Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
The situation wasn’t good.
The evil spirits on the first floor were low-level monsters, but the undead was on another level altogether. Although they were dead, they still retained their fighting instinct. On the exterior, their rotting, decaying bodies might seem fragile, but it still could withstand a full blast of holy energy. This forced Rhode and Lize to utilize the most common formation: Two at the front and one at the back. Rhode and the Flame Killer acted as the vanguard while Lize stayed at the back to cast supportive skills. At this point of time, Lize no longer retained selfish thoughts about taking part in the battle anymore.
Rhode had almost arrived at his destination.
He scrutinized the patterns on the wall and compared it to his memories. At the same time, he waved his sword and tore through the undead’s defense. As an intense light spread out, it pierced through the decaying bodies mercilessly, pinning their bodies to the wall on the side.
While he continued to move forward, at the back, Lize creased her brows together in annoyance.
The undead who blocked their path did not only consist of mercenary corpses, but there were also undead servants and even undead children! All of these were the previous victims of this cursed house, and because they were under an evil spell, they were reanimated and forced to do evil acts.
“What kind of horrible being would do something terrible like this?” Lize clenched her teeth in anger as she muttered under her breath.
“Every vile being is capable of doing something evil. This is no exception,” Rhode answered without looking at her. He concentrated on cutting down the undead in front of him while his other hand resummoned the Flame Killer.
“But this is too much!”
Suddenly, an undead wearing a maid uniform that appeared out of nowhere, it opened its horrifying mouth and rushed towards Rhode.
Slash!
“The original source of power came from humans,” Rhode said while piercing the undead’s forehead with Star Mark. Then he swung his sword to his side and continued, “No matter what’s the motives, the result won’t change.”
“And that’s why, when you made a decision, you also have to face the consequences.”
“Eh?”
Lize was stunned for a moment. She never thought that Rhode would say such a thing. But before she could reply, something cold and heavy fell suddenly latched onto her shoulders.
“Ah!!”
The pain caused her to scream loudly. When she turned around, her entire body immediately stiffened.
Her terror-filled eyes locked with the empty sockets of an undead child on her back. The grey, decaying undead being opened its mouth, releasing a putrid stench of rotting meat. Its two tiny hands had clamped on her shoulders like a cat.
When it realized that Lize had discovered its presence, it quickly climbed up and targeted Lize’s neck. At this time, a white flash of light streaked past the undead child, causing it to pause for a moment before falling to the floor, headless. The body that lost its head swiftly disintegrated into dust and disappeared in a crack on the floor.
“—————”
Lize stared at the ground blankly for a few seconds. She didn’t arouse until Rhode called out to her.
“Be careful.”
“Ah, yes!”
After the sudden adrenaline rush, Lize felt a stinging pain on her shoulder. She hastily removed the poison from her body and recast a shield over herself once again. However, she still felt that something was off.
No more enemies?
Staring at her front, she realized that the zombies surrounding them had already turned into dust, and the scene was eerily quiet.
“What happened…?”
“It seems like that the enemy is thinking of another strategy to deal with us.”
Rhode flicked his sword to the side and turned to Lize. When he spotted the wound, he frowned a little.
“How is it?”
“I-it’s okay. It’s nothing much…”
Lize stood up and replied in a low voice. The scene from before had caused some shock to her, and she had yet to recover from it.
“Let me see.” Rhode insisted as he eyed the edges of the wound before lowering himself towards her. However, he did not forget that he was in enemy territory, so he signaled the Flame Killer to be alert for any movement.
“No.. really…! It’s nothing…!”
Lize started to panic. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around her shoulder and shook her head vigorously.
“Let. Me. See.”
Rhode was indifferent to her rejection and repeated himself again.
“…”
Lize went silent for a moment before deciding to put down her hand.
The wounded areas were easily spotted as there were ten blood stained holes on her back which contrasted against her white robe. Dark, red blood slowly oozed out from the wound and trickled downwards.
Rhode then wasted no time as he tore off her outer garments surrounding the wound.
“Have you removed the poison?”
“Yes, there should be no problem.”
“That’s good.”
Rhode nodded and did not continue to say anything. He took out a bottle on his waist and began to dress the wound.
“——— !!!”
A sharp sensation came over her and Lize bit her lower lip in an attempt to alleviate the pain. When she looked up and saw Rhode focusing on bandaging her wound, her heart felt extremely complex.
“Mr. Rhode…”
“Yes?”
“This… I’m very sorry about before… I didn’t pay attention…”
“Do not apologize to me. It’s not like I was the one injured.”
“Uh…”
Lize was speechless before she suddenly burst out laughing.
“So, sorry, I…”
“As I said, do not apologize to me.”
“Ah, yes, right…” Lize said with a gentle laugh.
She finally found out the problem. She smiled and did not continue to say anything as she quietly observed at the man before her.
What kind of person is he?
Lize had questioned this herself countless of times. Before she became a mercenary, she had seen a lot of people. And after becoming a mercenary, she had met even more. But after so long, she had not discovered one that was similar to Rhode. He was just a little bit older than herself, but he was full of confidence and never doubted his own words. Sometimes, he was even overbearing, but how did she trust him so much? Of course, this man isn’t even romantic; he rarely smiled, which made him very boring…
“Alright.”
Rhode’s words cause Lize to recover from her surprise and to her surprise, she realized that her injury was already cleanly dressed.
“Try to move your shoulder. Is there any problem?”
“It’s okay if I don’t move it too much…”
As a Spirit Master, naturally, she knew how to take care of herself. If it weren’t because that the wound was located in a difficult place, she wouldn’t need to bother Rhode to help her.
“Very good.”
Rhode nodded and stood up.
“Be prepared. We will continue to move soon. We don’t have much time to waste.”
From the previous battle, the undead realized that Rhode was very strong and no longer appeared needlessly. Everything was quiet, but the two of them knew that this was the calm before the storm. He calculated based on his experience on clearing quests, and Lize relied on her experience as a mercenary as well as her angel instinct. Soon, they arrived at a door; it was the only object that was still clean and intact in the house. And in a dilapidated house with cobwebs and debris all over, without a doubt, there was something strange about this door. However, Rhode easily recognized this place. It was Cyril’s sculpting room, the beginning of everything.
“There’s something inside…”
Lize swallowed her saliva nervously. She felt her shoulder stiffen. A dense and suffocating aura of evil escaped from the gap beneath the door. This was her first time experiencing such a thick aura that could almost be felt physically.
Rhode opened the door slowly.
And what they saw next, rendered them entirely speechless.
If they wanted to use a single word to describe this… scene, what could they use?
Evil? Filthy? Dirty?
That wasn’t it.
The feeling that came from this room was ——— holy.
A white world appeared before them. Everything was clean and seemingly sanctified. Gorgeous, white pillars supported the domed shape interior, and rays of moonlight shone through the hole in the ceiling. And under that moonlight, a statue stood in tranquility.
It was a woman.
She was naked, her hand was covering her body, and her hair was long. It had a beautiful unworldly face; its meticulously crafted facial features, a touch of playfulness in its beautiful smile, anyone who saw her at first glance would not hesitate to think that this was the most beautiful work of art.
“So beautiful…”
Even Lize could not help but praise it. At this moment, the evil atmosphere, the strange undead, all seemed to be unimportant and what only matters was the existence of the statue. She had an uncontrollable impulse to walk forward and admire the statue close-up, but Rhode quickly grabbed her shoulder.
“Ah.”
When she was pulled suddenly, she felt surprised and slightly annoyed, but it also managed to bring back her clarity. At the same time, Rhode whistled and gestured forward. The Flame Killer rushed towards the statue immediately without hesitation, and when it got close, it unleashed its terrifying claws and teeth.
But alas, it wasn’t enough.
“Swoosh!!”
Multiple slender arms suddenly appeared from the walls and floor and wrapped around the Flame Killer’s body and limbs.
“Woo!!”
The black hound struggled with all its might. It even tried to bite the arm that wrapped around its front paw, but the slender arms did not wait for the black hound to retaliate before quickly tearing apart its trapped foe. Upon death, the black hound’s explosive characteristics activated once again.
“Boom!!!”
A massive pillar of fire filled in the room, and at the same time, a sharp cry resounded from the sky!