In the heart of the oasis, within the towering temple, EeDechi, dressed in black from head to toe, was lurking on the rooftop.
"Why hasn't Barrett sent a message yet?" EeDechi wondered, puzzled.
Her original plan was to wait until the female leader fell asleep, then sneak into her chambers and "borrow" the crown. But she never expected that the leader and her followers seemed to need no rest at all—the lights in the building stayed brightly lit without flickering out.
Not only that, but this temple in the City of Remnants was hosting a night banquet. Lavishly dressed noblewomen came and went, while elegant aristocrats mingled about.
"Don't these guys ever sleep?" EeDechi felt things getting weirder by the minute.
She decided she couldn't wait any longer. Just then, in a garden inside the temple, a pair of young noble lovers were screwing in the open air.
EeDechi jumped down from the rooftop, knocked out the two shameless fools, then took the male noble's clothes, disguised herself as one of the remnants, and slipped into the temple to join the banquet.
The temple's hall was glittering and packed to the brim. All the noble remnants held wine goblets, gathered around the hall, listening to the female leader give a speech.
The leader stood in the center of everyone, with Elsa, her sister, by her side. Elsa cradled a chubby, adorable infant in her arms; the baby blinked its eyes, looking eager and expectant.
EeDechi blended in, her gaze landing on the crown atop the leader's head—that was her target for the night.
"My friends, we have waited here for the return of the former emperors for centuries," the leader began slowly, her voice solemn. "In these long years, time has worn away our patience entirely. Let the long-awaited banquet begin."
The hall's doors swung wide open, and a group of maids pushed in three long, rectangular serving carts, each covered with white cloth hiding something underneath.
Then the maids started handing out utensils: silver short daggers and palm-sized forks, eerily strange. EeDechi received her set too, and couldn't help but frown.
The leader raised her arm and cheered, "Savor the delicious taste of fresh, living flesh—it's far tastier than the blood squeezed from the Dragon Progenitor's corpse."
As her words faded, the maids lifted the white cloths from the serving carts, revealing the "food" atop them: Barrett, Franco, and Antilene, lying there peacefully. Their eyes were shut tight, their faces calm and serene—it was impossible to tell if they were dead or alive.
"There's still one guest who's gone missing for now," the leader said with a faint smile. "Please dig in quickly, before any complications arise."
A fat-faced noble stepped forward, licking his lips with greedy green light gleaming in his eyes. He gripped his silver dagger and thrust it toward Barrett's neck.
THUD!
Barrett's neck didn't bleed—instead, the fat noble's entire arm snapped clean off!
"What the hell are you things?" EeDechi roared, swinging her sword again and slamming the fat noble into the wall, sending shards of shattered stone flying everywhere.
It was like a cat had suddenly pounced into a nest of rats—in an instant, the noble remnants scattered in panic, the entire temple hall erupting into chaotic uproar.
"You weren't knocked out?" The leader gasped in shock. "How is that possible? The sleeping potion in the dinner you shared with Barrett was enough to knock out five dragons!"
"Five dragons?" EeDechi pondered to herself. She'd eaten dinner with Barrett that night, probably about three-fifths of the portion, but her body hadn't reacted at all.
"Such terrifying magic resistance! It rivals the former emperors—no, it surpasses them!" The leader's eyes were wide with astonishment.
But she quickly snapped back to her senses. A glowing longsword materialized in her hand, and she thrust it through the air toward EeDechi.
EeDechi parried the longsword with a backhand block, then swept her giant sword across, piercing straight through the leader's body.
EeDechi thought the female leader had taken that hit and died, but she spotted a bizarre sight: not a single drop of blood flowed from the leader's wound. Through the gaping hole in her chest, she could clearly see the stark white bones.
"What the hell are you?" EeDechi gripped her giant sword, closing in on the leader step by step.
"I am the Skeleton Queen!"
The leader let out a hoarse roar, her flesh rapidly aging and peeling away, transforming her into a skin-and-bones lich. Towering soul flames blazed in her skull, and necrotic energy wove through the hall like a dense web.
EeDechi's eyelids twitched as her figure shot forward like an arrow. In a flash, she was right in front of the leader, hacking her body to pieces, bone shards scattering everywhere. The leader who'd been strutting around so arrogantly just moments ago was now reduced to an empty skull.
EeDechi snatched up the skull, snarling viciously, "You've got some nerve, laying a hand on us!"
"Mommy, I want meat~" A childish voice piped up, coming from the infant in Elsa's arms.
Elsa saw her sister's skull clutched in EeDechi's grip, caught between fleeing and staying. She gritted her teeth, raised her hand to cast a spell, and Franco's body lifted into the air, floating right into her grasp.
Elsa tightened her right arm around the infant while her left hand's fingers sprouted long bone claws, seizing Franco by the neck. She barked at EeDechi, "Let go of my sister, or I'll kill him!"
"Hahaha, Elsa! Do it! Let this living fool taste death too!" The leader howled madly from EeDechi's hand.
Elsa? EeDechi's heart skipped a beat, recalling the Common inscription on the Constructs Storage Box:
[Imperial Year 1339, the Great Expedition began.
"I followed eight emperors, with no chance to turn back. Elsa, I leave this small toy for our child yet to be born.
"Goodbye, my love, do not wait for my return."]
Could it be that this Constructs Storage Box, crafted five hundred years ago, was meant as a gift for the noblewoman standing right before her?
EeDechi shouted, "Elsa, wait! I have your lover's magic item! The Constructs Storage Box!"
Elsa froze mid-strangle on Franco, her eyes wide with shock. "What did you say?"
EeDechi pulled the Constructs Storage Box from her spatial ring and hurled it high toward Elsa.
"That's my husband's!" Elsa's gaze locked onto the box sailing through the air.
Taking advantage of the distraction, EeDechi flung her giant sword. The raging blade punched through Elsa's body, ripping her to shreds. Severed limbs and arms squirmed on the ground, but not a single drop of blood splashed out.
EeDechi summoned back her giant sword and hauled the unconscious Franco away from Elsa's reach.
"You... you're all liches hiding under human skins." EeDechi glared at Elsa with blazing fury in her eyes. Though reduced to only her upper half, Elsa was still clinging to life.
"We are liches, indeed," the leader's skull rasped from EeDechi's grip, her voice emanating from the soul flames. "But our flesh is our own—step one foot outside the oasis, and it sloughs off completely. As long as we're inside, we remain as the living."
"Those skeleton soldiers in the desert—are they yours too?" EeDechi recalled the relentless undead crawling out of the sands, a wave of disgust still churning in her gut.
"Yes, they're remnants as well." The leader knew she was out of options, so she spilled everything to EeDechi's questions.
"Why attack us? Why slaughter travelers in the desert?" EeDechi demanded. Just a little more pressure from her hand, and the leader's skull would burst.