The king was tied with some sort of vines and this thing just kept on regenerating no matter how many times I cut it. And every time, it grew more and more thorns and the grip just got tighter.


    It was a good thing the king was passed out.


    There still wasn''t anybody around but I got the feeling we were being watched, meaning something was about to happen. ''Better stay sharp.''


    Alisa sighed and pointed her finger at me. Some symbols grew on my hand and I could now use ice.


    "Thanks." I focused on freezing the vine. "Do you mind exining how this works and howe I can use Imbuition on my body when you''re near?"


    It couldn''t hurt to ask.. I never actually asked how I could do it. They did give me hints every now and then but we never had time to actually talk about how it worked.


    "You do realize, that''s not a real word, right?" She sighed. "Anyway, you have two types of mana in you. You''re typical mana and godly mana. Those are different types and should be treated differently. But you just treat them the same. I only convert the godly one to your typical one. In a word, if Trerortra''s blood wasn''t in you, you would have been fine." I had a feeling she didn''t want to say it, but still did.


    Did she think I idolized Trerortra and was going to sulk if she talked about him like that? Actually, I might have been a bit like that.


    To think, I was once an Atheist, and now this. Sigh.


    I guess Ve was right. My mana really was a double-edged sword. Actually, the spirit said something simr, didn''t she?


    I was just stupid enough to not listen to them properly.


    I sighed some more and froze the entire vine. But the damn thing was still trying to break free. Just how tenacious was this thing?


    But instead of letting it, I also cut it in pieces and it now rested in pieces. It was still alive though.


    The man was about to fall on the floor but I grabbed him and then I knew, ''He''s not alive?'' But I noticed it toote.


    "Stay back!"


    Obviously, Vi listened but the man had already bitten my hand!


    For an old man, this guy''s grip was even tighter than Biteria''s.


    I shed him and he dodged to the sides. "GAHAHAHAHJ!" Judging by thatugh, I probably wasn''t dealing with the real king, or maybe he really was the king but just controlled.


    Either way, he didn''t seem like someone we could reason with. "Is there any way to break the curse or something?" I asked, keeping my eyes totally on the vampire.


    The king''s veins were popping up, he was foaming but his re was sharp.


    "That thing has fully turned. Kill it," Alisa screamed, a bit of hesitation in her voice.


    "NO!" Vi screamed.


    He climbed on the ceiling but I threw a small icicle but he lodged himself at me, dodging it.


    He was about to w me.


    I mmed my sword in his gut. I didn''t want to. But it was my instinct. I really didn''t want to kill this guy.


    But I had to.


    ''Damn.''


    His body started to turn to ash.


    Damn! Damn it!


    Not only did I fail my mission, I also failed to protect this guy.


    I mmed my hand on a nearby bar, my sword fell on the floor but- damn!


    "Hurry, use holy on your arm, or you''ll turn into one of them!" Alisa screamed again.


    My arm was already festering. And perhaps punching a Mithrin bar wasn''t helping.


    I quickly used holy magic and my arm felt like it''d fall off but it didn''t. The wound healed partially. But since it closed, I didn''t have to worry about it anymore.


    "Father?" Vi fell on her knees, ssy-eyed.


    This was my fault. "Was this guy really the king or just a double?"


    "There''s no sign of the other two, meaning we don''t have time and maybe running away might not have been the best course of action." Alisa looked down. She didn''t answer me. Meaning, it was the worst case. "This was a mistake." Her voice was too small.


    I shouldn''t have listened to her blindly.


    But what was done was done. And I knew, killing undead with holy, was freeing them from eternal suffering. So, this was the best course of action, whether I liked it or not.


    No matter how much I hated this, I had to ept reality.


    I tried to help Vi up but she pped my hand and just cried.


    "How could you? I trusted you. You liar!" She sobbed. "I trusted you." Her voice was tiny and I knew she did trust me, but, there was no going back.


    ''If only I hadn''te here.'' No, then she would have been dead. This wasn''t a mistake.


    I shook my head, I shook my whole body. ''This wasn''t a mistake!''


    I grabbed Vi and forced her to stand. "He''s not your father anymore. You''ve to get it together!" I shook her. "He would have suffered forever! Would you have liked that? For him to be in pain forever!?" I didn''t want to scream but for some reason, I was being way too selfish. "Then get yourself together. He wouldn''t have wanted to see you like this. We have to move."


    She cried but she didn''t say a word.


    I felt a bit of pain in my chest. ''What am I doing?'' She was just a girl who didn''t know anything and I just killed thest of her loved one.


    This whole thing, this whole mess wouldn''t have happened if I just left that time. No, it was toote to regret. I made a decision, and I had to stand by it.


    But I didn''t have a choice. That thing tried to kill me and I had to survive. There was no other way. And I did what I had to.


    We got out of the cell but just as we were about to leave, "Vi." The man spoke. He wasn''tpletely ash yet. The man smiled. "Take care of her." He turned to ash. "Please- save her." Hisst words reverberated in the air, they were pointed at me.


    So, he was real. The pain in my chest just got a bit tighter.


    The girl sniffed but she didn''t look back. She grimaced but she didn''t look back.


    "I will." My voice was small but- but I was going to take responsibility for this. I didn''t know how, but I was going to.


    "AHAHAHAH!" A rather viinousugh went through the whole dungeon. "How did misery taste my lord?" I actually didn''t know if the guy could see us or not but he was addressing me the first thing I guess. "My condolences Vi but I never intended for your father to suffer and I might have even made sure he lived if you''d listen. And there''s still time. I can bring him back from the dead." Heughed some more. "Come join me."


    Meanwhile, Vi was in deep thought.


    My teeth ttered but I controlled my rage. My fist raged but I controlled it. ''I''m going to kill this mother-''


    "He''s lying. Even Gods can''t bring back the dead, at least not in the original form. The few magic that exists are nothing but illusions of mortals, they are not for the living." I had no idea what she just said but I didn''t want anything to with resurrected the dead.


    I already had enough of undeads.


    "AHAHHHA! Believe it or not, I can bring back the dead." I guess he was listening to us somehow. "Soe join me, this is yourst chance."


    I kept my eye in every direction and after a minute or two- "Found you-" I threw a bolt of ice and a bird dropped from the corner of a cell- a bat.


    Needless to say, I was shivering with rage.


    "No." Vi''s voice was small. "NO!" She screamed louder than ever. "I''m not going to you!"


    "AHAHAH!" But the sinisterugh didn''t end. I had a feeling there was more. "Now, you shall be crushed along with those heathens!" He kept onughing until. "Wh-wha, who are you!"


    "Just a beautiful elder sister passing by."


    It almost felt like a call being cut.


    Yeah, I knew the voice.


    And I already had nightmares about it. My burning rage which was making me shiver just moments ago, was gone. I almost felt cold even.


    But before I could worry too much about that-


    The walls of the cells began to move and constrict.


    "I have a bad feeling about this." Alisa got close to me.


    "You think? Who''s bright idea was toe down here!?"


    "Yelling won''t get us anywhere. Please follow me," Vi said, looking determined.


    I didn''t know if she was going to betray us like we did to her or not, but for the time being, I trusted her. After all, we didn''t have any choice.


    The path to the lift was the first to constrict. We were trapped.


    And there were other bats and even a vampire or two among the prisoners. They didn''t stand a chance against my sword or my magic.


    Vi ran and so did we, she turned and so did we.


    Lost we were.


    A dead end.


    After literally running for eight minutes, killing seven bats, and twelve vampires, we finally ran into a dead end. The path behind us was so constricted that I couldn''t even stand straight, or turn and in front of us was a wall of stone.


    We were so screwed.


    I was using the mystic sword as a means to make this thing not crush us, but if this kept up, either the sword would break or it''d just puncture through the wall, leaving us dead.


    Meanwhile, Alisa was just behind me and Vi was literally rubbing her hands against the wall. Had she gone mad? I sure hope not.


    "Found it!"


    ''Found what?''


    And a secondter, the ground beneath us vanished and darkness weed us. I kind of had a bad feeling all over again. The ceiling closed almost instantaneously as we fell.


    "AHH?" Even I was confused as to whether I should have screamed or not, after all, nearly two secondster I fell in water.


    The water smelled very nice.


    So nice, I wanted to throw up a little.