Xiotal remained unconscious after Ritzy's healing session. But there shouldn't be any lasting trouble. Her soul and body just needed to rest and let Ritzy's magic take effect.
Unfortunately, that meant Ritzy couldn't transport her on a Deathbed since she would remain in the same state until he removed her from the Deathbed.
Fortunately, she was small enough to ride on his other shoulder without bothering him too much.
After securing Xiotal's condition, Ritzy went over to the Unholy Avatar.
"You fought well, Avie."
Avie had done a great job, considering his opponents were three Acolytes. He was, after all, only a few days old. He hadn't had time to grow stronger, unlike a certain someone who had lived for uncountable years but still got all tuckered out from getting rid of a few flies.
Ritzy picked up Avie's head and looked into the latter's darker-than-night eyes, somehow shining with light.
"Excellent minion. That's what you are."
Ritzy gave Avie a smile full of love before crouching down again and putting his head back on its torso. He also removed the daggers before injecting some of his mana to boost Avie's regeneration.
The Unholy Avatar's letters glowed slightly before the light, and his injuries faded like they were never there—no, not like they were never there. After all, they had made him stronger. That was proof of the injuries having been real.
The Unholy Avatar got up and followed closely behind Ritzy as he inspected the frozen corpses around. Although Xiotal had almost killed herself with it, Ritzy had to admit that it was a magnificent display of magic.
The frost hadn't even touched the ground below the targets, and all of them were frozen stiff, like carved from ice.
"Hrrng."
"Hmm?"
No, not everyone had been killed by the frost. One person had stayed alive somehow. Probably not for long, though.
"You know what, kiddo? That pixie might be good at magic, but in her current state, I don't think you should rely on her."
Mognog threw out his advice as Ritzy approached the mostly-frozen Blondie.
"This time, it's actually not her fault."
"It's not?"
"As surprising as it is."
Ritzy grabbed Blondie's red fur-lined coat with a thoughtful expression.
"Is it because of that coat? But it doesn't—didn't seem like anything special before."
Mognog had to change what he was about to say when he realized that the coat had changed. It still had the same appearance as before, but now, it gave of subtle fluctuations of heat and mana.
"Yeah. I've got no idea what it is, but Xiotal's ice magic probably awakened some dormant properties of whatever beast it is from. What a find!"
Ritzy admired the coat slightly. Since it belonged to a living being before, it now counted as something he could use for his necromancy! Ritzy was naturally excited since it was something he could use and because it had resisted Xiotal's magic.
"Hey, where did you get this from, Blondie?"
It was just that it was a small part of the animal. Ritzy wanted more.
"P-p-p-le-e-e-ase. He-he-he-hel-hel-help. M-mm-mm-me."
The coat was impressive since it had stopped Xiotal's magic from killing Blondie. But that was also all it had done.
Time had eaten away at most of the coat's inherent properties of heat, heat resistance, and cold resistance. A long period of dormancy and improper care hadn't helped.
Blondie still ended up with acute frostbite. Without help, the magical kind, Blondie would die in a couple of minutes if she really held on to her life.
"Not going to answer, are you? Shame. I might have helped you if you did."
Blondie's trembling eyes flashed in fright. She had trouble thinking since she was so cold and could barely move her lips. She knew she was hanging by a thread in front of death's door. But she hadn't given up hope yet.
"M-m-ma-mar-market."
She stuttered out an answer, her teeth chattering against each other from how hard she was shivering.
"'Market,' huh. It seems like you aren't having an easy time talking. I guess I can be understanding and cut you some slack. How about a deal? I help you get rid of this ice, and you help me learn more about this fur. How about it?"
Blondie forced her frozen stiff neck to bend in a nod since she couldn't trust her mouth anymore.
"Great! Y'see, this thing's really caught my interest."
Ritzy smiled before turning around and walking over to his Deathbed of treasure. He also brought out the other two carrying the loot from Xiotal's den.
Blondie's eyes widened as much as they could in shock as Ritzy rummaged through three full Deathbeds of various treasures for something to help her. They had vastly underestimated Ritzy's wealth. But then again, they had also underestimated his strength and capabilities since he had managed to freeze them all without anyone being able to do anything.
The treasure also turned out to be very real and not an illusion. It was just that Beardy and Blondie couldn't touch what was on the Deathbed. At first, Ritzy hadn't been able to either without desummoning them. But he had figured out how to with an increased experience with magic, in general, and with the Deathbed spell.
Eventually, Ritzy found an orange bead brimming with fire mana. It seemed powerful, which meant it should drive out Xiotal's ice magic. But it might also be too powerful for Blondie.
Ritzy just shrugged as he went over and plopped it inside Blondie's mouth. Whether it would be too much for her or not didn't matter to him as long as he got what he wanted. He had only promised to get rid of the ice for her, nothing more.
The bead melted in Blondie's mouth before slipping down her throat and spreading intense heat through her entire body. Steam quickly started rising from Blondie's body as her frozen limbs thawed, and she collapsed to the ground with a puff.
However, it didn't stop there. Blondie's body temperature kept rising until it reached the normal range without slowing down. Blondie's skin quickly turned red and flushed from the heat.
"Quick! Tell me which market, which vendor, when, and where!"
Blondie was well aware of her current state and impending death, but she wasn't sure if it was intentional on Ritzy's part or if he truly hadn't known what the bead's effects were. Considering how many items there were, she wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know what each and every one of them did.
But he had gotten rid of the ice for her. Blondie wasn't sure if dying from heat or cold was worse, but the unstoppable shivers were pretty horrible. At least this heat seemed like it would kill her in moments, not minutes.
"Kalar."
The heat was getting to Blondie, and it was becoming difficult for her to talk.
"Two and a half years ago."
Blondie panted and lay down with a face twisted in increasing agony.
"Timma Merchant Ring."
Blondie breathed heavily as her skin continued heating up until it was bright red and started cracking, letting blood seep through.
"They're a bunch of smugglers."
The blood dried up, and it seemed like Blondie had reached her limit as her face relaxed as much as it could. It seemed to have gotten stuck in a grimace due to the ever-increasing heat. Even her clothes had started smoking.
"Thanks a bunch."
Ritzy smiled before ending her misery. It was the least he could do for the valuable information she had provided.
But the head didn't stop rising just because Blondie was dead. Her skin started getting singed in places as her clothes caught fire. Eventually, her entire body was wrapped in flames.
Ritzy admired the fire from a safe distance while memorizing the details Blondie had given him. The fact that the Timma Merchant Ring was a group of smugglers sounded promising since it was likely they would have rarer and more exotic beasts that he could use as material for his necromancy.
Ritzy was hopeful as he waited for Blondie's body to stop burning and cool down.
The smoke and fire from the forest fire Xiotal had started on Ritzy's behalf had spread until they could see it from the field before Blondie was done burning. Only a blackened skeleton, covered in burnt scraps of meat and skin remained. Well, the fur coat had also just barely made it out intact.
If Ritzy had to be honest, Blondie's corpse was a close third after Unholy Avatar and Bone Club to the cutest member of his undead army.
Ritzy grinned as he couldn't wait to start working on it. But that would have to wait slightly as it was time to skedaddle.
If he got started with his necromancy now, Ritzy could tell that he wasn't going to do anything else until he was done or satisfied. Practicing necromancy in an open field close to a city wasn't something he wanted to do.
It had to be done in dark caves lit up with green torches! Or in underground mazes, or deserted castles and fortresses!