An hour passed, and Glyea's army was chased deeper into the forest by undying zombies made up of monsters. The nymphs and the reptiles they could handle easily, but the undead? The monsters that kept coming, no matter how hard you hit them in their heads? Were way above their league, especially in such an overwhelming quantity.
The unending stamina and the ability to shrug off injury like a passing breath could scarcely be matched by living creatures. Unfortunately for the human army, none amongst them had such capabilities–none who wished to help them at least.
"Are they still following?!" Asked the leader to her following army, and to her surprise, the soldiers stood quiet, looking back. "What in the world?"
Staring back at them from the shade, the zombies had halted their march. Moving not even a step into the light, they had already encircled their enemies from every direction. The clearing was as much respite as it was a trap.
'How long until they move? How long until we have to move?!' Glyea thought before glancing down at her injured feet. Hanging like a damp towel, they were lined with a deep tear in their tissue, with the clear sight of her bones turned dark. 'Tsk… I can't walk. FUCK!'
Cursing her luck, she looked behind her.
"What do we do now?" She asked Zephyr.
Taking a deep breath, the fiend leaned closer to her ears and whispered.
"You can heal yourself now, I'm sure."
"What do you mean–?" Halfway through her sentence, she finally realized something. Squinting her eyes, she stared at nothing and brought forth her stats screen for a moment. Reading through the list of her usual skills, she skimmed past her level and eventually confirmed what she'd heard a few minutes ago. "A healing skill…"
Blinking her eyes, she lowered her gaze to her feet and reached out with her hands. Grabbing them one at a time, she used the basic magic skill, and to her surprise, her wound was sealed on its own. The pain persisted, and so did the burns, but to be able to use a skill that she never had made her question the strange situation even more.
"Did you do something?" She asked.
"Your level, let's say, I thought it could use a boost," Zephyr replied while slowly looking past her.
Following his gaze with curiosity, Glyea saw an umbrella-bearing woman stepping into the clearing. A dangerous smile crescended her face, and then came the laughs.
"You managed better than I expected," she said.
Her cackling sent spine-chilling jolts down the soldiers' spines. They watched in horror as the lone woman approached them in a plain white shirt and leather pants. Not an armor nor scalemail, not even a shield to defend herself, and yet the zombies had parted their ranks to let her pass through them.
"But now, let me finish this." Looking straight at Glyea, the woman pointed a finger at her. "Defeat me and take my head, or die by my hand and rise as my undead soldiers as we march to the capital city!"
Stretching her nails into tearing claws–each as big as her arm- she beckoned the leader.
"Come, or would you rather I send my zombies onto you? They won't tire, they don't need food, and guess what? When one of you dies, they will join my rank, so I suggest you take this opportunity, as this will be your last chance to win!"
The crowd erupted with chatter, and their heads turned towards Glyea. The weight of expectation descended on her once again, and this time it was her against everyone else. For even if they somehow survive the zombies, if she doesn't step up now, her fate in victory would be even worse.
"What do I do?" She whispered, swallowing.
"Go, you're not gonna die. You're important…" Zephyr whispered into her ears, and although she had doubts about his promises, Glyea got off the horse with her hand gripping tightly on her wand and her fencer blade.
'How the fuck did it come to this?' Walking through the path cleared by the soldiers for her to meet the master of the undead, she couldn't help but picture her death. 'No way I can defeat this fucking monstrosity! She's controlling so many undead there's no way she's a common monster! We need a level fifty adventurer to even hold her off so we can run away!'
Watching the smile on the vampiress easing up a bit, Glyea took a deep gulp and readied herself for a one-on-one battle. Her gaze reflected her fear, and for a moment she thought she saw the same in the vampire's eyes, but that didn't last for more than a second. Standing a few feet away from the enemy, she tightened her grip around her weapons until she could feel her blood burning around her fingers.
"Any last words?" Asked the vampiress
"If I die," giving in to her fate, Glyea allowed her shoulders to fall. "Let them go. You don't have to kill all of us; they will steer clear of your path!"
"What?!"
"BUT THEN THE CAPITAL–"
"Fuck the capital!" Hearing complaints from behind her instead of any words from the vampiress, Glyea turned her head one last time and yelled. "None of those capital cucks are here! We are! Even though they knew this was gonna happen, they did nothing to prevent it, so fuck them and stay out of her way if I die here!"
The sudden clapping of hands brought the knight's attention back to the front. Smirking at her words, the vampiress spread her claws, ready to attack.
"Wise words, human, now get ready to die!" Springing into action, the vampiress gave her no more chances to delay the fight any further. And although Glyea wasn't ready yet, a lift of her sword and her wand, and she braced herself for a quick death–a death that was never meant to come.
"AGHH!" Flung away from a burst of light emitting from the knight's wand, Valentine's body skidded across the ground. "What did you do!! YOU PATHETIC HUMAN!!"
Her scream rattled Glyea at the very bones, but as she opened her eyes, she realized something crucial. The vampire's umbrella was knocked out of her hand, and her skin was burning from a strange spell that was being emitted not from the wand but the ring that seemed to have been switched, but she didn't know how or when.
'Custer…' Turning her head, she was met with a nod by the fiend. 'Oh fuck you, you charming bastard!'
For once throughout this mess, a smile took her contour. And carrying that very smile, she turned back to the front to finish off that vampire frying under the sun.