The Villainess and I, her Zombie

The hatch in the ceiling opened without making even the smallest noise, proving how well cared for everything was.

Soon, the whole group got onto the top level - even Arion who needed a bit of help with the ladder - and could marvel at...

Mostly nothing.

The giant sphere was made out of some transparent material to allow for the effortless observation of any given spot at any given time therefore its insides were empty to prevent any obstruction.

The only furniture - if that even was a proper name to call it - was a very high podium made out of black wood, very similar to Cranberry's baseball bat.

"...brother..."

Shanks's pained whisper slipped through his lips the moment he laid his eyes on the being huddled into a fetal position on the top of the podium.

"...ha..."

Cranberry let out a short sigh.

Just by looking at that person was enough to confirm that they were dead - the spots of skin not covered by simple clothes looked dried up like a mummy, the hollowed eyesockets were staring into the distance as the dried-up husk seemed to keep itself from crumbling down into dust only by some inexplicable miracle.

The atmosphere surrounding it felt almost... sacred...

After the initial reactions, the whole group became silent - they were glancing between Cranberry and the mummified corpse on the pedestal, waiting for her the girl's next move.

"Something's wrong... Hey, this guy doesn't have any life signature... If it's a slumber, it is the eternal one, isn't it...?"

Well, almost all of them at least.

Zombie tilted his head and crossed his arms, looking at the corpse while his eyes glow red - and didn't lower his voice at all, causing the others to flinch.

"That's wrong. The avatar of sloth is alive and they are in that very body."

Shanks shook his head and strongly refuted Zombie's words.

"Ha...? Are you sure about that? ...haa... Don't tell me that you're lying to us to give the new avatar of sloth the time to escape. I really thought you had more brains than that..."

The red-haired glanced at him and breathed out with a disappointed face, waving her hand at the dried-up corpse.

"Young lady, I've seen what you are capable of. I wouldn't dare lie to you if I could help it!"

The rat-faced man raised his hands defensively and assured her.

"...ha...? If you could help it?"

Cranberry furrowed her brows...

"...!"

Then suddenly a terribly bad feeling punched her in the gut!

"Impossible...!"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her hand on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white, taking a step towards the mummified corpse.

"Wait...! What are you going to do with that thing?! That guy's clearly dead!"

Mary shook her head and shouted after Cranberry.

"I've said it before - the avatar of sloth is not de..."

*crack*

"Ah-hah... That's truly annoying. Why are you here?"

Shanks's words were proved to be true even before he could manage to complete his sentence - the dried-up man at the pedestal didn't come alive all of a sudden or anything, instead, his mouth got torn open with an unpleasant dry sound, and the surprisingly pleasant voice came out of it.

"!!!!!"

"Tsk...!"

Everyone was shocked, even the blue undead, just the pale red-haired girl was angrier than anything.

"Haa... I've been under the impression that Saint was the only living administrator left...!"

Her body stiffened as she shook, barely holding herself back from pouncing at the husk.

"And you were correct but that's beside the point. You. You shouldn't be here."

The dried-up body answered without any sort of movements - just the words left the open mouth without the need to be articulated by the tongue and lips.

"Ha! Don't mess with me. If Saint and Wing's legends were real then so is yours! God of wisdom, Patience."

Cranberry scoffed angrily and pointed the tip of the baseball bat up, right at the motionless remnants.

"?!?!?!"

The overall confusion was enough for the others to miss Shanks's soft sigh and smirk.

"Little miss replacement-villainess, who will never have her chance for unlocking a secret route and getting your wish come true, because of her misplaced violence... Won't you shut up for a moment and give a chance to answer to the one I asked?"

But the next words that left the husk weren't bothered at all and caused Cranberry to flinch in shock.

"Ha?! Won't have my chance for what...?! No, wait...! You weren't talking to me...?"

She furrowed her brows and asked in suspicion.

"I was not. Now. You. The one who our creator sent to this world as a hostage so that our savior wouldn't try to oppose us. Why are you here?"

Patience's voice boomed inside the sphere - as he ignored all but the last of Cranberry's questions - yet his body on the podium remained stagnant.

"...sent to this world...?!"

Cranberry flinched and looked back at the blue undead standing directly.

"A hostage so that some savior wouldn't oppose you? What is that supposed to mean?"

Zombie stepped forward with a furious expression - as he raised his hand a violet fireball instantly appeared above his palm, crackling threateningly.

"Indeed. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have that much power. The seal inside of you should not be so close to coming undone. You were especially put into that corpse puppet's body just so you would be easier to control and don't act up. How dare you take part in this farce and actively take part in messing with the system that is working hard to fulfill my creator's will? You, a mere failsafe!"

Patience's spat out the accusation with enough strength to his agitated voice to make the whole tower vibrate.

"Who are you calling a mare failsafe, you damned raisin?!"

The blue undead scoffed and threw the violet fireball at the fragile body.

*WHOOOOOOO*

It instantly got set on fire and break into blackened ash...

"!!!!"

"...what did you expect to achieve with that, exactly...?"

From the pathetic pile of dust, a peerless being of pure light emerged, blinding everyone with its glory, and asked glancing at its freed luminous magnificence, unaffected by the violet flames still enveloping the ashes.

"I-it's you...!"

Zombie gasped taking a step back in utter shock.