June stared at her hands as the sporeforms around her collapsed. Marrow had used their energy to heal her. Not just the arms, but old scars she had also disappeared without a trace.
"H-How is this possible?" She mumbled, looking at her hands.
Blaze undid his mask, revealing his pale face to June. For a moment, she was stunned. He looked nothing like a zombie, except for his ash-skin and black veins.
Blaze could guess what was going on inside her head and smiled, his eyes glowing crimson.
"Do you realize it now?" Blaze said, holding her unblemished hand. "The undead are capable of miracles the humans can’t even dream about."
June was processing his words when Blaze let go of her hand. Instead of relief, the moment he let go filled her with regret.
It was an odd feeling. She hated Blaze from the core of her being, yet suddenly, the thought of leaving him was dreadful to her.
Heck, even remembering that she tried to kill him became too much to bear for her.
No... what am I thinking? He’s a zombie! Humanity’s enemy... then why do I feel drawn to him?
June shook her head. Something was off with her, she could sense it. The cult’s mental training kicked in, trying to maintain her rational thoughts.
However, it was all for naught.
How can he be evil? Blaze saved my life! The others died because of my mistake... Blaze had nothing to do with it...
The more her mind tried to regain control, the more she justified Blaze’s actions.
Did Blaze kill innocents?
Not at all. He merely defended his territory, his home, from invaders. It was the cult’s fault for barging in without permission.
Then why did the cult want him dead? Because he was a threat to the blightlord?
No, they were misguided. The Blightlord is a false god. That’s why Blaze wants to eliminate them.
What about the blood he had on his hands?
It was a small price to pay. After all, innocents are the first to perish for revolution. Besides, the zombies had to feed. Blaze was merely fighting for his kind’s survival!
Countless questions appeared in June’s mind, and were answered even quicker. In her eyes, Blaze was the perfect, benevolent creature. Far better than the humans who kept killing other humans, zombies, and beasts.
At the same time, a notification appeared before Blaze.
[Plague invasion in progress.]
[The target can be molded according to the subject’s wishes if the invasion is successful.]
It’s good that her mind was already broken after seeing her comrades die. It’d make it easier to invade her mind.
"My lord," Marrow whispered, looking away.
"What is it?" Blaze asked.
Marrow didn’t say another word, just handed him his mask back. He took it before looking at June.
She was staring at him while mumbling incoherently. It was as if she had developed a split personality. One side was loyal to the cult, while the other was loyal to him.
Meanwhile, Marrow kept staring between them. She did not like the fact that a human was staring at her lord’s face. No human deserved to behold such a sight; only the horde did.
"My lord, why save this... filth? You wanted her memories, severing her head is enough—"
"I changed my mind. As much as I want her memories, there are other ways to do that."
June was still mumbling, but the voice of reason in her mind was getting quieter. Blaze watched on with interest, waiting to see if she’d accept her role in the horde or keep her humanity.
However, Marrow was still apprehensive about his decision.
What she didn’t understand was that Blaze wanted to know everything about the cult. However, the information these low-ranking individuals had was limited, something he realized after killing the other healer.
If he were to kill June, he would gain intelligence in the short term, but would lose access to constant information surrounding the cult. They could or couldn’t send people with more information, and he didn’t want to take the chance.
More importantly, Blaze hoped that by planting June as a spy, she would eventually get promoted and learn more about the Blightlord and their whereabouts. Which would help him make a thorough plan to eliminate the cult at the source.
The cult could restore her mind in some way, making her a double agent. Still, it was a risk Blaze was willing to take.
After all, if he wanted to eliminate the Blightlord, he couldn’t do it sitting in the comfort of his territory. He needed eyes outside, and since the undead couldn’t fill that role, he had to use June.
"That said," Blaze said, extending his claws. "There’s something else I want from her."
[Submission complete!]
Blaze smiled. He was waiting for the notification, and now that June belonged to him, he could do whatever he pleased with her.
"Make sure she doesn’t die."
Necrophage was yet to steal a single ability for Blaze. Usually, he only got one try before the target died. That’s why he wanted to do something new. Follow current novels on novel·fiɾe·net
He couldn’t kill June, but her ability was too good not to have. That’s why he had Marrow there. As Necrophage ’killed’ June, she’d actively ’revive’ her.
Besides, June wouldn’t die for sure as long as he didn’t hit her three times in a minute.
One hit per thirty seconds should be doable. But on second thought.
Although June wouldn’t die by that method, Blaze could only imagine the pain she’d have to tolerate. It might even break her mind. He couldn’t have that.
Then again, the cult might torture her for information about him. What he was about to do to her could be considered training in case it happened.
Still, he wanted to ease her pain a bit and build pain tolerance over time.
Blaze’s eyes fell on the corpses of the fallen healers. It would be a waste to let them stay as they were.
Marrow could use some underlings.
With a wave of his hand, the corpses disappeared into his domain.
"Wrap things up here," he said, lifting June up with a tendril. "We’re heading back to the lair."