That made sense and finally closed the cycle she had tried to make sense of for more than a year.
She had witnessed the birth of a bond… a bond among monsters, the scourge of humanity. And she had mistaken it for the love and care any parent would afford their child, a blasphemous comparison and perversion of human love.
She needed to pray.
Pray for those poor souls.
Pray for forgiveness for her own misguided sinful thoughts.
Pray for the salvation of those whose doom was yet to come.
Pray for her own soul, so that she could be released from this torment.
By the end of it, she had forgotten what she was praying for in the first place.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
She ran down the corridor, her feet swift as she dodged around the many Elder Liches on her way, which only spared her a glance. She had only one objective on her mind.
She needed to save her friend!
She knew it was possible!
She darted around a familiar corridor before coming face to face with her last obstacle.
Using all her strength, she slammed against the door, pushing it open before darting inside.
The imposing figure of bone and shadow behind a paper-filled desk was what she was greeted by.
But that did not discourage her from carrying out her ultimate duty!
"Sasa! Garg hurt again!"
She cried out, tears almost spilling from her mismatched eyes as she ran to the undead and presented him her beloved friend and its torn arm. The first time that happened she had cried till her voice was no more. That was the moment when she discovered her Sasa was the most amazing person in the whole world, when he repaired her friend with just a flick of his bony fingers.
Sasa was the hero who could save the world and her friend, in her eyes there was no one greater than him.
"Umu… it seems Gargantua has suffered a bit of an accident… this actually reminds me of a similar situation the real one got in… would you like to hear it?"
She did not understand what Sasa meant when he spoke about the real one, her Garg was the only Garg in the world! But apparently, all her friends had been alive long before her and they all had incredible stories her Sasa told her before bedtime.
Her favorite stories were those around Uka, the mischievous fox spirit, still her favorite friend remained Garg, even if he was not as funny since he only stomped bad guys instead of playing with them like Uka.
She just wanted to be as smart as Uka and as powerful as Garg when she grew up. Yes, that's it!
"Yes!"
She finally said as she climbed onto Sasa's lap, trying to find the best spot among the hard bones.
"Now, do you remember on which floor Gargantua is located?"
Sasa asked her one of his silly questions. She was a smart girl and could remember these things easily, she was so smart she managed to learn how to count to twenty already while studying with Mr. Lich.
"Yes Sasa! Garg is on the 4th floor!"
Her reward was a cold hand ruffling her hair the way she liked it.
"Right… so, there was this time where a little group of sneaky thieves tried to enter my and my friends' home and managed to pass by Shalltear without her noticing."
The black and white haired child pouted.
"Shall is such a silly-head! Letting bad guys pass without even noticing!"
She lamented even though she always thought that Shall was very cool ever since Sasa introduced her in one of his stories.
"I guess she is a little, like her creator…"
Sasa mumbled, getting in one of those moods she did not like.
"Anyway, where was I, yes, those sneaky thieves arrived on the 4th floor, trying to pull that trick on Gargantua as well… but something they did not expect happened…"
The young girl continued to listen, enchanted by the story about her best friend and how he kicked every last bad guy out.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
Humanity was truly a race of stubborn creatures.
The more time he passed in this world and body, the more he had a hard time relating to the race he was once part of. Not when they continued to beat their heads against the same wall hoping the result would be different a second time.
Apparently Baharuth had the brilliant idea of capitalizing on Re-Estize's disastrous move by taking the plains for themselves instead.
There was no need to say that their attempt had ended up as poorly as Re-Estize's. And now he found himself once again with more corpses than he had any use for. In three years he had barely managed disposing of all those bodies from Re-Estize, creating more low and mid tier undead he had any need of. And now he found himself with another pile.
Luckily this time around, having more Death Knights on his side meant that many of those kills were turned into undead automatically without him having to dirty his own hands. But stil, even if smaller, a pile of corpses he had no use for was still a pile of corpses he had no use for.
Maybe he could send an expedition toward that northern forest? Just to scout it out since there were no humans who lived there so kicking the hornets' nest would not be a risk. And even if he lost the undead, those were still useless corpses he had no use for in the first place.
Yes… that sounded like an interesting idea.
Still, he wondered if the Slane Theocracy would redouble their efforts in killing off his creations in some misguided effort to lower their numbers.
According to Faine they were probably trying to limit the undead's presence in the Katze Plains, fearing that a too large force of undead would end up invading one of the surrounding countries.
It was too bad for them that their losses were far greater than his. Even when they managed to eliminate a Death Knight or two with a few casualties, he still had thousands of them waiting around his fortress. He himself had long ago lost count of the numbers at his disposal.
He just let some low-tier undead patrol around the perimeter of the Katze Plains, accompanied by a single mid-tier undead, preferably a Death Knight since he had more useful pursuit for Elder Liches.
Speaking of which, he just received a report on the girl's progress.
He initially feared Elder Liches would have a problem having one of the living as a student, but they did not seem to share the so dreaded hate for the living, be it because they were not naturally created or because their creator had no such feelings, was still a mystery.
Either way, she was a gifted little thing, she absorbed her lessons like a sponge and had a photographic memory worth of consideration. He couldn't say if that was her elvish side, or if she was just that good.
She was learning the hiragana alphabet at a rapid pace for a four years old, already composing some words which she was eager to show him. Even though her teachers seemed to want to push her even further, increasing her hours, but he prohibited it. He didn't want her eagerness to transform into frustration.
He even used his now free nighttime to write down some of his and his friends' adventures in written format. He planned to give it to her as a gift for her next birthday, seeing how she loved the few he told her as bedtime stories.
Speaking of birthdays, she had also asked him to teach her how to cook her favorite meal, omurice omelet. It seems like he had bewitched her since the first time he made it for her. Nowadays he could cook it perfectly at the first try most of the time. 'Practice makes perfect, isn't that right Punitto?' he thought prompting the memory of a certain raid led by the plant heteromorph to resurge, something he should add to the collection.
To see someone share the joy of his precious memories made his nonexistent heart grow warm. He should have known she was a special one ever since she was born, as fierce as she was when she approached a level 100 Overlord without any inkling of fear.
The affection he came to cultivate for her was also the reason why he was dreading the moment she would ask him about herself, like all curious children will sooner or later. With a mother like Faine… it would fall on him to answer those questions about her parents and her lack of a name.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
"Sasa! Are you my daddy?"
The black and white haired child asked. She had been curious ever since she started reading some of the stories in Sasa's books. The children like her always had a mommy and a daddy who loved them very much!
She too wondered if she had a mommy and daddy who loved her very much… her little brain clicked into place, just now realizing that she had someone who loved her very much and was her favorite person in the world.
So, it was only natural for her to ask her Sasa if he was her daddy.
"Umu… no, young one, I am not your father."
The child blinked her mismatched eyes as she tried to concentrate to think of someone who could be her daddy other than Sasa.
"Do I have a daddy?"
She came to the realization that she might just not have one after all, as she couldn't think of anyone else who loved her more than her Sasa.
"I don't know…"
Weird, Sasa sounded weird, she never heard him like that. Nor did she know there were things he did not know, she always thought Sasa had the answers to everything.
"Do I have a mommy?"
She was kind of curious of that too, since mommies always cooked the best things, but she doubted anyone could make better food than Sasa.
"Oh, yes, Faine is your mother."
Her jaw fell open at the seemingly casual revelation. She knew that name! That was the name of the scary lady she always avoided or spied on when she was training. How could that scary one be her mommy? She didn't even seem to know how to cook! And she had the impression the scary lady did not like her at all!
"I don't like that! I don't want her as a mommy!"
She vehemently denied, shaking her head from side to side.
"Sometimes we don't get what we want… but we still have to make the best of the hand we are dealt."
She titled her head at the unfamiliar words.
"I don't understand."
She voiced her confusion at his words.
"It means that many times what we want is not what we get, but instead of being sad, we should adapt."
Oh! That she understood! She nodded vigorously at his words.
"Like Mr. Punitto says!"
She exclaimed, now realizing how this was not the first time she had heard of this. She felt the cool hand of her Sasa mess up her hair.
"Yes, exactly like Punitto said."
He confirmed as she nestled deeper in his lap.
"I also had to do it… my father… he was never a good person."
That made her feel better, knowing that someone else also didn't have a daddy that loved them. Was she a bad girl for thinking that? She shook her head. Sasa was her favorite person, and she felt just happy they shared something since he wasn't her daddy.
Still, that left one question in her mind.
"Do I have a name?"
She asked next, this time she could feel the body of her Sasa shifting under her as silence ensued between them.
"… your parents… never gave you one…"
She could hear her Sasa sadness in his words. And that made her feel sad too. She wanted a name like her Sasa had, and all the little boys and girls had in her books.
"Can you give me a name?"
She asked hopefully, certainly her Sasa knew the best names there were!
The two dots in her Sasa's eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment, mesmerizing her even more than usual.
"I… I don't think that I should be the one..."
It was the first time she ever heard him hesitate. Was it a bad thing that she asked him to give her a name?
"I think you should be the one to choose a name for yourself, something you feel yours and yours alone, something that you feel represents you… take all the time you need, and I will be happy to call you by your name once you have decided."
The black and white haired child thought over those words from her Sasa before nodding with a confident smile.
"Yes! I will find the best and coolest name!"
She declared to the entire empty room with the confidence of someone who knew what their mission was in life.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
The massacre plains, that was the infamous name this land had gathered after the last years of misery and disaster that ensued for the neighboring country… how convenient to let out the fact they had been the ones mobilizing and invading only to get their deserved due for it.
Satoru had no remorse over what happened, he doubted he would even if he was still human. His spies reported to him how both the empire and the kingdom had decided to permanently close off their borders in fear, planning the construction of a vast wall, taking inspiration from the Holy Kingdom and their demi-human problem.
He was kind of relieved to be honest, he had no need for useless grudges from countries he couldn't care less for. If they decided they feared him enough to no want anything to do with him, he was more than happy to oblige.
The only one country who continued to invade his territory without shame was the Slane Theocracy, undauntingly so. Not that it served any purpose. By now, the only country that didn't seem to be openly hostile was the Draconic Kingdom, be it because it was not interested as long as he stayed in his lane, or because they didn't have troops to waste with the beastmen looming over their doors, was anyone's guess.
He was happy to let them be as long as they did the same. He had no expansionistic aspirations. Even when he solidified his position in this world, the worst he did was exterminate every undead naturally spawned and not under his control. All except for a couple whom he found agreeable and interesting.
One of which he was in the presence of this very moment.
"Permission to come aboard, captain."
He requested already knowing the answer, but indulging the lich's extravagance costed him nothing, so he did anyway.
"Permission granted, oh Great One!"
The elder lich cosplaying like a pirate answered with far more emotion than any undead Satoru ever met before.
This one was such a strange case, the first time Satoru met him, he was fascinated by the Ghost Ship he commanded, imagine his surprise at how the lich despaired when he took control of the undead vessel with his natural abilities. The Overlord was sure that if it wasn't for the physical limitations the elder lich would have cried himself to death.
He almost made Satoru feel bad about it, almost being the key word. He agreed to release the vessel nonetheless when the lich swore he would acknowledge his rule over the Katze Plains and offered his services to him.
The lich didn't seem to have an ounce of pride in that regard, not hesitating a second before submitting as long as he could have his wife back. Satoru never had the courage to ask in which way the lich considered the vessel his bride, if it was just a pirate saying or if he actually felt they were married in the traditional sense. Considering the vessel was an undead entity, it could have gone either way.
"Uncle Grel!"
The child atop his shoulder cried out waving her arm in the lich's direction as they landed on the ship's deck.
"Young one, I see you have bettered your tastes."
The captain lich said with what almost sounded like pride at the new captain-like outfit the girl was sporting, after requesting Satoru to create one for her.
He placed her down on the deck, letting her scurry away toward the elder lich.
"Uncle! Now we can go with auntie and sail the land in search for treasure and bad guys! Like in the stories!"
The child started jumping up and down in excitement… if he knew that having her read Blue Planet's History of Navigation would have had such an effect on her… well, he would have still given it to her, only downside was that now she insisted on sailing somewhere.
Luckily for him, he could just have Greluné go on his usual patrol around the border of his territory. That was his job after all, only difference was that he and the child would be aboard for a couple days.
It was a lucky thing that among all the natural undead born in this world, Greluné seemed to hold no animosity toward the living, unless they threatened his beloved wife.
"Me and my wife will be happy to have you with us for this travel!"
The undead proclaimed, it seems like the girl had grown on him during the few time they met when he and Satoru had to discuss patrol routes.
The ship itself… herself? Seemed to agree as it sped up as if to show her own agreement with her husband's sentiment.
"Woah!"
He felt an invisible smile creep on his face as he looked at the child's shining eyes as she looked down the bulwark of the ship at the land passing by below.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
Faine sent splinters flying with a single kick. Her Martial Arts were bettering by the day. All this unarmed combat had at least that advantage.
Unfortunately, her mood was not of the best since the thing came back from her trip. She, at least, found herself enjoying the time she passed alone while those two monsters went only the Gods knew where.
She decided that would be the opening she needed to escape, by the time they noticed she was gone, she would already be back in the Slane Theocracy if not the capital.
Now, she only needed to know how to recover her artifacts. In all these years she had been a prisoner, she had never seen the undead show them around even once. To the point she started to doubt he had them in the first place, but there was no other option, he was the only one who could have taken them.
She continued pummeling the dummy with her fists and feet, until the sound of something falling over caught her attention.
Much to her chagrin, that half-breed had fallen over at some point. But instead of starting to wail incessantly like she expected, the small monster in human skin just stood up again and tried mimicking Faine's own movements, failing miserably, and almost falling over again.
As expected, its movements were abysmal, almost a pain to watch for someone like her. Faine scoffed internally, that thing had both the genes of the Gods and Greed Kings in it and was no better than any other child its own age.
Disgraceful, but also reassuring to know the monster will be powerless.
She turned, ready to ignore what she had just seen, till an idea made its way through her mind.
She abruptly turned toward the leech.
"You are doing it wrong."
She said coldly, this was probably the first time she ever addressed that abomination directly. It made the bile in her stomach turn over, but it would be worth it.
The parasite seemed as surprised as it could be while mimicking real emotions.
She did not give it the time to address her directly as she continued.
"You can't execute the Martial Art if you don't have a target, missing will only make you fall over, if you want to practice you have to punch something directly, you can use that wall."
She inclined her head toward the stone wall on the side. The foolish thing did not even think it over before obeying her instructions.
It tried to mimic Faine's own movements, failing miserably, as its fist impacted the wall making the thing yelp in pain as it nursed its fist.
Faine had to suppress a smirk at the thing's misery and pain. It was nothing compared to what Faine had to suffer, but it was a start. She kind of wanted to see how much that abomination could take before giving up.
"Fool, those movements are completely wrong, you must use your legs as an anchor before concentrating your power into your fist."
The God-kin instructed before demonstrating the [Strong Strike] Martial Art once more, making sure that parasite would try again now that she had showed it the basics once more.
There was no way it could actually do it. She doubted something that small had the brain capacity to sustain the Martial Art, and even geniuses would take at least two to four weeks to get the feeling for a Martial Art.
She would enjoy seeing the thing harm itself in its senseless pursuit. After all she could not be blamed if that thing decided to punch the wall trying to imitate her.
The half-breed was persistent if nothing else. Punching that wall over and over, even when its knuckles began to redden and the skin began to scrape away with each failed blow.
Faine had not seen that kind of determination in a long time, the abomination continued to punch away, refining its movement in the slightest every time, even though new tears of pain dropped from its eyes with every impact.
She could not lie, a part of her hoped for this outcome, to see that thing cry in pain without her being faulted for it.
She made sure to give it some pointers and random tips every now and then to try and keep it motivated to hurt itself more.
That was until something caught her eyes, those two tiny legs settled in a strained position as she felt some energy gather in the abomination's fist. Before she could stop it, the punch impacted the wall with a very different sound, making some of the dust from the ceiling come down.
Faine felt her jaw fall in the slightest. It was unrefined, it was brutish, it was weak… but poorly as it was executed, that still was a Martial Art.
How could that be?! After only a couple hours of trying and some minor instructions… how could that thing have already reached this result that would normally take weeks even for geniuses?!
Even her perverse glee at seeing it hurt itself was set on the backburner for a moment as the reality dawned on her.
Was this abomination only this pathetic because it never applied itself? Was this just a glimpse of what it could become in the future?
A danger… a monster… truly worthy of her corrupted bloodline?
The monster turned toward Faine, all its previous pain seemingly forgotten as it beamed at her with a smile shining like the morning sun. Those mismatched eyes, the reminder of how that parasite was put in her body and by whom, fixed on her, making the God-kin flinch.
"Look mommy! I did it!"
Faine did not hesitate, her instinct took over as her hand moved on its own across the thing's face, snapping its head to the right with her sudden blow.
"Never! Never call me that again!"
She growled out before storming away.
…
She should not have done that.
It was the conclusion she reached after she tore half her room apart.
Not because the abomination didn't deserve it for daring to call her that. But because there would be consequences.
And said consequences manifested in the form of a towering undead entering her room without knocking for once.
The two glared at each other, red dots into pitch black eyes. The dark miasma surrounding him sending a jolt of existential fear down her spine, even though she tried to resist and remain unbothered.
"What do you want?"
She growled out, sounding like a cornered beast, which she partially was.
The undead slightly raised his skeletal hand, Faine expected a spell, this could be her end. All because of that abomination! She had no doubt all the good will she gathered in these years just went down the drain.
"Why? Why would you harm your daughter like that?"
The question was uttered in a chilling-cold tone. But Faine would not be fooled, she was a step away from being reduced to a stain on the wall, regardless of the tone used.
And yet, if this was her end, she would at least go out with no regrets.
"That thing is not any daughter of mine! I have no children! That is just a monster its rapist bastard of a father implanted in me as he desecrated my body over and over for his sick pleasure!"
She spat out the truth as it was, each word more venomous than the previous as the disgustingly ugly reality was vomited out and laid bare.
Silence ensued between the two. Waiting for the inevitable.
But the undead did not strike, no, he lowered his hand, his aura receding, making Faine release the breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"What do you want?"
He asked. The irony of how the tables have turned was not lost on her with that question.
"My gear, I want it back."
She was done playing around, if he wanted to know, she will let him know.
She felt those two red dots scrutinize her for what seemed to be an eternity.
"Very well then."
Faine blinked, she was sure she must have misheard him. He couldn't just have accepted to give her back the artifacts of the Gods, just like that.
"I don't care if you don't consider her your daughter… you will act like her proper mother, lie, pretend if you have to, but you will do it… and only when she will have no further need of you, only then you will have everything belonging to you back in your possession."
Faine blinked. What kind of sick game was this monster playing at? The only thought of having to interact with that abomination made her sick, let alone action as if she was…. Its mother!
But, that was the first, and maybe last chance she would get at seeing the divine artifacts again. Not counting she had no idea what her refusal here would bring upon her.
Still… this was vile! She couldn't imagine a worst torture than having to constantly be around and even pretend to care for the reminder of her violation and humiliation. for an indeterminate amount of time no less…
"What guarantee would I have… that you will keep your word."
She seethed inside, voicing her doubt through her clenched teeth.
"I may lie, deceive, and scheme to reach my ends… but in my entire existence, I never once broke a promise I made… I am afraid you will not get anything more than that from me."
He said that as if she had any choice on the matter in the first place.
It was displeasing, upsetting, and that was putting it mildly, but she will have to go along with this charade. Even though she despised all of it from the bottom of her heart.
"Fine!"
She spat out, regretting her words immediately after they escaped her mouth.
"Good."
He didn't say anything more than that as he turned around to leave.
"Wait! I have one condition!"
She immediately tried to stop him, which prompted him to turn around to hear her out.
"What is it?"
His tone was chilling-cold, the same way it was when he first addressed her.
"I will not give that… child… a name! And that is not negotiable!"
She would not do that, she would not acknowledge its existence any more than she had to, no matter if she would have to fake her hated newfound parental role. She would not acknowledge it as a creature worthy of a name!
The undead did not answer her, and Faine was starting to fear he changed his mind with that last demand of hers, only for a scoff to echo inside the room. Till that moment, she didn't even know undead could scoff in the first place.
"As if I would let such a vile excuse of a mother name her in the first place."
In all these more than seven years, this was the first time Faine heard the undead sound remotely scornful or outraged, and yet, the venom in his words hit her like a Dragon Lord's attack.
She remained standing there long after the undead left her room, his last words echoing in her mind till her brain snapped into focus once more and she gritted her teeth.
'As if the judgment of a filthy life-hating undead are even worth being pondered!' she dismissed the comment pushing it out of her mind, but the words would stick with her far longer than she was afraid of.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
"The answer is 15 Mr. Lich!"
She waved her hand in the air as she answered the question, like she heard normal kids did in her stories, even though she was alone in here.
"Wrong, this is not a multiplication, we just went over exponentials."
She pouted but immediately started to go over what she did wrong. This is why she liked Mr. Lich very much, he was never mad at her, no matter how much she messed up, he just said things how they were. Not like that scary lady who she still didn't believe was her mommy, even though Sasa never lied to her.
"…Is it 125?"
She tried again. Receiving a nod from the skeletal undead.
"Exactly, now, revising your fractions."
The undead turned toward the magic board, but before he could go on, the child raised her hand once again.
"Mr. Lich! I have a question!"
The undead turned back.
"Do you have a name?"
She asked, as the thought of her own name had been a constant in her mind since the concept was explained to her.
"I am Night Lich, that has been my designation since my creation."
The undead answered not really addressing the question she posed.
"But that is just your race, I mean Satoru is also an undead lich, but he has a name."
She tried explaining herself the best she could manage with her current understanding.
"Master has a name, he did not grant me one upon my creation, I live to serve the Almighty One, if it was not granted by him, it means a name is not necessary."
The black and white haired child did not like that answer, not at all. If that was true, it meant that her own parents thought she was not worth a name… which Satoru proved it was an incorrect fact.
"Sasa once told me that you should find a name for yourself, something that you feel like represents you."
For the first time since she could recall, her teacher seemed unsure on how to proceed or respond to her words.
"The Supreme One said so… I shall endeavor to find such a thing, our Creator's intentions are often beyond the scope of our feeble minds."
The skeletal undead sounded reverent, making the young girl giggle. She had no idea why everyone thought such funny things about Sasa, he was wise, that was for sure, but she understood what he said most of the time. And when she didn't, she always had him explain it to her.
Her Sasa was not as scary as most people made him sound.
From there on, they resumed the lesson. She was not that great at math, but her teacher seemed kind of absent minded for the rest of the lesson, which was a first.
The midday bell rang through the fortress, announcing the zenith of the sun, and the end of her lessons for the day.
She closed her notebook, she wondered what would lunch be today. Revenant Sous-Chef was very harsh and would throw a fit if she was late, something about ruining her perfect food by letting it cool down. That one was the second most passionate person she knew.
"Young one."
She turned around toward the skeletal undead.
"I decided, I shall be known from now on as Iguvald."
Her black and white eyes widened before starting to shine in excitement. Mr. Lich, no, Mr. Iguvald had chosen his name so easily! She only wished she could do the same!
"It is nice to meet you Mr. Iguvald!"
She beamed a smile at the undead.
"What is your name, child?"
The now named Night Lich asked putting an end to her excitement.
"I… I still have not chosen one."
She admitted, feeling bashful now that she had witnessed someone who did in a few hours what she couldn't do in months.
"I see… well, once you decide, I wish to hear your name."
The sincerity in the lich's words caused her smile to return. Taking a page out of one of her favorite books, she untied one of the black ribbons on her white locks and tied it around the bony wrist of the curious undead.
"It's a promise then! You will have to keep this till our promise is fulfilled!"
With that, a oath was sealed between Iguvald the Night Lich and a nameless half-elf.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
Satoru thought that finding one of the two living beings in his fortress would be easy.
Apparently, that was not the case.
Even with detection magic, somehow he could come back with only one life source, coming from the room of a certain woman.
Only thinking of her made him uneasy. The woman kept up her part of the deal, or at least she did better than before. Actually interacting with that child, calling her a mother was the longest stretch of the world Satoru ever witnessed, but at least she didn't treat her any longer like she didn't exist. Keeping up her combat lessons, which he oversaw himself to make sure Faine did not go overboard with the poor child.
Satoru couldn't say he pitied the woman, he might have if he wasn't undead, no, not even that, he might have felt bad for her if it wasn't for the fact she treated her own child like trash, regardless of how she was conceived.
He could not fathom how that resentment could fall from the father to the offspring.
Children were the most precious thing for a parent… or maybe he was just lucky to have had one of his parents who thought like that.
Before he could dwell anymore on that, he felt one of his undead react to its aggro being tested. That was nothing new considering how his patrols were attacked from time to time, mostly by the Slane Theocracy.
But this time, the undead in question was one of those who patrolled the outside of his fortress, which would normally garner some panic on his part, but he had an inkling on who was responsible for this.
The Overlord teleported to the location of the affected Death Knight who was now searching around now that his aggro was active and set.
A quick scan of the area revealed the culprit. He immediately ordered his Death Knight to stand down and descended toward the Night Lich standing on the side. He was one of the five Night Liches he had created, four of which he used for ordinary administration, and the last one was the girl's personal tutor.
He had no doubt on which one this was.
"Youths are such problematic creatures sometimes, so unruly toward their caring elders."
He made sure to emphasize his words as if he was ranting to the Night Lich who, on his part, remained silent and still. If Satoru wasn't an undead, he might have mistaken that stoicism for paralyzing fear.
"You wouldn't know where that little one ran to, now, would you?"
He tried to sound authoritative, if he knew anything about that child, it was the fact she was protective of those around her. and as expected, she emerged from the Night Lich's gown, panicking and flustered.
"No Sasa! Don't be mean to Iguvald!"
She pouted at him with the fierceness only a nine years old could possess.
'Iguvald, huh…' it was only kind of strange how she managed to bring personality out of undead summons to the point some of them chose a name for themselves. He almost got an heart attack when he heard the Revenant he summoned for cooking chose to call herself Shabu Shabu, he had no idea summons had some Japanese culture ingrained in their brains. Well, that specific Revenant was an event-only summon and his lore was literally being a disgraced Japanese chef, so it kind of made sense…
He tried to shake the train of thought off of him and return to the current circumstances.
"And whose fault is that?"
He asked, not really trying to sound scolding. She already got enough of that from her natural parent.
"Now, what did I tell you last time?"
He looked down at the sheepish black and white child.
"Not to bother the patrolling Death Knights."
She admitted looking at her shoes. Satoru remained silent, expecting.
"…And not to hide inside the liches' robes."
She continued pouting and avoiding his gaze.
"Now, apologize to Mr. Death Knight."
Satoru pointed at the Death Knight he had to pacify.
"But Sasa! I was just playing hide and seek with Ror!"
The girl tried to protest making Satoru raise an eyebrow, if he only had one.
"Ror?"
He questioned the new name he did not hear before.
"Yes, he told me that was his name when I asked!"
At her words he turned toward the very much not-talkative undead tank. Did she just assume one of his grunts was his name? Either way, now that he looked better, he could clearly see a white ribbon tied to one of the horns of the undead's helmet, a sign of the fact he was one of those with a name.
He sighed. Children would be children, he could not expect for her to be satisfied with toys forever… still, the girl clearly needed a friend her own age. It would be a shame if her social growth got stunted… like his was…
If there was anyone who could understand what the lack of friends did to someone, that one was certainly him.
Unfortunately, Yggdrasil did not allow for any child-looking enemy or summon, for obvious reason of maintaining the rating as low as possible. Even the NPCs Buku designed with great love were just normal elves set at the lowest height possible and carefully designed to look child-like, fortunately there were no such strict restrictions with settings.
But even if he wanted to try and replicate that, he completely lacked all the materials needed to create an NPC, let alone the fact it might not even work like that in the New World.
In his almost decade of living here, one of the things that never stopped surprising him was the variety of spells and how they functioned differently.
He would think of something…
"Either way, it is your bath time."
He stated the reason he came to search for her in the first place.
Her mismatched eyes brightened instantly.
"Can we wash each other's back again?!"
She asked hopefully while vibrating in place as if she was holding back from starting to jump up and down in excitement.
It was weird to think that bath time used to be one of her least favorite activities until he introduced her to Japanese onsen concept to her. It was quite an expensive hobby back in 2138, guys like him could at best afford those low-quality places where water was not so clean and they had you pey each second you stayed in. And the first time he proposed it, he was at his wits' end.
Luckily, it turned out not only to be a turning point for her opinion on bath time, but also, a discovery for him of how good a proper onsen could feel. There were few things he could recall being as relaxing as that.
Washing each other's back was just a way for him to make her stay put and not splash around in the hot water, but it turned out to be her favorite activity. And he honestly find it adorable how she focused on trying to clean every bone on his back.
"Sure, we can do that."
He finally answered her, making a smile blossom on her face from ear to ear.
"YAY!"
She cried out in joy s she immediately darted toward the entrance to the fortress.
Satoru just stayed there for a moment, shaking his head.
'That child…' he thought in amusement, he had long ago resigned to the fact he had been designated as a parent, and honestly, she was one of the few who could still bring out some emotions from underneath his undead mind.
Sharing his and his friends' stories, seeing her grow and learn, seeing her appreciate his gifts… filling the role of a parent was never something he thought he could do, let alone enjoy, and yet, it was undeniable, she chose him as much as he chose her.
Father and daughter found each other from across two worlds.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
Sasa was late… he was never late… not on this day, not on her birthday!
The girl looked down at her steaming hot omurice omelet. Her favorite food made specifically by Sasa for her every year. She used her spoon to bring it to her lips. It was sweet and tasted like home, as it always did, but something was missing this time around.
Sasa was not here enjoying the moment with her. And that made her sad.
What did he have to do that was so important he couldn't be there on her birthday?
She continued to eat her breakfast in silence, if she knew, she would have asked Iguvald to keep her company.
The door opened, making the black and white haired girl's hope rise for a moment, only to reveal the stoic figure of her combat instructor… and mother.
The woman barely acknowledged her existence as she moved without uttering a word to gather her own breakfast.
The black-haired woman sat in front of her, surprising her daughter.
"Ten years ago, the worst day of my life happened… my hope of returning home after almost a year of imprisonment was taken away… and you ripped your way out of my body."
The mismatched eyed child decided to ignore the older woman. She might have started to acknowledge her existence during these last years, and also train her in combat. But she never forgot the slap she received when she first tried to address the woman as her mother.
The child kept on eating. This was turning out to be the worst birthday ever.
"You think that one considers you his child?"
The woman continued, uncaring if the girl paid attention to her or not.
"He just knows whose child you are, the bloodlines you possess, and your potential… you will be his little trump card he will play when the Theocracy and Dragon Lords decide to fall down upon him to avoid the rise of another Greed King."
The words were delivered with an ironic tone, as if she found the very concept absurdly funny. The girl's grip on her spoon tightened to the point the metal was starting to bend under the pressure.
"You are a liar."
She muttered under her breath as she knew Sasa would never do such a thing. He was the only one she could count on in this world, the only one who took care of her when her parents abandoned or despised her.
"You poor fool, you don't know undead like I do… they don't perceive emotions like we do… but some of them are tremendously intelligent, to the point they can manipulate human emotions to serve their needs… there is a reason why they are a race to be killed on sight, let an undead intelligent enough alone, and you will find a disaster to deal with down the line."
The black-eyed woman explained with certainty in her tone. As if her words were just a fact and nothing less than that.
"I am not a weapon, and Satoru is not that kind of person! I am happy here as I am!"
She vehemently denied the woman's words, only for her to laugh in her face,a cold and cruel ring. That was the first time she heard her laugh, and it was more terrifying than when she hatefully glared at her.
"It is so amusing that you think you have a choice in the process… that you don't understand yet… you were never meant to be happy…"
The black-haired woman raised from her seat, bringing her face just before the girl's, their gazes never faltering.
"Monsters like you will only destroy, and burn, everything around them… everything you love and hate, will be turned to cinders and ashes… That! Is your nature, and nothing will ever change it… the only thing that can be changed is the one wielding you, and that will inevitably get burned too at some point."
The words cut through her little soul, even if she didn't understand why they hurt so much if she knew they weren't true.
"It is in your blood, that vileness and destruction… so enjoy it till it lasts, this peaceful fragment of your existence… for your nature will sooner or later take over."
And with that, she was left alone with her thoughts and those words keeping her company.
That was, until the door opened again to reveal none other than Satoru.
"So, you are already up and awake… sorry for my lateness but there was an urgent matter to att-"
He must have noticed something strange since he stopped in his tracks.
"Is everything alright?"
He asked, his voice more contained and focused. Showing more care than anybody else would, a sharp contrast with the only natural parent she had ever known.
"S-Sasa… do you want me to f-fight for you?"
She felt some tears start gathering in the corner of her eyes, even if she really didn't want to cry. She immediately felt a velveted arm envelope her.
"No, of course not, look at me."
He whispered in that reassuring tone of his she had learnt to rely on since her earliest memories.
"When you started training, I thought it was good for you to spend some time with your mother, and learn to defend yourself while doing it… but if you want, you can stop."
She felt something warm deep inside her wash away everything else at those words. She knew that evil woman was lying, she knew her Sasa would never do something that cruel to her.
"No, I want to continue, I want to be as strong as you one day… and help others like you did!"
She said, regaining some of her confidence.
"That's a good goal, you should always help out your friends."
The undead said as he gently motioned for her to follow him.
"Speaking of which… I have got a surprise for you."
He said as any lingering sad feelings of her was swept away by curiosity as the undead escorted her back to her room.
He opened the door, revealing her very much not tidy room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for a half-nervous half-scared black-haired and crimson-eyed girl standing in the middle of it.
She blinked as she eyed the girl up and down, noticing very strange details… like the fact she had two small black horns erupting from her head and half-hidden by her hair… or the fact she had a tail… or the fact she had little dark scales covering part of her skin.
All in all, the slightly older girl looked pretty weird, but she was not one to judge.
"This is Draudillon… her parents were very naughty and stepped were they didn't belong, while I resolve the situation with them, I hope you two will be fast friends."
She felt Satoru give her a gentle push toward the other girl before closing the door behind her, leaving the both of them alone in silence.
The mismatched eyed girl looked straight into the reptile crimson eyes of her new… friend?
"Umu… Hi…"
She tried to greet her with a wave, only for the girl to not move an inch in response, as if she was a doll.
"A-are you also a prisoner?"
The horned girl finally said something, even though it took the younger girl a second to understand what she was implying.
"I live here, why would I be a prisoner?"
She asked, unsure of what else to say to the weird girl.
"B-but the undead…"
"Satoru is great! Isn't he?! He brings me the best toys and knows lots of things and tells lots of great stories! Oh, and cooks the best omurice omelet!"
She immediately interrupted whatever the older girl was about to say as she felt like defending her Sasa, no matter what.
The black-haired girl flinched at her enthusiasm and seemed unsure of how to proceed, not that the mismatched eyed girl knew the answer.
"Today is my birthday."
She said the first thing that came to mind.
"Happy… birthday?"
The crimson eyed girl seemed unsure on the congratulation.
"Your name is… kinda hard, can I call you Drau?"
She received no answer to that.
Maybe the older girl was just shy.
She did not waste time and grabbed her hand, noticing how rigid the other girl's appendage felt.
"C'mon! I am going to introduce you to Garg!"
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
Augh, of all the things that could happen… he had to abduct the royal family of the only kingdom that had yet to pick a fight with him…
Well, in his defense, it wasn't exactly his fault that they chose to travel back from the empire to their country cutting though his territory. What did they expect from a land full of undead?
He honestly could have just not cared and did as he pleased if they were just some nobles, but a royal family? That meant a war worse than any invasion he ever suffered on his territory, possibly worse than even Re-Estize or Baharuth. Not counting this family descended from the Brightness Dragon Lord, which meant he could also attract the ire of the Argland Council.
In short, a true mess.
Luckily, no one important died, so the meeting went pretty well. He even managed to negotiate an armistice allowing the Draconic Kingdom passage through his land as long as they paid a certain amount. He left those details to the Night Liches. He was a salaryman, what did he know about medieval fantasy kingdoms' taxes?
He also somehow managed to make sure young Draudillon would be able to visit from time to time as a playmate. Even though the king and queen were very skeptical at first, he insisted assuring no harm will befall anyone.
That child really needed someone her own age to interact with. That, to him, was more valuable than any tax. All in all, what could have ended badly, just ended up with a treaty and a couple of signatures.
When he came back to get Draudillon to her parents, he found the two girls playing with some of his magical toys. He was happy they had managed to become friends so quickly, but that was the magic of being so young, they did not overthink social interactions like adults did.
When he tucked the black and white girl into bed that night she was far to excited at the prospect of seeing her friend again and stayed awake through two of his stories in their entirey before her adrenaline run out.
Things seemed to be turning around in a good way.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
She parried the blow with a slick movement. She had learnt her opponent patterns by now. Even though she was still no match for her speed, she could still anticipate some moves.
But she didn't want to fail! Not again! She didn't want to let Sasa down! Not when she had requested one of his friends' weapons to use!
She was so fascinated by the tale of the noble warrior Takemi, that she asked her Sasa if he had any equipment of his. She almost melted in excitement when he presented her with a blade of his own creation, and that he even used at some point. Then she begged him to let her use it in her next combat class. Even if Sasa was reluctant at first, he finally agreed, as long as he was there to monitor the event.
She barely dodged another slash, but received a kick directly to her guts for it.
She spat out some saliva as the kick pushed the air out of her and she stumbled back.
"I-I'm okay."
She said as she saw with the corner of her eye her Sasa ready to intervene. But she would not let it end like this! Not when she was wielding a weapon as legendary as this!
She looked up at her opponent. Those cold black eyes looking down at her as if she was trash. Those same eyes that followed her back since she could recall. Those same eyes that stared at her as the woman spewed her venomous words on how she would only bring ruin to all she loved!
She would prove her wrong!
She would prove that she was a hero like the ones in the stories!
She recalled the tale of Takemi and the Sea Dragon Sulphur, how he used his ultimate skill to bring him down once and for all!
She felt a bolt of lightning pass through her whole body, starting from her hands wielding the blade, to her feet, to her chest, and finally to her brain.
Something just clicked into her mind, as if reminiscing a long forgotten memory with full clarity.
An instinct she never knew she possessed in the first place.
Her body moved as if not guided by her own orders, her mouth opening, uttering words she could only recall from a story.
"[Dance of the Crimson Lotus]!"
A crimson light enveloped everything as she rushed forward. She barely registered seeing the shock and… fear? Appear in those black eyes she had despised all her life.
Then a shadow obscured her view as a loud clash of metal against something hard echoed through the whole courtyard.
It took her a few seconds to realize she had been stopped. She blinked as the strange sensation that overtook her just vanished as quickly as it came.
Her mismatched eyes followed the no longer shining blade in her hand only to see it was blocked by a familiar skeletal hand adorned with rings.
She immediately relented her tight grip, letting the blade fall from her hands, her panicking apologies got stuck in her throat as the skeletal hand was revealed to her in full. A large crack now going across it, not a deep one, but still… that was the result of her own actions.
She hurt her Sasa.
'Everything you love and hate, will be turned to cinders and ashes…' the haunting words came back to her mind.
It was true… she was a monster.
X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X
Faine could not help but cackle in irony, alone in her room.
A sad and demented sound, a thing in between laughing and crying.
Was she not proven right?
Was this not what she predicted?
Nothing good could come from such a vile act upon her body.
She was right!
That one truly was a monster!
How else could such strength be explained?!
No child should be able to be that powerful?!
God-kin or not, a monster was a monster.
She had already grown stronger than most outside the Black Scripture, and her body was yet to mature…
What a frightening existence.
Maybe now even the undead would understand, now that he himself suffered the consequences of his nurturing of that thing!
That such unholy spawn could be conceived by her own womb still baffled her! What kind of vile monsters had the Greed Kings been for their descendants to be such a plight upon the world?
That thing had to die before it could be allowed to reach its full potential. It could not be controlled, it would just rip and tear everything around it. She started with its toys when still but a toddler, and now it will soon be living beings that would suffer her wrath.
For the good of the entire world, for every living and unliving thing…
That nameless thing had to die!
End of ACT I