[Vol. 8] Chapter 10: If You Want to Watch, Then Watch Carefully
Even though the words sounded like she was just talking to herself, the girls nearby who hadn’t joined the battle yet were not slow-witted.
It was obvious that Frederica was actually asking the priestess, who was the first to notice something strange about the skeletons, for her opinion. She just phrased it in a more polite and indirect way. That way, even if Violet didn’t know the answer or didn’t want to respond, it wouldn’t feel awkward.
As the diplomat among the three Saintesses, Miss Frederica clearly had better social skills than her younger sister.
Violet understood what Frederica meant right away, but didn’t respond immediately. She paused to think.
Actually, what the Saintess had noticed wasn’t even the full extent of the skeletons’ strangeness. Besides coming back to life and joining together to form a larger body, even now, the broken pieces of weaker skeletons being smashed in the fight, as well as the remains of the two skeleton warriors that Leila had defeated earlier, were still crawling across the ground.
They were slowly gathering toward the giant skeleton warrior like bricks being added to a building, making it grow bigger and stronger. Even its presence was becoming more powerful, almost reaching the level of a lord. It was truly strange and unsettling.
In other words, even though both sides were still fighting fiercely, the total strength of the enemy hadn’t decreased at all.
In fact, thanks to all the fighting, smashing, and gathering, it was forming into an even stronger enemy. If they ended up defeating all the skeletons that kept coming, it was possible that a terrifying monster might appear. One so powerful that even someone like Leila, or even Frederica herself, would have trouble dealing with.
If all undead creatures in this world had such an ability, then the world would’ve probably already been taken over by them.
Thinking this, the priestess glanced toward a certain empty patch of sky in the distance, as if something was on her mind. Birds were still circling overhead. It was broad daylight, but the strange feeling of being watched had only gotten stronger.
…Oh well.
If this was all some kind of bait or test, then the enemy had definitely put in a lot of effort. If the Empire really wanted to find out what kind of power her team had, then so be it, let them see.
“Xiao Guang, go take care of it.”
“Yes!”
The two of them understood each other so well, they didn’t need to say much. As soon as Violet gave a small nod, the dragon girl who had been quietly watching from her side shot forward, flying through the air toward the deeper part of the Forest of Death. In a flash, she disappeared from sight.
Not long after, loud explosions rang out in more than ten places across the forest—“Boom!!”
Smoke rose high into the sky. Birds flew in panic. The dark flames that had been attacking the team from all directions suddenly stopped.
A few moments later, the blonde girl’s figure reappeared in the middle of the camp like a ghost. She casually tossed someone she was holding by the back of the neck onto the ground, as if she had just done something completely ordinary.
“Master, I left one alive. This person is probably their commander. If you want to know anything, just ask him.”
“Well done~”
Violet nodded in satisfaction, once again feeling that her pet dragon girl had improved in how she handled things.
Earlier, her instructions had only been to clear out the enemies hiding nearby. She hadn’t mentioned catching anyone alive or gathering information. But Xiao Guang had made a decision on her own based on her master's usual habits. In the past, she probably would have killed them all without a second thought, leaving not even ashes behind.
As Frederica looked on with a mix of surprise and sudden realization, the black-haired girl turned her eyes toward the figure lying on the ground. That person had clearly been completely sealed by the powerful divine energy of the dragon, unable to move or use any magic. Without any expression on her face, the girl said,
"Stop pretending to be dead. Raise your head."
Her voice was clear and pleasant, but carried a pressure that could not be ignored. The figure on the ground trembled, and as if reacting by instinct, lifted their head slightly. Just enough to meet the priestess’ silver-blue eyes.
“!!!”
Then, as if the person had seen something terrifying, the figure quickly looked back down again. But now, their shaking was even more intense.
“Come on, do I really look that scary…?”
Even though she said that like a joke, Violet’s tone showed that she already understood what was going on.
With her special ability, [Yin-Yang Eyes], which allows her to see through almost all mysteries of the world, she had already figured out this person’s true nature with just one look. She now knew exactly why the girl was so afraid.
Although she looked human, this one was not human at all. She didn’t even belong to a species that looked similar to humans. She was a pure undead creature.
She had magic powers, and even after dying and coming back, she could still use the spells she had learned in life or after death. But because her body had changed into undead form, all her magic became twisted. She was a very rare kind of upper-class undead known as a Necromancer, or undead magic user.
Mages usually have stronger minds and souls than warriors of the same level. So even after being turned into undead, they often keep parts of their memories and way of thinking. A few powerful ones can even keep their full intelligence and still think like when they were alive.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re free. Unless an undead is born naturally by chance, they are always under the control of whoever created them. Freedom is nearly impossible.
Still, a necromancer that has full self-awareness is extremely rare, and those that exist are usually valued highly by other undead mages.
That brief moment of eye contact had clearly proven that this one was one of those rare undead with a thinking mind. As someone who had trained her Light-element power to its highest level and gained the divinity [Radiance], Violet likely appeared to this undead as someone glowing with blinding golden light. Since Light and Undead powers are natural opposites, it made sense for the girl to be afraid.
“Alright, stop shaking. You know how to act pitiful now, huh? Didn’t you think about the risk when you attacked us earlier?”
Violet snorted with annoyance. Even though the undead girl looked like a woman, she was still the enemy. Violet had no reason to treat her kindly.
No matter how pathetic she looked now, the ambush, including the current fight, had clearly been deadly serious. If Violet’s team had been weaker, they would have been wiped out.
Violet gave a small signal with her eyes to the dragon girl beside her. The dragon girl understood right away, stepped forward, and without asking, pressed her finger onto the undead girl’s shoulder.
A thread of golden flame seeped into her pale skin and formed a clear mark near her collarbone, the Mark of the Primordial Flame.
As if her organs were burning from the inside, black smoke with a burnt smell rose from the undead girl’s body, and she let out a scream full of pain and terror.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”