“Not a single movement or I will scream,” the banshee said, glaring at Ryzen and Enancia.

Apparently, banshees were sentient creatures, not just bent on killing off whomever they saw. This one seemed to be a young woman dressed in decaying rags. There was only a certain amount of detail that could be seen though, as her entire body was spectral and blue.

“What do you want?” Enancia asked, preparing to use her special skill if need be. No matter how fast the banshee would be, Enancia was confident she could take her down quicker.

The banshee looked between Ryzen and Enancia, then sighed, “I have found myself in a dire situation, and I need someone… fleshy to assist me.”

“With what?” Ryzen asked.

“Ghouls. Usually, I can take care of intruders myself but it appears these pests cannot hear which means I am essentially useless against them,” the banshee sighed. She was clearly fed up.

“As far as I’m aware, ghouls shouldn’t be able to use magic which is the only thing that can hurt you. Shouldn’t you be invulnerable to any attacks they may use?” Enancia asked.

“Well, yes, I am. However, they are the grossest things. They make me absolutely sick to my stomach. They have no manners and whenever I appear to try to get them to go away, they immediately try to attack me. They need to be exterminated.”

“Well, it sounds like this is your problem. I wish not to be involved.” Ryzen said.

“Unfortunately for you, I was not asking. You will perform this task for me or I will kill you.”

“And also lose your chance of anyone helping you. I can’t imagine that many people come around these parts.”

The banshee glared at Ryzen. It was clear that he had gotten her there.

“It may be true that it has been quite some time since I have encountered any sentient beings but if you decide not to help me then I will have no choice but to make some use of you through levels.”

“How many are there?” Enancia asked.

Ryzen gave her a questioning look but Enancia wasn’t paying attention. He wasn’t sure why she was reasoning with this bitch.

“Ghouls? Well, I believe it hasn’t been too long since they came so not too many. Something like four thousand I believe.”

“The fuck? Not that long? What’s your idea of not that long? To grow that much they must have been in there for an exorbitant amount of time,” Enancia gasped.

“Hm? A few centuries or so. I really don’t see what the issue is. You help me and I help you by allowing you to live.”

The banshee looked genuinely confused causing Ryzen to shake his head. She was insane but what else did he expect from a monster?

“And how do we know you’ll keep your promise if we kill all those ghouls,” Enancia asked.

The banshee scoffed as if that were a dumb question, “I am of noble heritage. What would I be if I couldn’t do something as simple as keeping a promise.”

“Noble? Of what family?” Enancia asked.

“Hm? I’m sure you’ve heard of us. My name is Elicia Von Haven, daughter of Gregorio Von Haven, Duke of the Archshadow Kingdom.”

“Wait, did you say Archshadow kingdom? As in the human kingdom from the tales?” Enancia was clearly shocked about something.

“Tales? It hasn’t been that long has it? Tell me demonite, what year is it?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Demonite? Currently, it’s the year 3054 of the Zeminian calendar.

Elicia seemed to become even more pale than she already was.

“Impossible, that simply does not make sense. To think that I have had such a skewed sense of time is utterly.. ridiculous,” Elicia sighed.

“This human kingdom. Tell more of it.” Ryzen asked, curious. As far as he was aware, all safe havens of humanity were gone. There was nothing left.

“What are you, a preschooler? I shouldn’t…” she asked mockingly.

Enancia was not happy about Elicia saying that and quickly interrupted her, “Shut your mouth, bitch. In case you haven’t realized such kingdoms of humans no longer exist. They are considered food now.”

The banshee gasped at such a sentence and immediately fell into thought. After a few moments, she finally spoke.

“That’s simply… impossible. The shadow army would never fall to such… Zemorian would never allow such… Ludicrous!” Elicia cried.

“This shadow army. What is that?” Ryzen quickly asked, desperate for more information about his class.

“Truly, it is sad that such an insurmountable force has fallen to the throes of time. The shadow army was an army that only allowed humans of the shadow soldier class variant. It was there that they would train various humans to evolve their classes into much more diverse fields. They were unstoppable.” Elicia said as if she were thinking back to a better time.

Ryzen was ecstatic about what he was hearing. It was insane to think that his class had actually fueled a powerhouse of an army. He needed to know more.

“What were all the class variants? Which ones were the best?” Ryzen enthusiastically asked.

“Huh, why do you want to know, boy? Starting classes depend on your heritage and if what I am hearing is correct, there is no chance that you have any starting class of note. In fact, it seems humans have fallen so far that they are likely getting some shit like the warrior class. Ugh, how disgraceful.” Elicia nearly fell to the ground in an exaggerated motion of sadness.

Ryzen was stuck so he did what he felt he had to do to get more information, “Fine, we’ll kill those ghouls yours but on one condition.”

“Boy, you are not the ones making the rules here. I am already allowing you two to live and ignoring this petty demonite’s insults. I believe that should be compensation enough.”

Ryzen shook his head and said, “I want to know everything you know about the shadow soldier class.”

Suddenly, Elicia burst out into laughter, “You’re that persistent, eh? I don’t know why you want to know more but sure, why not? I’ll tell you about it if you kill those monstrosities for me?”

Ryzen nodded his head while Enancia was just shaking hers.

“With that settled, follow me. I shall take you to the entrance so that you fleshlings can enter my abode. Do be careful not to damage anything otherwise, I will be compensating myself with your lives. Oh, and don’t think about trying to run away. My scream is lethal up to ten meters away so there’s no way you’ll be able to get away before then.”

Ryzen sighed and followed the banshee back toward the creepy underground tunnel. Unfortunately, he would already be going back there but at least he would be getting something out of it.

Once they reached the small dirt entrance, he grasped Enancia’s hand and groaned as he walked down with her. Once they reached the bottom, Elicia walked through a literal wall. She reappeared just a few moments later and said, “Oh, I forgot you fleshbags can’t go through solid objects. Hmm, that is a problem.”

“I am going to create a path then,” Ryzen said right before preparing to slam into the wall.

However, it seemed Elicia didn’t like this idea as she began to freak out.

“No! Do not touch my home! I will kill you!”

“Then what should we do?”

“Figure it out!” Elicia said angrily before disappearing back through the tunnel.

Ryzen sighed, “Enancia could you help me find some sort of switch that might open this door.”

She nodded her head and together, they moved out. Once again, Ryzen passed by the bloody rooms. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to find anything. Thankfully, Enancia pointed to one of the rooms he had just passed by.

This one seemed to be more of an office area. Together, they scoured the room until Ryzen found a desk with the classic switch under it. He pulled it and a clicking noise followed by a rumble indicated to him that the door had opened.

He dragged himself back to where Elicia was to find her grumbling at the door.

“Stupid fleshbags. It took you two long enough to open the door. Now, follow me, I’ll show you where their nest is.”

They followed Elicia down multiple sets of halls until they came across a rotting door. Elicia carefully opened it revealing to Enancia and Ryzen a horrific scene.