Church district, Graveyard.
"I'm about to run out of mana soon!「Fireball!」"
"Huff huff…there's still so many undead left…no matter how much we cut or burn, more will keep coming to replace them…Theo! More than this and we will be wiped out!"
"I know! 「Unwavering Might!」"
*Clang!*
"Guooooo!!!"
In the middle of the graveyard, five adventurers from Iron Crown can be seen struggling while fighting the group of undead. If it's under normal circumstances, fighting these group of undead is like fighting a group of babies that can't resist at all, yet it's by no means normal circumstances which make them struggle even though their enemies is such a weak undead.
Iron Crown has two member that's good at killing undead, namely Gil and Evans as they're respectively Paladin and Priest. Usually, spell such as 「Purification」, 「Holy Light」,「Holy Slash」 or other holy type spell is enough to kill these low-level undeads, not to mention undead is weak against fire.
If one looks at it from passerby views, they will know that victor belongs to Iron Crow as they have employed tactic befitting that of an adventurer to beat these undeads. Even so, Iron Crow think otherwise.
These undeads…even though they have burned, slash, purify…they always return to their most optimal state after some time!
They have seen the undead which fatally injured heal up in a matter of seconds. They have seen the undead which should be dying by some chances assemble and attack them again. They have seen the undead which lost every cell of its body return and attacks them once again.
Fighting these never ending undeads has weakened them physically and mentally! Still, they're after all a B-grade Adventurer Team, fighting a prolonged battle like these should be nothing as they can wait for reinforcement to come and aid them, yet that kind of wish will only work if not because of a certain undead that is fighting the leader of Iron Crown as of now.
The undead is a Thoroic Ghoul; its height is about 5 meters with weight about 400 kg, it's one of the most dangerous ghouls to fight in an open field, for example, this graveyard. It's an undead that's created with the resentment and unwillingness of a great fighter soul, which make him want to fight every time it meets someone strong enough to fight it. With greatsword in each hand and heavy armor that shine as they fight, not to mention its regeneration ability, even the leader of Iron Crown Theo feel great pressure when he's fighting against the Thoroic Ghoul.
Just one face off against Thoroic Ghoul let him know the vast differences between both of them. The raw strength of the Thoroic Ghoul is no joke, if he carelessly accepts its attack with bare hands, even if he didn't die because of it, he would stay crippled for the rest of his life. Not able to lift a sword in his lifetime.
Still, he can't help but admit that he can only feel excitement even if he fights the enemies that may spell his death. The blood in his body can only burn in excitement as he raises his strength when he's fighting against the Thoroic Ghoul.
If he can't face brute strength with it, he will face it with fast speed and dodge all of its attacks. Although undead is usually a stupid mindless creature, he will not underestimate it, as inside Thoroic Ghoul body and mind, engraved the skill and battle instinct of an experienced fighter.
Still, after a prolonged fight, even if his mind is excited, his body can't do the same. Fighting the ghoul has made most of his bone broke, and if it's not because of his willpower, he may not be able to move anymore.
It's hurt…he can feel every single part of his body hurting, yet he didn't back down and keep holding the ghoul at bay, protecting all of his allies who are still fighting against the other undead while occasionally lending him some help.
"Guoooooo!!!"
The ghoul swings both of his greatswords at Theo again, wishing to end the ant life as fast as it can.
Theo who saw that helplessly dodges the attack, but after he successfully dodge, he feels a presence behind him. The presence is of course not his friends as it's full of malicious intent. Still, he knows who is the one that's standing on his back now, ready to attack and kill him.
"You never expect me to play fair aren't you?" The black-clothed man flashes Theo a kind smiles as he stabs his dagger to Theo head.
If it's normal circumstances, Theo would surely be able to defend against such a stab. Even so, after using most of his internal energies and stamina, he didn't have any more energy left to dodge that attack!
The black-clothed man has wait for this chance. He's sure that with Theo dead, the other will die too as he has Thoroic Ghoul, that's why he use a strong skill as soon as he finds a chance. Just a little stab will prove fatal, no matter how weak it is, but not only did he use his strongest attack, he even not let his guard down against a tired man like Theo, it seems that he's quite a careful guy. Still, Theo didn't express any sort of fright as he flashes his smile at the man and replied.
"Of course not…"
*Stab*
Blood starts to flows like a fountain, amidst the shocked gaze. It's a fast and clean stab, with no sign of mercy or hesitation. Seeing the body falls, he habitually start to clean his dagger with a cloth, even so, he stopped before he can finish cleaning it, as he jumps back while dragging Theo with him.
*Bam!*
Two greatswords descend and hack the lifeless body on the grounds while Theo watches it with cold sweat falling down from his head.
"Tch, Yupo…help me first before you clean your dagger! Please limit your clean freakiness at home, not the battlefield!"
"Save that until I finish cleaning my dagger…"
"*sigh* you're helpless…still... to think that it is actually true…"
Theo mutters while he look at the surrounding which is devoid of undead, then he turn his attention back to the Thoroic Ghoul and the hacked body.
Obviously, the hacked body isn't his body, but the body of the black-clothed man.
He has been telepathically informed that all of the other undead they face is just an illusion while the only real one is the ghoul. Still, the only one he told about this is Yupo, while he keeps the other in the dark to fool the Plague God followers. That's also why all of his teammate beside Yupo feels shocked when they saw all of the undead they're fighting until now disappeared and only the ghoul remains.
Fool your friends to fool your enemies. Even if he's a battle maniac, he's certainly not a fool. There's no fairness in battle, no matter what it is, as long as it can bring victory in battle. The end justified the means.
'Still, to think that sister can easily provide this information even when she's so far away…Is she a spy who come to earn their trust first before betraying them? Or…is it her talent?'
Theo shook his head while looking at the Thoroic ghoul that has become calm, but more dangerous than before. With no one limiting him, the Thoroic ghoul has become a strong adversary that may wipe out his entire team.
'Overthinking is useless…since my enemies still stand before me.'
"All of you! Focus not on defeating, but buying time! Don't forget that we still need our life to enjoy some wine later!"
Theo declares proudly as he looks at the incoming Ghoul.
"Come!"
***
Commoner district, abandoned house.
Groan can be heard on every part of the house. No matter where it is, there'll be those who are groaning in pain as they look at the group of Paladin who stand proudly in the middle of the room in fear, especially toward the sluggish man who stands in the middle of those Paladin.
In the middle of the room, surrounded by the Paladin is a scrawny man. Compared with the other homeless, he's certainly no different than them, yet the Paladin focus their full attention on him, like an eagle who is ready to hunt the prey making the man feel afraid like a rat who's trying to run from a group of a hungry eagle.
"W-w-why did all of you look at me like that? I-I haven't done anything wrong! If you're searching for our boss, he's not here! And if you're searching for the most evil of us all, you should focus on Gunga! Not me!" The scrawny man point at the man that has quite a big build even among all of them.
"Hove! You dare! Come here and fight to the death with me! You want to falsely accuse me!? I'll kill you!!!" Gunga shout in anger, ignoring the pain in his body, he gets up and ready to kill Hove, but before he can go far, he got slapped by one of the Paladin and fell from the floor.
"You will die…" The paladin says heartlessly.
"Even if you want to kill me later, I'll personally kill that worm!" Gunga says furiously and get up again, yet he got slapped down by the Paladin again.
"As I say, you will die…if you fight against him."
"*groan*" Gunga can only reply with a groan as his mouth is full with blood now, but he certainly didn't believe that Hove can kill him like what the Paladin said.
"*hoam* You ask why you? Why not the other? What kind of sins you have done?" The leader of the group of Paladins — Filant looks at the scrawny man sluggishly. His mission is to kill the Plague God follower, and the man in front of him certainly didn't seem that part.
He got informed that the man in front of him is the follower, yet he has his doubt, that's why he plans to interrogate the man first.
He can't just come and believe the words of a stranger who suddenly appear out of nowhere. He certainly knows that it's better to kill the wrong man then kill the culprit later on than let the culprit fool him which will make him taste eternal regret. Even so, he as a Paladin —Fallen or not—has a moral code that he will always follow.
His blade is reserved only for those who have sinned, no matter if it's human, demi-human or monster.
Such kindness is not needed on the battlefield, yet he wouldn't abandon it, as his moral code is also his sole faith in this world.
He knows that this moral code can be used against him, that's also why he has trained himself all so that his moral code wouldn't be used against him.
Hove looks at the Filant with a confused look, as if telling them that he didn't understand what wrong has he done for these Paladin to gang up on him. But not long after that, his head flew high to the air, still wearing the same confused expression as before, not knowing that he meet his ends.