Joar Maalik, a giant of a man, who was blessed with the rank of Gold in his prime, could do nothing but run with his fellow comrades. The sharp winter’s wind brushed against his face, numbing it to the bone, while the swaying of the lantern made it messy and hard to navigate this harsh landscape. Running from the enemy was shameful, but ghouls were cursed creatures after all, giving even the strongest of adventurers a run for their money.

“H…how far?” He asked, struggling for breath. Apart from its beauty, he hated winter, snow always made things troublesome. For a person born in Asculum, where such climate was experienced from stories alone, it was even more so.

“Not far,” answered Canus, glancing at the shadows as if surrounded by an invisible army. “Just don’t stop, it’s still after us.”

“Damned dwarf… You’ll owe me after this.” Running through heavy snow with an extra 60 or 70 kilograms on one’s back was not something just anyone could do after all. Most wouldn’t. “How’s Nannik?”

“I’m fine!” A purple tint was slowly overwhelming his usual pale complexion. “It cut me on the arm…but I’ll manage. I didn’t even see the bastard…”

“J…just don’t stop the bleeding.” Joar struggled to speak, he simply had no breath to spare. “FUCK!!!!”

“Calm down. Weren’t you the one who always said to be cautious?”

“Shut it, dwarf! I…I’m perfectly calm!”

“Anyway, it seems to only be following us. Why’s that?”

“…it spreads disease with but a graze,” he bit his lip. “Nannik already got cut, so…”

“Meaning it’s dwindling our numbers one by one? They’re crafty for what they are, huh.”

“T…that’s not all, it’s not just a disease,” he drew in a whole lot of air to keep up with the demand. “If Nannik isn’t treated soon he’ll die and turn into one.”

“What?!” Nannik yelled both in pain and surprise. “I’ll die?!”

“Yes if you don’t hurry the fuck up!” Joar felt his muscles giving out, he won’t last long. “Shit…!” His vision was turning blurry.

“There! Past the tree line!”

***

Magus and the succubus walked through the forest in pure darkness. Naturally, undead had perfect vision so it didn’t bother him one bit. Apparently demons also could see in the dark, though theirs seemed to lack when compared to an undead. Yet another gift of unlife, as Magus called it. Behind them, the giant frame of Colossus slowly followed, unfazed by the deep snow or the tree branches smacking at its face. Guessing from the faraway lights of civilization, their destination was a human settlement. The demoness could already guess what he was up to, thus stayed unusually quiet. Deep inside her mind she hoped for a chance to escape to appear, but knew it was impossible, as Colossus could simply catch her, or even worse, she’d get burned to a crisp by the unnatural fire of the undead. She has never seen such ferociousness of magic before.

“You. Woman,” suddenly spoke the undead. “Get ready. I’m going to use you.”

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“I have a name.” She said, fed up with ‘woman this, woman that’.

“What…?”

“I have a name!”

“Is that so.” He stopped and sharply turned to her. Immediately her heart began racing as she understood the tone she spoke in just now. Did I piss it off?

Magus approached her, making her step back right into Colossus. It felt as if she was stuck in between an impenatrable castle and an unstoppable army, except she was the target. She looked around, but there was nowhere to run. Glancing at the stars, she thought whether they will be the last thing she’ll see before dying. It was nice… but she’d rather die with the taste of wine in her mouth. She closed her eyes, waiting for the heat or the inhuman pressure of Colossus’ hand on her skull. Will she get dissected like those animals? Or perhaps he’ll raise her to unlife? Will she have consciousness in that state? Wouldn’t just dying be better if that’s the case?

There was no time to ponder these things, Magus was already within hand's reach. But what came was not magic and pain, but silence. He simply stood there, waiting. His mask-piercing stare looked into her soul, even she felt it, and after what seemed like an eternity, he lifted his arm and…poked her with the bony finger.

“Huh?!” She jumped in surprise.

“Stop wasting my time and get on with it.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“The name. Tell it. I’m tired of this charade.”

“A-ah,” she took a deep breath trying to calm herself, but couldn’t. She didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or confused or scared or… “My name is Cyddype Iphis Cyther…" She said proudly, flinging her messy hair sideways. "Cyther is my family’s name.”

“Now that this is over,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s time for me to use you, Cyddype Iphis Cyther.”

“What… is it?”

“The village,” he pointed towards the light. “Go and convince them not to run. Preferably to gather in one spot. Can you do that, Cyddype Iphis Cyther?”

“I can, but most of the humans are probably sleeping… are you really sure I should wake them?”

“Ah,” he glanced at the golden watch, it was around 11pm. “So this is the time the living sleep? Interesting.”

“Not everyone, but most. Yes.”

“I see. So demon-humans sleep at other time…”

“No, I’m not… whatever.”

“Well then,” he unlocked her chains. “Get on with it, Cyddype Iphis Cyther.”

“Yes, yes.” She waved wearily. “Can you also stop calling me like that?”

“What, is Cyddype Iphis Cyther not your name?”

“Just call me Iphis.”

“Get going, Iphis.” He waved her off, as if the rest didn’t matter. “Oh,” he suddenly remembered. “Don’t bother running. I’ve got sentries surrounding the village.”

“Of course you do…”

***

Jumping through the shrubbery, the visage of the village came and calmed the hearts of the running men. There was still yet hope.

“What happened to you?!” Shouted a young man from the entrance. The village had no walls, only fences to prevent animals, at worst goblins, from getting in, thus a guard was still posted at night.

Finally reaching the village, Joar threw Canus off his shoulder and heaved, trying to calm his heart from the adrenaline rush. Blood spilled like a waterfall from Nannik’s arm.

“Gather the people,” said Canus. “Don’t let anyone stray. And wake Rene.”

“Ah,” the young man squirmed, as if just realizing. “Sir Rene... already gathered the people. He’s now speaking with some lady…”

“What do you mean?”

“A black haired woman came and wished to speak with our Lord…”

“I understand that much, but who is she?” Said Canus. “Some noble?”

“I don’t know.” He said, shrugging.

“And you just let someone like that in?! What kind of guard are you..”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” said Silver. “What’s more important…”

“Yes, I know.” Said Joar. He already got his strength back, but a mess of emotions showed on his face. Majority was worry, though some was anger and confusion. “I’ll treat Nannik, you…” He thought for a bit. “Deal with whatever is going on here.”

“Alright,” said Canus, turning to Silver. “You’ve got good eyes, help this hopeless young’un out, will you?”

Silver simply nodded, while the guard shied away in embarrassment.