The Ruined Death Knight

*Pugh!!

Through the frozen lands, glad in dark platted armor, on one hand, wielding an ominous sword while in the other carrying a teenage with a fox bone mask.

Danzel was running back to the village at full speed while carrying Shiro at a speed faster than a train.

'Do idiots, after what I even told them...' Danzel cursed internally while ignoring Shiro's shout to slow down.

Not only was her long hair getting in her way, but the cold wind was simulation assaulting her. Even with her strong body of demon kin, the cold was getting through her and she started to get quite nauseous.

Despite that, she hugged her staff and was using her magic to make a barrier around them, but as she has never before moved at such speed, her barrier wasn't all that great as she had to move it.

Once Danzel saw the contract of his getting burned, he knew that the matter with the ice trolls could wait and let the Draugr build a base around the settlement and took Shiro to see what happend to the village.

Shiro also wanted to interact with those fox people and Danzel had to take her anyway as he had the troll blood, so taking her with him was a must.

At first, he was only casually running back, slow enough not to be uncomfortable for Shiro.

But once Danzel realized that his connections with all his undead has been cut except for a few, he knew that the worse situation took place.

That they were all annihilated or the majority.

Which resulted in him rushing at top speed back.

Crossing the days of walking in a matter of minutes.

And as an undead, he felt neither the cold nor exhaustion.

It took him only one and a half hours to reach the mountain where beyond was the raided village.

"They aren't here..." Danzel mumbled as he searched for the connections of the Draugrs.

'Although they aren't gone, they are much further away...'

"R-Rue...can you put me down first?" Shiro said with a weak voice.

"...Endure for a bit more." Danzel said with his cold voice before going towards the village.

Entering the village, Danzel put Shiro down and supported herself with the staff while her legs were trembling.

Danzel gazed around before giving his orders.

"Anabast, scout the village and notify me if something is missing..."

As soon as he finished, his own shadow started to extend and split into 5 parts.

And from those 5 shadows, Baron, Sylas, Talon, Leyone, and Rayone risen from his shadows and bowed their back to Danzel.

"As you wish, thee Creator." Their cold voices said before flying away to fulfill Danzel's orders.

Although he saw none of the living with his [Eyes of the Damned], it wasn't impossible for someone to be able to hide from it. But more importantly, he wanted to find clues why someone would return to the village.

Though he highly doubted it, there might be something in value hidden somewhere. But really, he suspected that they came to either pick the corpses of the dead villagers or take the resource of the village, such as food.

As food in a dead village is free food for others. However bitter it sounded.

"Can you walk, Shiro? Or want me to carry you..." Danzel said as he stared at Shiro with his flaring eyes.

"N-No! I can walk! I am good!"

"Really...?" Danzel said in doubt as he watched her legs tremble.

"Y-Yes..." She said while nodding.

He mentally shrugged his shoulders and walked further them the village while being followed by Shiro from behind.

Following where he could feel the miasma, they soon enough reached the place where the Overseer and the Draugrs fought with the native warriors.

"R-Rue...look." Shiro pointed at the remains of the Draugrs.

"..."

Walking silently towards the remains, Danzel scanned the surrounding destroyed buildings.

He stopped only after he was in front of the remains of the Draugr he named the Overseer.

His skull was broken and laying on the ground, similar to all the other undead.

And their bones were having layers of black dust.

If left for long enough, those remains would eventually turn into dust.

'Whoever came here took also their weapons...and left those guys here.' Danzel thought as he watched the 7 corpses of those fox people laying badly cut down.

For a moment he thought about raising them as undead, but shook his head.

Shiro stayed silent as Danzel walked around and touched the remains of the Draugrs one by one. But once Danzel touched the remains of the Overseer, a different notification appeared, unlike the other Draugr.

[Soulless Remain's of Undead]: A undead that had lost his soul before its destruction just to fulfill his master's will. Despite having lost his fight, he made sure the will of his creator will be fulfilled.

'He lost his soul...?' Danzel would have frowned if he could.

He touched the remains to see their description, to see if they died by magic or something to be wary of, but seeing that description, Danzel couldn't help but doubt.

'If I were to take the description as the truth, then that means that this guy...'

"Used the [Rune of Þolian Repent] to himself..." he mumbled quite dumbfounded.

It wasn't like the Overseer didn't know what the runed sword did as he went ahead and explained its function in the case he abandons them.

So there was no way that he didn't know what the [Rune of Þolian Repent] did.

"Was it because I told him to prioritize their survival?" Danzel shook his head.

'Though [Greater Raise Undead Lv.10] made the Draugr stronger and way more intelligent, I would have never expected the Overseer to use the sword to himself to preserve himself...'

Gazing towards the directions of the remaining intact connections.

At the same time, the Anabast arrived back and moved behind Danzel and Shiro.

"O thee Creator, we have found no changes or anyone present..." Talon spoke with his cold voice.

"Well done..." Danzel said as walked forward.

"Where are we going, Rue?" Shiro asked as she followed behind Danzel.

"Where else do you think? We are going to meet the ones who made all this mess and stole my weapons. Maybe they would have a map where we can return..." Danzel added in the end, making Shiro's eyes lighten up with expectations.

Oblivious of Danzel's thoughts.

'Be it by force or not, wherever they like it or not. I will bend them to my will. At the very least I won't let you get away after destroying them and stealing from me.' Danzel thought internally.

Albeit he didn't have a great attachment to the Draugr and saying otherwise would be a rightful lie. As he had already created countless of them to be his cannon founder when he was fighting in the war.

They were still his creations.

There was a minimal level of responsibility that he had to take care of his creation. That's why he made sure for those Draugrs that he might leave behind to be equipped with good weapons.

'I am such a hypocrite...' Danzel shook his head.

This very fact he knew for a long time, but now this didn't change what he had to do.

Giving an internal command to the Anabast, they collected the corpses of the 7 fox people and he put them inside his storage ring, which was at its limits by now.

"Might as well use them as materials..." He said to himself, with Shiro turning her head away.

Soon enough, the Anabast went back inside Danzel's shadow and he together with Shiro followed the connections with his last remaining undead.

It didn't long to catch up to them with Danzel carrying Shiro in his hand.

And from afar, Danzel and Shiro were able to see a group of 8 people walking away.

And with the group of natives being completely oblivious.

They were slowly guiding a Death Knight to their very village.

An existence that is also considered the wielder of death.

***

In the group of native warriors, after a few days of visiting Alka's village.

After having fought with the cursed warriors and having lost a few of their own people, they went back to their village quite depressed.

They had to go back and tell the families of the ones they lost that they had died and were left behind in a place where one of the primordial gods had cursed.

Though the weapons that they brought back were of incredible quality, some of them considered them cursed by the oldest of primordial gods.

And considering that their village was worshipping the God of Wild Hunt and the youngest primordial god. The God of White Life.

It couldn't be considered a positive for bringing weapons wielded by cursed warriors.

They eventually arrived at the village.

Though out their journal, Alka's marked shoulder was etching each day. She passed the pain as the guilty and sadness within her. Unknowning that the being that inflicted her such wound was following them.

In the end, they were completely oblivious to the existence that they were guided to their village.