Red stood frozen in place, staring at the charred zombies surrounding him. Although they moved stiffly, the fluctuation he felt from them told a different story. They were brimming with power at the Lesser Ring Realm, and any of them could tear the youth from limb to limb.

He counted no less than 30 of these around him.

‘What do I do?’

Red frowned, but before he had any time to think, the zombies to the west opened up a path to him. This path was, of course, leading back towards the town.

“Go.” the voice reached his ears. “Struggle and plan all you want, but we both know you have no escape.”

A croaking sound came from the burned throats of the surrounding zombies, as if urging him to move. Red could feel the distinct pressure of their gazes on him, as if they were just waiting for an excuse to pounce on him.

‘There is no point in delaying this. If salvation still exists, it only lies in town.’

Red took a step forward, making his way back to town.

The zombies didn’t follow him immediately, and for a second, he thought they would remain behind. However, when he extended his crimson sense behind him, he still felt them.

The undead army that would raze the town to the ground.

…

A few hours passed by as Red made his way to the town. However, this felt more like an eternity to the youth - now alone with his thoughts.

Aurelia said nothing the entire journey. In fact, he wasn’t sure she was in a state to say anything. No escape opportunities appeared - the zombies forming a net around him and leaving only one way forward. His serpent didn’t return to him, though he knew there was nothing the creature could do to reverse the situation.

No brilliant plans came to him, and with every passing second, he took one step closer to his doom. So, like Red was wont to do, he thought and reflected to himself.

‘Their plan… It doesn’t make sense.’

The more the youth thought about it, the more inconsistencies he found with this being’s actions. For one, there was its threat to destroy the town. With all these zombies, they probably could accomplish that with no issues and recover the dagger on their own, and yet they asked Red to recover the artifact for them. Perhaps there was something in the formation stopping them from doing this on their own, but if that was the case, couldn’t the youth just hole himself up in town and refuse to come out? They even said they would kill him, which made little sense if the being was expecting cooperation from his part.

It was almost as if they were pushing Red to resist.

‘No. There’s something more to this.’

He remembered what Aurelia told him. This was a being split from a near-ascension cultivator - someone far smarter and more experienced than either of them. If they seemed to be doing something illogical, it only meant that Red hadn’t figured out the true reason behind their actions.

To have a chance at uncovering the truth, the youth needed to think further back - to how this being had tried to gain the dagger in the first place. They had done everything to keep their actions under wraps, using only peasants from remote villagers as offerings for the ghost possessing the dagger, possibly hoping these actions would free the weapon. The conclusion Red could draw from this was obvious - they were afraid of being discovered, meaning there were other forces in the region which could deter them from accomplishing their plans.

The fact they didn’t attack the Crystal Sky Sect cultivator was likely because of this, too - they were afraid of provoking this enormous faction - and not because of some deal they made with the youth. This meant that the being was still invested in doing things sneakily and was unlikely to use brute force unless it was the only option.

‘If that’s the case, why leave me no way out?’

Red could just walk into town and scream that there were zombies outside, and even if he died, that could ruin the being’s plans. Unless, of course, they had a way to stop him from doing that.

‘Could I be their passage inside?’

The youth wasn’t fully aware of how possession worked, and this was why he thought this was a possibility. Perhaps the being couldn’t enter the town themselves, but if they were attached to his body, they could walk through the formation without issues. Maybe once they were inside, they would fully possess Red and take the dagger, or perhaps they would wait for him to lead them to it, since Hector could have hidden it from their detection, too. There were also the imperials in town, which was probably another faction the being wasn’t willing to be detected by, either.

After all, if Bernard, who was interested in the region, heard about this dagger and this fragment of a near-ascension cultivator, would he remain still? It was hard to imagine that with what they already knew.

At the end of the day, though, none of this changed the youth’s situation. Either he did as he was told, or he died out here. In fact, Red was probably going to die either way, but anything that delayed that process was something that gave him hope.

‘I need to cooperate for now.’

If the ghostly being was indeed somewhere inside his body, waiting for a sign of rebellion to strike, then the youth couldn’t show any for now. If it was not the case, then Red could hole himself up in town and look for another way out.

If the former was true, it was best to make them think he was willing to obey for as long as possible before striking. How he was going to strike? He wasn’t entirely sure.

Of course, these thoughts of his were no more than conjecture. There was no solid evidence to back them, and in fact, he might have been completely misled by the being’s actions. It could have other, deeper plans. Or perhaps it was being genuine in its offer after all, as unlikely as it was, and this resistance Red planned would get Allen and Rimold killed. This possibility ate away at the corners of his mind, casting doubt over his plans.

‘No. I can’t falter now. I need to stay true to my path.’

Even if he was going to die, he wouldn’t do so quietly. If there was no way out, he would struggle with all his might to the very end. Even if his companions suffered because of his choice, he knew they would do the same in his place. His sect wouldn’t take this loss lying down.

‘I’m sorry, Narcha, Eiwin. I only hope you approve of my actions.’

With these thoughts in mind, Red saw the town peeking through the trees. The lights were still illuminating it in the dark night, and he could still spot the figures of guards patrolling the perimeter from afar. It would be hard to sneak by them, but the youth saw no reason to.

He continued to walk forward. The zombies following him stopped just shy of exiting the shelter of the trees, and instead, they started to fan out, surrounding the hill from multiple angles. It was a large area to cover, but these were Lesser Ring Realm creatures, more than 30 of them. You could space one for every hundreds of meters and a mortal would still find it impossible to pass through the blockade in one piece.

Whatever the being’s intentions were, their thralls were ready for battle.

With a deep breath, Red walked forward through the main road. One of the guards was quick to spot him, and their hand immediately went to their weapon.

“Halt, who goes…” the man trailed off. “Oh, it’s you!”

The youth hadn’t covered his crimson hair, so the guard was quick to recognize him.

The man chuckled to himself. “I thought it weird that there was someone trying to enter town so late, but turns out it was a friend from the Water Dragon Guild.”

The guard waved at his men, that seemed to have noticed the commotion from afar, and they all relaxed, continuing about their duty.

“I didn’t expect to see you so late, though.” the guard frowned. “I’m pretty sure none of my men saw you leave town.”

Red shook his head. “It’s not their fault.”

“Uh, what do you-”

“Can I go?” the youth cut him off.

“Huh?” The man seemed confused. “Of course, I don’t suppose there’s any reason to stop you. But I must warn you to be careful of…”

The guard trailed off as Red walked past him without waiting for his sentence to finish. The youth heard an unsatisfied mutter behind him, but he ignored it.

These guards would probably be the first people to die if the zombies attacked, and yet Red couldn’t warn them about it. He couldn’t afford to deviate from his course, not now.

The youth wasn’t certain about the limits of the town formation, but soon enough, he stepped foot onto the paved streets and amidst the stone buildings, and nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen. He didn’t know whether to be relieved that he wasn’t immediately possessed or afraid that he might have missed the mark with his conjecture, but either way, he had no choice but to continue.

The guards stopped him a few more times on the street, but they all let him go once they recognized him. They warned him of the danger of wandering the streets alone so soon after their captain was assassinated, but it didn’t deter Red from his course. In fact, he was hoping Rickard or another imperial assassin would suddenly appear, if only to throw a wrench into the ghost’s plans.

However, he had no such luck.

Ten minutes later, he arrived in the isolated street of his sect. His heart pounded like it had never done before, the weight of what he was about to try crushing upon his mind and body. Not even when he faced certain death in the underground did he feel such pressure.

He counted his steps to arrive at the sect until he was finally in front of the gate. He detected the presence of everyone in there - Hector and Domeron were in the meeting hall, his master was in his workshop, still awake, and Rog was in his room, the only one asleep.

Red didn’t try to be sneaky, opening the gate and making plenty of noise. Immediately, the fluctuations of the duo in the main building trembled, but they didn’t move. He walked up to the door and knocked against it.

There was a moment of silence, and the youth couldn’t help but feel that this scene was very similar to the one from a few days ago.

“Come in.” an elderly voice came from inside.

Red opened the door and walked inside. He saw Domeron and Hector sitting in their usual spots, and they were both staring at him as if they had seen a ghost.

“I need the dagger.” Red said without ceremony.

Hector frowned. “… Why?”

“If I don’t get it, then Allen and Rimold will die.”

The elder’s expression paled, a rare display of despair from the man. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but the words were stuck in his throat. Domeron, on the other hand, closed his eyes and leaned back against the table, as if thinking about something.

“… Give him the dagger, Hector.” the swordsman said.

Hector tightened his fists that were laid on top of the table, his body trembling in both anger and helplessness. He was glaring at Red, though the youth felt as if his hate was directed at someone else.

A few seconds later, he got up, his entire demeanor changing.

“Very well.” the elder nodded with a serene expression.

Hector lifted his hand and made a grabbing motion at thin air. Red felt the ground shake beneath his feet as if something was digging its way towards them from beneath the earth.

The youth looked over at Hector.

“Do you remember what you told me about your sword?” Red asked.

The old man showed an expression of confusion.

“I wonder if it really is as sturdy as you claim.” the youth said.

Hector’s expression changed in realization, and a small smile formed at the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly, something burst from beneath the ground of the hall, throwing wooden splinters every which way and flying towards the elder. It was a small ornate box, sealed with a talisman the likes of which the youth had never seen before.

It landed on Hector’s extended hand, and he offered it towards Red.

“Here, take it.” the elder said.

The youth didn’t move, staring at the box with a dazed expression. Suddenly, though, something seemed to flash in front of his eyes. A green light, and the form of a white-haired woman wearing a black dress. She extended her hand, reaching for the box faster than Red could even blink.

Though not faster than Hector could react.

Another light flashed from above, a deep blue one, resembling the color of the ocean. It flew down like lightning, leaving behind a sword shadow as it shot towards the box faster than the ghost could move.

“NO!” A scream came from the woman.

An explosion happened as the blade struck, and everything around them seemed to be swept in a tempest of Spiritual Energy and debris.