The flames of a blazing inferno were licking the bodies of the passerby walking through with complete calmness and confidence.
"Haa... so annoying..."
The red-haired girl sighed and snapped with the strap of her bra with an annoyed expression.
As for the things she was wearing...
It was only a set of bluish-black underwear - boyish trunks and what was known in the other world as a sports bra.
That's it.
Everything else either burnt or melted in the heart of the volcano that was the Pheonix lair's first level.
They were now in the area known as the true lair.
The incredibly large cave that could be only compared to a cathedral built for giants was full to the brim with a bright fire taking every square inch of the available surface.
As for the weapons she wielded - in her right hand she had a black thick stick looking just like a baseball bat and in her left hand, she kept half of a blue arm, holding it by the palm.
"I hate this heat. It sucks that your body can't keep the pleasant coolness in here."
She added, glancing at the abs of the tall blue undead wearing only bluish-black trunks.
Oh?
The blue undead wasn't completely blue anymore.
Aside from his long black hair that was falling loosely on his shoulders since the silver ring holding it together melted off long ago, the blue undead had another differently colored part.
His right hand.
Yes.
He actually had something that looked like a hand attached or rather growing out of his elbow.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})The new hand looked as if it was made out of thick red and black smoke that was constantly swirling around but somehow always managed to stay in the vague shape of an arm, hand, and even separate fingers.
"Hey, what can I do? I'm just a corpse, my body can no longer maintain a specific temperature, master of the eternal servant."
The undead scoffed and waved his smoke right hand dismissive.
"Master of the...? Come on! Are you still angry about the boots?! I apologized already!"
The red-haired girl frowned and shook her head.
"HMPH! You did, but I didn't accept it because it was a stupid apology! You knew that even if those boots were fireproof, they weren't magmaproof - but you still decided it was okay to send me right in the middle of that pool of magma! Oh, Master of the eternal servant!"
The blue undead snorted and looked away making his black hair fluttered in the flames.
"I bought you those boots in the first place, remember?! And we're in the middle of the quest that will get you a brand new awesome pair! Sending you into the magma was the fastest way to get that annoying monster, okay?! At least shorten it back to just master, like always - then I will be able to forget that you are calling me that just to annoy me!"
The girl couldn't help it and pouted while stomping her foot.
"KHAHAHA! You wish! I really liked those shoes, you know? Master of the eternal servant!"
The undead laughed mockingly and waved the middle finger of his smoke hand at the confused red-haired girl.
"Haaaaaaaaa! Why are you acting like this?! You didn't even blink when I tore off your hand all those years ago! How come some stupid boots trigger you so much?!"
"Even a patient undead like me has his limits! And who cares what happens to my body! I can't feel pain! Why should I bother about what happens to this piece of dead flesh anyway?"
The blue undead scoffed and waved his smoke arm dismissively.
"Well, I care for that dead body of yours even if you don't, okay?! I will never do the same mistake like with this."
Cranberry shouted back at him and waved his severed right arm around.
"You say that but then you get upset that I'm angry at you!"
"Well, I would understand if you were mean to me because of the ripped arm, but getting so angry because of some shoes?!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"There weren't some shoes, they were MY BOOTS, DEAR MASTER OF THE ETERNAL SERVANT!"
"I'VE TOLD YOU, I'M SORRY, HAVE I NOT?!"
The two shouted at each other letting their voices carry over the sea of flames.
"Silence, noisy worms! You are in the presence of the higher being!"
Then another voice was heard over the crackling of the endless fire.
Low, bellowing words full of pride and primal confidence shook the insides of the cave, interrupting the noisy conversation.
"You have done well to get so far to reach my true lair...! But your journey ends here!"
The sea of flames parted and made way for a gigantic golden-red bird.
Its crimson glowing eyes were shooting flames and each flap of its wings caused the bright feathers to rub against each other and shoot out thousands of sparks.
Each of the monster-bird talons was bigger than the red-haired girl and the blue undead put together.
"I am the 109th incarnation of the physical remains of the great fire God, Wing! Kneel before me and your demise won't come with suffe..."
"SHUT UP, YOU PATHETIC BAG OF EXP! THE GROWNUPS ARE TALKING!"
The blue undead pointed at the 109th incarnation of the physical remains of the great fire God, Wing, and shouted while his body begun glowing violet and his eyes shone red.
"...?!"
The gigantic bird flinched as its body shook from fear.
"Ha ha! So your intimidate is finally on the high enough level to affect the Wing's remnant?"
Cranberry laughed cheerfully.
"It sure is, master of the eternal servant."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Oh, come on!"
Zombie shrugged his shoulders and made Cranberry cry out in a pitiful voice.
"Who... what are you...?!"
The monster asked in a trembling voice, flapping its wings desperately to get higher up, out of the reach of the terrifying undead that grew to the size that dwarfed the bird - at least in the bird's eyes.
"Ask 99 of your previous incarnations, weakling!"
*SWOOSH*
The blue undead grinned and swung his smoke right arm at the beast.
The red and black gas expanded into a whip-like tentacle that extended all the way towards the hovering bird and wrapped around its neck like a noose.
"Hey, don't you feel lonely up there anyway? Why don't you join us... DOWN HERE!"
The blue undead smirked mischievously and crouched, making his elongated arm retract while still wrapped around the monster.
"GH-UGH...!"
The strangled beast cried out as it got pulled down with strength exceeding its highest expectations.
"Y-you...!"
It gasped for air on its way down to the scathing hot stone floor while fighting desperately to stay up in the air but failing miserably.
"I will not be defeated by mere worms with..."
It focused its flaming eyes on the single being down below, readying a sure-kill skill that would wipe him...
"Huh...?"
A single being...?
But where did the other one...?
*WHAAAAAAM*
*SPLASH*
The next second the monster bird's head exploded into a myriad of sparks and flames that collapsed in on themselves into an orb the fraction of the previous size of the monster.
/Remnant of Wing defeated
/Master and servant receive the EXP
/Master's level cap reached
Level 99 »» Level 99
/Skill Overachiever activated
/Master's skills and affinities level up
Master's base status points greatly increased
/Servant level up
Level 311
Servant's skills and affinities level up
Servant's base skill points greatly increased
/Condition met
/Master receives a title
Terror of the Demigods
/Servant receives a title
Terror of the Demigods
"Haa... so for the so-called demigod, the number of times it needs to be hunted down to bestow a 'terror of' title is just one hundred, huh? Good to know. Wouldn't it be fun if the two of us wrote a book about it someday?"
The red-haired girl landed gracefully right next to a big reddishly-gold egg that the body of the dead monster bird condensed into upon its demise.
All the flames in the cave wend out and only the sparse glow that the egg's shell was giving out was illuminating the surroundings.
"That would actually be pretty fun, as long as I will be doing the illustrations. I don't have the brains for interesting words."
The blue undead approached his master and nodded with eyes sparkling with joy.
"What was that this oversized chicken said the first time we found it? That it has been a few hundred years since anyone came here, and then you've said that it wasn't just an ordinary Phoenix, right? And that its appearance and size wasn't listed in any of the books that you've read?"
He asked curiously.
"Yes, that's right..."
Cranberry confirmed, curious where the undead was going with his deduction.
"That means that we basically re-discovered it, right? Wouldn't that make us famous...?"
The blue undead asked happily.
"Master of the eternal servant."
He added with a nasty smirk.
"...ugh...! haaaa...! I should have known that you were going in for such a cheap shot! Haa... We have a few minutes under fifteen hours until the chicken will respawn, so we could just go outside for a bit... but first... my arms are killing me. I know that you're still angry, but could you heal me, please?"
It seemed that the red-haired girl has given up and instead of arguing she blushed and showed off her trembling, bleeding, completely broken fingers.
"As you wish."
The undead's smirk changed into a gentle smile and he lowered his head towards the girl already climbing up on her tiptoes.
