‘It’s that necromancer.’

Red's first thought was this alarming recognition. The second was to strike the undead monkey down before anything worse happened.

The boy dashed forward, cleaver in hand. He jumped up with the help of his fully opened Upper Leg Vein and tried to strike the small creature down. Unfortunately, the creature was too fast. Before Red could even reach it, the monkey had turned around and jumped to another tree.

The boy tried to give chase. However, he had barely taken a few steps forward before the creature had already gained a lot of distance from him, moving through the forest canopy with grace. Red hesitated to continue his pursuit.

“Red, what is going on?!” Allen’s voice came from behind him. The young master didn’t even have time to process what had happened before Red had exploded into action. “What was that thing?”

The boy didn’t respond straight away. Instead, he focused on his crimson sense. The fluctuations of the undead monkey continued to get weaker, meaning the creature was getting farther away from them. Red, however, didn’t relax.

He turned around to look at Allen. “We need to run.”

“Why are you…” the young master trailed off, holding his questions back. He nodded at Red with a resolute expression. “Alright!”

With Allen’s compliance, the two sprinted deeper into the forest. The undead monkey’s fluctuation quickly disappeared from his crimson sense, but the boy still prompted them to keep running.

“Was that a zombie?” Allen finally took the time to ask while they ran away.

“Not just a zombie.” Red shook his head. “It was probably that necromancer that attacked us before in the forest.”

The young master’s eyes widened in shock. “No way! Didn’t Hector say he wouldn’t move again so soon?!”

‘Not only did he say that, but he said that those Cursebreakers would deal with them…’

Red did not say that out loud. Hector and the others spoke with such authority on the matter that the boy had chosen to trust their words. Yet now here he was, with the same necromancer possessing another zombie.

“We need to get to the others before something bad happens.” Red said.

“What do you mean by something bad?” Allen had begun to show signs of panic.

“I don’t know, but if that necromancer was waiting for us outside town, they probably have something planned.”

Although Red said the necromancer was waiting for ‘them’, he was aware that in all likelihood the undead master was only looking for him.

‘How long has he been waiting for me to go outside?’

Why would the necromancer go to such lengths? Was the insectoid crystal really that valuable? Even Hector had said that the core wasn’t that valuable at the Lesser Ring Realm, so why would such a strong necromancer need it?

Red was faced with a tide of questions. However, a fluctuation in his crimson senses in front of them interrupted his thoughts.

“Stop!” Red froze in his steps.

Allen stopped running, too. “What is it?!”

“There’s something ahead of us.”

The boy had felt a fluctuation similar o the undead monkey’s entering his crimson sense. However, the intensity it gave off differed from the ape’s.

‘Another zombie?’

“I see nothing.” Allen said, retrieving a sword from his backpack in fear.

“It doesn’t matter.” Red shook his head. “Let’s circle around. Make sure you stay on guard, though.”

The young master nodded and followed him.

Before long, though, Red felt another undead-like fluctuation appear in front of them. The boy immediately had a bad premonition.

“This way!” he said to Allen, not even stopping to study the signal.

The duo made their way around this fluctuation, but Red had already braced himself for the worst. It didn’t even take twenty seconds before he felt something else in their way. This time it wasn’t just one fluctuation, though. There were three of them, and they were approaching the duo’s positions.

‘He’s controlling the zombies!’

The boy’s worst fears were realized.

“He’s trying to surround us!” Red looked back at Allen as they came to a stop. “There’s three more zombies up ahead.”

“W-what do we do?!” the young master’s inexperience was coming through. In the moment when it mattered the most, he lacked initiative.

Red, who couldn’t rely on his travel companion, tried to think of a plan. “We keep moving forward.”

“What?!”

“The more we wait, the more time he’ll have to surround us. If we turn back, we might be facing six zombies instead of three. ”

“B-but-”

“We can’t waste any more time!” Red interrupted him. “Stay close to me and do not let the zombies touch you. Do you understand?”

Allen nodded in a daze. Red didn’t have time to worry about the young master’s state of mind, though. The two of them ran towards the east, the same direction the zombies were approaching them from.

Red tried to avoid running directly into them while still maintaining the same path. The creatures, however, were making a beeline for the boys, and soon enough, their actual appearances were revealed.

They were three undead foxes, all with bodies in different stages of decay.

“They’re coming for us!” Allen panicked as he spotted the horrible creatures.

“Just keep moving!” Red almost had to drag him along.

Although the boys were faster than the foxes because of their open veins, the animals, even in their zombie forms, were built for this kind of environment. They were closing the distance, heading towards an imminent clash. Red still refused to change directions, though.

“Be ready to dodge them and remember to keep moving forward! Just don’t get hit, no matter what happens!” Red said to Allen without turning around.

A panicked scream of acquiescence came from the young master. A few seconds later, the foxes finally caught up and jumped at them all at once. Two came for Red, and one for Allen in the flank.

“Now!”

Red swept at his attackers with his cleaver. However, he used the flat of the blade to bat one of them aside instead of cutting them, in fear of getting splashed by foul blood. The boy batted the first fox aside while sidestepping the next one with no problems. Red then continued to run ahead, but threw a glance backward to check on Allen.

The young master had also dodged his assailant with no issues, even in his panicked state. He was looking at Red with an appalled expression, but kept following him.

Indeed, even though the foxes were zombies, they still proved to be no threat to the boys. They were normal animals after all, and not monsters. The pair continued to run for ten more seconds, quickly gaining ground on their pursuers. Just as Red felt that they might catch a break, though, his crimson sense detected more undead fluctuations up ahead.

This time it wasn’t just three, but a dozen presences, and more poured in by the second. It seemed they had been waiting for Red the entire time, and the boy had willingly thrown himself in their hands.

A few zombie foxes were no problem, but a dozen of them? It was suicide to face them, much more so when a scratch was all they needed to infect the boys.

‘How did they know the direction I was taking?’

Red was shocked that the necromancer could prepare such an ambush beforehand, but an answer came to his mind quickly.

‘Does he know I’m heading towards Narcha and the others?’

Indeed, if the necromancer was waiting outside of town the entire time, they would have seen the group’s departure yesterday and could have recognized Narcha in their midst. At that point, they would have no problem monitoring the sect members’ position and preemptively preventing Red from reuniting with them.

‘They tricked me.’

Evidently, in addition to their strange abilities, this necromancer was also very smart and meticulous. Red didn’t have the time to consider he had been outwitted, though, and quickly thought up his next plan.

‘I can’t keep going forward.’

“We’re heading back to town!” Red said to Allen.

“What?!” the young master couldn’t believe his ears. “What about the others?! What about our investigation?!”

“We can’t help with any of that right now!” the boy shook his head. “That necromancer knows where we’re headed and who knows how many more zombies he’ll place in our way?“

Allen was at a loss for words. “W-what about the foxes and other zombies back there?”

“We’ll fight through them if need be! Cover your mouth and nose, and make sure you don’t get scratched!” Red said, doing as much himself with a piece of cloth. “Be prepared, this might get ugly!”

The boy’s urgent attitude was all it took to convince Allen. They covered themselves in a hurry as they heard and saw dozens of zombies making their way from the east.

“Quick!” Red led the way back.

When they turned around, they saw the familiar three foxes dashing in their direction. The creatures threw themselves at the boys with no regard for their own lives. Once again, though, the duo dodged them without issue. Yet even this delay seemed too long to Red.

In addition to the dozens of zombie animals chasing them from behind, Red also sensed multiple other undead presences converging on them. They were closing in on the boys from every direction, and even Allen noticed it without the help of supernatural powers.

Dogs, foxes, rabbits, even bears. The entire forest had risen against them.

“T-they’re going to get us!” the young master almost stopped running from fear.

“Don’t panic!” Red tried to keep his companion together. “We don’t need to kill them, we just need to avoid them! Remember what they taught you in the sect!”

“R-right! I’ll do my best!” some confidence returned to Allen.

Of course, their situation was more dire than Red let on. He could feel the fluctuations increasing in number, and even his crimson sense was overwhelmed. With that many enemies, could they truly avoid them all?

‘It doesn’t matter. I won’t die here.’

More zombies tried to intercept them up ahead and their paths were closing. They were headed for an imminent clash, when Red suddenly felt a strong fluctuation enter the range of his power. It flared in his sense compared to the undead, and the boy’s eyes lit up.

‘Human!’

“This way!” Red abruptly changed directions.

The change of plans confused Allen, but he still followed him. As they ran ahead, they heard the sounds of flesh being cut apart and zombie roars. Some of their pursuers had even turned around to check on the commotion and deal with the new-arrival.

Finally, as the trees cleared up, Red and Allen laid eyes on the culprit. It was a knight, armored in scale-mail and with a helmet fully covering his head. He was swinging a longsword around, cleaving undead animals around him like butter.

At the same time the boys saw him, the man also noticed them. “Come to me! I’ll defend you!”

Red hesitated. However, he still felt the zombies closing in on their position, so he followed the man’s instructions. Allen was also eager to rely on this person’s strength given the seemingly hopeless situation.

Finally, they got to the knight’s side. The man put himself between the boys and the zombies, and continued his butcher’s work against any encroaching enemies. His swordsmanship was lightning quick and skillful, and his weapon had no problem cleaving the undead’s bodies in half.

‘He’s strong.’

Red and Allen could only stare in wonder. No matter how many zombies jumped at him, the knight continued to kill them without any sign of fatigue. Sometimes a single swipe took out multiple zombies at once. Most surprising was the fact that not an ounce of blood had reached the man’s armor as he was careful to keep his distance from the undead.

The zombies’ suicidal attacks continued for a few seconds, before abruptly coming to a stop. The remaining undead froze in their steps, and ceased their attack, retreating like nothing had happened.

“They’re leaving!” Allen said with joy.

Neither Red nor the knight let their guard down. Eventually, however, the boy felt all the fluctuations leaving his detection range, confirming the zombie army’s full retreat.

The man seemed to have gathered as much, too. He relaxed his stance and stabbed his sword into the ground. He laughed. “That was close, wasn’t it? If I wasn’t here, you brats would have surely died.”

“Thanks for saving our lives, mister!” Allen said. “I was wondering where-”

“Allen!” Red interjected. “Step back.”

“Huh?” the young master looked back at him in confusion. He then noticed Red had put some distance between the knight and himself. “What are you-”

“Just come here!”

Allen stopped talking and followed his instructions after he noticed the seriousness in his tone. The knight didn’t stop their actions, though, and continued to watch them, unfazed.

“Who are you?” Red asked their savior with a frown.

“Me? Don’t you recognize me?” the man seemed confused. “Oh, I forgot about the helmet! Silly me!”

The knight slowly took off his helmet, finally revealing his face to the boys. Both Red and Allen felt their breaths seize in their throats.

It was Reinhart, Gustav’s direct subordinate.

The man was looking at them with a smug smile on his face.