Just what he needed to hear

"Weak! You are too weak!" Pride said with his usual arrogant voice while laughing.

"Begone specter!" Keita replied.

It has been half a year since these dreams have started. In this dark abyss inside Keita's heart, he would see Pride. Sometimes talking, screaming and others torturing him.

"You are nothing but the weakness inside my heart. Begone!" Keita continued.

"You keep saying that." Pride said disappointed. "You know nothing and speak as if you know everything. Me? A weakness? You can't even stand up to a few Undead and you dare belittle me? What-"

"Begone!" Keita shouted.

Pride looked at him with an expression as if he looking at a pebble on the road. As if Keita was nothing.

"I can't understand you." he finally said. "Keita Raigon, I can never understand you. You pursue strength but keep turning your back to it. Just give in. Let us be whole again. All you have to do is accept my power and we will be one, once more. Like we were against Wrath. The Sins, Heroes, the Guardians... They will be nothing in front of us." Pride attempted to tempt Keita.

"Begone!"

Pride was visibly furious with Keita's answer. He gritted his teeth and and his clenched fists were trembling. Pride drew his sword that looked just like Ma-clayar and Keita did the same.

"A fool! You are nothing more than that, Keita Raigon. Die!" Pride said as he brought down his sword from overhead.

Keita attempted to block but his katana was shattered. Ma-clayar was the last thing he saw.

"Keita?" he head a voice. Everything was blurry.

"Keita are you awake?" the voice continued.

Keita's vision slowly returned. He was inside an old abandoned mill. Nao was standing next to him.

"Where are we?" Keita asked as he shook his head. He was in pain. His arm was wrapped to his shoulder and his head, in bandages and his body was full of burns.

"Your plan worked. We run through the fire and made it here." Nao said.

Keita looked around. Anne and Lia were lying down to his left. Anne seemed to be passed out and Lia was recovering from the effects of using all of her mana. Koba was sitting across from him. He just raised his hand to show he was alright when they met eyes. Lia was also there, sitting next to the girls with a bitter expression.

The mill was long abandoned. Spider webs and dust have taken over. Keita could see sacks and boxes stacked to the door. It was the only exit.

"How far did you run?" Keita asked.

"Well, not very far." Nao answered. He was covered in wounds but he seemed relatively okay compared to the others. "We had to carry you three so as soon as we lost the Undead we decided to hide. Thankfully we saw this mill before we entered the city."

'So we are North from the city...' Keita thought. He had to come up with a plan. They needed to run to the nearest Aerch Militia barracks and warn everyone about the Undead. If left alone for too long, the whole western border of humanity could become lands of the Undead.

"Koba, how are Lia and Anne?" Keita asked. Koba was clearly tired. He did not move from his seat and his breathing was ragged.

"Lia will be fine with some rest." he said. "Anne took a few blows to the head so it's serious. In contrast to us, the Undead were seriously trying to kill her."

Keita just realized that. If the Undead were actually trying to kill him, he would probably be already dead. How heavier was the burden and the stress towards Anne who had to fight on the front lines knowing that?

"How about your mana?" Keita asked.

"I used almost everything. If I use Greater Cure one more time, I will end up collapsing like Lia..." Koba said with a bitter expression.

'He must have used everything to try and save Anne already and purify the Undead curse from us...' Keita thought. The fact that she was still in danger said more than anything about the severity of the situation.

Keita shakily got up. He couldn't take a long rest here. He sat next to Reika, who was looking over Lia.

"Can you fight?" Keita tried to sound as kind as he could.

Reika just shook her head in response. Her hair were hiding her face. Keita couldn't even imagine how she felt. While her comrades were shedding blood she couldn't even draw a single arrow. Her regrets and disgust towards her weakness were overwhelming her.

Weak.

Keita recalled Pride's words in his dream. He violently shook his head to force himself to change gears.

"Keita..." Reika spoke. "What is an irregular?" she asked in a cold voice.

Keita was fell silent for a moment. He didn't have any evidence that he was the one the Elder Lich was looking for but it seemed likely. After all he was an existence that defied the logic of this world.

"I don't know. The Lich tried to explain, but I have no idea what he was talking about and he did it to buy time so who knows if any of it is true... He said something about being important to some old gods, but I have no idea what he meant." Keita replied.

He truly had no idea what an irregular was. What were the old gods? He never heard of gods other than the ones they have now. What does it mean that the gods have no control to predict or control an irregular? It is true that the gods could see what could happen in the future of a being under their rule, but they couldn't control their actions right? It was a terrifying thought for Keita. If the gods could really control everyone actions then were they all their puppets? What have been the thousand years of war among the races for then? Just a game to kill time?

"It's you isn't it?" Reika shouted. "The irregular! Why is it always you? I just wanted to leave a peaceful life among the humans! Why did I join the Aerch Militia? Why did me and Nao have to meet you? Why did we have to form a party? Why are you always, always, always dragging us to dangerous places? Why do I have to pretend to be friends with the one that hunted down my kind like animals? Why couldn't you just die when you fought Wrath? Hey, answer me... Why are you still alive?" Reika's eyes had a madness in them. She was bottling up her feelings for such a long time. She couldn't any more though.

Keita didn't respond. His eyes stared at Reika's and he just smiled.

'I see. That's how it is...' he thought, almost feeling relieved. All this time that he worried Reika had a horrifying scheme to destroy him was for naught. She was just forcing herself. The kindness Keita thought he saw was just an illusion. Just a favor for Nao.

'Just how much can you love someone to go that far?' Keita thought as he got up.

Koba and Nao were silent. Koba had a lot of questions about Reika's words but he couldn't bring himself to ask them now. Nao on the other hand, was stunned. He couldn't believe the words that came out of Reika's mouth. He didn't believe that these were her true feelings. He had no idea what to think.

Keita walked passed them. He started to dismantle the barricade at the door. The others did not move to stop him, not even to ask what was he doing.

"Nao, I leave the rest to you." Keita said as he moved the last box.

"Eh?" Nao was finally able to say something.

Keita opened the old door and exited the mill. He headed straight back to the city that was filled with the Undead. Reika's harsh words were just what he needed to hear. This was his business and no one else's. This time, he wouldn't drag anyone else with him. He was going to deal with his own problems by himself. If he won that was fine. If he died or was captured, that also fine. As long as the party survived, giving up his life was an easy thing to do.