Carven was having the time of his life. Inspiration could not stop flowing. He was a maestro, painting a beautiful masterpiece — the best work in his entire career as a necromancer so far. Now, all he needed was to think of a fitting name for his creation. The current work in progress name was ‘Lorchimera’, but he found the name to be… tacky. Carven sighed, to think a creative genius like him would be cursed with bad naming sense. Truly, God was fair.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  Carven’s musing was cut short. An earthquake just hit. As an underground dweller, this was nothing short but bad news. He could easily evacuate to the surface, but if his dungeon caved in, he would lose a lot of his works and resources. That would be devastating, a loss that would take years to recover from.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE …

  …

  Luckily for Carven, the rumbling stopped. His first order of priority was to assess the damage. He used the mental connection he had set up with his ghouls to simultaneously check his entire lair. Other than a few fallen objects and broken glass, the damage was minimal — except for one location.

  In the place where he imprisoned his materials, there was a huge hole on the roof. Underneath the hole, stone debris and a huge dust cloud obscuring the ghoul’s vision. Carven tried to focus, and he saw a figure inside the dust cloud. He could not make heads or tails on who the figure was, but he decided better be safe than sorry.

  Carven directly controlled his ghoul, making it charged the figure. The ghoul galloped with ferocious speed, and as soon as it was close, it raised its hand, ready to pierce the figure with its long powerful claws…

  … and Carven lost connection with his ghoul.

  “What?” was all he could mutter.

  *******

  A hand black as iron. That was all Tera managed to see. Her vision, blocked by the dust and the kids crowding the cell’s bar. She stood, wanting to find out what exactly happened… till she heard a familiar, terrifying noise.

  BRAK BRAK RAAAH

  The sound of a galloping ghoul, charging whoever this Regulus guy was. In an instant, the ghoul entered the dust cloud, and a nasty ripping sound could be heard. Tera reflexively winced when she heard the sound. She knew that Regulus was dead. To be ripped apart by ghoul, what a horrible way to die.

  “YEAAAAH,” yet the kids’ cheers got louder. Didn’t they know, their supposed savior just got slaughtered? The kids’ bizarre reaction got the better of her. Now, she was curious. She walked closer to the cell’s bar, trying to get a better look. When the dust settled and she got a better look, she saw a young boy — his entire skin was as black as his hand, blacker than Tera’s own skin. His hands looked like claws, and his feet only had three toes — one big toe. His middle and second toe were merged together and so were his ring toe and little toe — additionally, his heel was sharp, making it look like a pickaxe — this kid, Regulus, was more monstrous than the ghoul he just ripped into two.

  GRAAAH

  The sound of more undead could be heard in the distance. Tera knew it was only a matter of time. The children should also know, yet they didn’t seem concerned, nor did Regulus. He smiled instead, flaunting his jet black teeth. He spread his arms open and charged at the oncoming undead, disappearing from Tera’s sight.

  “Wai-”, Tera did not want to miss the action. She pushed herself against the cold iron bar, trying to get a better angle. She was so focused she did not realize she was squeezing Grigori who happened to be in front of her, “get off me you bitch!” but Tera could not hear Grigori. His voice was drowned by the sound of meat being torn and the excited roar of the children.

  The sight of Regulus, weaving around the undead, tearing them to pieces with the swipe of his hand was burned to her eyes. The undead she feared, the undead that stole her life — they were all swept away in a blink. It was hard to tell how many undead were there, with their bodies in pieces and scattered all over — it did not matter anyway. In the corridor, there was only one left standing, Regulus.

  Tera did not know what Regulus was. He could be human, monster, or the devil itself. Whatever he was, Tera already decided — Regulus is God.

  ********

  A rope dropped down the hole, and John rappeled from it. He was greeted with a familiar sight, Regulus, standing on top of torn bodies while drenched in blood… At least he was not eating them.

  “Regulus, get us out!” the captured children all begged to be released. Regulus was about to tear the iron bar before being stopped by John, “The door, destroy the latch Regulus.” John knocked at the door knob as he explained. Destroying the latch would be faster and easier to get out of compared to tearing the bars one by one. Time was of the essence.

  Regulus pierced the door latches, allowing the children to pour out of the cells, including the unrelated prisoners like Tera. All of them, dumbfounded — they could not believe their freedom was real.

  As Regulus was destroying the cell doors, D’aka and Jeremy descended from the hole. When they saw what Regulus was doing, they wondered if they should help. “No need. It’s faster if we let Regulus do it by himself. Just focus on getting the weapons down.”

  D’aka and Jeremy got to work, communicating with the children up the hole to get the weapons down. While they did that, John counted the children while assessing which one of them was in no condition to join the fight. He was hoping that all the kidnapped members were put in the same place, but he doubted it would be that easy.

  “John! They got Azali. We need to rescue her.” The just released Grigori immediately approached John. “They also got five other kids, John.” Daniel added. John did the calculation, and they were indeed missing six people. “Alright. Once D'aka is done unloading the weapon, go up.”

  “I can fight John!” protested Grigori. “I know, and we will. It’s just… not all of us will fight as a unit. We’re splitting up. Right now, the Molrrets are digging more tunnels. Tunnels for us to go through.” Grigori was confused by John’s strategy explanation. He was a bit of an idiot… and he was concussed a few moments ago. John realized Grigori was not processing his explanation, so he was wondering how to dumb it down. “It’s alright. Grigori, you stay and fight with Regulus. I’ll take the others up. You’re okay with that John?” Daniel however understood John’s plan.

  “Yes. Go up and talk to either Kisara, Paulie, or Uri. They’re in charge of their own units…” Daniel nodded. “... and Dan. Carl is waiting for you.” John informed Daniel, smiling a bit as he said that. “Good, I’m gonna give him hell for ditching me.” Daniel said playfully. In reality, he missed his bro.

  CRANG

  Regulus had opened the last cell. Inside were a few kids, prisoners, and Eda. The kids were grateful, the prisoners did not know how to act around him, and Eda… She was a bit bashful. “I thought you'd never come.” Eda was holding back her tears. She was ashamed to ever doubt Regulus. “Sorry we’re late.” Regulus answered. Eda shook her head — Regulus came, and that's what mattered.

  “GRIGORI!” Eda shouted, “Pass me a pistol! We’re going to save Azali.” Grigori grinned. Eda was back to her usual self. He flung a pistol at Eda, only for it to bonk Eda’s head. Her cool moment was ruined, and Grigori now feared for his life.

  “Heh, hahahaha” Eda laughed instead. So were the kids, they found it hilarious. Grigori, on the other hand, was laughing nervously. “I’m gonna kill you Grigori.” Eda said with a big smile on her face. Her eyes, however, were not smiling.

  The kids enjoyed the duo's usual comedy routine — their enjoyment was cut short. When the other prisoners, led by Tera, surrounded Regulus. They knew these people could not possibly harm him, but they were ready for trouble nonetheless.

  Contrary to their beliefs, instead of trouble, the prisoners all kneeled on both knees in front of Regulus. “Regulus, our saviour. Would you let us serve you? To fight alongside you?” Tera spoke for the group. Regulus and the kids were a bit confused by the prisoners’ request, but John understood fully. For these people, devoid of hope, witnessing Regulus’ strength as he mowed down their object of fear must be cathartic — Regulus must seem like a divine being in their eyes.

  Regulus looked at John, he did not quite get what the word ‘serve’ meant. “They want to join us, Regulus. It’s your decision to make.” John clarified the prisoners’ intention. John did not particularly mind having the prisoners with them. They would need any hands available for the upcoming fight, and after all was said and done, they would be loyal members for the gang — loyal to Regulus.

  Regulus were overjoyed. Most of these humans might not be younglings, but Regulus was happy to have them join nonetheless. “Of course you can. Welcome to the herd. You’re one of us now.” Regulus welcomed them with open arms. The prisoners cried tears of joy, some even prayed in front of Regulus. Eda was fascinated by the prisoners’ veneration. There was something about them that struck a chord with her. “What a bunch of weirdos.” Grigori however, was creeped out by the sight. Eda kicked Grigori’s shin. Grigori always had a way to annoy her, intentionally or not.

  “Alright, enough of that.” John clapped his hands, snapping the prisoners out of their trance. “Welcome to the gang. Now grab a weapon you know how to use. During a fight, listen to the Taon’s order. His name D’aka, he’ll be your boss.”

  The prisoners looked at Regulus for guidance, while he just smiled, indicating to just listen to John. So they did. They stood and went to arm themselves. Daniel and Jeremy helped the kids climb the rope, while D’aka organized the prisoners. Regulus approached John, “What’s the plan John?”

  “You go first. Find Azali and the rest. Destroy anything in your path. We’ll follow suit when we’re ready.”

  Regulus grinned, “Affirmative.” and he charged deeper into the dungeon, leaving the rest while they prepared.

  *********

  Carven was facing a dilemma — his prisoners were staging a revolt. Normally, Carven was the type to run from conflict, however, this time the conflict was happening in his own backyard. The enemies were a bunch of children, malnourished prisoners, and one kid who had permanent [Iron body].

  The only problematic one was the [Iron body] kid. Even before Gano informed him of Regulus' existence, he was already aware of him. Once in a while, Carven saw him wandering about in the sewer. At first he thought Regulus was some sort of animal or monster, but when Gano told him Regulus was actually human, Carven was excited. A human with a permanent [Iron body]... if he could maintain that state even after death — imagine the kind of undead he could turn Regulus into. His artistic soul was restless — Carven badly desired Regulus to be his subject, he needed it.

  Gano told Carven that his informant had a way to lure Regulus into a trap. An armory filled with gunpowder that they could explode at any time. Carven rejected the idea. He could not afford to lose such rare material in an explosion. So instead, he let Gano’s informant led Regulus out of their base, and he kidnapped the kids to be used as hostage and bait for a trap of his own design — a trap that would not excessively damage Regulus’ body. He just did not expect for Regulus to find his lair and so easily rescue the children.

  However, this crisis also presented an opportunity. Regulus had willingly plunged himself inside his lair, where most of his undead were concentrated. Carven did a quick count. Excluding the undead that was just destroyed, he still had 218 zombies and 36 ghouls left inside his lair, with two special undead as his most powerful weapons. An undead minotaur and his newest creation. Added with his own capabilities as a necromancer… Regulus would regret coming to his lair.

  ************

  Regulus climbed the stairs out into a large room. Once he was in the room… he could hear noises — hundreds of undead groaning and shuffling. The sound bounced, on the undead, on the wall, onto Regulus’ ears. He was blind, all he could see was pure darkness — a perfect canvas for his mind. From the reverberated sound, he drew a picture — the exact numbers of undead and the layout of the lair. Regulus might be blind, but he could see without vision.

  Right now, Regulus stood inside a vast, three-storey room that connected to multiple corridors, some of which had entryways on the second floor. This room served as the central hub of the lair, linking to nearly every section within it. There were staircases which lead to walkways on the second floor.

  He counted four corridors on each side of the first floor, with an equal number mirroring them on the second. Behind him, a stairway descended toward the prison cells. Directly ahead lay two more passages: the one on the left led to an iron gate, while the one on the right — perched on the upper level, led toward the sewer.

  Regulus couldn’t smell Azali, but if he had to guess, she was somewhere in the front-left corridor on the first floor.

  The only problem now was the undead pouring out from every direction. Regulus charged forward, swinging his arms wildly — slicing and tearing apart every undead in his path, zombies and ghouls alike. None of them could harm him, but their numbers and mass alone stopped Regulus’ momentum. He was no longer charging ahead, stuck in the middle of the room, surrounded.

  BUM

  Plop

  A molrret burst out from the roof above him. It fell due to gravity, but a small hand grabbed its leg and pulled it back into the hole — just as planned. Regulus cupped his hand and pissed on it. Once he gathered enough piss, he launched it upwards into the hole.

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  Splish

  The ball of piss hits the roof, spreading its smell into the tunnel system that was just dug by the molrrets — through piss, Regulus had shared information on the place layout to all the molrrets that smelled it. Once they smelled Regulus’ piss, the molrrets all pissed, further spreading the smell — the information — to all the molrrets in the tunnel complex.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  The earth shook. The molrrets got to work. They knew where to dig now. But digging took time, and Regulus was still surrounded.

  “FIRE!”

  D’aka’s loud roar could be heard behind him. A volley of musket fire followed.

  BANG BANG BANG

  Some of the zombies near Regulus dropped. A bunch of children and prisoners had come out. Eight of them were armed with muskets. Once they fired, the eight passed their empty muskets to the people behind them, who exchanged them with a loaded musket.

  “FIRE!”

  D’aka roared again. They fired again. And they exchanged their muskets with a loaded one. They kept repeating this process, steadily reducing the undead around Regulus. Their impact might be small, but it was a welcomed one. Some of the undead diverted towards the firing line, charging straight ahead.

  “SPEARS!”

  D’aka lifted his spear, so were a group of people behind the eight musketeers. The zombies, unable to stop the momentum of their charge, ran straight ahead into the spears, keeping them at bay from the musketeers. Unable to come near them, the musketeers aimed their muskets point-blank at the zombies head.

  BANG

  Destroying their brains. Once they stopped moving, the musketeers kicked the zombie, unplugging them from the spears. They managed to stand their ground without Regulus’ help, but it was only a matter of time before they got overrun. The undead on the second floor walkways ran towards the walkway above the firing group. Whoever was controlling them planned to attack them from above — D’aka and his group noticed this, but not much they could do but continue focusing on the undead in front of them.

  BUM plop BUM plop BUM plop

  More molrrets dug holes above the roof. Once the holes were dug and the molrrets were pulled back in, children popped out from them upside down. They observed the situation, and threw a lit fire bottles from high above.

  Crsssh Woosh

  The flame lit up some of the undead. It took quite a while for the fire to kill an undead, and a bottle would only burn up an undead or two, but the fire kept burning even when the undead already stopped moving. Those burning bodies ended up being makeshift blockades. The necromancer who controlled them now faced a dilemma — go around them wasting time, or go through them, spreading the fire and ended up losing more undead.

  One of the children who were throwing the fire bottles was Cooper. He noticed that there were some undead running on the second floor walkways — heading above the firing group. He pulled his head back up.

  “Paulie, the firing group is in danger! They’re going to be attacked from above!”

  Paulie was not quite sure how the undead would attack the group from above, he had not seen the place yet. But he did not need to see it to know how to handle it… or who could handle it.

  “MOLRRETS, THE FIRING GROUP UNDER THREAT!!! CAVE IN THEIR SURROUNDING!!!” Paulie’s order echoed through the tunnel complex, once the molrrets heard it, they got to work. The molrrets dug, and in a matter of seconds…

  BLAAAM

  The roof near the firing group collapesed. Large debris fell nearby the firing group, but none fell on top of them. The molrrets dug in a way that only the surrounding caved in, creating a barrier of stone and earth surrounding the fire group, and cutting the access on the walkways above them. Most of the undead that ran on the walkways were buried under the rubble, only four of them managed to survive unscathed.

  “It works Paulie!... kinda” Cooper excitedly informed Paulie, but he was still worried about the undead that survived. Three of them, zombies, all jumped towards the firing group, but none possessed any threats to them. D’aka and the group handled them easily as they jumped to their second death. The only problem was the last remaining undead, a ghoul — it waited patiently above them. D’aka fired his pistol at it, but the bullet did not do any visible damage towards it. D’aka understood why the ghoul stayed above them. As long as it was there, the firing group could not help but be worried of its presence, and soon enough, other ghouls and zombies would overrun them from the front, even with a new barrier of rubble acting as cover. Once they were overwhelmed from the front, the ghoul could easily jump down and flank them — slaughtering all of them in one move.

  BUM plop

  A molrret dug a hole directly above them. Small debris fell on top of it, but it ignored them. The necromancer who controlled it only shared its vision. They did not hear a hole being dug above them — they did not feel the debris that fell on its skin — they did not look up to see Uri who dropped above them.

  Uri heard from Daniel how Andy died — a ghoul killed him. Now, a ghoul was underneath him. As he was flying down, he prepared his axe — and Andy’s — to strike the ghoul down. Fueled by vengeance, Uri awakened his [Iron body]. Both of his arms were strengthened by [Iron body]. He swung his dual axes at the ghoul’s head. Powered by his [Iron body] and the momentum of the fall, he split the ghoul’s head wide open, instantly killing it.

  The ghoul fell down and so did Uri. If he did not subconsciously cover his legs with [Iron body], they would break from the height he dropped from. Luckily, he did. He was only in major pain. Right now, standing up was all he could do, walking was still too painful. The problem was, the undead started to climb the rubble. He was alone on the second floor walkway, and the firing group below him could not afford to offer any support — they were busy firing in front of them.

  A rope dropped down from above him. Jeremy and Daniel descend with it. Once they reached the ground, they immediately fired at the undead climbing the rubble. Soon, more children and prisoners descended, securing the walkways above the firing group.

  “Uri, why’re you just standing there?” Jeremy complained, he was confused why Uri stood motionless, not even firing at the undead. “... My legs… hurt man.” Uri said while holding back tears. His feet trembled from the pain. “... you fucking idiot… just sit down and load my gun.” Uri nodded. He grabbed Jeremy’s gun and slowly sat down. He was on loading duty for now.

  BANG BANG

  Crsssh Wooosh

  BLAAAM

  The sound of gunfires, flames, and falling debris filled the room. Carven was losing dozens of undead by the seconds, while the children and prisoners were winning. His only saving grace was that he had Regulus completely surrounded and buried under a mass of undead..

  ********

  “SHIT SHIT SHIT!!! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?” Carven was overwhelmed. He just lost a connection to another ghoul, and he did not even know what killed it. He could only control so many undead at once, and he left most of them on their own device.

  Inside the room, he only had five ghouls left. He wondered if he should use all of them to take out the firing group, but he was not sure. Unlike the zombies, the ghouls were hard to make. If he used all of them now and they got defeated, he would only have 22 ghouls left. Ten of them were guarding the corridor leading to his chamber. The other twelves were on the other corridors, heading their way into the battle. In the end, he decided to wait until he had at least ten ghouls, then he would charge the firing group and end all of this mess.

  Besides, he had time. Regulus was currently stuck under a pile of undead and torn undead. Regulus could easily tore them apart, dug his way through the mass of bodies. But unlike the earth, the undead were pinning him. They grabbed him by the arm, by the legs, by the joints. He had trouble swinging his arms.

  Carven knew he could not hold Regulus forever, his strength exceeded Carven’s expectation. But he could hold him long enough for his undead to get rid of the other humans. Once they were dead, Carven could get out of his chamber, and safely fought Regulus with the full might of undead army and cast magic without any threat. Victory was his.

  ******

  “Shit!”

  D’aka was worried. The walkways above them were secured, but at that time they were distracted, they lost sight of Regulus. He was buried underneath hundreds of bodies.

  “We should charge at them and save Regulus.” Grigori, who was next to him, suggested. In all honesty, he wanted to do what Grigori said. But he knew that was the wrong move to make. “You’re right. Me and a couple of guys will go.” Tera, the new member, agreed with Grigori and was eager to go. She, Grigori, Eda, and a couple of prisoners, took up some pistols and melee weapons and prepared to charge. D’aka needed to stop them.

  “Stand down. Leave this to me.” John said as he casually walked past them. He had been quite passive so far — letting D’aka lead while being one of the eight that were in charge of firing the musket — John handed his musket to Grigori while he held a torch on one hand, “cover me.” he ordered as he climbed the rubble barrier. D’aka and the others fired at undead that were closing in on him, not sure what John had in plan.

  He pulled out an object from his purse, a grenade, and lit the fuse on fire — Grenade had a tendency to blow up on itself, so to be sure, John put some distance between him and the group — luckily, this grenade was working properly. John looked at the pile of undead in front of him — and lobbed his grenade at them.

  BLAAAAAM

  It exploded, right in the middle of the pile, sending pieces of meat and shockwave all over the room. The group were dumbfounded, some of them were shellshocked while John just stood there watching the explosion happened.

  “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?”

  Tera pointed her pistol at John, enraged. For all she knew, John just killed her savior with an explosion. D’aka wanted to tell her to calm down, but his ears were still ringing. Tera would have pulled the trigger, if she was not confused by John’s maniacal laugh.

  “HAHAHAHAHA,”

  Tera and the group had not seen it yet, but John did. From among the pile of dead bodies — Regulus stood — clothes tattered but otherwise completely unharmed.

  John's original plan to betray Regulus was to lure him into the armory, let the crimelord’s men ambush them, then when Regulus was covering them while the team escaped, they would blow the armory alongside Regulus. John finally realized it was a pointless plan. Regulus would come out unscratched and appear before them like nothing ever happened.

  “HAHAHAHAHA.” Now all John could do was laugh. Everything was for naught. All he accomplished was Andy’s and three others of his own family — and possibly more. At least, this would be the end of everything. Their final fight together.

  ********

  Carven jaw dropped… literally. He did not expect for one of the children to throw a grenade — nor did he expect Regulus to survive that. On one hand, he was glad his material was unharmed by the explosion… on the other hand, he was surprised Regulus was unharmed by the explosion. One thing for sure, he greatly underestimated Regulus. He thought he was just a kid with a permanent [Iron body]. He did not know that his [Iron body] was strong enough to leave him unscratched by an explosion. Carven was not sure that even someone like Rex could take an explosion head on and not hurt by it.

  Now, his instinct was telling him to run. All he needed to do was go through the secret passage in his chamber, but he did not want to. Even a coward like him had pride. To run from a bunch of kids and his own prisoners — the humiliation was unbearable. Not to mention running away meant losing almost everything he had worked for. He could take some with him, including his newest creation, Lorchimera, but everything else, his undead army, undead minotaur, magic gems, funds, and his home — he would lose everything and regaining them would take years of hard work.

  He would also lose his status as a crimelord. It did not matter much to him, but he was afraid that without them, Rex and Gano would use the opportunity to get rid of him. He could not take on either Rex or Jan, Gano’s knight, with only him and Lorchimera.

  Carven strengthened his resolve. If he was gonna lose it anyway — it was time to use the minotaur.

  *********

  Regulus’ ears were ringing. First, he was being pinned by countless undead. Suddenly, a loud noise and a hot force hit him. However, thanks to that mysterious loud noise, most of the undead that were pinning him was now gone.

  He could hear John’s laugh behind him. He wondered if something fun happened to John. Whatever it was, Regulus laughed too. If one of his herd members was happy, so was he.

  “HAHAHAHHA”

  Both John and Regulus were laughing. Seeing her God survived, and laughing — Tera lowered her pistol, and laughed alongside them.

  “HAHAHAHAHA”

  Everyone else was confused. They were about to laugh too when D’aka fired his pistol at a random zombie.

  “Why are you guys laughing? FIRE!!!”

  Hearing his order, everyone returned to firing at the undead. John pulled a pistol and fired too while pointing towards the corridor in front.

  “REGULUS!!! FORWARD!!!”

  Regulus continued his charge. The ghouls moved to stop him and Regulus ripped them in seconds. With the volley of fire and Regulus’ swings, almost all the undead in the room were cleared out. Victory was in their sight.

  BUM BUM BUM

  Loud footsteps could be heard. From the front left corridor, out an undead minotaur. Almost three-meter tall, its body half rotting with one of its horns snapped in half. In its hand, a giant spiked metal ball connected to a chain.

  RAAAAAH

  The monstrosity roared, freezing everyone in the room with fear… everyone but two people — Regulus and John.

  BUM plop BUM plop

  Molrrets dug holes above the left and right walkways. Ropes dropped from those holes, Kisara and Paulie with their units descended on the walkways. They had been throwing fire bottles all this time. They finally ran out, and the walkways were pretty much clear from any undead, so they decided it was the time to occupy the high ground.

  As they descended, they saw the minotaur. They too were afraid of it. They wondered if they had enough firepower to take it down. “JOHN!” Kisara screamed for John, wondering if he had a plan for them to take out the minotaur.

  “IGNORE IT. SECURE OUR ESCAPE.” John ordered them. “REGULUS, WHICH ONE LEAD TO THE SEWER?” hearing John’s question, Regulus pointed at the right corridor. Kisara and Paulie saw it, and they immediately ordered the people under them to secure the walkways leading to the right corridor.

  “EVERYONE,” John turned to face the firing group. “IT’S TIME TO SECURE OUR ESCAPE PATH. ONCE REGULUS TAKE THAT THING DOWN… WE CHARGE.”

  The firing group was watching, full of nervousness. If Regulus could not take that thing down, they were all dead. The walkways group watched from above, they wondered if they should give Regulus fire support. Regulus… leapt.

  RAAAAH

  The minotaur swung its giant spike ball at Regulus. The ball was so big and powerful that it crushed any undead in its trajectory. Regulus sensed it coming, so he stopped right where the ball would hit him. He stomped at the ground, rooting his feet on the stone floor. As the ball approached him…

  Regulus lifted his left hand.

  BLAAAAM

  And destroyed the giant metal ball that was twice his size. The shrapnels pierced the bodies of many undead on Regulus’ right side and they almost hit the children on the second floor walkways. Regulus realized he was a bit careless and he took a mental note of it. He had to make sure he was mindful of his surroundings when fighting.

  RAAAH

  The undead minotaur did not give him time to reflect. It charged at Regulus and swung its fist at him. The fist hit Regulus dead on, crushing him and the stone floor under its weight. The children had no time to worry…

  RIIIIP

  For Regulus immediately ripped the fist in two. The minotaur was an undead, so it did not feel any pain. Nevertheless, it pulled its torn arm back. Regulus used the opportunity to launch himself at the minotaur’s head. He landed on the thing’s snout, and climbed up to its crown.

  Regulus spread his short arms to cover the entirety of the minotaur’s head — he squeezed the head, popping the brain open.

  POP

  Brain matters splattered everywhere. However, the minotaur was still moving, swinging its arms wildly. Without its brain, it could not be controlled. But it was still a special undead. As long as its heart still beats, it could move. The children were anxious. If destroying the head was not enough, how could they stop it?

  Regulus was not bothered. He had met and faced an animal that still moved even without their head. There was a surefire way to kill such beings — destroy the heart — He dived inside the minotaur’s body through the stump of its neck. Horrendous ripping noises and gasses leaked out from the minotaur’s every orifice…

  BLAAAM

  The minotaur fell — a black hand burst out from its back — Regulus popped out, drenched in blood. Not only did he destroy the heart, he ate some of it. It was quite the delicacy.

  “... ye… YEAAAAAH”

  The children cheered. The monster was taken out by their own. D’aka immediately ordered a charge, remembering John’s order. The children and prisoners charged, motivated by victory and freedom that was in their sights.

  The blood drenched Regulus looked back at John’s direction. Wondering if he should stay here and get rid the rest of the undead first. But John motioned him to go, they could handle it. So he did. Regulus leapt, charging towards Carven.

  BUM BUM BUM

  Clouds of dust came out from all the right and left corridors. They took their time, but the Molrrets had finally caved in their flanks. Now, only a few more undead would pour in from them. All they needed to do was clean up the remaining undead in the room… Finally, they could all go home.

  John stopped both Eda and Grigori who were charging forward. “You two, go and follow Regulus. He might need your help.” They both looked at John funny — Regulus? Need their help? — but they decided to follow his order anyway. They wanted to be there when they rescued Azali. So they eagerly ran to follow Regulus.

  Seeing them go, John sighed. Regulus, Eda, Grigori, and Azali — the four of them were good friends. He felt guilt for what he had done to them. Miraculously, they had no casualties in this battle. But John knew… things did not always go to plan.

  *******

  Carven was in a panic. He had lost one of his strongest weapons in seconds when he expected a tougher fight. He hurriedly grabbed a chest filled with his emergency funds and headed to the secret passage. The entire time, he regretted every decision he made. He should not have kidnapped the kids, he should not have sent his minotaur, he should have run when he had the chance.

  He carried his chest and went to the door of his secret passage, followed by his Lorchimera…

  BAAAAM

  He only just opened the passage when his iron gate was destroyed. He cursed himself… he should have escaped immediately without wasting time taking his emergency funds — now, he was face to face with Regulus.

  All this time, he was looking at Regulus through his undead. Seeing through an undead only allowed him to see the physical world. He could not use them to see traces of magic — or the soul. But Carven was a necromancer. He might not be a high-level one, but he was one nonetheless. Necromancers did not see things normally, due to their practice, they see the essence of the soul at all times. They called this [Soul Vision].

  This was the first time he ever directly saw Regulus. This was the first time he saw Regulus through [Soul Vision]. He saw giant claws covering the true essence of the soul — the claws were a collection of pure souls — Dead Molrrets souls that wanted to protect the bearer of the soul — a guardian spirit. Behind him, followed a train of vengeful souls — beasts, monsters, and humans — burned and torn — all of them held grudges, but were too afraid to come near it.

  The claws opened up, revealing a bright light — the true soul of Regulus. Carven was blinded by it, he had to cover his eyes. Through the gaps of his fingers, Carven saw a yellow eye looking at him — the eye of an emperor — or at least that’s how the eye made Carven feel.

  The claws opened up fully, they looked like wings behind Regulus. The vengeful souls behind him shrieked in fear, shaking the earth around him — he was angry — he knew what Carven did to one of its own.

  Carven regretted every decision he made that day. The biggest regret of the day, the biggest regret in his life was angering Regulus — a God amongst men.