Chapter 77: Attack of the Undead King(Part 4)

"Okay, the coast is clear, I don't sense anyone nearby," Remarked Raven, before flying in through an open window, entering the castle.

"Great...can you put me down now? It's kinda humiliating to be carried like this," Frowned Ravella, as Raven quietly landed inside.

"I thought it felt kinda nice," Grinned Celia wryly.

The trio had decided to head to the Royal castle, since they figured that there was a possibility that the Undead King would opt to go there.

They opted to sneak in through a window, and Raven had carried the girls in each arm, holding them on either side of him as he flew up and looked for an open window around a spot where the coast was clear.

"Keep your guards up. I can smell it, there's a lot of undead creatures in the building...there aren't any too close to this spot, but it's possible that are some of them that are scentless like the Undead King, so stay alert," Stated Raven, as he set the two of them down.

"What should we do? I'd like to avoid them, but it's possible that they're being led by the Undead King," Pointed out Celia.

"Hm, let's see...," Muttered Raven, closing his eyes and focusing as he sharpened his senses to their limit.

"Well? Figure anything out?" Inquired Ravella, as he opened his eyes.

"Yeah, I think so...some of the undead creatures are gathered in the same area, and most of the rest of them in the castle heading in that direction too. I'm guessing that the remaining ones are being held off by Knights," He informed them.

"Hm, sounds like they're after something in particular...if the Undead King simply wanted them to wreck the castle, they'd be more spread out," Surmised Celia thoughtfully.

"Then, I suppose this means we're heading towards where most of them are going?" Responded Ravella warily.

"Yeah, that's probably our best course of action. If the Undead King is in the castle, he's probably leading them," Mused Raven in reply.

"There's a small problem though...assuming he is here and we run into him, how are we supposed to alert the others? I mean, the signal flare can't reach the sky if we're indoors," Pointed out Ravella.

"That shouldn't be an issue, I'll just blast a hole in the ceiling with an explosion to create an opening to shoot the flare out through," Replied Celia with a thumbs up.

"Uh, maybe go for a wall instead of the ceiling. Exploding the ceiling will almost definitely result in a cave in, and I'd prefer not to have to deal with chunks of falling rubble," Remarked Raven dryly.

"...yeah, okay, that's a fair point."

The trio then headed towards where the undead creatures were gathering inside the castle, Raven leading the way.

Of course, while he could tell the direction they were in, he wasn't able to sense the layout of the buildings, and not wanting to waste time walking through the corridors, Celia busted through the walls by combining her Exploding Fists Spell with her gauntlets, allowing the three of them to head in a straight line towards the horde of undead in the castle.

They came across a few corpses on the way, which Raven burned up and turned to ash, to prevent the Undead King from potentially adding them to his forces.

The closer they got towards the area where Raven had sensed the undead creatures, the denser the Miasma got. Raven got rid of it with bursts of flames, making sure that the other two wouldn't get exposed to it.

"Okay, I think they're just beyond this wall. The stench is overwhelming," He informed them with a grimace, as they stopped in front of the back wall of a room.

"Can you tell how many of them there are?" Ravella asked him, as loud crashes rang out from the other side of the wall.

"Hard to say, they're all clustered together...but I'd say at least a few dozen, maybe around forty to fifty," He replied warily.

"Okay, then as soon as I bust down this wall, blast them with your flames, I'll follow up with explosions, and Ravella, fire off light slashes at around neck-height, try to decapitate as many of them as possible before they attack us. If the Undead King is among them, we have to take out as many of his forces as we can," Stated Celia, before taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling to compose herself.

"She looks a bit nervous...well, considering how our first encounter with the Undead King went, I can't exactly blame her. I'm not particularly looking forward to having to fight him again either," Raven thought to himself, as he and Ravella stepped back as Celia's right fist began glowing.

She approached the wall and drew back her fist, before swiftly driving it forward, slamming it onto the wall, a fierce explosion bursting out open impact, as the force of her struck blasted a large hole through the wall.

She then quickly backed away as clouds of Miasma flowed into the room, dozens of undead creatures coming into sight, gathered in front of a large doorway, pounding on it to try and break it down.

As the undead in the back of the crowd began to turn their attention towards the trio, Raven swiftly shot forward and unleashing a blazing wave of flames from his mouth, shooting out through the opening in the wall as it burned up the Miasma that had flowed in.

"Alright, let's-...huh?" Began Raven, before staring in bemusement as several of the undead burst into flames the instant his flames came into contact with them.

The flames spread rapidly across the swarm of undead, the creatures bursting into flames one after the other like a domino effect.

"Uh, from the look of it, I don't think the two of us need to do anything," Muttered Ravella as she exchanged a glance with Celia.

"They're so...flammable. I didn't really pay attention when we attacked the Death Zone since we were moving almost constantly, but I guess your flames are super effective against the undead," Added Celia in surprise, as the flames continued to spread.

Suddenly, the creatures at the front of the swarm, by the doorway they were trying to break into, knocked away the creatures behind them, before the flames could reach them.

They then turned their attention back towards the doorway, slamming against it with increased intensity as Raven's flames wiped out the rest of the undead swarm.

Celia then stepped forward and fired off an explosion towards the middle of the blaze, her Spell erupting with immense force and blowing away the flames, opening up a path before the three of them rushed out of the hole in the wall.

As they shot towards the creatures pounding on the doorway, a sharp creak rang out, right before the doors got torn off their hinges, getting launched inside before a couple of deafening crashes rang out, cries of alarm ringing out from inside as the remaining undead creatures rushed in through the doorway.

"That must be the castle's treasury," Remarked Celia, as she caught a glimpse of piles of gold inside the doorway.

"And there are people inside...it must be the Royals," Responded Raven with a dark look appearing in his eyes, as the three of them shot into the room.

There were nine undead creatures remaining, their attention on a group of people huddled in a corner of the treasure, with a blonde woman standing in front of them, a spear in her hands.

Raven swiftly unleashed a blazing wave of flames towards them, two of the creatures quickly turning around and rushing forward, sacrificing themselves to intercept the flames, as their bodies were set ablaze and turned to ash in a matter of seconds.

A flash of light erupted from in front of the creatures, before one of their heads came flying off and hit the floor with a thud, rolling away as Ravella swung her whip forward while extending it out, wrapping it around one of the creature's necks before tugging on it sharply while retracting the whip, pulling it towards her as she formed a blade of light along her palm, swinging it across as the creature closed in on her.

The blade struck the side of its neck and sliced right through, decapitating it as Celia fired off an explosion, blowing the undead creatures away at it hit the ground between them and exploded fiercely, as Raven swiftly flew up and fired out blasts of flames at each of the remaining undead, their bodies erupting into flames as his blasts struck them.

He then flew back down, landing in between the girls and looking around warily...

"Looks like the Undead King isn't here, after all," He frowned, though a part of him felt relieved.

"You're The Irregulars, aren't you?" Suddenly spoke up the blonde woman with the spear.

"Yeah, that's right...and you are?" Responded Celia as she glanced at the woman, while the twins attention shifted to one of the other people in the room, a man wearing a crown.

"I am the First Princess of the Kingdom of Persona, Lyra Diamond," She replied, before glancing warily at the twins as she sensed their bloodlust.

"Hey, you...yeah, I'm talking to you. Tell me...are you the King?" Inquired Raven coldly, narrowing his eyes at the man as sparks of lightning crackled around his body.

The King shrunk back slightly as Raven fully tranformed, his face morphing as a murderous look appeared in his eyes.

"Well? We're waiting...answer the question," Remarked Ravella seethingly, clenching her fists as her shoulders trembled with rage.

The two of them were barely holding themselves back, waiting to hear the confirmation of their suspicions...both were itching to attack, their bloodlust growing with every passing second, a palpable tension in the room.

"D-damn it...this is exactly why I commanded the church to execute my bastards! Those orange eyes, no doubt about it, they must be her children...the girl looks exactly like her, except for the hair color. Shit...what do I do!?" The King thought to himself frantically, before glancing up as Lyra stepped in front of him with her spear poised forward, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face as she eyed the twins warily...

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city...

Colt swooped down from the top of a building, landing in front of a little boy surrounded by undead creatures, before several blood tendrils burst out of his palms, shooting out and piercing through the necks of the creatures.

The ends of the tendrils then sharply expanded into disks, lopping off the heads of the undead creatures, before turning his gaze to the left as an undead Goblin leapt towards him with a screech.

A barrage of bone bullets came shooting down, riddling the creature's head before Colt drew out his dagger and shot towards it, slicing off its head with a swift whip of his arm.

"You alright there, kid?" Colt asked the boy, as he knelt down beside him.

"U-um, yes...thank you, mister," The boy nodded, before wiping away his tears.

"Glad to hear it," Smiled Colt, as Lexia came walking over.

"You should go find a safe place to hide, it's-...," She began, before trailing off as several footsteps echoed out, a group of four people walking out of a nearby alley.

Colt's eyes widened in recognition as he got a look at them, before grimacing warily.

"This isn't good...those are the current heads of some of the highest ranked Noble Houses in the nation," He thought to himself, before exchanging a glance with Lexia, "Looks like she's noticed too. What do we do? We can't waste any time or energy fighting them here...and only one of them is a target."

Lexia clenched her fists as she narrowed her eyes at one of them, immense rage bubbling up inside her.

"Hm? I don't know who you two are, you don't appear to be Knights, but thank you for saving that child," Remarked one of them, the Duke Crowes Edge.

He was in his late fifties, graying, short black hair, a fair complexion, a small chin beard, and he was on the taller side, with a strong build. He also happened to be the younger brother of the Pope.

"Uh...you're welcome," Responded Colt, his expression slightly tensed as he glanced at Lexia, who had a murderous look on her face as she continued to glare at one of the Nobles, her entire body trembling in rage.

"Wait, hold on...I recognize these two. They're members of The Irregulars," One of the others spoke up warily, the Countess Romi Brave.

She was in her late sixties, with gray hair tied up in a neat, tidy bun, dark blue eyes, a fair complexion, and she was above average height, with a slender figure.

"What!? The hell are you lowborn scum doing in our city!? Your kind isn't welcome here," Growled the one who Lexia was glaring at, the Count Ernet Plore, Lexia gritting her teeth with a seething look on her face as he spoke.

He was in his late forties, with long black hair, red eyes, a pale complexion with dark circles under eyes, and he was towering in height, with a lean, skinny build.

He was the father of the late, former Captain of the Third Squad, Zilk Plore, as well as the uncle of Junne Plore and Mord Plore...and considering the fact that all three of them had been killed by The Irregulars, he had quite a grudge against the group.

"Calm yourself, Ernet...we don't have time for this, we have a much bigger issue to worry about. And, evidently, it seems we share a common enemy...and given the current situation, we need all the help we can get," Remarked the fourth Noble prudently, the Duchess Foxe Mozill.

She was in her late thirties, with orangish-red, frizzy hair, yellow eyes under a pair of round, red glasses, a pale, heavily freckled complexion, and she was fairly tall, with a strongly built and voluptuous figure.

"Sounds like we can come to an understanding. We're only here to take down the Undead King, and we aren't going to waste time fighting anyone else...so, in other words, you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone, nice and simp-...," Began Colt as he grabbed Lexia's arm to try and calm her down, before trailing off as Count Ernet Plore shot towards them with an enraged roar.

"I will not stand for this! You insects killed members of my great Noble House, I refuse to let that go unpunished!" He snapped, drawing out a whip as he unleashed a blast of flames at Colt before cracking the whip across towards Lexia.

Colt swiftly formed a shield of blood in front of himself, the flames colliding against it before a cloud of red steam erupted upon impact, as Lexia swiftly got low to evade the crack of the whip, which whizzed past the top of her head.

"Ohh, this is perfect...given the situation, I didn't have the luxury of picking a fight with you. But since you attacked first, I have the perfect excuse," Chuckled Lexia, before adding as her eyes and expression darkened, "Tell me, Count Ernet Plore...do you remember me?"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, you Commoner bitch."

"I see...so, you don't remember me. Well, does this jog your memory?" She inquired icily, as she extended out a pair of bone blades from her hands.

"Th-that's...!" His eyes widened in recognition.

"When I awakened my Irregular Magic, my parents were killed by the Knights and I was scheduled to be executed...but before the date of my execution, you abducted me and held me captive in your little torture basement. You tortured me for over a year, before I finally escaped, shortly before joining The Irregulars. I always dreamed of the day when I'd finally get the chance to repay you for what you did to me...and that day has finally come. I will kill you, but don't worry...it won't be quick, I'll tear you apart, piece by FUCKING PIECE, UNTIL YOU BEG FOR THE SWEET MERCY OF DEATH!!!" She yelled furiously, the Count shrinking back slightly on instinct.

"B-be quiet, you...you're nothing, you're just a lowly Commoner, how dare you raise you voice at me!?"

"He isn't denying it...I see, then the rumors about him really are true. And if that's the case, then...I shall offer no assistance to him," Countess Romi Brave thought to herself, the other two sharing her sentiment as they eyed Ernet in disgust.

"Ohh, the fucking audacity...I suppose I should calm down. After all, with how long I've waited for this moment, I should make sure to savor every last second oh, and just FYI, we aren't the ones who killed your son, that'd be our leader...as for the other two...I killed both of them," Smirked Lexia tauntingly, as she bottled her rage and composed herself.

"Hey, come on, I deserve some credit for killing Junne, that was a team effort," Responded Colt with a frown, as the Count's eyebrow twitched in anger.

"Sure, but I'm the one who dealt the finishing blow, stabbed that bitch right in the throat," Shrugged Lexia in reply.

"H-how dare you...how dare you speak so callously about my family after you murdered them!?" Snapped Ernet furiously, as Countess Romi Brave moved the young boy out of harm's way.

"You need to stand down, Ernet, this isn't the time for-...," Began Crowes.

"Stay out of this! I shall avenge my son, niece and nephew, do not get in my way!" He interrupted him angrily, his eyes bulging with rage.

"Oh, please...with how many innocent people you've locked up and tortured for your own sick pleasure in that damned basement, you have no right to avenge anyone!" Snapped Lexia, as she brought out the Morningstar from her Storage Ring and whipped it towards him while rapidly extending and expanding the weapon.

Ernet's eyes widened in alarm, before he quickly sprang back, crying out in pain as the tip of one of the spikes on the metal sphere sliced across his chest, blood pouring out and running down his torso as he shakily backed away.

"Looks like the other three are staying out of this, it doesn't seem like they plan on backing him up," Noticed Colt, as he stole a glance at the other Nobles, before saying, "Don't take too long, Lexia...I'll let you handle this. I'll keep the others out of it if they try to interfere."

"Hmph, thanks...I appreciate it," She replied, as she flashed a chillingly malevolent, venomous smile at Ernet...