Where The Guildmaster Went [Pt 1]

'Impressive…'

The hall they stepped into was unspeakably huge—at least twice as spacious as that of the Ground Floor.

Rey felt like a tiny speck of dust in the overwhelmingly large expanse. It nearly reminded him of when he and his classmates first arrived in the Domain of God and were welcomed by Seraph.

That place was much larger—not even by a small margin—than the room he was currently in, but the mere fact that he was reminded of the Domain of God just by stepping inside proved how incredible the sheer scale of the place was.

It wasn't just big too. The entire room had a pristine sense to it, despite looking ancient.

Unlike the other Zones that looked unkempt and abandoned, this place seemed tidy and well-kept… all things considered.

You would expect that it would be next to impossible to keep such a large hall clean at all times, but just one look at the immaculate grandeur of the room spat in the face of that.

It had marble-like flooring, with a dark purple glow reflected on it from the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

The room was well-lit, with several candles the size of torches hanging all around the walls. Stained glass decorated the walls with their outstanding art, and the ceiling had murals that seemed ethereal etched upon them.

There was something holy and sublime about the hall's appearance, despite the corrupted Mana that pervaded the air and everything about it.

Only one thing ruined this sight, though.

A couple of meters—at the most ten—from where Rey and his comrades stood, there was a figure that lay on the floor.

It looked like a human, but its naked and emaciated form looked more like a miserable Undead than an actual flesh and blood man. The entire corpse was wrung dry of life, shriveled up until even its bones seemed too tiny to be considered possible.

This 'thing' couldn't be called a human, and anyone who saw it would have thought the same.

But… everyone who witnessed the body from their distance could not just dismiss it.

Most who saw it froze and shuddered at the sight. Some covered their mouths in disbelief, while others merely looked away.

All of them had one thing in common.

They recognized the outfit that the mere husk of a man donned. The Equipment, despite looking so aged, was too conspicuous for anyone to forget.

Then, out of the silence that dominated the entire space, someone asked the question that many were too afraid to utter out loud.

"T-that… Is that the Guildmaster?"

Yes. Yes, it was.

The hair on the shriveled corpse's face greatly resembled that of Richard, even if the outfit gave it away.

All of them knew the truth.

"H-he's… dead…?"

"H-how…?"

"Miasma Poisoning? But to this extent…"

"Guildmaster…."

Rey heard all of this noise but remained silent.

Rather than let his mind be filled with so much noise, he narrowed his eyes and observed the corpse from a distance.

'His body is literally oozing with Miasma. If he went in through that entrance, chances are that he got infected before even entering.'

But that didn't make any sense? Why would Guildmaster Richard choose to enter such a Miasma-dense zone after getting infected just from touching the door that led to the place?

'It makes no sense, unless I take into account the Greater Zombies I slayed in the other room…'

Guildmaster Richard was strong, but he probably found the several Monsters too much for him, so he decided to escape. That explained the damage that Rey observed in the room.

'But that doesn't explain why he would enter such a place when he knows the inevitable results.'

If he were the Guildmaster, and he had to pick his poison, Rey would prefer duking things out with the Greater Zombies.

At the very least, he could stand a chance against enemies that he could see. Plus, killing a couple would probably give him a Level-Up and boost his ability to keep fighting.

That was a lot more preferable than dying in the most painful way possible; powerlessly feeling as your body got overrun with corruption, causing your body to cease all function and collapse in on itself.

Rey could imagine the worst kinds of death, and that was definitely among them.

~SWOOSH~

In a gentle flow of wind, the Guilmaster's corpse floated towards the group of Adventurers, as his body was supported by what resembled a bed of clouds.

It wasn't Rey's doing, however, but the work of the girl who stood closest to him.

"Thanks." He turned and smiled as Esme.

She nodded in response to him, allowing the Guildmaster's body to drop in front of Rey—right before reaching the wall of[Absolute Perfect Defense].

'If the body comes into contact with my defense, it'll be purified instantly.' Rey grimaced, staring hard at the corpse one final time.

'The amount of Miasma coming out of his body is unbelievable. If it becomes an Undead now, it'll be a very strong one.'

A corpse turning Undead could be due to one of two reasons—

overexposure to Miasma over an extended period of time, or a Necromancy Spell.

Both of them were equally rare and unlikely to happen in real life, so not much was known about the phenomenon.

But, from the little that was known, the amount of Miasma that a corpse was able to take in before becoming Undead—whether by natural means or Necromancy—determined how strong they would become as Undead.

In some cases, it could even determine the kind of Undead they became… though there could also be factors surrounding this that hadn't been studied yet.

'His body has been soaking so much Miasma, yet he hasn't turned yet.' That felt strange to Rey.

After a set period, and a certain threshold of Miasma injection, had been reached, Undead would naturally sprout out.

'The fact that it hasn't happened yet means one thing…' Rey looked around him as he knelt and observed the body of the corpse.

'… This is someone's doing.'