Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Irisa and Demion openly showed off their intimacy since that day. There was no point in hiding it. Demion felt like keeping it a secret from Escus would only serve to make him feel like a fool, especially if he should find out about it in other ways.

Naturally, he didn't know that his fellow guard already knew and was boiling with rage. Rage from jealousy and from something else he knew.

Escus might not have been the most honourable man in the world but while in the company of someone he viewed as incredibly noble like Demion, he had been forced to conform to a more civil persona. In a way, he respected Demion and saw him as something of a moral compass.

That was why it was such a heavy blow when he found out that this man he thought was better than him and strived to emulate, was fucking the person they were supposed to protect. For him especially, like any man who had seen Irisa, burning feelings squirmed within for her. Maybe not love but the searing passion to bed her as well, even with what he knew. Escus was also a little angry for Demion because he didn't know...

How cruel.

He was the one being considerate here.

Yes. That had to be truth. Or an excuse.

In light of this development, Escus sought to change the status quo. That was why he made a proposition to Demion.

Over the past few months that they had been travelling to settle West, the trio had made a habit of gathering information on the current state of where they settled temporarily in order to ensure that it was safe. They did so through various means; eavesdropping, paying information merchants among other methods.

Not all the information they acquired was helpful as it could be rumours about foreign affairs, lazily put together town gossip, or... stories about an ancient underground city that held a legacy.

Demion, Escus and Irisa had heard quite a lot about this rumour during their travels, but at the time, only Escus paid it much mind.

After all, it had something to do with attaining more strength.

Escus' proposition went like this:

"We were charged with keeping Irisa safe but are we such cowards that we can't even think of seeking revenge against those bastards who robbed us of our home?"

Demion was surprised by these words. Not only did they sound blind but also... empty.

"To what end? If we two go back there as we are or even with hired mercenaries, we stand no chance against the force that assaulted us that night. And if we die..." Demion said while glancing at Irisa who hadn't been invited to their discussion. "...we would have failed at our one assigned mission."

Escus scoffed.

"What if you had the hidden power from a legendary powerhouse? Would you join me then?" Escus asked.

The noble of the two was startled and when Escus elaborated on what he meant, Demion grew suspicious.

Weren't these merely rumours they had heard of on the way? Why would they risk their lives for something that was uncertain?

Escus appealed to Demion for five days.

With each setting sun, he gathered information on the rumoured whereabouts of this place and why no one had claimed this legacy yet.

The location was fairly hard to find but Escus eventually located it and discovered that there was a very peculiar restriction on entrants who desired to enter this underground city.

Whenever someone attempted to reach the entrance to this place, an engraving would etch itself on the hard ground, declaring the stipulations for those deemed legible for entry.

'Only one who is pure of heart, whose hands has not yet claimed 100 lives can enter.'

This was the restriction.

Sadly, this weeded out a lot of people. The common folk couldn't enter because they feared they lacked the strength to endure what was inside. Strong warriors couldn't enter because more often than not, they had slain more than a 100 people.

The news of this requirement created a rumour that made many reluctant to even try to find this legacy, thus making its existence as most likely a lie prominent.

Escus pulled on Demion to this information and had him confirm it himself.

Then, he urged him to enter this lost underground city since between the two of them, Demion had less blood on his hands as he had never been in the local army back home.

After the conflict of thought for days, Demion felt that perhaps it was worth a try. After all, there were some who returned alive and well from this underground city and he was quite stronger than some of them. Irisa did not like the idea and even contended against it, but Demion stressed that Escus was right. If they could acquire this legacy, avenging their people would likely not be impossible anymore and as a man who kept to the idea uprightness and justice, he couldn't pass up this chance.

Thus, against Irisa's wishes, Demion became one of the many challengers to enter the mysterious space underground, the Ruined Starlight City of the Nameless Conqueror.

On the same day Demion went on his excursion, Escus made his move.

Avenge their people?

Pfft!

That had been an idea he made up to appeal to Demion whom he knew simply couldn't resist to act upon it.

His heart was pure but Escus' wasn't.

He was different from Demion who hadn't been part of the army when he was chosen by the lord of the land to keep Irisa safe. He had been one of the Commanders years before and stripped of his rank because of his personality.

Thus, his honour was non-existent and he knew things Demion didn't.

He took Irisa on a short trip to a major city where wealthy and powerful figures usually congregated for important and casual fellowships because of the luxurious amenities within the settlement. While in this city, Escus said something brought Irisa chills, something she had been sure both Escus and Demion did not know since her father kept a tight lid on it.

"I know the 'duty' you and your mother upheld. As beauties that transcend anything, even within our the lands, as special as you are, you bedded the mightiest soldiers under your father to keep them... 'motivated', didn't you? Your mother and now you," he whispered to her ear with a sharp voice.

"Your father was always so weak. He failed to keep the army that was so loyal to his father before him under control. When he failed to garner respect on his own, he made you and your mother whores to the army, right? I wonder, does your body really possess the natural property to revitalise and edify any man's strength a dozen fold in a single night? I only heard passing rumours. Did you enjoy doing it? Are you planning on using dear ol' Demion? Do you even love him or are you just craving your old life?"

As he said this, Escus removed Irisa's veil in the middle of a populated street road and the world around her seemed to stop as her full face was revealed.

Everyone's eyes were attracted to this woman who seemed out of place. Men, women and children alike fell under the spell of Irisa's divine beauty.

First there was awe, then admiration and then spawned greed.

Irisa was terrified.

There was no way she could escape being snatched by any one of the powerful men whose eyes were already fantasising about having her as a prize.

In this desperation, Irisa turned to Escus who grinned at her sullen, horrified face.

"Beg me to save you," he said. "Beg and plead me to take you far from here, away from the foreign greed."

Irisa could not believe her ears.

To beg Escus?

That's right. He was a powerful man, the heights of his strength having been publicly recognised as among the most powerful back home. He could protect her.

Demion was not here to save her.

If she refused, she would have to entertain one of the tens of devil's drooling at her in this moment and thus, she could only oblige.

The devil she knew was better than the devil she did not know.

And this devil she knew was elated.

Escus wrestled everyone who so much as glanced at Irisa with longing, slaughtering them all brutally without sustaining any wounds or being tagged even once. He laid waste to the entire city thereafter and did as he said – taking Irisa for himself far away.

What he knew of Irisa did not deter his want of her as any man would and with this, he had won her while Demion had gone off to find something that he probably wouldn't succeed at finding.

His chapter began.

Three months later, Demion emerged from within the Ruined Starlight City, changed and strong.

He had succeeded in claiming the legacy of the Nameless Conqueror, much to the locals' disbelief as many a century had passed without anyone being able to claim the powers of this mysterious historic figure.

The people sang his praises and some gave him gifts, asking him to overthrow the Families that loaded over their lands and take power instead but Demion focused on one thing first.

Irisa and Escus were gone.

At first he thought a threat had driven them away or harmed them but from what he heard, the two had simply up and left.

If Demion were his old self, it would have taken him some time to figure out what had happened but now, or rather doubt it hard before believing it, but with the mysterious change that sat over him, his paranoid and broader view, his wrath instantly rose.

Had Irisa and Escus left him just like that?

Did Irisa betray him for Escus?

Had it been their plan to send him away so that they could escape with each other to another land?

But wait.

Escus was stronger than him before, he could have just... No. Did he do it this way out of pity?

Demion's fury burned like a wild fire.

Instead of searching for these two frantically though, he took up the offer of the people who admired how he had done what others had failed at.

He began to conquer, as his newly acquired Hidden Class, the Appetent Guzzler, desired.

From the West to the East he invaded and claimed, making his search whenever he settled to bring lands under his rule, something his old, noble self would have never done. The needless shedding of blood, the excessive killing even to those who were blameless... this was not Demion, but the Appetent Guzzler, the Nameless Conqueror's will.

A mere eight months after Demion began his journey, he reclaimed his home land, killing and burning every single inhabitant to 'cleanse' the rich lands that weren't his enemies' to take. None of the six Families that had conspired to claim the Bewatered Family lands were spared and truly, it would have been a sweet revenge, if he didn't have to enjoy it alone.

The fact that Irisa and Escus were not here to celebrate with him burned his soul and he found himself searching once again, using his connections to look everywhere.

On one fateful day, Demion's men finally found Irisa and Escus.

No. Rather, Escus seemed to want to be found, finally. Their meeting was inevitable at this point. The whole nation knew of this risen conqueror and Escus had heard of him too, knowing full well who he was.

When they met, Demion was torn to find that Escus and Irisa had had a child and the beauty of the Bewatered Family was pregnant with another!

The flames of boiling emotion couldn't be contained within his body.

So he had been right. He had been betrayed after all. The small hope he had that there was something else that caused his lover and his friend to flee died with the sight he saw and he drew his blade to kill Escus with a bold sword technique that the Nameless Conqueror before him had forged for himself.

The Swindling Death's Dance.