Though Alza and Shion rode on their horses, Talon seemed content to travel on foot. Even after being offered to be taken on horseback by Shion, the monk refused, as he seemed to prefer walking and running with his own legs.

Their journey lasted for a few more days, occasionally halted by stops at neighboring villages where they sought respite from the demands of the road. Regardless, the trio's determination carried them forward, and at last, they stood before the gates of Selgrad.

Yet, the gates were in a state of utter disrepair. The large wooden doors were plagued by rot, their timber eaten away by countless voracious worms, while the metal components of the gate were twisted and gnarled by rust. Corrosion had consumed the once-ornate ironwork, rendering it almost completely unrecognizable.

"This place looks like it’s been through war and abandoned years ago." Alza said.

"What in the world happened here?" Shion asked aloud.

"I can’t believe Selgrad already looks worse than when I left it, it’s only been a few days." Talon said.

Alza leapt off of her horse. "I don’t sense anything good within the gates, we’re almost likely going to face undead."

"Should we leave our horses outside for now? Just in case." Shion asked.

"We probably should, yea."

"I’ll…wait for you two here at the front. I’m not going in there alone." Talon said.

Alza and Shion tied their horses to a tree far back from the gate. They then returned to meet with Talon.

"Alright, are you two ready?" Alza asked.

"I’m ready." Talon replied.

"Hold on just a moment." Shion drew his sword and clutched its hilt tight. "Ignite: Phoenix Blade!" With that incantation, flames engulfed his sword.

The trio then entered through the large hole in the gate. The first thing Alza noticed was the pungent scent of rotten flesh that filled the air. The next thing she noticed was the sheer number of undead that walked around. Every street looked as if it was festering with hundreds upon hundreds of zombies. Each one reeking of a most pustulent scent that was an assault on the nostrils.

Talon couldn’t help but want to cover his nose. "By the spirits, this place is more disgusting than I remembered."

Shion wrapped a cloth over his nose and mouth. "This place smells like dragon’s piss, if the dragon decided to drink sewer water on a daily basis."

"That…is terrifyingly accurate." Alza muttered. Even she could barely tolerate the smell. She closed her eyes and focused on infusing magic with her breath, so that she could filter out the scent. After a few seconds, Alza breathed out a sigh of relief as she could no longer smell the pungent scent of decay that was in the air.

"So…what do we even do here exactly? The place seems…dead, for lack of a better word." Shion said.

"I can't seem to detect…much of anything here, actually." Alza muttered aloud. "We might have to explore this place."

"Eh, how come? I thought necromancy was your specialty?" Shion asked.

Alza sighed. "It is, but I just can't detect anything abnormal so far. It means that the necromancer isn't here…or perhaps, our necromancer is an undead themselves."

"Are you not able to detect undead?" Talon asked.

Alza shook her head. "It's impossible, even if an undead is sentient or capable of using magic. They themselves do not have any life force or energy I could sense from mortals or even demons."

"But how does that make any sense? I know that detecting magic users should be possible if you are especially sensitive to arcane energy." Shion mentioned.

"The problem here is that the undead draw their powers directly from Pandemonia. Which means they don't have any ambient magical essence in their bodies unless they're actively casting a spell."

Talon shot a sideways glance to Alza. "In that case, are there any demons nearby?"

Alza shook her head. "No, I can't feel anything right now."

"In that case, what are we looking for exactly?" Talon asked.

"We're looking for a necromancer, the entity I'm assuming is responsible for all of this, and that."

Alza pointed a finger forward. Four zombies walked on in the distance, their flesh mangled and gray, whilst they leaked out greenish fluids from every open orifice in their body. With every movement, hordes of flies seemed to follow them, feasting on their rotting flesh.

Shion nearly puked at the sight. "I…have seen a lot, but those things are one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life."

Even Talon seemed to wince. "By the spirits, those things smell even more rancid than the rest of this kingdom."

"They should make for easy foes. But be careful to not let them injure you, lest you become one of them." Alza warned.

Shion looked at Alza with an astonished look. "We could turn into those things?"

"If they sink their teeth into you, then yes. That's how the Plague Song was supposed to function. Get a few people corrupted by disease, and then they will become carriers and spread the plague even further." Alza explained.

"Seems like we have our work cut out for us." Talon muttered.

"I say we split up for now. Talon, Shion, both of you go together. I'll go on my own, we meet back at this gate by sun down."

Talon raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "Are you sure- "

But before the monk could finish, Shion placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. If anything, we might be the ones in trouble."

Talon smirked. "Alright then, I have no objections to the plan."

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Alza smiled. "I'll see you both in a few hours then."

***

Selgrad was once a bustling port city nicknamed the golden city as many people sought to make their fortunes there. It was home to a diverse array of people and above all else, Selgrad was secure: protected by a council of mages who also served as governors of the city. Yet, barely even a shell of that remains now.

Alza took to the skies at first, carried on her bony wings. Yet, despite having a bird’s eye view, she couldn't seem to find anything that stood out, and so eventually, she decided to take a slower approach instead and walk.

As Alza walked the forlorn paths of the Golden City, she saw countless buildings with wood consumed by rot, stone weakened by strange flora that grew in between them, and rancid corpses which emanated an ever-foul stench.

With every step she took, Alza could only look on in disbelief at how utterly ruined Selgrad had become. She knew well the capability possessed by the Plague Song and how devastating it could be. Yet, it was still surreal to face the consequences of her own creation first hand.

Soon, dozens of plagued zombies limped awkwardly from the street corners. All of them were in various states of decay. Some had their lower jaws completely melted off while others lost a limb or several. One particularly pathetic one could only crawl on the ground with its left arm.

Pity welled in Alza's heart at what she saw. She snapped her fingers, causing the zombies she saw to revert back to still corpses once more. Continuing to traverse the city streets, Alza would encounter more and more of these zombies. And each time, she would dismiss them without even so much as a second thought.

Yet, it was not the torrent of undead that came at Alza that uneased her. But rather, she was growing ever more concerned by the fact that she could not seem to detect the source of the rot that had festered in Selgrad. Every time she closed her eyes and tried to trace sense for demonic influence or any other trace of the arcane, she could feel nothing.

That was, until at one point, Alza saw a spider clinging onto a broken shard of glass. Though she would usually not even bother with such an insignificant creature, an instinctual part of her commanded her body to step on the creature. And Alza did, with extreme prejudice. She crushed the insect beneath her boot, and at that moment, Alza's eyes widened in realization.

Quickly lifting her foot off of the spider, Alza saw how the spider did not leave behind a body or splatter. Instead, she could see the faint wisps of shadowy energy fade into the air: a telltale sign of demonic magic.

Alza's heart beated faster as panic began to set in. Everything made sense once she factored in the fact that Arachne was likely responsible for Selgrad's downfall. The demon spider had likely already anticipated Alza's arrival and set up seals or wards in the Golden City to prevent her from detecting anything she wasn't supposed to find.

As realization dawned on Alza, she finally sensed a potent malice seep in from behind her. She slowly turned around, her eyes widening as she saw Arachne, in all her unholy glory standing right in front of her.

Arachne dropped to a light curtsy. "Greetings, Sister Alza."

Alza squinted her eyes. "Hello, Arachne."

"Do you like what you see so far, Alza? I worked so very hard to prepare things for you after all." Arachne asked, a smug grin tugging at her lips.

"I fail to see how destroying a mortal city has anything to do with me." Alza scoffed.

"Don't play dumb with me. There was a time when you did much worse than what I did here, this mortal city was supposed to be a reminder of that."

"I am aware of my past, Arachne. But I've put that life behind me now."

Arachne let out a hysterical cackle, the demoness wiped off a tear from one of her eyes as she seemed amused at what she heard. "You truly do make the funniest jokes, Alza."

Alza shot a contemptuous glare at her sister. "I fail to see what's so hilarious."

"You think I haven't heard of what you did to our dear Anzu? You nearly killed him."

"I…it was a mistake, I didn't mean to do what I did."

"To do what exactly?" Arachne asked. "Because I believe that your only regret was being forced to use your true powers, and not attempting to murder your own brother."

"Don't you dare lecture me on kinship." Alza spat. "I know you, Arachne. Now drop the facade."

The drider shrugged her shoulders in an overly dramatic fashion. "Oh no, it seems you got me." She admitted sarcastically.

"Why are you even here? Just to toy with me?" Alza asked.

Arachne licked her lips. "Why of course. It's not every day I get to have the strongest demon prince as my prey."

"If you wish to fight me, go ahead. It will not end well for you."

"As fun as that sounds, I will have to politely decline that offer….for now."

Alza smirked. "I didn't think you were a coward, Arahcne."

The drider skittered forward slowly towards Alza, an eerie smile etched on her visage. "On the contrary, sister. I fear nothing, and I know I especially have nothing to fear from you while you still wish to play pretend."

Alza took a few cautious steps back and readied her hands. "I suppose the time for talking is over."

"You are right, sister. But not for the reason you think, relax, I have no intention of fighting you for now."

Arachne now stood only inches away from Alza. Her smile never once escaped her visage. "I'd like to ask you a question, Alza."

Alza clenched her hands into tight fists. "Go on."

"Why are you so…attached to mortals, I never understood it. And neither does everyone else for that matter."

Upon hearing Arachne's question, Alza relaxed her hands slightly and breathed out a sigh. "None of you would understand even if I explained, there's nothing for me to say."

Arachne chuckled. "I suppose that's fair. But since you insist on wanting to associate yourself with trash, you should probably check on those mortals you brought with you here."

"What did you do to them?"

"Oh, nothing that you can't handle…a small sickness here and there, it's really nothing us demons should be concerned about."

Alza bit her lip in frustration. "Curse you!"

"I wish you the best of luck, sister, we will see each other again very soon."

As Arachne's body dissipated into countless scuttling spiders. Alza immediately turned her back on Arachne and manifested her bony wings and took for the skies again.

***

After flying for a few minutes, Alza spotted Shion lying still in an alleyway. She flew down towards the swordsman and cursed her luck. Shion was barely breathing, his entire body consumed by plague.

Shion's breathing was labored and raspy, his once-healthy flesh bore a ghastly greenish pallor, now overlaid with patches of necrotic black tissue. His cheeks had hollowed, while his eyes appeared vacant.

Alza laid her hand gently over Shion's body. A luminous, golden light emanated from her palm and wrapped around the swordsman. In mere seconds, vitality seeped back into Shion. His sickly complexion vanished, once again taking on a healthy, pinkish hue. His cheeks regained their rosy hue, and a renewed vitality kindled within his eyes.

Slowly, Shion opened his eyes. "A-Alza?"

Alza offered a hand to the swordsman. "It's me, we need to get out of this city, fast."

Shion took Alza's hand and stood on his own feet. "But where's Talon?"

"I'm going to look for him, you go back to the city gate." Alza instructed.

Shion nodded. "Alright, be careful."

Alza took to the skies again, this time looking for Talon. Her eyes scanned every crevice of Selgrad for the location of the monk. She soon found him, surprisingly, still kicking and fighting.

The monk was at the town square fighting off hordes of undead. Talon seemed to move everywhere at once, his fists striking with blinding speed and precision. He sent zombies flying with powerful roundhouse kicks and shattered their skulls with his bare fists.

One zombie tried to lunge at Talon, its rotting teeth bared. Talon ducked under the creature's grasp and spun around, delivering a swift kick to its chest. The zombie staggered backward, its chest caving in. Though the feat was impressive, it was then that Alza saw how parts of the monk's flesh were infected with plague.

Figuring it was time to help him, Alza flew to the ground and dissipated her bony wings. She then stomped her right foot against the ground, sending a cascading chain of erupting rocks which broke the ranks of undead that had surrounded Talon.

Alza rushed to help the monk. Talon, though more resilient than Shion, was not in the clear. His hands and legs displayed the unmistakable signs of infection, bearing the sickly pallor of the afflicted flesh.

"Talon! Hold still, I can heal you."

The monk could only offer a meek nod in response. But soon, Alza managed to get close enough to him and heal him, diffusing her golden light over his body, removing the plague from him.

"Thank you, I don't think I would have lasted much longer myself." Talon said.

"Enough talking for now, let's get out of here."