"What the hell was that?!" A loud voice reverberated somewhere within the abode of gods.
A young man with beautiful androgynous features was frowning at the dark-skinned woman who was looking at him nonchalantly.
"It's part of my gift," she commented as she played the locks of her hair. "Humans from her world always fantasize about rebirth and having unimaginable powers. So, I gave her something that would allow her to fully enjoy her 'vacation'. Isn't it great?"
"Don't be so proud, you old hag! You're making unnecessary problems!"
Hearing Caerus' remark, a vein popped out from Hecate's temple and she quickly hit him with her staff that resembled a torch. Yet, as he was already used to her hitting, Caerus swiftly dodged her attack.
"Hah! That's not gonna work anymore!" he proudly stated as he straightened his body.
However, as soon as he said those words, A large hound bit his long white hair before swinging its head wildly.
"Kwaaah!!! My hair! My hair! I'll fucking kill you, you stupid mongrel!!!"
"My, my, what a foul-mouthed brat you are... fufufu..." Hecate laughed gently as she placed a hand on her lips.
Her gaze then shifted to a mirror-like observation circle which shows both Cedar and Alex's locations.
...
With haste, Roki returned to where the Prince's convoy was.
The undeads are still swarming around and seem endless.
The knights were obviously starting to feel fatigued as using 'Cleanse', the low-tier version of 'Bless', is draining their mana faster than using offensive spells.
On the other hand, Yrhan was still outside the carriage, and on his lap lies the weakened Cedar.
"Damn that Prince! I clearly told him not to go beyond 300 chi..." he grunted as he placed a few drops of blood from a small crystal container inside a vial before adding a golden liquid and some other materials into it. It turned into a small ball and floated in the air while spinning rapidly. After a while, it solidified and stopped turning, falling into Yrhan's hand.
Before their travel, Yrhan had already explained Cedar's situation to Alexander. The two of them shouldn't be apart for more than 300 chi (100 m.) within the first two months. However, if something inevitable were to happen and they were separated, Yrhan had to make a pill with Alexander's blood and feed it to Cedar.
Yet, this pill that could be used once a day will only last him a few hours-- three at most.
Knowing this, Alexander had given a few drops of his blood to Yrhan and promised that no matter what, he'll be back with the quickest time possible.
After feeding the pill to Cedar, Yrhan scrutinized the mages and magicians that were with them.
These so-called elite mages were standing at the back, chanting spells from time to time while the other five magicians were on the front lines.
"They're really underestimating the Prince, huh?" Yrhan laughed dryly as he sneered at them.
When one looked closely, it will be evident that all the mages and magicians were not doing their job properly.
Only the knights were fighting vigorously with the undeads. Fortunately, there were still no casualties on their side.
As they continued fighting the horde of zombies, Roki showed up with a dejected face and was severely injured.
"His Highness was missing!" he yelled before his body fell on to the ground.
Almost everyone heard this and the magic users signaled one another with their eyes while the knights were still fighting the undeads with their life on the line.
A few minutes later, Cedar woke up.
Yrhan was quite surprised when he did since he could feel that something was strange about Cedar's mana regeneration.
'It's too fast...' he thought.
For a moment, he was perplexed as to how it happened. But looking at the red amulet on Cedar's wrist, he could somehow get the gist of it.
"Ugh..." Cedar massaged his head as he felt a sharp pain that seems to tear his head apart.
"Suck it up. That's what you get for draining your mana." Yrhan looked at Cedar with reproach.
"S-sorry... I didn't know that it would be to that extent."
"Well, whatever. Anyway, you should pay attention to those magic users."
"Huh?" puzzled, Cedar tilted his head.
"Those knights..." he pointed towards the knights and squires with a lazy expression. "at this rate, they'll disappear of exhaustion, if not for fighting those creepy things. Those magic users are really something."
"Ah, shit!" Remembering that they were surrounded by monsters, Cedar stood up and extended his right arm, gathering a golden light within his palms.
"Hold it!" Yrhan swung his staff, stopping him from using the spell. "Are you crazy?! You just woke up from overusing your powers!"
"But... at this rate, they'll die!"
"What? So you'll die instead?"
Stumped by his question, Cedar made a fist and bit his lower lip, showing frustration.
Then, he quickly raised his head and yelled at Yrhan.
"You're a High Priest!"
"So?"
"You can help them! You can even wipe these undeads... right?"
"Why would I?"
"Because you are capable!"
"What does it got to do with me? My purpose here is to help you. It's not my job to protect them." Yrhan replied with an unconcerned look. "Besides, I already used my mana plentily. I'm not gonna use it to save those knights. It's wasteful."
"Wh-what?" Cedar didn't expect that this Elven High Priest could be so heartless, not even batting an eye when talking about the life and death of other people, even saying that helping them was wasteful.
"I'm saying, I'm not going to help more than this." Yrhan stated as he looked at Cedar in the eye. "Furthermore, those elites should be the one to make a move."
Now that Yrhan had pointed it out, Cedar noticed the suspicious acts of the mages and magicians.
The four mages were all capable of chanting 'Bless'. Although it wasn't as great as Cedar's and uses a lot of mana, if used with the correct timing, it could help the knight to recharge their mana and avoid being pushed into a corner.
However, none of them are using it. They're not even casting support magic to assist the knights.
It was clear that they aren't helping in any way.
Looking at the scene, although he had already expected this, Cedar fumed in anger.
Even without his mana, he walked with very long steps and grabbed the collar of the mage's head.
"What are you doing?!" the middle-aged mage frowned and released himself from Cedar's hands.
"Why aren't you defending properly?! The knights will wear out soon and you're still not paying attention to their depleting mana! Are you blind?!" Cedar pointed out the obvious.
Yet, instead of apologizing, the mage gave a mocking smile. "Men!" he called out with a loud voice. "Halt!"
As soon as the order was given, the other mages and all of the magicians stopped their spells and turned to Cedar.
"Well, how should we report this?" The middle-aged mage who was also the leader of their group asked with an arrogant tone while his eyes are still fixed on Cedar.
Then, another one answered. "The Crown Prince was lost due to an unexpected attack from the undeads and the whole convoy was killed."
----
Meanwhile...
Alexander went through the thickest part of the purple mist, swinging his sword that was embedded with aura to make a path for himself.
Not long after, he reached its end. He was now in a cave and in front of him was a purple-clad man with a seaweed-like curly hair that reaches his shoulders. He turned to Alexander, revealing his eyes that were all black which is a sign that he's a high-ranked necromancer.
Upon seeing Alexander, the curly-haired man's lips raised at its ends and stood up, bowing his head towards his visitor.
"Greetings, your highness..."