Slowly, Dih's head raised in the air, reaching the same height as hers but sideways. “You thought you could escape, you foul-mouthed bitch?! Ha ha ha! ... With you by my side, I'm unstoppable! Ha ha ha ha!!! ... Pathetic bitch!”

Tears streamed down Jean’s cheeks. She was terrified, trembling from head to toe. She wasn't even breathing, but there was no time to falter. She prepared the shield and unsheathed her longsword. "This is nothing! This is nothing!"

Jean screamed at the top of her lungs charging toward him. Why? She had accepted that she was going to die, but she wasn't going to do it without fighting to the end. Once had been enough.

A very strong blow knocked her backwards. The next thing she knew she was lying on the ground. She didn't know what had exactly happened, but an excruciating pain ran through her face. Blood prevented her from seeing, so she brought her hands to her face. Part of her nose and jaw were missing.

In panic, she searched for the longsword, but getting up was also extremely painful. She conjured healing over her entire body. She didn't know how long it took, but it felt like an eternity. A hell in which she kept thinking about all the possible ways Gabriel was going to kill her.

She quickly wiped the blood from her face and snapped back to her guard. However, neither Gabriel nor Dih's head were there, only the undead struggling to get up.

It was easy to finish them off before they could get up, but she couldn't stop trembling. Any noise, no matter how small, made her hair stand on end. In the end, the thought of another possible ambush didn't leave her.

Dih's body was still there. "Tell me there's a way to save her!"

“[We are sorry! There are many obstacles, but the biggest one is the corruption in her body. Since you can't remove it, she will become an undead irremediably. Even in the hypothetical case that the Gods give you Resurrection at level 20, being newly acquired you won't be able to do anything without her full body.]”

Tears streamed down her cheeks again. "Why is it always like this? Why does everyone I care about die? What's the point of being a cleric if I can't save anyone?”

“[Don't torture yourself! It takes a lot of training to achieve what you are aiming for. Only high-level clerics can perform such feats. Now you need to use everything in your power to survive! This is the only way to avenge them!]”

After much weeping, feeling like shit, she desisted from the idea of saving her. She purified the souls of the undead and nourished on the evil that corrupted them.

The last body she nourished on was Dih's. Barely a few minutes had passed and she had already become undead. Her fingers began to twitch as she purified her soul.

“Gabriel! I will kill you for what you have done to me, but especially for what they have suffered! ... I-I'll destroy you no matter the cost!”

Jean had no time to rest. More undead groaned in the distance. She hid and used Cursed Binding to check out a theory. The process was slow and the corruption didn't seem to affect them at all, but it achieved its purpose, that they would approach individually and not in waves that would draw attention. Moving forward in this way was slow, but less stressful. The possibility of an ambush around every corner was enough for her. Fear and hatred were in conflict, but neither of them were going to dominate her.

Only when she took refuge in a deep crevice did she see the notifications.

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 14.] x28

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 15.] x25

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 18.] x9

[Experience bonus awarded to the shared experience for killing aspirants corrupted by evil.]

[You have acquired +3 Perception, +5 Dexterity, +4 Strength,+3 Endurance.]

[You have reached Level 19. +15 attribute points.]

[You have learned Guardian Whisper — Level 1.

You have grown used to fighting with Death whispering in your ear. Allows whispers to warn you when an attack may be deadly and where it is headed.]

[You have learned Body Purity — Level 1. There has been a synergy between skills. Body Purity will combine with Evil Coexistence, enhancing it.]

[Evil Coexistence allows you to expel poisons, curses and diseases from your body too. You won't die from their effects either. There has been a slight drop in level but not in rank.]

[Master Healer, Swift Strike, Cursed Binding and Identify have increased to level 2.]

[Purify Soul, Guide and Heightened Senses have increased to level 3.]

[Bash, Deep Thrust and Ki have increased to level 4.]

[Dash, Rapid Assault and Heavy Strike have increased to level 6.]

[Pupil of Evil and Hunger for Evil have increased to level 10.]

[Healing Hands has increased up to level 3. Rank 2.]

[Evil Coexistence has increased to level 2. Rank 2]

Status:

Strength: 26

Dexterity: 27

Vitality: 40

Endurance: 21

Intelligence: 40

Willpower: 40

Perception: 20

After eating a little to regain strength, Jean moved forward. Always in silence. Always measuring every step. It had only been 2 hours since she left the rats behind, but it felt like an eternity. She had barely made any progress because she had to constantly reduce corruption due to the continuous exposure. The tainted water, the haze, but mostly, the undead. It took a lot of effort to finally glimpse in the distance what looked like the end of the cavern; a smooth stone wall that didn't match the surroundings. It appeared to have been carved by hand, nothing like the bumpy cavern she was walking through.

New groans revealed that she was no longer alone. She took a few steps back and searched for a narrow area. After dropping the excess weight of the sledgehammer and the second spear very close to her, she was ready for whatever was to come. The first to appear was another hooded one.

Jean awaited him with shield and spear in hand, but he didn’t approach. He patiently waited for the others. She had expected that. However, when he leaned against the wall and hit it several times, a shiver ran through her body. His eyes had turned a shade of red that revealed clothes and weapons in perfect condition.

»Spawn«

Level: 24

Name: Gabriel

Marks: [Thief], [Traitor], [Killer]

Details: You are unaware of the evil that plagues him.

The trauma resurfaced, making her shake like crazy. She thought about running away, but being so fast she wouldn't stand a chance against him. Unless... “Is he really Gabriel or does he just have the same name?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Neither his clothes nor his appearance matched her memories. His level was not so high that he could have killed Dih so easily. But the most decisive was that Gabriel was a human, not a spawn, whatever that was.

Jean remembered with sadness the illusions Dih talked about. Maybe she was right and there were people hiding trying to torment them. But if it was true, why were they doing it?

In the end, all the questions came down to one. How powerful was a level 24 spawn? She needed to extract all the information she could from him, but first had to weaken him. She conjured Cursed Binding on him, but even so, he didn't come closer.

A total of 12 undead approached disoriented. He hit the wall once more, directing them towards her. Finally realizing her presence, they charged at her frantically.

She easily stopped the first three infected with one or two spear thrusts, leaving them unable to stand again. This time, she had no intention of immediately finishing them off. She left them writhing to hinder the advance of the rest.

Her strategy worked to perfection. As they approached in waves, they bumped into each other and became an easy target. New holes in their foreheads provided them with the calm they needed.

She glanced up briefly to see what the spawn was doing, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Whispers screamed, warning her of an attack heading inexorably for the back of her neck.

She hastily turned around and raised the shield, miraculously blocking the attack. The spawn had jumped over her and all the undead with a spiral leap.

Jean froze in place, staring at his two daggers. She had escaped by a hair's breadth.

The spawn made a perfect landing on his hands. After a backflip, he was back on his feet again.

Jean didn't stand around waiting for his autograph. She dashed forward and performed a side kick hoping he was still disoriented, but he easily dodged it with another backflip. He did a couple more backflips and stood watching her from a distance. The same derisive laughter as before was heard again.

A shiver ran down her spine. “What exactly is a spawn?!”

“[He's an artificially created being. A soul deprived of his will bound to a body that simply follows his master's orders.]”

“Like a puppet? Then that thing can't be Gabriel! ... Do you think he's the one who killed Dih?”

"[Maybe. You will have to defeat him first!]”

She waited, ready to attack at the slightest opportunity. However, the spawn wanted to play tag. He started running the way she had come, most likely to hide in one of the many nooks of the cavern, waiting to ambush her.

“Fucking bastard!”

Jean turned to take care of the remaining undead; they had managed to crawl all the way to her feet. They didn't move again after smashing their heads with the shield, staining the floor with the viscous black blood. She briskly turned around after finishing off the last one. Despite not hearing anyone approaching from behind, Jean knew that scum wouldn't forget about her.

And there he was, running directly towards her. This time she was ready. She wasn't going to let him make the same move as before. Once again, the whispers warned her, but this time it was too late. Using his breakneck speed and helped by the puddles of water, he slid across the floor passing between her legs.

Jean fell to her knees, unable to stop him from slashing the inner side of both her thighs. The cuts went so deep that blood spurted out.

She lowered behind the shield and burned her mana at full speed. The bleeding stopped almost instantly. However, closing the wounds wasn't going so well.

“[The daggers are covered with a powerful poison.]”

After severely depleting her mana reserves, she hastily rose to her feet. A new attack headed straight for the back of her head again; the spawn had used the corpses to propel himself back toward her. However, as soon as she turned around, she fell to her knees again. An intense pain made her lose her balance. The wound was closed, but the pain persisted. Why?

“[It is due to the paralyzing effect of the poison.]”

In the end the attack never occurred. The spawn backed to the bottom of the cavern, dodging all the corpses without tripping over any of them. He waited for more undead to appear and laughed derisively again, clearly enjoying the situation.

“Fucking bastard!”

She focused on eliminating the poison as soon as she could, but the undeads weren't sleeping. She barely had time to raise her shield, doing her best to protect herself from the onslaught of the avalanche of undead. She aimed at their legs without lowering the shield and combined Rapid Assault with Heavy Strike. Some of them lost their balance after their legs broke, but even so, they kept attacking.

“If he took advantage of the situation now... Shit! Things are going from bad to worse.”

She couldn't give him the opportunity, so she paid the price and charged with the shield. Getting up was an agony that not even her screams could alleviate. Finishing them off was even worse, but she endured it thanks to her new poison resistance. She could now focus on the main course.

Jean searched around restlessly, but he was nowhere to be found. The whispers didn't warn her of any unexpected attacks either. Had he left? That couldn't be the case. The Cursed Binding link hadn't broken.

Without wasting a second, she placated the excess of corruption and the rest of the poison. A barely audible sound reinforced her suspicions. Although it came from the water, it had nothing to do with the occasional sound of drops falling from the ceiling.

Jean readied her spear and shield. She searched for the source of the sound, but he was still nowhere to be seen. The disturbances on the water left no room for doubt. Someone was slowly approaching. It could only be him.

Jean briefly opened the map. It didn't mark his precise position, but there was a large red spot ahead that weren't the undeads taking a nap. At least it helped her to locate a barely visible silhouette slowly approaching nearby.

She strategically kicked some undead to be surrounded by obstacles, preventing any attempt for him to surf over the puddles, and pointed the spear in his direction.

Spotted, the spawn charged at full speed while maintaining invisibility. He even jumped over some corpses to try to conceal his exact position again.

Jean gripped the spear tightly. She was protected on both sides by stone walls and below by the undead. That left him with only one remaining option.

She crouched down so that she was fully protected by the shield and readied the spear, aiming to the ceiling. As soon as the whispers warned her, she would be ready.

An unexpected sound of loud, continuous splashing surprised her. It felt as if he had tried to slow down, but a slippery surface had forced him to abruptly stop about 4 meters away from her.

"Ah, no, no! You won't escape!"

She aimed a meter and a half above the ripples and threw Ned’s spear. More splashes indicated an effortless dodge, but also his exact position. Jean threw the other spear too.

With such a short distance, the spawn couldn't avoid being hit; Cursed Binding had taken its toll on him. She wasn't sure where it had been, but the sparks and the change of trajectory in mid-flight ruled out a vital point. It had probably hit him in the shoulder or arm.

The only thing she could clearly distinguish was how the force of the impact made him slip on a nearby corpse as he tried to keep his balance. Despite the invisibility, the silhouette of his backside and legs were clearly outlined in the water.

Jean dropped the shield and lunged at him, sledgehammer in hand. She couldn't let him get up. Being on the ground limited his movements; there was no better time to attack. She wasn't going to let the answers she had worked so hard to get slip away.