Rewinding time back to near the start of the raid.
The moon hung as a crescent in the sky. Under it, all chaos broke loose. The battle was just kicking off in Crertin.
The four captains and their lieutenants were currently fighting Augustus upon his loyal undead steed, Arceus.
One captain was rammed straight through—his body split clean in half as Arceus barreled forward. A lieutenant, caught off guard and unable to keep up, was stomped into oblivion. Another captain's head was ripped clean from his body by Augustus's lance, while the rest tried to charge. They were instantly pushed back by an oppressive screech from Arceus.
Augustus sat upon Arceus, his lance searing with power. A captain's head was speared right through the face, stuck in a frozen stupor, blood streaking down the tip that protruded from the other side.
Augustus spoke calmly.
"All of you are pathetic. None of you can stand against me."
His sockets glowed softly, a reddish-pink hue.
A blue orb appeared, swirling around him and Arceus.
Arceus's crimson-purple glowing sockets burned, staying trained on the soldiers as they tried to collect themselves.
A tall elven lieutenant in black leather armor, his face worried, spoke up.
"Captains, we need to rethink this approach. He's way too strong."
One of the remaining captains—a very brutish-looking orc with two small fangs protruding from his mouth—tensed his face as he grabbed his mallet and stumbled to his feet.
"Listen, if we can't kill him now... or even put a dent in him, then changing our approach is useless."
The elven lieutenant's eyes widened.
The orc, holding his mallet high, shouted, "So right now it's victory or death! Are you all with me?"
Everyone, weakened, spoke in unison: "Yeah!"
Everyone except the elven lieutenant. Still in shock, his eyes understood, but his heart didn't want to accept it.
Another captain—a softer-looking human female with dark pink hair and blue eyes—called his name. "Casieon!"
The lieutenant ran over, helping as she struggled for a moment to stay standing. His face softened as she panted, then spoke.
"I'm with him... We need to hold the line here. If we can't even hold this thing back, even a bit, then what can we do?"
Casieon's face tensed, one hand reaching behind to his greatsword. "Alright, I wi—"
She put a hand on his chest, shaking her head.
"No. I need you to go find as many people as possible and evacuate them into the Wardens' Tower House. Take all the sergeants with you."
Lieutenant Casieon took a moment and looked around at all the beaten-up captains and lieutenants still standing resolute in their defiance. Then he spoke.
"Understood, Captain."
He didn't hesitate to run the other way, knowing their fate.
There were also two other lieutenants—one an older mage in a silver outfit, and the other an elven female with a bow and arrows.
Augustus, without warning, began to ride toward them, his lance raised.
Until a magic circle appeared on Arceus's head, shining brightly. That bright purple light spread all over their bodies and consumed them from the outside, until they disappeared into thin air. The space where he once was—now empty. No bright light, no nothing.
Everyone looked at this in confusion, briefly lowering their weapons.
They all stared at what was left: a small spirit swirling in circles.
Collective thoughts bubbled between them.
"What just happened? And what is that? Is it dangerous?"
They all tried to assess the threat, but the orc captain tensed, lunging at it and yelling at the top of his lungs, "Take no chances—attack!"
He swung down on the spirit, reinforcement wreathing his body, but it narrowly slipped away.
The elven lieutenant fired multiple arrows, and the other captain rushed in with her rapier.
The blue spirit then wailed extremely loud.
The sound disrupted the arrows, slowing them to a halt mid-air as its wail waved through the air. This also slowed down the female captain. Blood slipped down the corner of her mouth. Her reinforcement flared around her as she managed to push through, consecutively slicing the spirit up. Miasma spurted out of it.
Then the mage lieutenant shouted, "Move, Captain! Ball of Bliss!"
He swung his staff, firing a ball of dull light.
It curved around the captain as she backed away, arcing toward the spirit before exploding in a blinding light that engulfed it.
Both captains were now back with the group as everyone shielded their eyes from the light.
The dust and debris faded away slowly.
Through it appeared a blue, spiritual woman. Her translucent form drifted forward, her hair flowing down. She was faceless, her body featureless—no clothes, just her translucent figure.
Everyone stood stunned. The orc stood shocked, saying, "What... madness?"
This woman was, in fact, Morwen—her mental suppressors broken due to the intensity of the situation.
Her vision slightly distorted, she looked to the ground, on her knees, trying to make sense of it all. Her spirit trembled as she lifted her hands up, looking at them.
"What is this?"
She slowly closed her shaky palm as she queried herself. "Where am I?"
Looking up slowly, she saw people. "Are they soldiers from the Order?"
The mage lieutenant spoke up to the captains. "Should we attack?"
The orc captain replied, "Just stay on guard... For now, I'm not sure what to make of this."
The other captain nodded. "Yeah, it could be even more dangerous now. It's better to wait it out—see what it does first."
They all raised their weapons, ready.
Morwen saw their faces—cruel and full of disdain. Their weapons drawn at her. Their bodies injured, blood on the ground.
"Did I... do this to them?" she thought, her hands shaking.
A familiar but distorted voice bit into her mind.
Devour for me.
Its voice spread through her mind like venom as she looked at the soldiers.
Devour their souls for me, Morwen.
Her vision distorted as she saw the soldiers' souls glow up within them, appearing before her. Slowly, she was mesmerized by it.
Do you see, Morwen? Go, eat for me. Go and devour them. It's the only way you can satisfy your insatiable hunger.
She started to breathe heavily, spiritual mana swirling calmly in the air around her.
Its distorted voice—somewhat soothing—continued to seep its jaws deeper into her mind.
"Maybe... NO!"
Her breathing grew heavier. She held her face and gripped her hair in distress, trying to snap herself out of it. Spiritual mana waved around her from her body, making the atmosphere tense. The soldiers looked even more tense now, feeling the intense currents of mana being sent toward them.
"No... No, I can't. I can't hurt them."
She breathed even harder, her body vibrating, giving off bigger spiritual waves.
"I won't hurt other people!"
But the voice's fangs sank in one last time, letting out its venom.
"Morwen... Morwen, it's just a taste. That's all. A taste never hurt anyone."
She went speechless as her head dropped down. Everything stopped.
"Just a taste," she whispered.
His distorted voice—slightly clearer now—plagued her mind. "Devour for me."
"Just a little taste!" she wailed, standing up.
Her feet left the ground immediately.
The female captain shouted, "Keep up support—don't relent!" as both captains rushed up to attack Morwen.
The female captain rushed ahead, her rapier shining as she drove it upward. But Morwen dodged it, narrowly.
And as if embedded in her soul, she floated in, delivering a punch to the captain's side and sending her tumbling away.
"How did I do that?" she wondered to herself.
No time, though, as the brutish orc captain swung down. Morwen floated back, dodging it. Then the captain followed up with another attack, missing as Morwen dropped low, her hands touching the ground. Using them to spin herself around, she swept the captain off his legs with her own. As he fell, she floated over him, telekinesis instantly pressing him into the ground.
Arrows came her way.
But they just stopped in front of her and crushed mid-air as Morwen looked at her hands.
"I am a mage... How am I so good at hand-to-hand combat?"
She said this as the female captain thrust her rapier at Morwen again. But she just floated to the side. The captain tried to chase her up but missed again as Morwen floated out of the way, making distance.
Morwen was still focused on how she could fight.
The female captain gritted her teeth, then complained, "Dammit, what is even going on!"
The brutish orc captain broke free from the ground.
"It doesn't matter—let's charge in again."
They lunged at Morwen, yelling at the top of their lungs.
Morwen looked up as her vision distorted yet again.
Devour for me.
The voice plagued her mind.
"These two are tough... but I want a taste now."
She thought this as she locked onto the archer lieutenant.
She phased through both warriors, speeding toward the archer.
But as Morwen crashed in, both the archer and the mage jumped to opposite sides. The mage fired a charged-up Bliss Ball.
Morwen saw this and tried to interact with it using telekinesis, forcing it back. But as soon as her mana enveloped it, it instantly exploded, searing and blinding her.
In that moment, the archer fired five arrows which, once fired, spread apart in a perfect circle. She called out, "Net!"
A yellow rune along each arrow shined. They all released a yellow streak of mana from them which combined and formed a net, with the heads of the arrows being the hooks.
This caught Morwen in it, zapping her whenever she tried to resist in any way.
Her vision distorted even more as she saw the archer's soul.
Devour for me.
She became mesmerized by it.
The female captain ran up to her, and the orc captain leaped in the air above—both ready to take the opportunity to finish off this ghost lady. Meanwhile, both lieutenants on the side charged up their own respective attacks.
Morwen wailed.
The sound staggered both captains, making them bleed from their head orifices. The wail also managed to obliterate the net.
Morwen swiftly pointed a finger toward the mage lieutenant, shooting a lunar beam toward him. But he made a barrier which cracked on impact as the force sent him straight into a building far off.
As the orc captain pushed through the wail, he smashed down.
But Morwen was already gone. She phased through all the arrows fired at her and crashed into the archer, destroying the ground.
Within the smoke and debris, Morwen held the elven lieutenant's head, plucking the soul out of her. Letting go of her bloodied body, she grabbed the spiritual mass, feeling its heavy weight.
Her thoughts intensified as it drew closer to her face.
A mouth formed on her featureless face.
She stuck her tongue out.
As it touched her spiritual tongue, she slid it in. She gulped it, feeling it—soft and warm—going down her neck. It tasted sweet, the flavor something unique to her.
Slits appeared on her face, ripping open into crystalline red eyes.
She smiled crazily, her body vibrating with excitement and pleasure, her hands on her face as she swirled up into the air. Features slowly appeared on her face—ears, nose, eyebrows.
Her hair jetted upward.
"HEEHEHEH!"
"IT TASTES PHENOMENAL!!"
She giggled in the air, a crazed expression along her face.
The crescent moon started to slowly change in the sky.
Her form shifted purple.
"This is great!!!"
She continued flying around in the air, giggling.
Morwen then stopped giggling, her eyes darting straight toward their determined souls.
She turned herself to float upright, then raised her hand, sending a thin sphere of energy out.
Seconds later, wisps from everywhere—from the battlefield, even risen from dead bodies—came to her, coiled around her, and went to form spherical rings around her. Made of pure shadow with blue orbs of light dancing within the rings themselves, they rotated around her.
As the captains lunged at her, the rings stopped them from getting close. The orc captain ended up hacking at the ring as he leaped at her, but he didn't go through. Instead, both rings stopped rotating, and tons of shadowy wisps burst toward him in a row, sending him crashing into the ground from which he came.
Then the other ring sent some toward the female captain, but she managed to fight against it by continuously slashing at the shadowy wisps. Her arm moved incredibly fast—even when it increased in intensity—with her swift rapier, she managed to keep it at bay.
But she was quickly becoming fatigued.
Meanwhile, the brutish orc was still being pressured so much that he was being embedded into the ground, going deeper with each second against the force of an endless stream of wisps while being drained of his mana.
Morwen's eyes gleamed as the stream stopped and a shadow hand formed, grabbing him and swinging him through multiple structures.
After this, the hand retracted back, melting into the ring around Morwen as Rod was drained of his own life force while being ensnared within the rotating ring.
Stussy shouted, "NO, ROD!"
The mage lieutenant shouted, "GREAT QUAD OF BLISS!"
With two hands on his magic staff, four balls of Bliss appeared around him.
As he fired them, one hit the ring holding Rod, then another hit the ring pressuring Stussy. Exploding and purging the wisps, they created big gaps in the wisp rings, halting the rotation and freeing the captains.
Then the last two went straight for Morwen. She gathered all her wisps to block them. Both blasts disintegrated all the wisps in one go and blew Morwen away.
Stussy sped after her.
Rod fell to the ground, injured.
Stussy, running to the side, leaped into the air to the side of Morwen. As she got there, she struck at Morwen with great force, impaling her chest. But as Stussy tried to rip it out, miasma seeped out of the wound.
Morwen grabbed her arm and punched Stussy in the same place she'd punched her last time.
The hit sent her reeling, blood coming from her mouth as she went flying away.
Rod was already running toward Morwen, but Morwen saw the lieutenant charging another spell up.
She sped toward him, phasing right through Rod and grabbing his neck.
He scrambled for air while channeling his energy into his staff, holding it up with both his hands, about to hit Morwen.
"Take..."
Shadow wisps covered the mage completely. He then slowly let go of the staff as it fell, his hands getting covered.
Then a soul manifested out of the wisp-covered mage.
She opened her mouth, eating it.
She let go of him as the wisps spiraled upward around her body. As more power surged within her, she shouted, "THE POWER! IT'S INVIGORATING!"
She floated up within the spiral of shadowy wisps, floating in the sky until she floated in front of the moon. It was now a half-moon.
Wisps formed three rings behind her—the first one large, the second one medium, then the last one small.
She raised her hand toward the last two stumbling captains.
The rings of wisps started to charge with lunar mana. Each ring slowly filled up—first the large, all the way to the small—behind Morwen. As the power started to crackle around the rings, it traveled to her whole body. Lunar mana pulsated over her.
Her eyes gleamed with madness.
She smirked. The power commanding her, she spoke, "This is to new beginnings."
A blast of lunar mana zapped down at the captains from her palm.
Not a word.
Like thunder, it exploded, blowing up the whole area—destroying a large portion of the city. This explosion was seen from the tower house.
Fate concluded.
Morwen floated down, her form now fully showing her feminine yet unique features. Her face was full of emotion as her feet stopped just nigh of the ground. Two souls drifted toward her. Opening her mouth and eating them, she was completed—her body turning more translucent, her form turning more refined. Power surged all around her.
Without a word, her red eyes darted toward her next harvest at the tower house.
The half-moon, which shone directly upon her, glowed as she phased into its light...
The clanging of weapons echoed through the city from within the barricade at the tower house.
Lieutenant Casieon was currently fighting Bone Walker Two, their weapons clashing.
Lieutenant Casieon didn't hold back, his black reinforcement flaring around him as he delivered wide swings with his greatsword. But Bone Walker Two—its own blue reinforcement flaring around it—was managing to deflect each attack.
"Damn, this monster isn't just deflecting my strikes—it knows it can't block them head-on or its sword would snap. Instead, it's using the weight of my blade and the force of my swing to turn my attacks aside," Casieon thought as he continued striking with his greatsword with all his might.
The Bone Walker moved with uncanny precision. Each time, it angled its short sword to meet his blow, catching the edge just enough to guide it, then twisted its wrist to add a subtle push—redirecting the attack's momentum rather than resisting it.
By doing this, the Bone Walker narrowly dodged each of Casieon's attacks.
Lieutenant Casieon smirked, speaking this time. "Luckily, I have a way around it."
He thrust his sword.
The Bone Walker deflected it.
If I'm sure this thing is just trying to wear me out and find an opportunity, so I'll give it the opening it's hoping for.
Casieon backed away, leaving his side open and lowering his guard. His black reinforcement slowly fizzled out as Casieon wore a worried expression.
Bone Walker Two's burning sockets saw this opening and immediately rushed in, its sword already thrusting out.
Now, time to make sure it commits fully to the attack.
But as soon as the sword got within inches of Casieon's stomach, his reinforcement flared up around him, deflecting the blade and even chipping it at the end.
Simultaneously, Casieon got ready to strike. "Got you!" he thought, grinning.
Seeing this setup unfold, Bone Walker Two threw its short sword immediately to its other hand as Casieon descended with his greatsword, smashing the Bone Walker's arm into pieces.
Casieon then proceeded to swing his weapon into the Bone Walker before it could do anything.
Even though Bone Walker Two's bones cracked, they didn't break as the greatsword sank into its ribcage.
"That stupid reinforcement!" He kept hacking at different places on the Bone Walker, but its reinforcement kept it together. It was as if he were trying to slice a solid wall with no technique.
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO THAT!"
He raised his greatsword high in the air and swung it downward, smashing the Bone Walker into the ground.
The Bone Walker, still intact, tried to get up, but Casieon stomped on its body.
"Cursed pile of bones. Damned thing! You're grave trash and nothing more!"
Before each stomp, he would wind it up, raising his leg high. The Bone Walker would try to get up but fail as it got stomped on each time, disturbing the earth even more. The Bone Walker's sockets could only gaze at the tiny rocks that vibrated and sprang up with each stomp. As it got deeper into the ground, the more it got crushed by Casieon's foot.
"How are you still up?!"
He stopped stomping and raised his greatsword with both hands.
Maybe it's the neck...
The Bone Walker struggled to stand up, its body crumbled and fractured as it stumbled. Its head lay low, revealing its neck. The reinforcement was keeping the Bone Walker together, so even though it was breaking into pieces, they were all getting held together by the thin reinforcement mana.
Bone Walker Two looked at its blade as it got up, but only fell to one knee. Its head still low, it grabbed its dagger and tried to thrust it toward Casieon's waist, but it just shattered on his reinforcement.
"It's useless... Accept your death."
Bone Walker Two's arm hung from the side. Its body completely battered and broken, its head low, its body hung on one knee.
Its sockets' blue glow, along with its reinforcement, slowly fizzled out.
The hilt of its short sword clattered on the ground.
It was defeated...
The half-moon in the sky glistened, its rays gracing the battlefield. But no one noticed as the moonlight gazed on a particular soul—one that burned opposite to the serenity of the moon. It burned with vengeance.
From its blinding light, Morwen half-manifested, her form ethereal and regal as she floated down to the Bone Walker's remains, which were only dust. She conjured the soul up from the remains.
It was red in color, but still burning with a fiery vengeance.
As she inspected it, words rang in her head.
The soul usually lingers in the body after its death for around 10 minutes before it completely passes...
Souls during this time feel very faint. But yours—now that I'm paying attention—is still very vigorous...
"This one is just vigorous. There's also something else attached to it... but I can't seem to grasp it."
"Do you want my help?"
The soul glowed, its form like a red burning core.
"Alright, maybe let me try turning you into a wisp."
As she exuded her soul mana toward it, it absorbed it, and a transparent shadow of a black man manifested around it, covering it totally.
Morwen looked confused. "That doesn't look right. Let me try... again."
But the soul phased through her hands and descended to its dusted body where its ribcage was.
As it did this, the shadow around it spread all over its dusted remains.
Its remains started to instantly reconstruct. The bones started to come back together—all the dust and tiny pieces started to cumulate into the bones they once were—and create its skeletal body again. Then, once the whole skeletal body was fixed, except for its arm which was destroyed earlier, black miasma washed over all of its body, covering it in a deep black shadow cloak around its whole form.
The skeleton part of Bone Walker One was now hidden under this thick black shadow wrapped around it.
"What?... Did it just become a wraith? I was only trying to give it enough mana to live as a spirit—not this."
Red pockets of fiery red mana pierced through the shadow. They were its eyes.
It now stood as a wraith-skeleton, a cloaked figure of pure darkness with glowing red eyes, still the same height it was before.
It stepped forward.
Morwen saw it looking at the battle and felt its soul rumble with deep anger.
It must want to fight them. "You want to fight them together?"
She floated near it, but it simply lifted its hand.
Morwen sensed its soul thinking. By yourself, huh?
She nodded, smiling. "I will be watching, just in case."
She disappeared into the moonlight.
As it took a step, it disappeared, then in one dash saved Bone Walker Two, putting it far away from the combat. It crouched over its companion's body quietly.
Lieutenant Casieon shouted, "What now?!"
The wraith skeleton stood up. Before it could fully turn around, it disappeared.
All three of them on the battlefield looked around, confused.
It appeared in front of a sergeant immediately, punching him in the face. Blood left his bruised nose. He tried to make space while throwing his circular daggers. The wraith skeleton just walked forward, unbothered, as its body form shifted slightly—both daggers phased through it.
"How?!" the sergeant shouted, trying to make distance.
But the wraith skeleton appeared in front of him, grabbing his throat and slamming him straight into the ground, breaking it as blood flowed out of his mouth. His neck was crushed, and his body was smashed into the ground.
The circular daggers whizzed back. One phased through its head.
Then another swooped in from the side, but the wraith skeleton grabbed it and plunged the circular dagger into the sergeant's head, killing him.
As it pulled it out, the other circular dagger came back. It grabbed it.
Now wielding both, it turned around, walking forward to face the lieutenant.
Lieutenant Casieon shouted, "Casal! Damn you, grave spawn!" He ran in, reinforcement flaring around his body.
He struck, but the wraith skeleton clashed with him perfectly, then turned its dagger. The greatsword rolled off the circular dagger, giving it the space to jump up and spin-kick him in the face.
This didn't push Lieutenant Casieon back, but instead only threw his head back. He held his face, a dark purple bruise now blistering on his cheek.
With a tensed face, he ran in. The wraith skeleton threw one circular dagger. Casieon deflected it. Then, as he got closer, it threw another one, but it was deflected again.
Casieon immediately went for a strike, which the wraith skeleton dodged, then went in brandishing its claws. As it jumped around dodging every strike swung at it, it replied with very shallow slashes which phased straight through Casieon's reinforcement.
This continuous exchange lasted awhile until Casieon thought he'd found an opening. Going down with his greatsword, he shouted, "You're mine, dammit!"
The wraith skeleton slid through his legs, leaving scratches on each. Then, before Casieon could turn around, it phased through his body, leaping upward into the air. With the moon as its witness, it turned around and stuck its hand into its own chest. It pulled out one of its original daggers and flung it straight at Casieon.
Casieon looked stunned as it hit his untouched eye.
As it sank deep in, he roared loudly, "Julz!"
The wraith skeleton then landed on the ground masterfully as one of its new circular daggers swirled back to it.
Grabbing it with its left arm, it immediately ran toward Casieon, its eyes trained on his wide-open neck.
But as it was about to strike, a bronze capsule with white liquid in it was thrown toward the blade in its left arm.
As soon as the blade hit it, slicing it open, everything exploded with white light.
This white light evaporated half of the wraith skeleton's body, revealing its skeleton underneath—revealing its ribcage, which had one of its daggers being held by what was left of the shadows within.
It also dropped its circular dagger as the light had stunned it...
Julz, from the side, her face desperate and even more wary, realized the monster was stunned and yelled desperately, "CASIEON, ATTACK HIM NO—"
Or so she thought, as one of the wraith skeleton's old daggers was now piercing her throat, sticking there and cutting her off completely as she fell on top of it, making it sink even deeper.
Just hearing her words pushed Lieutenant Casieon into action. He ripped out the dagger from his eye and threw it away, shouting, "DAMN IT ALL!"
Only partially sighted in one eye, though it blazed with fury, Casieon swung downward with all his might, his greatsword cleaving through the air.
At that same moment, a circular dagger swept in—a ring of steel broken only by a narrow gap along one side. The wraith skeleton caught it effortlessly with its right spectral hand.
As Casieon's greatsword descended, the wraith positioned the dagger so that the blade slipped into that open gap. Before the greatsword could crash against the hilt, the wraith twisted its wrist, using the dagger's curved edges to hook and turn the strike. The greatsword's momentum carried it sideways, thrown off course, and slammed harmlessly into the ground.
By doing this, the wraith skeleton narrowly avoided the full force of Casieon's attack.
Casieon felt his blow hit the ground, but not crack...
"Did I? Did I get him, Julz?"
His vision blurry, but before he could get an answer, the wraith skeleton picked its other circular dagger up, its body covered fully again.
"Julz? Are yo—"
Taking a step, the wraith skeleton cut into his neck, the circular dagger slicing straight through his neck cleanly, dismembering his head.
Lieutenant Casieon's body thumped to the ground. His head went flying in another direction.
The wraith stood there for a moment as the wind blew and the moon gazed.
Wraith skeleton then looks down at the Grabbing it with its left arm, it immediately ran toward Casieon, its eyes trained on his wide-open neck.
But as it was about to strike, a bronze capsule with white liquid in it was thrown toward the blade in its left arm.
As soon as the blade hit it, slicing it open, everything exploded with white light.
This white light evaporated half of the wraith skeleton's body, revealing its skeleton underneath—revealing its ribcage, which had one of its daggers being held by what was left of the shadows within.
It also dropped its circular dagger as the light had stunned it...
Julz, from the side, her face desperate and even more wary, realized the monster was stunned and yelled desperately, "CASIEON, ATTACK HIM NO—"
Or so she thought, as one of the wraith skeleton's old daggers was now piercing her throat, sticking there and cutting her off completely as she fell on top of it, making it sink even deeper.
Just hearing her words pushed Lieutenant Casieon into action. He ripped out the dagger from his eye and threw it away, shouting, "DAMN IT ALL!"
Only partially sighted in one eye, though it blazed with fury, Casieon swung downward with all his might, his greatsword cleaving through the air.
At that same moment, a circular dagger swept in—a ring of steel broken only by a narrow gap along one side. The wraith skeleton caught it effortlessly with its right spectral hand.
As Casieon's greatsword descended, the wraith positioned the dagger so that the blade slipped into that open gap. Before the greatsword could crash against the hilt, the wraith twisted its wrist, using the dagger's curved edges to hook and turn the strike. The greatsword's momentum carried it sideways, thrown off course, and slammed harmlessly into the ground.
By doing this, the wraith skeleton narrowly avoided the full force of Casieon's attack.
Casieon felt his blow hit the ground, but not crack...
"Did I? Did I get him, Julz?"
His vision blurry, but before he could get an answer, the wraith skeleton picked its other circular dagger up, its body covered fully again.
"Julz? Are yo—"
Taking a step, the wraith skeleton cut into his neck, the circular dagger slicing straight through his neck cleanly, dismembering his head.
Lieutenant Casieon's body thumped to the ground. His head went flying in another direction.
The wraith stood there for a moment as the wind blew and the moon gazed.
The wraith looked down at the body of Casieon and instantly started kicking and stomping his body, snarling as it did.
Morwen appeared, not bothered with the fight but immediately manifesting the warrior's soul, about to eat it. But she heard the angry snarls from the wraith skeleton and, looking at it, she heavily sighed.
"Hey!"
It stopped mid-stomp and looked up, its expression unreadable.
"You hungry?" she asked, smiling.
It stared at her, tilting its head.
She then showed it by pretending to eat the soul and then rubbing her stomach.
It looked down at its non-existent stomach and stuck a hand through it, then waved it about and pulled out nothing, then shrugged.
Her face was dumbfounded for a second as she shook her head, saying, "Whatever, just take it."
She threw it toward it.
When it entered its body, its whole form rushed with mana, shadows licking off it more ravenously and restlessly.
As it looked at its hands, its skeletal arm was restoring itself, and the cracks caused by the canister were healed.
It started jumping in excitement.
Morwen smiled, her bright red eyes drifting toward the other Bone Walker. She used her telekinesis to float all of what was left of it toward them.
Her expression shifted to sadness.
The wraith skeleton noticed this and grabbed the head and body of the lieutenant, lugging him over to Bone Walker Two's body.
It sat down, crossing its legs in front of the leftover bones.
"Wait, are you intending to put it back together, piece by piece?"
The wraith slashed into the lieutenant's arm and stuck its hand in, then tried to pull his humerus out. But it struggled, trying to yank it out.
"Let me."
She blasted a tiny stream of mana toward the ligament, cutting it off from the shoulder joint, allowing the wraith to rip the skeletal arm out.
But a phalange got knocked off by the force and flew away, hitting the ground away from them.
The wraith looked about to get up, but Morwen held its shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, I'll get it."
She focused solely on the piece as she started to bring it over with her telekinesis. She thought, Maybe I should gather any other bone pieces on the battlefield too.
She started to focus on gathering bone parts—pieces, anything that could help—around the battlefield. She piled them on the other side of the Bone Walker's body, saying, "So how do you want to do it? Just build him a new one with this body or..."
She looked at the wraith for an answer, but it was kneeling. Confused, she turned her head around to see what...
She then turned around, seeing Zero. His face was unreadable and expressionless, towering straight down at Morwen.
IT'S HIM!... HOW could I forget? He's the one who did this to me. Those familiar voices—it was all him. Dammit... Her mind raced vividly, her memory not failing her.
Morwen's face stiffened at Zero, but she stopped, hesitating for a minute as they stared at each other. The atmosphere filled with grim silence.
She thought again. I was thinking it was best to kill him, but...
Zero's body emanated a devious power which thinly spread around him. His evil eyes glowed a dim purple.
Maybe that's not a good idea. The last time I remember, he managed to kill every single higher-up in my town, and I have no idea how long it's been. He might have gotten stronger for all I know... Maybe I should wait it out till I get the right chance... The only thing is—does he know I've broken through his suppressors? Her thoughts pranced in her mind.
As Zero just smiled, breaking the atmosphere, he said, "Hey, nice form! You've grown!"
Then he ruffled her hair while moving her out of the way.
Morwen looked perplexed.
Behind Zero already lay a skeleton version of the lieutenant, completely decayed, as his bones started to float.
"Looks like you guys have been through a lot. Let me reward you."
He built and recovered Bone Walker Two, combining the lieutenant's bones too, restoring and reinforcing its new body.
The Bone Walker was now 6 foot 5 inches in height with a scar on its left eye socket, both blazing with new pride.
"The scar looks cool, so I'll leave it there." Zero smiled.
"Alright, now you two did very well today. You managed to do a lot even without Augustus's presence—that alone is something to be admired. But along with that, you've both gotten stronger. Keep going and you'll have a place in my army."
He walked past them toward the tower house. "Anyway, back to matters at hand. I'm looking for a check-in, and Drogna tells me there's one in here. So you two guard the tower house while I'm in there. And yes, you can go grab whatever things you desire—just make sure no one goes in or out of this place."
They both nodded.
The wraith stood up and slipped all four of its daggers within itself.
Bone Walker Two grabbed the lieutenant's black greatsword, holding it on its shoulder with one hand.
Morwen looked around, confused, as Zero approached the door.
Her thoughts raced.
Okay, so he doesn't know I've broken free... I just need to keep up the act as if I'm still an obedient servant of his.
"Oh, and Morwen..."
His voice cut through her thoughts.
She froze up in shock. "..."
"You're coming with me!"
She took a big exhale of relief as she turned, saying, "Coming, Master!"
As they entered the first floor, people clogged it. But Zero and Morwen just slipped through.
Morwen floated above Zero, looking at him move effortlessly and stealthily through the crowd. But she also took note of Zero's expression.
His mood changed so fast. Just a minute ago he was all smiley—even when I remember, he was all loud and talkative. Now he's just serious and quiet.
They walked through the people, none of them noticing Zero's presence or hers.
Zero stopped at the spiral stairs and looked at them for a minute, then sat down in front of them.
Morwen saw him, confused. "What's wrong, Master?"
Zero, his eyes closed, said, "I want you to go look for the check-in and come back to me when you're done."
He might kill these people. Is it safe to leave them with him...? She internally panicked.
Zero spoke, opening his eyes lazily and bored. Leaning back, he said to himself, "These people are lucky I'm not in the mood to kill them—or interact, for that matter."
He yawned, lying on his back, his eyes drifting toward Morwen. His face still plain, he said, "Hurry up, Morwen. Don't make me wait too long now."
She sped off, understanding.
Got to find this check-in fast. She went up the stairs, seeing another floor of people, another floor which was an empty kitchen, and finally got to the second-highest floor—the bedroom. As she peered inside, she heard whimpering, so she phased through it entirely.
She looked around, thinking, Sounds like a child.
Still looking around the bedroom, she saw a kid crying under the bed.
She phased through the bed, appearing behind him. "Hey, kid," she whispered.
The kid screamed in fright and tried to run to the window but slipped and fell, hitting his head on the windowsill, bouncing off it and falling to the ground.
She slowly floated toward him, thinking, I need to have a more gentle approach. It's a kid, Morwen, come on.
"Hey, hey, calm down."
He got up quickly from his dazed state and crawled under the windowsill, just screaming, "Get away!"
The half-moon's light illuminated her ethereal form from the window.
"Hey, kid, I'm not going to hurt you."
Her mana wrapped around him, healing the wound on his head. As her form was shown, his eyes sparkled as he saw her, muttering, "So beautiful," somewhat soothing to his mind as he touched his head and saw no blood.
Then she spoke again. "Hey, kid, I'm not going to hurt you."
"You're not?"
"No, I want to help you get out of here."
"Oh, how?"
"First, are you a spy? For the necromancer?"
"No! Definitely not!"
"Okay, good. Do you know anything about one?"
"Yeah, I think there was this guy that came in telling us everything that happened, and that's how we were prepared for the raid. But he left shortly after."
A thought rang in her head. "These people are lucky I'm not in the mood to kill them—or interact, for that matter."
That's great. If he can just tell the necromancer that he's not a check-in...
Yes, this could work!
"Okay, that's perfect. So here's the plan—I want you to go downstairs with me and tell the necromancer that you're no—"
A scenario waved through her head.
"Hey, Master, this kid is not the check-in. Can you let him go, possibly?"
Zero looks at Morwen, then looks at the kid, then raises his finger up to the kid's forehead and blasts a mini hole clean through it.
"I told you to bring me a check-in, not a random kid," Zero said, turning around.
The scenario ended.
She shook her head.
Never mind. How about instead I use my wisp power to guide him safely to the next city?
As she pondered, Baruss continued to marvel at Morwen's ethereal form and smiled at her efforts in helping him. "Hey, lady."
She looked at him, confused.
"By the way, my name is Baruss. Baruss Cofield."
Morwen, surprised at first, floated to the windowsill, sitting on it. A smile on her face, she said, "My name is Morwen Rosary."
Baruss took his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Morwen Rosary."
She took hers out. "And you too."
As they were about to shake hands, through the darkness, a purple staff emerged mid-swing.
And hit Baruss on his skull, crushing and splitting it on impact. Blood jetted up, splatting on the windowsill and wall. The kid was now sprawled on the ground, blood pooling around him.
Morwen's hand still reached out, her eyes widened in shock as the staff retracted back into the darkness. Zero emerged, putting it on his shoulder.
His face was serious.
"I told you to hurry up... and to not waste my time."
Zero looked down at the kid, his head smashed, blood rushing from his caved-in skull.
He scoffed. "Pathetic. Come on, let's go now."
He walked away to the door.
Morwen floated up, her eyes looking at the body. Rage started to boil within her as she shook violently.
Zero stopped at the door, his back turned.
He called, "Morwen."
Her body intensely started to swirl with mana.
"Morwen."
She ground her spiritual teeth.
"Morwen."
Her hair started to float up, her power licking around her.
Zero's head slightly glanced back, his eye gleaming purple directly through the dark.
The tension had peaked as Zero called once again, "Morwen."
Morwen relaxed her body.
"I am coming, Master!"
"Good."
Zero put his staff on his back and walked down the stairs.
Morwen, taking one last look at the kid, thought, Sorry, Baruss. I truly am. I will avenge you—I just need to look for the right time.
She followed Zero down the stairs. He didn't say a thing, but she spoke. "So, was that the check-in?"
"No."
I knew it. He would kill him either way.
"So then, do you have a clue where else he could be?"
"Nope."
Is he mad at me? Maybe I need to diffuse this.
"The kid told me as I was interrogating him that the check-in had told them of your exploits, Master, and that's how they were prepared. But he had left shortly after that."
"Yeah, I know. He got caught by the Droggers outside the city."
Wait, then why are we in the tower house then?
As they reached the bottom, Morwen saw every living being gone. And in their place was blood.
She gasped. "What—what happened?!"
Zero scratched the back of his head while walking ahead and spoke, unbothered. "Well, you took so much time, I decided to use the time you wasted on something more productive... Did the same thing for the floor upstairs, just a different approach."
She flew upstairs, seeing the whole place destroyed and burned.
"This monster..." She went downstairs to Zero's floor, but he wasn't there anymore.
"There's no way he did this!"
She yelled within.
I need to take him out soon!
She floated outside, seeing a sea of undead with Zero and the other two not present.
"What the heck? He turned them all into undead?!"
She flew above and saw them standing in front of the army, then flew toward them.
Zero was in between both undead, giving each something as Morwen flew up.
Zero, feeling her presence, turned. "Oh, hey, Morwen."
"You're coming with me. We are going on a trip, okay? Stick on to me."
Morwen didn't hesitate. Now determined, she turned into an orb and floated, sticking onto him.
A magic circle was under Zero. He said one last thing. "Do what I told you, okay?"
Both undead nodded as Zero teleported away with Morwen.
Zero teleported to each city except the one he raided and resurrected: Gaela had a full population of 41,488, Meridia 30,637, and Crertin 21,519. Then, adding on his existing 18,057, that made his new undead army 111,701.
Zero, with all the restoring of his undead army, the fighting, and resurrection, had now become completely depleted of his mana—with only enough to keep his staff on his back along with his shadow cloak and book.
This left him vulnerable as he took a trip with Morwen to the province capital on horseback.
Who knows what he is thinking?
It took the army a full day to reach the planned point.
Alana Skull Lord and Augustus on Arceus all regrouped.
Augustus asked, "Isn't there supposed to be a third army?"
"Yeah, maybe Zero is coming late..." Alana added.
From the distance, they saw a large undead army with a 6'5" Bone Walker and a 5'7" wraith skeleton leading it.
As they got there, Alana asked, "Wait, who are you two, and where's Zero?"
The Bone Walker looked at the wraith. It looked back, then pulled out a note from its body and handed it to the Bone Walker. It then gave it to Alana.
Alana grabbed it and read it.
...
She burst out in annoyance. "ALRIGHT THEN, WAY TO BE A LEADER, ZERO!"
Augustus asked, "What is it, Alana?"
She threw him the note.
...
Augustus said, "Dammit," exasperatedly.
Alana replied, "I KNOW, RIGHT!" She threw the note in the air, clicking her skeletal fingers as it caught a flickering fire.
"We don't even know the attack plan," Alana said, her tone fed up.
"It's fine. I'll take lead. I remember him saying something about just going for an all-out assault, so that's what we'll do. Let's take a few hours to regroup and strategize, then go for it."
Augustus reassured her.
"Alright, I'm with you on this, Augustus."
And so, it began—the province assault.