The Malignant One [Pt 3]

"I… I killed… them all…?"

Claudius felt his body grow weak and his face turned pale. Falling to his knees, he shivered uncontrollably.

He felt like vomiting.

The woman he loved stood a few feet from him, brutally murdered as a result of his insanity.

His comrades—allies that could have assisted him in taking down the enemies—were all slaughtered by his hand.

'I did this? I… I…'

"Indeed! Congratulations, I suppose!" Ater's voice echoed, delight in his tone.

Claudius' body froze the moment he heard those words.

He gazed up, ignoring the snot that dropped from his nose and the tears that overflowed.

Ater was blurry in his sight, but it wasn't like he couldn't see the man.

"YOU…"

Claudius remembered it well.

He wasn't the one who did this. He was under some kind of mind control, and the one responsible for that was the man before him.

'He killed… he used me to kill everyone!'

Claudius felt rage unlike anything he had ever felt before enveloping him.

He forgot the pain and regret that permeated his heart and focused on the rawest and most primal emotion that kept rising at an astronomical rate.

—RAGE!

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Claudius roared, pointing his staff at Ater's stationery self.

"Kill him, Death Knight!"

~WHOOSH!~

In a brilliant blur of darkness, the massive Undead left its position and charged towards the enemy

Claudius let his desire run wild in his mind.

He wanted to see Ater bleed.

Beg! Suffer! Cry!

And then repeat the same process over and over again until he finally died.

His mouth watered as his eyes bulged like a madman.

However—

"Weak." With a single swat of his hand, Ater caused the Death Knight's body to be crushed by some invisible force.

'E-eh…?'

The invincible warrior of the dead was instantly consumed by purple flames that burned through its armor in no time at all.

Claudius saw it… the naked body of the Death Knight that was hidden underneath its armor.

It was disgustingly pink—so tender, like the flesh of a newborn baby or an internal organ.

The whole thing was easily swallowed by the purple flames until there weren't even any ashes left.

'M-my… Death Knight…?'

"Death Knights are not very impressive if you bypass their defenses, you know?"

Claudius felt like his mind was breaking as he heard the words that Ater was uttering.

"In the first place, they're supposed to be used as Cannon Fodder. I do understand your sentiment, though…"

Claudius was on the edge of insanity.

"You're still too young. You probably got excited since it was the first time seeing such a new toy."

Insanity beckoned for him, and he freely gave himself up to it.

There was nothing left waiting for him.

"Perhaps a Death Gladiator could have some more use, but—"

"Uwaahhhhhhh!!!" A loud shriek erupted from Claudius' lips as he jumped to his feet and ran away.

Tears filled his eyes as his blurry vision navigated his parh far away from the compound.

He knew not where he was headed.

… As long as it was far away from the one known as Ater.

'DIE! DIE! I'm… going to DIE!'

As he ran and screamed, he neared the edge of the dark dome that surrounded the mansion and its immediate vicinity.

Claudius feared what would happen if he attempted to cross the dark threshold.

However… he was too desperate to care.

"UWAAHHH!"

Much to his shock, he was able to pass through the dark veil without much issue.

He didn't feel anything off about his senses and movements. His body was fine too.

'So why…?'

This thought was immediately overridden by Claudius' desperation as he kept running, quickly regaining the vitality he had in his youth.

'I… I can't DIE here! I… I can't…!'

**********

"You look like you have something to say."

Ater glanced at Asher, who was standing in the corner while shivering for some reason.

"Come on. What's on your mind?" He asked in the most polite way.

His master had told him to treat the people of the KariBlanc Group courteously, after all.

"A-are you just going to let him get away…?"

"Ah, that. Of course not." Ater smiled.

"Those men in black costumes also snuck away, thinking I didn't notice. They'll be dealt with, don't worry."

"A-ah… I see…" Asher muttered, though he still appeared as bemused as ever. "S-so… why did you make this veil?"

Ater smiled at the ignorant human and explained himself, not even bothering with the corpses that slowly began to rise before him.

"They allow me to resurrect any dead entity within its parameters. As Undead, of course."

"U-Undead…?"

"Yes. These are high-ranking members of the enemy group. They are bound to have information that I can deem useful. It would be a waste to let them die just like that."

"T-true… but why did you not just take the e information from them before killing them?"

Ater liked Asher's questions. The boy was obviously scared, so Ater had to influence his mind a little so he would be motivated to ask the questions.

But, it was intriguing to see.

"You won't remember most of this conversation anyway, but I'm bored, so I might as well run my mouth."

Ater pointed at the Undead who now stood in front of them—

neither fully dead nor fully alive.

"Normally speaking, one could think I wanted to increase my Master's arsenal by employing these individuals, but they're too weak to be of any real use…" He began smiling at the four humans and single Wyvern.

"There's also the benefit of leaving them alive so that my Master can copy their abilities, but there's really no need for that."

Ater grinned with a little twinkle in his eyes.

"With or without them being present, the powers they possess can still be transferred to my Master."

He still wasn't gone elucidating potential reasons.

"Perhaps this is retribution for attacking this place and daring to go against my Master. All of these are valid reasons, but…" Ater's grin grew demonically wide.

"… There is only one reason why I would go through such lengths."

Ater crushed his fist, and all at once, the Undead began to squish together, forming an abnormal amalgamation of all of them.

Before long, a new—more hideous—Undead was born from their Union.

"I just wanted them to suffer."

Asher's surprise grew even more as he looked at Ater's malevolent grin.

"Just… to suffer?"

"Indeed. That's all there is to it." He responded with a shrug.

"The fools who were convinced of their victory. Those who were certain of their escape… all of it culminates into the despair that I feed on."

No one understood this but Ater.

It was merely in his nature.

The same way humans couldn't help but enjoy a tasty meal, or shared company, so too did Asher relish the sight of horrors and despondency.

"I suppose I have rambled on for long enough. It's about time for the finishing act."

As Ater said this, a being entered the world within the veil.

It was none other than Claudius.

His skin was grey, and the white in his eyes was black. Everything about him felt unnatural and twisted, and he reeked of Miasma.

There was no doubt about it.

Claudius had become the very thing he once commanded—

Undead.