anyone’s going to need it anymore. Honestly, he’s more like a raider than an adventurer.

It’s by midday when freckles appear to have found something. Bursting through the door behind them as she is. She’s hyperventilating, pointing in a direction urgently, there’s something she wants them to see. Leading the group there, she pushes open the tarp of the village hall at the end of the road, revealing the atrocity behind. Baldy instantly threw up all over the ground, whereas bowl cut looks to be in the state of disbelief, muttering under his breath,

‘What the fuck happened here...’

So that’s where the people went.

Bodies, corpses, of the once residents stretching far and wide over the dirt ground. Some of them in severe state of mutilation. The women especially, most of them have their skin peeled off, leaving behind only chunks of muscle, amidst the sea of blood. Soaking into the soil, dying it completely red, buzzing with flies about the rotting flesh.

Lanara’s on edge,

‘Don’t make, any sudden moves.’ her voice is wary. Not addressing them, she’s wide-eyed fixated forward, to the very end of the village hall.

Feno chases her gaze. Right before the long table where Lilith imagines town discussions would have been held. There’s a figure crouched on the ground. So drenched in blood, it’s easy to miss amongst the gore. The figure shuffles, unfurling the dirty shroud it adorns to its elbows to reveal a skeletal arm as it picks something up. On closer inspection, a heart, amongst the countless organs spread in front of it. They’re meticulously arranged by rows. A neat line of lungs, stomach, trails of intestines, eyeballs, skillfully peeled skin.

It seems to be selecting them. With another hand, the figure brushes aside its garments and attempts to finesse the heart within its rib cage. It’s a she, half of her is already fleshed. Like a twisted version of a surgeon’s anatomy doll, except the parts are unwittingly donated by the local women. And when she lifts her head, Lilith recognizes,

“Luci!” by the mole beneath her lips. She doesn’t have the top half of her face yet, just a skull with empty eye sockets. Luci immediately drags her hood lower, as if it made her abashed about being seen.

“She’s remained dormant for millenniums since the slaying of Dal’gore.” Rufus explains, “but that was the first recorded encounter of the crimson witch in her lesser, Sapien-like form.”

The adventurers have drawn their weapons now, defensively taking a backwards step, freckle’s stuttering,

‘What... is that even?’

That gesture startles Luci, Lilith thinks, she almost looks frighten for a brief moment. But Feno’s sight of her is obstructed too quickly by the rattling. A red veil, crimson as blood begins oozing in a puddle. Flinching the scattered corpses where she’s drenched, slowly, like marionette puppets being pulled to life, they climb on their feet.

‘Necromancy...’ Lanara unintentionally murmurs, ‘whatever it is, it’s using Forbidden Magia.’ before she snaps,

‘Disengage!’ furrowing her brows, ‘we won’t be able to beat this thing.’ the immensity of her malevolent aura has made them tense.

But the dead’s already flurrying towards them, it doesn’t matter that some of them were missing legs, they crawl, viciously like a pack of famished dogs. More are closing in from outside the townhall. Surrounding them like an island in the ocean.

The adventurers immediately retaliate; however, it didn’t matter how many they’ve cut down. The dead just keeps coming back to life, borrowing parts from others. It’s an endless stream closing in on them. That’s when buff baldy ran to a side, his hands fisted by his sides, he throws his head back. A golden Magia emblem manifests above him, of a lion. Dissipating into light that forms an armor over him. It draws the attention of the undead. They’re all stampeding towards him,

‘Run!’ he hollers to his comrades, ‘I’ll lead them away!’

At that, “Ohhh.” Cyan commentates, “he’s using a taunt ability.”

“Taunt?”

“Yeah, like in a video game. Taunts basically forcefully redirects any Magia based attack towards the user.” Cyan points towards the screen,

“He’s drawing aggro to himself. That makes him the tank of the group. Vi specialization, otherwise known as Armatus.” baldy’s clearing a path for them. Magnetizing the horde towards the left of the room, he bulldozes through the wooden wall, leading the zombies into the fields. The four others immediately back towards the entrance door where they’ve entered. Escaping down the central path.

Only to be halted by Luci, she’s there in a flash. Her cape’s still fluttering behind her when she lifts a pointing finger to command the skull hovering above her to charge its attack. Welling in its throat, a violent red beam. But before she’s able to launch it, Lanara immediately bolts straight for Luci, grabbing her outstretched wrist, like a baseball, she flings her leftwards, crashing Luci past her own thinning horde of zombies that she’s exploding, as if bugs to a speeding car, with her momentum that she was thrown. Her skull, magnetized towards her misfires in a skewed angle. Furling in red light, Lanara snaps away from it. Missing her by the nose whilst Luci uses the time to catch herself. Slamming against the cranium of another hovering skull she's summoned behind her, it's jaw wide open, facing away from Luci, ploughing through the soil like a hoe, acting like an anchor to stop her from flying further.

Lanara chases after her, Feno looks just about to follow her, but Lanara stops him,

‘Help Michail!’ she gestures with her eyes, ‘I’ll keep this thing busy.’ towards the plantations. Before she dashes after Luci off to a side. Drop kicking Luci when she’s just oriented herself. Luci flings backwards, receiving it with a skull, instead, Lanara smashes right through it. Cracking it into bone fragments, but Luci’s countering. With a swing of her arm, she conjures three more, hovering above her, charging up violent red beams in their mouths.

But before Lilith can see the hit land, Feno’s diverted his gaze to witness baldy getting overran. The zombies are relentless, despite he’s throwing them over his shoulders, bowling ball tossing them into each other. The dead keeps getting up. One of the decapitated heads managed to bite through baldy’s armor. Hanging right on his thigh. At that, freckles, beside Feno, immediately strings her guitar she’s waved into existence, summoning a glowing circle of notes, spiraling around him. When baldy’s manage to rip the head off, his wounds close up.

Not looking away from the scene, Lilith listens to Cyan explain the skills to her,

“Cleric. Intelligentia support specialization, Medicus.” but the situation’s only getting more dire. The three of them are rushing towards baldy. But they’re slowed by more zombies are loitering in, from the rest of the village. Forming a barrier to stop them from reaching him.

That’s when fire balls come crashing in from the sky, completely cratering townhouses, dirt road and dead farmlands. Igniting any zombies that were unfortunate enough to be caught underneath and smashing them into the ground to clear a forward path. Still running, Feno snaps his gaze towards the caster behind him. It’s bowl cut. Where did he get the mage’s hat and robes from? Waving a staff in his hands to continue his bombardment,

“Damage dealer, Intelligentia and Sepientia, Veneficius, the same as I am.” it’s not enough.

In fact, it just enrages the undead. Burning as they are, they continue charging forward. Baldy’s taunt seems to have worn off now, they’re scattering for the nearest living creature. A few of them, heading straight towards Feno. Has he not mastered the hovering blades trick then? Because he’s manifesting an ice sword in his hand. Cyan reaffirms,

“Think he was just a Sepientia specialization at this point, Elementum. His intelligentia stats are lacking, that’s why he can’t do flashy attacks like his fire mage comrade.”

Flinging himself to a side as he dodges the oncoming assault, Feno spins, stabbing the glacial weapon into the ground. It crackles a sheet of ice against the surface, spreading like a ripple in a pond and freezing everything, it comes into contact, holding the zombies in place. At that, bowl cut mage immediately follows up. Drawing his staff in a circle. He summons a lava pillar, blasting up to the heavens to disintegrate any undead caught in the circumference. But just as it’s starting to look like they had the upper hand, Lanara comes crashing in, behind them, towards the townhall’s front walls. Completely collapsing the entire structure as she skids for another distance away until the friction finally halts her. Feno’s panicked,

‘Lanara!’ attempting to chase after her.

Freckles immediately cast another healing spell as Lanara orients herself from the debris. Wiping her bloodied lips with the back of her hand, and not breaking her forward sight that’s pinpointed way into the distance where she’s launched from,

‘Don’t come!’ she orders, ‘don’t ever, take your eyes off the enemy in a fight.’

There’s a golden number hovering above her head, 5.0 x. The sight of it makes Cyan let out a little amused,

“Oh?” before he asks Rufus, “was Lanara a Sicarius class?” how can he even tell these things at one glance?

“She’s a Concursus Sicarii.” Rufus corrects.

“Hm... she was already on phase two? Right. She’s a division captain after all.”

“Phase two?” Lilith asks, but she isn’t peeling her eyes off the screen, Luci’s taking slow menacing steps forward.

“Remember I told you Sicarius has two stats? Sollertia and Agilitas. Phase two is when you unlock a third stat alignment.” There’s a number above Luci’s head too, 5.0 ÷. Before she completely disappears in a flurry, by the time Feno’s noticed and pans his head, Luci’s already reappeared beside freckles. She’s giggling.

She’s planning to take the cleric out first! Her signature skulls, hovering on each of her sides. It’s ominous red Magia radiating out. But Lanara’s there to stop her in a flash, pushing freckles out of the way. Lanara crosses her arms before her face, bracing the onslaught of violent red beams. Repelling them as though a boulder to a running stream.

Cyan simplifies,

“For Lanara, her third stat is Vi, therefore she’s a Concursus Sicarii. It makes her tankier than a regular Sicarius.” the numbers above her head, mirroring Luci’s are ticking upwards, five, ten, twenty, forty, each passing second. Beside Lanara, bowl cut has caught freckles that was previously thrown aside. Casting more fireballs in the process, bombarding lava holes into the dirt streets. Setting huts on fire, alongst with the never-ending carcasses that relentlessly encroach them, despite their flesh are melting right off.

With another wave of his staff, he draws a lava circle beneath Luci’s feet. Feno’s following up, stabbing his ice sword in the ground to freeze her in place, but Luci shatters herself free. Leaping backwards to avoid the flaming pillar, blasting into the skies. Feno tries to strike her when she does, but instead, his sword’s caught with a bony hand. Luci smiles at him. She’s mocking him. Exploding it into crystal dusts, before a zombie, from behind bites into his shoulder. Blood, gushing out and dragging him backwards.

Freckles can’t heal him. She’s casted the spell on Lanara, who’s still bracing Luci’s attack. But baldy who’s finally caught up from the plantation refreshes the taunt when he’s in range. Redirecting the zombies that’re assaulting Feno to himself. He’s heavily injured, despite so, he says,

‘Don’t worry about me!’ staggering with a hand slapped on his side, yet even then, he couldn’t get all of them, so instead, he’s luring what he could out of the way,

‘Back them up!’ Luci’s attack still isn’t stopping. Instead, she’s double it, with another skull blasting short laser beams at bowl cut who’s vehemently trying to interrupt her. Driving him away to dodge its trajectories, casting lava pillars as he is beneath Luci that she side-steps, so effortlessly, it looks like, she’s toying with them.

But before Feno could even close the gaps to assist them, he’s stopped in his tracks by more burning undead, diving in from the sides. Forcing him to cleave through the army as he slugs forward. Freezing, shattering, anything he can. He’s shouting for Lanara, not taking his eyes off.

When Luci’s red geyser finally stops, Lanara counters, swing kicking for Luci’s side which she blocks with a forearm. Upon contact, an explosion goes off, blasting Luci left into buildings. Her attacks have gotten a power up. Lanara immediately chases after, leaping into the air and plummeting downwards, punching a massive circular pancake into the ground. Entirely flattening the area into rubbles with a deafening boom, louder than a grenade.

Rufus explains,

“When Lanara lands the first initial hit, she places a buff on herself, and a debuff on her opponent. Lanara’s attack power increases for each hit she receives. Whereas, her opponents’ are weaken for each hit they deal. That’s what the times and divide mean. Right now, Lanara’s attacks are four hundred times stronger, and Luci’s attacks are four hundred times weaker.”

“What’s her kill condition?” Cyan asks, not looking at him.

“When the numbers reach a thousand, the force of her punch would no longer be multiplicative, but exponent. In other words, instead of times a thousand, it’ll be to the power of a thousand. Receiving it head on, will be akin to containing a nuclear explosion in a jar.”

Cyan balks,

“That is, if she even survives until a thousand huh.” he’s noticed the burnt marks on Lanara’s forearms from tanking Luci’s previous attack that ticked the numbers up. It’s so tattered, her flesh’s completely flaked off, revealing moon white bones and tendons beneath, despite freckles was healing her the entire time.

Lilith remains optimistic,

“If Lanara keeps getting healed, she would! It’s a five v one!”

“Hah. More like five v an army of undead and one over powered skeleton that needs a nerf.” Cyan’s so pessimistic,

“Even when Luci’s attacks got debuffed four hundred times, she still inflicted damage to Lanara who was getting healed.” he points out,

“The difference in their Vita quantity is way too large.” Lilith couldn’t refute that, so instead, she goes back to the scene.

Baldy’s trying his best, leading the majority of the horde away, far into the plantation, as he is that even now, he’s still trying to make his way back. Tenacious as they are, he doesn’t seem efficient at killing the zombies on his own. Whereas bowl cut, on the main road, is trying his best to protect freckles. Incinerating any strays that baldy’s miss in flaming pillars.

But as the smoke clears around Lanara, Luci’s gone. She’s evaded the hit, Feno immediately tosses his head around. Frantically searching for where the woman might reappear. Freckle’s scream drew his attention. She’s trying to run away, diving behind houses and into the farms. Looking like she’s trying to regroup with baldy. Bowl cut’s following her. Beside Luci that’s persistently chasing the cleric, blasting her red lasers in her direction, jets and jets of violent beams that freckles narrowly weaves aside each time. Letting them, instead, cut through the farmlands, buildings, all the way in a line, until it reaches and ignites the surrounding bamboo forests.

Luci’s using her zombie minions to form a barricade ahead, blocking off freckle’s escape route. With another skull, she receives Lanara who’s trying to intercept her from the right. Driving her back with a beam, whilst effortlessly twirling away from the array of fireballs, crashing down from the skies of bowl cut’s spells. Baldy doesn’t look like he’s going to make it in time, being pinned down by the undead he’s previously taunted.

At that, Feno finally gets himself free from the zombies that were occupying him. Meandering past the frozen popsicles, dodging others that are diving towards him to vault across whatever remains of the wooden fence separating the town’s main path to the desolated plantations to obstruct Luci’s pursuit. Injecting himself before her.

A hover skull beside Luci is already charging up another attack, she intends to blast through him, but Feno’s tosses his ice blade at it before she could. Stabbing the skull right through its gaping mouth. It connects at the back of its cranium. Pushing it back with the force of the projectile. The red beam misfires shortly into the sky, before it’s frozen by Feno’s Magia, crashing and shattering against the ground behind Luci into nothingness. Manifesting another ice blade, he swipes for Luci’s mid as she relentlessly encroaches within striking range. She leaps from the trajectory, using his sword as foothold to somersault over him. Completely ignoring Feno, Luci positions herself in front of freckles and bowl cut, directly behind Feno. Halting their escape whilst charging another Magia beam for them, now in a perfect straight line for skewering.

They got completely out maneuvered.

Tossing his head over his shoulders, Feno’s watching bowl cut, casting fast as he can against Luci. She’s midair, yet to land from her flip. Bowl cut wants to get her now that she can’t dodge. The ground beneath her is already bubbling lava, but he looks a split second too slow, Luci’s beam launches first, right as her toes touches the ground.

Feno’s still turning around, trying to make it in time, as the violent spear of red encroaches bright, bright, brighter. It engulfs bowl cut first before he’s even gotten his spell off. Feno panicking, outstretching an arm and trying to push freckles away from death. She looks too stunned to even react, as if she hasn’t registered what just happened,

‘Antho-?’ but that too, he doesn’t manage in time as Luci’s Magia consumes her. And a breath before it takes him along, a frazzle of lightning bolts across his peripheral.

Lanara’s tanking the attack for him!

Feno’s looking at her back. She’s slouched forward, bracing the impact with her forearms crossed before her face. Red geyser splitting apart upon contact like firecrackers going off in multiple direction. The immensity of the force itself, is pushing her backwards but Lanara digs her heels firmly into the soil. The numbers above her head, rapidly counting upwards, five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred, exponentially increasing as Luci adds a second beam with another hover skull that Feno’s able to see Lanara’s skin, flesh, muscle, being flaked off in curbs of meat. Yet she isn’t dodging away from the trajectory.

Luci stops the beams before Feno could even follow up and catch Luci mid spell to get a hit in. Leaping overhead, she's trying to get between them and behind Lanara to catch her in a bad spot. Her relentless skulls, building up more devastating charges. But Lanara jumps, round house kicking Luci, in the stomach, towards the ground. A deafening boom goes off like a flash bang. Lanara flurries away in a golden fuzz to the spot Luci’s going to smash into to receive her with a raised knee, another deafening boom. The recoil flings Luci upwards, as if she’s a ball being juggled in the air. Her Magia beams, misfiring into the sky. Turning on a side, Lanara shoulder slams into Luci as she’s falling back down, towards the buildings, away from them and propelling her far into the distance with a colossal mushroom cloud explosion. Like a nuclear blast this time, so thunderous, the wind lash of it evaporates whatever remaining buildings in the radius. Leaving a massive crater in its place as if the landscape’s struck by a meteor. Lifting a dust storm in the air. That even birds, far into the horizons have taken flight. All in a split-second instance.

1000 x

That’s what the numbers above her finally reads. She’s tanked the attack to activate her kill condition, giving her the insane powerup. Yet, when Feno’s gotten a good look at her,

‘Lanara!’

Her forearms have completely been desecrated to bones. Blood, soaking down her limbs that she, lifelessly swings about like pendulums on a grandfather clock. Beside her, baldy’s lying face planted on the soil. Various bite marks and nail tears across his body. One of which, so atrocious on his side that his innards are spilling out. But from the labored rise and dip of his back, he’s still alive. Behind him, where the zombies have previously buried him are torn to shreds. Pieces, far too small to deal significant damage aside from a severed hand still persistently trying to crawl forward.

That’s why Lanara couldn’t make it in time to save freckles and bowl cut.

The remaining undead are stampeding towards the clearing mushroom cloud. Squinting, Feno’s unable to see Luci in the distance, only a hovering number.

1000 ÷

Something begins stirring. It looks like, bone dust, magnetizing to each other.

How is she not dead?

“This is the reason, why children of Dal’gore are so dangerous. Aside from their devastating Magia. They are also immortalized Mythicals that are near impossible to kill.” Rufus explains,

“It takes only a single cell, a single bone fragment for them to revive.” that’s the same thing Feno’s said. Even seeing it with her own eyes, Lilith still finds it difficult to believe. But the truth is undeniable before her, like a scene from a horror film.

It’s collecting into a skeleton. Slouched on her knees. Her head craned up like her spine’s no longer attached to her neck, Luci’s back and she’s screeching. A blood curdling wail. Beckoning the undead to her. They’re diving towards her, as if ravenous dogs at a chunk of steak. But ironically, it’s her that’s devouring them. Tendons, muscles, wrapping like a snake around a branch, on her skeletal frame. Creating beating organs, undamaged flesh. At the sight of it. Lanara instantly snaps,

‘Go! Run!’

Feno shakes his head,

‘Not without you!’

Furrowing her brows, Lanara insists, flickering her gaze at baldy that’s losing vitality with each breath getting shallower and shallower,

‘Take Michail with you, you need to tell Vaegil what you saw here today!’

‘Then let's run, together, I’m not leaving you behind! We don’t need to kill the target!’

‘That was before we knew what it was, Feno.’ Lanara won’t have much longer to persuade him, Luci’s almost fully recovered. In fact, she’s even less of a skeleton now, with only a bony leg and an exposed top skull, whereas the rest of her is starting to resemble uncannily like a Sapien. Shakingly, Lanara reveals,

‘That regenerative ability, is most likely a child of Dal’gore’s.’

Feno’s getting desperate,

‘Then all the more you should leave, with me! You’re going to die if you stay! What’s the point throwing your life away?’ but he holds himself back from grabbing her arm. It doesn’t look like she can use them anymore.

‘I’m not throwing my life away, Feno. You’ve experienced what the last war did to us.’ staring into the distance as she is,

‘And it’s going to continue doing upon us if it follows us out of this place.’ despite she’s trembling from the pain, from the fear of the monstrosity before her,

‘And if it does, then, those people you saw dead in the town hall. Those are going to be our people next. That might be my grandmother next! I can’t let that happen.’ she steels her resolve,

‘So, please. Go! I’ll be fine!’

‘Then I’ll stay too-’

‘Don’t be selfish! It isn’t just your life that you’re jeopardizing, Michail’s going to die if he doesn’t get help.’ she’s running out of time, Luci’s picking herself up,

‘If you truly love me, then I’m begging you, Feno...’ she breathes a shuddering breath,

‘Don’t let me relive my past mistakes! Don’t make me a monster.’

That sentence shakes him. It makes him realize, Lanara won’t listen to him. She can’t let herself listen to him. She’s shackled down by her own sins that she can’t repent.

Finally, he backs away, towards baldy and swings him over his good shoulder. He’s bloodlessly pale. Glancing over, helplessly, Feno pleads,

‘Then at the very least, promise me you’ll come home. No matter what.’ she isn’t looking at him when he confesses,

‘I still have, many, many things I want to tell you, missions to go with you, time I want to spend with you.’ those words make her quiver. But she’s putting on a facade, bravely, she glances over with a forced smile,

‘Of course. I still have to build a huge house for my grandmother!’ before it begins to crack, and her eyes are starting to water, but she’s unwilling to let him see her cry, so she’s turned away. Softly, she tries to mutter,

‘I lov-’ Feno cuts her off there,

‘Don’t say it!’ very bitterly, ‘don’t be selfish, Lanara...’ with a fractured laugh, like he’s trying to convince himself,

‘Say it to me, when you are home. Say it to me, when you swindle me into building your grandmother’s house with you.’

That is the narrative that he wishes to believe. He isn’t waiting to hear otherwise. Feno straightens his gaze, running the opposite direction. Focusing on the approaching bamboo forest. Behind him, Lanara’s getting ready for combat. Another devastating explosion goes off.

This clip abruptly cuts here.