Pov Jack

Since this city is huge and there's 3 of us, not counting any scouting spells Steph has, we had to split up and explore an area of the city one at a time, thankfully we don’t have to stick with walking everywhere as Steph cast an invisibility spell on all of us, even if Andrew doesn’t need it.

Currently I was running around the high-class area of the city as having a corrupt noble is a likelihood, I am hoping it’s not due to the fact that it's such a cliché thing to happen, and the fact that there would be a ton of paperwork to fill out once I behead a noble.

Just thinking about it is giving me a headache.

I grumbled to myself, looking down at the magical device that spots low level and high level undead. The device beeps occasionally, but that’s because the undead are good at doing anything that involves labor and therefore they are used by the high class and sometimes the middle class. Some people say it's immoral to use a corpse like a servant, and others say it’s perfectly fine. I’m with the latter as usually the soul leaves the body upon death, only in cases such as becoming a litch does a soul inhabit an undead, or the soul is chained to the body, which happens with heinous criminals. Low level undead don’t have a will and are just husks, only when an undead becomes high leveled, it will gain its own will, thoughts and feelings.

Suddenly the device started beeping faster, until it turned into a whine as I approached the first suspected mansion. Since the device was blowing my cover, I shut it off for now.

I’ve had a suspicion about this place the second when I saw all those [Epic Blooming Undeath], not a big suspicion as the person who owned this mansion would’ve cleaned up after himself immediately, but you never know.

Since I didn’t have enough time, it was a get in and get out type of scenario. If there was a single suspicious thing going on inside this mansion, I would be forced to interrogate the lord of the house with my fists.

Oh yeah Steph asked me to set up one of her eyes here.

I hopped over the brick fence wall, landing in the garden tended by a couple of low-level skeletons. No big deal since the skeletons can't pick up invisibility. Ignoring the skeletons, I stabbed the ground with a metallic cylinder prompting three flaps, pointing downwards, to extend outwards and stab the ground to stabilize the device. In the middle of the cylinder was a blue crystal which flared up and which in turn caused the air above the device to move slightly.

It wasn’t the air that moved, but an invisible ‘eye’. The mana this thing used was so small that it was even invisible to a mage’s eyes. Of course, the downside was the short lifespan of the eye. It should self-deconstruct using the mana crystal in about 10 hours.

I was amazed at what a joint effort between a mage and a dwarf were capable of, but I had a mission to complete so I continued moving.

And then promptly crouched behind a bush when I saw the owner of the house, Reith Burner, exit into the garden. He, unlike the skeletons, would see straight through my invisibility due to him being a high-level Necromancer.

The Burner family was well-known due to their blood line of Necromancy, and the fact that they were merchants who did business with undead labor. Reith was the oldest of three siblings and a father of two. He was a tall and lanky man standing at 6’3, black hair and a clean-shaven face, and his piercing green eyes that came from his bloodline, made him look like a noble even though none of his family was nobility. His clothes, however, did not fit with his looks as he wore a pair of blue overalls and a white shirt stained with dirt.

It seemed my luck had been getting worse and worse as Reith decided to squat in front of the bush I was hidden behind. The fact that he hasn’t noticed me either means he is going senile, or Steph used a considerable amount of mana for our invisibilities. I’ll have to ask Steph about that.

I couldn’t help but grumble at my luck.

The bush looks alright, just leave already you-

Just as I was about to say some obscenities at Reith, some young kid with black hair came running in and yelled out.

“Dad it’s almost ready!”

“Shh quiet down you. What if someone hears? It’ll ruin the entire thing!”

It seems my luck has turned around.

“I’ll head inside soon; I’m almost done pruning this bush.”

“Ok dad!”

I heard Reith chuckle heartly as the kid ran back inside, which I’m thankful for as the kid doesn’t need to see what’s about to happen.

Just as Reith turned back to the bush, I reached out violently and grabbed Reith by the face, covering his mouth. Such an action canceled the invisibility spell, causing me to slowly start appearing in front of his eyes

“[Absolute Silence]”

I stood up with Reith as my invisibility spell was almost gone, watching in amusement as Reith saw who I was.

“Hello old friend, we have a lot to talk about. If you warn anyone with any method, your head will go flying. Understood?”

Reith looked left and right hurriedly but, in the end, nodded, or at least tried to nod.

“Good.”

I let him go and he fell on his behind, but I wasn’t going to let him have freedom of motion that fast. I drew my great sword and stabbed it beside his head; of course, I didn’t feel like this was enough, so I put my foot on his heaving chest, and in a relaxed manner, placed my free hand on my thigh armor.

“Now look here, Reith, you don’t give me the answers I want, I’ll crush your rib cage.”

Knowing he couldn’t do anything at such a state, Reith wheezed out.

“Y-yes”

I tapped the side of my helmet thrice.

“Good, now tell me did you, or did you not, abuse your power as a professional Necromancer to kill any people during this week?”

He started panicking once I said this.

“w-what's going on? Wh-what happened?-”

I put more pressure on my foot causing Reith to wheeze again and grab my armored boot, which I didn’t mind as he couldn’t do anything in such a state.

“I asked you a question, don’t beat around the bush.”

“I-I did n-not."

“Where were you during this week? And what were you doing?”

“I-I was buying s-some farming t-tools in central.”

“Have your risen any high leveled undead from corpses during the week? If you have risen one, how many?”

“I have n-not.”

“Last question, what were you and your son talking about in this garden just now?”

“M-my d-daughter's birthday is today, a-and I wanted to surprise her, as I’m u-usually busy. P-please don’t hurt them.”

That surprised me greatly, but I didn’t loosen any pressure on the man and stayed silent as I waited for a confirmation.

“Let him go, he’s speaking the truth.”

Steph answered. I took my foot off immediately and dispelled [Absolute Silence]. I put away my great sword and looked at Reith as he sat up, watching me carefully, and with a hint of fear.

“You are free to go, compensation from the guild will be sent in 3-4 business days.”

Just as I was about to leave, Reith called out, I looked back and he was standing, still watching me.

“What the hell was that about? Are you just going to leave without saying anything else?”

For a man who was so close to death, he sounded pretty calm. I looked at him silently while debating what to do.

“Along with compensation you will be told the general gist of what happened today, but I will give you one warning. Round up all the residents in this house, have the surprise birthday party, and pray for safety.”

With those ending words, I left by running and vaulting over the brick wall. Without looking back. But I did stop when I heard Steph talk.

“Jack go to the West side of the lower class, I feel demonic energy rising in that area.”

Today was going to be a long day...

I sighed mentally as I switched directions and continued to run.

Pov Eclipse

I didn’t know where to look as the area I was in was too dark to see anything. Thankfully the darkness dispersed not too soon afterwards as we entered a large area which looked oddly like the room I was summoned into, but I paid it no mind, what interested me instead was the number of humans, I think they are humans at least, standing around and watching me intensely.

Oh no am I back with the humans that stare intensely and want to turn me into a hat?

Three skinny humans approached me, they had white skin, was it weird that the skin had holes in it? They were missing fur on top of their heads, like Zoltan. They were wearing black cloaks with many tears, which reminded me of the humans wearing red cloaks. They had strange eyes as the top moved rapidly, something I never noticed on any other human.

The human had different colored eyes and different appearances, not surprising. The one with red eyes was shorter and wider than the others. The one with green eyes was taller than the others. The one with pink eyes was slimmer than the others. All but the pink one had their hood up.

“Oh, our court is now complete, welcome sister.”

The red one said with a rasp, definitely another Zoltan.

“But who joins sister? This is no undead nor is it the fool.”

The pink one said, its voice whisper-like, something that sounded quite nice. I was confused however as I noticed that only me and this sister human entered. I quickly looked around, but I didn’t see anyone beside us.

Huh? Is it referring to me?

“Have you lost your eyesight? An heir to the throne of darkness has come to visit us.”

The green one rumbled.

Oh, weird, they must be seeing someone I don’t see. After all I’m no heir to the throne of darkness, whatever that is. I’m Eclipse...uh green one? Hmm calling you humans red one, pink one and green one is bothersome. Oh, I know, I’ll just do what Zoltan did and shorten your names to Red, Pink and Green!

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“An heir? To the dark throne? Surely you jest? I can sense the light energy radiating from it. It surely is an heir to the throne of light.”

Pink made strange breathing noises, something I ignored as every human I have met has made that noise, I’m more curious on why I’m getting so much attention when Pink said that.

“Even if it is an heir to the dark or the light, it's too young to be acknowledged by me.”

Red said pointing its chin upwards in a haughty manner while looking straight at me.

Wait... No please... Don’t tell me I’m being called something I'm not again!

“I share the same judgment brother, but in the end it’s an heir.”

Green said before continuing.

“...But if it’s an heir to the throne of light, then killing it would be our only choice... Sister Knight, it would be more beneficial to us if you let it down and tie it up, lest it tries to sabotage the arrival of the Overlord.”

Oh, was the human holding me named Sister Knight? I’ll just call you Knight then. I’m just going to try and ignore the dramatic humans.

“Have you found a master that you don’t wish to leave, Sister Knight? The Overlord will not be happy once it crosses over even if it is an heir to the throne of darkness. You might even face the wrath of the Overlord if it’s an heir to the throne of light.”

Pink said making strange breathing noises, but this time they were louder.

Please human, can you talk without making that weird noise?

I felt some movement happen under me as Knight transferred me to one hand letting the other hand extend and curl its fingers with the one pointing downwards. The sudden movement caused me to slightly stumble, but I stood my ground... or well stood on the hand.

“I am guessing that you believe it’s an heir to the throne of darkness?”

Green spoke and Knight pointed the finger upwards.

“I personally agree with you as it seems comfortable around us, but some of the others think otherwise.”

Green spoke while looking around the room. Sister Knight uncurled her outstretched hand and placed it back under me, letting me not desperately balance on a small surface.

“That would not explain the light energy coming from it as no creature of the dark mingles with the light.”

Pink spoke putting a hand where its legs met the body and looked at Green.

Huh? Why not? Ah the lack of communication, you sure are the bane of my existence.

“Yet there is clearly dark energy existing within the body, and as you know, no creature of the light mingles with the dark.”

Red didn’t bother to look at Pink as it looked at me with a hand to the lower part of its head.

Why does it feel like Red said the same thing as Pink but worded differently? Anyways can I just be left alone, I’m Eclipse it's as simple as that.

But my internal statements were ignored, big surprise there.

“I thought you didn’t care?”

Pink said with venom.

“I don’t care, you just stated something and left out a crucial piece of evidence.”

Red said scoffing, which seemed to make Pink freeze.

“Well, you see....”

Pink suddenly looked away, and I saw that the humans in this room were now staring at the two.

“You don’t have anything else?”

Red sounded smug as it crossed its arms while it leaned towards Pink.

“... I admit defeat”

Pink threw up its hands and Red let out a laugh, before getting hit by Green on the back of the head, causing Pink to laugh which caused Green to repeat what it did on Red but on Pink this time.

“Silence you numbskulls, let’s just start the stabilization ritual. Sister Knight if you truly believe in the heir, I guess the heir can watch as long as you keep a watch on it.”

Knight stayed silent, but it seemed like Green understood and started making its way towards the center of the room, which every other human seemed to do. And I couldn’t help but think that Red, Pink and Green reminded me of a certain trio. And then a booming voice called out.

“Everyone cease your actions!”

I looked over and noticed a human that wore armor like Knight’s armor, but this one has a helmet with red fur coming from the top. I heard Green sigh loudly.

“Brother Arrogance, why have you stopped the court?”

Brother Arrogance? Too long of a name you’re now Arrogance.

Arrogance was one of the only humans actively looking at me.

“You have called your two companions numbskulls, and I agree with you. But I believe you to be the biggest numbskull out of the three of you.”

It seems that numbskull is not a liked word as Green seemed angry at this fact. Which begs the question on why it said it first.

“And why would that be, Brother Arrogance?”

Green said forcefully, and Arrogance seemed to enjoy it.

“Simple, you are trusting an heir to the throne of light. I believe the heir has done something to mask it as the heir to the throne of darkness, its impeccable timing should be noted. It's quite convenient that an heir somehow found the fool and appeared just as we created our court.”

Arrogance stretched its arms outwards as it looked around the room. Just as Green was about to retort, another new voice came from the crowd of humans, this one sounded cold and authoritative. The human who the voice belonged to was tall and lanky green skinned. It has pure white eyes, and long ears. It had no hair like Red, Pink and Green, but it had fully intact skin.

“Brother Arrogance, this matter matters not, we have already entrusted Sister Knight with the task of keeping the heir away from messing up the stabilization ritual. If the heir causes a disruption during the ritual, we can simply kill it and redo the ritual, but if we kill it now and it’s an heir to the throne of darkness, the Overlord will take us to the kingdom of darkness, whether we want to or not, and we will be held on trial for doing such a deed. The most merciful end to such a crime would be banishment to the ‘Land of The Lost’. So, are you still willing to do such a deed?”

The new human said while keeping its hands behind its back. Arrogance only made a strange noise.

“’Entrusted Sister Knight’, ‘redo the ritual’, Brother Slow, are you called that due to the fact your thinking is slow? How can you trust a greenhorn that has only been undead for not even a few minutes? And redo the ritual? Do you think the heir’s plan will only cause a small disruption? No, I believe the heir will cause permanent damage and force the Overlord to wait longer, and we wouldn’t want that, not after it has woken up from its slumber from feeling the energy of our court. Do you think the Overlord will be merciful to us for making it wait? No, it won't.”

Arrogance shook its head, and Brother Slow, now named Slow by me, shook his head as well and looked at Arrogance intensely.

“Slow as in careful and precise planning which can take a while-”

Slow explained, and then was interrupted by Arrogance.

“Wait really? That name is really misleading.”

Slow stared blankly and replied.

“Well.... Now that I think about it, you’re right, but that does trick enemies into thinking I’m slow... The Overlord will personally give us names if we meet its expectations. Anyways, let’s get back on track, the Overlord would understand if we told it about the situation with the heir, but killing the heir to the throne of darkness would be a greater insult to the Overlord. And you do have a point about Sister Knight being a greenhorn. If you still have a problem with the heir living, I have a solution to this mess. Brother Arrogance and Sister Knight will have a duel and if Brother Arrogance wins, the heir will be slain, and the blame will fall on Brother Arrogance if the heir is from the throne of darkness. If Sister Knight wins, the heir will be saved, and we will see who the heir really is in due time.”

Slow said slowly and clearly to allow all the humans to understand, seeing how I wasn’t human I guess that didn’t include me as the entire conversation flew over my head just like when Jack and Silven have a conversation most of their words don’t make sense.

“Brother Slow you make a good point, but we will have to vote on this as some of us want to commit to the ritual.”

Green said while looking around the room, clearly agitated.

“Those who wish for this duel to happen, raise your hand... it seems the majority wants to have this duel, very well. Sister Knight give me the heir and step into the middle of the room.”

Green outstretched its arm and opened its large hand; Knight placed me on the hand allowing me to tell how big it was. Knight had held me with two hands, but Green easily held me with just one.

I watched as Knight walked towards the center of the room where Arrogance was currently waiting. The other humans were giving them space as they all stepped back to the edge of the room, leaving Arrogance and Knight alone in the middle.

I looked towards Green and just noticed how intensely it was looking at me, I quickly looked around to see if I had done anything again, but no, everyone else was looking at the two in the middle. I tilted my head hoping this human understood my intention. It only let out a scoff.

“Why are you acting like this didn’t happen because of you, I am starting to believe you are sabotaging us by causing us to fight with one another.”

I- no- you know what? You could say it's my fault or take the blame since you humans are so dramatic about everything which led to such a problem happing! How is it that every time I meet a human, they always assume something! I am also not happy about being kidnapped again! Can I not be left alone for a few moments?

I was angry, so I did what I usually do, I tapped this human multiple times. Causing Green to just look at me with confusion- I think it was confused, I can’t really tell as its skin wasn’t moving, and its eyes stayed the same.

What is a fight, what is sabotaging and why does no one understand me?! Why can’t I get the answers I want.... Wait, I was given [Appraisal] for this specific reason! [Appraisal]!

I activated [Appraisal] on the human holding me and felt the air freeze as the blue rectangle appeared.

Name - [Undefined]

Age – 2 weeks

Species - Undead

Class - [???]

Level - ???/???

“What did you just try, heir?”

Green said coldly prompting Red and Pink to look away from whatever was happening behind me.

Uh oh, I may have forgotten that creatures don’t like getting appraised without their permission.

“What happened?”

Red asked switching between looking at me and Green.

“The heir tried [Appraisal] on me, but it seems it’s too low-level to do so- Wait does that mean you aren’t a danger to me?”

Green suddenly started staring into me like the red humans did yesterday. It then looked at Red and Pink.

“[Appraisal] it and tell me if you can see its status.”

Green said hurriedly earning a nod from the both of them as they looked at me carefully.

“No, I can’t.”

I barely heard them above all the other humans talking loudly and the constant sound of clanging.

“Strange, I can’t get a reading on it too, but it did try [Appraisal] on me, but it felt so weak.”

“Maybe an heir can’t have its [Status] read?”

Pink answered Green’s question with another question.

“Maybe, ah it doesn’t matter as this duel should-”

Just as Green was about to continue, it moved its head to the side and a green square appeared which a familiar black sword collided with, causing the sword to fly into the wall behind Green. I looked back and saw Arrogance and Knight standing in front of each other in a weird pose, but Knight was missing its sword, probably the one stuck in the wall.

“Sister Knight, a knight doesn’t lose its sword on the battlefield, shall we call you Sister Squire?”

I heard Arrogance call out and saw Knight hand move in a blur as it grabbed the helmet of Arrogance and slammed Arrogance into the ground.

“Weak.”

Arrogance said coldly as it grabbed Knight’s hand with its free hand and pried it off, causing Knight to back away allowing me to notice its hand was now crumpled. Arrogance didn’t allow it to back up too far as it got up immediately and started moving the sword at Knight, causing Knight to perform a dance.

Oh, hey, the humans are dancing again. Hmm I just remembered that some males of my species would dance to impress a female, is this how the humans do it? Wait so which one is male?

As I pondered this, Arrogance moved its sword horizontally in a blur. Seemingly prepared for this, Knight crouched down and extended one of its legs hitting Arrogance’s legs making it lose its balance. Knight saw this and jumped to its feet wrapping its hands around Arrogance near the area where its legs connected to the body. This caused Arrogance to fall to the ground once again, but this time Arrogance let go of its sword.

Once they were on the ground, Knight let go of Arrogance, curled up its fingers on both hands and started forcefully and continuously putting them onto Arrogance’s helmet. Suddenly Knight jumped off of Arrogance and moved far away from it. I have no idea why.

Arrogance slowly stood up and picked up its fallen sword.

“I’m surprised you saw the danger so quickly. You’re resilient and quick minded, I’ll give you that. But I’m done playing.”

Arrogance said slowly as the two of them stared at each other. With no warning Arrogance suddenly became a blur and appeared behind Knight with its sword up. Knight’s right arm flew off and landed with a thunk.

“What are you doing you fool?! We need all the mana we have to do the ritual! Regrowing that arm will cost Sister Pink a lot of her mana!”

Silence filled the room after Green’s outburst. The only noise that sounded out was the footsteps of Knight as it walked towards its fallen arm and picked it up. Holding it for a few moments, it then threw the arm away and walked towards Green and I. Just as I was thinking it was going to hold me again, it moved past us and pulled out its sword violently from the wall. Green said something that caused Pink to stifle another weird noise, Knight momently stopped, before shoving past Green and walked back to the middle of the room, raising its sword at Arrogance.

Arrogance was silent for a bit, before it said loudly.

“I was going to say you didn’t deserve to serve directly under the Overlord, but your resilience is truly worthy of praise. That however doesn’t give you the skill to beat me.”

Arrogance raised its sword at Knight, and I heard it say a single word before a large crash sounded out throughout the room followed by a sprinkle of small pieces of wood.

Everyone in the room looked at a dark crimson creature with a humanoid appearance that was currently crouched. Why didn’t I call it a human outright? It just looked so wrong, it was disgusting to look at. Its right arm was slim and long ending with a black, with a hint of purple, pointed tip replacing the place where a human hand should be. Its left arm was split in two with intersecting lines going back and forth between the two sides in a chaotic mess. It had a smaller arm near its head that was currently growing longer by the moment. Its head was just an oval. Its legs ended in three sharp points and were bent like a grasshopper’s legs. But one strange detail the creature had was the webs of purple lines that glowed ever so slightly.

My attention was taken away from the creature, as I noticed a human I knew enter the room. It was bleeding red from all over, and its cloak was in tears, but I knew it was Silven.