“This is what the twin mages were protecting?” Lilith had a disgusted look on her face.

“It barely looks alive,” Steak said.

It was an undead old man that died on his throne. Over several years his body and the throne melded into each other, creating the twisted creature in front of them. As Steak and Lilith took cautious steps toward him, he slowly opened his ancient eyes. The two stopped as one of his tendrils shuddered and moved. A thin bony hand was attached at the end of it. He pointed at them.

“You,” he croaked. “Are not the adorable twins,” his voice sounded as old as he looked.

“No, we are not,” Lilith was the first one to speak.

“Why did you kill them?” The king asked, violently shutting his eyes closed. It was the same expression of someone crying, but he did not have the tears to do so.

“Because they attacked first,” she said.

“This is my fault. Why, why must they throw away their lives for me? All of them, for a weak and foolish king” he cried.

Suddenly, another tendril launched forward aimed at Lilith. Steak reacted, pulling her back by the collar and activating on his other arm. A sword was attached at the end of it. Steak lost 30 Mana from that single thrust.

Several more tendrils came out from under the throne. They pushed themselves up, lifting the whole thing up. It looked like a wicked spider-like being.

“Tell me why! Why must we go fight in a war we didn’t start!? Why must they all die such horrible deaths for people who don’t even know their names, soldiers from both sides!? I do not, I cannot, I will not understand!” The Weeping King roared.

He thrashed around in place, whipping his tendrils everywhere. There were some weapons attached to the ends of each one. Two spears, an axe, a longsword, a hammer, and a shield. Slashes appeared on the stone floor around him. Then, he suddenly stopped his tantrum.

“Ah, we have a visitor,” he whispered with a kind smile on his face. “Bring refreshments. They seem to have journeyed from a far place,” he ordered to no one.

After a few moments of silence, the smile faded as fast as it came. A blank expression was now on his face, void of thought.

“I suppose talking to him isn’t an option. He’s gone mad,” Lilith said. She started preparing a spell.

“Wait!” Steak stopped her. “I don’t think he’s aware that they’ve all died and have become undead. Maybe I can convince him with the truth and avoid a fight,” he suggested.

“Huh!?” Lilith let out a surprisingly loud voice. “What truth? That we killed his people a second time?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Steak said.

“I’m sorry, but that’s actually the dumbest thing I’ve heard from you,” she said.

“Didn’t you see how fast those tentacles of his were? I could barely keep up with my eyes,” he said.

“But the twins were Level 16, and we got through that fight pretty fine. This one is only Level 10,” Lilith said.

“We were lucky that they fought using only magic, which we’re good at dealing with. This is a different kind of fight. And I really do believe I can convince him somehow,” Steak said.

“Fine, I’ll stay back and cover you using my familiar. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to block everything though,” she said.

Steak smiled. “That’s more than enough.”

“You’re insane. And that’s coming from a risk taker,” she sighed.

Before he set out to face the king, he swiped a piece of a broken mirror that was on the floor and placed it in the last spot of his Inventory.

Steak and the Minor Nightmare ran up to the at full speed. Not wanting to waste any of his Mana, he favored dodging the tendrils that the King sent his way. He’d slice off some of them that held weapons with his claws when the Minor Nightmare absorbed a blow, but after a while the tendrils reattach themselves. Though, it still saved Steak a few moments of breathing room.

“Wh-wh-why are you doing this?” The king stammered. “We’ve never harmed anyone! We’re not a threat just because we didn’t want to fight in your stupid war! Because we didn’t choose which side to fight for. You were threatened by a nation that knew peace!”

“Sir, we’re not your enemies!” Steak shouted.

“Then, why did you kill those kids? They were so talented, but you twisted war fanatics just want to use their magic for evil! They were much more than that,” The king howled.

Steak deflected one of the tendrils that came from below him with the , launching him in the air. He used the boost to get closer to the King. Popping out his claws before landing, he tried to pierce and cling onto the throne. However, with its several limbs, it scuttered away, his claws only meeting cold stone.

“Yeah, they were great. Everyone under your rule loved you, that was clear. I saw how you treated your guards with that beautiful bathhouse you had built for them, how the giant tirelessly patrolled the halls, and how the twins fought valiantly to prevent us from reaching you. They all continued their duties after you all got poisoned by the enemy, beyond death,” Steak explained as he fought through the tendrils slashing several rusted weapons at him.

“Poisoned?” The king’s voice sounded weak and confused.

The Minor Nightmare began to look weak. Lilith couldn’t send some of her health in time because she prepared a to create an opening for Steak. So, he lopped off some of the two tendrils holding the spears as they were the most troublesome because of their speed.

“Yes, all of you were poisoned, delivered through that metal thing over there,” he pointed at the metal device that used to be behind the throne before the king moved, the cause of the hole in the room. “And, I suspect that it was the same sick people who wanted to force all of you into a war you didn’t have any part of,” Steak said.

“No, that cannot be. I-I’m still alive, aren’t I? And the twins too!” The king stammered.

The took effect, Lilith alerted Steak with a gesture. He ran up to the king with momentary ease as the tendrils became sluggish. He pulled out the broken piece of mirror from his Inventory and held it up in front of the king’s face.

“This, this is me?” He brought up one of his tendrils and tenderly caressed his wood-like cheek. “What’s happening? What happened?”

“You’re the last of your kingdom, the last of your people, they’ve all gone and moved on from their wonderful lives,” Steak smiled at the king.

The Weeping King’s expression changed and stopped his assault.

“So, here I am, after giving the people you loved a second death. I request that you join them, and let us live. You and your people have lived a wonderful life, I ask that you let us live out ours,” Steak bowed.

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He was met with silence. Lilith bit her bottom lip, anxiously waiting with her familiar on standby in case he got attacked again. A creaking sound broke the silence. The king smiled.

“Chin up, lad,” the king said.

Steak looked up to see a slot open above the king’s face, where his forehead should be. From inside the throne, a small nut-shaped object extended outwards. It was what was left of the King’s deteriorated brain.

“Go on, what are you waiting for? You kids shouldn’t waste any more time in a musty old place like this!” The king said in a childlike tone and excitement.

Steak held out his hand and touched the brain. The Weeping King closed his tired eyes, finally putting them to rest. In an instant, Steak activated his claws, piercing through the brain.

The grotesque mass that was once the Weeping King crashed down. Its tendrils slowly shriveled up and retreated back to its shell that was the throne itself. After a few breaths, it turned back into a regular piece of furniture. The only thing left of the former king on the throne was his face. He had a nice and peaceful smile.

A large crystal appeared by the end of the throne room, where there was a large hole in the wall that showed the fog outside. Slightly light blue in color, it floated and defied gravity. There was a certain nostalgic energy inside of it that Steak couldn’t explain.

“Wow, you practically asked the king to kill himself,” Lilith said from behind him.

“I didn’t plan to do that,” Steak said.

“Still, good job. We didn’t have to fight that hard this time,” Lilith gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Why’d you even attempt to talk to him?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I just had this feeling that he seemed like a nice guy, like he didn’t feel like an enemy. I think it’s called a gut feeling. It’s the same feeling I got when I first talked to you,” Steak explained.

Before they continued a step forward, the two of them went around the parts of the castle that they didn’t get to explore. There had been some evidence that people had been there, but they figured out that there never was any other group of humans in the dungeon with them. The human tracks that they found were made by Jill during the time she ran off from the group.

With nothing else to do or loot, they stood in front of the floating crystal. Steak looked up at the sky, the fog above them started to fade, and he could see some of the stars piercing through it. Lilith did the same.

He decided that it was the perfect time to allocate his skill point. There was no telling what could happen after touching the crystal.

Status

Name

Steak

Strength

3

+1

Level

8

Vitality

2

+1

Race

Human

Agility

2

+1

Class

Druid - Metamorph

Dexterity

2

+1

Health

110

Magic

1

Health Regen /s

0.16

Spirit

11

+4

Mana

100

Points

0

Mana Regen /s

2.75

Next Level

2.34%

He placed another point in Spirit, raising his Mana Regen even more. Steak had started to get an idea of what kind of build he wanted in the future.

Then, he remembered that the Messenger mentioned something about a being unlocked. Without much trouble, he managed to open it. And, much like with how the inventory system operated, it functioned and looked the same. The only difference was the amount of empty slots that were available. It seemed like he could only have 3 at the moment.

He glanced over to Lilith, who seemed to be also going through her own stuff. The thought of asking to have her as his first contact crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea, shaking his head. I doubt she’d want anything to do with anyone after this. Especially after the trouble Kurt and Jill caused, Steak thought.

“Hey,” Lilith called out to him. “Do you want to keep in touch after we leave this dungeon?” She asked.

“Wait, what?” Steak was surprised.

“Hm? Yeah, why not? We did pretty good as a team. And, since you don’t have memories of the old world, I’m more comfortable interacting with you than the others,” she smiled. “But, if you don’t want to waste one of your three slots on me, that’s fine as well. I don’t mind going solo,” she shrugged.

“No, no, no, let’s do it,” Steak rushed over to her.

“So, how does it work? I don’t feel any different,” Steak said.

“I think we can send a message to each other,” Lilith said with a hand on her chin, thinking.

“Oh, I received something. It looked like a typical message from the Messenger, but it had your name on it. I’m gonna try sending one as well,” Steak said, a bit too excited about this.

<35 Mana>

“Hm, so the amount of Mana used depends on the length of the message,” Lilith explained.

“Hey, at least we can communicate with each other through another way,” he said.

“I wonder if it works over large distances,” she said.

Steak looked at the imposing stars up in the sky again. Their light shined down at them and hit the crystal, illuminating a portion of the dark throne room.

“I guess it’s about time for us to leave this place,” Steak said.

“Mmhmm, let’s go,” Lilith agreed, taking one last look at the sky and the throne behind them.

The two of them reached out and placed a hand on the floating crystal. Steak closed his eyes, waiting for something to happen. Cold wind went past his face, then the feeling of sinking came over.

Steak opened his eyes and saw nothing but white. His feet slowly descended into the snow beneath him. Lilith and her familiar were nowhere to be seen. He was alone on top of a snowy mountain.

“Lilith!?” He shouted.

Of course, no one answered, nor could anyone hear him in that weather condition. The whistling and howling of the winds not only blinded him but made it impossible for his voice to reach out beyond a few meters. Steak was once again alone.

“Fuck!” He cursed and fell back. A loud thud echoed throughout his head. “What the?” He turned around to see what was behind him.

A transparent wall made of light blue energy blocked him from going past it. It had the same kind of energy as the crystal. He looked up to see that it went beyond the clouds. Then, he looked side to side, it stretched along the mountain as far as his eyes could see. He pressed his hand against it, no amount of force could make it budge.

“Guess I have to turn around and go the opposite direction of this blockade,” Steak sighed.

The only other way he saw was to descend down the tall mountain. Fortunately for him, he still had Lilith’s cloak, which blocked the cold wind from directly hitting his body. Then, Steak remembered that he and Lilith just established a connection with each other not long ago.

<50 Mana>

“What!?”

“Why the fuck is it in the negatives!?” He shouted.

His violent movements caused the snow beneath him to shift. He slid down and into the snow beneath him, causing an avalanche.

----------------------------------------

“Ah, we now stand upon the very star that we once gazed upon when we first met. You were the first person I trusted. I don’t know if I ever told you that,” - Lilith, Paragon of Love and Sacrifice