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"…Thanks for the rescue?" Varian said after a brief silence.
"What is a lifeling doing here?" The ash-skinned man asked with a curious expression, waving his arm to point at the barren plain that stretched to the horizon, thousands and thousands of square miles without even a stalk of grass.
Only then did it hit him. He hadn't never talked to a typical Undead. Other than encountering them thanks to the abyssals, the only conversation he had with an Undead was with Yami and he's pretty sure she's not the representative of the average undead.
"Got here by accident." Varian stood up patting away the boneash that stuck to his clothes and looked at the man carefully.
Despite how 'normal' he looked, the man was not a living being. He was over 7' and looked like he's packing serious muscle. But his heart didn't beat and no blood flowed in his veins. Rather, the death energy moved around in chaotic patterns, maintaining his being.
"Got into this place by accident? Well, you got a sh*ttier luck than me." The man said with a hearty laugh.
Varian responded with an awkward smile, half-surprised by his response and half-cautious about this Undead.
"The nis Klynster." He pointed to himself. "And the big guy who nearly killed you was Xsax, a big boss in the parasite faction. There are only a handful of beings who are stronger than him here."
"…So I encountered a powerhouse as soon as I stepped into this vast place spanning a dozen light years?" Varian said with exasperation but soon narrowed his eyes. "And another powerhouse who can savefrom that rare powerhouse."
"Suspicious and cautious, good qualities for survival." Klynster did not seem offended by his words and smiled with appreciation. "My faction is killing those bugs since they infested one of our settlements. I happened to be scouting the area and luck you."
Varian looked at the nonchalant with a troubled gaze. He could not be sure if this guy was lying or being truthful.
Statistically speaking, it's more likely a trap. But with his absurd luck in both good and bad domains, he couldn't really reference the 'average' for any judgements.
"Anyway, thanks for saving me. I will repay the favor…soon but I gotta go now." Varian said in a friendly tone.
The space around him began to twist and collapse as a teleportation point was built. He quickly encountered a blocking barrier that stopped his teleportation point.
While he could leave purgatory after reaching the edge of the boundary, it seemed he couldn't just teleport out.
"We have been invaded by the Jai Empire in the distant past. Even though the place had a lot of restrictions that weakened their powerhouses, the way they just broke in without warning was too dangerous. Since then, Purgatory seemed to have developed an anti-teleportation barrier."
Klynster explained, not hiding his curious expression at the usage of space power.
"Ah, then I just need to get to the edge and walk out." Varian shrugged.
"Not so fast. They have planted their infesting energy inside you. If you try to cross the barrier of purgatory without completely removing it, that energy will infest you and they'll materialize inside you. So the barrier will block you."
It's common knowledge that the Undead here or the living in the other half could not break out. The barrier that stopped teleportations also stopped them from leaving.
So, if he left in a partially infested state, the parasite could manifest outside and build its new self, rendering the barrier useless.
To prevent such situation, he'd be blocked until he's pure.
"…Alright." Varian nodded in understanding but still decided to try it out soon and verify the truth.
If it's false, the favor he owed to Klynster would be used up and his life would be saved.
If it's true though…
'Please don't be true.'
Looking inward, the infesting energy had already corrupted a quarter of his being despite the resistance.
'Atleast a few days for cleansing!'
Klynster watched Varian's face go through a series of subtle changes in amusement. "You look troubled, frustrated but not surprised? Are living beings all like this?"
When Varian was about to answer, the sky cracked and dark tentacles stretched out from the horizon, shooting towards them at a tremendous pace.
"Move!"
Klynster's body turned into a red liquid and exploded in all directions.
Varian followed the drop with the most death essence and they landed in front of a valley with ten guards at the peak of rank 9.
They raised their spears noticing Varian but quickly put them down after seeing Klynsnter.
"Activate the stealth. We're moving soon." The man said to the guards who nodded obediently and walked into a cave with glowing esoteric runes.
Once they walked into the valley with several houses built of stone, a click sounded and a blue color barrier enveloped the valley, blocking them off from the outside.
A bunch of young undead ran to Klynster and the man gave them a couple of shining red crystals.
'If I'm not wrong, these are found inside those parasites.' Varian observed the civilization in silence.
There were thousands of male and female undead, of different races and ranks, training, working or taking care of the children.
…It didn't feel much different from a living village.
"It feels odd."
Crap! The words slipped out of his mouth before he even realized.
"Because it is." Klynster didn't seem to mind as he watched the settlement with a big smile on his face. "Undead usually are not like this. This is what I built from scratch."
Varian turned to him in surprise.
He assumed the peculiar traits of these people were due to the specialty of purgatory.
Undead were fundamentally different from the living. They neither had emotions nor fear of death.
Undead had emotions but not really.
They would know they're supposed to feel they're angry, they would even get the reasoning behind such emotion. They would even have that emotion inside their mind but it would not influence them.
They're like an audience watching a drama, a third-party watching everything unfold. So anytan Undead smiled or cried, they were 'acting' out the emotion than expressing it.
Thankfully for Varian, he met Nexus twho faked every expression without ever feeling anything and gained immunity against Undead.
"Are these children…" Varian asked with an uncertain expression.
Undead did not reproduce the sway.
Without any necessity for physical contact, they simply combined their death essence to create another Undead—a costly process done only a few times throughout their Directly support the authors on Web!
existence.
But more often than not, they split themselves into mutliple Without any necessity for physical contact, they simply combined their death essence to create another Undead—a new 'children' who would carry on.
"Yeah, they were badly injured before last year. We managed to save only half."Klynster confirmed.
The children had partial memories of their parent and grew up as soon as they had more death essence.
"Why are you doing all this? The adults taking care of them are not their parents but they behave like one. And they're all showing emotions…just what is going on?"
Klynster's lips curled up. "I am not a native of this place. I died here long, long ago. And like all that converted, I have the memories from when I was a living being.
I was from a genesis border kingdom which probably no longer exists and lived my whole youth slaughtering Undead that infiltrated our borders to hunt our living.
I killed millions without remorse. I didn't care, why should I?"
Klynster's face was filled with bloodthirst and coldness.
Follow current on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtVarian had seen that look before. It was present on those that lived on the battlefield and vowed to die there, spending every waking hour thinking about fight, fight and fight.
A mad, mad soldier whose only thought would be killing more enemies today than yesterday.
He could not relate such a crazed battle maniac with a cool headed, apparently kind man in front.
They had no commonality, none at all.
"These are not living. They are beasts without emotions. Aliens that just look like us, talk like us but could never be us.
And one day, when I was fated to die in ambush, an Undead saved me.
He looked atand said it'd be better if the Undead understood the living's concerns and lived properly…and the living tried to understand Undead.
Maybe we are never going to be the sbut we're the two sides of the scoin. There should not be so much hostility.
Death is after all something every living creature eventually encounters. Why hate it? And why hate the Undead that are born in that death?"
Sighing deeply, he turned to Varian with a proud smile. "I couldn't try changing anything in Mors. The hierarchy there is an under an iron grip of Lady Yami. But here, in this chaotic region with many undead, I have a chance.
And I died for it."
Even though he was expecting it, when he actually heard it, Varian's brows jumped violently.
This dude…he's fucking crazy!
He had a dream that's already abnormal enough but he killed himself to realize it…after death!
What the fuck was wrong with his brain?
"Did you think something was wrong with my living brain?" Klynster asked.
"You were so passionate about your dream it's totally understandable!" Varian looked at him with a supremely convincing gaze.
"Exactly. And I toiled in this place for…I don't even know. With lots and lots of failure but continuous progress, I finally built it."
Klynster raised his arms and declared with a wide smile.
"The living Undead!"
Varian would've clapped if he didn't feel it would be inappropriate.
"You can stay with us until you get rid of the infection. In the meanwhile, do tellabout the outside world. And there are a bunch of non-natives who would also be interested."
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