It was difficult to tell the difference considering Remus had made it so that the fog did not affect them while inside the town… Still, the more they got to the edge, the more concerning the situation got.

There truly was no fog at the edge of the town, as they walked, there was also no sign of the undead that Remus had risen. It was eerily quiet, not even the wind made a sound.

‘Where did all the undead go?’

Soon the answer would appear in front of them, the sound of flesh being cut as well as grunts and the splatter or blood growing closer.

There stood a man wiping clean his sword with a handkerchief, looking at the blood on it with a grimace, all the undead in the area laying motionless at his feet. The sight of this making the violet in Remus’ sockets burn with quite the rage that was clear even with his skeletal form.

Whether it was because the man didn’t see them, or was ignoring them, he continued to clean his sword. There were quite the obvious traits he had that more than worried Kazius though. For one was the familiar blue glow to his eyes, then there was his pure white slicked-back hair despite looking only to be at most in his 30s or maybe early 40s. The greying hair and blue eyes of Alex and Leo coming back to Kazius, a sinking feeling overwhelming him.

Azanor looked uneasy at the sight of the male, who even now is cleaning his sword. It was becoming clear he was ignoring them, looking down on them. He was more worried about being presentable and not tarnishing his shiny silver and blue armor.

The one who looked the most disturbed was Alice though, “N-No…” She would mutter in horror at the sight of him, the woman actually shaking despite usually being quite brave.

At her words breaking the silence, the male finally acknowledged the group, a smirk gracing his face. “Well well well, princess. I would say I am surprised to see you in this group of abominations, but can’t say I am… How long has it been? 1… No, don’t tell me… 6 years since that little fun event… Yet you so rudely skipped out on your invitation and had a maid be hung in your place… Clever little vermin, aren’t you? Getting an innocent maid killed for your sake... Her family thinks she went missing, you know? They’re still looking for her.” The male chuckled out. Despite his guilt tripping, he looked only more delighted as he spoke of the family that was suffering.

Alice gritted her teeth, hatred in her eyes, she trembled in rage and fear, “Shut your filthy mouth! Ivy wanted to protect me from you! You are just angry we would not be your puppets anymore! You filthy piece of shit!” She hissed, using language the princess didn’t typically use.

“Language…. Language… Princess… It seems you lost your manners while running around.” He tsked with a condescending shake of his finger. “Unlike you, I haven’t lost my manners though… You filthy little thing… My name is Elande. Captain of the Edict Knights… Rank 1… As I am sure you would know, you filthy infiltrator… Kazius, correct? It is a shame, really… If you were human, maybe you could have reached the same heights as me…”

Kazius scowled, growing pale as he glared at the male. Of course, he knew what it meant… Leo and Alex had been tough before their training, but Damon has taken care of them… But they weren’t even real Edict Knights… They didn’t have a rank… This was serious… They sent the captain here… Kazius knew that going against an Edict Knight would be hard… But the captain? This was bad. Really really bad.

“You and the Church are just a bunch of liars worshipping a magical artifact. Using it to manipulate people, don’t you fucking dare even speak to Alice like you have some high ground.” Kazius hissed out, terrified yet angry. This was the person that had likely taken Alice from him, and he was close to possibly make that future real again. Still, he was willing to die protecting her.

“Well aren’t you all just the rude lot? And here I am trying to have a civil conversation… I suppose I can’t expect more from filth-“ Elande began only to be cut off by an attack from Remus. It was clear he was fuming, this was the man behind killing off his descendants… And was related to the organization that brought his life to an end.

“How dare you… You are just like him… That disgusting manipulative liar, Lazne…” Remus hissed out, rage and venom hanging from every word that came out of his mouth, sounding very much like the angry Lich that he was and not at all his usual grandfatherly self.

Despite his power into his attack… Remus would get pushed back and blocked with a swing of Elande’s sword, “Oh? Friends of my father, I see. I didn’t know my father had such rude friends… Not letting me even talk.” Elande chuckled out.

‘Wait… Lazne is his father? Just how old is he? That shouldn’t be possible for a human.’

Remus would stumble at the force of being pushed back but would manage to still land on his feet.

Seeing an opportunity, Damon would attack, not seeming to have sensed the danger. He did look angry though, having quite the shocking expression for the goofy male’s usual self. It was clear he was beyond angry. “I won’t let you hurt my friends!” He growled out in a wolf-like manner, rather than enjoying the attack or fight, he looked upset.

“Another one without manners, if you behave like a dog… I will treat you like one.” Elande chuckled out in delight, seeming to be amused and delighted by the situation. He would dash forward towards Damon, Remus at this attacking as well in attempts to prevent it. Midway through the attack, faster than what anyone could see, he would change direction.

Elande was heading in another direction, already in front of Alice before anyone realized what had occurred, lunging forward. Thankfully or not, instinctively and on edge, Kazius move in time, taking the hit. His shadows attempting to shield him. Elande’s sword would cut through his shadows like butter, a bright blue light coating his blade when he swung it, the light burning away at the shadows. A mixture of shadows and blood would leak through the wound. Kazius hearing a familiar ringing in his ear as he screamed. A cold yet warm pain overwhelming his senses as he would stagger, Alice’s expression growing horrified and shocked.

There was little time to react, before Elande could finish him off, Azanor would dash forward as fast as the Demon could, managing to push the knight back with a well placed kick, but he still barely moved. Azanor would grab the blade, despite the fact it seemed like it was really digging into his hand and even burning some. He grimaced, struggling as he cried out in pain, but would try and kick at Elande again only to be kicked right in the stomach with enough power to make him throw up blood.

‘run’ Kazius would hear a familiar voice ring in his ear. It was clear none of them, even if working together could deal with the knight. Even if he wanted to run though, how could they? There was no way he wouldn’t catch up.

Kazius struggled to stand, Damon rushing over while Alice attempted to grab him to support Kazius’ weight. “You coward! How dare you use such underhanded tricks!” he growled. After all, he had acted like he would fight him, but instead went to harm the unprepared. Sadly, for Damon, he was too fast and too strong.

Damon attacked with his spear, but before he knew it, Elande had had blocked it, pushing the spear aside with his sword. While Damon’s spear was tough and did not break, the situation left Damon open to a very powerful kick in the face that ending up sending the tall male flying. Something not even the winds of Mount Vind could do.

Damon scream, ending up bleeding all over, including from the eye the kick had landed on, the impact having been too much for his left eye. The way he screamed and howled in agony was almost haunting.

Eve was furious at this, attempting to join in the fight, “Leave my friends alone!” She screamed in terror and anger. She was stopped by the barely standing Azanor. In just the blink of an eye, almost all of them were unable to even stand.

‘Don’t lose consciousness, don’t lose consciousness.’ Kazius would try and repeat to himself, but it was hard. The blood shadow mixture oozing out of him was close to causing him to pass out due to blood loss.

Before they knew it though, Remus would jump in front of Elande. The Lich moved with some speed, enough to be able to conjure up several walls of bone beneath the 5, pushing the back. Remus seemed full of hatred and rage, but there was a hint of his grandfatherly love in his actions.

The actions seemed to surprise Elande, after all, Remus worked differently from any Lich. This hesitation giving Remus enough time to do one thing. “Rise.” He stated with a motion of his hand, the entire cemetery with hundred maybe upon thousands of graves coming to life, zombies, skeletons, and the like coming up. It was like a small army with a shining purple light.

The undead would block the way between Elande and the group. It was clear the goal wasn’t to defeat him, that wasn’t possible even with the numbers… No, the purpose was to buy them time.

“I hope you all know, I treasured the time I spend with you. Each and everyone of you, I see you as my grandchildren… Thank you… For keeping an old Lich like me company… And I am sorry… That I could not teach you.” Remus stated, not facing them, but instead Remus, “Go!” He exclaimed to them.

“What!? No! Grandpa!” Alice exclaimed. “Not again not again not again not again.” She stated, breathing heavily, seeming traumatized at losing yet another family member to Elande.

“…..Move!” Azanor exclaimed, yelling at the others. Kazius unable to register the first bit of his statement.

“… heal…. Go!” Eve’s voice would sound faintly, slowly growing in and out of focus.

And then darkness came. Kazius could no longer maintain consciousness.