Chapter 280: Silence before a storm (3)

"A thing like that is supposed to happen huh..."

Zombie tilted his head and frowned.

"And are you sure that you didn't see me anywhere near that area?"

Cranberry crossed her arms and asked Claymore.

"Y-yes... I mean - when I used that skill I was fully concentrated on Kopia and not on any one of you so, you know..."

Claymore fidgeted and looked down apologetically.

"No, no. It's fine. Haa... The problem is that it kind of looks like you've seen Zombie there, right?"

Cranberry shook her head and sighed, waving her hand dismissively.

"Huh? I was? Where?"

Zombie leaned away, taken aback by the calm declaration.

"...well..."

Claymore fidgeted on her spot and glanced at his right hand.

Red and black smoke that was comprising it certainly did look just like the same substance that the terrifying monster in Claymore's vision was made out of, it honestly wasn't that hard to figure out...

"So what? I am supposed to turn into some screeching beast?"

Zombie raised his brow and looked at the two girls in front of him with doubt.

"Do you know anyone else that fits the description? Don't you remember that after you got beheaded by the holly attribute skill that black and red smoke came out of your wound and replaced it?"

Cranberry pointed out with a worried face.

"But if I remember correctly I couldn't make a sound. At least that what you've told me."

The blue undead shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"Zombie, we should be focusing on figuring out what happened. You don't need to get so defensive, no one accuses you of anything."

The red-haired girl reached out and grabbed onto Zombie's left hand and assured him.

"Yes, you are. If that monster in Claymore's vision is me, then that means that someone managed to destroy my physical body! I'll have you know that I remember that you shared the elemental immunity skill with me! And I have the bonus resistances and immunities of the king of pride title! With that, there is no way that I got turned into some screeching mindless monster!"

Zombie scoffed and turned away deeply hurt.

His role wasn't the proudest corpse just for nothing, his sense of pride truly skyrocketed since he regained his free will.

"That screeching part is really getting to you, isn't it?"

Cranberry snorted and smiled softly at the grumpy undead.

"But can't you put it aside just for me? I know that it's annoying to have someone say that you didn't win but let's focus on what might be happening there. Because if, just if, that monster is you, then where am I in this whole situation? I don't believe that I would want to leave you if I could help it."

Cranberry squeezed his hand reassuringly and asked without changing her gentle expression.

"..."

Zombie frowned even harder but ended up turning back towards the two girls.

"Alright. But if that's the case things might be easier than you both think."

He sighed in said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Eh...? What do you mean?"

Claymore flinched and stared at the blue undead.

"Cranberry and I were entering the ballroom and I spotted my sister and got super angry at that reincarnated waste of a human being so I left Cranberry and went straight at that filth. I activated one of the fire skills I now have thanks for the boots of the phoenix, but not the large-scale one since Cranberry surely told me to not kill any of the nobles present. But thinking about it now, if that dumpster fire of a human really is the savior brought into this world then she must know the game it's based off in and out. That means that she had both time and opportunity to get as strong as possible and would surely be strong enough to block one of my weaker attacks. She might as well have multiple attribute skills maxed out and would definitely use an appropriate one to deal with me since she should still be unaware about who I actually am and would probably consider me just another capture target. With that, I would end up evaporated and end up in that smoke form."

Zombie didn't actually need to breathe so his explanation wasn't paused even for a moment no matter how long it got.

"With what you've said that vision didn't last that long, Cranberry probably didn't show up only because she was shocked by my initial reaction. You know, I can talk so calmly now but I kind of doubt that I'd be able to just keep it down if I finally see that pile of living garbage in person while actually knowing about who she really is. If it is the person that I suspect her to be, at least."

Zombie ended the explanation with a light shrug and leaned back as if he himself had got rid of a heavy weight off of his shoulders.

"..."

Cranberry and Claymore looked at each other in complete silence.

"...reincarnated person...? Game...? Savior that is a trash...?!"

Claymore asked flabbergasted, looking between the blue-skinned undead and the red-haired villainess.

"Oh. Right. That is another thing we will need to talk about. But not now."

Cranberry glanced at her and nodded her head dismissively.

"Your deduction sounds really nice. I wouldn't mind if it was true."

The red-haired girl smiled and nodded at her eternal servant.

"What is that supposed to mean? It surely is true."

Zombie raised his brow and glared down at the master of the eternal servant.

"Don't you think that with all that you said about that savior girl, she ended up killing me and that's why you were so angry?"

"...!"

Cranberry's smile grew a lot sadder and she looked away from the stunned undead.

"No! That is definitely wrong! If you died I would kill every single living in the vicinity, not just screech like some dumb monster!"

Zombie gritted his teeth and glared at the red-haired girl.

"Haa... yes, that's true."

Cranberry shook her head and then smirked at her blue undead.

"Oh. Actually... Claymore, did you see Roan anywhere in your vision...?"

Suddenly she furrowed her brows and turned to the petite girl by her side.

"Roan...? Oh! The royal prince! Umm..."

Claymore gasped and closed her eyes focusing on the memory of the vision.

"No... that's right. I definitely didn't see the royal prince anywhere. But what about it?"

Claymore exclaimed but then tilted her head, unable to find the connection.

"Oh! Then Zombie's explanation might be correct after all, considering that Roan begged me at least seven times already to allow him to accompany the two of us so I ended up agreeing. It actually sound plausible that you didn't see neither him nor me because we were actually at the ballroom door...!"

Cranberry smirk became a genuine smile and her expression lighted up.

"Hey! You totally didn't trust in my explanation before!"

Zombie raised his head and exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well... you know, even with your free will back and all, you still are under the heavy influence of the rotten brain title so..."

The red-haired girl fidgeted awkwardly and looked to the side.

"...!"

"You two move at your own peace no matter what, huh...?"

Claymore scoffed and shook her head with an awkward smile.