We Are A Family

"...Go to hell."

"?"

One of Klaus's bladed weapons—the green sword—radiated light that grew brighter every second. At the same time, the light heralded an irrevocable fate, to which the Draugr realized a moment too late.

"!!!" It's right hand shrunk bit by bit, a phenomenon caused by none other than the sword in Klaus's own right hand. Unrestrained gluttony poured forth from within the weapon, consuming the very construct that made up the muscles and bones. The weapon ate, and ate, and ate until it had taken away the Draugr's right arm from the shoulder below within seconds.

"How!?"

The creature retreated as it balked at the sight of its own missing limb. What just happened?

It had come across a variety of loot dropped by other Draugrs—used against it by the people it had killed—but none of them displayed an ability like this one. Its emotions surfaced and swept across its entire body, shackling its movement.

"I got you," said Klaus as confident as he could despite the pain threatening to drown him in it. He tried to stand up, but his legs spurted its last strength for a few seconds, and he fell onto his b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s.

There was no helping it. He had to use his sword from this distance.

Any portion of the floor that was touched by it ceased to exist. Within the blink of an eye, the Draugr was engulfed by the energy, unable to dodge the attack.

"Ggrrg... Graaagh!"

No, there was no way that creature would submit itself to death's embrace just like that. It had set foot onto various Personal Dimensions to sate its depraved craving. Even now, that d.e.s.i.r.e only grew stronger, coaxing the creature into more fighting.

It wanted to thrust its blade through flesh.

It wanted to rip apart meat and rend people from limb to limb.

It wanted to sink its teeth into its prey.

Not even a fraction of its craving had been satisfied, and now, it would let its life end with callousness? That trite thought angered the creature more than ever. It wouldn't let a mere human rob it of that one thing it held so precious.

Useless.

"Graaaagh!"

A giant's left hand emerged from the energy, followed by its left leg. The creature strutted out of the beam as its intensity dissipated, which then vanished from sight. Unbelievable.

While keeping that wicked grin, the Draugr cracked its neck and switched glance between Klaus and Viktoria. Now, no one had the slightest chance of defeating it.

"Ugh!" Viktoria commanded her Oubliette to burn at the highest temperate it could with a flick of her wrist. The instrument of destruction obeyed its master, but when the flames reached their target, they did nothing to harm the lump of flesh. Burn as much as they could—trying to calcine their target of resentment until nothing left of it—but alas, the fearsome Oubliette had no effect whatsoever.

The Draugr looked over itself and shrugged the flames burning its body as if they were mosquito bites. Viktoria, her eyes widened in disbelief, fell to her knees. She could hardly try to make sense of what was happening before her. After all, how could a Draugr of that caliber be so powerful?

Had the Draugr who had been resurrected, reached the realm of B-rank with little to no effort?

No, even then, B-rank Draugrs would succ.u.mb to the hellfire at this degree. At this point, the hellfire burned at the highest possible degree while assuming the color of the void—black—since it was hot beyond comprehension. Viktoria took the risk that the Dimension would be affected by this degree of hellfire, so that was why she unleashed the flames in a very small amount. Even with her barely holding back, the Draugr's feat should be impossible.

And yet—

"...?" The Draugr fell to one knee, the black hellfire still burning every crevice of its body like a beast.

"...?"

The creature did not understand. Its ability had evolved, granting it a near-immunity to attacks of any nature. Of course, such an ability had its setbacks, where it couldn't use its accrued Oubliettes while it had this ability active. Other than that, its acuity and vision were reduced twice the amount.

These setbacks didn't bother the Draugr much because it could shrug any attack effortlessly, without having to worry about what strategy its enemy was planning. This perverse condescension had led to it simplifying its method of attacking—which was to crush anyone with b.a.r.e firsts. Nothing more, nothing less.

Abandoning versatility to temper its strength even further.

By doing so, it had limited the choices available on the battlefield.

"Graaaaghh!" Despite that, the Draugr pushed itself past its limit. It turned to face Viktoria, its mask trembling and creaking from anger. The Oubliette's source must be extinguished. Only then could he stop the black conflagration that had set its flesh ablaze.

Viktoria, as if she could read the vile creature's mind, began to shudder. Her right foot turned toward the opposite direction as she intended to distance herself. It did not take more than a second for the Draugr's towering figure to shadow the petite girl before a curled left fist came down onto her.

There was no dodging that attack. In her current state, the only choice left for her was to take the full brunt of the attack head-on and then heal herself. Though, the chance of her surviving this simple strike could be slim.

"Ukh!" She braced for impact, and then—

A small blade—a dagger—cut across a distance in a straight line. As if it was thrown by someone that had complete mastery of throwing bladed weapons, the weapon flew and pierced the giant's neck. It had come out of the left-field, disrupting the giant's attention for a split second.

Nonetheless, the creature's fist didn't stop in mid-air and, it walloped Viktoria like a stick. The impact was powerful enough to crack the floor, and her body bounced off it once—all the air in her lungs was forced out.

Black spots appeared in Viktoria's vision, and she tried her best to stay conscious. Because if she let herself drift into the darkness, then that would spell the end for Klaus Weber and this Personal Dimension. For the longest time, she had lived here, waiting for that human to appear and claim the Crown.

Her role as the Crown's Keeper was not yet fulfilled. She couldn't hope to let her foe bested her. Not in a million years.

"K-Klaus..."

She could feel her energy fading away. No, she had to stand up!

But she failed and crumbled to the floor like a doll. Her willpower and determination couldn't force her body past its limits. Even if she could, it would have been a miracle if she could fight in that battered state of hers.

Why was that she was so fragile? She was a proud Keeper with a noble objective. And yet all she could do at that point was watch as Klaus struggled to put up a fight against the Draugr.