Darius stood in the large room, the floors were made from cut marble, the many seats filled with witnesses made from polished wood and fine silk.

Above, golden chandeliers with magic candles lit the room.

Darius' hands were chained to the wooden podium he stood on.

On either side of him stood two guards with blades at the ready.

On the large golden throne sat the fat wolfman, he had a long white beard that matched the colour of his fur.

"Darius... you look worse for wear than usual..." he said with a playful smirk.

"Indeed, it would appear I hurt the god's ego..." Darius said with a grin.

Mumbles spread across the witnesses and the jury as the king smiled.

"I take it you gave up on convincing the court of your innocence, then?" he asked.

Darius nodded.

The king gestured for one of the guards to fetch a trough, the guard placed it before Darius.

"Try and not make a mess..." the king commanded not looking at Darrius as he got ready to leave, this execution being nothing more than a nuisance in his daily routine.

The room was silent as Darius lowered his head close to the trough.

The guard with the ceremonial blade of pure silver lifted the sword and brought it down onto Darius.

In a flash, Darius grabbed the blade with his teeth, he jumped to his feet, breaking the chains with the sword and lodging it in the marble floor.

The guard didn't even notice when it happened, but Darius went from being on his knees to being an inch deep into his throat with his still-bound claws.

A few screams came from the people in the room as they rushed to escape.

A heavier-looking guard charged at Darius, he swung his axe at him, little did he know the only thing he was slashing were the handcuffs on his hands.

Now free, Darius grabbed the guard by the arm, twisting it back and dislocating it before performing a leg sweep and tripping the man up.

He continued to dispose of more guards, at last, he jumped back and grabbed the sword.

"Sword Dash!" Darius thought as he zoomed forward towards the king, a dozen guards blocking his way.

The entire dozen collapsed to the floor at the same time as their arms and legs came apart.

"I couldn't use my skills in the skill-blocking handcuffs... but now..." he sighed.

"Sword Dash!" he thought again, this time he appeared right before the king,

"D-Darius! Hold on! The peasants are one thing, but you won't get away with killing me!" the king exclaimed,

His eyes filled with fear.

Darius breathed a sigh as he grabbed the king by the beard and dragged him off his lavish throne.

"What are you doing!?"

"The gods won't let you get away with this!"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Darius remained silent as he continued dragging the king forward.

"THINK ABOUT YOUR PEOPLE, DARIUS!"

At last, Darius spoke up,

"If the so-called gods wanted to keep you alive they wouldn't have let me get so close to you," he said coldly as he thrust the king onto the ground.

His eyes darted around as he saw the item before him, a wooden trough.

"Now then, your majesty..." Darius began.

"Try and not make a mess," he said as he severed the wolfman's head, causing his blood to splatter onto the ground, missing the trough completely.

"Seriously? Couldn't even bleed into the trough..." Darius sighed as he grabbed the head of the ex-king as well as the crown.

Darius placed the silver sword at his hip and the crown at the other hip.

With the king's head in hand, he marched out of the room and into the streets, the darkness of the night hiding the trail of blood that followed him.

Darius headed down into the depths of the sewers, past the thieves guild, past the meeting grounds for the corrupt nobles and into the shadiest part of the under-town.

He opened the shabby, wooden door and entered the equally shabby home built on a raft floating atop the lake of sewage and rainwater on the bottom floor of the under-town.

A few floating bridges led to and from the hut as well as towards other shady establishments.

"Greetings..." the voice said as he entered.

Darius has long since heard the tales of the witch below the city, rising the dead and whatnot.

"Are you the witch of undertown?" Darius asked bluntly.

"...Perhaps..." from the corner of the room emerged a figure covered head to toe in cloth.

They wore a long cloak and robe paired with a mask.

On their back, they carried a large sack of scrolls, potions and other reagents.

On their masked and hooded head was a grey witch's hat.

"Though... I can't claim the title as the only one by that name in this place..." they continued.

Darius was on high alert, he knew not to underestimate the power of magic users.

Tensely, he observed the figure walking around.

Trying to look calm, Darius looked around the room, wooden floors with cracks that exposed the water below, shelves of glowing liquids and other materials, bookshelves and several, foul-smelling arms, legs, heads and other body parts.

"So, what can I help you with?" the voice asked.

"I need you to resurrect a head for me," Darius said bluntly.

"A head? How unusual... and, for what perverse purpose do you need the head?" asked the witch.

"P-perverse? No, you misunderstand, I wish to commune with the dead!" Darius clarified.

"...what?" the witch asked.

"I need to ask the head some questions, the place where the head came from was a bit too busy..." Darius explained.

The witch could hardly believe Darius' words.

"Are you saying you aren't trying to violate the dead!?" she demanded stepping up to him.

Darius was feeling pretty uncomfortable causing him to take a step back.

"No, of course not!" he explained.

"Woah... that's a first for me..." the witch remarked.

"...what?" Darius asked, it was his turn to be shocked.

"I've worked here for twenty years and I've done nothing but resurrect people for... shall I say... erotic reasons..."

Darius felt his stomach turn.

"Who would... why? Wouldn't it rot?" he asked.

"Look... when the status of a noble won't get you laid, you need to resort to necromancy... and necrophilia..." the witch explained.

"I've expected the witch to be evil... but she's just a degenerate!" Darius thought tossing the witch the head.

"Here, resurrect that one," Darius instructed.

The witch looked at the head closely.

"Hold on... isn't that-..." she was cut off by Darius, "The king of the wolfmen, yes..."

She placed the head on the table nearest to her as she turned to Darius.

"Tell me, wolfman... are you absolutely sure you aren't going to do anything inappropriate to this head?" asked the witch.

"Yes! Of course!" he exclaimed seemingly annoyed by the question.

She crossed her arms.

"Fine, I'm willing to resurrect this head, but can you afford my services?" the witch asked.

Darius tossed her the crown.

"Here, it's gold, right? That should be enough," he remarked.

The witch looked at the crown.

"You really did kill the king of the wolfmen..." she sighed.

"I wonder why the gods haven't acted yet..." the witch thought.

"That's simple," Darius replied.

"Because they need me for their "divine plan" or something," he explained.

This caught the witch's attention.

"Divine plan? Are you some prince? Duke maybe?" she asked.

"No, I'm Darius, captain of the wolfman army... well, ex-captain," he laughed.

"...captain?" she asked.

"That's right, the so-called gods forbid me from climbing the ranks any higher, so I'm stuck as a captain," he explained.

The witch looked down at the head,

"Huh... I guess you and I are the same then," she laughed.

"You're an essential NPC as well?" Darius asked, he felt a mix of relief and tension.

The witch nodded.

"I was born a necromancer and dagger class, so I'm probably going to end up as a raid boss," she explained with a hint of sadness.

Darius sighed.

"Could be worse, I'm probably meant to be killed by some hero for killing the king," Darius laughed.

The room became silent once more as Darius cleared his throat.

"Anyway, about the head..."

"Ah, that's right!" exclaimed the witch.

"I'll get right onto that!"

The witch extended her hand towards the head and spoke aloud: "Forces of darkness I summon thee to aid me in the quest for knowledge, give form to the soul of this mortal and bring them forth!"

Once she recited the line she thought the words "Raise lesser undead" causing the head to come to life.

"Was the incantation necessary?" Darius asked.

"Indeed," the witch said proudly as she gesture to the head of the wolfman.

"W-where am I?! Where is my body?! Darius!" the kings began to speak as a grin appeared on Darius' face.

"Hello again, your majesty..." Darius said with a smile as he grabbed the king by the beard.

"What do you want?!" the king demanded seeing his situation.

"Tell me where I can find the index," Darius commanded.

"..." the King remained silent.

Darius pressed his free hand against the face of the wolfman, placing the sharpened claws of his middle and index fingers uncomfortably close to the king's eyes.

"Answer the god damn question..." Darius commanded.

"Why haven't the gods done anything!?" demanded the king.

Darius walked outside and while holding the king by the beard the dangled his head over the filthy water.

"Speak," Darius commanded, the king eyed the sewer water, seeing a few rats swim across the surface.

"Greatpark!" the king exclaimed clenching his eyes, his voice shaky.

"Where exactly?" Darius asked.

"I-I can't say, the gods, they will-" the king began as Darius brought his head inches away from the water.

The king couldn't help but gag despite not having a stomach.

"THE MOUNTAINS! THE FIRST ONE ON THE SOUTH, THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL FINE THE GREAT LIBRARY! THE INDEX IS THERE!" the king exclaimed.

Darius breathed a sigh.

"Good..."

Darius walked back into the shop where the witch stood awkwardly.

"Here," he tossed her the head.

"I'm sure someone will pay good money to have a go at the head of the king," Darius said as he turned to leave.

"What is he planning...?" thought the witch before placing the head in a jar.