Prince’s head hit the floor and rolled to a stop. Only then did Simon release the breath he had been holding.
[Not yet! Don’t let your guard down, boy!] Pier’s voice warned.
The headless body turned pitch black, as if its soul were draining away, before dissipating like smoke. In its place lay the corpse of an ordinary zombie, the kind that littered the landscape of Deathland.
’No way...!’
Simon whipped his head around. Among the zombies that had dropped from the ceiling, one that had been standing blankly suddenly convulsed as a bolt of black lightning struck it.
The zombie’s body began to blacken, as if a soul were wrapping itself around the flesh. The form contracted, twisted, and reford.
[Impressive,] a familiar voice said. [I didn’t think I’d lose a life so easily.]
The zombie had transford into a perfect replica of Prince, right down to his fine clothes and the crown on his head.
Simon tensed, readjusting his grip on his sword.
[I wouldn’t co any closer if I were you,] Prince warned, grabbing the arm of the unconscious irin.
Simon gritted his teeth. "Don’t touch her!"
[That depends entirely on you.] Prince effortlessly slung irin over his shoulder and grinned. [Your na is Simon, right? If you want to save this girl, co to the mansion. And you have to co alone, without Pier. Don’t even think about hiding him in your Subspace; it won’t work.]
He stomped his foot, launching himself in a single leap up to the hole in the ceiling.
[Well then. See you later.]
"Prince!!" Simon roared.
Prince gave a dismissive wave and vanished. Simon started to give chase, but the remaining zombies shrieked and lunged for the fallen Dick and Kamibarez.
"Damn it!"
He spun around, his greatsword carving through the undead until none were left. He was about to pursue Prince again when Pier’s voice stopped him.
[Calm down, boy! There’s no point in chasing him now! He’ll just use that girl as a hostage! Gathering information cos first! I captured so interesting humans at that mansion. Go interrogate them!]
Simon’s eyes widened. "Humans in Deathland?"
---
Prince arrived at the mansion with irin over his shoulder.
’Pier really went all out,’ he thought, surveying the mountains of zombie corpses. Black blood stained the gardens, forming rivers of gore. Still, it was a small price to pay for keeping Pier occupied.
He entered the mansion with a leisurely stride.
"Two of them were taken? What in the world were you fools doing?!" a man’s voice barked.
"S-Sorry!"
"It all happened so fast...!"
Humans. Prince scowled and kicked the door open.
’BAM!’
Three n flinched at his entrance.
[When did you get here, Javier?]
Javier was an old, wrinkled necromancer leaning on a staff, two cigars clamped between his teeth as always.
"Hohoho! There you are, Prince!" he said with a good-natured beam. "I just got here myself. Ca in person for our usual trade."
He nodded to his subordinates, who brought forward a large box on a cart.
"I added two more than the usual amount. Have a look."
Prince opened the box. Inside were lumps of charcoal-like ore: obsidian, rich with high-purity Jet-Black.
[The number seems about right.]
"Hehe, have I ever given you the wrong amount?"
After retiring as a professional necromancer, Javier had started a lucrative corpse-trading business, harvesting the bodies scattered across Deathland. In exchange for Prince’s permission to operate in his territory, Javier supplied him with the obsidian he needed to maintain his power. It was a symbiotic relationship.
[Good.] Prince gestured, and his zombies carried the box away.
"More importantly, Prince," Javier said, his eyes falling on irin. "Who is that woman?"
[Found her.] Prince unceremoniously dropped her to the floor.
Javier’s dim eyes scanned her, then widened in surprise. "I-Isn’t she a Kizen student? How did such a precious young lady end up in Deathland...!"
[Those Kizen fools have a class here once a year,] Prince said, plopping down on a sofa. [Talk about living the good life.]
"But why this girl...?"
[I’m using her as bait to kill soone. When he cos to the mansion, I’ll finish him.]
Javier didn’t press for details. His gaze was fixed solely on the unconscious irin. He licked his lips as he scanned her body.
"Sell the girl to ."
[I thought a corpse dealer only dealt in corpses,] Prince said dryly. [Didn’t know you dabbled in the slave trade.]
"Sotis, the living have their uses," Javier rasped. "I’ll buy her for twenty obsidian stones."
It was an exceptional offer, nearly half the amount he had just delivered.
[Fine, do as you please,] Prince said with a shrug. [All I need is to lure him here.]
"Hehehe!" Javier cackled. At his nod, his subordinates carried irin away.
---
irin’s eyes fluttered open to the rocking of a carriage and a splitting headache. Her mind was foggy, her throat parched.
’Huh?’
She blinked, taking in her surroundings. ’Why am I in a carriage? Did I pass out? Are we back at Kizen? What happened to the evaluation? Simon? The others?’
As a thousand questions swirled in her mind, a voice broke the silence.
"Are you awake?"
The wrinkled, liver-spotted face of an old man lood over her. She tried to scream, but no sound ca out. Her body wouldn’t move. A cloth was gagged in her mouth, and her hands were bound tightly behind her back. She couldn’t even circulate her Jet-Black.
She scrambled away from him, curling into a ball. "Mmph! Mmmmmph!"
"I can’t quite make out what you’re saying," Javier said, clicking his tongue.
’What is this! Who is this man!’
She had to figure out what was happening. She turned to the window. It was dark outside, the sky black beneath Deathland’s signature red clouds. She was still here. The coachman wasn’t even human; it was a skeleton.
She must have been found by this man after passing out during the fight with that zombie kid. But it made no sense. Why would a human be in Deathland? He looked like a ghoul, but he was definitely human.
’Maybe I can reason with him,’ she thought desperately. ’He saw my Kizen uniform. He should know better than to ss with .’
Just then, a wrinkled hand reached for her thigh.
A terrified, muffled scream escaped her as she kicked him square in the face.
’THWACK!’
His head snapped back.
"Kehehe!" He laughed, turning back to her. Blood stread from his nose, but he simply licked it away with a long, snake-like tongue. "Full of energy, just like a young lady. I like it very much!"
The hair on her arms stood upright. "Mmph! Mmmph mmmph! Mmmmmmph!"
"Hm? I still can’t understand you."
"Mmmmmph!"
Javier grinned and removed her gag. She took a gasping breath and glared at him.
"Don’t you dare touch , you filthy bastard!"
"Hehehe!" He was completely unfazed, his tongue flicking in and out.
She struggled into a sitting position. "I am irin Villenne, a first-year at Kizen and a mber of the Ivory Tower! Do you have any idea what you’re doing?!"
"To be precise," Javier grinned, "I see one corpse that ’was’ a mber of Kizen and the Ivory Tower."
"Unfortunately, this old man isn’t brave enough to capture a Kizen student for ransom. You, however, will make a very fine undead."
He suddenly yanked her necktie, pulling her onto his lap. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"Ughhhh...!"
"The Ivory Tower, you say? Excellent material! You might beco a Skeleton Mage, or perhaps a Banshee." His finger brushed her cheek. "It’s a waste, of course. A real sha for such a beautiful face to disappear. But oh well. I hope you find a good master..."
’CHOMP!’
irin bit down on his finger with all her might.
"Agh-aaaaaaaargh!"
She squeezed her eyes shut, putting every ounce of strength into her jaw. She tasted the tallic tang of blood as her teeth sank into his flesh. As he thrashed in pain, she released him and shot her head forward.
She headbutted him squarely on the forehead. The old man groaned and tumbled to the carriage floor.
’I did it!’
She’d bought herself ti. Her eyes darted to the window. The thought of jumping from a moving carriage, bound and powerless, was terrifying. She could die. But it was better than being turned into an undead by that monster.
Her mind made up, she didn’t hesitate. She threw herself toward the window.
A firm hand seized her ankle just as she was about to escape.
"Hahaha! It’s no use!" he cackled, yanking her back inside.
A sharp blow to her abdon sent her collapsing to the floor. Javier grabbed a fistful of her sky-blue hair, his tongue flicking.
"Impressive, young lady! To show such courage and wit without your hands or Jet-Black! I suppose Kizen does have high standards after all. However!" He reached for her uniform jacket. "That ends now."
She squeezed her eyes shut. It was so damn unfair. To co all this way, to accomplish nothing, only to die so pointlessly...
A massive impact rocked the carriage from above. The horses shrieked and swerved, sending the carriage lurching violently.
"Hm? What’s going on?!" Javier yelled.
A pure-white greatsword pierced through the ceiling. irin was so shocked she hiccuped, and the color drained from Javier’s face.
The greatsword carved a triangle into the ceiling, creating an opening through which a man dropped into the carriage. ’Wh-Who could it be?’ irin wondered, her heart seizing.
He was draped in a cloak that revealed khaki work clothes underneath. Bones were fused to various parts of his body. When the man turned, irin flinched, flattening herself against the carriage wall as she trembled.
’I-I can’t even breathe...!’
His presence was so overwhelming that it stole the air from her lungs. A skull covered half his head and face, leaving only his mouth exposed. A blue aura flared like a torch in one of its eye sockets. The man’s gaze fell upon the ropes binding irin’s hands and her disheveled state before shifting to Javier.
"I-I’ll ask again. Who are you—!"
With imperceptible speed, the man’s foot slamd into Javier’s abdon. Javier’s body folded in half as he coughed up a spray of blood.
Next, the man stomped on the back of his head. The carriage floor shattered, and Javier’s head plunged through the splintered wood. The assault was relentless.
"Ah, ahh...."
irin watched, trembling in terror. The armored figure propped up Javier’s blood-soaked torso with one foot, then kicked him squarely with the other.
Javier’s body smashed through the side of the carriage and tumbled out. A pained scream echoed from outside, followed by the sickening sound of shattering bones.
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