The creature let out a scream that sent shivers at the people that were hidden, making them huddle toward each other, protecting one another. Clive, on the other hand, was unfazed and stood his ground. He readied himself for another attack. The creature lunged at him. He parried, his blade glinting under the moonlight cloaked with mana that sent the creature back as his sword and the creature's talons met. The creature shrieked from dismay at not landing a wound on his opponent. It stood tall and made a gesture that summoned a wave of the undead.
Clive sighed, "This is really starting to drag." He said before he took a stance for a knight's technique and then lunged at the undead. In a blur of motion, each undead dropped to the ground fast before he aimed his sword at the creature. The creature was surely not weak, not after feasting on someone. Before Clive's sword landed on the creature, it was met with one of its talons, and the other was aimed now at his exposed body. Clive was quick to move back, but not without a price. His armor was torn through leaving a shallow wound on his chest. Clive did not mind this and pressed more, landing a much heavier attack than before; this time it slashed the creature's chest. It screamed and flew back, crashing into a small statue of Louka's forgotten saint.
Clive didn't relax and readied himself as the dust cleared and the creature staggered to get up from the rubble. The place became more eerie and quiet as the creature just stood there on the rubble, its chest dripping with blood, back hunched, and skin cracked like porcelain, leaking red mist. The mist covered the whole town, and even more undead surfaced and lunged at anyone or anything that moved. The creature hid its movements in the mist as it moved faster than before, aiming for Clive.
At this moment, Leon, Oswald, and Rem were about to reach where Clive was, but a mist suddenly appeared and the undead surfaced, hindering them from moving forward.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Oswald whined as he kept hitting each undead that lunged at him. The three kept on defeating each undead, but there were too many, making them regroup. "They may be weak, but there are too many." Rem and Oswald nodded. "I tried to dispel the mist, but it kept coming back. It's not harmful, at least to us, but if someone weaker is caught in this, it will cause a very serious injury," Rem said as he moved behind the two before being quiet. "Maybe a weak spell, but it sure hinders our sight," Oswald said as he hit another one, slashing it in half. "Just let Rem do his job," Leon said sternly as he made the undead drop on the ground one after the other.
---
The creature moved within the mist and simultaneously attacked Clive as the undead lunged at the knight captain one after the other. This gave Clive difficulties but didn't break his composure, concentrating his mana more on his sword as he used basic spells to fend off the undead before landing heavy blows on the creature each time it attacked. The creature, faster than ever, evaded some of the knight captain's attacks but still wounded him after the last attack. The surroundings became quiet again, the undead stopped moving, and then another shriek was heard before the creature suddenly appeared behind Clive, landing a bone-crushing force on him and sending him into a wall. He gritted his teeth, spitting blood that spilled from his mouth. It wounded him, but it was not enough to make him unable to fight.
Before the creature can land another attack on Clive, the mist disperses, making it clearer for him to see his surroundings. This time he didn't attack the creature; instead, he stood tall and plunged his sword into the ground as the ground beneath him lit up in a magic circle. He extended his right arm towards the creature and expelled his mana that burned the creature. This technique was one of his powerful ones, requiring a large amount of mana. The creature screamed as it burned. The undead became dust and dispersed in the night.
Clive staggered after his last attack, but he still made his way toward the creature, who was now burned. The citizens of Louka, sensing that the battle was over, started to come out of their hiding. Curtis ran toward the knight captain as Leon, Rem, and Oswald arrived and the townspeople crowded the area. Not long after, the lord of the town arrived, weaving his way through the crowd and toward his now burned daughter. He kneeled and hugged her tightly as if any time she would disappear. "I'm so sorry," he kept repeating as he regretted his decision. He cried hard for a while as he reminisced about the days with his daughter happily living, calling him with her sweet voice. Each citizen of the town may have been scared before, but right now they bowed their heads and grieved as they remembered their sweet princess as she walked the town happily greeting each person she encountered and making small talk with them.
As the sun rose, the daughter's body slowly became dust, dispersing in the wind. Her father can see her for the last time smiling as she waves at him and slowly disappears. Leon, Rem, Oswald, Clive, and Curtis stayed in the town for three more days. They helped the townspeople get back on their feet and interrogated the ones involved, especially the lord of the town.
He revealed that not long after her daughter's death, two travelers arrived at Louka. They claimed they were there because they foresaw that he needed their help. They didn't indicate any specifics even if he tried to ask; instead, they assured him that his daughter would live again, but he would have to pay a price. Hearing this, he offered his riches, but it was not the one they wanted but just cooperation. He was puzzled, but he didn't mind much of it as long as his daughter came back to him. After her daughter came back, his house became lively again. There was nothing amiss about her. It's like her illness and her death were just a nightmare. Not until the first sound of the flute was heard did it all start.
"I never imagined that the cooperation they were talking about was that," he said as he remembered everything clearly. He clasped his head as he cried, thinking of his beloved daughter. "I really did not know what they wanted, but I started to round up my most trusted knights and started luring adventurers with more mana in them. This is also to prevent her from getting to the townspeople. After all, I'm their lord, and I have to protect them."
"Where are they now? Clearly, they did not stay behind, as we did not see anyone when we arrived here at the mansion," Oswald questioned him. "I don't know," the lord said before continuing, "They were here before Liya got out of her place but disappeared."
"Can you describe them to us?" Rem said as he looked at the lord, thinking this incident was not a random one and there's more to it.
"They were as tall as you," the lord said as he pointed at Oswald. "They both gave off a proud and yet eerie feeling. One has short hair that was like the young leaves of trees. His clothes were like that of a scholar or a magician. He was the one who made my Liya live again," he said as he tried to remember. "The other one has this crazy-looking smile that will give you shivers down your spine. He looked very strong, but he always follows the other man's instructions. His hair was like those of the sunset." He sighed as he uttered another apology to them and to her daughter. The three didn't know how to comfort him and just stayed silent before Leon broke it.
"You may also be a victim, but what you did was still wrong and endangered a lot of people in your town and the ones passing through. You will be tried based on the kingdom's law, but we will try to help you to lessen your punishment. After all, the town of Louka can never be without its lord for a long time," Leon said as he stood up and instructed his knights, who arrived 2 days ago, to be stationed there and keep an eye on the lord before his trial. The knights understood and saluted him. Before Leon, Rem, Oswald, and Clive go out of the room, the lord remembered something: "There's another one I remembered. It was before they left. They both looked like they sensed something, especially the one with the crazy smile. We were talking when both of them looked outside before leaving," he said as the memory suddenly emerged from deep within him. The four of them looked at the lord, then at each other, all confused, but their composure remained. It was clear that something was about to change and something was happening, and they don't know what it was.