After Falces and his followers had finished packing whatever items they had use from the chamber, they continued to move on to the deeper floors of the dungeon.
It was then, that the necromancer had informed Deralst that he was sensing an increasing amount of undeads from a distance away. They were all gathering towards a certain location.
Normally, Deralst would stay the hell away from such a troublesome place but Falces had argued with him that this was a great chance for him to increase the amount of undeads from his own procession all at once from a single area.
Which could be very helpful in their travels with such a huge horde around, it also helped to contribute toward his research of course. But Deralst was not amused, those things does not seemed like his business at all.
The mage also tried to unconvincingly add on that it was also to help the adventurers that might possibly be there, since it might be one of the reasons why the undeads gathered there. Despite being reluctant about it, Deralst could not refute what the mage had ironically just said.
While he was not a person who was interested in altruism, he was not just someone that would not help a fellow adventurer on the way either. And besides, Falces was still currently the guide to where they were going towards anyway.
It was a pretty common thing for a group of adventurers to encounter another group of adventurers in the same dungeon and thus helped to save the other adventurers from danger. Deralst had experienced doing it himself a few times already. Just like yesterday, when he just saved a necromancer from getting himself killed. And in turn, he had been saved by others a few times before too.
It was something like the general unspoken code amongst adventurers and between fellow people. Something he would have scoffed at in the past, but that was the past.
Grudgingly, Deralst had to agree with the necromancer. But he told Falsces that he will require some favours from him after this. After having decided on their next course of action, the group then hurriedly head towards the place where the dead gathered.
When they had reached there. Even through the darkness where torchlight could not reach, his enhanced eyesight allowed Deralst to be the first to notice the undeads….and someone who seemed to be an adventurer here.
He quickly drew out his dagger, infusing it with as much mana as it could hold and with a smooth motion, he threw it towards the undead in front of the horde, allowing the infernal fire to burst forth with much more power than normal after it stabbed on its first victim.
After using his signature dagger throw, Deralst rapidly dashed forward with incredible speed to swiftly dealt with the rest of the undead streaming through fire from the front. He calmly side stepped any claws or bites that went anywhere near him as he countered by slashing with his sword and stabbing their heads with another of his dagger.
During the time, when Deralst was disposing of the undeads around him, he managed saw though the dwindling fires blocking the entrance in one of the moments. What he witnessed caused him to unconsciously shudder and stopped his fighting for a while. It was an unexpected sight.
The place was a chaotic mess, with large hordes of undead and spiders crowding inside the antechamber. Most of the spiders seemed to be retreating as they carried away what seemed like dead bodies and their pieces. Some of the spiders were actually fighting against the undeads as they tried to stop the living dead from chewing away the bodies of their prey.
More of the zombies and skeletons were beginning to converge towards Deralst again as the fire died down. Some of the skeletons held weapons, there were even some among them holding bows and firing arrows towards him.
Deralst decided to slowly backed away from the room as he tried to parry and dodge the arrows flying towards him.
“Falsces! What are you doing? I could really need some help right now!” Deralst turned to shout at the necromancer who was standing further behind him beside the survivor who seemed like a young girl.
“Ahem, pardon me. I was distracted a bit just now.” The dark mage answered back with recomposure. He seemed shaken before, but Deralst did not care for
“Just help me deal with the monsters already, before I decided to start scorching them into ashes instead!” Deralst was already yelling at the necromancer now, it was the only consideration why he had not start roasting everything before him.
As if it was a response to Deralst, the necromancer ordered his undead to rush forward into the horde at the other side.
Deralst quickly withdrew himself through the gaps among the undead as he regrouped with Falces. Initially moving forward slowly from behind the undeads, Falsces was being surrounded by his golems that were shielding him from the flying arrows, he started slowly chanting his spells to cast it at the undeads.
The sight of the living dead struggling against the dead, was nothing less than bloody and gruesomely surreal sight. But at least, it seemed that Falsces’s horde was winning as the necromancer calmly stood behind them to chant his spells to turn more of the undeads onto his side.
“Hahaha, all of you undeads are belong to us now!” Falsces started smiling gleefully when he became confident that the situation was now being handled in the way he had expected it to be.
“Oh really? If that was the case you should make full use of your time by doing just that, instead of just gloating to the dead.”
Deralst nonchalantly pointed him out as he stood beside the mage, quietly observing the battle that was unfolding in front of him while keeping a lookout for potential dangers like the archers and spiders throughout the battle.
—
Deralst was now currently walking through the aftermath of clash as he examined the area around him, they could only truly rest after they had finished dealing with the remaining monsters around that might still be alive.
Most of the huge spiders were already leaving even before they started confronting the undeads, but there were still some of their carcasses strewn across the place. There were some weapons and equipments found among the corpses too. Deralst moved to check one of spider’s corpse that he had found.
Which as Deralst had expected, the spiders were showing indications of corruption. As he randomly looked around the dead bodies strewn around him, he also noticed that some of the zombies also had such signs too. Their bodies were rotting and there were even fungus covered on some of them while they let off some very foul stench, but their flesh was slightly contorted as they show vague manifestation of mutations and growth.
Falces was currently trying to convert the remaining suppressed undeads as he ordered some of his minions to guard the entrances. The rest of his followers was moving around to collect various pieces of body parts found on the ground for purposes that Deralst would not wish to know.
Meanwhile, the girl was still crouched quietly on the ground in a corner near the same tunnel entrance. She sat there with her knees hugged close to her body while shivering in both pain and fear, an arrow could be seen piercing her right shoulder from here. She was sulking as she seemed despondent with her downcast looking eyes. Looking forlorn and small as she hugged her knees, with her body slouch forward.
Like Falces, she was also clothed in a dark dress that seemed more like a robe. She was also wearing a cloak around her shoulder and a pair of long soft boots that almost go all the way up to her knees. Overall, it gave her a dark gothic appearance. She also seemed like a young and inexperienced teen. So Deralst assumed that she was still a rookie.
“Do you have any potions? If you have, you should use it on yourself.” Deralst talked to the girl while he walked towards her.
While he may had saved the girl, but Deralst was not someone who was generous enough to use his own potions to help others if they were hurt with anything short of a dying wound. He would rather have the person use their own potions instead. Especially if the person was some new looking adventurers who seemed like they might die anytime soon anyway.
“I could not save her, even when she was just in front of me” The girl started talking sullenly as she ignores her wound. “I just stood there frozen like a fool again. No, more like a coward who lets the dead devour her!”
Tears were starting to form on her eyes as she started gasping between intervals as she spoke those words.
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“Or incredibly ignorant and desperate.” Falsces chimed in as he also walked towards them. “One does not simply come down into the ruins being unprepared without knowing from the association that there was a cryper creeping around, along with the increasing activity of the undeads.”
She slumped her shoulders further into dejection, trying not to wince as she tried to ignore the pain. Clearly the necromancer’s words had affected her.
Deralst creased his brows, as he gave the mage a look of disapproval. Why does the people he met recently had to talk about random topics that clearly had no relation regarding the situation right now? Does he also have to console this girl too?
“You do know that all adventurers make mistakes rights? It is more about it being a matter of whether you will survive to learn from it in the end.” Deralst started speaking wearily as he leaned towards the wall.
“Freezing does not make you a coward. But if you are still healthy enough to sit here and whine about it, you might as well make use of the opportunity you obtained do something better regarding to it in the future.” He continued talking in a halfhearted manner as if he was stating something obvious.
While Deralst could somewhat sympathise with her, but he was not a deep thinker, he did not want to dwell too much about it. What happens in the past, stays in the past....That also mean that he was not nice enough to babysit her either by giving her some cryptic speech as a pep talk.
He had a feeling that this expedition was going cut short halfway again because they had to escort this girl back and even report on the deaths of the other adventurers. It was not the girl’s fault here since they made the choice to save her, but it was still something to gripe about.
“My name is Nevia, Nevia Lyton.” The girl suddenly stated as she turned her head to stare firmly Deralst with her dark eyes, as if sensing something from him.
“You had saved my life and I am grateful…. I will also keep in mind and remember your rational words of advice….” After speaking what she had wanted to say that seemed to imply something else, she then turned back to her thoughts again. This time, looking slightly more sanguine than before.
Deralst did not speak as he looked at her. He could not guess what she was thinking right now but he had seen many different adventurers in the past, some who may had became devastated and broken after they failed their quests in the dungeons. So it stands to say that he was surprised that the girl could still talk to him so calmly even after all that she had been through just now, it was as if she was still clinging on to something....
At least….she was courageous when it comes to recovering back while facing towards reality. Or so Deralst had thought at that time.
“So, are you still not going heal that?” Deralst said as he points towards her shoulder. “Take out your potion as I try to help pluck that thing out of you.”
After Deralst's words, the girl meekly took out a potion from her pouch as she passed it to Deralst, which he subsequently received it from her. He then proceeded to calmly place his hand firmly onto her shoulder as his other hand went to grab on to the arrow’s shaft.
Nevia started gritting her teeth but unbearably, she started screaming loudly as he tried to forcefully pulled the arrow out. Blood was starting flow freely out from the wound again towards the ground, so does her tears, as it began to stream down from her cheeks again.
Deralst quickly uncorked the potion and started pouring some its contents onto the wound after the arrow was removed. He then promptly passed back the potion to the girl to let her drink the rest of it.
It was at that moment that Deralst heard voice from behind him.
“Good morning gentlemen, do you have a moment to talk about what in the heavens had just happened here?”
A heavy voice could be heard as a person was standing near one of the entrances, as two headless corpses laid on the ground near him. Deralst must have not heard the noise of the man fighting the undeads due to the girl’s scream from before.
The person just stood there calmly as he pointed his long sword towards Deralst while his other hand was holding something that was shining brightly while being aimed towards Falces and his horde of undeads.
Deralst quickly reacted by drawing his sword in tensed silence, as the fingers of his other hand was now edging towards his daggers, ready to throw it when needed. Falces on the other hand hastily had his minions moved to guard him while the rest started to surround the tall man.
The situation became tense as everyone stared at each other silently. While Deralst was unafraid as he continued to observe the man. The necromancer seemed visibly shaken, even the young girl was wided eyed, but otherwise she sensibly kept to herself as she quietly observe the situation, trying to ignore the slowly relieving pain from her shoulders.
“Now, now, there was no need to be so hostile. Why don’t we just all calm down and talk this out? I had even brought some tea here for us to drink too.” Falses was the first to break the ice nervously as he tried to mediate the situation. The man raised his eyebrows as he heard what Falsces had said.
He was quite tall, he may even be around more than two meters. His whole body was covered head to toe in metal armour. Even his helmet’s visor was obscuring his face, preventing his emotions from being shown while only revealing his dark brown eyes. Deralst could sensed that the man was giving off a dangerous presence.
“You, I am pretty sure you are a necromancer.” As he pointed his index finger towards Falsces who surrounded by his reanimated followers while still holding on to the bright object. “And you….you are not just any adventurer….I can sense some form of corruption in you.” The man said as he turned to look at Deralst, his sword still pointing towards him.
“I can tell you, the undeads and corrupted spiders were not of our doing.” Falsces quickly tried to deny himself in a dubious manner while Deralst was glaring at the mage in an annoyed manner. Even the holy looking man seemed to be giving them a suspicious look.
“You do not seem like a cleric either.” Deralst quickly interjected himself. “Are you a templar….No, you seemed to be too calm….are you an inquisitor then?”
“Nobody expects the inquisition. No one.” The man answered back in a low yet stern tone.
"So, what is a corpse juggler and a diabolical swordsman doing around here?" The armoured man said seriously as he continues to aim his weapons towards them.
“Please rest assured that I am just like any other law bidding adventurers here, I am not a demon nor anyone from the legions of hell.” Deralst tried to answer back in a considerate voice, yet his arms were still positioned in a tense manner.
“We just happened to pass by this place. We had fought off the monsters and even helped saved an adventurer, her testimony can help confirm to our claims.” He pointed towards the young girl who still seemed to be confused as she could not keep up with the situation.
“Very well, since I am now in a rush. Until we get back to the association, I will put my trust on your words for now." The man said as he turned his attention to look towards the young girl.
“You are….surprisingly more reasonable than I thought, for someone of the faith.” Deralst said as he eyed the tall man doubtfully.
“What are you talking about? That’s blasphemy, my passionate and zealous faith in the divines is as unshakable as the mountains.” The armored man said. While his speech may actually sound great but his monotonous tone of saying it, does not add any credit to his claims at all. It seemed like something that would prompt the other mage here to make a snide remark about it.
"Should I remind you to keep your mouth shut of unnecessary heresy, lest I shove a bomb onto your heretical face, down your throat until you choke on it." He turned to look toward Falsces coldly, as the mage gulped as he immediately snapped himself shut.
“So….I will ask again, do any of you mind explaining what had just occurred here?" The tall man calmly repeated himself as if he was just asking some stranger for road directions.
Along with the help of others, Deralst tried to briefly explain to the man about the situation he knew in an abridged manner. The tall man listened on as he withdrew his weapons, so does Deralst. He seemed to be able to roughly grasp at what was generally going on around here.
“If that was so, have you seen the spiders carrying the body of a young boy through here? He seemed to be around his teens.”
“No, but we may know where they may bring it to, since the spiders had managed to carry away the dead bodies of the adventurers here, the pieces of flesh and stains of blood on the grounds could be one of such indication towards where they would go to.”
"If that's the case, I would gladly appreciate it if you will assist me in my endeavour to save the boy." He arbitrarily stated as he continued to add on. "For the much greater justice of course."
Instead Deralst was hesitant to help him after he had heard what he said, so does Falsces.
"I am sorry to say this, but we are already currently having something else to do as a quest. So I have to kindly decline you offer." Deralst tried to answer back carefully.
"What did you say!" The man seemed shocked and enraged as he heard Deralst's unexpected response. Normally people would not just reject a person's request to save someone.
"Ahem" He quickly faked a cough as he tried to recollect himself. "As you should know, this world is not just about you....unless you are a hermit." He started talking again as if he was pitching his objective.
"You will keep encountering different kind of people, different places, different topics and even different requests as you continue on your adventures as an adventurer." Unfaltering to the silence, he resumed on his speech.
"Therefore, there are times you will need to work to adapt and accommodate to various situations at hand." He kept on talking as he waited for the now silent Deralst to give another response.
"While I respect your freedom of choice, but the life of a fellow adventurer is at stake here." He continue on persistently. "If you truly are as upstanding as you claimed to be, if you truly are seeking salvation, then prove it to me by assisting me in this."
He stared at Deralst intensely as he tried pressure him. Which Deralst stubbornly returned back the stare. Mentally, Deralst knew that he would not be arguing out of this against this, especially when it was well known that people do not just win an argument against a holy preacher. Besides, there was no point in delaying this any further as the man had just hit a soft spot of the argument.
"Fine....I will agree to come along with you, but the mage will have to stay behind to look after the girl." Deralst had conceded, after having considered it for a while and had finally decided to come to some sort of a compromise.
"Very well, I knew there are still some truth in your words." He said. "Call me sir Vullen and long may the light shine upon you."
"You can call me Deralst." He also replied curtly in dismissive manner.
"Do know that if there are angels, then there will be demons. Just like when there is light, there will be darkness. But in the end, they all came from the same origin." Deralst said drily. "At times, you may never know which side it is on when it starts to muddle."