“Attack!” Although the king hadn’t moved from his chair yet, he gave off a pressure that made me think a first strike was better.

The undead swarmed forward onto the dwarf king, but no sooner had they reached his chair than he lifted his hand. With a wave, the zombies near him turned to dust. I could see the miasma being wrenched out of them. The zombie queen cried, pulling back her control. However, the wave of destruction didn’t end there.

In a spreading wave, zombie after zombie collapsed into a pile of ash. I could see what was happening. The king was using absorb, but his absorb was on a completely different level. Even with my protections, he was able to completely reduce zombie after zombie to ash. The zombie queen tried to turn the zombies around, having them retreat, but it didn’t matter. His absorption was growing even stronger.

“Fine, absorb this!”

I lifted my hand and cast a Strong Heal. It struck him, causing his body to glow white. He stiffened for a second, and then his eyes opened.

“Harm Undead!” I followed it up by another attack.

His body glowed red for a moment, but he showed no distress on his face. A small grin formed on his face, and it was at that point I began to realize what was going on.

“Y-you’re not undead?”

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“No… I’m not.” He chuckled. “And I’m not some slave to a dungeon either. I was once King Diorite, Lord of the Deep Dwarves. I stayed behind to protect my people. For untold years I have remained here, sustaining on the strength of a dungeon to long outlive my years. I tried to keep the darkness from spreading to the surface. In repayment, it seems like the surface-dwellers murdered my race, and have not prepared for the dangers beneath. Hehe… I suppose it makes things easy now.”

“Please… stop killing them!” A voice came out, surprising me.

The zombie queen had spoken. She hadn’t said a single word since I had tamed her, but as the zombies fell one after another, she had a pure look of panic on her face.

“These were once proud citizens of my empire. You’ve perverted them by bringing back their corpses as undead.

“They’re family!” She cried, tears running down her face.

“You have no family!” He stood up and roared. “You’re a monster created by my dungeon by accident, and you’ve done nothing but create more monsters.”

Seeing him shouting at her, tears falling down her face, something inside me seemed to snap.

“Shut up!” I snarled.

“And you… a Monster Tamer? With White Mage? An odd combination…” The dwarf was still destroying zombies, none even having a chance of getting close.

“She’s not a monster. She’s just a scared little girl!” I growled. “She was the image of your daughter.”

“She is an abomination!”

“You’re the only abomination here! If you can’t even see that your daughter is right in front of you, then maybe I’ll have to show you.” I reached out and summoned Alysium to my hand.

“I see how it is. You may have found some way to hide them, but I see those curses all over your body.” His eyes darkened. “I was interested in this soul that was half miasma, but it’s clear now your mind is already been lost to darkness.”

“And you’re a senile fool!” I kicked off the ground, beginning my assault.