Death Knight Erams (2)

Eluke felt the sympathy that had been filling her chest vanish all at once.

I got all worked up for nothing.

When she had first heard that Liam had become undead, her heart had been heavy. Liam loved a free life more than anyone. He yearned for days that belonged to no one but himself. And an undead was little better than a slave. She had been certain his free will had been stripped away, that he now moved only as some dark sorcerer commanded.

A tragic hero, crushed by the Demon King, denied even the peace of death. The thought alone had left her mind in knots. That was why she had always wanted to grant him a quiet rest.

She had been thoroughly, hopelessly wrong.

"Come with me. Both of you."

The undead Liam held out a Corpse Locust variant in each hand — and he had even set his greatsword down on the ground to do it.

"Did you not claim to love Clitia?"

She couldn't hold her tongue any longer. A sound like a dying wheeze leaked from between the two halves of his split face.

"A Clitia who uses honorifics? That's so hot."

"……"

"I don't want to give either of you up. Maybe that's why I came back in two halves. Because of you two."

Eluke swore at him internally, careful not to let a single syllable slip out. He was a complete lost cause.

"Why so disappointed? He's always been like that."

A cold voice, snapping her back to reality. She turned her head to find Clitia watching with a perfectly calm expression.

"The day before we went to take down Kbalt, that idiot went out drinking and chasing women."

"That exceeds even my imagination."

"He's nothing like the Liam from your world. You said yours changed, right?"

It was true. Liam before his awakening had been a hopeless case. His current gentle demeanor made it easy to forget.

"Clitia. You two are all I've got."

Liam laced the variants with miasma and sent them flying.

"Go on. Admit it. The Goddess doesn't shine her light on us."

Eluke's mood turned even colder as she raised her Holy Power alongside Clitia and spread it outward. A crimson barrier wrapped around them.

The two variants, flying side by side, slammed into the barrier and burst apart at the same instant.

"We must put him down."

A decisive conclusion, reached after only a brief confrontation.

"He is already dead, but we shall kill him again."

"Obviously."

Eluke neatly folded away what little pity she had left.

…Our Liam wouldn't be like this. Surely.

She decided to kill that sudden flicker of worry along with everything else.

I watched Liam from inside the Sun Veil Eluke had woven.

The jet-black helm covered his face once more. Black smoke clung to his armor the way Stage 2 Aura would, and his entire body rippled with the color of a night sky. The miasma was thicker than last time — more threatening, even, than when Kbalt had unleashed it.

"Holy Power alone will struggle to hold this back."

"Yeah. I can see that."

It was getting hard to breathe. The ground was darkening by the second, stained under a crushing pressure. A power that existed solely for destruction was submitting to Liam with absolute obedience.

"Don't be stingy, hiding in there without me."

A vast tide of miasma poured from Liam's body and crashed toward us like a tidal wave. The Sun Veil was swept under in an instant. It was a formidable holy spell, but it couldn't last long against miasma built for nothing but destruction.

"What's the plan?"

"I shall disperse the miasma first."

"Then I'll charge in."

We didn't need a long strategy meeting. We knew each other's strengths too well for that.

"I am going."

The crimson barrier vanished. Holy Power erupted like a storm and drove the miasma in every direction, opening a wide path. I closed on Liam in long strides. He had finally picked up the greatsword he'd set down — still wide open. I had to drop him now, while I had the chance. I ran, gathering Aura Stage 3 to finish it in a single blow.

Behind you!

There was a reason he hadn't bothered to guard. My body reacted before Sun-bask even finished the warning. Mid-stride I twisted at the waist and smashed the attacker coming at me with the back of my arm. The inertia dumped me to the ground, but my opponent's neck snapped clean around.

A vampire, a pair of bat wings sprouting from its back. It wasn't dead yet — it twitched where it had fallen. Then the bent neck righted itself, and the vampire stood. Its eyes were empty of focus.

"Spotted him on the way over and made him a friend."

Had this one been coming to contact the Crimson Bandits? I didn't have time to think about it. Another vampire came flying in, claws slashing. Trash compared to Dwain. I caught the swipe on my arm, grabbed the thing, and hurled it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the distance.

The second I let the vampires pull my attention, Liam swung his greatsword and sent a slash of miasma screaming toward me. Aura wasn't going to stop that. I was about to dodge when a white wall bloomed into existence in front of me.

"I shall hold Liam. Please finish the rest quickly."

At Eluke's gesture the wall swelled, vast as a fortress. Space itself split in two, and Liam was sealed on the far side. Miasma was already hammering the barrier from the other side, threatening to bring it down. We didn't have long.

"Thirty seconds is plenty."

I intercepted a vampire that lunged at me while I was still talking. My fist punched through the left side of its chest. No heart meant instant death, even for a mid-rank. Everything I'd seen so far said the variants lost control the moment their host was disabled. The Corpse Locust burst from the corpse and tried to flee; I snatched it out of the air and crushed it.

Meanwhile the vampire I'd thrown came flying back and started circling me. It wasn't going to pull out anything impressive. There was a limit to what a Corpse Locust could do with a borrowed body.

I was about to leap and strike first when a spearhead shot in from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠side, aiming for my ribs. I twisted, let it slide past, and caught the shaft to see who it was.

Mercenary Captain Lepice. Parasitized, of course. I wasn't even surprised. He'd been abandoned in the middle of the wasteland.

Lepice refused to let go of the spear and wrenched it back. Was he actually stronger than me? I had Aura wrapped around my shoulder and arm and I still couldn't take the weapon from him. The vampire that had been waiting its turn came in for a pincer attack. I released the shaft, sending Lepice stumbling backward, and drove my fist straight up. A heavy, satisfying impact landed on his jaw. I needed him alive if I wanted information, so I settled for shattering the jawbone and left it at that.

No pause. The spear stabbed for my head. But Corpse Locusts couldn't use Aura, so the force behind it was weak. I deflected the blade with my body and drove an elbow into his face. He was a mercenary captain — one hit wasn't going to put him down. I followed the fallen Lepice to the ground and hammered his face with punch after punch until I was sure he was out cold.

Done. I headed straight for Eluke.

"You okay?"

"I am at my limit. I can barely hold on."

The holy barrier burst apart the instant the words left her mouth. Liam came walking toward us in silence, as if he no longer had any interest in talking.

"Will you trust me and meet him head-on?"

I nodded without a second thought. I believed she'd handle her part, so I dropped all defense and poured my Aura into my right hand and both legs, fusing it into the flesh.

"I'm counting on you."

Then I went forward. Raw physical force flooded out of me. The ground cracked and shattered under every step. Liam settled into a stance as if he'd been waiting for this, and miasma clung to his armor and greatsword — the same kind of control as Aura Stage 3. The air turned foul. The earth blackened at a terrifying speed.

A decisive clash, both of us at full power. The greatsword, with its sweeping reach, found me first — a diagonal slash cutting across on a slant. A glowing cross slid into the path of the blade. Eluke's holy spell. For a heartbeat it nullified the impact and stopped the greatsword cold.

The gap closed. He'd have to step back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to swing that thing again. My right arm was already extending. The fist planted cleanly in his solar plexus, driving through rotting flesh and bone. The same sensation as last time.

"Sorry."

But I hit something halfway through.

"I trained while I was making minions, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know."

A hand flickering with miasma slammed back. It shattered the cross that tried to stop it and punched straight through the center of my chest. Pain so sharp the world went white. I forced my will through it and locked onto his arm.

"I'm not alone."

A fierce current of Holy Power surged at my back. A pillar of light. The same holy spell that had given me so much trouble was drawing closer.

"You'll get caught in this too."

"Which of us is this going to hurt more?"

I had regeneration. Liam had annihilation. He'd just jump to another body, but this fight ended here.

"Meeting you was the worst. Let's never do this again."

The pillar of light swallowed us whole. Every inch of my body burned. Limbs vanished and grew back, over and over. It hurt like hell — and I still smiled. If even I was suffering, what was it doing to an undead?

Exposed to that Holy Power, Liam held out on miasma for as long as he could. Then he crumbled to ash and was gone.

"We won."

The light faded. I dropped to my knees.

Lady Clitia…

"Just fix yourself. You trying to leave your master in the nude?"

Sun-bask, which had been reduced to almost nothing, began knitting itself back into its original form.

"Forgive me. There was no other way."

Eluke hurried over, then flinched.

"Why is your recovery so slow?"

The wounds were closing, but nothing like my usual pace. I'd get back to normal eventually. It was just taking far too long.

"I should spend all day holding onto you and praying."

"You are running low on Holy Power."

That was what I got for fighting so recklessly lately. I'd started treating losing an arm as the opening move. A few days of sitting still and the Holy Power would fill back up. I lived with my faith close at hand, after all.

"Let's go check if Wifilud's okay."

"You need not worry."

Eluke got an arm under me and pulled me to my feet.

"I saw him on the way. He had summoned a host of spirits and was holding back the possessed townspeople."

"That's a relief."

Living up to the title of guardian, then. He'd earned the name.

"There was never any cause for concern. The mole is watching over him, is it not?"

"True enough."

"Leave off worrying about others and come rest."

"Carry me. I can't walk."

I'd come within a breath of dying. Still, we'd dealt with Liam. That was enough.

"The two of us together? There's no way we lose."

The relief had barely settled when a gust of wind tore through the air.

"That hurt like hell."

Miasma gathered in empty space and became Liam — intact, the same as he'd been before the fight.

"Surprised? The dark sorcerer who built this body for me is a pretty cautious guy."

"Kbalt…"

Every scrap of evidence pointed to him. He'd already died his second death, and he was still pulling strings.

"Now we can really be together."

Two more variants took shape. I forced myself onto my own feet, ready to keep fighting.

"I shall take the lead this time."

Eluke walked forward, a pure white flame blooming on her open palm.

"You must not die. Do not push yourself."

I couldn't just stand there. I raised my Aura and wrapped it around my body. Winning in this condition was going to be ugly. My heart, which had no sense of atmosphere whatsoever, pounded like it was celebrating.

"Both of you. Come here."

Liam closed the distance fast, variants at his side. I tensed to meet him —

"Huh?"

A magic circle etched itself into the air, a pale violet I knew too well. A knight in silver armor dropped through it and landed.

A voice I knew far too well. Eluke's face lit up. Mine did the opposite.

"Questions later."

The silver knight held a weapon in each hand. In his left, a shield that looked like a spirit reshaped by magic. In his right, a holy longsword wrapped in Aura. All four powers at once — a privilege reserved for the Goddess's proxy alone.

"You—!"

The greatsword came down and the shield caught it like it was nothing.

"Sorry. You're dead, and I turned out great."

The longsword split the greatsword and carved on through — through the jet-black armor, through Liam himself.

"Clitia…"

Liam's body melted away and vanished. This time, he was actually gone. We still hadn't killed him for good, of course.

"Even if I do say so myself, that was a timely entrance."

The silver knight removed his helm. As expected, a man with blond hair and blue eyes looked out at us.

"You missed me, didn't you?"

The Liam from another world. Unlike our half-and-half Death Knight and locust captain, he looked completely fine.

"However did you come to be here?"

Eluke spoke with her usual composure. The corners of her mouth, however, had given her away.

"I was so worried about you I came myself. Erin figured out how to force a path open with this."

He pulled off a silver gauntlet. A bracelet sat on his wrist.

I see the other world's relic is still working perfectly.

Come to think of it, the only Connector I'd wrecked was ours. Maybe that was why Eluke and I could exist in the same place without the world throwing an error — only one side had been broken.

"I wandered around forever. Turns out there are a lot of other worlds."

"Why would you do something so reckless? You are not a child, and yet you always…"

"I didn't get hurt, so it's fine."

Listening to the two of them chatter away like that left me with a very strange feeling.

"Didn't expect to find the two of you together, though."

The other world's Liam looked from me to Eluke and back again, then grinned.

"Hey. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned."

"……"

I was certain Eluke's face and mine had become identical.