“It won’t come out, nyan!”

*Kun!*

Midnight and Luna were trying their best to help Oscar pulling out Lunus’ skull from his head. They kicked his skull, pulled it, and when it showed no sign to move, they started to gnaw on it.

“...I know that both of you want to help my lord, but biting me like this will only make my skull chip and crack, doesn’t it? Especially you, Midnight, it seems you’re enjoying in this.”

“Me? Nyoway~ I didn’t do this because it’s fun, you know? You must be misunderstanding something, nyan.”

They stopped wasting their effort and hopped on the ground. Oscar run his fingertip along Lunus’ skull to make sure that there was no crack left behind.

“I’m sorry, Lunus,” Oscar interrupted the quarrel, “but it seems we have to stay like this for a while… Until we figure out how to separate us apart.”

“Don’t worry, my lord, I don’t mind it in the slightest. Even though it’s a bit inconvenient in this state, I can now protect my lord easier. So, that even out the cons, I presume. Still, I believe that my lord might have a harder time than I do.”

“No no no, it’s not that severe for me, I guess. Since I can still see things through your eyes, it’s not like I became blind or anything.”

“Nyan? But how will master eat or drink when this black mist covers your entire face, nyan?”

“Ah, I totally forgot about that...”

*K-Kun!*

Hearing Midnight’s remark, Luna jumped back to his shoulder and tried to pull Lunus’ skull again. Oscar knew that it was futile, so he put her back in his arm and calmed her down.

“Don’t worry, Luna, we should figure out how to manage this later on. Right, there must be some condition to separate me from-”

“Master!,” Midnight shouted, surprise and panic.

An inky blade suddenly flew out from Oscar’s shadow and aimed for his neck. Blood sprayed in the air and his head was sent flying...not.

The blade only cut thin air as his figure already jumped into the sky and escaped an instant death by a hairbreadth. Midnight made a surprise face when she found out about her being coiled in a vine.

*Kyu!?*

“Your reflection is quite something, nyan, Lunus.”

“... It was because of my lord’s warning.”

“Nya!?”

She looked back at Oscar where he was scratching his face covered in the mist.

He had already linked her with his [Mindlink]. Before her voice reached him, the sudden change in her emotion flowed into his head. He realized that something dangerous was taking place and conveyed this to Lunus.

In a split second before Midnight opened her mouth, Lunus’ vines already whipped the ground and sent Oscar’s body flying backward. There, Oscar didn’t forget to shoot his vine to her and retrieve Midnight before they parted away.

[Mind link] was one of the most effective communication methods. It could convey thoughts and feelings to the receiver in an instant without any time waste. And by using this, Oscar was able to get things done before Midnight could even warn him.

They lightly landed on the ground by using Lunus’ vines as springs and cushions. And as they had expected, before them stood a single goblin with pitch black skin. Beads of sweat ran down its small body and wet its tattered cloth. Its limbs were full of small bruises and wounds after continuous fights. And in its bloodshot eyes contained intense rage toward Oscar.

It swung its scimitar in anger, sprinkling its sweat in the air. The sharp tip of the sword pointed toward Oscar before its wielder shouted toward him with a murderous intent.

“Damn you, necromancer! Now that you have no zombie left to play around, I’ll cut you into pieces and let you die slowly!”

Oscar glanced toward the zombie horde in the background. Their limbs and necks were all swollen from forcefully regenerating their body.

The swellings were big and scary like they had grown tumors on their body. And these swellings were so severe that it’s impossible for them to walk. They were just like a big lump of wiggling meat.

W-Wait!? This goblin can manage to deal with those zombies alone within just a few minutes? How could that be?

Oscar had totally forgotten to keep the goblin in check after he met Lunus. He gulped and kept silent. He had underestimated his opponent too much. And right about now, he felt like standing in front of a strong predator which was ready to jump at him at any time.

“Hoh? You don’t wanna to talk? Fine, I will start with your arm!”

The goblin sprinted toward him, placing the scimitar on its shoulder. It leaped into the air readied to unleashed its swordplay toward Oscar.

But that was interrupted by Lunus’ vines which were skillfully whipped on the goblin from four different directions. It didn’t bother to cut them. Instead, it parried three attacks and jumped back by using the last hit as a jumping base. After making a double roll in the air, its small feet lightly reached the ground.

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“That skull is the leader of those creepy vine monsters, right? Hmph, as expected, I should just crush it when I have a chance!”

“What did you say?”

Oscar couldn’t tolerate even a simple taunt like this. He raised his hand and started to chant a magic that he had learned from Midnight. Black bullets shoot out from his shadow toward the goblin. However, it could easily dodge a straight attack at this distance. The goblin landed smoothly and smirked as it had achieved its goal.

“Don’t listen to its taunt, nyan! It just wants to probe your skill and ability.”

“But that goblin just said that it will kill Lunus! How could I let it go like this?”

Midnight had hidden inside Oscar’s shadow ever since she regained her footing. She didn’t want to fight this goblin assassin recklessly since she didn’t know if it could find her or not even if she was inside the shadow.

A trick rarely worked when it was used for the second time, especially when the enemy could also do the same trick.

As such, she dedicated herself to staying alert in Oscar’s shadow instead. This way she could both help in counter-attacking the enemy and keeping an eye on the attacks from inside the shadow.

“Come on, necromancer bastard! Can you only do this much? The last shadow bullet was even more painful than this, you know?”

It still continued taunting Oscar, knowing that he was a hot-headed target and his magic was surprisingly easy to dodge. It didn’t know if he still had something up his sleeve. But toward an enemy that could give it a surprise attack and even dodge its sure-kill move, being more careful is better than none.

“Don’t listen to it, my lord,” said Lunus “You should never lower yourself to mind an insect’s bite.”

*Kun!*

Even Luna was concerned over Oscar’s mood. She bit on a vine leaf on his body and lightly yanked it to bring him back to his sense.

“Ah… Luna, sorry for making you worried. Yes, I will act more calmly this time.”

He lightly patted her head as she rubbed her springy ears against his palm.

“Hoh~ You still have time to play with your pet? Let’s see if you can deal with this!”

The goblin sprinted toward him one more time. But before it reached Lunus’ attack range, an object was thrown to him from under its tattered cloth.

Lunus quickly whipped the projectile before it could reach his lord, but it burst into a white cloud as soon as it hit his vine. The cloud quickly blocked his vision and separated him from the rest of the world.

“I’m sorry, my lord… It’s my fault for falling into its petty trick like this.”

“Don’t worry, I can still sense its footstep.”

Oscar extended his [Share perception] toward the grasses around him. Although lightly, he could clearly sense the places where the goblin had stepped onto as though they were his upper hand.

“There it is!”

“Guah!”

He turned back and raised his hand forward. Green particles left his palm and in a heartbeat, everyone could hear a scream from inside this thick cloud of dust.

A brief moment later, the cloud quickly dispersed and a small figure was revealed before him. Its legs were restrained by tall grasses that had grown up to its waist. They coiled around the goblin and firmly stopped its legs from stepping forward.

Oscar quickly chanted another spell that he had learned from Midnight while the goblin was still busy cutting down the tall grasses. Black needles protruded from the shadows under the grasses and pierced the goblin’s skin. Blood sipped out from the gaps between the grasses and dripped down its legs.

“Guu…,” it groaned, cutting the last grass stem before trying to retreat back to its shadow.

“I won’t let you, nyan!”

However, black bullets shot out from its own shadow. This time, it could dodge and parry every single hit, but it had once again failed to run away.

“Tsk! Just how many tricks do you still have up your sleeve? That’s right, use everything you have because your head will fly away after this!”

Ignoring the pain on its legs, the goblin cast away its thought to retreat and rushed forward. It ran zigzag as its figure quickly approached Oscar at a surprising speed. Oscar tried to use grasses to stop its charge, but its movements were too hard to predict. Shadow bullets were already useless against it.

Lunus quickly sent out his vines to intercept the goblin as soon as it came close. This time it didn’t jump into the air and kept its posture low while dashing.

“If it’s on the ground, these fucking vines don’t have many ways to attack me!”

With a swing of its blade, the vines were shredded into pieces. And right now nothing could stop it from killing Oscar.

“My lord, be careful!”

“I know!”

Oscar thrust his hand toward the ground. A vine from his arm whacked the spot and sent him flying backward. Midnight also helped by sending shadow bullets to interrupt the goblin’s charge.

“Stop playing your stupid tricks!”

But that alone couldn’t stop the furious goblin assassin. It parried every shadow bullet and follow after Oscar who was still in the air. Lunus tried his best to regrow his vines and used them to stop it, but his speed couldn’t catch up with the swinging sword.

“This is your end, necromancer!”

It swung its scimitar at Oscar’s unprotected arm, aiming to cut it from the root. The black mist trailed after its swing as the sharp blade cut through the air.

However, the cut was off for a small margin and the blade only grazed his white skin, making red blood zipped and run down his vines.

“Tsk! You’re fucking desperate in running away like a scared rabbit. Just stand still and let me kill you already!”

While still in the mid-air, Oscar extended his vine toward the ground. It grabbed the grasses and pulled him down to avoid the blade from sending his arm away.

He landed on the ground and retrieved his vine back. He had made a short distance from the goblin and right now, they were glaring each other.

“See? When I’m serious, a necromancer like you can’t lay a hit on me at all! You’re fucking weak! It’s as expected from a mage who can’t even hunt a beast.”

“What do you mean?”

Oscar was confused by the goblin’s sudden remark in hunting things. What did it mean by that? Why did it speak something like this out of the blue?

“Master, don’t listen to its taunt, nyan!”

As though Midnight had remembered something, she tried to stop him from listening to the goblin, but it’s too late.

“Hoh? What do you mean, you say? Don’t play dumb! You can show that deer skull off to trick anyone but me. Its antlers are beautiful, right? You know, I never forget the faces of those who had a high value on their head.

And isn’t that the leader of those white deers? I can still remember the night that I sent its head flying. Ahh~ That night was really a great fun. So, tell me why do I have to fear a shitty mage who can’t even hunt a deer by himself and just wear a leftover as his helmet?”

Midnight was frozen still. She slowly shifted its gaze back to Oscar while thinking about a way to calm him down. However, none of her ideas would ever work at this point.

“Leftover? You called Lunus a leftover?”

Suddenly, the world was enveloped by darkness. The wind stopped blowing and the birds stopped singing. It was as though the world was entirely petrified.

And inside Oscar’s mind, something just snapped off.