Deus Necros

The names hit like sparks on dry grass. Redd’s expression changed instantly, reading Ludwig’s face for what would come next. He realized those names meant something for this Usurper slaying monster next to him, and also realized that they probably had yet to understand what was pointing its eyes at them.

He made a silent prayer for their souls; they’ll need it.

“Ah…” Ludwig smiled, “Good, where are they?”

The smile was calm, almost pleased, and that was what made it sharp. There was no warmth in it.

“Right now, they’re still in the Lufondal, in the territory of the Silver Tower. You can’t go there though, they’re on high alert, especially after their headmaster leaving to the North.”

Celine’s warning came fast, practical, as if she’d already run through the consequences in her mind and didn’t want Ludwig making them worse by impulse.

“It would be fun to let them enjoy life a bit more, but you see, Celine, I’m really not someone who’d give them that privilege. Still, don’t worry, I’m not the same as before.” He smiled.

His tone stayed conversational, almost gentle, which made the threat underneath it more unsettling. The promise of being “not the same as before” carried two edges: reassurance for Celine, and a darker implication for the ones he was speaking about.

She, however, didn’t.

Her face didn’t soften. It held tension instead, the kind that meant she wasn’t comforted by his smile at all.

“What’s wrong?” Ludwig’s voice shifted, attention turning fully to her now, the earlier snark thinning out.

“Ah… I got in contact with uncle…” The hesitation wasn’t just in the words; it was in her breath, the pause that made the sentence feel heavier than it should have been.

“I heard something about that. Did you train?” Though even Ludwig didn’t believe it, she didn’t look like she had grown any stronger.

His skepticism landed plainly. He looked at her through the crystal like he could measure strength by the way she held herself, and he didn’t see the change he expected.

“He said currently I can’t handle his training, I have to grow stronger first, at least reach the level I was at before… the Dawn Islands,” she said.

The mention of the Dawn Islands sounded like a scar being touched. Celine’s eyes lowered briefly, then returned, stubborn and frustrated.

“I see, that’s why you’re heading to the Dark Continent, I suppose.”

Ludwig’s understanding came without approval. It was the kind of understanding that recognized necessity but hated it.

She nodded.

The nod was small, decisive, and it carried the quiet acceptance of someone stepping toward danger because the alternative was stagnation. The dangerous part was, if she needed to be as strong as she was before to even begin training… How powerful was her uncle?

Ludwig didn’t want to dwell on that too much.

“Stay safe. I’ll try to keep in contact as much as possible from now on.”

His voice softened, not tender, but sincere. The promise sounded like a correction of an old habit.

“Ludwig… I…” she hesitated for a bit.

Her hesitation sat on the edge of confession, and the pause made it feel like her words were caught behind her teeth.

“Nevermind, until we meet again.” She swallowed it back, choosing distance instead of vulnerability.

“Sure…” Ludwig replied, and she soon hung up.

The crystal dimmed, her face vanishing abruptly, leaving Ludwig staring at dull reflection and forest light.

He placed the crystal back inside his pocket and turned to see Redd giving him the eye.

Redd’s look was exaggerated enough to be rude, brows lifted, mouth tilted, the face of a man who lived to comment on other people’s misery.

“Didn’t you just get flirted with by an angel? Now a True Vampire… you little luckerdog.”

He dragged the words out like a joke he’d been saving, clearly enjoying himself far too much.

“I don’t see where the flirting was in any of the situations,” Ludwig frowned, “Also that’s not important right now,” he terminated that line of thought from Redd before it got too rude or too awkward.

Ludwig’s frown was genuine annoyance. Ludwig’s attention slid inward for a moment, the sense of unread notifications prickling at the edge of his awareness like something impatient to be acknowledged. There were a few he didn’t pay attention to yet.

“We’ll have to split up, I think,” Tull said.

Tull’s voice returned them to duty, firm and practical, as if he refused to let banter distract from what came next.

“Are you returning to the palace?” Redd asked.

Redd’s tone still carried humor, but it thinned into curiosity, eyes shifting toward Alex and Tull.

“Yes, I think the Emperor will be requiring our presence soon. Sir Alex,” Tull said.

The mention of the Emperor put steel into the air. Tull’s stance straightened further, and Alex’s expression tightened with the quiet burden of rank.

“Yes, we’ll head out soon, also,” he turned to Ludwig, “We’re in the Empire now. Try not to use any dark magic,” he smiled.

Alex’s smile was polite, but the warning was real. It was the kind of friendliness that still carried law behind it.

“Dark magic?” Ludwig smiled, “What is that?”

Ludwig’s smile was sharper, perfectly timed, the sort that pretended innocence while refusing it.

“Good.” The prince replied and produced a crystal, the same one Tull had when they were in the river branch. The crystal caught the forest light, its surface gleaming with that clean, unnatural clarity that always made teleportation feel like an insult to distance.

“I thought you didn’t have any of those…” Redd’s ears lifted, surprise breaking through his expression.

“Wouldn’t have served a purpose when we were being chased by those Usurpers. They break it with mere words,” he said as he activated the Crystal, teleporting both Tull, the Prince, and Redd in the process.

The activation came with a brief pressure in the air, the sense of space tightening around them, and the world seemed to prepare to fold.

“WAIT, I DON’T WANT TO GO!” was his last words as Tull dragged him by the scruff of his neck.

Redd’s protest was loud, indignant, and completely useless, his limbs half-moving as if he could wrestle the concept of teleportation into letting him stay.

There was no malice in how they pulled Redd, so Ludwig didn’t intervene. The prince probably wanted to reward Redd for the accident in Tulmud and the years of exile and imprisonment, especially after how valuable he was in the Desert.

He deserved the recognition at least. He suffered too much for being non-human in a kingdom that only saw the effort of those who contributed to the human race. Though they would probably have different things to say if they were to realize that what helped them back in Tulmud was everything but a human.

“Alright… I should also head out…” The forest felt larger with them gone, the living sounds pressing in around Ludwig in a way that made solitude feel suddenly very real.

“Ludwig…” he heard, this time not from his book where the Knight King was. But from his lantern.

The voice from the lantern had a different closeness than the book’s presence, as if it lived nearer to his hand, nearer to his breath.

“What is it, Lich…” Ludwig said.

The words carried a tired familiarity, the kind that was expected to evoke annoyance.

“Bring me back… the same way you did to that Knight…”

The request settled heavily, like a door opening onto a new kind of trouble, one that didn’t wait politely for Ludwig to finish his errands.