Click!

Kimhant decided to take a picture because he wanted to know what had surrounded them. But he soon regretted it deeply when he saw the appearance of what had encircled them. They were dead, looking exactly like the food they had served, without a single mistake. Their bodies were decayed, with skin that was both pale and dark brown in places. Some even had worms crawling through them.

"Mommy, please help Kim..."

That was all Kimhant could say before he fainted immediately.

The situation for Valentine and Aden was also dire. The darkness was an obstacle that made it impossible for them to see their enemies, and every time they realized they were under attack, it was almost too late. Fortunately, the ninja profession had skills related to heightened senses; otherwise, the two of them would not have been able to hold out.

Eventually, Draco, Oliang, and Lidded Wet Trash Can joined them, but they were still at a disadvantage in terms of both numbers and the environment.

Boom!!

Peach Blossom threw a large fireball into the middle of the crowd. The dead screamed and scattered in all directions. Draco and the others, who were surrounded, ran to join Siegfried and Peach Blossom with joy. Only Kearick headed toward the Castle of Death, paying no attention to anything else.

"What is going on here, Mi?"

Peach Blossom cried out in shock when she saw the drastically changed appearance of the dead. They looked more grotesque than zombies in horror movies, so disgusting that the young girl thought she might succeed in losing weight this time.

"I don't know! Before it got dark, everything was fine. But as soon as the sun set, they all turned into this,"

Valentine replied, her voice weary.

"And where is Kearick, Mi?"

Aden asked, looking around and not seeing Ragged or Kearick among their group.

"I saw someone running that way. That must be Kearick, right?"

Oliang pointed north.

"We have to go that way too. Let's hurry and follow,"

Siegfried urged. They could not wait for the dead to regroup. Otherwise, it would be much harder to break through to the Castle of Death.

"Yes, we should hurry because Chang Long is probably having a hard time. She has twelve people to take care of," Draco agreed, nodding.

"She shouldn't be a concern. Both Davy-chan and Hisa-chan are highly skilled, and the loyal Kitsune is there to help,"

Wet Trash Can said. Everyone remembered that both Hisa-chan and Davy-chan had physical forms in this land.

"That's true! The ones we should worry about are ourselves. Kearick is missing, and we're surrounded by these Version Two dead people,"

Oliang said, looking around anxiously. The dead who had scattered from Peach Blossom's fireball were now closing in on them again.

"At first, I thought I'd let you starve to death quietly, but since you've meddled in our affairs, as the future king, I must! Exterminate! All of you!"

Captain Tautus shouted with a raspy voice. His body was in the same decayed state as the other dead minions around him.

"Future king!?"

Everyone repeated in confusion.

"Heh heh heh, as you may know, this land has been without a king for a long time. The lack of a ruler has caused us to deteriorate. Our appearances, once human-like, slowly degraded. Immortality faded, our bodies decayed, which was why we constantly needed to find parts to replace."

Captain Tautus' words made everyone realize why they captured humans who strayed into this land.

"D... Don't tell me... you use parts from the bodies of the humans you imprison to death?"

Peach Blossom asked, her voice trembling.

"Heh heh heh, this girl is quite clever. Oh! But I must thank you for leading me to Kearick,"

Captain Tautus said with a raspy laugh.

Chang Long dragged the unconscious Kimhant to the center of the group. The twelve living people surrounded Kimhant, trembling. Davy-chan rolled his eyes at the boy, who had become a burden at such a critical moment. Meanwhile, Hisa-chan stood calmly, waiting for Chang Long's command to attack.

"Davy-chan, how many of them are there?"

Chang Long asked in a calm voice.

"I don't know if I'm overthinking it, but it seems like there are more of them than there were during the day..."

Davy-chan replied, a worried look on his face.

"No, there really are more. Some of them don't have enough power to maintain their form during the day, so they hide and come out at night,"

one of the twelve living people said, his voice shaking. He had seen those who could only come out at night many times; they were far more horrifying than the ones that appeared during the day.

"Do you know how to kill them?"

Chang Long asked the speaker with interest.

"Yes! They fear light and fire, but only the fire of their overlord can destroy their souls. And the light that can cleanse their evil must be of the holy element,"

the man answered confidently.

"How do you know all this?!"

Chang Long asked in surprise. This man seemed to know a lot.

"Haha... They always tell us all sorts of things whenever they bring us food. It's like they're trying to kill time or they think we won't survive to tell anyone else about it. Some of them even show off their prized possessions to us!"

"Uh-huh. So, they don't worry about anyone escaping from here. All we need to do is buy enough time to reach the Castle of Death,"

Chang Long nodded. She walked north, looking down at the Eye of Fire, which still had flames burning brightly within. There was enough energy to activate her skill.

"Sea of Flames!"

Flames surged from the Eye of Fire, spreading across the ground and consuming the dead blocking their path. Screams echoed as the dead fled from the intense heat of the spreading inferno, which expanded relentlessly as if fueled by the best kind of tinder.

"N... now we're surrounded by fire!"

One of the twelve living people cried out sharply in panic as he saw the inferno approaching their position.

"Stay calm, it's fine!"

Chang Long reassured him without concern. She looked ahead, where there were no longer any dead blocking their path. It seemed her flames from the Eye of Fire were quite effective.

"Fire Fortress!"

Chang Long activated the Fire Fortress skill to prevent the inferno from reaching them. Then, she waved her arm forward, parting the flames to create a path. The twelve living people, along with Hisa-chan, were surprised and amazed that Chang Long could control the flames like that.

"H... how did you do that?"

One of the twelve living people asked, astonished. He had never seen a human capable of controlling fire like this.

"Never mind that, let's move,"

Chang Long ordered. She was not one to explain much in normal times, and she had no intention of doing so in a critical moment like this. The group started moving again, with two men volunteering to carry the still-unconscious Kimhant.

"So... you need Ragged, I mean, Kearick?"

Valentine asked, guessing why Captain Tautus wanted Kearick.

"Yes! I've been searching for him for a long time, ever since I learned that our overlord's departure meant we could no longer maintain our existence,"

Captain Tautus explained while directing his minions to attack Valentine's group.

"Why do you need him? Is it because he hasn't changed like you?"

Valentine asked while her friends struggled to fend off the dead. Luckily, Peach Blossom's fire magic was able to hold them off somewhat, or they would have been overwhelmed.

"If you want to know, surrender now. Maybe I'll be kind enough to let you live until my coronation day. Heh heh heh,"

Captain Tautus laughed heartily, taking pleasure in the situation. He was not in a hurry to deal with this curious group, confident they could not escape and would soon die and become spare parts.

"Ahhh! Look over there, brother!"

Peach Blossom screamed, pointing her trembling finger at a spot where flames were burning and the bodies of the dead lay.

Everyone turned to look as their eyes widened in horror. The dismembered pieces of the dead were moving, rejoining the fight even if only a hand or a leg remained.

"What the hell is this!"

Wet Trash Can shouted, his face pale. He wondered if he was playing a game or watching a horror movie.

"It's like we've stepped into a horror movie!"

Oliang shook his head, feeling just as scared as his dear friend.

"Release, Firetail!"

Draco released his pet from the seal. Firetail, excited to be free from its pet seal, eagerly spewed fire at the dead, having a grand time. Draco had to call it back quickly before the dead could catch it.

"That little dragon won't do much. Heh heh heh, I'll catch it and eat it as a power booster!"

Captain Tautus said excitedly upon seeing the tiny dragon.

"Hehe, we'll see if it's my dragon or you who ends up as food. Confirm! Peach Blossom, use magic to clear the path now. Firetail is about to undergo a double evolution!"

After commencing for Firetail's evolution, Draco immediately informed Peach Blossom.

Peach Blossom quickly cast fire magic to clear a path for their group to retreat from Firetail's body, which was now glowing a deep red. Once everyone had moved out of the circle, they eagerly watched Firetail, which was surrounded by the dead.

"Is Firetail going to be alright, Co?"

Peach Blossom asked worriedly.

"It'll be fine,"

Draco replied confidently, though he was secretly worried. He had no experience in raising pets.

"Why did you say it would evolve two stages at once?"

Siegfried asked curiously. He was considering getting a pet himself but was still pondering on what kind of beast to get. He wanted to gather as much information as possible.

"The system notified me that Firetail was ready to evolve back in Kirisakura City, but since we were in the city, I didn't confirm it. I was annoyed by the repeated system prompts, so I stored Firetail in the ring. The double evolution is because both stages were ready when we were helping Mi on a quest. If I had leveled it up myself, it would have only reached the first stage by now,"

Draco explained.

As Draco explained, Firetail's body, glowing intensely, ignited and consumed the dead surrounding it. The dead screamed in agony, fleeing from the intense heat. This made Draco and his friends turn to watch in astonishment.

"Firetail is burning up!"

Valentine exclaimed in shock.

"It's okay... it's part of the evolution process!"

Draco reassured, his eyes fixed on Firetail's burning body.

Seeing the dragon was too dangerous, the dead began to retreat and attack Siegfried's group instead. They often found hands or arms grabbing their legs or climbing up their bodies during the fight, causing Valentine and Peach Blossom to scream multiple times.

"Arggh! How do we kill these things for good? Even with just one arm, they keep attacking!"

Wet Trash Can shouted in frustration.

"After this, no horror movie will scare us anymore, hehe,"

Aden said weakly. Though usually indifferent to ghosts, he was starting to feel a bit scared.

"Speaking of which, I think of Kimhant. That guy is probably more scared than Can,"

Oliang laughed softly, imagining Kimhant might have screamed and fainted by now.

"This means Master Chang has another burden to carry!"

Peach Blossom grumbled in irritation, her clothes and hair disheveled from the fight.

"Don't be so mean, Peach Blossom. Everyone has things they like and things they're afraid of. It's not his fault he's afraid of ghosts,"

Siegfried scolded his sister.

"Right, totally agree, Siegfried!"

Wet Trash Can and Oliang said in unison, firmly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just annoyed that they attacked us before I had time to do my makeup,"

Peach Blossom pouted, unable to hold back her complaint.

"...Still worried about looking pretty, seriously? Whoaaaa."

Draco muttered under his breath, but then he suddenly screamed as a hand grabbed and pulled him down.

"Draco!"

Everyone shouted simultaneously as they saw their friend being dragged towards the dead. Peach Blossom quickly launched a barrage of fireballs, creating a barrier to keep the dead from swarming Draco. He quickly slashed at the hands holding his legs with his sword and scrambled to his feet.

Boommmm!

A thunderous explosion echoed as fireballs rained in all directions like a shower of tiny meteors. Everyone stared in astonishment as Firetail emerged, its new form revealed after the double evolution. It looked elegant and sleek, its size slightly larger than before. The dead sensed the danger emanating from Firetail, the danger of prey being targeted by a superior predator.

"The evolution is complete. Firetail has gained the Dragon's Breath skill and the Meteor Blaze skill..."

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