The woman came out of the castle, and she looked at Jeanne as she nodded her head.
"The lord is waiting, but please, don't disturb her for too long," The woman said. "Also, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Adricia, the commander of the Zlettkrieg," Adricia said.
"Thank you for your understanding, Adricia," Jeanne said as she nodded her head and smiled at Adricia.
They were introducing themselves, but then one of the knights started to groan as she held her head. She started to scream as he fell to the ground, and it made everyone look at her with perplexed looks.
"What's happening to her?" Gunnar asked.
"As I said earlier, the body doesn't age, but the mind is slowly being corrupted. This is the result of it, and I want all of you to see what kind of evil deed the dark lord did to his people," Adricia answered as she grabbed her lance on her horse.
The knight kept screaming and scratching the ground with her fingers, and then suddenly she stopped. Her body slowly became covered with black smoke, and her body started to make cracking sounds of her bones being dislocated by an external force.
The knight was covered in black smoke, and suddenly became a knight in black armor, and her body became three times bigger than before. She then started rampaging, but Adricia and the Zlettkrieg started to fight the corrupted knight.
"Cut her head!" Adricia ordered the knight who rode the horse.
The knight stood on the horse's back and then jumped as she pulled her hand back. She cut the corrupted knight's head, and it rolled over to Adricia's feet. The corrupted knight's body slowly shrunk and went back to its original body.
"This is what happens when we don't feel pain, tiredness, hunger, or thirst. We lose all of our senses, and it affects our minds. Once we had enough of it, we will become like her, and the only way to save her is by killing her. We called those who have fallen the Abyss Knight," Adricia said as she carefully grabbed the head from the ground.
"Unlike us, our lord Exima bears more burden than us. Our lord is cursed not only by her body but also by her mind. Her mind has its own consciousness, and it slowly trying to bring her down and corrupt her body. If our lord turned into an Abyss Knight, this would be the end, for everyone and nothing can save this world anymore," Adricia explained as she put the head on top of the Abyss Knight's body.
"So please, don't disturb our lord for too long, she's suffering more than anyone else in this castle," Adricia said.
"We understand, and we won't be long," Jeanne replied as she nodded her head.
Adricia led them into the castle, and the moment they entered the castle, they saw a dozen of the knights wearing heavy full plate armor made of tungsten. Those were the White Knights because their armor looked sturdier and the bodies were bulkier like Gunnar.
They looked at the White Knights and they looked like statues because they didn't move a muscle. The only thing that differed them from a statue was that they were breathing underneath the helmet they wore.
"The lord is waiting for you behind this door," Adricia said as she pointed at the door in front of her with two White Knights guarded next to the door.
Jeanne nodded, and then Adricia opened the door for them.
"My lord, the guests are here as you ordered," Adricia went to her knee and lowered her head.
A woman with long straight gray hair sat on the chair, wearing shiny armor as she pointed her sword down and rested her hands on top of the sword's handle. The sword was the same as the one they saw on the statue, and the giant shield rested next to the chair.
Exima slowly opened her eyes as she lifted her head up. She looked at Jeanne and a few of them who entered the room.
Lillith slowly walked to the front with her hands raised. Everyone was confused by what she was trying to do because she was slowly walking toward Exima. The White Knights started to make a move and blocked Lillith's path with their halberds.
"Relax, I'm not trying to hurt her. I want to make her mind at peace," Lillith said as she stared at the knights.
Exima didn't show any expression, and then she reached out her left hand and gave a hand signal, telling Lillith to come closer. The White Knights nodded their heads, and slowly walked back to their position.
Lillith stood right in front of Exima, and slowly and gently put her hands on Exima's cheeks as Mykel always did. She then used her [Mind Control] skill that she finally achieved after spending months trying to get it.
Lillith slowly made Exima's mind at ease as she used [Telepathic] at the same time. Suddenly, a notification appeared in front of her.
[You have met a requirement to combine skills!]
[Do you want to combine [Telepathic] with [Mind Control]?]
[Yes] [No]
Lillith ignored the notification and focused on healing Exima's mind.
Exima was furrowing her eyebrows as she stared at Lillith. Slowly but surely, she loosened up the muscle on her forehead as she felt light-headed. Her mind wasn't trying to devour her into the darkness, and it went quiet that it made her smile and chuckle softly.
"Thank you, child," Exima said.
"The effect won't last forever, but I can reapply it again if you needed it," Lillith replied as she slowly backed away from Exima.
"It's alright, this is more than enough. I owe you for this," Exima said as she loosened up her shoulders and leaned on the chair. "You're the ones who want to free this world from the dark lord?" Exima asked as she looked at everyone.
"Yes, we are here to kill Demon Lord Urdt, and to free this world from the demons," Jeanne answered.
"How much do you know about this world from Benustrus?" Exima asked.
"Not much, we only know about the death of the three other lords, the three ministers, and the king. We don't know anything about why they were killed and what happened to the Kastihel Kingdom," Jeanne answered.
"I see, then you're right about knowing a little about this world," Exima said as she stood up. "The king was hungry for power, and he realized that a human can't live that long if he wanted to gain more power,"
"He ended up sacrificing the souls and offered it so he can become immortal. Millions of lives, the weak, the strong, the old, and the young. All of them were sacrificed by him, and it was enough to open a portal," Exima explained as she walked toward Jeanne.
"A portal to where a terrifying being lives. That demon offered him something better than just being an immortal, and that was to become a demon with unlimited power," Exima continued as she sighed. "But his form isn't perfect yet,"
Everyone furrowed their eyebrows with confused looks.
"He needs powerful souls to complete his form. The soul of the kindest and gentle. The soul of the smartest and wisest. The soul of the greediest and ignorant. Lastly, he needs the soul of the bravest and just," Exima explained.
"He only needs one more, and that's your soul," Jeanne said as she looked Exima in the eye.
Exima chuckled as she shook her head. "I'm not the bravest and just, my father was. Fortunately, when the dark lord tried to find his soul, his soul had left this world. Now, he's trying to nurture my soul and to be the bravest and just," Exima answered.
"That's why he made you immortal and messed up your mind," Rozan said.
"That's right," Exima nodded her head.
Suddenly they heard the sound of a war horn being sounded. Everyone turned around and looked in the direction of the sound coming.
"Looks like he's ready to take my soul now, but I will not let him take my soul that easily," Exima said as she walked to the window to look at the castle in the middle.
"We will help because that's why we are here," Jeanne said.
"Thank you. I will need all the help that I can get," Exima replied with a gentle smile as she stared at the castle. "Kastihel Castle, I don't remember when was the last time I step my foot there,"
