Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Shirina suppressed her embarrassment and looked up, only to witness a scene that filled her with utter terror.
The handsome and tall knight, Angus, was gone. In his place stood a tall skeleton with only human skin remaining, a large mass of deep red blood floating behind it.
“Ah—”
Shirina screamed and collapsed onto the ground. Her legs had gone weak, rendering her unable to stand again.
“Shirina, what are you afraid of?”
The skeleton’s chin moved, and a deep, hoarse voice emerged. The Undead Ghost Fire, sunken in its eye sockets, stared maliciously at Shirina, who cowered on the ground.
“Didn’t you want to see how I would heal myself? Now that I’ve shown you, why are you scared? Keke…”
“You… you’re Mr. Angus?”
Shirina couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her entire body trembled, and her words came out shaky.
“No… no! You can’t be Mr. Angus, you monster! Hurry and give Mr. Angus back to me!”
“I am Angus.”
The Skeletal Knight shrugged. He pulled out his long sword and tossed it in front of the girl. It was the long sword he always carried, proof enough of his identity.
“You humans are so shallow and boring. You keep saying you love Angus, but when Angus looks like this, you tremble with fear…”
Angus sneered and crouched down. His sharp bone claws hooked Shirina’s chin. His terrifying appearance caused the girl’s pupils to dilate, clearly indicating she was at the peak of her terror.
“You say you love Angus, or Angus’s strength, or Angus’s handsome face… Hmm? My Shirina…”
“I… I…”
Shirina couldn’t speak.
She did love Angus, but facing this skeletal monster, she still instinctively felt disgust and fear. This conflicting feeling left her unsure how to refute the monster’s words.
“Now, use your Fireball spell to heat this blood for me…”
Angus grabbed Shirina by her hair and dragged her up from the ground. After restoring to his Undead form, his personality had clearly become more violent.
“Use the Fireball spell. I’ll only say it once.”
Under the Skeletal Monster’s threat, and pressured by her desire for life, Shirina obediently cast the Fireball spell at the monster’s blood.
Time ticked by, and after numerous Fireball spells, the entire sphere of blood finally began to boil. Shirina’s magic had long since been depleted, and her head throbbed as if pierced by needles.
“Very good~”
Angus tested the temperature of the blood sphere with his bone claws, a sinister smile splitting his lips.
Although he was already an Undead, he was still captivated by the sensation of warm blood flowing through his body when he transformed into his zombie form. It was nostalgia and a yearning for life.
Unfortunately, life and death could not be reversed.
At least, not by him.
Angus directed the warm blood back into his body. His shriveled skin gradually plumped up, and soon he transformed back into the handsome knight’s appearance. However, he no longer needed to pretend. He had revealed himself to Shirina and saw no need to continue the act of the knight and princess’s little game.
“See? Isn’t this the Mr. Angus you’re familiar with now?”
The handsome and tall knight walked up to the girl, slowly turning in a circle. The smile on his face remained, but it was filled with deep malice.
“You… who are you…”
Shirina clutched her head in pain, her consciousness already growing hazy.
“Mr. Angus was such a gentle person. You’re not him, he wouldn’t have treated me like that… You can’t be him… Wuwu…”
“Let me reintroduce myself.”
Angus pulled by Shirina’s hair, forcing the poor traveler mage to meet his scarlet eyes.
“I am the Undead Emperor’s subordinate, the most handsome, strongest, and most flamboyant mount, the leader of the Undead Ghost Dragon, the creator of plagues—Angus!”
“Of course, I am also Knight Angus, but that was all an act for you, naive little girl.”
“However, I still want to thank you.”
Angus carried the girl outside the window. With a powerful leap, he landed on the roof.
From here, they could see quite far, observing the bustling market. He twisted his arm, ensuring the girl, struggling in pain, could clearly see everything.
“I want to thank you for bringing me to these cities. I’m not very familiar with human territory, so getting lost is unavoidable. But as a Ghost Dragon who cherishes time, I detest wasting it…”
“And you… your existence has saved me a lot of time. Therefore, you are qualified to watch the next scene with me…”
“You… what did you do?”
Shirina had already sensed something was wrong. In Angus’s chilling words, she detected a hint of conspiracy. This terrifying Undead seemed to have used her trust to do something dreadful.
Angus didn’t answer Shirina’s question.
He simply stood there, watching the noisy street in the distance.
“Gag—”
Suddenly.
A pedestrian clutched a wall and vomited violently.
This seemed to trigger a chain reaction. People on the street began to kneel and vomit, their faces turning pale as if enduring immense pain.
“Wh-what is this…”
Shirina ignored her struggle; her eyes widened in astonishment.
“This is… a plague… Keke…”
Wisps of grayish-green energy spread outwards from Angus.
This was the aura of a high-level Undead. Not only did this wicked aura promote the transformation of the dead into the Undead, but it could also accelerate the spread of plagues and diseases.
“Do you know why I kept changing cities? Because the first thing I do when I arrive in a city is pollute its water source. These foolish human rulers always think they’re clever by gathering usable water sources together…”
“Polluting… polluting the water source?! That means…”
Shirina’s voice trembled, and tears streamed down her face.
“Uncle Peter… Auntie Sam… and… so many others, they… they…”
“That’s right!” Angus roared with laughter. He raised his hand, his palms closing as if grasping the sun.
“They all died of the plague and became an Undead army, and all of this is because of you!”
“Because… because I…”
Shirina murmured numbly, her gaze vacant.
“That’s right, because of you. Because you guided the way, you are the guide for all the Undead!”
“No—!”
Shirina covered her face and cried, collapsing weakly onto the ground.
She felt a sharp pain in her internal organs. The plague had already invaded her body.
Angus sneered.
He watched as the girl was consumed by endless regret and sadness.
“Regret it! Hate it!”
“Only then can a more perfect Undead be converted…”
Angus looked in the direction of Karari Royal Capital and murmured to himself.
