It sure is cold.

The quiet forest whistled as a breeze past by us. Thanks to the moon, most of us were able to adjust our eyes in the dark but that wasn’t a problem for me. The problem was the enemies who were camping outside the high tower.

The open space between the tower and the forest were about ten meters. Near the towers were campfires that kasaks were stationed at while in the middle and far sides of the open space were undead aimlessly wandering around. They must have cleared this space as to allow them to have the space to move should an enemy attack. We were facing the south part of the tower, which was the entrance, to only have one window that could fire at us.

Not only my party, but I could see on everyone’s faces that they were nervous about this. I mean, who wouldn’t? The kasaks weren’t a problem but the undead were roaming the surroundings of the tower. These undead weren’t the same as the one we fought before. This one looked mindless as they moved and jerked randomly. Also, it still had a lot of flesh in it.

There were about fifteen wanderers here, including us, with six soldiers. In total, there were twenty-one people here going to battle with thirty monsters.

The kasaks wore leather armor with their weapon of choice while they lay down around their respective campfires. From the looks of it, they had shields, crossbows, swords and axes. Normally, they’d use a club but there was a kasak that was holding a staff, which was weird.

As for the undead, they weren’t wearing any armor, just plain old rugged and tattered clothes. Their clothes had blood spilled all over it and they were carrying swords in their hand. They roamed aimlessly while the kasaks were seating and enjoying the warmth of the fire in the cold night.

“Is everyone ready?” Kris’, the captain, voice was quiet yet sounded full of energy. “Just like we planned.” He grinned.

Now that’s how a leader should be. He wasn’t showing anything that would cause fear to us. Just like the moon, he was shining.

I nodded at my party and they nodded back. We’re ready.

Kris stood up. He spun his spear a couple of times and passionately shouted “Men, and women, let’s kill some monsters!”

The quiet forest became alive as all of us shouted. Shouting felt great as it removed our anxiety and worries as we ran determinedly to the enemies. Maybe this was why people shout in battle.

Our formation was like a square. In front were the five soldiers and Kris, leading the charge. On the sides, the two groups of wanderers with their own party with their mage and healer positioning on the inner side of the square as to not get caught by the enemy. My party was guarding the rear with Fuyuki and Kihana inside the square as well.

The enemies are over there. Here they come.

When the enemies heard our shout, the kasaks prepared themselves while the undead quickly rushed towards us. As expected, the kasaks with crossbows were the ones who would be the most dangerous, especially the kasak at the window.

If the kasaks at the bottom of the tower fired upwards, they should miss but the problem is the kasak up there. I’m counting on you, Fuyuki.

In the wanderers here, there were three who could attack or launch at a long distance. Fuyuki was one of them and the other two was an archer and also a mage. Fuyuki would be the first one to fire her magic and if she missed then the others would do it. They would not fire off at the same time as we were not sure if there were more enemies inside.

“Sal, mo, rak,” Fuyuki casted Ice Shard. Three ice shards formed around her. She then used her staff to move the ice shards and aimed it towards the enemy. With great speed, the shards went flying to the kasak. Since there was space, it took a moment but the two of the shards hit the wall and, fortunately, the third one hit the leg of the kasak causing it to lose balance and fall through the open window.

“I did it!” Fuyuki happily shouted.

“Nice work, Fuyuki.” I said.

The undead were now coming to us. As expected, the kasaks fired their arrows upward but they would miss since we were moving. They couldn’t fire their arrows straight since the undead were blocking the path and since the soldiers and the captain had a shield with them.

The priority was to get the inside team inside, so we were just pushing the undead away.

“Please help us!”

“They’re controlling us! Please help!”

“I don’t want to die! Please help us!”

Suddenly, as we were forcing our way through, the “undead” started to talk.

“They’re alive!?” Takana shouted. Not only him but everyone was surprised.

“Don’t attack them!” Kris ordered.

“That’s kinda hard since they’re attacking us!” one of the wanderers shouted. Then there was a scream. It seemed one of the wanderers had impaled one of the people.

“I told you not to attack them!”

“It’s me or them!”

“Just push through and don’t stop for anything!”

It’s becoming a chaos in here.

“Terrin, what should we do?” Merry asked. If it was Merry, I was sure that she wouldn’t hesitate to kill a human.

“Don’t kill anyone. Knock them out if you have to but absolutely don’t kill them.” I said.

She nodded. “Roger that.”

*

Shakna despise it here. Shakna told him not to leave me with strangers! This place is dangerous.

The place was cramped and many kids were here. Not only kids but adults, too. Shakna was in an orphanage since Terrin couldn’t leave Shakna with the same family. Chance, too, was busy. I would have been okay with him since I knew him but a house full of complete stranger was too much.

“Are you hungry, little girl?” a woman asked.

“Risa’s not hungry!”

“You don’t have to be shy.”

“Yeah! Mama’s cooking is the best!”

“Try it.”

“You won’t regret it.”

“Here’s your bowl.” She touched my hands because she was going to put a bowl on it.

“Don’t touch me!” Shakna ran.

Too many humans. Too many humans. Shakna hate it here. Where are you, Terrin!?

Before Shakna knew it, Shakna was outside of the orphanage.

There are so many humans! No, Shakna hate it here!

“Are you lost, little girl?” a man touched me.

“I said don’t touch me!” Shakna ran again.

Humans, humans everywhere! I can’t take it anymore. Onee-chan, please save me!

But nothing. No one was here. Only Shakna. Shakna was surrounded by humans. These filthy, greedy and evil humans. Then I remembered something.

Shakna’s coming to you, Terrin.

*

We made it into the bottom of the tower. The others were fighting the kasaks while at the same time not hurting or killing the people. It was a hard battle but Kris thought that if we could kill the leader, they would revert back to normal. He wanted to save the people and that wasn’t surprising since he was a soldier. He had sworn to protect this nation and its people at the cost of his life.

There were about twenty people who were being controlled and fifteen kasaks. The number of enemy inside was unknown but surely, they would have known by now that we were here.

“Hold out here! I will quickly finish this!” the energetic captain from before turned determined as we made our way to the spiral staircase.

We made our way into the first floor where there was nothing but a bunch of rubbles. It was probably from the time when the tower was abandoned.

As we made our way on the second floor, we could hear kasaks talking.

“You,” Kris was pointing to Takana. “I’ll go in first with my shield and then you next. You girls stay here.”

Takana agreed. “My name is Takana.”

“And I can help.” Merry said.

“Sorry,” Kris said. “At times like this, I focus on one thing and forget the rest.” He must be talking about the people.

Kris entered with his shield and from the looks of it, there were three kasaks inside. The kasaks shouted something gibberish and then fired their arrows at him. Expectedly, the arrow didn’t pierce through and instead stayed stuck on the shield.

He then went for one of the kasaks with his spear as Takana entered the room. With swift and disciplined actions, Kris took care one of the kasak as he impaled him with the spear.

“Die!” Takana charged one of the kasaks. The kasak then fell and Takana brought down his colossal claymore on the kasak and just like what he said, the kasak died. But that left him opened as the last kasak aimed his crossbow at him. But fortunately, Merry was in there to save the day as she sliced the kasak apart.

“T-Thanks.” Takana said as she looked at a blood-soaked Merry.

“You’re welcome.” Merry swung her sword to remove the blood on her sword.

“Let’s continue,”

The third floor was the last floor. It was where the lord of the tower would host their guest. It was also where they slept and dined.

On the third floor, in the chamber, two undead knights were beside a monster sitting on a throne-like chair. The chamber was huge and most of the furniture here was destroyed. For some reason, there was also a huge destroyed wall. Wind came in and it reminded me just how cold it was tonight.

The monster lifted up his head and clapped his hands. “I…was expecting…you…” It was slow but it was enough to be heard and understood. The monster spoke a human language.

“Oh?” Kris grinned. “I’ve never heard a monster talking before. Where’d you learn that?”

“It…does not…concern…you…”

“I couldn’t care less, anyway. Now, release those people before I turn you to those things beside you.” Kris readied his Shaina-famen spear.

“This place…”

“What?”

“This place…is too small…” the monster turned his head towards the hole in the wall. “Outside…”

“You want to fight outside, huh? I’m in.” he then looked at us. “Could you guys take those two on?”

“Wait, you’re telling me you’re going to leave us alone with those things!? Remember what happened last time? one of those things almost killed her!” Takana was frantic but what he said made sense.

“Well, this is what you signed up for, right?”

Takana’s jaw dropped. For the first time, it looked like he didn’t have anything to rebut. He was indeed the one who signed us up here. “F-F-Fine! We’ll take care of this!”

“Go and beat that monster for us.” I said.

“Will do.”

The monsters jumped down the tower. I could understand if a monster could jump from here and lived but I had my doubts with humans. That was why I was surprised that Kris jumped, too. Hopefully, he’s alive.

“So, what’s the plan, Terrin?” Takana asked me. He sounded worried. I, for one, wasn’t worried much. Last time, when we faced the undead knight, it was the first time we faced something like that together. It was only normal to lose but in this world, losing doesn’t mean you could have another chance, it was a matter of life and death. As for people like us, death seemed to like us more. But we were given another chance and hopefully, this time, we could defeat them.

“Last time, we didn’t know how to defeat them but this time, we now know.” I said.

“How?”

“Attack the throat. That’s where there core is.”

“How’d you know that?” Merry asked.

“Kris told me.” Which was a lie.

“All right,” Takana readied his colossal claymore and his gem-equipped shield. “I feel confident now that I know where to hit.”

“Don’t let them pass through you, Takana.” I looked at him. “Remember what happened last time?”

He nodded. “Don’t worry. I’m the great Takana. I don’t make second mistakes.” He grinned.

“Good. Now you four take that one, I’ll take this one.”

“Wait a minute,” Merry stopped me. “What do you mean?”

“Just like what I said. You take that one, I’ll take that one.”

“No.” her face hardened. “I won’t let you go alone. Take me with you.”

“They need you here…”

“There are three of them. You need me more.” Merry was stubborn, she wasn’t going to let go of this one.

“Okay.” I looked at Takana. “Can you guys handle that one?”

“Of course. I’m here! What could go wrong?” Takana grinned.

“Everything could go wrong because you’re here.” Fuyuki said.

“Shut up. Make sure to stay behind me. You, too, Kihana.”

“Y-Yes…”

We separated from Takana and the others. “Hey, idiot!” Takana shouted at the undead knights. “Did you know I killed one of your friends? I saw him disappear right in front of my eyes. It felt so good! Oh, you understand me? That’s right, come over here. Wait, I only meant one of you!” while he did succeed on provoking the undead knights, they both ran towards them.

“Let’s go, Merry!”

The reason why I wanted to be alone was to try out the power I got from Risa. I didn’t want them asking me why I could do that since I would just lie and I had lied to them too many times already.

Use it only when you’re in grave danger. That was what Risa said. I had only use the power she had given once but it was only a moment. I felt the power but the consequences were too great if I prolonged it.

The undead knights had a sword and were wearing full armor. Even though armors were heavy, they ran as if they were naked.

The first undead knight came to Takana. The undead knight attacked Takana with a thrust. It was like a rerun of what happened in the streets before.

Takana smirked. Unlike last time, the shield he was holding didn’t break, it didn’t even crack. The shield held out and in that way, Takana could now properly fight the undead knight.

Unfortunately though, it was him who only could fight as the other undead knight went on the rear.

“Shit!” Takana’s face hardened as the undead knight passed by him. Kihana went in front of Fuyuki as, unlike Kihana, Fuyuki didn’t have any defense ability. Kihana raised her staff and prepared herself. The undead knight came and was about to slash both Kihana and Fuyuki.

With the sound of clang, Merry locked sword with the undead knight. By the time she had come to their rescue, she had already transformed from being a beast, giving her incredible strength and great speed.

“You guys okay!?” both of them nodded. “Good. Go and help Takana. We got this.”

“Thanks, Merry! Let me pet you later, okay!?” Fuyuki said before she went and helped Takana.

Okay, how are we going to do this?

The undead knight had a helmet, so it was hard to attack its throat when it was protected. Merry and the undead knight backed off.

“Merry, keep him busy. I’ll try and find a way to remove his helmet and then we attack his throat.”

She nodded. “Take your time.” she then charged the undead knight.

She’s in her beast mode. She should be able to hold him off.

I went around to the back of the undead knight. Merry was still holding him off as they traded a series of blows. Merry was strong. You could even say she was way ahead of us. She hadn’t learned any new ability yet she was single-handedly fighting the undead knight.

As they traded blows, it looked like Merry was overpowering the undead knight. It seemed Merry could handle this alone. She sure was strong.

But then it happened.

As Merry slashed the undead knight diagonally from left to right, the undead knight blocked it but only momentarily as it let Merry’s sword slide at its sword causing her to be able to easily and swiftly cut the undead knight’s right arm even with its armor. But that was the undead knight’s plan all along as he twisted his body, spun and was about to slash Merry as she was about to lose her balance due to the momentum of her attack.

Merry!

I pushed Merry away, causing her to involuntarily let go of the sword, then I blocked the incoming slash with a reverse grip on my dagger. I pushed the undead knight away and went to Merry.

Five.

“You okay?” I put my hand out.

Merry seemed shocked. “How did you do that?”

“I’ll explain it to you later. For now, I’ll take care of this one.” I stood up.

The feeling was…amazing, at the very least. I could feel power surging in my body. This was my first time being in this state for too long. The feeling was new but at the same time, it felt like I was…home and where I was supposed to be.

One minute only. I have to be fast.

This undead knight was efficient. It sacrificed its arm since it could attach itself back again. If it didn’t block that attack, Merry wouldn’t probably use a lot of force which caused her to lose her balance.

The undead knight picked its right arm and attached it back again. He was back to his full form, minus the armor.

Fifteen.

I dashed to the enemy, not thinking about anything. In no time at all, I was in front of him. The undead knight let out what sounded a heavy growl and let out a barrage of heavy attacks.

Thirty. I could see them. All of its attack. It’s like I’m watching a movie in slow-mo.

I flexibly dodged each and one of its attacks. It then continued to attack me as he raised his sword high. It brought it down on me but I just twisted my body to the left to dodge it and used his sword as a stepping stone to stab its throat. For a moment, it froze and then swept up by the wind, it vanished, leaving clattering sound as its armor fell on the ground.

Fifty. I should stop this now. I touched my chest, and with that, I was back to normal. Sadly, I had to pay the consequences first.

The moment I removed my hand on my chest, I fell to the floor. Not because I tripped or something but because I felt sluggish. No, that would be an understatement. I felt like I was carrying ten Takana who was wearing their full armor and holding their colossal claymore. My body was also throbbing. It felt as if my very muscle were squeezing each other.

“Terrin!” Merry shouted. When she came to me, I could see her eyes welling up. It was the first time I saw Merry with a face like that. I didn’t like it. “Talk to me!”

“I-I’m fine. Stop grabbing my shirt like that, you’re going to rip it.” I said, a bit weakly. “How about the others?”

“Can you move?” I nodded. Merry’s face softened as she helped me stand up. “Let’s go to Kihana.”

“All right.”

As for the others, they were holding their enemy off. Takana seemed to be able the relentless attacks of the undead knight. Not only him but his shield as well. The difference between a shield with a dlimor gem and a shield without one was incredible.

“Eat this, Bash!” Takana used his shield to bash the undead knight. The undead knight, with its full armor, stood still. Takana looked surprised as his ability worked. If it was his old shield, it most likely wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Sal, mo, rak!” Fuyuki casted Ice Shard. Three large shards appeared around her. She fired it at the undead knight. With a snap, countless blood flew as two of the shards hit the undead knight in his left arm and right leg.

“Die, you little shit!” Takana then brought down his claymore on its face but the undead knight blocked it with his remaining arm. But barely. Takana needed only a few little push.

“Please take a rest!” Kihana, with a polite insult, charged forward and helped Takana. She smashed her staff against Takana’s claymore, giving Takana the boost he needed to brought his claymore down and fortunately, it reached his throat, even though he was wearing a helmet. The undead knight vanished and its armor lifelessly fell to the ground.

Nice job, you three.

We came over to them.

“Terrin!” Kihana shouted. “What happened?”

“Damn dude, you look like you haven’t slept for days.” Takana was pulling out his colossal claymore as he looked at me.

“You okay, Terrin?” Fuyuki, for whatever reason, was poking my cheeks.

“Yeah, I can manage.”

“Can you heal him, Kihana?” Merry asked.

“He has no wound. I can’t heal it if there is no physical injury...”

“I’m fine, just a little bit tired. Let’s go down and help the other wanderers.”

“Do we really have to?” Takana said.

“Yes. Now let’s go.” Takana sighed but nonetheless picked up his claymore and readied himself.

“Stay here with Kihana, Terrin. The three of us can manage.” Merry suggested.

“No.” I said firmly. “I can still fight. Plus, you need a healer.”

“Yeah,” Fuyuki said to Merry. “I don’t want to be apart from them.” and with pleading eyes, Fuyuki tried to convince Merry.

“I understand. But you take it easy.” I nodded.

Kris is taking care of that famen holder monster. I don’t know the situation below but we need to prepare for anything.

Just as I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I heard it in my mind.

“Terrin, where are you?”