Chapter 572.1: The Last Stop Before The Madness Begins (part 1)
"Ha? Why are we stopping here? I told you that you don't have to worry about me!"
Cranberry glanced at the inn set up in the center point of some village in between the Gluttony and Envy territories before tightening her embrace around Zombie's neck and furrowing her brows while voicing a complaint.
"Try saying that when your face will not be that pale - your DEF was always your week side and my tempo is too much for you to handle, the same thing with stamina, my little weakling."
The blue undead openly mocked the red-haired girl and openly mocked her while kissing her forehead as she scowled at him for making such a mean remark.
"My physical and magical attacks are still higher than yours though!"
She scoffed leaning in and nuzzling to his neck while pouting.
"Are they really? I haven't been appraised in ages - you were physically stronger than me during our first playthrough but that's not the case anymore - so cheer up - in case we are too slow for that filth's liking she will simply make the former puppy transport us straight to the phoenix lairs' entrance."
The blue undead only laughed it off and walked straight towards the inn without even considering to continue the breakneck-speed run - he could clearly feel that Cranberry was barely holding on to him and a quick check with his life signature detection proved that her life essence was altering form extreme exhaustion despite the girl trying her best to appear tougher than she was.
"...stupid rotten brain... I am fine..."
Cranberry complained though now that Zombie had seen right through her, there was no conviction in her voice at all.
"Of course, of course - but then how about checking up on Lairs then - coincidentally she is in this very inn - actually, the same could be said about one other person we've met in the past playthrough."
The blue undead knight nodded his head patiently, playing along with the girl's pride while coddling her in his arms with a soft smile.
"Ha...? Ah! Is it Ti? I actually mentioned her to Lairs before but she thought I was making fun of her - think that you can introduce the two of them?"
The red-haired girl liven up and asked raising her head and gazed into Zombie's eyes with expectations.
"Someone's getting lively here - is there some quest where you get a nice reward for hooking the two of them up or something?"
The blue undead asked curiously tilting his head and furrowing his brows.
"No! Come on, is it bad for me to want my friend to be happy at least in one playthrough?"
Cranberry scoffed at him and tapped his armor while making a sulking expression.
"Khaha! Fine, fine - if that is what it takes to make you rest a little bit before we continue our way towards the phoenix's lair - sure. Let's play matchmaking - but not too much - I can only give our elven friend a little push."
Zombie laughed and nodded his head agreeing to the request right before he pushed open the inn's door.
"What the...!"
"An undead..!"
The pair were greeted by shocked whispers of the villagers enjoying a drink after long hours of fieldwork.
"Ah, yes - I almost forgot that normal humans don't like me! It's so refreshing - it was honestly suffocating being revered by all those monsters back in the hub village and fort.. and all the monster villages in between."
Zombie breathed out and smiled cheerfully, feeling actually refreshed from all the scared, shocked, and sometimes even hateful glares he received while carrying his Cranberry through the door in a princess carry like a groom walking in with the bride.
"...you plan on killing them all after we will leave, don't aren't you...?"
Cranberry furrowed her brows and sighed with a tired expression.
"...are you implying that there are some circumstances that would make killing them all problematic...?"
Zombie answered her question with his own, all while smiling mockingly while his throat and eyes were already glowing white in preparation to release a noxious breath.
"Stop it - at least hold on until Lairs and Ti are inside!"
Cranberry scoffed, slapping his armor again.
"Sure, sure... I'll try to keep that in mind~"
Zombie snorted and walked straight towards the table where a certain green-haired elf was being courted by a bunch of locals smitten by her beauty.
"Miss- don't be like that - why won't we have a meal together?"
Some middle-aged man laughed jovially no doubt in response to Lairs previous words that Zombie and Cranberry missed on.
"Why don't you fuck right off before I will burn this entire fucking dumpster to ash, huh? How about that?"
The green-haired elf asked, raising her hand and conjuring a small fireball right above her palm.
"Miss - stop joking around - why would a lovely lady like you do something so reckless - all we want is a peaceful meal - you see that other tables are already taken, right?"
Another man - this one slightly closer to Lairs actual age added, seemingly completely disregarding the fire spell because of its size.
...which was a terrible mistake considering that the green-haired elf was simply condensing a normal fireball increasing its destructive power over and over again continuously casting the spell over and over again without chanting the incantation out loud.
"Dear customers - why won't you leave this lady alone?"
"...!"
Surprisingly - or not - another person came to Lairs rescue, and it was none other than the platinum-haired, copper-eyed woman, Ti.
Ti was dressed up as a barmaid and was using a skill that interfered with the perception of everyone around her making her almost unrecognizable for the most.
"Huh...? I haven't seen you before - are you a new hire?"
Another man from the group furrowed his brows and straight-up reached for the young woman's hand.
"Come - you can sit with us too! We shall order up a lot of food and drink so there should be no problem!"
The villager cheered and tried to pull Ti to make her sit beside him but he severely underestimated her strength - after all, one of the three bodyguards of the queen was already at level 99 which was the maximum level that a human player character could achieve under normal circumstances, so some random villager had the same chance to make her move as he did lifting the entire inn off the ground with one hand.
"...huh...?"
The man noticed the fearsome sturdiness of the supposed barmaid and furrow his brows - but then...
"Hey, livings - why don't you fuck right off?"
Zombie scoffed and grabbed the man's shoulder and...
*WHOOSH*
*SLAM*
"GU-HUAGH...!"
threw the unfortunate villager over his shoulder causing him to bounce off of the ceiling and slam down onto the floor with a pitiful sound.
"You -UGHAGH...!"
*WHOOSH*
*SLAM*
"Fucking undead wants to mess around wit-GHUUOGH!"
*WHOOSH*
*SLAM*
The other two men who tried to convince Lairs to keep them company while eating stood up just to receive the same kind of treatment - with the only exception being that the first one got grabbed by the head while the second one by the throat.
"Zombie?! Cranberry?!"
Lairs gasped in shock, instantly recalling her fireball which flames had already turned yellow and were approaching white.
"Sup - I never expected you to actually try to go all the way by foot - you know? The carriages are a thing."
"UWAAAAAGHG!"
*WHOOSH*
*SLAM*
Zombie greeted her by raising his hand - in which he was already holding a fourth villager who kept quiet until that point.