"...that makes things all the more annoying..."
Zombie furrowed his brows and glared back at the lake.
"Say... why did Xavi contact the little prince all of a sudden – did she feel comfortable enough to escape the possible consequences of the queen's anger? Because she shouldn't be aware of the quest that would lead to that woman's demise..."
After confirming for a second time that the lake was had nothing living in there whatsoever, the blue undead knight turned back towards the crimson-haired humanoid sword and breathed out.
"...?"
Kopia merely tilted her head and looked back at him with clueless eyes.
"The skill that the piece of filth could use – suggestion – since she could use it on me, she could be using it on other people too, and I doubt many have a powerful enough counter-skill that could protect them from it...It sure seems like this little pile of waste is really activating all the secret quests as fast as she possibly can..."
"...!"
Zombie's face twisted in anger at the mere thought of the reincarnated girl who was born as his older sister in this game-like world – and he released aura fearsome enough for Kopia to flinch and step back a little bit.
"What about this then – do we have to do something special for the orange spirit to show up? Or is it not showing up because there are two of us instead of one?"
The blue undead knight ended up shaking his head in annoyance and motioning at the lake with his chin.
"I am master's equipment – I do not count as a separate being, if the remnant was here it would have shown up already, as the only requirement to met is to come here alone at this specific hour."
"Hmm...?"
Kopia shook her head and declared in a worried tone – and because she rarely showed up negative emotions – with the exception of being worried about the gold snake, Monty – it really got Zombie's attention.
"What – are you telling me that it is gone? Even though it was supposed to be waiting fo... fuck... No...! No fucking way...!"
The blue undead knight shrugged his shoulders and asked absentmindedly – before he suddenly flinched in realization and clenched his fists in fury.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"That vile scum...! Did she send someone here to take the spirit so that she could activate another secret quest?!"
He asked walking over to the water and staring at its surface intently as if that alone could change the absence of any lifeform in the depths.
"...that seems to be the case – most likely."
Kopia nodded and walked towards him, stopping right by his side where she ducked down and reached out her hand.
*blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub* *blub*
Once her fingers broke the surface they released countless crimson threads that shoot through the water like mad whips and disturb it enough to make the water look as if it was boiling.
"..."
After a few seconds, the crimson-haired girl retracted her threads and took back her hand before looking up at the blue undead knight.
"Any results...?"
Zombie asked though he already knew the answer – it was obvious considering that the humanoid sword didn't show up anything and was looking up at him like a sad puppy.
"...nothing – in Pati's memories there was supposed to be a lot of creatures living here – even a certain rare monster, all beside the remnant – but there is no trace of it anywhere."
Kopia pouted, looking back at the calm lake.
"The orange spirit is the remnant of the abyss god, hell, isn't it? It also represents gluttony – so it could eat everything and just change its location, couldn't it?"
Zombie frowned, trying to look at the bright side that didn't include a certain light-brown-haired girl whom he hated more than anything else in the whole world.
"The remnant that was supposed to be here was a nature spirit who could never leave a specific area without becoming someone's subject – at least those were supposed to be the rules of the system."
The crimson-haired girl lowered her head and muttered, staring at the lake with a frown.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"...that doesn't make sense then, does it? My Cranberry did say it would be tricky to get – how come someone else, even that repugnant trash, ended up making it their allies?"
Zombie sighed, glancing at the concerned Kopia.
"Master – I think that your situation is even worse than you thought..."
"...!"
The humanoid sword spoke up suddenly and looked up at her shocked master.
"Even worse? What can be worse from that rotten pile of waste starting every single secret quest she can?"
The blue undead knight asked with a frown and spread his arms open as if showing off the surroundings to his sentient weapon.
"The edges and bottom of this lake aren't normal – when I was searching it up that there are strange markings all over it."
Kopia reveled pointing back at the water's surface with one hand.
Zombie furrowed his brows and looked at the same point with a grim expression.
"...you said that the system itself wouldn't allow for the spirit to just leave this place on its own – but what if something else forcibly ripped it away from its home... like something stronger than the system itself... something gaining power from the sin of origin nucleus, for example...?"
The blue undead knight breathed out heavily and started massaging his forehead in annoyance.
"...yes... master, you are correct..."
Kopia nodded her head timidly, feeling the scary aura being released from the blue undead's body once again – and this time it was even more threatening than a minute ago.
"Those markings were left by fangs – the avatar of gluttony must have been the one to get the remnant – Gluttony and the church of the System's faith are working together..."
She added, slowly inching away from the overwhelmingly fearsome blue undead knight – who instead of saying anything merely raised his foot and...
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})*BOOOOOOOOM*
...briefly shone with vibrant violet light and dropped an overwhelmingly powerful kick onto the water surface – evaporating the entire liquid in less than a second – leaving only the bared empty basin – scared with the markings of gigantic fangs that plowed through the soft mud, leaving deep, easy to recognize bruises...
"...so, there are at least two currently active secret quests that we have no info on...?"
Zombie asked without turning towards the scared Kopia.
"N-not really... I-I mean, your red girl should be able to see the quests popping up since she said that she can have the heroine in her party whenever she wants but..."
The crimson-haired girl spoke in a small voice...
"We are going back."
"Eh...?!"
Zombie declared grabbing the humanoid sword's hand – causing her to flinch and gasp in surprise.
"We are going back to Cranberry's side – immediately."
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
The blue undead knight declared and kicked off the ground creating a crater that connected with the emptied lake basin, causing it to become twice as large.
With that, the silence returned to the area...
"Yes... Priestess, everything has happened just as you predicted."
...with the exception of the ashen-skinned undead knight who stood up from the opposite side of the former lake and used a skill to telepathically connect to the light-brown-haired girl hundreds of miles away.
"...I understand - I shall move on to the next target and make contact with the Lust family..."
She declared with a determined expression before her body shone with white light and a zombie horse appeared by her side out of nowhere.
